Port Road Project - Port Road Project 719 Port Road

The call of the sea can be very powerful. And in this instance it has lured Jason Scott, Barend Beukes and Emily Young from the Waikato to the Coromandel Peninsula town of Whangamata to set up a new cafe.

Chef Jason Scott was a founder-owner of Hamilton's top-rated, award-winning  Scotts Epicurean, which he opened in 2000 with his sister Mandy. Barend Beukes, from South Africa, came into the business seven years ago; he took the helm in the kitchen and later became a part owner. His partner (soon to be wife) Emily Young worked at Scotts too.

Over time, the idea of a coastal move was put on the table and a plan evolved. "We all wanted to live by the beach," says Beukes. Simple as that.

Whangamata won them over, Scotts was sold last year and on December 21 – neatly catching the Christmas wave - the doors opened at Port Road Project on the town's main street. The light and bright new eatery is owned by the trio who, with Jason's wife Jenny and their two kids, are very happy with the switch from city to surf. Young says Whangamata is a caring community; everyone looks out for each other.

I suspect that Whangamata is happy with them, too. Port Road Project's food and service is pitched at locals and holiday visitors alike, a well-judged mix of casual and professional. The cafe does table service, good coffee and offers Good George beers and a handful of interesting wines.

On food, there are a few baked items available and sandwiches can be made to order, but there's no cabinet. You order from menus that include two old favourites from Scotts history – salmon gravlax and the legendary spaghetti, aglio olio – and lots of other items that are a happy marriage of bold flavours, crunchy textures and quality ingredients.

Scott, Beukes and Young say they're doing the food they like to eat themselves, and a hulking great custom-built smoker-barbecue called Rustic Soul plays a key role.

Some of the dishes are meaty, and others look to the tasty flavours of the Middle East for inspiration. These include lentil croquettes with watercress labneh, sprout salad and pomegranate syrup and an aubergine dish with tahini, chopped salad, green chilli and coriander salsa, and boiled egg.

The team has a local story to tell about the best-selling paua fritters on their menu. Beukes says Marius Lloyd, the builder who did the cafe's stylish fitout, gave them the steer on this. He is widely known in Whangamata by the nickname Fritter, and when Beukes quizzed him on what he might like to see on the new menu, Fritter suggested paua fritters (of course). Fritter was clearly onto something because they've been a huge success.

Port Road Project is primarily a daytime eatery and it opens late on Friday and Saturday nights with a shared plates menu.  I had dinner there with friends recently; there were 11 of us, and we enjoyed treats that stepped outside the standard tapas offerings. There was creamy polenta with mushrooms and chevre, vanilla glazed baby beetroot, crispy tarakihi tacos with punchy-fresh pineapple and chilli salsa, richly flavoursome smoked lamb croquettes and waffle fries with a spicy-sweet sauce that we had to have the recipe for (see below).

The food and service didn't miss a beat, and I loved the attention to detail accorded each dish. Put Port Road Project on your visiting list if you haven't been there already.