GIVING IT PLENTY
A world of flavour and hospitality in our own backyard – Kelli Brett visits the Bay of Plenty
Kelli Brett discovers food that transcends borders in the Bay of Plenty.
Ihadn’t expected a short flight to Tauranga to have me feeling like I’d stepped into a mini European vacation. A quick drive from the airport and I was sitting in Bar Centrale, located inside the historic Clarence Hotel; negroni in hand, I was immersed in a menu that might have been from a restaurant in a piazza in any bustling Italian city. I wondered if the gentlemen sitting at the table next to me sipping limoncello and conversing in Italian had been staged – it was just too good to be true – but then the creamed baccala, bottarga and olive oil, smoky-delicious barbecued octopus with stracciatella, spicy ’nduja, confit tomato and basil, and pizza bianca with mozzarella, blue cheese, pear, walnuts and bitter leaves left me in no doubt that there is great passion behind these plates, like most things Italian… Be sure to hit the bar and ask Marco Rodocanachi for his pick from the spectacular negroni menu.