The last supper at VSB
Husband-and-wife team call it a day at one of Hamilton’s top-end eateries.
Lunch today is at Hamilton’s Victoria Street Bistro, a sit-down with Andrew and Julia Clarke, who are closing the doors of the award-winning eatery they’ve loved and led for the past seven years. We’re in a comfy booth in the vintage building, there are VSB classics on the table – crispy pork hock, tender chicken parmigiana, smoked beef cheeks – and the phone is running hot as customers book for a last supper.
‘‘It’s been an emotional week,’’ says Julia. ‘We’ve all strived to do the best here. There will be a party to see her [the restaurant] off.’’
The Clarkes are a husband-and-wife team, Andrew is head chef, Julia the service supremo, and they’ve run VSB in conjunction with city hospitality outfit The Lawrenson Group.
Chief executive John Lawrenson says the closure was a hard decision; it comes after a downturn in business and is part of a wider restructure of the group’s 16 establishments.
For the Clarkes, there were some other considerations. Andrew says a high-end eatery such as VSB must be owner-operated, with total commitment. He and Julia have a pre-school son, Leo, and a second child due in the new year. Family time is precious for them and the new baby was the deal-breaker.
‘‘A place like this, providing really goodquality food, service and wine, is a huge amount of work,’’ he says. ‘‘You have to keep your game consistent and there is a life cycle to it.’’
VSB goes out on top: it has won many competition titles for its smart, modern food and style.
It was named 2013 regional restaurant of the year in the Cuisine Good Food Awards, and earned Cuisine’s prestigious two-hat ranking in 2016 and 2017.
Cuisine lead assessor, Kerry Tyack, says there was every indication that VSB would have held that position in this year’s round.
Tyack praises Andrew’s strong technical skills and creativity, and says he’s been blessed to have Julia leading the service staff, communicating the kitchen’s philosophy to customers. ‘‘Andrew Clarke and Mat McLean [owner-chef of Palate restaurant], have brought Hamilton dining into the contemporary era,’’ he says.
The Clarkes are proud of their team, the Cuisine accolades and other top spots and finalist placements they’ve garnered in the Waikato Matariki Dish Challenge, Monteith’s Wild Food Challenge, and Silver Fern Farms’ Restaurant Awards. These are among their highlights.
In the past week, VSB’s presented some of its greatest culinary hits for a farewell series of eight-course degustation dinners.
One of the dishes is on the table this lunchtime: smoked beef cheek on mash with crispy beef tendon, sweetbreads, corn puree, pickles, yellow carrots, American mustard, pickled walnut puree, jus, and maybe more. Andrew’s mother has been doing the pickled walnuts for him, he’s enjoying these, always scouting for new products and tastes.
He steps through the flavours and textures on the plate: ‘‘I have a tendency to make things a bit complicated. The chefs get a bit scared when there are 13 parts to a dish.’’ Julia says Andrew has a great ability to understand flavour combinations, something that can’t be taught.
Out front, she and the team have worked to give customers the best experience. ‘‘We want them to have the best night. We genuinely care about that. We’re warm and inviting. We smile.’’
The Clarkes are not giving up hospitality. They will stay with The Lawrenson Group. Andrew is chef de cuisine, overseeing dining, and Julia is restaurant operations manager. All VSB staff will remain employed by Lawrensons, and some favourite dishes will transfer to other restaurants in the group.
Will they have another crack with their own place? Andrew says maybe, in 10 years’ time. Julia says if they did, they’d aim straight for the top end. ‘‘We’d go for restaurant of the year, three hats. We’ve had a massive sense of achievement and pride from all aspects of this place.’’ What will they miss? ‘‘Everything.’’
Victoria Street Bistro hosted its last dinner tonight.