Before I became a wife and mother, the thought of enjoying Christmas lunch anywhere other than in my own home, or the home of one of the extended family, would’ve been downright depressing. But these days I liken the stress and diplomatic effort involved in keeping everybody happy on Christmas Day to negotiating a peace deal in the Middle East rather than a fun family event. I find myself yearning for someone else to take over; someone else to bear the burden of being creative with the food, the wine and the all-important decor.

 

 

I just want to turn up, be wined and dined then disappear for a snooze when it’s all over. I don’t want to worry about whether my teenage nephews have snuck off with the leftover wine and I don’t want to do any dishes. 

 

Thank goodness then for Robyn and Nick Jones at Mudbrick Vineyard on Waiheke Island. For the last ten years they have staged immensely popular Christmas Day lunches and dinners at their award-winning restaurant.

 

“When we first started we had a set menu, then we decided to take it a step further to degustation, which makes it so much more festive,” says Robyn. 

 

So successful are their lunch and dinner sittings, chances are by the time you read this they will have sold out. “But that’s okay,” says Robyn, as she pours flutes of Mudbrick’s méthode for her guests, “because people will have loads of time to book for next year.” 

 

“Family Christmases can be tense at the best of times,” adds Nick. “We’ve had walk-outs and the odd fisticuffs in here but it all adds to the colour and provides a bit of entertainment for other guests,” he says with a laugh. 

 

Famous for its rustic chic style, the small winery building was originally the Jones’ family home. Friend and designer Sally Holland, of Abodeworx, helped create the look of the café restaurant and the separate cellar door building. Below is a potager garden and, nearby, a new purpose-built greenhouse.

 

“We like to grow as much of our own produce for the restaurant as we can,” says Robyn. “I’d eventually like to have a mushroom trail in front of the café too.” 

 

The multicultural Mudbrick team of eighteen chefs is presided over by Kevin Morgan, who recently worked with the legendary Heston Blumenthal at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck in England. Kevin’s amuse bouche of beef, ox heart and semi-dried heirloom tomato terrine and basil sorbet was outrageously good. With entrée choices of cauliflower mousse, beetroot carpaccio, potager veges and parmesan foam or salmon confit, celeriac and clam velouté, it’s easy to see why he’s in high demand. 

 

The room hums with festive feasting as Nick pours glasses of gold-medal-winning Mudbrick Reserve Syrah and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany the rare venison loin with chorizo and fava bean sausage, and Marlborough sauvignon blanc for the steamed snapper fillet with asparagus, scampi and langoustine ravioli.

 

I’m amazed anyone has room for dessert but the plates are practically licked clean before guests wander outside to stretch their legs. So, if the ferry back to Auckland sinks under the weight of this very satisfied and sleepy girl, blame Mudbrick Vineyard.

 

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Chocolate and Orange Brûlée
This divine dessert from the Mudbrick kitchen is just as delectable without its caramelised sugar topping. If you opt to leave out this step, just call it a mousse instead of a brûlée!

 

500ml (2 cups) cream 85ml (just over 1/3 cup) full-cream (blue top) milk 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped 60g (4 tablespoons) caster sugar 8 egg yolks, size 6* 1 teaspoon cocoa 100g dark chocolate buttons 1 orange, finely grated zest Extra caster sugar for sprinkling

 

Preheat oven to 150°C. Place cream, milk, vanilla seeds and half the sugar in a saucepan set over medium heat and heat until steaming.

 

In a bowl, whisk together yolks, remaining sugar and cocoa. Whisk in hot cream mixture then add chocolate and mix until melted. Stir in orange zest.

 

Strain mixture through a coarse sieve into small ramekins and place them in a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides. Place pan in oven and bake until brûlées are nearly set, about 40 minutes.

 

Remove ramekins dishes from pan, cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and chill several hours or overnight.

 

Just before serving, sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over brûlées and heat with a kitchen blowtorch or briefly under a hot grill until caramelised.  Makes 8 x ½ cup servings

 

* Egg whites freeze well. Save them for making pavlovas or meringues. 

 

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Bilancia La Collina Syrah 2006 $87 I love this wine so much I’ve written in my will that I want a bottle broken over my coffin when I die. It’s impenetrably dark and brooding; the aroma is of intense cracked pepper, bitter chocolate and violet, with ripe berryfruits, muscular tannins and heavenly length of flavour. Definitely on my Christmas wish list! Track down a bottle in a fine wine store or from www.bilancia.co.nz.

Te Kairanga Martinborough Pinot Noir 2006 $24 Recently named as one of the top ten pinots by Qantas’ inflight magazine Australian Way, this wine flies the flag for high-quality, affordable pinot. It has punchy black cherry, forest floor, strawberry and allspice aromas with a juicy, plummy mouthfeel and slippery, sexy tannins. Gorgeous with duck confit. Available at good wine stores and supermarkets or via www.tekairanga.co.nz.

 

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