IN BRIEF
An old-school fine diner dons a cunning new disguise.
WHY CHOOSE THIS RESTAURANT?
At first sight, Plonk is – just as owners Yu Group suggest – a ‘bistrotheque’: coloured lighting, DJ workstation, occasional live bands, high tables, bar stools and snack food starting at just $6. But scratch the surface and a somewhat grander picture emerges – for example, when you realise your elegant Burgundy glass is a $140 hand-blown Riedel, no less. The wine cellar, too, amounts to a global atlas of rare vintages, being the leftovers from Yu Group’s predecessor in these premises, their sunken flagship Atlas. For customers with the dosh, there’s currently the opportunity to snap up these bottled treasures more or less at retail. Kerplunk! But with luck, Plonk will ride alongside Rosella on the crest of Wellington’s new wave of wine bars offering serious food, perfectly poised for hard times in allowing punters to spend a lot or a little. These particular surroundings are further dignified with vestiges of their former finery: deliciously fat squishy banquettes, expensive tiled floors and a monumental central bar.
ABOUT THE MENU
Despite Plonk’s irreverently worded menu, punkishly scrawled across a bright pink card, Atlas’s cuisine still exists in spirit. This is unsurprising, given head chef Conor McDonald was also head chef at Atlas. His new repertoire appropriately tilts in favour of wine-friendly French cuisine: coq au vin is wittily reinvented as a barbecued skewer; smoked pork jowl has cornichon-spiked sauce charcutière. The syrupy sauce bordelaise covering the sliced beef tongue is textbook- perfect, right down to the bone marrow. An absolute must-try is the gorgeously intense duck liver parfait with PX sherry caramel, paired with a swish turret of pistachio-studded duck terrine en gelée.
ABOUT THE CHEF
Irish-born Conor has a double major BA in English literature and philosophy from Trinity College, Dublin. A self- taught cook, he nevertheless found work at a Michelin-starred restaurant, Betony in New York. Once settled in Wellington he began at Ortega but was lured across town to Atlas by Yu Group executive chef James Pask’s ethos of sustainably caught fish, high-quality meats and seasonal ingredients. Conor continues in this vein with cured and fermented foods, smoked meats, excellent house-made bread and house mustard for his pig-head croquette.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The waiting staff collectively enhance your enjoyment by presenting each dish with comments on its makeup and, where necessary, advice about how to go about eating it, but Hunter Witters additionally shines as an authority on the wine list. Ask if the Jean-Baptiste Souillard Syrah is from the St Joseph appellation and Hunter will know; it turns out he has been studying for his Master of Wine Business at the University of Adelaide.
OF NOTE
Largely comprising bin ends from Atlas, Plonk’s luxury wine reservoir is steadily draining. Gone is the 2018 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay at $28 by the glass, rated among Australia’s very finest. In the words of Harvey Norman, hurry while stocks last. Sale must end soon.
ADDRESS: 36 Customhouse Quay, Wellington
Check website for opening hours
MAINS: $24 – $50
CONTACT: 04 471 1313
WEBSITE: plonkwinebar.co.nz
