GROVE :  RESTAURANT REVIEW 

 4 STARS / 5  (EXCELLENT)

20 YEARS OF GROVE, CELEBRATION DINNER 11.8.24

AUGUST 2024

CHEF : CORY CAMPBELL 

PREVIOUS CHEFS : 

MICHAEL MEREDITH, SID SAHRAWAT, BEN BAYLY

OWNERS : MICHAEL & ANNETTE DEARTH

 

 

N.B : Kindly excuse the dark photos - the lighting was sepulchral, despite the celebratory occasion. 

 

Grove's iconic 20th birthday dinner on 11.8.24, with about four score invited patrons, star-studded with not only their current meister Cory Campbell but also three previous chefs now shining as Auckland's brightest, conducted with elan by the excellent staff team of proprietors Michael and Annette Dearth, was an evening to treasure. The logistics were daunting, but they aced it, the communal tables giving patrons a charming chance to commingle with a new circle. And the cuisine lived up to the rarefied occasion ($285 for the meal, including complimentary Billecart Salmon Champagne on arrival). Michael Meredith, Sid Sahrawat, Ben Bayly - it does not get better than this in Auckland, and purveyors like me are glad we were able to experience this phenomenon.
 
 
The two photos below are courtesy New Zealand Herald / Babiche Martens. I hold no copyright for this. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When it comes to the trifecta of ambience, service and cuisine, Grove after twenty years of toughing it out in a very demanding industry, has hardly any genuine rivals left in Auckland (Paris Butter, Bracu, Kazuya, Sid At The French Cafe post Simon Wright). The informal MC this evening was a veteran gent, himself a restaurant owner, who eloquently summarized the restaurant's history of triumphs. All invited chefs spoke with heartfelt candour and a crisp sense of humour that charmed the guests. Ben Bayly looked at Michael Dearth when he said "I was a nobody when you gave me the chance" and spoke about how his spirit lingers in the restaurant having spent so many painstaking hours here. Michael Meredith, the first star chef here, who smilingly relaxes with his gathered colleagues in Viva's iconic promotional photograph, was absent on this grand evening ! It turns out he was in Bali of all places (the remaining hundred of us did not get plane tickets to join him there). Ten tables, if not more, spanned the full-to-the-seams restaurant, many tables seating ten diners, a great chance to enjoy victuals amidst new company. New Zealand Herald restaurant reviewer Jesse Mulligan, who had published a glowing preview of this evening, assumed court at the table in front of us.
 
 
 
 
 
Early in the evening, before the room got packed. 
 
 
 
When the constellation of hors d'oeuvres rippled through the table, I was confused which was what. Ben Bayly's Te Matuku Oyster - the best of the lot - was a hunk of fresh succulence, fried to yield hearty toothsome bites. Chawanmushi with caviar was pleasant. As I have abjured red meat, I could not taste the little beef rendang pie, my replacement being a morsel that was an unidentified resting object. Right at the top of the menu was Michael Meredith's 'Storm Clam' but I could not find it amidst the loaded table (perhaps the stormy waves had transported it to its maker in Bali).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chef Cory Campbell's "Wasabi Wasabi" is likely the most enchanting, tastebud-tantalizing welcome the Nippon ingredient has received this neck of Oceania. Innovatively presented in festive nativist style, draped in leaf and tucked with flowers, this was a crunchy-soft wafer and cream affair that shot starbursts of piquant umami, becoming the crowd favourite. The last dish by Meredith was underwhelming. Prawn tortellini was basically a nice prawn dim sum (Yum Cha peeks into Grove), paired with decent scallops. Black pudding - the main differentiator on the plate - was not served on mine as I had asked for a red-meat-less experience but it also meant I was left with a mostly pointless plate. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"Paua" by Cory Campbell was a quiet zinger. Paua (NZ abalone) is one of the most mismanaged ingredients in Kiwi eateries but Chef Campbell showed how to swing it, starting with neat presentation. Similar to his previous offering, it looked like a large soft taco, a dark delicate pancake holding tender succulent hunks of this enigmatic abalone, with more umami coming from shiitake mushroom. Sid Sahrawat was awarded the honour of the main course - his lamb elicited mixed response, some enjoying it, others finding it chewy and minimalistic. They again accommodated my request for no red meat by giving me kingfish and Sahrawat did an interesting job with this. Two meaty cuts were rendered almost sashimi style, but retained texture and taste, going well with macadamia puree. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chef Ben Bayly at the table. 
 
 
 
 
 
Desserts revved back into gear. Guests oohed and aahed as chefs Cory Campbell and Sid Sahrawat went around slinging liquid nitrogen, ladling coolly smoking crumble into our glasses. The flavours bewitched everyone - smoked eel ice cream with the textural contrast of smoked eel caramel, bringing a bacon-like spin into ice cream. Ben Bayley reprised his flamboyant plating of desserts at the Grove circa 2013, with Textures of Chocolate and Northland Pineapple. A large chocolate shard declared sail, with everything from an intense chocolate marquise to spicy squalling mousse to a toasty puck of cake, but the hero of the plate was gorgeous pineapple ice-cream richly packing the glorious tropical flavour of caramelized fruit through icy cream. Everybody got a gift bag at the end, with a proudly "G" wax-sealed menu signed by all chefs (Meredith's stroke spanned the breadth of the page), Vittoria coffee pack, sparkling water and  a "Chinotto" drink (trust Grove to select this moreish flavour). Don't have a bottle opener ? This was included as well. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This was an extraordinary evening, socializing with a variety of nice, interesting people at the table one had not met before, whilst enjoying top-tier cuisine. Ben Bayly, Sid Sahrawat, Michael Meredith - these are three of the best chefs in the whole country - what a coincidence and how lucky are we to see these Grove meisters coming together with their collective gifts. And incumbent Cory Campbell shined the brightest with his dazzling cameos - an auspicious reflection for Grove's future. Proprietors Michael and Annette Dearth and their assiduous service team should be proud of themselves not only for the restaurant excellence and star chef parade they have run for two decades, but also for the wonderfully convivial evening they arranged for patrons this landmark evening. It is a brutally tough industry but they know how to tame the beast. 
 
 
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