Above: The six head chefs, who, along with their teams, prepared the food for the Michelin Guide launch ceremony

“Take a photo of everything you eat!” instructed a friend, as I headed to last week’s Michelin Guide launch ceremony.

While the invitation had been a bit coy about what was on the menu, it was a pretty safe assumption on my friend’s part that the food served would be of Michelin quality. (It would be rude not to, right?)

In actual fact, the snacks had been prepared by six Michelin ranked restaurant teams: four of the newly minted teams from Aotearoa, as well as two international teams from Taiwan and USA.

I did my very best to try everything but, alas, I am just one person. There were at least three items I missed, plus some entry canapes. But, here is my account of everything I consumed in the Tasting Pavilion.

Mocktails to start

We’ll get to the food, but first, a special shout out that the arrival drinks served were all non-alcoholic. One person said it was because the organisers didn’t want people to get wasted before the official ceremony began.

Maybe so, but as someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, it made a nice change for my beverage preference to be the first choice on offer. The mocktails were from Free AF’s range, and there were also soft drinks like Coke Zero and Sprite.

I only managed to snag three out of five of the welcome reception canapes before we took our seats. They were delicious and really set the scene for the evening.

Duck bao buns with shiitake mushrooms, tropical chocolate delice (featuring an insane mānuka honey ganache) and ‘Kiwi as’ chips and dip.

The full list of welcome reception canapes, featuring restaurants from within the Sky City stable.

Time for the tasting pavilion

Once the awards were handed out, we made our way back to the exhibition hall. Here we would find the Tasting Pavilion.

Here were six stations, run by the following restaurant teams:

Providence, a three-star Michelin restaurant in the US. It is run by Michael Cimarusti.
Nobuo, a one-star Michelin restaurant from Taiwan. Head chef is Kiwi-born Nobu Lee.
Henry Onesemo’s Tala, a one-star Michelin restaurant in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Sherwood, a one-star Michelin restaurant based in Tāhuna Queenstown, run by Chris Scott.
Logan Brown, a one-star Michelin restaurant based in Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington. The kitchen is run by Shaun Coulston.
Ben Bayly’s Ahi, a one-star Michelin restaurant in Auckland.

Each station offered somewhere between two and four little bites – the trick was to navigate your way around with enough stomach space to try them all.

Everything I ate

First up, I went to Ahi to try what Bayly’s team had on offer. The beef, caviar and pikopiko was the perfect way to start – the well-balanced morsel was a tiny pop of delight.

This station also had one of the more elaborate looking dishes – almost too pretty to eat. It featured crayfish and black truffle made into a saveloy, topped with horopito ketchup. The crispy outer shell it was wrapped in supposed to evoke a sausage in bread, which I think it did. Overall, an innovative take on the classic snag.

From left, the beef, caviar and pikopiko, and the crayfish and black truffle saveloy concoction from the Ahi station.

Tasty treats

A plate of goodies from the Logan Brown and Tala stations were next. From the former, it was a venison tartare, featuring burnt quince and truffle, and a whisky cured salmon with beef tendon and caviar, served on a beautiful leaf shaped (edible) basket.

It’s hard to go wrong with venison or salmon. Both of these tasty bites were gratefully appreciated, if over a bit too quickly.

When speaking to Tala’s Onesemo later on in the night, he said if there’s one thing he wanted everyone to try it was the palusami – a traditional Samoan dish reimagined for the fine dining scene. This version was served with whitebait, taro, coconut and spinach.

I’ve actually had the pleasure of eating the palusami at Onesemo’s Parnell-based restaurant, so for me, while it was still just as awesome, it was the other items that really thrilled me.

The kale was a tart-like creation that featured a base of pomelo, topped with seaweed, coriander oil, curry sauce and toasted marshmallow. It was a fascinating combination of textures and flavours: sweet, warm, spicy, tangy as well as being soft and creamy. I love anything with fruit in it, so Tala’s other offering, the lau moli was also right up my street. It was slightly deceptive, because on the outside it just looked like a meringue (which would not be my first dessert choice) but it was filled with ruby red kiwi fruit. A perfect, tasty surprise.

Clockwise from left, Logan Brown’s salmon, and the venison, Tala’s kale, lau moli and palusami.

Next up, Nobuo

I went to Nobuo’s station where Lee was offering up three different delicacies. The venison and oyster dish was genuinely fun. Lee had served the meat and seafood inside the oyster shell, mixed with greens and hot sauce. The hot sauce provided some great heat, the venison again was rich and tender and whatever the crispy items on top were, they added contrast in texture.

The take on fish and chips featured smoked eel wrapped in shards of thin and crispy potato chips. This was so good I was back for seconds and maybe even thirds. Meanwile, the pickled mussel and green sauce was a sure fire way to my heart (I love anything that is pickled).

This was washed down with a shot of L&P, which Lee described as lemon and pear juice, rooted in Paeroa. It was fruity but not sweet, and savoury in a way that I can’t quite describe. Regardless, it was refreshing and interesting.

Idealog

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