Check out Al’s recipes here
Hint: the dishes he created are perfect for your Christmas table!
The Event
Nostalgia: part predictability, part surprise. The familiar weight of an old winter coat, the sudden scent of jasmine in the dusk air, the raucous din of seagulls – the memories we associate with the change of the seasons can catch us off guard in their unchanging simplicity.
On the evening of 24 November Metro and Taste magazine hosted the first Seasonal Supper: an intimate dinner event celebrating the arrival of summer with extraordinary food from Al Brown.
Fifty guests were invited to Al Brown’s City Works Depot test kitchen, whereupon they were transported, glass of 2008 Taittinger in hand, to a secret waterfront venue
On arrival, Al Brown welcomed guests in front of a corrugated iron-clad shed bearing the sign “HAZCHEM”. So far, the only signs of summer were the warm stillness of the air and the persistent 7pm sunshine. That all changed, of course, upon entering the building. A charmingly ramshackle boat shed, complete with a cream rowboat awaiting repair in its stand, was to become the ultimate summer dining room.
A veritable front-of-house dream team made up of staff from Depot Eatery, Best Ugly Bagels and Federal Delicatessen hung coats, poured Summerhouse Sauvignon Blanc and served appetisers from a raw bar helmed by Kyle Street.
A long, raised banquet table occupied the boat shed’s repair pit and was lit by an installation of golden filament bulbs, rope and greenery. As guests were seated, a few twigged that being a boatshed, the roller door at one end of the table inevitably opened onto the ocean.
The reveal was magnificent nonetheless: a blast of warmth from an enormous cast iron barbecue, the suddenly audible caws of seagulls and an uninterrupted view of the Harbour Bridge set the magical tone of the evening.
Strangers became friends as they shared whole roasted turbot, piling it generously onto Huntley & Palmers Flatbread crackers and topping with wasabi custard.
A crisp duck salad with bitter greens and spiced walnuts followed, paired with a Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Rosé, during which the Asado grilled lamb shoulder was taken from the barbecue to be served alongside dahl, eggplant kasundi and yoghurt in the next course.
An almond coconut cake with lemon curd and Scott’s Havelock North strawberries comprised the perfect summer trifle for dessert, and those smart enough to have left room for more were delighted by a chocolate lime and chilli ice cream cracker sandwich on the way out.
The ingredients enshrined in memories of New Zealand summer: tuatua, barbecued lamb, strawberries – they’re the same each year. But at this special dinner, Al Brown and team worshipped them, creating surprising frenzies of deliciousness that welcomed the season with nostalgia.
Words by Alice Harbourne.
