The Grove St. Patrick's Square

After a morning meeting and the prospect of an afternoon one at a moment’s notice, I chose to go for a walk within close proximity of the Westin. I shot East toward the city center to meander down High Street with it’s lovely shops and cafes. About halfway there I noticed a sign for The Grove, a recommended restaurant from a coworker. Since it was about 2pm and I was hungry, I decided to duck in.

The bar where I walked in off the alley plaza was low-key enough, so I asked to be seated for lunch. The bartender aksed if I was “sure” and would I like to see a menu first? The menu looked fantastic, if not a little pricey, but I wasn’t overly hungry and thought an appetizer and side dish would be perfect. When I was lead to a table, I realized the restaurant was much fancier than I thought from the bar entrance! Embarrassed but committed, I sat down.

People dining alone are often easy targets for conversationalists lacking interested parties or pitying offers of magazines from the less independent. Anticipating both and looking forward to neither, I opened up a map and started drawing different walking routes on it. The waiter took this to mean I was a tourist in need of suggestions for where to go and what to do. Meanwhile I was hoping he would please bring my food so I could quickly get back to the hotel for my meeting as soon as the phone rang.

After placing my order, I found out the chef and owner had been in San Francisco for years before moving to Auckland and opening Grove. He came out to say hello and we started comparing notes on favorite SF spots and his history at A16 and Venticello. As a gesture to show me the extent of his menu, he sent out an amazing plate of seafood as a sample of their “capabilities.”

I was in heaven tasting the raw tuna with red cherry jelly, a perfectly seared scallop and three different textures of calamari (which really just seemed like fried calamari removed from the fryer at different points). These were all served with tiny dallops of saffron jelly and crayfish jelly, both bright yellow. A sweeping brushstroke of squid ink provided the base for the seafood treats and a tiny dish of green apple sorbet topped with salty, green fish roe rounded out the color palette.

My main course (the appetizer) arrived in a beautiful composition of three lamb bites under wasabi foam. Radish sprouts on top and bean puree underneath, a single pumpkin gyoza was the centerpiece. The bean puree was really sweet while the lamb was super tender and pink. I’ve never had such mild-flavored lamb; it was really nothing like lamb I’ve eaten in the past which has such a distinct, gamey flavor.
My side dish was an amazing plate of mini globe artichokes, steamed, drizzled in balsamic reduction, whole garlic cloves, thick flakes of parmesan and briney green olives. The lemony, salty-sweet mix was mouthwatering.

My only regret about The Grove was that after treating me so well, the owner insisted I bring my team back for dinner 3 days later, which I would happily have done. Unfortunately, we shot a 13 hour day and couldn’t make the reservation, which he was none too happy about. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to get back there before I leave Auckland, but perhaps more disappointed in his angry reaction.