Where I Ate Last with Tony Astle: Ahi and White Chocolate and Grand Marnier Soufflé

This week Tony Astle dropped by Auckland’s Commercial Bay to dine at Ahi. The restaurant delivers “food at its best”, using fresh ingredients from across New Zealand, and organic vegetables grown in the Ahi Kitchen Garden in South Auckland. 

He sampled the Wallaby Tartare with Puffed Wagyu Tendons and Fermented Hot Sauce, the Te Matuku Waiheke Oysters, and the Bigeye Tuna, Confit Turnip, Watercress and Shiso among other dishes. 

The Bigeye Tuna from Ahi.

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Recipe of the Week: White Chocolate and Grand Marnier Soufflé  

Serves 6  

Ingredients  

10 Free Range Eggs, separated   

3 Tbsp caster sugar  

1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest  

350gm white chocolate  

6 Tbsp of Grand Marnier  

Soft, unsalted butter to grease ramekins  

3 Tbsp caster sugar for dusting  

  

Method

1. Beat egg yolks, sugar and orange zest in a mixer until thick and creamy.  
2. Melt the chocolate with the Grand Marnier in a double boiler. It is important not to let the water come to a boil underneath or to let the bowl touch the water.  
3. Combine the melted chocolate with the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Set aside until required. The mixture can be refrigerated at this stage.  
4. Butter the individual ramekins thoroughly and dust with the second measure of sugar. Set aside.  
5. Gently reheat the chocolate mixture until it is tepid.  
6. Preheat fan bake oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  
7. Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold a quarter of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder.  
8. Pour into the ramekins to just below the top.  
9. Bake for 15mins or until cooked.  
10. Serve immediately, dusted with icing sugar and lashings of whipped cream. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Finding the hidden gyms at the hospitality scene where I
ate last with Tony Astell on Kerry Woodam mornings. Tony
Astell joins us, Now, where in the world are you?
Because I'm not looking at your gorgeous face this morning, and.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
I'm not looking at your money. I know what it
looks like. It's in my mind. It's not a problem.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Yes, we've seen each other quite often.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Many years, so anyway, and you haven't changed a.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Bit, And so where in the world are you, Tony?

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Well, I'm actually sitting at my table overlooking Rangatoto at
the moment my plane was My plane was canceled in
New Zealand, as they always do, five minutes before, so annoying,
and I didn't have time to come and see you,
so I got home. But anyway, I'm here. You are
welcome now leaving at six o'clock tomorrow morning.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Oh lovely hawks Bay. Though, it'll be worth it when
you get there, it will.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I love Hawk's Bay.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, it's a gorgeous place of it, especially if you're
a gastronome like you are. So where has this gastronome been?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well?

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Actually, we I was taken for a reunion dinner the
or lunch and the other day to AH he oh, yes,
which is a commercial bay which I've been to many times.
But you know, it's just one of those restaurants that
keeps going and it's the food is always good and

(01:19):
you know the place and which I was really thrilled
to see the place was absolutely backed on a Friday
for lunch. So you know, maybe hospitality is on the
move again, and let's hope it does, because well, I
think I.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Think the good places are fine. You know, it's those
that are new and starting out or don't have a reputation,
or those that are struggling to find a chef for
I think there because a number of well three of
my friends have tried to get into AH for a
special celebration haven't been able to.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
Yeah, And I think that that's good because I mean
it's I mean, I'm not the commercial baby. I love
going to Kochu and I also love going to AH,
but it's anyways, and the chef there, Ben Bailey's involved,
but they have a very very good chef that's on
all the time there as well. He's very very clever
and anywhere, the food never never goes up or down.

(02:09):
It just is always good and although some sometimes you know,
I have a couple of things I'm not that keen on,
but on the whole it's pretty pretty good.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
I mean, you can't have everything perfect, can you not?
Every day?

Speaker 1 (02:20):
If it was perfect, it would just be a production line,
whereas it's an.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Art and it is.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Look, they've got so many they've got so many staff there,
which was very very exciting to see the all and
the good young people. Then it's anyway, it's well worth going.
I think it's well worth going. I mean, it's not
a cheap restaurant, and it shouldn't be because the food
quality is so up there, and you know, like things
like oysters and things out they're eight dollars each and anyway,

(02:46):
but that's sort of part of the course these days anyway,
because things are so expensive to buy.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
And what was his standout meal? Your dishes from.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
A well, the one I always love the metticu oysters
from what I Heck, they were fantastic, And that was
with a It was with a garden fresh granita which
was a nice cold ice on top, and it had
some morning side side. And now that hadn't been overdone
like sometimes people just get too carried away.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
With the oyster. The oyster was still a harrow.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
And it was beautiful, but my favorite dish of the day.
But the next favorite dish was the wallaby tartar, which
I have there every time I go, and it's on
puffed wagu tendons, and of course you know, everyone starts
curdling all tendons, but I'll tell you it's like a
beautiful puffed up wafer and it is a tendon, but

(03:36):
it's got and the wallaby tatar is spicy, but it's
absolutely beautiful. And if you don't like raw meat, you
would still love this because if you shut your eyes.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
You would never know it was raw. But it's an
absolutely beautiful dish and well worth the fourteen dollars for
the little nibble.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
But so where did the wallabee come from? Are they
farmed or do the hunters get them and supply them
to the food market.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Well, I'm not quite I will have to ask them,
but I was wondering whether it was maybe well, I
don't know, you can buy kangaroo, so I mean, you.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Don't know, there was a lot of wallabies in New Zealand,
So yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Would hope that I mean, I know when we did
oh well, they do the recovered food, and we had
some fabulous chefs at the Hiatt who put on a
guest chefs at the Hiat came along and put on
a fabulous bill of recovered food. We had Wallaby because
some hunters had who were authorized to shoot for restaurants
had them.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, and well I think of it anyway, that's been
on there.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
That's one of their signature dishes, and I get quite
excited about it. But there was one disappointment for me,
which is still a great dish.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
It is their signature dishes. The scampy corn dog.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Now, I was with some very big fishery fishery people
that on that lunch, and they were they actually because
scampy is the most magnificent thing to eat.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
And I just thought it.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Was a little bit overwhelmed with the corn with the
hot it was like a hot But I mean it's
very very clever. But for me, you know me, I'm
a bit classic and it was a bit too clever
for me. And I must have met the rest of
the table also that said the same thing. But it's
still a great dish, but it just wasn't quite live. Well,
it doesn't really ring my bells, if you know what

(05:16):
I mean.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sounds like it was the perfect boisy restaurant lunch to
go to for a reunion.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Well, it was quite there. I got home when we
arrived there at I arrived there, A called it to
twelve and I got home at nine o'clock.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Oh my god, that's like the old days, mind you.
The other day I was driving up to the Northern
Club too. I've been at the tennis launch and then
I was going to the Northern Club for a function
and there was a breath testing going on. But they
weren't breath testing my side of the road, so I
had to slow down and the lovely policewoman who was
standing there, I said, can you please breath test me?
I've been dying to be breath tested all year and.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Sure you would have been perfect. Oh I was, Christine.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
It's desperate to be breath tested.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
Tony lovely to talk.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Have a great weekend, save travels to Talks Bay and
enjoy your trip there. White chocolate grown money a souflay
is the recipe of the day. Go to Newstalk sedb
dot co dot nz for Tony's fabulous take on white
chocolate and grown money. A souflay