AN OPEN BOOK

There’s no hiding for Danielle Alvarez. Instead you’ll find Fred’s head chef front and centre of her open kitchen, cool and calm as she marshalls her high-flying team.

Supping at Fred’s, the much-admired Merivale restaurant in Sydney’s Paddington, can feel like attending a convivial dinner party. The boundary between the open kitchen and dining room is so enticingly blurred that some unwitting patrons wander into the culinary action. Where some chefs might be enraged, Danielle Alvarez is enchanted. “I wanted the restaurant to feel transparent, and that’s the beauty of what we do,” she says, beaming. “I enjoy it.”

Fred’s has been showered with praise since opening in late 2016, including snaring top spot in the latest NSW

delicious. 100 list. The restaurant has been applauded for its seamless service, flawless wine list and simple yet sophisticated food. But, ever the perfectionist, the chef is aiming higher.

“We need to be on our A game every single day,” she says. Alvarez, who spent her formative years at the pioneering Chez Panisse in northern California, has long been an emissary for farm-to-table cooking. “When I write the menus at Fred’s, I never consider the protein first. I look at what the farms have coming in.”

The recipes on these pages are similarly produce-driven. In late summer and early autumn, Alvarez looks to sweetcorn, green beans and apples. But that’s not to say she doesn’t have an affinity for meat, too. “Quails can be challenging to cook on a grill, the skins can burn or stick, so wrapping them in pancetta protects the flesh,” she says. The chef, who relocated to Australia more than three years ago, still clings to some Americanisms. “I call it fall, but I’m happy to use autumn,” she adds, which sums up her easygoing, adaptable and contextual approach.