21 September 2011

THE GRILL BY SEAN CONNOLLY

OMG. I want to live there. The Grill in Sky City’s Grand Hotel is the best addition to Auckland dining in a long time. Sean Connolly is already well known through his TV3 series “Under The Grill’ (last episode was shown last night.) He’s a highly talented good humoured chef who cut his culinary teeth in Huddersfield many years ago and has been lured to Auckland via Sydney. Nice to see talent heading this way in a reversal of the usual ‘let’s go overseas’ exit of many of our best chefs.

No expense has been spared in creating a seriously grown-up restaurant with the white-tiled kitchen on full view, spacious dining areas up and down, and a stunningly understated private dining room that overlooks the hotel foyer. Full marks to Andrew Lister, architect.

Sean’s food is equally grown up. You can eat as luxuriously as you like. Caviar, jamon from Spain, thick succulent steaks, freshly shucked oysters, garlicky prawns, suckling pig platter for two or more, the freshest of fish, seafood platters that include crayfish, tender seasonal vegetables and those famous Sean Connolly fries, cooked in duck fat. And everything, yes everything is exactly as it should be. The best possible ingredients, all perfectly cooked, perfectly approachable and perfectly understandable.

As for the wines; that’s where I want to live. In that cellar. The list boasts almost everything you can imagine drinking from around New Zealand and beyond. It’s a vast collection and I hear there are plenty of bottles being cellared right now for future diners. Well done Sky City!

The Grill by Sean Connolly, Sky City Grand, 90 Federal St, T 09 363 7067