Sometimes, the best travel memories aren’t the landmarks we visit, but the meals we eat along the way.
Sharing handmade pasta around an Italian family table, following the smoky aroma of Korean street food or lingering over an Ethiopian coffee ceremony are experiences that can stay with us much longer than the attractions we stop to photograph.
Addis Ethiopian
This month, Aucklanders can get a taste of some of those traditions without leaving the city.
Now in its 16th year, Restaurant Month has grown well beyond the special set menus that were once its focus. More than 100 restaurants are taking part this year, with a growing focus on the cultures, rituals and stories behind the food and the ways people around the world gather, eat and connect.
That might mean sitting down to a Filipino boodle feast, with food spread across banana leaf-covered tables and eaten by hand or experiencing an Ethiopian meal complete with traditional gebeta platters, injera-making and a ceremonial coffee service.
In other restaurants, diners can delve into Korean street food paired with soju, Vietnamese family-style dining inspired by the imperial city of Hue, Japanese sake traditions and regional Indian cuisine, or pull up a chair for a lively Latin American shared-table celebration.
Heart of the City, which puts together Restaurant Month, says the growing focus on culture and connection reflects Auckland itself as one of the world’s most multicultural cities.
Homecooked Boodle Fight
Ben Bayly, owner and executive chef of fine dining restaurant Ahi in Commercial Bay, says those stories are central to what makes food meaningful.
“Kai is one of the strongest ways we connect with different cultures, communities and memories,” Bayly says.
Restaurant Month is also looking to the next generation through ‘Next on the Pass’, an initiative pairing AUT culinary students with some of the country’s best-known chefs to create dishes for Restaurant Month menus and events.
Ongi Modern Korean
For the emerging chefs, it’s a chance to gain experience in professional kitchens as well as putting something of themselves on the plate.
And many of those stories are deeply personal. One dessert pays tribute to Greek recipes passed down through generations, while another brings together Chinese and Iranian heritage. Other dishes draw on South African Indian influences, childhood family gatherings and treasured memories of time spent in the kitchen with parents and grandparents.
Daikoku Sake and Sizzle
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck says Restaurant Month has become an important showcase for Auckland’s hospitality sector.
“Restaurant Month is one of the best ways to experience what makes the Auckland city centre special. The calibre of chefs, venues and experiences involved this year speaks to the strength and confidence of the hospitality sector, and to the role our restaurants play in bringing people into the city,” Beck says.
Celebrated New Zealand chef Josh Emett, who owns Onslow and Gilt Brasserie in central Auckland and The Oyster Inn on Waiheke Island, says it’s also a good excuse to break out of familiar dining habits.
“Auckland Restaurant Month shines a light on Auckland’s vibrant dining scene and encourages people to discover restaurants they’ve been meaning to try or simply gives them an excuse to dine out a little more,” Emett says.
“For us, it’s a chance to really spoil our guests. At both Gilt Brasserie and Onslow, we’ve created menus that showcase the very best of each restaurant, giving diners a true taste of what we offer and, hopefully, inspiring them to come back again.”
And for those more interested in who’s in the kitchen than the story behind the dish, there are plenty of big names on the programme too.
A series of one-off collaborations brings together some of Auckland’s leading chefs, including a long lunch with Emett and Agnes chef Ben Williamson, Pacific-inspired dining from Michael Meredith and Wallace Mua, Jamaican-inspired cuisine from Gareth Stewart, and a nineteenth-century French dining experience at Bistro Saine.
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