Waterfront fine dining at Viaduct Harbour. A chef-led kitchen, a New Zealand cellar, and the whole evening to yourselves.
We cook what the boats and the growers bring in that week, and nothing they do not. The menu is short because the good things are. The rest is patience.
Written each week around what comes in. Prices in NZD. Tell us about allergies a day ahead and the kitchen writes around them.
Te Matuku oystersGFDF
Kawakawa granita, green apple, half dozen.
$28
Cured Northland kingfishGF
Buttermilk, horopito oil, sea herbs.
$26
Beef tartare
Oyster cream, egg yolk, rye crisp.
$27
Roast pumpkinVGF
Whipped Clevedon curd, toasted seeds, sage.
$22
Sourdough and butterV
House loaf, cultured manuka butter.
$12
Landed for us three days a week, cooked the day it arrives.
Kaikoura crayfishGF
Brown butter broth, sea lettuce, half tail.
$58
Market fishGFDF
Mussel and saffron broth, fennel, dill.
$44
Line-caught hapuku
Charred leek, brown shrimp butter.
$46
Clevedon scallopsGF
Cauliflower, capers, brown butter.
$42
Central Otago merino lambGF
Black garlic, cavolo nero, jus.
$52
Dry-aged sirloinGF
Bone marrow, watercress, confit shallot.
$56
Free-range duck breastDF
Roast quince, walnut, chicory.
$48
Roast celeriacVG
Pearl barley, wild mushroom, thyme.
$34
Agria potatoesVGF
Confit garlic, rosemary salt.
$14
Charred greensVGGF
Lemon, toasted almond.
$13
Heirloom tomatoVGGF
Basil, aged red wine vinegar.
$13
Roast quinceV
Manuka honey ice cream, toasted oats.
$18
Dark chocolateVGF
Olive oil, Marlborough sea salt.
$19
Whitestone cheeseV
Lavosh, poached pear, honeycomb.
$24
Lemon curdVGF
Torched meringue, lemon thyme.
$17
Almost entirely New Zealand, chosen grower by grower to sit beside the food.
Kumeu River, Estate Chardonnay
West Auckland.
$18
Valli, Waitaki Pinot Noir
North Otago.
$22
Dry River, Craighall Riesling
Martinborough.
$16
Te Whare Ra, Syrah
Marlborough.
$19
Quartz Reef, Methode Traditionnelle
Central Otago.
$17
Dietary key. V vegetarian, VG vegan, GF gluten free, DF dairy free. A five-course chef's menu is available for the whole table at $185 a head.
Chef and owner
Iris ran fine-dining kitchens in Lyon and Melbourne for a decade before coming home to Auckland to cook the coast she grew up on.
She writes the menu weekly and builds the wine list the same way, bottle by bottle, grower by grower. Nothing goes on a plate she cannot name the source of.
A good dinner is mostly restraint. Buy the best thing, then get out of its way.
A single room the length of the wharf, wrapped in glass. Every table sees the water, the open kitchen glows at one end, and the light does the decorating.
Dinner runs about three hours. There is nowhere else you need to be, and we cook like it.
5.30 pm
A glass of something cold and a plate of snacks as the light goes over the water.
6.30 pm
Oysters, the kingfish, and whatever the boats sent in that morning.
8.00 pm
The crayfish or the merino, sent out when the kitchen is happy with it.
9.30 pm
Dessert, cheese, coffee, and the table for as long as you would like it.
The most quietly confident room in the city. The crayfish is worth the wait for a table.
Iris Delaney cooks like someone with nothing to prove and everything to say.
A wine list built grower by grower, and a kitchen that means every word of it.
Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday. Two seatings a night, and the table is yours until we close.
5.30 pm
first seating
8.15 pm
second seating
12 Viaduct Harbour Avenue, Auckland 1010
09 555 0147
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday, from 5.30 pm
The new menu, the odd open table, and nothing else.