Clooney, Freemans Bay
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4:59AM
Wednesday April 09, 2008
By Ewan McDonald
Des Harris, new head chef at Clooney Restaurant. Photo / Richard Robinson
Viva rating: * * * *
Where: 33 Sale Street, Freemans Bay
Ph: 358 1702
Open: Lunch Fri, Dinner Mon-Sat.
Cuisine: Contemporary classics.
From the menu: Gorgonzola and honeycomb cigars, grilled figs, witloof, walnut oil $22; Poussin duo, pear and onion soubise, glazed leeks, sage, prosciutto $36; Granny Smith apple tarte tatin, calvados cr?me caramel $15
Vegetarian: Options on menu
Wine: Expansive, expensive
When he opened the place about 18 months ago, Tony Stewart insisted there was no particular inspiration for its name: the word just looked nice when it was written down.
Perhaps he was being coy. Perhaps it was a tribute to the actor. Think of it: more style than a Versace tux, more chutzpah than ... hey, George Clooney. But what about substance?
The recent arrival of Des Harris indicates that Clooney wants to be taken as A Serious Restaurant. The young man has more gongs than a country-house dinner-party and his reviews are on the ecstasy side of rave.
They loved his work at Logan Brown in Wellington (y'know, the guys who do the huntin' shootin' fishin' show that is, occasionally, about food); even more when he moved over to the Rimutakas to the vintage Peppers Martinborough Hotel, where his menu was only slightly overshadowed by the pinoirs.
The new boy hasn't wasted time in getting down to business at Clooney, hiring a new brigade, luring Natasha Parkinson, once also at Logan Brown, as manager; serving his first menu. A Very Serious Restaurant, then.
