Gilbert Wong
It's the modern diners dilemma: you want a treat but don't want to suffer the company of stuffed shirts and unctuous waiters. So we were terribly pleased after a night at The Grove, where the hosts accept that guests are there to eat and talk and don't need a raucous soundtrack to their lives.
Previously Alta and long before that the much loved Le brie, the room here has been wisely re-engineered with good chairs, elegant table setting and, best of all, chef Michael Meredith, who once delivered the goods at Vinnies. He has constructed an Exemplary menu that takes fresh local produce and creates exquisitely presented dishes with due deference to their classic origins.
Joanna's Indian spiced duck breast with carrot and cashew salad, coconut jelly and coriander oil $19 was a small miracle of an entrée, the duck pink and succulent, the spices informing but never overpowering. My smoked snapper with roasted yams, avocado, cucumber and Japanese dressing ($17) worked well, the yams complementing the delicate strands of fish.
For mains she went for the fillet of beef with Horopito butter, Jerusalem artichoke and a forest mushroom ragout ($29), a rarefied version of steak and mushrooms that showed how much they were made for each other. My pork fillet with confit belly, apple purée and roasted fennel with quince jus ($28) was an aromatic wonder.
Dessert? we chose the Manukau honey brulée with lemon sorbet and lavender lassi and the blue cheese panna cotta with marinated dates and walnut fritters ($14). They came plated like a sculptor's exercise: small, perfect confections.
My second visit was with a business journo who likes fish, so th the market fish with scallops, kumara purée, ginger and lemongrass ($29) was a no-brainer. I was curious to try the ballontine of quail with chestnut and cinnamon risotto and soused figs ($29). The bird is deboned, then stuffed, and arrives as tender roundels. The business journo demolished his fish in no time and I was a close second.
The office was calling and we regretted the demise of a long lunch. The Grove's sure sense of cuisine, allied with waiters who know their menu and wine list inside out, is a classic in the making. Long may it prosper
