On Wednesday, 3rd August, some Club members attended the last evening meal put on by WelTec’s Bistro52 Training Restaurant for this year. It was a well-balanced and portioned meal with well-matched wines.
The food was prepared, presented, served to a high standard, and was top-grade! The menu we savoured included:
| Tasting Menu Sourdough Bread, Cultured Butter, Kapiti Sea Salt |
 Course OnePrawn Chorizo Sausage, Puffed Pork Skin, Scallop XO, Almond Crema, Nashi Pear Compression Wine Match: Sauvignon Blanc Green gages on the tongue, this wine took away some of the saltiness of the food and smoothed things out. |
 Course TwoSalt-Fish & Potato Churro, Fennel Bulb Confit, Saffron & Tomato Sofrito Miso Wine Match: Te Mata Chardonnay Wine toned down the spiciness of the food on the back of the throat, nice. |
 Course ThreeSlow Cooked Lamb Rump, Leek Custard, Lost Bread, Puy Lentils, Pickled Mushrooms, Red Wine Salt Wine Match: Babich Syrah Smooth, divine, blackcurrants on the tongue, the food made the wine almost caramelly. |
 Course FourHangi – Kumara Steamed Pudding, Kumara Skin Infused Buttermilk Ice-Cream, Spiced Caramel, Torched Mandarin Wine Match: Veuve du Vernay I’m sure we’ve had this at the Cellar Club; bottle fermentation left a light fizzing on the tongue, and the food brought out extra fruit flavours in the wine. |
The only query I had for the Maître that evening was course three: at our table, we debated if the ‘lost bread’ that accompanied the lamb rump was a euphemism for mountain oysters! It wasn’t, but the Maître was both amused and said he would speak to the chef about perhaps changing the description of the petite loaf that came as part of the meal!