White, Waterfront

By EWAN McDONALD for viva

Sooner rather than later, Auckland diners will have to face an unpalatable truth: We're not far off the $40 main. Of our top-table restaurants, Gault@George prices its 300g prime scotch rib at $34. The O'Connell Street Bistro asks $35.50, though it throws in potato rosti, sweetbread foie gras ravioli, curly kale and black olive jus. Cibo, Otto's and the French Cafe are relatively restrained at $31.50 and $32.

You'd expect the seafood places to be more expensive, and they are. Kermadec prices its seafood platter at $39.50 a head for two people with generous servings of sashimi, smoked salmon, prawns, mussels, smoked eel and three or four other breeds of fish.

It is, of course, the idiosyncratic Mr "Antoine" Astle who sails closest to the mark. His dead-flash take on peasant dishes such as lamb racks, venison steaks on the barbie or beefsteak and Yorkshire pud are just a buck shy at $39. Of course, if you're charging back the GST ...

Overseas visitors will still think these are bargains. Sydney rounded the $40 buoy almost a decade ago, Melbourne got there a couple of menus back, and London ... well, if you accept Mr Gordon Ramsay's hospitality at Claridges you can expect the credit card company to calculate the exchange rate at $255 a head for three courses with wine.

Fifteen, Mr Jamie Oliver's well-meaning training scheme for the long-term unemployed, will ever so politely ask 32 quid for a steak (sorry, fillet of McDuff longhorn beef, hung for 28 days, poached in Chianti Ruffina, served with braised celeriac, cima di rape and a little of the braising liquor. At that price -$89.37 - I'd need a fair tot of the braising liquor, ta, me old mate).

These thoughts are given voice - oh, all right, print - because we are dining at White where the entrees are $20 and the mains are $35, and the letters to the editor tomorrow will make some reference to the prices in Auckland restaurants these days.

Viva has been here before - White was one of our A-list restaurants in 2002 and last year - but some things bear repeating, like the unparalleled location above the Waitemata; the simple decor (one word: white); and the endearingly Kiwi lack of pretension around one of our best hotels, one of our finest dining-rooms.

Mark this down, in large part, to our waiter, Rowen, who was far more colourful than the decor and saved the place from the suspicion of stuffiness that can hang around a serious restaurant. Mind you, Rowen would have saved Queer Eye for the Straight Guy from a suspicion of stuffiness, and a White night will be less fun when he takes off with Emirates in the near future.

From the kitchen Geoff Scott, executive chef for a year, feels he has to satisfy local and overseas patrons. "Therefore my ambition with White is to showcase the best New Zealand has to offer as far as food and wine. My passion is to find out what is unique or representative of New Zealand, work with the natural flavours to create a balanced menu, yet each dish is unique in its own right.

"I enjoy finding small growers or producers that can supply high-quality seasonal produce - even better if it's exclusively for White. For example, White was recently the first restaurant in New Zealand to offer white asparagus from the South Island. Traditionally it's available only in the colder climates in the Northern Hemisphere."

The present menu is, rather decently, called "late summer" rather than "early autumn" or "after daylight saving". Scott features ingredients such as baby courgette flowers, fried in a light tempura batter and served on a chilled basil and cocoa bean soup.

Another example is fragrant rose geranium honey, from northwest Auckland's Bees Online, mixed with fresh pomegranate to accompany a delicious chargrilled quail. White uses Blemenfield Olive from Blenheim, the best olive oil in the world, according to the Los Angeles Country Fair.

On recent visits we've tasted a range of the dishes and enjoyed Scott's ability to juxtapose contrasting flavours. The delicacy of a tuatua souffle is balanced with minted cucumber spaghetti and the tang of lime cream and mango. Sweet and sour chicken, now there's a tried and true combination: Scott reinvents it as chargrilled quail with pink grapefruit against a pomegranate and rose geranium honey salad. The testosterone entree is an assertive rabbit, veal and bacon terrine, mollified with pistachio and muscatel marmalade.

Single-handed, Scott keeps star anise merchants in business. His powerful, liquorice-like signature appears in a main (chicken breast with sorrel on Israeli couscous and an Adrianesque tomato foam, innovative certainly, but for my taste a little too busy on the palate) and a dessert, where it's paired with white chocolate in a mousse, the sorbet spun from dear old black doris plum.

Piquant, stimulating, Scott's food is certainly interesting, as he takes simple, fresh ingredients and classic combinations, and strives for adventurous ways to redefine them.

And as soon as one menu is printed ... Says Scott: "I'm currently working on our next menu and looking at ideas to feature koura, a native fresh water crayfish and have recently come across a new fresh goat's milk cheese from Gibbston Valley."

Open: Seven days lunch and dinner

Management: Hilton Hotels

Executive chef: Geoff Scott

Food: Contemporary NZ

On the menu: Venison loin with soft herbs, heirloom potato and roast vegetable salad, sherry vinaigrette $20; Tuatua souffle, minted cucumber spaghetti, lime cream and crisp mango $20; Nori-wrapped salmon with poached daikon, baby spring onions, miso consomme and horseradish cream $35; Seared and poached fillet of beef, horopito salt, kumara rosti and mushroom essence $35; Peach tatin, verjuice panna cotta and caramel-cumin icecream $16

Vegetarian: Options on menu

Wine: List 13 pages to choose from, knowledgeable staff to point the way

Parking: Take a cab

Disabled access / toilets: Ramps and lifts to restaurant, excellent facilities

Bottom line: Enjoy White, one of our A-list restaurants in 2002 and 2003, for its unparalleled location, decor and the endearingly Kiwi lack of pretension around one of our finest dining-rooms. Executive chef Geoff Scott's passion is to find simple, fresh ingredients that are unique to or representative of New Zealand and create piquant, stimulating dishes.

* 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.