Best Place to Celebrate: Magnum

The latest addition to Ponsonby Road’s restaurant strip has a most generous serving of design nous.

When a restaurant is called Magnum, you expect a certain amount of extravagance. And if we’re fans of anything, we’re fans of extravagance. (And champagne.) And the new bar/restaurant Magnum on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road doesn’t disappoint. The latest offering from restaurateurs Blair Russell and Mark Wallbank (Rocco, Blake St Café), Magnum is on the site of the former long-time occupant Bella. Bella, a friendly neighbourhood restaurant had a troubled history – once a popular bistro, it struggled constantly after the restaurant was temporarily and disastrously transformed into Hell’s Kitchen for the television programme of the same name. Now, after a full-scale renovation and name change, it looks like Wallbank’s magic touch (he rescued the similarly ill-fated spot on the corner of Ponsonby Rd and Hepburn with Rocco) has ended the site’s run of bad luck.

The position, for a start, is almost impeccable. Situated on the eastern side of Ponsonby Road, it’s one of the few restaurants on the road that enjoys full afternoon sun, perfect for long lunches or summer evening cocktails. Wallbank has taken full advantage of it, with seating for up to 20 people out front, shaded by an enormous white canopy, protected from wind by clear plastic shields and edged with long planters of small trees that separate the area from the street while still allowing people-watching. The front of the building is lined with pale columns, alternated with double-height glass French doors. Vertical gold metal panels on either side of the entrance announce the establishment’s new name.

Inside, the restaurant has been completely gutted and redesigned. Working with architect Sue Hillery, Wallbank says he was looking for a “1950s Palm Springs” feel. In the former space, the bar was at the back on the right, with the left of the restaurant divided into banquette seating and freestanding tables towards the front. Now the bar is in the centre of the main dining space, with the front of the restaurant a cocktail space with high tables and stools, and a wide gold-topped>< walnut-fronted reception desk. Above the desk hang two 10-legged, spider-like lights that Wallbank sourced from Ken Neale, a Sydney-based New Zealander with an eye for amazing vintage design.

To the left of the cocktail area is a marble fireplace, with a huge, gold pleated panel above, and to the right is a floor-to-ceiling mirror with the current menu of small plates written on it. The key motif throughout the space is a repeated M or elongated diamond shape, which is found in the black steel grille behind the reception desk, cut out of the light covers and reflected in the pleats of the panel above the fireplace. High, round glossy black tables dot the front of the space, ringed by dark brown barstools with low bucket seats, made by Forma Furniture.

In the main restaurant space, the focus is on the bar in the centre, which is surrounded by low-mounted bar stools for Japanese yakitori-style dining. “The centralised bar was something I really wanted to do, so we started with that,” says Wallbank. “A lot of people like to eat alone these days, or like to eat at the bar. It’s always a lot more fun there.” Above the bar a massive, translucent lightbox with a motif grille conceals the bottle and glass stock. Down the length of both sides of the restaurant, deep bronze seating with long roll backs face off across small black tables with low black Eames-style chairs. “We wanted to play with the heights of the chairs. All the different styles are at different heights throughout the restaurant.” Above the banquette seating, the M motif is again stitching into champagne-coloured padded panels, while mirrors along the top allow for covert surveillance of fellow diners.

Matching the colour scheme of black, smoke grey walnut and taupe, the restaurant crockery eschews the traditional white palette and instead consists of chunky Temuka pottery in dark browns, blacks and sweet duck-egg blue, alongside wooden bowls. Wallbank describes the food as “classic bistro fare; a lot of comfort food, but with a twist.” We won’t even need a magnum of champagne to tempt us along. MW