Chef and restaurateur Sid Sahrawat’s vision for a modern Asian eatery becomes a reality this week with the opening of Anise in the space formerly occupied by The French Café.
Meanwhile, The French Café has moved to a dining room on the opposite side of the courtyard at the Symonds Street premises.
The opening of Anise adds versatility to what is now a mini dining precinct, housing the two restaurants wrapped around a gorgeous courtyard reminiscent of an old French quarter, complete with a fireplace, herb garden and al fresco dining.
Anise and The French Café are just two of the four restaurants of Sid and Chand Sahrawat’s impressive stable of Auckland establishments. The couple also own and operate modern Indian restaurant Cassia at SkyCity and a tandoor inspired bar and restaurant, KOL, in Ponsonby.
Anise, a brand-new concept for the Sahrawats, is a casual 70-seat modern pan Asian eatery with a menu curated by executive chef Sid and head chef Tommy Hope. The restaurant has a reception and bar area, as well as two dining areas – the front room and back dining room, the latter overlooking the gorgeous internal courtyard.
Anise is the latest restaurant offering from Sid and Chand Sahrawat.
A wall in the front dining room greets guests with a Japanese-inspired decal that depicts cherry blossoms from the Meguro riverside in Tokyo. New mahogany finished tables, plants, and dusky pink cushions complete the transformation of the rooms.
Sahrawat is a big fan of modern Asian cuisine, having started his chef career working in a pan-Asian restaurant in Oman. He said he has had great fun testing dishes on the family during the summer break and working with head chef Tommy Hope and the team on this menu.
The debut menu will change with the seasons, is designed for sharing, and is divided into snacks, entrées, mains and dessert, offering up the chefs’ take on modern Asian cuisine with glimpses of flavours from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Cambodia and China.
The selection of five snacks includes Thai green curry beef short rib pies and Sid’s favourite, the black pepper crab croustade with dashi and egg yolk sauce, which is an ode to Singapore’s ubiquitous chilli crab dish, which Sahrawat said he enjoys every time he is in the country. The five entrées include delicious, sweet baby corn with yuzu kosho, miso brown butter and finger lime, and the tender but spicy buttermilk masala fried chicken sliders with ghost chilli mayo and pickle.
There are six mains on offer, including a perennial favourite in the Sahrawat household that Sid has been refining for almost two decades, Masterstock pork belly caramelised with green apple, ginger and savoy cabbage. Other large dishes include roasted shiitake mushrooms, kombu butter, sour buttermilk with a sticky soy glaze; tiger prawns with fermented pepper, yellow curry and XO; and sticky braised beef galbi (Korean short rib) with kimchi, carrot and puffed rice. The final act features four sweet options, including a modern spin on a popular street dessert - a Thai Black sticky rice pudding. Anise’s version features puffed black rice, chewy mango, jasmine rice ice cream and burnt pavlova as a clean and cooling conclusion to the main event.
Sahrawat said he has wanted to put more Asian flavours on the table for a while now.
“While you may have often seen Asian influences on my menus, Anise gives me the opportunity to really dive into and showcase bold flavours of Asian cuisines from Indonesian to Cantonese, Thai to Japanese”, he said.
“Our kitchen team has always been diverse, and the Anise menu will be a true collaboration of different cultures.”
Guests are invited to Indulge in Anise's array of beverages, featuring an artfully crafted cocktail list by bar manager, Rob Chacon. Infused with fresh, tropical, and Asian ingredients, these cocktails are thoughtfully designed to complement the diverse culinary offering.
The wine selection, curated by sommelier and restaurant manager Aleksandr (Alex) Shchepetkin, is a journey through the modern wine movement highlighting exquisite offerings from countries such as Japan, Syria, Lebanon, and China.
The two teams on the Symonds Street premises will be dressed differently to identify with the two very different offerings; Team Anise will wear jeans, white tees and green aprons, while Team French Café retain their elegant but simple look of a black dress or trousers with white shirts.
