HERALD ON SUNDAY RATING: * * * *
KEY POINTS:
Cin Cin is Italian for "cheers". For years I thought it was Serbo-Croatian because the first time I heard it was in the excellent film When Father Was Away On Business which was in that language. You live and learn.
Everyday drinkers in Italy - which is to
say most Italians - say "salute" for "cheers; "cin cin" is formal. And so is Cin Cin, the long-established eatery on the ground floor of the handsome baroque Ferry Building.
It wasn't always flash. When it started life almost 20 years ago, it was, as I remember, a pizza joint, though doubtless there was other stuff on the menu.
The pizzas were terrific, but you had to put up with braying of spotty-faced merchant bankers and self-appointed celebrities.
The Blonde and I dropped in a couple of years ago to find it had reinvented itself as an upmarket eatery. It is now more formal and - mercifully - less fashionable. And it seemed just the place to celebrate after the Blonde had had a Very Big Day of being acclaimed by all sorts of Important People while I basked in her reflected glory.
We'd arranged to meet there and, arriving early, I decided to do the ordering ahead of time (she responds well to a bit of bossing around, does the Blonde).
The waiter was unflappably co-operative as I arranged for a glass of a Babich savvy and half a dozen oysters to reach the table at the same time as the guest of honour. Everything else was pre-ordained too. It added just the right sense of occasion. And the food was great.
The (fat, Clevedon) oysters came with a chardonnay granita - a creamy, zesty sorbet - that perfectly highlighted but did not smother the taste. A mushroom and courgette soup was delicate yet rich and it had, in the middle, like an island, a small pile of tender sauteed snail - a nice touch.
Before we swapped plates mid-entreé, I made an impression on a small vegetable tart, which was really a thin, crisp pastry case in and around which were arranged roast baby beetroot, shallots and radicchio, and a little ball of goat's cheese. It seemed, like many vegetarian options in my experience, an assemblage of ingredients rather than a dish with any discernible idea behind it, but once I'd handed it to the Blonde, I didn't care any more.
Our mains, which were oven-baked snapper with a sort of Provencal-style ragout of tomatoes, olives, pepper, fennel, and my lean eye fillet, with mushroom gnocchi and a deliciously creamy mustard flan were superb. We finished with a small chunk of gorgonzola which was not as ripe as that smelly cheese at its best.
Only two quibbles: a waiter asked, not twice but thrice, whether I was "sure" I didn't want another glass of wine (I know the boss likes beverage sales because they are so profitable, but I know what I want) and another waiter, when I asked about wine-and-food matching, looked panic-stricken and bolted wordlessly in search of help.
In a place with these prices, you are entitled to expect a simple: "I'll fetch somebody who can help you with that." One hates to think one has caused too much trouble.
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Cin Cin On Quay
99 Quay St
Ph: 307 6966
www.cincin.co.nz
7 days from 10am till late
Wine list: Large, from $45 to $1790. Three dozen by the glass.
Vegetarians: One entreé, one main.
Watch out for: Wine-pushers dressed as waiters.
Sound check: Conversation-friendly.
Bottom line: Classy, occasion dining.
THE BILL
$212 for two
Oysters (6) $21
Soup $17
Tart $17
Fish $33
Beef $38
Beans $7
Truffle $3.50
Gorgonzola $15
Coffee $4
Wine (four glasses) $56.50
- Detours, HoS