Sean Connolly, creative director of food and beverage, Esther: Bacon & egg doona by Al Brown at Depot – mic drop moment!
Matty Opai, beverage director, Icebergs (Sydney): Not really, I love eating them all. Don’t need the clout. Though the fish burger at Icebergs – add fried egg – is somewhat of a signature.
Edmundo Farrera, owner, Tacoteca: Mole.
Emilie Pullar, pasta blogger and recipe developer, The Burnt Butter Table: The cheese-filled thin crispy bread at Amano. It gets me every time.
Gareth Stewart, partner chef, Advieh: So many! The pork bossam at Majordoma in Los Angeles is a smoked and slow-cooked pork shoulder served with condiments.
The best meal you’ve ever had in downtown Auckland?
Emilie Pullar: Every meal we have had at Gilt has been incredible. Glen [File], the executive chef there, looks after us so well. It feels fancy but also so welcoming and casual at the same time.
Gareth Stewart: That’s a tough one. I am torn between Gemmayze Street and Hello Beasty. Two very different cuisines but both packed with flavour and both consistently good.
Matty Opai: This is tough. Usually my go-to’s are Soul, Oyster & Chop, and Wildfire. In saying that, I can’t help but think my most memorable meal was at The White lady after a few too many tequilas. I’ll spare you the details.
Edmundo Farrera: Mr Javier Carmona made his version of frijoles charros at La Fuente. The casserole was cooked over charcoal – beans and guanciale base with smoked pork ribs, smoked yoghurt, grilled spring onion and salsa macha. Anyone who knows Mexican food was blown away that night!
Sean Connolly: Cassia. Sublime. After travelling from Kashmir to Goa, I felt as though each dish was representative of villages and cities I had visited along the way. I could taste the regions. Their pani puri was an atomic burst of flavours on my palate and reminded me of the bhel puri I had eaten on the streets of Goa.
Is there a perfect drink to begin a restaurant experience?
Sean Connolly: Yes, and it’s not water. Nothing turns me off more than being offered still, sparkling or tap. I like to start with a glass of bubbles, like No.1 Daniel Le Brun. Opens up the palate, gets the saliva going – it’s a “back of the net” kind of moment.
Edmundo Farrera: Filthy martini (mine is with Mezcal and two olives).
Emilie Pullar: Downtown, we head to The Nightcar for a cocktail before a meal, it’s such a special place. Otherwise, I generally start with bubbles or a negroni.
Gareth Stewart: I love to get things going with a dirty gin martini or Champagne. And a good old long lunch should have a few refreshing beers to break up the wines!
Matty Opai: I love starting a meal with an Americano cocktail. Bittersweet and super refreshing. Having one makes my mouth water and gets me in the mood for eating. So, naturally, I have three.
Matty Opai, beverage director at Sydney’s Icebergs, is coming to Auckland Restaurant Month for a one-off collaboration with Soul Bar.
The one thing you’ll always order?
Sean Connolly: If a menu looks like an explosion in a fireworks factory, I go straight for the steak, it’s usually the most uncomplicated item on the menu.
Gareth Stewart: Oysters. I love to start with a dirty gin martini or glass of Champagne matched with a few oysters, served natural.
Emilie Pullar: Chocolate fondant.
Matty Opai: I generally always go steak – the bigger the better. Love chewing on the bone of a rib-eye or T-bone.
Edmundo Farrera: Fish – whole, if available.
The Burnt Butter Table’s Emilie Pullar (left) is joining forces with chef Sean Connolly’s team at Esther for an Auckland Restaurant Month event.
The one thing you’d like to see more of on a menu?
Sean Connolly: There’s not enough offal on menus these days. Cooking with offal feels like a lost art that should be rekindled. Every foodie and enthusiast I know always goes for the offal and unusual morsels. It’s a place where the chef can show technical skill and passion for the dark art.
Emilie Pullar: Chocolate fondant! (See previous question).
Gareth Stewart: More alternative fish species. Sure, snapper is nice, but we should work harder at trying something else. At Advieh, we often use hake, Alfonsino, Southern Boar fish, monk fish and many more.
Matty Opai: Offal. I know it sounds weird, but I absolutely love eating things like tendon, tripe, liver, sweetbreads, etc. Done right, it’s 10/10.
Edmundo Farrera: Seafood. We are an island nation.
Can you remember your first restaurant experience?
Matty Opai: Volare Italian restaurant at The Gardens, South Auckland, was Mum and Dad’s favourite. I have photos of me dancing there and getting tips thrown at me as a 2-year-old.
Edmundo Farrera: Of course I do, a seafood restaurant at the meeting place of river and sea in Coatzacoalcos, so you can smell the salinity before you get there. I remember having a prawn cocktail and the emotion of having a treat!
Sean Connolly: Solo Mio, Huddersfield, Summer of 82. Chilled pepper smoked mackerel, aioli, lemon, brown bread and butter. Sole Mio, a popular Italian restaurant in Huddersfield’s Imperial Arcade opened in 1975 and closed down 35 years later. The restaurant was run by Nino Granata and Mario Bortoletto and was a Huddersfield favourite
Emilie Pullar: If I am answering this really honestly, it is a pizza place in Christchurch where I grew up called Spagalimis. It was the best place for a kid’s birthday, and their fries were so legendary (years later, we all realised they were just frozen fries from the supermarket, and it really ruined the fantasy).
Gareth Stewart: I remember being around 7 or 8 years old and being in a French restaurant in Portsmouth with my dad – pink tablecloths, and quite posh. It was the first time I tried escargot. I remember the tongs and the little picks. They were very garlicky … liked the flavour and the chewy texture. I already knew that I wanted to be a chef so I was quite happy to try anything.
Edmundo Farrera from Tacoteca, where Auckland Restaurant Month events include a hands-on Masa class with dinner and drinks.
The most formative thing that’s happened to you in a restaurant?
Edmundo Farrera: Exposure to exquisite wines, those which are considered of higher importance than the food. I worked at Hakkasan in London under a tremendous wine buyer and head sommelier. Those sessions made me who I am in hospitality.
Gareth Stewart: I would have been in my 20s and had booked a table in a Michelin-star restaurant; my first time dining in such a place. I was waited on by an older gentleman and he made us feel so unwelcome – like we didn’t belong there. My girlfriend at the time felt very uncomfortable. It was from there that I knew that guests from any walk of life needed to feel welcome from the moment they entered the building. No judgment, just open arms and being made to feel like you belong.
Matty Opai: Having BSY [Sydney chef] – Big Sam Young – dump a huge bump of caviar on my hand and completely fill my plate of anything in black truffles. Iconic!
Sean Connolly: Being given the reins of Astral in 2007 – full control of both front and back of house – was the most exciting time of my career and the most stressful. I got alopecia and large clumps of my hair fell out, but it was worth it.
Emilie Pullar: My husband and I have a favourite restaurant in Los Angeles called Bestia. It’s impossible to get a table and the first time we went they could only fit us in at 5pm. The kitchen is open to the restaurant and because we were there so early, we got to see the full team of chefs come together and do a big huddle and chant to get themselves fired up. It was so incredible to see.
When was the last time a restaurant dish surprised you?
Sean Connolly: Ragtag’s steak tartare taco, with pickled onion and cheese powder was off the hook. The lads there are doing an amazing job, and blew me away, to be honest. They weren’t that good on My Kitchen Rules from memory. I voted them off, of which they kindly reminded me of.
Emilie Pullar: I recently went home to Christchurch and had an amazing long lunch at Black Estate. They only had one dessert on the menu, which was a white chocolate, cream cheese, carrot ice cream situation. It’s not something I would ever have chosen but we all agreed it was one of the best desserts we had ever had. It was honestly so perfect.
Edmundo Farrera: It must be the chicken hearts with farofa at Tempero – no wastage! This is such an underrated ingredient. I love seeing it on the menu, and [chef] Fabio Bernadini’s skill with bold Latin flavours.
Matty Opai: I was in Bali and there was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place called Pasta Dealer. I’ll be honest, in the middle of Canggu, I didn’t have high hopes. I ordered spaghetti carbonara. Easily one of the single best pasta dishes I’ve ever had. A++++
Gareth Stewart: A restaurant in Singapore called Cure, owned by a friend of mine, Andrew Walsh. A box of Jammy Dodgers came to the table but when you ate them, they were stuffed with foie gras parfait and a raspberry jam. Utterly decadent and very clever.
Gareth Stewart, partner chef at Advieh, one of the 100-plus restaurants offering special set-price, multi-course menus for Auckland Restaurant Month.
Tipping – yes, no, how much and why?
Gareth Stewart: On the most part, yes. If you have a good time, then definitely show your appreciation; however, it shouldn’t be a given. Some establishments expect it even when the experience has been poor. There’s always a danger that some servers are in it just for the tips and will sometimes give better service to a guest they think will pay out and neglect other tables.
Matty Opai: Yes. Generally, even if the service isn’t the best, there are still more people involved in your meal than that one server, who all deserve something. A few bucks here or there. I’ll usually go 15-20% if I’ve had a belter of a time.
Edmundo Farrera: Yes! But coming from Mexican hospitality, I will only do this if there is a display of the X factor, or if we simply want to support the staff or businesses.
Sean Connolly: I always tip 10% and sometimes 15% depending how the meal went. There’s an art to presenting the opportunity to the customer that not all restaurants have mastered. I find it an extraordinary, missed opportunity for the customer to show their appreciation.
Emilie Pullar: I generally do, even if it’s just a small gesture. To me, service is such a huge part of the dining experience, so I like to acknowledge it.
You know you’re in an Auckland restaurant when you’re eating . . .
Edmundo Farrera: Kingfish crudo, Te Matuku oysters or sliders of some sort after Al Brown started the trend.
Sean Connolly: Katsu Sandwich at Hello Beasty – good tunes, great service.
Emilie Pullar: Fish crudo! And I am so happy everyone has their own version, as it’s the perfect way to start a meal for me.
Gareth Stewart: Fried calamari. I’m pretty sure it’s on most menus. There are a few of my squid dishes still floating around in previous restaurants. It is good. When you have the right balance of sauce and spice, and the squid is cooked beautifully, you can’t go too wrong.
Matty Opai: Te Matuku Oysters and whitebait. Both of those make me feel home again. Nothing better.
The dish/ingredient/meal you’re most excited to eat next?
Matty Opai: The first thing I eat when I get to Auckland. Two steak and cheese pies and a punnet of kina. You can take the boy out of South Auckland … you know the rest!
Edmundo Farrera: Ingredients? Anchovies with something. And the dish would be ‘Taco de Lengua’. At Tacoteca, we’re doing a special with incredible quality tongue.
Sean Connolly: I love inhaling oysters when I’m travelling. Each oyster has its own story and its own flavours of its location. Auckland-Sydney-New York-Marseille – they all have their own tale to tell.
Emilie Pullar: I think we have established I love chocolate? I am hanging out to try the latest Whittaker’s banana caramel block.
The pitch
Heart of the City Auckland Restaurant Month is in its 15th year with more than 100 set-price menus ($30, $45 and $55+) and 20-plus special events including collaborations, masterclasses and international guests. Sell us your offering.
Matty Opai: Icebergs in Sydney is notorious for translating seasonal, local produce into our signature Italo-Australian menu and Mediterranean-inspired beverage programme. We’re stoked to have access to the quality and unique produce of Aotearoa, and to be bringing our signature style to the epic waterside setting of Soul Bar.
Edmundo Farrera: We are flavour, spice and great ambience. Feast with Tacoteca – come along to get your hands into the masa over cocktails and Latin vibes. Join us to learn the craft of Mexican cooking and make the food we love to eat together. (For the aspiring little chefs, we’re also doing a family-friendly Masa Class full of culinary fun and tacos).
Emilie Pullar: Myself, Sean Connolly and executive chef James Laird have designed a pasta-focused menu with seasonal sides and iconic Esther snacks to start. A beautiful custom-made ravioli mould will wow guests, followed by sharing-style pasta dishes including my famous slow-cooked pork and fennel ragu. Good food and good wine, plus a chance to roll some pasta if you would like to learn.
Sean Connolly: Honestly, when we are collaborating with another cook, we are a vehicle for them. We have created a platform for Emilie Pullar – an exceptional talent and wealth of knowledge – to showcase her passion for pasta.
Gareth Stewart: At Advieh, we have a very generous offering for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, you can have two courses with bread for $55 or three courses for $65 – light dishes, perfect for a quick lunch away from your desk. For dinner, our banquet menu allows you to try multiple dishes designed for sharing, including our puy lentil hummus with fried sujuk, whipped tahini and nigella seeds or our duck leg shish, smoky ketchup, beets and sheep’s curd. For the main course, you have to try our Fish Doctor Stew – market fish, cockles, winter greens, preserved lemon.
Auckland Restaurant Month runs August 1-31. Book at iTICKET.co.nz. Full programme at heartofthecity.co.nz
Kim Knight joined the New Zealand Herald in 2016 and is a senior journalist on the lifestyle desk.