Verona Cafe, Auckland city

By EWAN McDONALD for viva



"Verona is living, breathing coolness. It's located in Auckland's original and still-going-strong red light district, famous for its giant Polynesian drag queens and great choice of massage parlours. There's a lushness and opulence reminiscent of an early Victorian brothel ... "

I'm completely unfamiliar with the decor of bordellos, early Victorian or any other period, and we certainly wouldn't be taking the niece to one as a credit in her first semester of Teenager In Auckland: 101.

Those breathless words belong to Karen Walker, writing in Oyster magazine in mid-1999 as one of the "team of experts on a selective, whirlwind tour of some of the world's coolest eating houses and nightspots".

Walker's right, of course. Since Hilary Ord and Janet Sergeant remodelled "the old and wonderfully dingy coffee lounge of the sausage-roll-and-lamington variety" in 1992, Verona has been the heart and soul of K Rd.

Even the Auckland City Council finally noticed that something was happening and gave the street a facelift a year or two back. The newish look oozes and infuses uptown so that it looks and feels what it always has been, one of the main streets of Polynesia's metropolis.

Inside Verona, too, there has been a bit of nipping and tucking.

Gone is the "impressive collection of Kiwiana, art glass and pottery" that, Walker felt, "created a high standard of New Zealand kitsch". Dare I write it, but the place seems to have been tidied, dusted and buffed up from the slightly down-at-heel cafe of a few years back.

We used to visit often because a good friend was quietly and undemonstratively of the vegetarian persuasion and favoured Verona because it was one of the few restaurants where she could enjoy the menu without too much fuss. (She's since had a rush of blood and moved back to Hamilton, which I can only put down to deficiencies in her diet. Vegetarianism, regular readers may have noted, is possibly the only point at which my politics collide with those of Clarissa Dickson Wright.)

The crowd - and the vibrant staff - remain artistically self-conscious (and you can rearrange those words in any order you care), though an American tourist site that notes "the clientele runs from K Rd locals to passing weirdos and advertising industry types looking for a cool place to meet" is a tad judgmental.

Harking back to Walker's column for almost the last time, you'll notice another shift in fashion. Now the artworks on display are an impressive collection of tattoos.

The menu is not, however, lentils and mung beans any way you like. Ord is a leader of Madge; Dean Williams, another staffer, hosts National Radio's environment show and bFM's Greendesk. Meat is organic; so, too, are vegetables, where possible. Vegan and wheat-free food is available.

Matt Wilkinson, the head chef, came north from Wellington to Alba and City Cafe, highly regarded Lorne St eateries before changes of ownership. He's been and gone and come back to Verona three times over the past eight years or so and soon it'll be gone again, to become a caterer under the "dish" brand.

Wilkinson says Verona's menu has always been eclectic, and feels he has a clean food style, influenced greatly by Italian, Spanish, Greek, Moroccan, Asian and the American South, which offers a great degree of latitude (and a fair amount of longitude, too).

"Vegans, carnivores, herbivores and anyone interested in good food are catered for", promises his menu, so dear old Clarissa would have to bypass corn and kumara cakes coated in polenta, roquette and basil soyanaise or seared tofu in an umeboshi, miso, carrot and beet sauce with basmati rice and seasonal greens.

She could park the old Triumph at one of the more enjoyable, uncomplicated, seasonal meals that I've tasted recently: lamb with a luscious, red and yellow peppery stew. Another dish that tempts is spaghetti with organic roast chicken, bok choy, chilli, lime, Vietnamese mint and Thai basil, in which Wilkinson exercises that geographical bent.

Jess' penne burst with the joys of late summer: roast tomato, spinach, garlic, feta, olives, lemon and rosemary. Ann's snapper was pan-fried just long enough to seal the juices, until the first forkful released them to mingle with Asian-inspired vegetables.

Wines, mostly available by the glass, and beers are drawn from boutique vineyards and smaller breweries that share the owners' commitment to organic produce, so the list is by definition exclusive.

Happily, the wines are almost exclusively Kiwi, and it's pleasant to be able to note that you won't pay much more than supermarket prices. Regrettably, most beers are imported. Is there a message here?

"Great value, and one of the most original and interesting cafes I've seen anywhere in the world," was Walker's generous assessment. Just a thought, though: if women from Madge run Verona, is it a cafe or a brasserie?


Open: Coffee Mon-Sat 11am-late, Sun 5pm-not too late; lunch Mon-Sat 11am-3pm; dinner Tues-Sat 6pm-11pm

Owner: Hilary Ord, Janet Sergeant

Chef: Matt Wilkinson

Food: Kiwi cafe with organic, GE-free principles

On a menu:

Layered organic tofu, carrot and spinach wrapped in nori, tempura, on umeboshi/tahini sauce $14

Skewered mussels pan-fried with basil and garlic, roquette and chilli beurre blanc $15.50

Seared scotch fillet with roast balsamic and thyme potatoes, beans and bearnaise sauce $22.50

Bread and butter pudding with whipped cream or yoghurt $4.50

Vegetarian: Indisputably

Wine: Eclectic list focusing on boutique vineyards and independent breweries, preferably Biogro/organic

Smoking: Wouldn't recommend it. Maybe at a pavement table

Parking: Taking the bus is more environmentally friendly

Disabled access/toilets: Street level entry, easy access

BOTTOM LINE

At Verona, the heart and soul of K Rd and Madge, the menu is not lentils and mung beans any way you like. Soon-to-depart head chef Matt Wilkinson caters for "vegans, carnivores, herbivores and anyone interested in good food" with fresh, clean dishes of seasonal, organic produce while the cafe has been buffed up, along with the street.

* 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.