The Nightcar, Auckland
Auckland is lucky to enjoy a dynamic hospitality scene, with new openings a regular occurrence. But what makes a new restaurant or bar stand out from the rest? For this issue Sarah Tuck headed along to a sexy new venue developed by ex-art Director Daren Zhou, inspired from his experiences to create a magical space that sets the scene for new stories to be made.
Can you tell us about the concept for The Nightcar, how it originated, and the concept of ‘third culture’? Daren: I was always waiting for an opportunity to start my first hospitality business. I have invested in other bars and nightclubs before, however I have never found the opportunity to operate one myself. I moved back to New Zealand in 2018 and as time went on I started to notice that Auckland has few lounge bars. We have amazing restaurants in Auckland but not enough bars that target people in their late 20s, 30s, and above. I then started my journey two years ago looking for a space and team to make this concept come to life. Third culture is a phrase I have been using for quite a while. To my knowledge the phrase started in international schools in Asia. It refers to people growing up in a country that is not of their parents culture but also they are not exactly 100% part of the local culture. They live in a third culture where most likely they are culturally confused and just identify as international. I feel like in today’s world where immigration and traveling is so common there are lots of people who feel this
way. From what I have heard when people walk into The Nightcar the general vibe brings them to somewhere outside of New Zealand. It could be anywhere in the world but what's important is that they feel like they fit in and feel at home.
Can you tell us about your background in video production and how it influenced the design of The Nightcar? How do you want diners/guests to feel as they settle themselves in?
Daren: I studied Set Design for Screen at Central Saint Martins in London. Where I was studying the space you see behind the actors in theatre shows and screens. I worked as
“I worked as an art director for 8 years after university and I definitely think that experience gave me confidence in coming up with hospitality spaces."
an art director for eight years after university and I definitely think that experience gave me confidence in coming up with hospitality spaces. I like places with no natural light because of the freedom and control you have to make certain colours and surfaces pop. I love the idea of train carriages because each section can be completely different. Films like Snowpiercer and
The Darjeeling Limited make me wonder what I can do with bars and restaurants. In terms of how I want the diners and guests to feel. The most important thing is good food and drinks. After that I wish the guests would be comfortably seated and in an environment that's visually interesting. I hope returning guests would feel a different vibe and mood when they sit in a different spot to their last visit.
Did you grow up in New Zealand? How long did you spend overseas and what was the motivation to go?
Daren: I grew up in Henderson and Epsom as a child in Auckland and was brought to China by my family at the age of 12 where I attended an international school in Beijing. I spent 12 years combined between Beijing and London before returning to New Zealand. My reason for leaving was decided by my family however my motivation to come back was to return to where I'm from and start my hospitality journey here. Hopefully in the future I can expand to Australia, Asia, Europe and re-walk the path again.
Where was Head Chef Win Siak Lai previously and how did you design the menu?
Daren: Our head chef was the head chef of Papa Rich Auckland. The concept started off with William Zhang (my business partner) and I deciding that we want to serve food from Northern China (the food we grew up eating at home) but the menu was designed by our head chef. Even though Win isn't from Northern China he has a lot of experience and knowledge about Chinese cuisine as a whole. We did many tastings and decided on a timeline for our menu. We update our menu every three months. Starting March we will be pushing out more local dishes from Northern China, for now we are just testing the waters of what works. We will try our best to stay fresh and interesting by updating our bar menu, wine lists, and food menu every three months.
Can you tell us about your favourite dish and cocktail on the menu and the one item you would recommend as a ‘must try’? Daren: My favourite noodle dish is the Zha Jiang Mian a classic pork belly dish for Beijingers and Koreans. One more would be the Lamb. William and my family come from North West China where the culture is heavily if not almost entirely Mongolian. Lamb is our most important meat. I strongly recommend our guests dab the lamb into extra cumin and chilli. My favourite cocktail at The Nightcar keeps changing but as of today it is the Armagnac. First of all it is not common to see Armagnac cocktails and secondly the colour is beautiful from the rhubarb and strawberry, with a touch of spice I think it complements our food very well.
What would you like to see more (or less!) of in the New Zealand hospitality scene? Daren: There is nothing I would like to see less in New Zealand. We need MORE of everything. If there was one thing I would wish it would be for more Lounge bars, boutique night clubs, more places to go after dinner for the slightly older crowd.
Our thoughts
Stepping down underground immediately creates a feeling of adventure, like heading down into a subterranean train station – appropriate given the fit-out of The Nightcar. With dim lighting that gets darker as the night
“Each end of the booth features mirrored walls that accentuate the feeling of being in a glamorous train car, providing a never-ending reflection – and a handy reference for a middinner lipstick fix-up if required."
“The Li Li Ya, marinated duck with diced vegetables spring "roll" is surprising in that there is no roll involved, rather a pastry basket to house the filling. This easy access to the duck and it’s delicious bed mates made for a very pleasing bite."
goes on, the interior is not surprisingly, rather like a film set. With leathery banquette seating, curtained off into dining sections along one side there are plenty of intimate spaces.
Settled into our booth with thick curtains that are available to close off the table and make the experience all the more secluded, we were immediately offered a champagne cocktail with accompanying oysters and the evening began. Each end of the booth features mirrored walls that accentuate the feeling of being in a glamorous train car, providing a never-ending reflection – and a handy reference for a mid-dinner lipstick fix-up if required. The music is modern and sets a tone without being intrusive – Khalid follows Drake and then I have a moment of needing to check in with Shazam before abandoning my quest to know what it is and just tap my foot while enjoying the food. The bites here are served in small, tapas-sized portions and we were quickly delivered our first plates to share. The popular Dou Fu, silken tofu with sweet soy and fried shallots is cool and smooth, given a perfect foil by the salty sweet sauce and fried greens. The Li Li Ya, marinated duck with diced vegetables ‘spring roll’ is surprising in that there is no roll involved, rather a pastry basket to house the filling. This easy access to the duck and it’s delicious bed mates made for a very pleasing bite. From the noodle selection we chose the Zha Jiang Mian, pork belly with chilli Douban sauce and Yangchun noodles. This needs a good mix around with chopsticks before eating so that the pork and sauce can have maximum impact on the noodles. I’m always after full-grunt flavour so left a few noodles un-mixed so as to up my noodle-tomeat ratio. The Shan Bei, poached scallops with garlic oyster sauce and vermicelli, double down on the noodles with the scallop sitting on saucy, soft noodles on top of a fried, crispy noodle base. The wine list was left un-used on this occasion as we settled into the mood of The Nightcar, choosing cocktails in lieu of the grape – somehow the Negroni and Old Fashioned we enjoyed seemed to perfectly match the atmosphere and the feeling that we could have been eating at midnight. That’s one of the especially sexy things here. With no natural light on offer, the underground venue is brought to life with carefully curated lighting, setting the scene equally for an evening of sophistication or shenanigans. There are three distinct times of the evening when the Nightcar is at its busiest – 5:30pm as the city’s business makers come in search of an after-work pick-me-up, then from 7pm as diners start filling the tables and then again from 10pm as the mood changes gear again and it’s time to really kick back. Expect to see recognisable faces among the crowd – from Israel Adesanya to well-known hospo legends, drawn by the cosmopolitan allure of this exciting newcomer to Auckland. Whether for date-night, with friends ‘going on the ran-tan’ as the saying used to go, or to impress an overseas guest The Nightcar provides the perfect setting for your adventures to unfold.