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Pier

There’s more to Pier’s appeal than seafood, but it takes up the bulk of the menu and is clearly the kitchen’s passion. Grant King and Katrina Kanetani, chef-owner Greg Doyle’s lieutenants, have broadened Pier’s horizons. There may be soils, gels and other au courant cooking, but the success of the dishes depends not on the mushroom ‘spaghetti’, foam and crumble of dehydrated mushrooms on another exceptional main, but on the peerlessly fresh roast hapuka and other fungi they garnish. It’s with Kanetani’s desserts that technique finds its fullest expression and natural niche, as with the bubble of liquid ganache nestled within her wonderfully unsweetened ‘textures of chocolate’. Unstitching the service might let the waiters’ natural talent shine a bit brighter. The sparkle of top-drawer cutlery and superb wines makes every meal floating over the water in this narrow room an experience.