Euro Restaurant and Bar

By EWAN McDONALD for viva

Blame Jamie Oliver: seems the Naked Chef inspired thousands of aspiring young cooks into the kitchen, but they are quitting at an alarming rate, citing authoritarian regimes, 12-hour working days, compulsory weekend work and paltry pay.

Say the researchers: "Personality, entertainment and location became increasingly important as the environment of food became popular. On television, the image of pleasure and excitement was depicted, without the hard work of the kitchen."

At Euro Restaurant and Bar the years - not hours - spent sweating over hot stoves are reflected in the joy of eating for their customers.

It is probably no coincidence that the restaurant has also put thought, care and investment into front-of-house staff, sommeliers, decor and 100 other details. This, not after the six 30-minute episodes of Oliver's Twist, is when the hard work of the kitchen pays off - for everyone.

At Euro, Michael James' arrival - plus the year-old management change - has revitalised the waterside bistro. There's been ever-so-slight tweaking of the room and ambience. Love the red vases in nooks along the rear wall, love the Motown and Trenchtown music that lifts the place on a freezing Monday night; not at all sure about the oddly balanced cutlery that can slip out of the hand.

But it has the feel - which so few of our restaurants manage - of a metropolitan, an international dining room. "It is," Ann said, with a phrase twisted so neatly that I have to steal it, "sophisticated without making a meal of it".

The maitre d' is suitably arch; our waiter, Paula, understood the menu and how the food worked, chose wines to accompany an eclectic range of choices from around the menu, and presented each glass for tasting with a flourish. A restaurant like Euro should have the "Ta-Da" factor, and she provided it. Perhaps the mains arrived a little too quickly after the entree plates disappeared: a minor quibble.

James has curbed earlier architectural tendencies (a course at Essence had a sort of trapeze on which the noodles were suspended over the broth, or something along those lines) and is turning out imaginative, considered fusion.

The shredded duck and truffle risotto "wafer" is a samosa-sized package; cut it open and the goodies spill out, a perfectly conceived and executed dish that surprised and piqued the tastebuds for the rest of the meal. Scallop and prosciutto wraps, set off with mozzarella mash and spring onion relish, did the same across the table.

Rabbit was on the menu, the second time in a month (is rabbit the new duck?). James bakes it in the wood-fired oven, wrapped in prosciutto and avoids, where so many less skilled folk can't, drying it out. There's enough game flavour here to take hearty accompaniments and he provides a lime and potato relish. Chargrilled crispy pork and wilted greens, in an orange and soy infusion seemed on the salty side this night.

But don't feel that James, Sigley and co have tossed the Euro that you used to know into the harbour. There is a special page on the menu for signature dishes, favourites from the four years that the place has been around, favourites from the chefs over those times, like Simon Gault's rotisserie chicken and the chargrilled eye fillet on a charred ciabatta slice with rocket leaves, parmigiano, balsamic vinaigrette, shiitake and portobello mushrooms - at $36, still the flashest steak sandwich in town.

Open: 7 days, noon until late

Owners: Richard Sigley, Brian Fitzgerald

Executive chef: Michael James

Food: Fusion

On the menu:

Roast chicken and citrus slice, winter vegetable salad, smoked garlic dressing $17.50

Upside-down salmon and potato pie, roast root vegetables, shellfish sauce $31

Coast and roast of beef tenderloin with tipsy parsnips and crayfish tartar sauce $45

Banana and butterscotch crumble with white chocolate icecream $14.50

Wine: Extensive and expensive

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