RESTAURANT NEWS
MARGARET RIVER
Dunsborough in the Margaret River is in for a shake-up with the opening of Yarri this month. Fresh from 21 years at Vasse Felix, Aaron Carr is at the helm of the new restaurant, and is joined by Redmond Sweeny, and Sal and Tony Davis, of Snake + Herring Wines. The menu celebrates the best of the south-west with plenty of native ingredients: emu with Geraldton wax and macadamia to start, perhaps, followed by kingfish with quandong kosho or woodgrilled skate with saltbush.
The restaurant opens daily for lunch and dinner.
BYRON BAY
You won’t find an açai bowl at Duk in Byron Bay, but you will find rice bowls topped with Chinese-style roast meats and greens, seven nights a week. Jeremy Burn and Sarah Swan of 100 Mile Table are behind the new 40-seater, which stays classic with a tight menu of five main choices: char siu, soy chicken, crisp-skinned roast pork, roast duck and fried tofu. The drinks list (with the exception of Tsingtao) leans local with Jilly wines and Stone & Wood beers, and the greens are all sourced from the nearby Boon Luck Farm – owned by Chat Thai director Palisa Anderson.
SANTA MONICA
Dave Beran, best known for his work at Alinea and Next, is wowing diners at Dialogue, his 18-seat fine-diner in Santa Monica.
The tasting menu, ticketed online, celebrates the essence of the seasons. On the opening menu, that equated to chocolate with coconut and menthol served on a plate of ice, which Beran says is like
“the first breath when you step outside on a snowy day”. Other courses include king crab with popcorn, orchids and Earl Grey tea, and a sweet and sour combination of whipped persimmon, lemon shortbread and hibiscus sugar.
SYDNEY
The latest from the Lotus Group is Fujisaki, headed up by chef Chui Lee Luk, late of Claude’s. Set a street back from the water in the Barangaroo precinct, the modern 146-seat Japanese restaurant also has sushi chef Ryuichi Yoshii in its brigade, blowtorching kombumarinated red gurnard and slicing coral trout into sashimi. Larger dishes include lamb shoulder cooked on the robata grill with young garlic, and, on the sweet side, white chocolate mousse with crystalised wasabi. Design Clarity is behind the design, which includes a tatami room, temperature-controlled wine room and raw bar.