Bella

By EWAN McDONALD for viva

To hell and back. Many people on the other side of the menus and stoves from us, the public, think that's a fair description of a busy night. But for one Ponsonby restaurant, that's been the story of the past few months.

Bella has had the sort of history that people who write those self-help books might describe as "character-building". Some years back, I wrote that the premises had been through so many creations that it was like the place in the Seinfeld episode called "the doomed site".

When we last visited on behalf of this column, only a year or so ago, it had been closed for almost two months for refurbishments (both in the furnishings and the finances) and was just getting back on its feet.

Earlier this year the owners decided to come to an arrangement with a TV production company to use the restaurant as the setting for a reality show, Hell's Kitchen. The idea was that several young wannabes would out-chef one another, under referee Rick Rutledge-Manning, to "own" their own restaurant. In reality, although not on the reality show, because it wouldn't have made such a good rags-to-riches story, several competitors were accomplished professionals who already ran their own establishments, like Jeremy Schmid and Dean Wong.

As part of the gig, Bella became Hell's Kitchen for several weeks. Even the name above the door was changed.

It all turned to custard. Bella lost its identity, its regular customers, and a lot of money remains in dispute.

But over the past few weeks, a new Bella has risen from the chargrilled remains of Hell's Kitchen.

Richard Satherley, a young Kiwi, has bought the restaurant, with the chef, Christian Roberts, as his business partner. Satherley, 28, has had eight years in the industry, spending five in London at bars and restaurants such as PJ's on Fulham Rd, Oxo Tower and Quo Vadis.

He came back to Auckland to manage Coast, on Princes Wharf. The departure lounge beckoned again: Satherley spent a year with the audacious, acclaimed, astounding Tetsuya Wakuda in Sydney. They say you can't come home again, but Satherley did, to manage the under-performing Bella last year.

Now, as owner, he teams up with Roberts, 27, trained in classic French cuisine from the age of 16. Roberts had gone to Sydney and become sous chef to Danny Russo at the regarded L'Unico, returning to Auckland to join Antonio Crisci at Toto and its brother, Non Solo Pizza.

Satherley takes up the story of the new Bella: "The public were confused as to what Bella was after Hell's Kitchen. Some believed Bella was Hell's Kitchen still. Our regular customers who liked the privacy of Bella did not come back as their experiences of Bella were diminished."

Fair to say, then, that there won't be a Hell's Kitchen: Seconds? "There might be, but Bella won't be involved."

"We are rebuilding the brand, Bella, and we long to get our regular customers back.

"Our cuisine is all about basic flavours and tastes, honest food at honest prices, great staff who are knowledgeable about our food and wine.

"Bella is not strictly Italian - we have an Italian name which means beautiful, and that's what we are trying to build on, beautiful food.

"We have Italian food, but also we have what we would say is classic cuisine which we have reworked into modern New Zealand cuisine. We are going back to basics, not confusing foods."

Ann and I ate at Bella after the change in ownership, but to be fair, before Roberts introduced his new menu. An entree of roasted pear with crispy prosciutto and greens was an excellent combination, the prosciutto a salty contrast to the sweetness of the pear; a buffalo mozzarella salad, though excellent quality, tasted slightly bland.

Pears featured in a main, steeped in balsamic as the foil to roasted venison on spinach and jus; all lusty winter tastes. The pork belly and dumplings was a four-star meal, perhaps not melt-in-the-mouth tender like a recent comparison, at GPK. But Bella gave us crackling.

Roberts creates desserts, unlike so many chefs around town who assemble them, we noted as we shared a gorgeous chocolate mousse chimney.

Jamie, our waiter, must have come straight out of Satherley's training course because he personified what the owner tells us he wants from his staff: mature, not obtrusive, a nice balance of the requisite amount of knowledge about the food and a clear hand with the wine choices (an Italian pinot grigio for the mozzarella salad, gewurztraminer for the pear salad, and Gibbston Valley pinot noir for the mains).

Unfortunately it's hard to concentrate on Roberts' food or our conversation when there's a football team just a few feet away or a woman smoking across the banquette. It wouldn't be too hard to separate them, perhaps with glass.

So if Satherley wants a customer's advice (he hasn't asked but he'll get it anyway) he might clarify whether Bella is a bar with a restaurant attached, like Soul, or a restaurant with an adjoining bar, like Euro.

Perhaps the best comment to end this on is Ann's thought: "We've been there a few times before, but this is the first time that we've really wanted to go back to Bella."

Open: Dinner 7 nights, lunch Tue-Fri (soon adding brunch Sat-Sun, noon-4pm)

Owner: Richard Satherley

Chef: Christian Roberts

Food: Modern NZ, Italian influences

Vegetarian: choices on menu

Wine: Depth and length in this selection, reds include a number from Italy, good choice by the glass

Smoking: Too close for comfort

Noise: Hubbub 'n' lounge

Parking: Street

Disabled access / toilets: Wide street access, separate facilities

Bottom line: Bella rises out of the chargrilled remains of a reality TV show and a change of management under new owner Richard Satherley and chef Christian Roberts. The pair aim to win back lost regulars with cuisine that reflects basic flavours and tastes, honest food at honest prices, great staff. After the year from Hell's Kitchen, these young guys deserve a break.


* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, fashion and beauty in viva, part of your Herald print edition every Wednesday.