Scarecrow — EAT IT AUCKLAND

Emily in Paris. Belly goes to Paris at the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty. There’s been a lot of pop cultural references of gay Paris, reminding us just how far away great French food is from our city. Until now.

Scarecrow has been around for donkey’s years by today’s standards, an eclectic day time eatery meets market with a Mediterranean-influenced menu that straddles breakfast and lunchtime in the heart of the city. They have just started their dinner service Thursday through to Saturday with a special Chef’s Table menu that gives off tres chic bistro-vibes that even Emily Cooper would be happy to sit down to.

I had the pleasure of enjoying a three course extravaganza courtesy of Scarecrow last weekend and was blown away by the finesse of their new chef Simon Coste. Originally from Marseille, Simon trained at the Paul Bocuse culinary school in Lyon before cheffing his way through the Michelin-starred restaurants of Paris. Simon has now moved to New Zealand and Paris’ loss is our culinary landscape’s gain which was previously bereft of decent French cuisine.

*Ceviche with lime, mint and passionfruit dressing*

The sun was just starting to set as I sat down to dinner, and its warm golden glow filtering into the gorgeous dining room at Scarecrow made me go ‘wow!’. I loved how the mirrors that gilded the room’s pillars created a looking-glass through which to view the goings-on of the restaurant. The room is lined with shelves displaying wine, homeware both for purchase and for admiring, and the actual tableware the restaurant uses for dinner service. It felt very immersive to see a waiter retrieve your next course’s plates from a shelf or the chefs working away in the semi-open kitchen.

The menu is a la carte and you can start with a shared selection of cheese or charcuterie or delve into the entrees like we did. We were first treated to an amuse-bouche of pissaladière tart, whose many layers of finely sliced onion had been rendered soft and caramelised. The onion was spiked with thyme and finished with a meaty, green olive on top. We ordered the ceviche with lime, mint and passionfruit dressing and green gazpacho with crunchy croutons and herb oil for our entrees. The ceviche was not in the last bit tropical (even though it reads like a mojito on paper) and more resembled a crudo. Tender jubes of fresh kingfish was enrobed in a silky emulsion of EVOO, passionfruit, wholegrain mustard and very finely chopped herbs (and I’m almost certain, a bit of tarragon!). It was a symphony of flavours coming together, with no single flavour overpowering another. The chilled green gazpacho was laced a small amount of chilli oil which delivered a surprising little kick that woke up the tastebuds. The soup was refreshing and zingy with a nice mouthfeel and the crunchy croutons adding a nice textural foil, but I felt the flavours of the soup could be even punchier for maximal effect.

For our mains we ordered the 180g signature Silverfern Reserve grass-fed eye fillet with chef’s cognac and pepper sauce and the market fish fillet. We were advised sides were a must so plumped for the smoked pomme puree and rocket and nectarine salad with toasted pistachio and moscato reduction. Firstly, thank you to the chef for not asking me how I would like the steak to be done, and secondly for cooking it perfectly rare. We were equipped with La Laguiole steak knives with the iconic bee forged on the side, but these were hardly needed; a blunt butter knife would have done just as good a job as the steak was so tender. Chef’s sauce was richly flavoured, warm with black pepper and cognac and deliciously smooth.

Fish is sadly a hit and miss dish in a lot of places but I can hand on heart say this may be one of the best fish dishes I’ve ever been served. The fish was cooked perfectly, its flesh barely yielding, its skin crispy. But the big surprise was the sauce that came with it. A deeply brown sauce (in contrast the white wine sauce we were expecting), it was so meaty and full of umami. I thought this sauce would pair just as well with the steak but on reflection it would pair best on its own, eaten straight off a spoon it was that good. It had a gorgeous silkiness without being overly rich or sickening.

The smoked pomme purée was only lightly singed with smoke; it was smooth and barely thicker than a sauce and not too buttery or creamy. The calibre of these two sauces and the puree demonstrated both restraint and balance and shows chef Coste knows what he’s doing. In a last minute change in programming (I call it seasonality!) the rocket salad arrived with very thinly sliced nectarine instead of pear, which was just ripe with still a little tartness. The crushed pistachios added a creamy nuttiness, and the salad was finished with a slightly sweet slightly sour moscato reduction and very nice EVOO.

The dishes are all perfectly sized that you will, and should, have room for dessert. I have in my memory two absolutely standout creme brûlée experiences, one eaten roadside at a bistro I stopped at after just arriving in Paris on the Eurostar late at night and the second at O’Connell Street Bistro (RIP) on the night I graduated from med school. I’m always looking for a perfectly homogenous, custard-like consistency that can barely hold itself on a tilted spoon and a uniform, not overly thick, caramelised crust. I’m happy to say I got both those things at Scarecrow (although the slightly inconsistent colouring of my scorched top makes me think someone started with the blowtorch held a little too close to the sugar). You really should not order creme brûlée anywhere else in Auckland, only here. I also highly recommend the poached peaches, big, meaty halves of stone fruit impregnated with spiced syrup and finished with softly whipped Chantilly cream and a magical sprinkling of finely crushed pistachio praline which adds an earthy crunchy element.

Whether you want a meal that is just a little bit fancy, or you fancy a dinner where technique meets seasonal and quality produce, you must pay a visit to Scarecrow at dinner time, you will not be disappointed.

Scarecrow
33 Victoria Street East
Auckland CBD 1010
Ph. (09) 377 1333
@scarecrowstore