Ahead of The Grove’s 20th Birthday, Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan speaks to owner Michael Dearth about the highs and lows of Auckland fine dining, and why he’s bringing together his alumni of chefs for a blockbuster celebration.
Reports around the death of fine dining have been exaggerated. It
On August 11 the restaurant will welcome back its three most famous chefs for a multi-course celebration dinner. But though the improbably alliterative trio of Michael Meredith, Sid Sahrawat and Ben Bayly (they will join current chef Cory Campbell) are household names, there is another tier of ex-employees — dozens of them — who learnt their craft at The Grove then spread their skills around the city.
“The fine dining restaurants of the world are like the Harvard Law Schools of food,” owner Michael Dearth tells me. “You learn how to have standards, you learn how to chop chives, you learn how to make a veal jus. And then you can go and become a baker, or you go and become a cafe owner, or even go and work in HR at some law firm. When you work in a great fine dining restaurant, it lays the foundation for a great work ethic.”
I don’t have the names of the legal HRs but the culinary list is impressive. Samir Allen at Gemmayze Street, Leslie Hottieux at Apero, Fraser McCarthy at Lillius, Mikey Newlands at Ampersand, Mike Shatura at Ahi — these are just some of the chefs, let alone the hundreds of service staff who first learnt their precise, graceful moves at The Grove. If Dearth is right when he says the Auckland restaurant scene now rivals that of Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco and New York, then it is him and his wife Annette we have to thank.
You don’t have to take my word for it (I’ve reviewed the restaurant several times and never given it less than a 19/20 rating; I was also part of the Metro team that named it Auckland’s best restaurant several times at our annual awards). When superchef Marco Pierre White visited Auckland he dined at The Grove and enjoyed it so much he ate there again the next night. Billy Joel’s band camped out there when they toured last year. Eva Longoria and her husband loved the experience so much she invited Michael and Annette to dine with them at sister restaurant Baduzzi the following evening (“when I got home Annette told me ‘I’m not going to dinner with Eva Longoria. I’m sorry, I can’t do it’.”)
But you can’t pay 60 staff a week with good reviews and celebrity cameos. Michael tells me the real highlight of the past two decades was an evening service in year one when the restaurant booked out for the first time.
“I remember I was like, oh, we have every single seat full. And it was a super busy night. Every chair was taken. I went from one end of the dining room to the other, and I looked to the right and there was somebody that just let out this big laugh. And then I took a few steps and someone burst into laughter at their table. And then I made my way to the end of the dining room and it was like it was choreographed. Just a joyous laugh. And I realised the place was full and people were enjoying themselves immensely and having a good time at my restaurant. And that was such a buzz.”
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Advertise with NZME.The restaurant was special enough that people didn’t just want to dine there, they wanted to tell their friends about it. Word of mouth and good reviews drove solid bookings and one day, Michael got a call from his web guy.
“He asked me ‘What happened? Your internet just broke. You just had a 1000% surge online.’”
So what had happened? Trip Advisor had just ranked The Grove the ninth-best restaurant in the world. It meant a new swarm of customers, and a whole new level of international attention.
“It was wonderful,” says Michael. “But it was a double-edged sword. The eyes of the world had suddenly descended on us, and the expectations were super high.”
I don’t know how he does it. As a young man he won a college football scholarship in his native USA, and I once wrote in a review that seeing him work was like watching a quarterback: “There was one point where he was at another table with a bottle of red wine tucked under his arm like a pigskin and, though there were a lot of people and furnishings between us, I saw him look several metres through a keyhole and spot that my pregnant colleague was trying to order a ginger beer.
“He caught her eye and nodded to her in exactly the same way he must have spotted a play unfolding in Connecticut 25 years ago - a man watching five things at once but free to take any new information that flies his way.”
The metaphor he uses for running a restaurant is even more hectic (“like fighting 12 rounds in a heavyweight championship then running a marathon”) but clearly he loves it. After 20 years, I doubt he could quit. Though it sounds like at least the pace of life after-hours has slowed a little.
“I’ve hung up my party shoes. I’ve embraced the healthier side of life. I think if you’re going to make hospo a career choice there’s only so much of the late-night antics you can do. So I love my evenings, but I love my mornings as well, and I love exercise and eating well. Now that we’re getting older, I’m embracing that, and I think that definitely pays dividends in my line of work.”
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Advertise with NZME.His mood has mellowed too, he tells me. Last time I was there a waiter dropped some cutlery and Michael, who was tableside at the time, joked “I’m going to go make somebody cry”. But in the early days tears were common - between an owner trying to keep his restaurant in the world’s top 10, and some particularly exacting chefs there must have been a few staff scared off restaurant work for life.
“I’ve seen many grown men crying in the walk-in chiller,” Michael says with some regret. “It was a different world back then — the days of chefs throwing plates and screaming at people during service. We had super busy lunches rolling into super busy dinners and it was intense. Very intense.”
There’ve been intense moments in the dining room, too. Plenty of wedding proposals, including plenty where the prospective bride said “no thanks”. Then there’s a story Michael tells with sensitivity about the time the ninth-best fine dining restaurant in the world hosted a diner with severe Tourette’s syndrome and a very loud voice.
“He was saying the most vulgar things, but of course he couldn’t control it. We just had to keep it together and act professional.”
As a reviewer I’ve been amazed at his ability to not only find the best chefs, but to get the best out of them. I ask him about his approach to the owner-chef relationship and he says it’s pretty simple: “I’ll give you a really long rope, but just don’t hang yourself with it.”
I’ve had some of the best meals of my life at The Grove; the quality and consistency when one chef leaves and a new one arrives is unbelievable. And though sometimes having key staff move on can be like a relationship break-up, it’s a credit to Michael that his most famous former proteges are all happy to return and celebrate this birthday with him.
In 20 years The Grove has had more of its share of adversity — multiple recessions, major construction work on St Patrick’s Square, the Covid pandemic and now a city rail link project that turned the formerly beautiful view out the eastern windows into “a quagmire of mud”. But the restaurant has always come back.
“The Grove is a fiery phoenix,” Michael says. “It’s this gorgeous, golden, mythical bird in the sky. And then some drama will happen, and we crash and then we rise again.”
When I ask him what’s next he’s optimistic.
“The future is great. This is what I do — hospitality. We’re celebrating our 20 years and we have a great team. And finally we see the light with [nearby construction] finishing. I want to get some rebirth to the CBD. I want some positivity. I’m looking forward to the summer, and I’m looking forward to the tunnel being opened. And there’s a hotel opening right next door. The future is always unknown, but for me, hospitality is what I do. For me, my future is pouring something tasty into somebody’s glass.”
● The Grove’s 20th birthday celebration is on Sunday, August 11 at 6pm. Tickets are $285pp for snacks, five courses and petit fours, plus a glass of Champagne on arrival. Visit TheGrove.co.nz or email info@thegroverestaurant.co.nz
Where are The Grove’s star head chefs now?
Michael Meredith
Head chef from 2004-2007
There from the beginning, Michael was The Grove’s first head chef, quickly winning praise for his talents and picking up a Lewisham Award for Outstanding Chef in 2005. He opened his own acclaimed fine dining restaurant Merediths in 2007, which operated for a decade and was itself a hotbed for up-and-coming talent. After launching award-winning Mr Morris in 2020 he’s now helming the kitchen at Pacific-inspired Metita in SkyCity, which opened last year.
Sid Sahrawat
Head chef from 2006-2009
Taking the reins from Michael Meredith in 2006, Sid went on to found Sidart in 2009, Cassia in 2014 (celebrating its 10-year anniversary this month) and acquiring The French Cafe in 2018, renaming it Sid at the French Cafe, before reverting to its original name this year with the launch of pan-Asian restaurant Anise. Kol opened in 2022, specialising in tandoor dishes cooked over charcoal, and cocktails.
Ben Bayly
Head chef from 2009-2017
A household name and TV star, Ben now has an empire of acclaimed restaurants, including Ahi, Origine and The Grounds in Auckland and Italian restaurant Aosta, Little Aosta and Blue Door Bar in Arrowtown. His latest is the Bathhouse in Queenstown. Last year Ahi was crowned Supreme Winner in Viva’s Top 50 Auckland Restaurants.
Kira Ghidoni
Head chef from 2017-2020
Originally from Switzerland, Kira trained under Ben Bayly at The Grove before becoming head chef in 2017. Before The Grove she worked as a pastry sous chef Fera in London’s Claridges, and executive pastry chef at Vue du Monde in Melbourne. She’s now chef/owner of Osteria Bisnona in Switzerland, where she’s been recognised for her sustainability efforts and focus on local, high-quality organic produce and suppliers from the Ticino region.
Ryan Moore
Head chef from 2019-2022
Currently head chef for Savor Group where he steered the menu for its latest offering, the Italian juggernaut Bivacco, he’s also worked at Michelin star restaurants in the UK, including Mallory Court Hotel and L’Enclume. On Jesse Mulligan’s visit to The Grove in 2020, he noted Ryan was “making beautiful versions of familiar dishes ... along with some very bold combinations that show off his skill and confidence”.
Cory Campbell
Head chef from 2022 - present
Originally from Newcastle in Australia, Corey has worked in prestigious restaurants including Noma in Copenhagen and Vue du Monde in Melbourne, among others, and brings a sophisticated yet approachable style to fine dining, with a focus on sustainability in both kitchen practices and ingredients.
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