Dining Down Under
Link to Indigenous ingredients and influence of immigrant populations sets Australian cuisine apart
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA— It’s only the third course, but it’s become apparent I’m in over my head.
My degustation lunch at Attica started with the “Cook’s Leaves:” four individual greens dipped in a sour cream sauce. That was straightforward enough. But now we’ve been presented with another bowl of leaves, this time with strict instructions not to eat them — or the bugs. Instead, we’re meant to root under the vines for tomatoes. The dish is called “Eat the Tomatoes, Not the Bugs.”
Regarded as one of Australia’s top restaurants, Attica isn’t usually open for lunch, but it’s a special occasion. This week, Melbourne is overflowing with international culinary celebrities who are in town for the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards, timed to coincide with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Just across the room sits Massimo Bottura, an Italian chef whose restaurant was named “Best in the World” in 2016. Bottura does not seem confused by his leaves. The food keeps coming. There are the time-sensitive tarts (named “An Imperfect History of Ripponlea,” each represents a different wave of immigration to the Melbourne suburb), which are to be eaten in one bite.
There’s the “Beef on the Bone,” which is artfully skewered on different bone than the one it grew on. There’s the baby corn in its husk, plated in such a way that it looks a bit impolite for 3 p.m.
By the time the 11th dish arrives — a cold broth with 30 types of flowers and herbs, all hand-picked from Attica’s garden and to be tasted individually — I’m starting to wonder if turning down the wine pairings was an error.
I assume that Ben Shewry, the chef and owner, has a wicked sense of humour. However, when he materializes to ladle pumpkin, out of a pumpkin, onto a pumpkin (for the inventively named 14th course, “All Parts of the Pumpkin”), his manner can only be described as solemn. Fair enough. The next evening, Attica will be named the 32nd Best Restaurant in the World and the Best Restaurant in Australasia, which is no laughing matter.
Cheeky dish names aside, Attica is ranked one of the best restaurants in the world for good reason. Diners might taste the blood of a wallaby, eat wattleseed damper (bush bread made with the seed of an acacia tree), or find themselves spooning pickled quandongs (a native peach) directly out of an emu eggshell. It’s the type of dining experience that could only happen in Australia.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t realize the food and wine culture is so developed here,” says Peter Gilmore, executive chef at Sydney’s Quay Restaurant, which is currently ranked 95th in the world.
Going to Australia and expecting to eat only meat pies and Vegemite would be like arriving in Canada and being served a strict diet of poutine and Kraft Dinner.
Yet, many visitors are surprised to encounter a complex and well-established food scene.
According to Tourism Australia, before visiting the country, only 26 per cent of people associate Australia with “good food and wine offerings.” All it takes is one trip to transform that opinion — afterward, visitors rank it as only second to Italy in terms of food and wine experiences.
According to Gilmore, indigenous ingredients, fresh produce and techniques influenced by an immigrant population are the three trademarks of “modern Australian” cuisine. While Attica is for the most discerning of foodies, his restaurant is arguably a more accessible interpretation.
Sitting beside the Sydney Harbour Bridge and overlooking the Opera House, Quay books out six months in advance for Friday and Saturday evenings.
But for those who plan in advance (Gilmore recommends making a lunch reservation, which are available on shorter notice), the payoff is huge. The strength here is seafood, with Murray cod and congee of blacklip abalone on offer.
Like Attica, which has its own garden, Quay relies on hyperlocal ingredients, going so far as to provide microloans to farmers to grow bespoke produce. “I think you have to meet the producers if you want to create something unique and special,” Gilmore says.
But it’s Brae, a hotel and restaurant located in Victoria’s hinterlands, that takes full advantage of the country’s climate. Ranked as the world’s 44th best restaurant, every day staff spend nearly two hours harvesting produce from the 12-hectare organic farm.
“We’re working with the land and crafting a cuisine that hopefully is a good representation of the immediate landscape,” says chef and owner Dan Hunter. For Hunter, this direct connection to the land is what makes Australia the ultimate gastro-tourism experience.
“I’ve never gone to Italy to eat French food; you would think that’s crazy,” he says. “So when people come to my restaurant, I want them to make no mistake that they’re in Australia — that they’re eating the cuisine that cannot be found anywhere else.” Jessica Wynne Lockhart was hosted by Tourism Australia, which did not review or approve this story.