Trivet

Inspired by To’ona’i traditions (Sunday brunch or feasting in Samoan) and the multicultural culinary fabric of Aotearoa coming together at the dinner table, Chef Wallace (Uelese) Mua is bringing his culinary ode to Auckland. Located inside JW Marriott, Trivet is an all-day dining space, paying tribute to the treasured moments of celebration and gathering around the table with family and friends. 

With lush midnight blue banquette seating by the bar, and summery wicker chairs fitted with leather seats alongside sleek marble tables, the fit-out is an all-seasons feast for the eyes. Accents of brass gold run alongside textural wooden finishing. With pops of greenery, it feels like a luxurious getaway from the busy world outside. With a breakfast bar island (that doubles as a raw bar), diners can sit up by the bar and watch the chef prepare beautiful cuts of fresh fish. 

Dishes reflect Chef Mua’s experience working in kitchens across Auckland, France, and his time as the official chef for the All Blacks during the Rugby World Cup last year. His menu honours food traditions, while effortlessly combining techniques and flavours across many cultures into bites that are new, exciting and, most importantly, delicious. Dishes pay respect to his Samoan heritage (inspired by his Mum's cooking growing up), the vibrant flavours from his wife’s Vietnamese-French family, and the many influential dishes during his culinary career in Tāmaki and beyond. 

Raw bar classics include Te Matuku oysters from Waiheke, their juicy cucumber and mineral profile complemented with sweet pops of watermelon and spicy drops of nasturtium oil. Octopus melts like butter, thinly sliced and dressed with nduja and fennel tzatziki to add both a spicy kick and yet equal relief between each bite. Their house-made flatbread is fresh out of the woodfire, blistered and glistening in a sweet and salty coconut butter (add a generous lather, you won‘t regret it).

Modern interpretations of familiar childhood food memories like palusami (taro leaf parcels bathed in coconut cream) are met with classic French patisserie techniques (in this case the vol-au-vent). Crispy layers of buttery puff pastry, together with Chatham Island paua (both as tender melt-in-your-mouth slices and creamed in a taro-coconut sauce) elevates this savoury pastry to another level that makes it uniquely, multiculturally, Aotearoa.

Don‘t forget to make room for the larger dishes. Classics are done right (cue: grilled bavette steak with fondant potato fries), tagliatelle made fresh in-house and market fish dressed in char siu with a refreshing crunch of apple and cress. The pork belly nem (Vietnamese spring rolls) are larger than life—the size of a pork belly itself. Dressed in a vibrant medley of herbs and tossed through a punchy ginger and lime chilli… it will leave your lips smacking. Their vegan menu is decked out with (very) generously-portioned, flavoursome dishes like their triple-cooked kumara in silky curry and umami oyster mushrooms tossed in confit garlic. 

Dessert is a must. Their trio of house-made sorbet with rotating flavours are excitingly refreshing. Roasted pineapple, hazelnut and mixed berries come together for the final bite to complete the meal. Chocolate (and orange) lovers, opt for the 70% dark chocolate crostada. It’s guaranteed you’ll have a second appetite with this warm chocolate number, wrapped in pastry and then topped with a marbled scoop of orange and chocolate sorbet. 

The drinks list includes an extensive wine list (curated by sommelier Joe Costello) and a cocktails section that is equally curious and creative, yet with a hint of familiarity. Take Trivet’s Pied Piper: reminiscent of a dirty martini, but with wonderful layers of sweet lemon oleo and “dirty cucumber” (thanks to the house-made cucumber vermouth made with Pinot Gris, herbs and spice). Created by duty manager Kayleigh Eade (who’s also a cocktail connoisseur), it’s then finished with foraged kawakawa drops tableside—making this sip the perfect starter while you wait for your oysters. For a creamy number (but without the cream!), Tears of Paradise is a collaborative effort between Kayleigh and bartender Zain. It’s like a sip of margarita meets piña colada using fresh lemongrass zing. Add milk clarification and you’ve got all the flavours of summer in a wonderfully clear and flavoursome icy glass. 

Go for the cocktails, bring the crew and stay for the feast—for a modern celebration of Aotearoa flavours and cultures around the table. 

Words: Vicki Young | Imagery: Trivet | Instagram.