RESTAURANT NEWS
SYDNEY
Milpa Collective (Carbon, Taqiza and Calita) will soon be busy opening three new venues across Sydney, each showcasing different parts of Mexico.
Casa Mérida will bring Mayan cuisine from the Yucatán Peninsula to Kellett Street in Potts Point. Mayan dishes will include ceviche, cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork) and infladitas (puffed tortillas filled with meat, vegetables and cheese), while top-shelf tequilas, Mexican spirits and rare mezcals will be on show, too. In the CBD, Santa
Catarina takes its name from Oaxacan municipality Santa Catarina Minas, and will fittingly draw upon its cuisine; while
Londres 126 will open in Sydney’s new Quay Quarter, drawing on the snacks
(or botanas) peddled in Mexico City.
Nearby, Circular Quay’s Aria has welcomed new head chef Thomas Gorringe. Following a stint at Pier One’s The Gantry, Gorringe is poised to help Matt Moran and the Aria team launch back into service this year, and launch Aria Wine Bar early next year.
Finally, Waverley has welcomed a new neighbourhood, family-run deli,
Frank’s Deli, which offers pantry staples and smallgoods, alongside ready-to-eat meals, sandwiches and bone broths.
HOBART
Seven and a Half is a new, temporary restaurant concept by Luke Burgess. The 10-seat dining space draws upon hidden restaurants found above
Tokyo and Osaka. Situated at the top of Avalon City Retreat in Hobart’s CBD, for now it’s only open for Sunday lunches. The set menu favours local produce, and may include grilled black lip abalone with watermelon radish and yuzu koji; or golden beetroot with kohlrabi, hemp, rooster broth and toasted sesame.
VICTORIA
The sprawling Continental Sorrento
(previously Hotel Continental) will see chef-restaurateur Scott Pickett and publican Craig Shearer come together to revamp the Mornington Peninsula mega venue’s hospitality offerings. Audrey’s restaurant (an ode to Pickett’s grandmother) will stand alongside a bar, beer garden, pool-side, street dining and a late-night venue. The December reopening will also welcome the restored 108-room InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula.
Chef-restaurateur Shannon Martinez is merging her two vegan businesses into one super-sized venue in November. Flagship restaurant Smith & Daughters and its sandwich-slinging counterpart Smith & Deli, both currently based in Fitzroy, will unite under one roof to create a generous warehouse-sized venue in Collingwood. The new Smith & Daughters is being billed as Australia’s largest vegan hub, and for Martinez, it’s a way of putting the country’s growing vegan scene on the global map.
QUEENSLAND
The Sunshine State’s relative freedom during the pandemic has ushered in a slew of new openings across Queensland, from cocktail bars to interstate imports. In Brisbane, brothers Cameron and Jordan Votan have opened Kid Curry next door to their wine bar Snack Man (finalist for Best Wine Bar in this year’s GT Restaurant Awards). Launched as a concept amid Brisbane’s longest lockdown last year, the 45-seat, now-permanent restaurant draws upon dishes from across Asia and India. “Curry as a word itself is made up in a way and probably means more to us in the West than where these dishes originated,” says Cameron Votan. “Kid Curry focuses on all those countries south of China.
It’s a wide net that gives us the chance to really talk about how dishes and influences have travelled across the region.” To that end you can order Goan sembharachi kodi (flash-fried prawns with green chilli, ginger and onion) or rendang with confit duck. The wine will match the rich flavours, exploring alternate varietals like cortese, arneis, frappato and cinsault.
Dr Gimlette is a new bar from the team behind whisky bar Death and Taxes, hoping to bring a high-end cocktail experience to Brisbane, inspired by globally renowned haunts like The Savoy in London and Black Pearl in Melbourne. Set within one of Brisbane CBD’s oldest buildings, the fit-out consists of a luxurious nine-metre-long marble bar, while
Italian leather booths are serviced by two custom Martini carts.
Melbourne’s much-lauded bakery
Lune Croissanterie has opened its first interstate location in South Brisbane.
The succinct but powerful selection of pastries will change monthly, kicking off with tres leches twice-baked croissants, passionfruit and coconut cruffins (a croissant-muffin hybrid) and asparagus and cheese Danishes, alongside its signature original croissant.
In another import news, Sydney restaurant Lucio’s will continue its legacy in Noosa. Matteo and Michela Galletto, children of restaurateurs Lucio and Sally Galletto, plus Matteo’s wife Dieuwke Albertsma, are set to open
Lucio’s Marina, a 60-seat seafood trattoria plus all-day aperitivo bar overlooking the Noosa River in November. Set to be less fine-dining, more made-for-sharing, less eastern suburbs Sydney, more easy, breezy Noosa lifestyle, featuring a dry-aged fish program of tuna bresaola, swordfish pancetta and kingfish lonza. Lucio’s signature tagliolini alla granseola will also make its return, and might be tweaked to accommodate Queensland produce. The blue swimmers could be replaced with Fraser Island mud crabs; and the crustacean might be made the star of the dish, with the green pasta served on the side.