• Howick and Pakuranga Times
Basalt Bar & Restaurant. Cnr Picton & Moore Streets, Howick, Auckland. Ph: 533 0081.
Chef Nathan Taka’s dish, Like Father Like Son, is matched to Monteiths Black Beer and shows more than a little black humour.
Pan-fried ‘Peter Rabbit’ is wrapped in prosciutto with Mr McGregor’s garden vegetables – braised baby cos, shaved radish and roasted rabbit jus.
Nathan says he based this year’s dish on the children’s book, Peter Rabbit with the view that Basalt staff and customers could have some fun with the theme.
The name of the dish makes reference to Peter Rabbit’s mother telling him, “don’t go into Mr McGregor’s garden, your father had an accident there, he was put into a pie by Mrs McGregor.” Vegetables used in the dish are the same ones Peter ate in Mr McGregor’s garden – lettuces, French beans and radishes.
Basalt is a previous Top 10 competitor and has once again risen to the challenge. I just hope locals do him proud by ordering the dish and voting for it! Everybody who votes by text when dining will be sent a voucher to their mobile phone for a complimentary Monteiths, redeemable at the venue they voted for.
Voting closes on Sunday, July 18 and then head judge Kerry Tyack will choose five finalists from the public’s Top 20. These finalists will cook-off on August 23 with the winning restaurant/bar receiving a cash prize of $10,000.
