"My kids are getting older and a place like this can be all-consuming," says Bayly. "I've got three young children, and my family deserve a bit more of their dad. So I'm going to do that, and travel, and regroup."
The Herald understands Bayly is planning a restaurant of his own and is working on at least one book project, but the 37-year-old won't confirm details.
"I'm a chef, I've got to make something with my hands - I'll definitely do something else . . . I just don't know what or where yet. A good way to lose a shitload of money is to open a restaurant!"
Denning, 43, has been friends with Bayly for years. The pair have similar backgrounds, working in Michelin-starred London restaurants. Denning's last Auckland restaurant was Saison, in Epsom, and he has recently cooked on superyachts and assisted with restaurant set-ups in Russia.
"He's a bloody good cook," Bayly said. "He's got some big gonads too, and you need that. Plenty of others wouldn't want the job, the pressure, the expectations."
Bayly says customers have become increasingly critical and their opinions increasingly accessible online.
"I think they're more educated. They just know what they're eating and if it's under-seasoned, or the wine match isn't right."
He says chefs have learned to live with people photographing their food, "the problem I have with it is that good restaurants are always dimly lit, because the atmosphere is really important - but no-one can get a good shot!"
The Grove, a high-end Wyndham St restaurantowned by Annette and Michael Dearth counts Michael Meredith and Sid Sahrawat among its top kitchen alumni.
"We're in the Martha Stewart age," confirms MIchael Dearth. "Where people go to Farro [Fresh] and buy duck fat and they're doing that stuff at home. So our job, as people who own restaurants, is to take that bar and raise it even higher."
Denning is planning a major focus on organic foods - think wild-caught turbot - but he says he has no plans to keep pig's head on the menu.
"That's Ben's!"
UNDER THE GRILL
Eggs for breakfast?
Ben: Tortilla with kimchi.
Scott: Omelette with everything.
Last supper?
Ben: Oysters and champagne.
Scott: Wine. Red. Barossa.
The food that means "home"?
Ben: Pineapple chicken.
Scott: Roast.
Guilty pleasure:
Scott: Chocolate.
Ben: Yeah, Whittaker's fruit and nut and a cup of tea on Sunday. I can smash a whole bar with my wife.
One cuisine for the rest of your life?
Ben: Japanese. They live the longest and in this industry, we abuse ourselves so much.
Scott: South-east Asian. If there was a sushi place open at 2am, I'd go there, but there never is.
