WHERE WE ATE
A Takapuna casual spot to please all, Wellington's new eatery and bar with hints of Melbourne, and the capital's fine diner showcasing indigenous ingredients.
The Cuisine reviewing team checks out restaurants around the country
The Grange
14.5/20
Cnr The Boulevard and Smales Farm Ave, Takapuna
09 972 9060, thegrangetakapuna.co.nz 7 days, mains $24-$65
DESPITE A COUPLE of highlights, there were too many food flaws during our first foray into The Grange-land three months ago for us to leave completely satisfied. Fast forward to a more recent visit and the result is much different.
The Grange is not, and does not set out to be, a mecca for food cognoscenti. It’s somewhere to get a meal that’s a good cut above the average bistro with a menu that includes enough culinary treats to keep things interesting.
Working strongly in support is its Takapuna location and its cosmopolitan, cleverly modulated ambience. Loads of parking, plenty of seating options – ranging from private, greenery-filled dining rooms and intimate alcoves to outside tables on spacious decks
– that work together to provide a thoughtfully designed meeting place, clearly aiming to attract a varied customer base. There’s no spectacular view, no trend-setting décor. However, with its mix of vaulted ceilings, timber and soft furnishings, it’s nicely comfortable, spacious and functional.
At its heart is a bar in the grand style, stocked with every liquor imaginable,
ready to pump out the drinks during sunny weekend afternoons.
Another highlight, at least for the wine drinker, is the impressively voluminous drinks list. It’s so extensive that, unless you enjoyed reading War and Peace, I suggest asking your waiter for a recommendation, if only to save time for conversation. The prices are reasonable and the pours are more generous than we’ve experienced in other venues. They also bring the bottle to the table so you know what you are drinking, something I believe should be standard practice. The by-the-glass options are predominantly lesser
known brands, but on both visits staff were decent enough to open something we particularly wanted to try. The beer list has become more interesting than earlier with the inclusion of a selection of good-quality craft brands.
Our waiter was exceptionally professional and helpful. He, like other staff, was clearly highly experienced and this resulted in seamless service. The formerly painfully slow food delivery has become much more efficient and agreeable.
From a well-formed seasonal menu we chose salt-baked beetroot with buffalo curd and cabernet vinegar. It’s a simple enough combo but this was notable for its expert execution and balanced seasoning. We also tried the braised squid with white polenta, ’nduja fried bread and curry leaves which, despite its confronting blackness, was truly tasty. To be fair, the influence of the curry leaves was muted and the presence of the fried bread was understated, but the primary component, the squid, was tender and moist and the clear hero on the plate.
Our main courses were, like the starters, a generous size, compiled to satisfy the bigger appetite. The first was a pork chop with celeriac, seaweed and pickle. The heritage pork was succulent with a plating that suggested the chef was happy to refrain from smothering it in sauce and let it stand on its own merits. This was the right decision although the pickles did add a flavour flourish that kept the dish interesting until the finish.
We were not, however, completely convinced by the venison. The meat was perfectly cooked having been given the same hands-off treatment as the pork. But there was an irksome taste to the mushroom, parsnip and nasturtium combo that had us puzzled. This was nothing that prevented us from finishing every morsel, but it didn’t work as well as other dishes.
The dessert list is a standard mix of chocolate, fruit and ice cream. Our lemon-and-pinenut tart with sorbet and marmalade had a nicely thin crust while the filling was light and airy. Nothing to rave about but wellmade and a fitting end to the meal.
We liked The Grange much more this time around. It seemed more relaxed, more comfortable in its own skin, as if co-owners and managers Holly Wilson, Nik Stakes and Mark Wilson, having recognised the niche they are catering to, have worked out what is required to satisfy it. Chef Regnar Christensen is a proven talent, so with such an experienced team there’s every reason to believe The Grange will continue to fill a need for loyal locals as well as attracting interlopers like us from the west looking for something that will satisfy without breaking the bank.
Chef Alric Hansen and Ben Farrant in front-of-house – who previously owned Small Victories in Carlton North – have named their new Cuba Street venture Highwater, both in reference to Wellington’s 1843 high-tide mark and to their high aspirations for the place.
Formerly a nail salon, Highwater was refitted by Matterhorn architect Allistar Cox. The fit-out can’t have come cheap, especially in view of the air extraction system required by their prime toy – a Pira charcoal oven from Spain. Both a long, chunky bar and an equally extended banquette accentuate this long, thin, galley-like space – it’s bustling yet intimate, minimal yet welcoming.
Reading the fine print, we learn that their produce is predominantly organic and their meat is free-range and organically raised. The Poaka rare-breed salami is from acorn-fed pigs, raised in Canterbury. Their duck is not just free-range but, more importantly, it’s fresh rather than frozen (as is normally the case) and is hung in their kitchen for 10 to 14 days. This makes a palpable difference to their house-made duck and prune sausage – exceptionally juicy and tasty – served in a milk bun with crisp onion, pickle and sharp Gentleman’s relish.
The richness of a duck-liver parfait is beautifully offset by the refreshing crispness and slight bitterness of its raw endive (witloof) cup, and sweetened with a second layer of mandarin and gingerbread crumble.
The influences of multi-cultural Melbourne are obvious everywhere on the menu, but particularly in the ‘Advieh lamb shoulder, sirkanjabin ($70)'. Advieh is a Persian spice mix that typically contains saffron and ground rosebuds in addition to the usual curry spices. It’s rubbed over Highwater’s lamb shoulder and, as at Melbourne’s highly rated Rumi restaurant in Brunswick East, this advieh lamb is served with the mint-flavoured cordial, sirkanjabin, made into a sauce. As the price suggests, the portion of shoulder is large enough to feed two diners, if not three or four. You can mop up the juices with Highwater’s own excellent sourdough, crusty and holey, served with butter which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is house-churned.
Organic sprouting broccoli is dressed with dashi brown butter and deepfried sage leaves over a snow-white bed of delicious almond whip.
Being an all-day café and a bar by night, Highwater has both a pet coffee roastery (Rich) and a favoured brewery (Parrot Dog), plus a wellselected wine list, international but leaning towards New Zealand and France. Fine, generously proportioned stemware did full justice to the billowing licorice aromas of Yann Chave Crozes-hermitage 2016.
There are just two desserts: goat’s curd with feijoa, honey mead and bay caramel, plus a more familiar duo of chocolate ganaches – dark and white – with tart passionfruit pulp and a crunchy sesame wafer for the sake of contrast in both flavour and texture.
An all-french cheeseboard recalls Hansen’s early cooking career at two of Wellington’s most celebrated Gallic restaurants – Francois and the Roxburgh Bistro. No wonder Highwater has been so warmly welcomed by staff at Le Cordon Bleu New Zealand, situated right next door.