The cafe is infamous for meetings with ministers and other high-profile people.
When Astoria closes its doors for the last time on Christmas Eve, it will be just one month shy of its 25th birthday. Astoria may not be Wellington’s longest running coffee house, but three factors set it apart from those significantly older denizens of shabby Te Aro Flat: Midnight Espresso, The Lido, Espressoholic, Fidel’s, Caffe l’Affare. Firstly there’s the posh name (think Waldorf Astoria), then there’s the location down the moneyed, powerful end of town, overlooking a pretty pocket handkerchief of a park. But above all, there’s Astoria’s ability to seat 150 people, inside and out. That offers huge scope to see and be seen.