TriBeCa

By EWAN McDONALD for viva


"Neighbourhood restaurant for the whole world," is the motto of the Tribeca Grill, a nice piece of understatement for a diner that puts on pot-luck dinners for Nelson Mandela and Bruce Springsteen, is owned by Robert DeNiro and was bankrolled by Bill Murray, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Lou Diamond Philips and Christopher Walken.

But we are not eating out in New York. We are eating out on the border of Parnell and Newmarket at a quite different TriBeCa, which Mr DeNiro does not own. Mark and Pauline Walynetz have had their names on the Companies Office papers since 1997, when they opened the place, naming it for the city where they got together, we are told by whoever wrote the stuff on their website.

"Our" TriBeCa, which uses the NY spelling for the Triangle Below Canal St that the NY one doesn't, has undergone several changes in food style and emphasis over those six years. In its earliest years, it functioned as a drop-in centre for recovering shopaholics who had indulged their habit at some of city's hardcore retail rooms in the newly renovated Blind Foundation building. Those were, perhaps, its muffin days. Apartments and gyms sprouted, the courtyard and veranda became a place to nibble and be seen in its salad days.

Last year it seemed chefs came and went faster than the laundry could clean the whites (Rick Rutledge-Manning, momentarily, before he found his niche in Hell's Kitchen, then Sarah Simpson who flew in for a few months before taking off for Kamakura and the Eagle's Nest resort in Northland).

The man at the stoves now is Richard Harris, whose 18 years' experience includes stints alongside Judith Tabron, Tony Astle, Warwick Brown and Antony Worrall Thompson, the English celeb-chef.

At a time when many in the business will tell you that people are done with fine dining, that they prefer a smart-casual food, dress and atmosphere code, TriBeCa has moved up the market. Its decor, once reminiscent of a summerhouse in a Merchant-Ivory film, has been softened with fabrics draped from the ceiling, the dining-room centred on a quite wonderful traditional oval table which might have come from the Remains of the Day set.

As for the food, we return to our correspondent at the website: "Richard offers a modern freestyle cuisine with influences from Thailand, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. His masterfully cooked dishes are visually stimulating and texturally exciting." Masterful, stimulating and exciting enough to win him the Supreme New Zealand Seafood Chef award for 2003, and the successful dish - hapuka fillet with green beans, bamboo shoots and vine tomatoes in a coconut lemongrass broth - has pride of place on his recently introduced winter menu.

With its deli-full of exotic ingredients and infusions, it's as full of attractions, diversions and concepts as Don DeLillo's latest tale of New York life. How to choose between the sweet potato, roast duck and crispy tortilla soup with cumin salsa and creme fraiche, or the braised char siu pork wrapped in a coconut sticky rice, shallot, cucumber pickle and chilli tomato dressing? Fresh thyme and orange blossom-scented pancake with cured tuna, avocado and celeriac remoulade ... and that's just among the entrees.

Chef is really freestyling by the time we get to the mains: a seared escalope of tajo ostrich with roast Jerusalem artichokes, poached cotechino and a forest mushroom fricassee. Duck confit with pan roast potatoes, black olives, caramelised onions and spiced tomato pickle. Poached-fried poussin with lebanese nut pilaf, mustard yoghurt and coriander dressing.

Fortunately there were four of us and a quartet with varied preferences can traverse many of the dishes, which we did, and we agreed: care and attention is paid to the food, the detail, the balance of tastes and textures, and the presentation, but execution is restrained and doesn't completely deliver on the promise.

However, at Viva we are prepared to go the extra calorie and two of us returned for lunch some days later. Then, with the front-of-house in the experienced hands and bonhomie of Jean-Jacques Bourvis (the Bohemian, St Arnou), TriBeCa and its food seemed altogether lighter, brighter, more enjoyable. As the owner of that other Tribeca restaurant might say, "Analyze That."

Open: Lunch Mon-Fri 11.30am-3pm, bar snack Mon-Fri 3pm-6pm, dinner Mon-Sat 6pm-late

Owners: Mark and Pauline Walynetz

Chef: Richard Harris

Food: "Modern freestyle cuisine"

On the menu:

Fresh thyme and orange blossom-scented pancake with cured tuna, avocado and celeriac remoulade $18

Seared escalope of tajo ostrich with roast Jerusalem artichokes, poached cotechino and forest mushroom fricassee $32

Risotto arribiata with pan-fried market fish, preserved lemon and black olive salsa $27

Warm banana and coconut galette with passionfruit-honey icecream and candied pinenuts $12

Vegetarian: Interesting ideas on menu

Wine: Considered selection focusing on premium NZ styles, vintages

Disabled access: Good, ground floor, no steps, wide doors

Noise: Not that we noticed

TriBeCa takes its name from New York and its food from everywhere - Thailand, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Richard Harris, Supreme New Zealand Seafood Chef 2003, introduces a winter menu with a deli-full of exotic ingredients and infusions that sounds delicious but doesn't fully deliver. We recommend lunch/weekend brunch.

* 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.