Wright Moves at Clarence

WORDS DENISE IRVINE | IMAGES BRYDIE THOMPSON

Chef Simon Wright wasn’t really looking for a job when he noticed an advertisement for someone to head the kitchen at Clarence Bistro in Tauranga.

The ad caught his eye last October when he was buying a Clarence package online for a staff member at Gather & Roam eatery that he and wife Creghan Molloy-Wright were running in Whangamatā. Simon said to Creghan, “Wouldn’t it be nice to work for someone else for a change?” And he followed up on it.

In the meantime, Noel Cimadom, who owns Clarence with wife Kim Smythe, was negotiating with a chef in Mauritius who was interested in the position. So when Simon contacted him, Noel thought, “Well, that throws everything up in the air.”

Simon Wright and Creghan Molloy-Wright are the former owners of Auckland’s award-winning fine dining restaurant The French Café. They owned it for more than 20 years, with Simon in the kitchen and Creghan at front of house, developing a legendary reputation for their exquisite food and exemplary service. They sold it in 2018 and moved to Whangamatā with their two children to “semi-retire”, and started their laid-back (and hugely successful) food truck operation, Gather & Roam.

When Simon investigated the Clarence position, the family was ready for another move and the bigger community of Tauranga and Mt Maunganui beckoned. Simon and Noel met, there was mutual respect and goodwill, Simon took the job, and he and his family relocated to live near the beach at Mt Maunganui. By January, his new dishes were rolling across the pass.

Simon and Noel tell their serendipitous story on a Wednesday afternoon at Clarence, located in Tauranga’s former central post office. The handsome Edwardian building was restored by Noel and Kim a few years back to include the elegant bistro, the supercasual Bar Centrale, and boutique hotel suites upstairs. Noel and Kim also own Picnicka in Tauranga, and the Alpino restaurants in Mt Maunganui and Cambridge.

Before Simon came on board, Clarence Bistro had been closed for seven months, a casualty of nationwide hospitality staffing shortages. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Noel says. “No one of Simon’s calibre had ever glanced in Tauranga’s direction before. I’m hoping we can now draw more good chefs and create a great food environment here.”

Simon says that Noel is the first boss he’s had in 27 years; he’s relishing the change, and also the unique premises that include a lushly landscaped European-style dining terrace. “When you’re sitting outside on a summer’s day, you could be in the south of France.”

Which leads us to the menu that he’s developed for Tauranga’s first taste of his bistro style: he describes it as contemporary Mediterranean, his take on familiar flavours and classics from the Mediterranean coastline, with a touch of France as well as the influence of the Middle Eastern shores.

The snacks list includes his old-favourite whitebait sandwich, lamb rib with sweet molasses and dukkah, and wholewheat flatbread with salted fig leaf ricotta and fermented chilli butter. The first course line-up has kingfish crudo, crayfish carbonara, beef tartare, and burrata with heirloom tomatoes, peach, fennel pollen and basil.

There are bigger plates of organic chicken, snapper, burnt eggplant with shawarma spice, lamb niçoise, and beef (dryaged ribeye or sirloin wagyu), all with techniques, twists and flavours devised by capable and confident hands. And using top ingredients, much of it from produce growers and suppliers in Katikati and Whangamatā who Simon previously used at Gather & Roam.

“It’s a cosmopolitan dining style that people enjoy,” Simon says. “I don’t want to do French Café food, but I want it to be special, with different techniques and authentic ingredients. With energy that people keep coming back for, not just as a one-off.”

In the adjoining Bar Centrale, his food is more informal, centred on antipasto, great pizza and pasta, and there is an excellent wine list – and cocktails, beer and other beverages – available in both the bar and bistro.

Simon says it will take a while for his new team to find its groove and balance, and the menus will be tweaked and changed regularly. “You have to find a happy rhythm and then you get consistency.”

He recalls that it wasn’t until he had his own place, The French Café, that he got the full measure of hospitality, the breadth of the work and skills involved. “Before that I was just a chef with a heap of recipes.”

Simon is originally from London. He trained in his home city, in kitchens led by luminaries such as Marco Pierre White. He came to New Zealand at age 23, later went to Australia, returned to Auckland and met wife Creghan in the 1990s when they were on the opening team of Mount Coast Eatery in Ponsonby.

They’ve worked together solidly for more than two decades, and Creghan is now taking a break from hospitality while the family settles into their new home. While Simon is missing her at Clarence, he says there are benefits in working for someone else, pretty much as he envisaged when he saw the job advertisement. He jokes: “It’s awesome. When the dish-washer didn’t turn up, I could pass the problem onto Noel.” Who apparently dealt with it by stepping in and doing dishes himself.

Simon says he and Noel have a common interest in doing the very best they can. Is he nervous? “Of course. You have to be nervous, that’s what gives you your edge. This industry is a humbling mistress.”

Clarence Bistro

The Old Tauranga Post Office

51 Willow Street, Tauranga 3110 www.clarencetauranga.co.nz

The Coromandel had a battering this summer. And this is after some pretty tough years with no overseas tourists! We were lucky to sneak a few days on the peninsula when the sun shone, and we were reminded why this is a favourite spot for so many Kiwis to recharge.

While there we met up with some of the artisan producers who call the peninsula home and are adding real flavour to this region. Check out our map for more great foodie stops.

Omahu Valley Citrus

British couple Caroline and Simon Marriott arrived in New Zealand just over 20 years ago with their young family. They bought 30 acres in Omahu Valley just south of Thames.

After some consultation the couple planted a portion of the property in citrus, a variety of Yen Ben lemons, Bearss limes, Seville oranges and grapefruit.

Fast forward a few years, when the trees began to bear fruit, Caroline enthusiastically took these to the Thames market only to be underwhelmed by the sales and left with the question of what they were to do with the growing number of fruit their orchard would produce.

Someone suggested making marmalade, something Caroline had no experience with, but she didn’t let that stop her! In fact, after some trial, and the family will say much error, Caroline began producing award winning marmalade – winning both medals in the World’s Original Marmalade Competition along with many local awards.

The self-confessed “enthusiastic gardener” and once novice marmalade maker recently sold the business which makes over 20 products with stockists across the country. Caroline and Simon are both excited for their next adventure and to see how the new owners will grow Omahu Citrus.

Blackbeards Smokehouse

Jess Jones grew up in Coromandel town and happily admits she loves mussels. Buying Blackbeards Smokehouse, a much loved brand of smoked mussels, was a great decision. The business was based in Whitianga, which saw Jess commuting over the hill before she could build a purpose built factory and shop in Kopu, Thames where she lives.

This handy spot means both streams of traffic, those heading over to the east coast via the Kopu Hikuai Road (when open!) and those heading up the Thames Coast Road can stop in for freshly smoked Coromandel mussels.

While mussels are the core product and these all come from local mussel farms, Blackbeards also produces smoked fish, dips made from the mussels and fish, pies and chowder.

Look out for the smoked mussels in selected supermarkets and food stores.

Cathedral Cove Macadamias

Situated on a picturesque peninsula between Cooks Beach and Hahei, Cathedral Cove Macadamias is home to 1,000 40-year-old organically grown macadamia trees. Jillian and Doug Johnston bought the property a few years ago and currently control the whole process from growing to processing and sell their macadamias. This is no mean feat as these nuts are hard ones to crack!

Demand for macadamias continues to grow, as these tasty nuts, be them raw, roasted or covered in chocolate also make a delicious nut butter and sought after oil. For this reason the Jillian and Doug prioritise stocking local eateries like the Pour House in Hahei, Hot Water Beach Café and, as we discovered, Little Lato Gelato.

The remainder is sold directly through their website or via their orchard shop which is open seven days a week in the summer months. Here you will also find their orchard honey as well as unexpected treasures like the spent shells which apparently make great kindling, and I suspect would be perfect in a smoker.

Uncle Dunkle

Kyle Dunkle is a Californian who found his way to the Coromandel originally on a working holiday, cheffing at Luke’s Kitchen before returning in 2016 on a permanent basis.

As a chef at Luke’s, he fell in love with the woodfired oven and its potential to do more than cook pizzas. This culminated in a woodfired chilli sauce range which marries Kyle’s fascination with the wood fired oven and his love of BBQ sauce.

These sauces were originally made at Luke’s Kitchen before he outgrew the space available in this already busy kitchen. The range has two main sauces – BBQ and chilli, and each of these comes in varying heat levels. Kyle says his goal is to make a sauce people will use and “finding that balance between flavours and heat is key”.

Opito Bay Salt

As you drive into one of Coromandel’s true hidden gems, Opito Bay, you might notice a series of greenhouses on your left. This is not a local market garden but HQ of award winning Opito Bay Salt.

Inside these greenhouses the power of the sun is used to turn the crystal clear water from Opito Bay into pure, natural sea salt that is quite literally a taste of the Coromandel.

FOODIE SHOPS/STOPS

1 Providence Pantry

22 Belmont Road, Paeroa

2 The Cheese Barn

4 Wainui Road, Thames

3 Coromandel Distilling Co.

715 Pollen Street & 110 Kirkwood Street, Thames

4 Coromandel Oyster Co

1611 Manaia Road, Coromandel

5 Blackbeard Smokehouse

1 Kopu Road, Kopu

6 Cathedral Cove Macadamias

355 Lees Road, Hahei

7 Hot Water Brewing

1043 Tairua Whitianga Road, Whitianga

8 Little Lato Gelato

46 Hahei Beach Road, Hahei

9 Salt District Brewing

101B Winifred Ave, Whangamatā

10 Rudi’s

621 Beach Road, Whangamatā MarinaPop up caravan open until ANZAC Day making handcrafted sourdough breads and pastries.

11 La Grignette Artisanal Bakery 1/15 Rosemont Road, Waihi

Eateries

12 Waiomu Café

622 Thames Coast Road, Waiomu

13 The Refinery

5 Willoughby Street, Paeroa

14 Peppertree Restaurant

31 Kapanga Road, Coromandel

15 Luke’s Kitchen

20 Black Jack Road, Kuaotunu - This super busy spot is also a great place to discover some local brews like Blue Fridge.

16 The Pour House

7 Grange Road, Hahei - Also home to the Coromandel Brewing Co.

17 The Hive 450 Purangi Road, Cooks Beach

18 Mercury Bay Estate

761 Purangi Road, Cooks Beach - Best pizza on the peninsula, plus outstanding wines all with a phenomenal view.

19 Colenso Café

895 SH25, Whenuakite

20 Tairua Beach Club

128 Paku Drive, Tairua

21 Port Road Project

719 Port Road, Whangamatā

22 Falls Retreat

25 Waitawheta Road, Waikino, Waihi - A must stop whenever you are in the area, or perhaps plan your trip around a stay in one of their cabins.

COROMANDEL