Baduzzi occupies a ground floor corner of the ASB North Wharf building, where Jellicoe Street meets Fish Lane in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter. Annette and Michael Dearth, who created The Grove, founded it in 2013, and its name comes from a Sicilian dish of tiny meatballs that Michael’s mother cooked for the family, following her own mother’s recipe. The restaurant brings their roots in Connecticut and Sicily together with the produce of their adopted country, and Michael’s signed note on the menu speaks of laughter, long dinners and a deep sense of belonging. Even the Mother Mary salt spoons are cherished enough that the menu suggests buying one rather than slipping it into a pocket.
Meatballs are the heart of the kitchen, handmade in the spirit of New York and Sicily and treated as proof that greatness comes through simplicity. The polpette section has included Karitane crayfish meatballs with pumpkin, smoked butter and pistachio salsa, the ‘dodici ore’ lamb meatballs, slow cooked with preserved lemon and rosemary, Mamma D’s East Coast beef meatballs with smoked melanzane, and wild venison with parsnip and mustard, plus a vegetarian version with mushroom, black olives and cavolo nero. Pasta is made by hand each day and cooked to order, appearing as trofie with cuttlefish ragu and vongole, agnolotti of gurnard and scampi in crayfish bisque, or maltagliati with braised duck and porcini.
Dishes travel round the table, suiting a quick bite before the theatre as well as a lunch that rolls on into dinner. Smaller dishes might bring beef battuta with asparagus, black garlic and pane carasau, stracciatella with aubergine baked in the coals, Sicilian stuffed squid with crispy tentacles and cannellini beans, or organic cured meats with warm focaccia and Baduzzi pickles. King prawns rolled in pancetta with gremolata, inspired by the San Francisco restaurant where Annette first worked, are the dish Michael says will never leave the menu. Steaks cooked over the wood fire, such as Matangi Angus bavette or dry aged South Island scotch fillet, come with smoked herb butter, creamed potato and Giusti balsamic, and dessert could be tiramisu with Baileys and Amaretto or ricotta cannoli with pistachio.
Italian wine leads the drinks list, which is arranged by region: the south, with bottles from Sicily, Puglia and Sardinia; the north, from Barolo and Barbaresco in Piemonte to Tuscan reds; and a section of strangers that takes in Hans Herzog’s Marlborough arneis and montepulciano. Cocktails such as the Old Fashioned Florentine, made with bourbon infused with fennel and blood orange, sit beside the Baduzzi Spritz, mocktails and Italian sodas. The open bar takes centre stage in the room, and groups can take the Conservatory, a room for up to 60 that shuts off completely from the restaurant floor, or gather at a long table for 16 in the chef’s area beside the kitchen. Vegetarian dishes carry a V, vegans can request a dedicated menu, and children can order from Baduzzi’s kids selection.
Address: Unit 2, ASB North Wharf, 10-26 Jellicoe Street (corner of Fish Lane), Wynyard Quarter, Auckland 1010
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