This weekend I had my new favourite dining experience at
Euro in the Viaduct in Auckland. We had purchased '
Chef's Table' vouchers for a wedding anniversary treat. I really had not given much thought to what this would involve, but figured it might mean chefs bringing meals to the table and explaining them and the ingredients.
What is it turned out to be truly was 'entertastement' (as described on the
website). The two chefs cooked in front of the 8 diners who sat at a bar overlooking the 'kitchen' area. We had two chefs guiding us through the 3 and a half hours and a 10 course experience. We got to see each dish being made, taste ingredients and then eat the dishes. There were even opportunities for the diners to get involved with the preparation.
It was great to see some of the techniques and ingredients that had been shown on MasterChef Master Classes, including very theatrical 'molecular gastronomy' involving liquid nitrogen. Lots of the dishes included 'caviar' made by dropping liquified ingredients into oil - my favourite was 'anchovy caviar'.
I can't wait to go back and do this again! It would be an amazing experience with a group of friends for a special night out.
It would be difficult to pick a dish as a favourite, they were all fantastic. The one that really stood out to me was the take on a Caprese salad. I love buffalo mozzarella and will always order this salad from a menu. While the key components were still there there was a clever twist of making the mozzarella into a liquid, then cooking it so a skin formed. It had to be eaten first with tomato caviar. What made it even more amazing was the process of 'smoking' the dis before serving it. There are two pictures showing this.
We wine matched the dishes. The wines were as good as the food.
The picture quality isn't fantastic but the idea is there. I've also included a couple of videos - one of sorbet being made in minutes with liquid nitrogen and the other John eating pavlova and mandarins frozen in liquid nitrogen.
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| Our Chefs |
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| Panchetta with 'caviar' |
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| Smoked 'Caprese' - being smoked |
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| Caprese after smoking - AMAZING! |
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| Prawn cocktail |
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| Risotto |
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| Ravioli |
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| Wagyu Beef |
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| The Chicken option |
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| Foie Gras custard with spun sugar topping |
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| Mandarin Pavlova |
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| Amazing chocolate liquid with grappa and choc fig |
This weekend I had my new favourite dining experience at Euro in the Viaduct in Auckland. We had purchased 'Chef's Table' vouchers for a wedding anniversary treat. I really had not given much thought to what this would involve, but figured it might mean chefs bringing meals to the table and explaining them and the ingredients. 
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