HIGH AND DRY
TABLES
For a fine-dining surprise in Auckland, just jump on a ferry, writes Susan Kurosawa
August 19, 2006
Weather or not: Located 35 minutes from Auckland, tranquil Waiheke Island is a favourite for daytrippers
NEW Zealand's gateway city is, in turn, sunny and showery this wintry Saturday morning, and the wind off the harbour comes with a kick. We are all but blown aboard the Fullers catamaran for the 35-minute crossing from Auckland to Waiheke Island.
"Auckland's Paradise in the Hauraki Gulf" is the tourism association's marketing ploy for this pretty island of 9300ha, which was settled in the 1850s by farmers who cleared forests and grew melons and peaches. The landscape is still fertile, studded with stony-soiled vineyards and flourishing olive groves, and the 96km coastline is gouged by myriad bays. On its south side, Whakanewha Regional Park features coastal forest, native birds and historic Maori sites.
There's accommodation aplenty on Waiheke Island but, like most overseas visitors, we are daytrippers. The brochures promise a microclimate and many of our fellow passengers are kitted up with surprisingly light clothing for midwinter Auckland, and there's much poring over maps of foreshore walkways and cycle trails.
From little Matiatia Wharf we take a taxi for the 10-minute trip to Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant on lofty Croll Ridge. We've been assured it's the island's best, and when booking we asked for a table with a view. And what a view it is: beyond our windowside eyrie, across unruly native manuka bush, is the distant city skyline, with Auckland Tower poking up like a hypodermic needle. We look away for a few moments and it's gone, as if someone has pulled down a blind. During the next two hours, we feel as if we are living in the Weather Channel. Auckland comes and goes, silver-shiny with rain one minute and evaporated into cloud the next.
As its name heralds, the restaurant is constructed of hand-hewn mudbricks but the look is far from earthy: upper and lower west-facing stone terraces, columns, exposed beams and brick arches. It's all rather Tuscan winery meets pale ochre country villa, and indoor-outdoor dining would be a treat in spring and summer. Large bifold doors open up the long brick-floored restaurant as diners all but spill into the olive trees and herb-filled kitchen gardens.
The estate is planted with chardonnay, syrah, cabernet sauvignon and franc, and malbec. Mudbrick also blends sauvignon blanc grapes from Marlborough and riesling from Nelson. It feels good to see the wine poured at table from Mudbrick-labelled bottles, considering the cellars and most of the grapevines are so close to hand.
Judging by the extent of the cocktail and wine lists, meals here must keep a carefree timetable, but our two-hour visit is dictated by a return ferry and journey south of Auckland. We tell this to the waiter, who consults his watch and does a quick calculation; he proceeds to bring our courses and drinks at perfect intervals. We dither over the reds and he recommends the Mudbrick malbec at $NZ11 ($9) a glass; it is rich and plummy, not too heavy for lunch on such an indoors kind ofday.
A starter platter of focaccia is served with No.29 Waiheke olive oil and marinated olives ($NZ8.50). My entree of paua sashimi in ponzu sauce ($NZ20) is presented on a long and slender white tray, with a hillock of citrus salad. It's as delicate as any I've seen in a Japanese restaurant and the slices of pearly paua are almost transparent. At first it looks barely there -- perhaps eight wafer-thin morsels of this native abalone -- but the fragility of the dish encourages slow eating.
In comparison, my second course of crayfish and ricotta ravioli on sauteed silverbeet ($NZ20 entree; ordered as a main, $NZ32) seems almost boisterous. It's the sort of dish that calls for a straw hat, an Antonio Carluccio belly and a Vespa on standby.
My partner goes for the soup of the day ($NZ15), which this afternoon is a satisfyingly chunky and salted pea and ham, followed by a miso-macerated salmon fillet served on creamed leek and green peppercorns with a beurre blanc ($NZ35), which he describes as delicious, if a little moist and with over-merged flavours. A side of excellent french fries ($NZ6) comes in a cute little copper bucket.
Dining in New Zealand is distinguished by a championing of local and regional produce, and the Mudbrick menu includes west coast lamb, marbled Black Angus eye fillet, the piri piri relish often found in traditional Maori cuisine and internationally successful Kapiti aged cheddar from Paraparaumu near Wellington.
The food here is just terrific, the table settings classy and the straight-backed gold-painted chairs more comfortable than they look.
The CinemaScope view of Auckland is flickering like an old movie. We are tempted to cancel the rest of the weekend and find a bed for the night. A Waiheke Island brochure suggests lodges, villas, beachside units and B&Bs with names as homely as Carol & Brian's Place.
But our pre-booked taxi has arrived and we board the catamaran with 10 minutes to spare. We have a quick nap on the way back to Auckland, but not before congratulating ourselves on what our parents would have called "a good day out". Between leaving the jetty and reaching our parked rental car, we open and close our umbrellas five times.
All Tables visits are unannounced and meals paid for.
