Columbia Hillen

Ever had a magician for dinner?

I don’t imply grilled and sprinkled with spices. I imply as a visitor.

Let me inform you, it’s an otherworldly expertise.

My pleasure was having Tara Okan, illusionist extraordinaire, carry out table-side at MoVida restaurant in Auckland and never solely mesmerise me along with his very good abilities but additionally numerous members of employees who gathered round our desk. 

Tara the Magician (l) and Sean Hillen (r). Photograph by Columbia Hillen

I’d met Tara a number of weeks earlier by David Rees who kindly launched himself on the road as I explored the North Island metropolis. Such was the instant bond, we ended up on a sundown picnic journey collectively to a secluded seashore. 

Tara’s progressive ‘results’ as they’re known as in magic literature offered the cream on the cake to an fulfilling night at this fine-dining restaurant providing what it describes as ‘Spanish delicacies by a New Zealand lens.’ 

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Opened in August 2022 and with a 150-person capability, MoVida is positioned two flooring up within the modernist Seafarers Constructing on Tyler Avenue within the coronary heart of the elegant, heritage Britomart district. The constructing’s entrance door stands reverse a spacious open sq. the place a preferred Saturday market takes place whereas its eating room overlooks Waitemata Harbour. 

Previously occupied by one other restaurant known as Ostro, its unique homeowners, the Savor Group partnered with Movida’s homeowners, together with head chef and founder, Frank Camorra for the opening.

Michael Nesti, Restaurant Supervisor. Photograph by Columbia Hillen

Designed by Paul Izzard of Auckland-based agency Izzard Design, it’s greatest described as ‘tapas bar meets eating room,’ comfy with out being overly fussy. A lot of the seating is rounded booth-style however my companion and I had been lucky to be allotted one of many stand-alone tables beside floor-to-ceiling folding glass doorways which stretch the size of the restaurant and past which is a slim balcony after which a transparent view of sailboats gliding gracefully alongside the Pacific Ocean.

First, the employees, younger, pleasant, environment friendly and multi-national, from nations resembling Colombia, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand and the US, all led by dynamic normal supervisor, Michael Nesti, a local of Tuscany.

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Kicking off with cocktails, we selected vermouth and we had been delighted with the various provide, a choice of six together with a darkish, tangy model from Tarragona. 

MoVida’s menu, divided into 4 classes, aperitivos, tapas, raciones – barely bigger sharing plates – and parillas – grilled dishes – matches menus at its profitable mum or dad operation in Melbourne. We opened with a preferred Kiwi seafood delicacy, green-lipped mussels, famend for his or her anti-inflammatory properties thus extraordinarily helpful for arthritis victims. These little dainties, contemporary as if simply plucked from the ocean, had been served chilly with a inexperienced gazpacho-like sauce comprising cilantro, garlic, chili, lemon and olive brine. Subsequent up was burrata, plump in the course of a colourful ratatouille-like bowl of roasted onion, peppers, tomatoes and contemporary basil. 

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Preferring seafood, I opted for marinated octopus as my subsequent course, caught close to Kaikoura, a coastal city in South Island. To my thoughts, this denizen of the deep is scrumptious bare, however it was even tastier cooked because it was on a skewer over coals with fino, dry white sherry and paprika, accompanied by potatoes and aioli.

My companion went with a beef dish, razor-thin slices of air-dried wagyu with truffled potato foam, pickled kohlrabi and horseradish cream, with flakes of poached egg on high and a platter of almond and horseradish crackers on the aspect.

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Delighted with the standard of the seafood, my finale was gambas ahumadas, house-smoked prawns, Otago clams with butter beans whereas my companion opted for the carrilera de buey, mushy beef cheek braised in spiced crimson wine and candy Pedro Ximenez sherry, served with cauliflower puree. I’m unsure which certainly one of us was happier.

An enormous thanks to our waitresses, Medelin Watape and Erika Martinez, who served us all through the night with honest zest and, in fact, to Tara, New Zealand’s reply to David Copperfield.