Encore Restaurant Shares the Best Bolognese

Encore Restaurant owner Jacinta Saeki shares one of her favourite homestyle recipes.

Simple recipes have a way of warming the hearth and home and getting everyone around the dinner table without feeling like you’ve run a marathon. The following Bolognese recipe is just that, taught to me by a Sicilian many years ago, simple and delicious. The bonus is that it has lots of vegetables (that you barely see), it can be used in other dishes such as: lasagne, eggs on toast, pie; can feed many or few, and it always infuses a sense of full satisfaction that accompanies every good meal.  For a pot that will stretch for 2 meals you will need:

Bolognese Sauce

1kg lean beef mince
2 carrot
2 stalk of celery
2 onion
2 zucchini (optional including other veg)
2 tbsp garlic
3 tbsp olive oil 

1 cup red wine
800g tin peeled tomato
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)

1. Finely dice onion, carrot and celery and fry in a pot with garlic and olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Gradually break up mince into pot stirring after each addition until all mince is used and browned. 

3. Add red wine, stir, then crush peeled tomato through your fingers into the pot.
4. Simmer on low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour stirring occasionally. The longer it cooks the better the flavour and texture.
5. When finished cooking season with salt and pepper and mix in chopped parsley.
6. Serve with your favourite pasta and cheese or use for lasagne.

Buon Appetito!

Encore Restaurant is open as a cafe during the day, Tuesday to Sunday, and for pre-theatre dining before the show, Tuesday to Saturday. On Sunday evenings, enjoy a delicious roast. Bookings are strongly recommended - call 801-7996 or email enquiries@encoreatcirca.co.nz. 

Encore Restaurant: Chef Donovan Hamilton

Encore Café, Restaurant and Bar has been going strong since it opened in January 2012, with patrons responding enthusiastically to the vibrant atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious food. The man behind the menu, chef Donovan Hamilton, takes a moment to tell drama on the waterfront all about the food at Encore (and even shares a recipe!).

DOTW: Please tell us a little bit about your background as a chef.

DH: I have recently returned from overseas. The last place I worked was in London at The Providores Restaurant for Peter Gordon.  I have been traveling and working on and off for the last 20 years following the completion of my apprenticeship under Mark Limacher of Roxburgh Bistro fame. I worked at Capitol for a while for the fantastic Tom Hutchison. All three of the aforementioned chefs have been a big influence on my career but there have been so many people I have worked with over the years who have helped me learn and hopefully many more to come. Cooking can take you to amazing places around the globe if you let it and I have sure let it carry me away to a few far-flung corners. I worked on private boats for as a private Chef for a while, leading to a lot of hard work in very glamorous settings: Cannes, Monaco and the Caribbean, to name a few. I lived in Germany for two years and have also worked in France, England, Scotland, Portugal and Australia.

DOTW: What is your approach to the menu for Encore? I notice it changes every so often, why is that?

DH: We aim to provide affordable, fresh and interesting food that tastes and looks great. The menu changes seasonally and we are running specials for each show aiming to match the feel of the dining experience with the theme of the show. So far this has been very warmly received. We are running an a la carte menu as well as providing an extensive array of counter food options for those looking for a quick bite to eat on the run before the show.

DOTW: What challenges, if any, does working at a restaurant in a theatre provide?

DH: As previously mentioned by other Chef s working with Circa, cooking for the discerning theatre-going public does provide its challenges. The main one being the short time frame in which to feed everyone. Menu planning requires quite a bit of thought involving a good balance to the equipment and methods of cookery to allow for a smooth service. Offering services such as desert and coffee at interval allow our diners the chance to get a full culinary experience without the feeling of being rushed. 

DOTW: What would you tell someone who had never been to Encore? What should people know about Encore?

DH: We are a young, vibrant, creative and experienced team. The hard work that Jacinta [Saeki, the owner] and the rest of the crew have put in over the last few months since we have opened is really showing. Please book at least a week in advance as we are very busy and hate to disappoint people on the night when we are fully booked. The Café is open during the day now as well for Brunch and Lunch

DOTW: What is your absolute favourite thing to make, both at home and at Encore?

DH: I love to cook simple things at home for friends and family, be it a nice pasta dish with prawns or a nice little curry. When we did our first show earlier on in the year, The Motor Camp, we went for a dish that summed up a bit of the coastal camping experience for me: smoked fish cakes. I am an avid fisherman with limited success. Ah well.

Here is the recipe:

Smoked Fish Cakes Mulheron

200g smoked fish fillet (Kawhai / Moki) Boneless

500g Roasted Baby Potatoes

2 Spring Onions Finely chopped

2 T Corriander Fresh

¼  tsp Chilli Flakes

2 Cloves Garlic finely Chopped

1 T whole Grain Mustard

¼ Cup breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Roast the baby potatoes with a touch of olive oil in a moderate oven skins on. Mash the potatoes whilst the are still warm. Add the rest of the ingredients mix well. Shape the mix into little cakes and lightly panfry to colour them golden brown and cook them through for about 10 minutes in the oven. Serve with either sweet chilli sce or Tartare Sauce.

Server with a nice salad. For the Gluten free people out there just leave out the breadcrumbs and sneak in an egg to help bind the cakes. Feel free to try other fresh herbs in the mix.

Bon Appetite!

Hope to cook for you soon,

Donovan


Encore Cafe, Restaurant and Bar is open Tuesday through Sunday for coffee, muffins, brunch and lunch during the day, and full restaurant and bar service in the evening - including pre-show dining. Every Sunday is the delicious Sunday Roast. Advance bookings are strongly recommended as the restaurant tends to fill up most evenings before the show. Please call 801-7996 to book or with any queries.

Revolutionizing Waterfront Dining: Chef Paul Haitana at Wharfside Restaurant

An experienced chef who has cooked for royalty, Paul Haitana has revolutionised waterfront dining during his time at Wharfside Restaurant. He shares with drama on the waterfront his vision for the cuisine at Circa’s quality dining establishment as well as the recipe for one of his favourite desserts, a quick and easy – and delicious! – Mars Bar Cheesecake.

Wharfside Restaurant Chef Paul Haitana

DOTW: What is your background? What did you do before you came to Wharfside?

PH: I’ve been cooking for 33 years; I started out at the Putaruru Timber Museum when I was six years of age making chocolate, cakes and pies. I’ve worked throughout the world, traveling around as a chef. My highest aspiration was working for the Royal family back in 1989 with Princess Anne’s entourage. I’ve worked at the Regent Hotel, I have had 127 hotels underneath me at one given stage. I have now taken a step back for myself and have returned to New Zealand, starting off small to see where it goes.

DOTW: How long have you been with Wharfside?

PH: I’ve been here for just over five months, since January 2010.

DOTW: I understand that you implemented a new menu when you came to Wharfside. What was your vision for the menu here?

PH: My vision was to make it a little bit lighter, a little smarter. To dress up the meals to the point where they’re as appealing to the eye as they are to the palate. Clean up some of the flavours, keep them a lot crisper so that when you’re dining and you order the lamb you actually taste the lamb not the rosemary or so many different flavours that you don’t know what you’re eating.

DOTW: What is your favourite meal to make, both on your own time and at Wharfside?

PH: My favourite meal of all time for myself would be a pork von strana which is a pork steak with bacon, melted gruyere cheese and a red wine and black pepper jus. I usually serve this with a Waldorf salad and nice glass of wine. Here at Wharfside, my favourite to make would probably be the salmon; it is seared salmon on a bed of lime and coconut rice with baby spinach. And then it’s topped off with a very light, summery mango salsa. It’s an interesting meal.

Seared Salmon, Wharfside Restaurant

DOTW: What challenges, if any, does working at a fine dining establishment in a theatre provide?

PH: Being theatre-oriented, we’re restricted to the timelines by which people dine. Therefore, when they come in, we have an hour to have all of their meals out to them. Which puts a bit of a restriction on the way things are done in the kitchen but with speed and agility and planning yourself out well, it is accomplishable. It’s just not easy.

DOTW: What would you tell someone who had never been to Wharfside? What should people know about Wharfside?

PH: One thing they should now is that the staff here at Wharfside are all very friendly, they’re all very approachable. Be prepared that we are a theatre, so we could have anywhere between zero to 250 guests at any one given time. But it is well worth coming down – the food’s great, the people are great, the atmosphere is great and all of the shows are absolutely wonderful.

DOTW: Why did you choose the Mars Bar Cheescake recipe to share with DOTW readers?

PH: I’ve chosen this one because it’s not so over-the-top. Everyone likes a bit of decadence now and again, and this is a nice way to have it without overpowering your sweet tooth. It has a nice balance between the tart of the lemon zest with the richness of the Mars Bars. And you can swap the chocolate out with any of your favourite chocolate bars.

Chef Paul's Mars Bar Cheesecake

Mars Bar Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Base
250 g plain chocolate biscuits
120 g butter, melted

Filling
3 tsp gelatine
¼ cup hot water
500 g cream cheese, softened
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon (small), zest and juice
3 Mars Bars (thinly sliced)

Method:

Base
Crush biscuits in food processor or with the end of a rolling pin until it resembles fine crumbs. Add melted butter and stir to combine. Press biscuit mixture into base and up sides of a 20 cm springform cake tin. Refrigerate.

Filling
Dissolve gelatine in hot water for 3 minutes then beat until thick and white. Add castor sugar and cream and mix well. Beat in the cream cheese, vaniall, lemon rind and juice until smooth and fluffy. Fold in sliced Mars Bars. Pour cream cheese mixture over biscuit base. Tap the cake tin gently to even out mixture. Refrigerate for 3 hours to allow cheesecake to set properly.

Dining at Wharfside

Wharfside Restaurant is open for pre/post theatre dining for every performance at Circa Theatre. Reservations are recommended, please call 801-7996.

Wharfside Restaurant

Wharfside and Circa offer an exciting taste of what Wellington’s food and theatre scene can offer under one roof. Wharfside Restaurant, previously known as Circa Bistro & Bar, has provided a restaurant service at Circa Theatre for over 15 years. Set in the conservatory-like area of Circa Theatre overlooking the waterfront, Wharfside Restaurant has picturesque views of the harbour.

Q & A WITH THE OWNERS/DIRECTORS:

Dee Ryan and Martin Halliday

MARTIN HALLIDAY
Q. What is your background?

A. I have been in the industry for almost 25 years now. I received the base of my experience at high quality establishments such as the Park Royal, and management of operations such as Arena Night Club. I have worked in many areas of hospitality including setting up of restaurants and bars for enterprises such as Hatters “the Diner”, and Arizona Bar. I have also owned my own hospitality based business, “The Function Co-ordinators” which supplied front-of-house operations and hireage equipment for events, corporate functions and weddings.

Q. Tell us about your involvement with Circa Theatre.

A. I have been with Circa since 1995, just after they moved to Taranaki Street, when I made the decision to set up a restaurant for their theatre patrons. I started with a very basic bistro style operation and have built it up over the years to be, I believe, a fine quality restaurant. I have had the added complication of having to run the restaurant in a way that not only provides a great dining experience but also takes into account the fact that a good percentage of our clientele are attending the theatre and therefore I needed to find the balance between the patrons feeling like they have had a relaxed and enjoyable dining experience and the efficiency needed to get them to the show on time.

Q. What are some of your most poignant memories from your time at Wharfside Restaurant?

A. I have had a lot of fun over the years, with some great after parties for the Chapman Tripp Awards. I’ve worked with some great people and it has been wonderful to watch them mature and move into other careers, a lot of them related to theatre. I’ve also enjoyed the relationship built with many of our regular clients and corporate sponsors over the years and the many varied and interesting functions we have had. My time as Father Christmas at a recent function was rather amusing.

Father Christmas at Circa

Q. Do you have a favourite Circa show?

A. I’ve enjoyed all the shows I’ve seen at Circa. I’m not really a thespian, but I find all the productions top notch and very professional. Some that have stood out for me are Grant Tilly’s one man show, C’mon Black, the Beat Girls stage show and Paul Jenden’s Fairy Stories. I have had a great time taking the kids to the Christmas Pantos, which are always vibrant and an interactive experience for the kids.

DEE RYAN
Q. What is your background?

A. I have only been involved in the hospitality industry for the last three years. Before that I worked for approximately 15 years for a Lower Hutt Law firm after which the opportunity arose for me to change my career path and I took a position as a Diversional Therapist in a local elderly care centre. This work was exceptionally rewarding but due to the fact that I relocated, I could not continue in this position because of the required travel. Martin needed someone to help manage the administration side of the restaurant and so I decided to get involved in the business at that stage.

Q. What is your role at Wharfside?

A. As I said, I became involved in what was then Circa Bistro and Bar about 3 years ago now. I was largely involved in the rebranding of Circa Bistro & Bar to Wharfside Restaurant including new brand logo, menus, signage, advertising and marketing. I am also involved in the day-to-day administration of the business. You may catch me helping out at the odd corporate function but most of my work is behind the scenes.

Q. What are some of your most poignant memories from your time at Wharfside Restaurant?

A. A great memory for me is when I dressed up as Snow White for a kids Christmas function for the pantomime. You can’t beat the feeling that the innocence and adoration of children gives you. They really believed I was Snow White and you could see their faces light up when they saw me and asked if they could have a photo or a hug.

Snow White and Cinderella at Circa

We ran the Breeze Radio Station Chardonnay Club at Wharfside for about 18 months which was a lot of fun for me and my friends. I was a member of the Chardonnay Club before it moved to Wharfside and felt extremely proud hearing the great comments from my friends and other Breeze members who really enjoyed the experience of having their club held at Wharfside.

Q. Do you have a favourite Circa Show?

A. Some of the shows I have seen at Circa have been exceptional and all are very professionally done. I especially enjoyed The 39 Steps, which was an amazingly funny and high energy production. It is a hard task to make an audience laugh nowadays but this show certainly had everyone in stitches. Another show I really enjoyed, was Who Wants to be 100? This really struck a chord for me after having worked in the elderly care sector. The actors were absolutely brilliant and performed flawlessly, the behaviours and mannerisms of elderly rest home patients.

PREVIOUSLY AT CIRCA & WHARFSIDE

Circa and Wharfside have been involved in planning and managing a variety of gatherings, including: Hairy MacLary book launch, corporate seminars and cocktail evenings, Breeze Chardonnay Club, Youth Group Evenings, and a kids-themed Christmas party with Cinderella and Snow White.

Corporate Event

Chardonnay Club

NEXT UP

In a future blog, our chef will reveal one of his favourite recipes so you can have a go at preparing it home.

JOIN US AT WHARFSIDE

Wharfside offers a relaxed environment with first rate dining, excellent service and have an exclusively NZ wine list. We invite you to check out the Circa website under “Restaurant” to view all aspects of our operation including our menu, packages, corporate entertainment, tips, information on our Manager and Chef, and how to go about making a booking. We hope to see you there soon.

Book your next dinner or pre-theatre event at Wharfside Restaurant by calling 801-7996.