Not bold, but beautifully done
Gumption may not deliver the guts, as advertised, but – even better – the food is full of soul, says Alastair Paulin.
Upscale hotel restaurants usually play it safe. Traditionally, they have had to appeal to a wide range of diners and the menus tend to be unthreatening: you can be sure of finding salmon, steaks, chicken, and some New Zealand lamb – but rarely anything too far out of the mainstream.
But when Christchurch’s newly opened Distinction Hotel, the glossy white curved tower formerly known as the Millennium, named its restaurant Gumption, it seemed to be signalling bolder intentions.
The name even gets its own definition on the door – “noun informal: courage; spunk, guts”.
I’m not sure I would have the courage to use the word “spunk” on my front door were I a restaurant owner, and “guts” made me search in vain for sweetbreads on the menu.
Instead, Gumption looks like a well-executed but standard hotel restaurant and the menu, which includes all those staples, does not venture much beyond the standard fare either. The most exotic item I spotted was an Egyptian dessert called Umm Ali, a type of Middle Eastern bread and butter pudding made with croissants. Sadly, the kitchen was out of it.
The good news is that what Gumption lacks in guts it makes up for in soul. Our meal may have sounded standard on the menu but the food was cooked with great skill, care and love.
We had made a reservation for 7pm on Easter Saturday. Our server thanked us for booking but as she swept her arm around at the expanse of empty tables, explained it hadn’t been necessary. There was a party of six and one solo diner seated and we chose a cosy corner booth close to the kitchen with a view over the restaurant and out onto Cathedral Square.
Fragrant and fresh rosemary and sea salt bread was a welcome and free offering that came with our drinks. In signs of the small touches and excellent service that elevated the meal into the top tier, a G&T was served with East Imperial yuzu tonic and when we later complimented the bread, the remnants were whipped away and replaced with fresh servings.
We started with a Caesar salad that included white anchovies and was topped with a perfectly poached egg. The cos lettuce was abundant and fresh and the roasted garlic dressing did not overpower.
An appetizer (spelt in the American style on the menu) of pan-seared king scallops was simple but perfectly executed. Three large, fresh scallops had been caramelised by the sear yet were melt-inthe-mouth tender, and the bed of braised red cabbage was an earthy foil to the fresh seafood taste. The earthy/zingy balance was enhanced by a pumpkin puree, a citrus vinaigrette, parmesan crisp and a hint of pepperiness from a garnish of celery leaves.
Such well-executed starters made us excited for our mains and we were not let down. Half a roasted farm duck arrived on a bed of a creamy potato mash, butternut squash puree, broccolini, baby whole carrots, orange gremolata, glazed apple and duck orange jus.
The duck was the largest serving I’ve ever seen and was perfectly roasted with crispy skin. I suspect the mash had been made extra rich with some truffle oil, and the vegetables were ideally al dente.
My 320g scotch beef ribeye was perfectly medium rare and the best steak I’ve had in a long time. I chose a mushroom sauce and although I had asked for it on the side, I’m glad it was all over the plate. It was an intense mushroom reduction that I suspected had also been truffled, and my accompaniments of duck fat potatoes, broccolini and other vegetables, topped with fried sage and parsnip crisp, made for a large, satisfying combination of foods that belonged together on the plate.
It may not have been bold or surprising, but there were no unpleasant surprises either, and we lingered over coffees, enjoying the satisfying glow of having been well treated by a team of professionals who knew exactly what they were doing.