Herald rating: * * * * *
Address: 33 Sale St
Phone: (09) 358 1702
Website: clooney.co.nz
Open: Lunch: Friday; dinner Monday-Saturday
I am under strict instructions from the Professor not to mention that it was our wedding anniversary.
"You do it every year," she said, "and you say something about staying power and make it sound like being married is a trial."
I knew I had half a second to think of a diplomatic response. A second elapsed, which made the next 24 hours tricky.
To set the record straight, then: we did not go to Clooney to celebrate the Professor's having put up with me for another year. We went because ... ah, that's it ... it had just been named runner-up in the Best Smart Dining: Metropolitan section of the Cuisine Restaurant Awards, a title won by the exceptional Logan Brown in Wellington.
We'd been not long after it opened in 2007 (before chef Des Harris was presiding in the kitchen) and though the food was almost all outstanding, I wasn't much taken with the Fearon Hay design.
That may be because we were virtually alone in the echoing space, because on second thoughts, I loved it.
The warehouse-like interior is broken into small units by slightly see-through curtains of long black string, so that the diner feels cocooned in an intimate space but not cut off from the action.
Skilfully designed lighting picks out the spot where your food will be presented, adding hugely to the sense of occasion, but the spotlights are so precise that the diner remains in discreet gloom. Meanwhile, the long-aproned waiters move between the pools of light. It is all terribly posh and very impressive and I was glad I'd worn my clean jeans.
Of the food, it is difficult to speak too highly. Harris was nominated for the Innovative Chef award at the Lewishams in May (where Clooney's owner, Tony Stewart, was named Restaurateur of the Year) and it's not hard to see why.
The design of each dish is thoughtful but never fussy. Assemblages are pleasing on the eye and the experience can be theatrical - the crayfish consomme was poured tableside by a waitress who prefaced the act by simply saying, "Now, the best part" - but Harris doesn't forget he's in the food, not the art, business.
That consommé, for example, pooled around a mandala of exquisite subtlety: cubes of kingfish arranged around a circular custard made with dashi (a fine Japanese fish stock) and topped with apricot-orange pearls of salmon caviar. The delicate bouillon half-poached the fish as I ate. The Professor, meanwhile, was deeply impressed with a small, rich blue-cheese soufflé that came with slices of pear poached in wine. I toyed with the idea of suggesting to her that being married to me was still quite a good idea after all these years but decided not to push my luck.
Things got even better: her snapper, crispy skinned but meltingly moist, lay on a platform of thick-sliced prosciutto with creamy purées of carrot and smoked potato; I had meaty discs of pork fillet which could be paired, as I wished, with delicate milk sausage, chestnuts or soft medjool date.
And desserts - notably an oozingly moist fondant of Xocopili chocolate (flavoured with chilli and paprika) - were beyond praise.
Clooney is not budget dining: with only three glasses of wine between us, it was about $120 a head - but it was worth every cent. This place stands in the very front rank of Auckland restaurants.
Ambience: By the bucketload.
Vegetarians: One entree, one main.
Watch out for: Ecstasy.
Bottom line: Occasion dining.
