Herald on Sunday rating: * * * * 1/2
Where: Market Kitchen and Bar 9 Davis Cres, Newmarket
Phone: 524 8997 www.marketkitchenandbar.co.nz Lunch, Wednesday to Friday; Brunch, weekends; Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday
Wine list: Extensive, not expensive. Full bar service.
Vegetarians: One dish du jour.
Watch out for: A chill breeze.
Sound check: Boisterous when the bar's full.
Bottom line: Stylish food in a casual setting
KEY POINTS:
Believe nothing that the Blonde says. I am never wrong. But occasionally circumstances conspire to render a once-correct assertion questionable as to its accuracy.
In June, for example, the excellent Hurstmere Rd bistro Wine and Roses introduced some inaccuracy into my assertion that there are no good restaurants in Takapuna. Now this makeover of the Olympic Cafe at the foot of Carlton Gore Rd has done the same with respect to Newmarket.
Matthew McAlpine, formerly of Dejeuner in Palmerston North, has teamed up with Alastair Bryan, whose CV includes having trained the coffee-makers at Peter Gordon's London restaurant The Providores. Head chef Adrian Brett-Chinnery was at Hotel du Vin for five years. It adds up to a professional package even if some of the self-consciously casual style grates: it's never a good idea for the maitre d' to take a seat while he runs through the specials.
Our waitress for the evening, however, was a personable Oregonian with an uncanny resemblance to Renee Zellweger who managed a perfect tone - friendly and helpful without being gushy or obtrusive.
I was struck by the mention on the menu that the fish of the day - bluenose - was cooked sous-vide. The process - the name is French for "in a vacuum" - involves sealing the food in a heatproof plastic bag and cooking it, typically at much less than 100C, for long periods - in the case of some meat cuts, for days. It didn't seem to me ideally suited to fish, although anything goes: the New York Times reports that, at Thomas Keller's Per Se, they prepare watermelon sous-vide which "compacted the fruit's cells and concentrated its flavour" so it had the texture of meat.
The fish, we were told, was done for 40 minutes and, although it emerged fantastically moist and dense, I can't say that the flesh itself tasted of much save the sprig of rosemary stabbed into it.
But the Blonde seemed happy enough - an accompanying caper sauce and a pistachio crumble saw to that - and, anyway, I was eating the lamb. This was a saddle, stuffed with black pudding and served - with two sweetbreads impaled on another rosemary sprig - atop a warm slaw of savoy cabbage, with roast baby carrots on the side.
It was deliciously wintry, perfect for the vicious night outside, and I liked it so much that I stopped sulking about the fact that the Blonde, sounding a cholesterol alert, had forbidden me from ordering the pork cheeks.
We had preceded this with entrees of a mushroom tart topped with sweet ricotta (at once rich and delicate) and tiny, nutty gnocchi in a creamy sage sauce with large chunks of fresh walnut.
The bread-and-butter pudding we shared, a baked slice of brioche with all the trimmings, was a perfect finish.
The room, refitted with lovely deco lampshades, is cool for this time of year, but should be fine in summer with the windows flung wide. Market has set a benchmark for the area; let's hope it gets lots of competition - soon.
The bill
$149 for two
Entrees (2) $32
Mains (2) $60.50
Sides (1) $7
Dessert (1) $14
Wine (3 glasses) $35.50
* Do you know of a good place I should be checking out? Email peter.calder@heraldonsunday.co.nz
