TriBeCa & LaTeLy

To recap:  The previous three weeks were tinged with a glaze of discontent, garnished heavily with lack of appreciation for this country and served by the menacing backhand of bad luck.  How quickly things can change.  One of the best days followed by a sun-filled week came crashing down, alleviating all self inflicted stress from my frontal lobe, neck and shoulders. 

Firstly, I woke up to an email stating my previously stolen car had been claimed a total loss and I would be receiving compensation after weeks of miscommunication.  After that I proceeded via bus to watch an Avs game at a cafe in the center of Auckland.  I had placed my first legitimate bet on the Colorado boys and just after the final horn sounded and I more than doubled my money the awful little brick of a phone in my pocket started vibrating.  I squirmed about still giddy from the invigoration of winning a bet, fumbled the phone and didn't recognize the number, assuming it was a survey, insurance or someone not important enough for me to store their name in my phone.  (This I can assure is no one as anyone and everyone I have met in NZ willing to give or offer their number is locked into my phonebook).

I answered and on the other end of the line was an owner of TriBeCa Restaurant, Mark enquiring if I was keen to help out at his restaurant and if I could meet with him.  I said yes, hopped on a bus to Parnell and strolled into the restaurant to meet with him over a cup of coffee.  He is originally from Pennsylvania married to Pauline a native Kiwi and opened the doors to their renowned restaurant 17 years ago.  Twenty minutes later I was employed for a test drive the next day.  Been through a couple rounds there and am enjoying it so far as they are heavily loaded for lunch as the reservations taper off throughout the afternoon and evening until summer hits, then its supposed to be pretty full on. 

The front of the house staff is silver lined with Chef Hayden McMillan's modern New Zealand cuisine who at 26 is one of the most talented Chefs I have ever met.  Well studied and a master of his craft I can't believe what I've been able to taste over the course of the last few days.  He is currently shifting the menu for summer and his mind-blowing techniques make this restaurant a must for any epicure setting foot in the Auckland area.  His use of traditional cooking styles with liquid Nitrogen and clever new-age skills I'm has produced an amazing blend of flavors, textures and sight appeal that rival within the top 3 in New Zealand.  I  say this having recently experienced The Bazaar by Jose Andres at the SLS Hotel in Beverley Hills.  www.thebazaar.com  I will most certainly try and snap some photographs in the upcoming days and show you how cool these dishes are.  www.tribeca.co.nz

Other than that I recently played two games in one night having ridden to the rink with the captain of one team who was short a few players and had a blast finally.  We didn't win that game but it was chock-full of hits, goals and skating hard.  Second game I was with my original team and we won 4-2 on a hat trick from one of our very talented teammates.  I chipped it with an assist and some back checks stopping the other teams faster guys from coming in alone on our goalie.  My way of making up for my lack of skating skills, SPEED.  This sometimes advantageous attribute to my recent love for playing hockey busted me up a bit this week. Gotta love when as I came crashing into the boards with an opposing player my wrist hyper-extends against the glass and I feel the strain of the fleshy pieces wanting to give way.  Fortunately I was standing on a sheet of ice and during our intermission I simply took my glove off and rested my wrist on the ice for a couple minutes. 

Aside from Hockey and work I'm in the process of moving out of my current flat mainly because it's too expensive although there are some underlying issues as well.  The weather has turned around and the sun has come out.  In the next few weeks after I make some extra scratch I'm planning on booking some Scuba Diving lessons to become certified and a whole bunch of other stuff that I will certainly fill you in on as it comes into play. 

I promise I'll have some new pictures up soon.  I'm currently still grieving over the loss of my iPad which had so many on it and have been trying to figure out a way to stay in this country considering what you know of my previous posts.

Stay tuned...
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