White

By EWAN McDONALD for viva

So, Geoff Scott, how does it feel to be on your own - as the executive chef at White now that the Hilton Hotel has decided not to renew the consultancy of Sydney superstar chef Luke Mangan?

Words tumble out. "Fantastic. There's even more expectation, responsibility and pressure. Luke and I worked a lot together while he was involved, but now it's all on my head. If the steak is not quite right, if the fish is not quite cooked, I get the blame.

"It is a great moment of pride. When I was commis chef training at ATI I never dreamed I would be creating the menu at a five-star boutique hotel in Auckland. So I've come full circle - it's very satisfying, very rewarding."

Whoa, let's hit the << button. The story so far: when the Hilton was built out of the shell of the unloved Overseas Passenger Terminal (read: warehouses used for sales of Turkish rugs, reproduction art and servicing the cruise liners that seemed to turn up in downtown Auckland after apparently losing their way to Pacific Islands), management decided that its main restaurant would be comparatively informal and would show off our food, particularly seafood.

They decided that the best way to introduce international visitors to the shocking concept of New Zealand food and cooking was to sieve everything through a consultant chef from somewhere else. Mangan, of Salt and Lulu's success, of book and television fame, got the gig.

Sure, it worked. You rarely read the name White in reputable gourmet and travel publications (and this one) without the words "arguably New Zealand's best restaurant" coming before or after. It just didn't seem right, somehow.

Scott has been executive chef since the ovens were first fired up, but it was Mangan's menu ... until March 31. Now it's Scott's - or will be, as soon as he's back on his feet after the knee operation to repair damage from a snowboarding mess-up.

The 35-year-old has an impressive CV (and he can produce some classy character witnesses, as you'll see as you read on). After picking up his City and Guilds diploma at ATI, the youngster won the Cliff Trillo Master Chef and Chef of the Nation Awards, then spent time in London, Milan, Barcelona, Paris. At places like Le Gavroche, with people like the Roux family; at La Cote d'Or in Burgundy with the late Bernard Loiseau, whose suicide we noted a few weeks ago; with Alain Ducasse in Monte Carlo.

"When I was training at ATI I had a number of European tutors who stressed that you had to study technique and then get further training in a good establishment overseas. In all the good places all the executive chefs were European and I thought, 'Why are there no Kiwis?' It was obvious that they knew something we didn't. It was good to get to France and find there were some shocking chefs over there!

"When I came back after six years away, I had a philosophy, a passion - to apply good techniques to the best of our local and national produce, which is as good as, if not better, than a lot of what is available in Italy and France.

"Most chefs say they aspire to work with seasonal produce. I aim to take superb local products and enhance them while respecting the flavours."

So what will regulars (and despite White requiring what my colleague, John Gardner, drily noted as "a very relaxed attitude to spending money", there are plenty of locals) notice when Scott's menu kicks in?

"Luke Mangan had a strong Asian influence. Mine is a little less so. I want to feature more of our national produce. There are some magnificent things coming out of the South Island, some magnificent cheeses (this does not seem the time to remind Scott that he was recently a judge at the national cheese awards and said he didn't want to see or smell fromage for at least a month).

"I want to move the spotlight on to seasonal local products. Since we have so many international guests at White, what better place to show them off? We will create dishes around local products such as single-vintage honeys from Bees online, in Waimauku, who I got to know when I was at the Hunting Lodge."

This is a man with ambition, and the ambition is to have a Michelin-starred restaurant in New Zealand.

"And I have the opportunity to help young chefs. There's a young chef from White, just gone overseas to London, so I contacted a guy I used to work with at Le Gavroche and asked him to consider looking at a young pastry chef from New Zealand."

Who? "Oh, Gordon Ramsay. So a girl from New Zealand might find a place in one of his kitchens."

Hilton Hotel, Princes Wharf

Ph: 978 2020

Open: Seven days lunch and dinner

Management: Hilton Hotels

Executive chef: Geoff Scott

Food: Pacific Rim

On the menu:

Moroccan duck, cous cous, baby beetroot and goat's cheese $20

Tortellini of crab, smoked corn and parsnip $20/$35

Roast hapuku, pearl barley, coconut broth, pickled ginger $35

Loin of lamb in pastry, sumac spiced turnips, onions, grapes $35

Lavender and honey semi freddo, Poire William, poached pear $16

Vegetarian: You'll have to ask

Wine list: Is remarkable, but we recommend you go with the menu suggestions for each dish

Bottom line: Sydney celeb chef Luke Mangan is moved aside in favour of loyal Kiwi Geoff Scott. Local, national and international diners can expect less Asian, more New Zealand influence in the produce and the dishes. As ever, the waterside setting is sublime, the service - particularly from professionals like Peter Allen - assured, knowledgeable, confident, relaxed; the food (especially the between-course sorbets) as marvellous as the location deserves.

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