Supping with angels
Not to be theologically outdone, Claudia pointed out that the Blessed Virgin Mary was gazing down on her side of the table. Both were painted onto the stylish ersatz Renaissance window blind which blocked a sweeping vista of that suburban mecca, Riccarton Mall, and an automatic-teller machine opposite.
This tribute to Italian Early Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli merely added to the evening%26#39;s slightly surreal qualities .
Within minutes of being seated in Rotherham%26#39;s compact dining area, we became aware that all around us were couples celebrating wedding anniversaries. There was a 32nd anniversary to our left, a 10th behind us, a ninth across the room and a fourth a table away. It was an orgy of nuptial happiness. The air was filled with much marital billing and cooing.
Good food should be a theatrical experience, and Rotherhams pulls no punches. But this is no stuffy, hushed gastronomic temple. The restaurant was full, but the service was an impeccable, well-oiled machine.
More importantly, it was hugely knowledgeable. Indeed, there was nothing that our waiter, Benjamin, did not seem to know as he guided us, firmly but kindly and with considerable good humour, through an extensive menu and a wine list the size of a small novel.
It contained, I learnt later, more than 450 listings. I was impressed, but a trifle boggled. Such a volume of New Zealand and imported wines might induce panic, but at Rotherhams, you are in good hands.
A selection of home-baked breads ($6) provided the ideal opener, nicely matched, on Benjamin%26#39;s suggestion, with a glass of butter-smooth Kaituna Valley Pinot Gris ($11) for me and a sparkling San Pellagrino mineral water for Claudia ($7).
Plunging into the thickets of food speak which permeate Rotherham%26#39;s menu, I ordered baked camembert bruchetta served with pernod and chive sauce, and grape-and-walnut compote with watercress and parsnip shavings ($22).
Indulgent? The ultimate comfort food? It was all these things and more %26ndash; succulent, with an intriguing blend of sharp and sweet flavours and textures. Cheese on toast will never be the same again.
Claudia supped a full-bodied tomato soup served with elongated bread sticks ($16.50), slightly bizarre accompaniments which showed Rotherham%26#39;s tendency to show off with its food presentations. After the minimalist school of cooking, this comes as something of a shock.
There are moments and places where nothing quite succeeds like excess. Perhaps this was one of them.
For the main course, I chose pan- seared milk-fed veal with courgettes, feta-cheese frittata, smoked eggplant and bell-pepper salsa and arugala pesto ($35), while Claudia selected the bacon-wrapped beef fillet, topped with Mount Peel blue cheese, gold couscous, green french beans, kumera shavings and a pink and green peppercorn glaze ($35).
The fillet arrived balanced on a pillar of marrowbone filled with couscous. While the purist might have sniffed %26quot;gimmicky%26quot;, it added flair. Once safely negotiated from its perch, the fillet was found to be perfectly medium rare, while the couscous slid steaming and fragrant from its hiding place.
In comparison, my veal dish was a model of restraint, with small cuts of meat laid across the frittata with the pesto and salsa beneath. Everything was in sync, while the veal, a difficult meat to cook well, was, hallelujah, succulent and perfectly matched with the accompanying dishes.
From what I observed during the evening, Rotherham%26#39;s desserts are constructions %26ndash; delicate filigrees, domes and spires of spun toffee and gossamer sugar floss produced with a flourish, which caused much oohing and ahhing from the other tables.
The apricot tarte tatin, Benjamin regretted, was not available, but pear tatin with hokey-pokey and vanilla- bean icecream was ($16). A feast for the eye and the palate lay beneath the toffee furbelows. It seemed sinful to demolish such a thing of beauty, but I sinned with gusto. It was sumptuous and so delicious. %26ndash;Christopher Moore
Rotherhams of Riccarton
42 Rotherham Street, Riccarton.
Phone: (03) 341-5142.
Open: Tuesday to Saturday for dinner. Reservations recommended.
Upside: Classic cuisine impeccably served in cosy but sumptuous surroundings.
Downside: over-embellished what is very good food. Why gild the lily?
