Auckland Scene: Attention! Just for those of us who never read to the end of an article I’m going to start with the conclusion. Here goes… The Next Crew – Art dinners are open to the public but as there are only 80 tickets, yes 80, they sell out in 2-3 hours. If you want to attend these dinners then keep your eyes super-glued here to Auckland Scene as we have the inside information.
The 3rd course - including worm!
Now to the review: Like a four-year old at Christmas I tripped out of the cab, uber-excited about the second instalment from The Next Crew – ART “Back to the Roots”. The details for the dinner were purposefully vague. These dinners are staged in secret, pop-up locations and the dishes are cooked to a theme. All we knew was to meet at The Terrace Bar Sky City.
Upon arrival we were told that cocktails and canapés were served and when finished we would then be given further instructions, ohhhhh I love intrigue.
The Terrace Bar was a hub-bub of excitement. There were some familiar faces from the previous dinner hence a few “Muwah, muwah nice to see you again”, and lots of new faces. A bar was set up and the talented crew from Mea Culpa were serving some very cool alcoholic concoctions. My favourite was served in the NZ famous milkshake cup with the giraffe on the side. You know the one that we all had thick milkshakes in from the local diary as a kid? A fantastic ode to “Back to the Roots”. (The longest drink in town)
With canapés and cocktails completed we were escorted to the lifts and told “Press level four”. The ride down was filled with anticipation and lots of nervous giggles from gals and blokes alike.
Plating up the 2nd course
The ‘secret dining room’ turned out to be the events kitchen in the Sky City Grand Hotel. Walking in we saw the large gleaming stainless steel kitchen to the left and then large round communal dining tables to the right. The location was an excellent backdrop for “Back to the Roots” and delighted all at our table. It removed all barriers between the Chefs and the diners, and became a stage upon which we got to watch the artistic and creative movements of the Chefs cooking and then plating their dishes.
I love the communal style dining, where hospitality industry people like celebrity chefs, restaurant owners, food writers, executive chefs, trainee chefs, growers and producers are seated with punters like The Man & me. This makes for rich and interesting conversation. I was sitting beside the Belle of the Ball, Viv from Juponica Gardens, whose micro-herbs and edible flowers graced every dish.
The Chefs were: New Zealand’s own; Mark Southon (The Foodstore), Hayden McMillan (TriBeCa) and Nick Honeyman (Dallow’s Sale St). Joining them were three Australian Chef’s; Morgan McGlone (ex Flinders Inn, Sydney now off to take on New York), Analiese Gregory, the lone female chef (Quay in Sydney) and Dan Wilson (Huxtable in Melbourne).
Victoria lives her dream: plating a dish
They cooked us six courses of WOW! We started with Morgan McGlone’s version of a boil up. Pork belly with ramen stock (brewed for 48 hours) and other deliciousness including Viv’s baby watercress. Succulent, rich in flavour, tender and yet crispy on the outside = YUMMO.
Next, Mark Southon’s Cerviche. Melt in your mouth yellow fin tuna with a lot of stylish components, including the impressive and delish truffle custard and truffle/white chocolate powder.
Hayden McMillan’s ‘The Roots’ came out as a plastic pot plant, where the dirt is squid ink brioche with goat’s cheese, and on top is a balsamic worm! The plants included micro turnips, radish and pea feathers. Hilariously creative and also scrummy.
Onto Analiese Gregory’s “I’ve got the Paua” (suitably accompanied by the soundtrack of similar name!), an intricately detailed but balanced dish with a lot of elements like dashi, smoked eel consume, and shaved squid with paua. Every spoonful was de–ee-vine! The highlight was the yuzu gel made from yuzu juice which was smuggled into the country [shhhh, don’t tell the beagles]. Never heard of yuzu?? Neither had most of our table … it’s a Japanese citrus fruit. Crikey it was gooood – my mouth is salivating at the memory on the pure citrus explosion on my palate.
Course 6 - dessert with foam
At this point in the evening I was bustled off to the kitchen to join the crew in plating up the next dish (anything for Auckland Scene!). I did enjoy yelling, “Service” – something I’ve always wanted to do. The dish was Dan Wilson’s ‘Pie & Sauce’. Everyone loves a pie, especially when it’s venison, so gorgeous.
Then came the conclusion to all the quaffing – Nick Honeyman’s ‘Root Vegetable Dessert’. What an art piece with fluffy celeriac foam, pink powder (beetroot and white chocolate), that looked great beside the cookie crumble crenels brûlée. But the artichoke macaroon was the winner for me.
It was another outstanding evening and I can’t wait for the next one. Super-glue your eyes to Auckland Scene and hopefully I will see you there.
Tickets $150.00 per person. Includes cocktails, canapés, six courses and wine matches.
- Victoria Davy
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Tags: Next Crew - Art, pop up restaurants
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