WHERE WE ATE
Superb seafood and spectacular steaks in Auckland, classic French cuisine in Napier and wood-fired fare in Wellington.
The Cuisine team checks out restaurants around the country
AUCKLAND Kingi
IN BRIEF Sustainably delicious seafood in a glamorous all-day eatery in the heart of Auckland city.
WHY CHOOSE THIS
RESTAURANT? This elegant city oasis literally sparkles, its stunning chandelier shimmering like the scales of the mighty kingfish. You will be just as comfortable here with kina on toast or a smoked hempseed s’more and a glass or two from the excellent wine list, as you will diving into the full menu to discover flavours of New Zealand’s oceans, dunes, river mouths and reefs.
ABOUT THE FOOD The raw bar, antipasti and à la carte options see seafood front and centre, peppered with wild game and premium New Zealand produce. If they are on, the Wairarapa octopus carpaccio or hot-smoked kahawai from Te Hauturuo-toi/little Barrier Island are winners, as are the Chatham Island crispy buttermilk blue cod wings or the pāua cavatelli with cucumber, dill and arrow squid from Tora Bay. Chef Tom Hishon’s house-made take on rum and raisin ice cream in the form of clove, croissant and currant is a keeper.
ABOUT THE CHEF From starting out at 14 as a dish hand to becoming one of Auckland’s highly respected chefs, it is clear that Tom is a chef with purpose, and he would like to see a bright future for New Zealand’s food story. At Kingi he draws a firm line in the sand with regards to changing
the perception of Aotearoa seafood and celebrating our independent fishers, and wants us all to gain a deeper appreciation for the variety of produce in our oceans.
ABOUT THE TEAM Owners Tom Hishon and Josh Helm are the passionate duo behind Orphans Kitchen and Daily Bread. At their very core is a deep focus on care and intention, and developing a true reflection of New Zealand cuisine.
OF NOTE Kingi is located in the Hotel Britomart development, New Zealand’s first hotel with five green stars for its outstanding focus on sustainability. 30 Customs St East, Britomart, Auckland All-day service & dinner 7 days, antipasti $9–25, mains $26–35
09 300 9596, kingibritomart.com
The Lodge Bar
IN BRIEF A restaurant that has it all, serving food that can be casual yet sophisticated on Auckland’s revamped waterfront. WHY CHOOSE THIS
RESTAURANT? The kitchen serves well-conceived dishes that range from some spectacular snacks through to an impressive offering of dry-aged steaks, accompanied by a drinks list that includes original cocktails and some seriously good wines.
ABOUT THE FOOD Don’t miss the exquisite oysters, including an outstanding beer-battered version. The chef also weaves his magic into the pretty
little fish and chips snack – ever-so-fresh cured snapper sitting on a layer of paper-thin crisp batter with tartare and herbs. The entrées are well designed, forming a fitting prelude to hearty main courses of juicy beef and pork, delicate fish and pasta. It’s rare to see a steak looking as pretty as a picture, but the Scotch fillet steak with its topping of delicate baby onion cups filled with rich jus was almost too beautiful to cut into.
ABOUT THE CHEF Matt Lambert earned a Michelin star at the Musket Room in New York, the toughest of all food cities. This wunderkind from Auckland’s west is now permanently back home, cooking up even more of the fantastic produce he successfully showed off to his NYC audience. He has a light, playful approach to food, presenting plates that taste as sublime as they look.
ABOUT THE TEAM A slick team of experienced staff work professionally to make this a memorable dining experience. There’s plenty of assistance with the wine, and individual glasses are poured fresh with Coravin technology.
OF NOTE Hungry and rushed diners can order up the Lodge Bar’s magnificent burger or snacks at any time and eat at the bar or outdoors. Equally, the protein-focused menu suits specialoccasion diners, families and corporate guests in the more sedate dining area.
Cnr Albert & Quay St, Auckland Lunch & dinner 7 days, mains $26–48 09 884 4200, roddandgunn.com/nz/ the-lodge-bar
NAPIER
Poivre & Sel
IN BRIEF Honest, elegantly executed old-school French cuisine. WHY CHOOSE THIS
RESTAURANT? P&S creates classical French dishes in a humble cottage setting, in one of the so-called Six Sisters along Napier’s Marine Parade. While both service and setting may feel sufficiently homely and familial
for certain men to rock up in shorts, the dining is distinctly hoity-toity.
ABOUT THE FOOD Apart from significant concessions to vegetarianism, the meal experience is classical and rich, with gestures to haute cuisine – from the complimentary amuse-bouche to the miniature loaf of brioche with the duck liver mousse and the tiny house-made baguette with its rod of rosemary butter for the table.
ABOUT THE CHEF Samuel Goslin was born in Dunkirk but cooked for many years in Cannes and Nice. These influences show in his snapper with a fragrantly aniseedy pastis and fennel beurre blanc, courgette and tomato ragout, and the cubes of the unctuously soft chickpea flour, water and olive oil cake known as panisse.
ABOUT THE TEAM Opened in late 2019, P&S is a family affair, with
Samuel plus just one assistant in the kitchen and Madame Goslin running the front of house with her daughter and young son. They previously sited P&S in Whitianga – on account of Samuel’s passion for spearfishing – but after four years concluded that a town of 6,000 wasn’t the ideal location for an upscale French restaurant.
OF NOTE While the menu has the appearance of being à la carte, diners are obliged to order at least two courses. The menu’s wine matches, naturellement, are all French and, despite being cheapish, they can impress: there’s a seriously minerally rosé and a meaty Burgundian-style gamay beaujolais.
189 Marine Parade, Napier Dinner Tue–sat, entrée & main $60, main & dessert $55, entrée, main & dessert $75, 06 833 6300, poivresel.co.nz
WELLINGTON Cinderella
IN BRIEF Fine artisan produce, cooked over embers. WHY CHOOSE THIS
RESTAURANT? Recently opened by Yu Group in the building that formerly housed The Bresolin, Cinderella offers elaborately conceived snacks in its covered courtyard bar and modern European cuisine in its upstairs bistro.
ABOUT THE FOOD Baby sister to fine-dining restaurant Atlas, Cinders is casual and slightly lower priced. Taking the wood-fire concept one step further, it has retained The Bresolin’s Zesti wood-fired grill but added a Josper wood-fired oven to allow the baking of seductive spongy bread and roasting of succulent organic chickens. It’s also much more accessible. Challenging east-west fusions here gives way to cosily familiar French, Italian and Catalan inspirations, albeit with modern tweaks. Meat and fish are exclusively sourced from ethical producers: unctuous pork rillette comes from a nicely marbled Berkshire supplied by Woody’s (see page 34), while a tasty no. 18 chicken breast from Bostock Brothers
(see page 32) has a dousing of fino sherry and a garnish of confit garlic. The poor reputation of kahawai is elevated in a nod to vitello tonnato, in which tuna and kahawai are emulsified to a smooth mayonnaise with olive oil, then topped with cavolo nero pistou. Ethics and indulgence happily coexist.
ABOUT THE CHEF While Yu Group executive chef James Pask wrote the opening menu, Cinders head chef Frank Brewer (formerly head chef at both Matterhorn and Monte Cervino) is now placing his own stamp on the repertoire.
ABOUT THE TEAM The sense of ordered calm in the Cinder’s kitchen is no doubt due to the happy fact that all three senior chefs previously worked together at Atlas.
OF NOTE The cinder-box theme extends to the charcoal-coloured dining room, where northern Rhône native Florence Pin acts as sommelier for the $80 chef’s menu, introducing a series of offbeat and delightful wine matches.
278 Willis St, Te Aro, Wellington Light snacks & dinner Wed–sat, lunch & dinner Sun, mains $30–45, 022 169 3504, cinderellawinebar.co.nz