Jung Sung, Chippendale, NSW
THE LATEST FROM CHEFS AND RESTAURANTS AROUND AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY
Chippendale’s Kensington Street has welcomed Jung Sung, a sleek, modern Korean-leaning destination restaurant. Korean-born, New York-trained, now Sydney-based chef Insup Kim, earned his stripes cooking at the Shangri-La Sydney and Del Posto in New York.
Here you’ll find him serving bowls of bibimbap with soy-marinated Moreton Bay bug, puffed grains, seaweed and egg, alongside butter-poached bug with crustacean bisque and gochujang aïoli; while dessert sees a corn cob-shaped serve of sweet corn custard spiked with doenjang with caramelised pistachios.
Korean food in Sydney is being further repped by husband-and-wife duo Illa Kim and Daero Lee, via Soul Deli. After the couple pivoted their more formal Soul Dining restaurant to do rice bowls, they were inspired to open a second venue, focused as a deli and café in Surry Hills. Here, you’ll find bottles of hot sauce, pre-made meals, jars of pickles and at least three types of kimchi ready to take home. You can also sit in and order comforting bowls of soy bean stew with house-made tofu and white kimchi, plus excellent fried chicken and rice bowls, crowned with pickles, galbi (marinated beef short rib) and soft-boiled egg.
Darlinghurst has welcomed a new bakehouse, All Purpose Bakery. Chef Mat Lindsay (Ester and Poly) has joined forces with restaurateur and hotelier Russell Beard (Paramount House Hotel), baker Dougal Muffet (most recently at Picco Leo) and Paramount House Hotel founder Ping Jin Ng, to open a new bakery and licensed café.
In Paddington another mash-up of collaborative talent has arrived with the double-hitter of Porcine and P&V Wine &
Liquor. The second outpost of the Newtown bottle shop has impressed locals with its enthusiastic selection of natural wines, which can be enjoyed in the courtyard, or taken upstairs to Porcine, the new French-leaning bistro from Nik Hill (The Old Fitz) and Harry Levy (Don Peppino’s). Très bien!
MELBOURNE
After opening briefly in June 2020,
Golda has reopened permanently, located opposite Prahran Market. Chef Rotem Papo worked at Catit in Tel Aviv, before moving to Australia to work at L’Hôtel Gitan and Bar Lourinhã, and has worked with owner Adam Faigen to develop a menu that reflects modern Israeli cooking.
While Bar Saracen closed in February, punters will be pleased to find more Middle Eastern food from chef Tom Sarafian (including his much-loved hummus with spanner crab and prawns) at Little Andorra in Carlton North.
Nearby, Al Dente Enoteca has opened, headed up by Andrea Vignali and Davide Bonadiman (both formerly Grossi Florentino) and Alessandro Luppolo (former pastry chef at Attica). After successfully making and delivering pasta during lockdown (including the much loved tortellini cacio e pepe) the Italian trio are thrilled to now have their own dining room, offering a six-course set menu on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as Sunday lunch.
Finally, Appellation is a new neighbourhood wine bar in Armadale. Head sommelier Jenna Phillipott (Dinner by Heston and The Recreation) is behind the wine list while head chef Steven Harry (ex-Cumulus Inc) is dishing out snacks like chicken boudin hot dogs with onion and plum ketchup; and smoked kangaroo tartare soldiers.
TASMANIA
The ambitious and fire-focused Van
Bone has opened in Marion Bay. Executive chef Tim Hardy spent time working at Vasse Felix in Margaret River, The Lake House in Daylesford and Brae in Birregurra, and will work with produce from the surrounding garden grounds, cooking with wood-fired ovens and a charcoal grill. Hardy is flanked by the multi-talented restaurant manager Laura Stucken (who has a background in interior architecture and designed the building with the dining experience in mind) and market gardener and grounds manager Joe Nalder.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Dunsborough has welcomed one of the town’s first dedicated wine bars. Lady Lola is bringing European sensibilities down south, with co-owners Michelle Forbes (ex-Ritz Carlton, Cafe Sydney and The Subiaco Hotel) and Nel Antonic curating a wine list of local minimal intervention heroes and international performers, along with plates of just-sliced salumi and oysters. Back in the big smoke, Pingping Poh has been appointed as the first female executive chef at Crown Perth’s Nobu – which will see her oversee a team of 33 as she heads up one of Perth’s most in-demand restaurants.