JUNE 1 2019 LISTENER 19
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in the kitchen, but it’s also more risky.
“Being individual means they aren’t bound
by supplier contracts and menu changes for
a whole group, which means that there are
some really cool things happening.”
Meikle helped set up the Wellington
food festival a decade ago and has overseen
its growth into the country’s biggest. The
growing trend in Wellington, she says, is the
popularity of suburban dining, with quality
eateries popping up in locations such as
Brooklyn, Te Aro and Petone.
Outside the big cities, foodies are spoilt for
choice with “destination restaurants” such
as the award-winning Pacifica restaurant, on
Napier’s Marine Parade, which specialises
in innovative Māori cuisine. In Oamaru,
Riverstone Cafe draws locals and people
from far and wide, as does the iconic Fleur’s
Place in Moeraki.
A NEW ERA OF FINE DINING
In Auckland, acclaimed chef Sid Sahrawat
is taking an afternoon break between the
lunch and dinner shifts at his Ponsonby
restaurant, Sidart. He is a chef who has
bucked the trend and succeeded in the
difficult fine-dining category and, last
July, he switched his modern-European
restaurant to fine-dining Indian.
Born and raised just outside Delhi, the
chef is serving some of his grandmother’s
recipes with a modern twist. He’s taking
hapuku from Leigh Fisheries, smothering
it in Bengali spices, the Indian spice blend
panch phoron and serving it with scallops.
“It’s Indian, but not as you know it,’’ he says.
Sahrawat adds that fine-dining Indian
is a style that New Zealanders are ready
for because our palates have become
more sophisticated over the past decade.
We’re more adventurous, more willing to
experiment with new dishes and food styles.
Part of the reason for the menu switch
is that last September, Sahrawat and his
wife, Chand, bought New Zealand’s most-
acclaimed restaurant, The French Cafe,
from longtime owners chef Simon Wright
and sommelier/maître d’ Creghan Molloy-
Wright. Sahrawat has renamed it Sid at
The French Cafe and put his spin on the
European-themed fine-dining menu.
A BOWL OF CORNFLAKES
The owner-operator model is a recipe for
success if the conditions are right, but the
restaurant scene is also littered with high-
profile failures.
Sitting in Wellington’s busy Prefab cafe
during the lunchtime rush, chef Martin
Bosley tucks into a plate of eggs and talks
about his present activities: teaching
3
“Diners are spoilt for
choice. People think that
restaurant owners are
rich. The reality is, it’s a
bowl of cornflakes.’’