Warm beginnings...

There is nothing quite like the warm glow of anticipation one feels when you have spontaneous weeknight dinner plans with a great friend.

That email advising that your end of financial year budgets are not up to scratch seems irrelevant compared to the gossip that is sure to follow a couple of glasses of chardonnay. Even the four-car accident on the motorway that you narrowly avoided does not dampen spirits. You can recognise the fact that you were able to get away first and not get stuck in the inevitable traffic jam stretching back to Penrose. Luck is on your side!

Ponsonby Road Bistro was the destination that Thursday night. Did we have a booking? One glance around the restaurant and I was perplexed. Other than a couple at the bar, we appeared to be the only souls there.

However, it quickly became clear why this was quite an ask. An hour later, it was packed to capacity. The popularity of this fashionable bistro cemented the fact that going out for tea at 6.15 is just not very cool.

The menu is one of the most salivating around. Braised beef cheeks, Waiheke oysters, duck confit on puy lentils, rhubarb crumble – it is all there attractively scribed in that trendy writing only an architect can do, making it a difficult choice when you are still on weekday ‘controlled’ eating. They also do a shellfish of the day, which we all love. Parfait.

Our eventual choices of scotch fillet, home-baked bread, oysters with the traditional red wine vinegar and shallot accompaniment, John Dory and a rich chocolate fondant were all delicious. Isn’t that just what you feel like on a cold June evening?

The bread and butter pudding was the star though. From the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Images of Nigella, Rick and Delia charged through my mind. This very English pud was (I knew this from food TV) the epitome of Britishness.

I felt comforted and warmed knowing that I would soon be paying homage to my forbearers by eating this pudding. That, like mushy peas and jellied eels, this didn’t quite follow the colonists to end up on the plates of future generations of New Zealanders. But unlike jellied eels, this really should have. It’s the custard. No one can resist it.

The same can be said about the whole dining experience. Sometimes you visit bistros to find that they are more fine dining than French provincial. It can be a disappointment. Ponsonby Road Bistro does not have this problem. Indeed, it was a delight to be welcomed off the street into a restaurant where your needs are carefully considered. They understand why you have chosen to eat there. Our excitement was not in vain.

You should really try it. But a booking is recommended.

On a rainy Auckland night, high above the faded grandeur of a century-old Jervois Road flat, two gourmets decided to embark upon a challenge. It was pledged that they put stomach over pocket and visit every eating establishment listed in the latest Metro magazine top 50 restaurant guide by May 2011.

A commitment would need to be made and friends would have to be roped in. Without doubt, extra Zumba classes would need to be attended to allow for heavy consumption of saturated fats and carbohydrates.

The menfolk shared a look. Did this mean that their Friday nights at the pub were soon to be replaced by three courses and no cigar in suburban Mt Eden?

But the decision stood and the girls are not ones to back out of a challenge lightly. Especially if that challenge involves eating mouth-watering food, sipping on Central Otago Pinot Noir and ending an evening with ‘just a taste’ of pudding.

And so the journey begins, in no particular order, but with one goal in mind. Cover the restaurant aristocracy of Auckland in one year and enjoy the ride.

This blog is not going to be page after page of restaurant reviews. This is a food lover’s journey around the best of the city, telling tales and getting inspired to cook along the way. It’s about taking pleasure in the edible things in life in that so very French way. The people, the tastes, the sounds and the joy of being among others in the one place everyone but the chef can relax – the dining room.

Or you can take it for what it is. It’s one more way to make the daily grind just that little less horrendous. The glass will always be half full - preferably of champagne - on this page.