RESTAURANT NEWS
SYDNEY
Bondi has welcomed Lola’s Level 1 along with its Mediterranean snacks and well-made cocktails. Chef Paula Pantano is dishing up a cracking pan tumaca (bread with tomato); tender plancha-grilled octopus; and peppers topped with anchovies. Backed by owners Marco Ambrosino (Fratelli Paradiso) and Manny Spinola (Grand Pacific Group), Lola’s is bringing serious snacks and a refined vibe that this part of the beachside ’burb has been lacking.
Wine importers Giorgio De Maria and Mattia Dicati have teamed up with Enrico Tomelleri (ex-10 William, Ragazzi) for Paski Vineria Popolare, a wine bar, restaurant and shop located where This Must Be The Place once was. Expect charcuterie, wodges of cheese and glasses chinking downstairs, alongside 400-plus bottles of mostly Italian vinos to browse. Upstairs, Paski Sopra will offer an extended menu of handmade pastas and seafood, and will play host to weekly wine-tasting nights.
The Blue Door has swung into Surry Hills, with chef Dylan Cashman at the helm, following stints at Paper Daisy and Sean’s Panaroma. Cashman will give weight to the restaurant’s provenance focused ethos by gathering 95 per cent of the restaurant’s produce from New South Wales, and working with farmers to source whole animals to use across the weekly changing menu. There are just 24 seats in the restaurant, while outside Airgardens (a soil-free growing system developed by NASA) will grow herbs and salad greens.
Due in the second half of 2022, Swillhouse (Alberto’s Lounge and Restaurant Hubert) has plans to open a permanent European wine bar dubbed Le Foote in The Rocks. But before renovations begin at the Phillip’s Foote site (one of Australia’s oldest commercial sites), the group will do a takeover of
101 George St over summer, with aperitivo snacks by Alberto’s Lounge head chef Daniel Johnston, carafes of wine and plenty of ourdoor seating.
MELBOURNE
Nomad has arrived in Melbourne’s CBD, with executive chef Jacqui Challinor overseeing the second iteration of the modern Australian Mediterranean eatery. The menu, which Challinor is working on alongside Melbourne head chef Brendan Katich, will retain the DNA of the original Nomad, but will also welcome dishes unique to the Flinders Lane location.
This summer, much-loved Melbourne gelateria Pidapipó is set to launch its biggest project yet, with Pidapipó
Laboratorio opening in Fitzroy. As its fourth and largest outpost, it will extend beyond gelato to include cakes and a chocolate range, plus an in-house flavour experimentation and development department.
Outside of Melbourne, Martha’s Table has opened on the Mornington Peninsula. Consisting of a restaurant, aperitivo bar (Arthur’s Bar), wine cellar and providore (Grocer), the multifaceted venue centers around an Italian-leaning offering by chef Adam Beckett, who is working with producers and farmers throughout the region.
Finally, AC/DC Lane will welcome Bar Bambi. Expect Italian share plates by chef Salvatore Giorgio, a lengthy Negroni and Spritz list, plus live music.
QUEENSLAND
Following eight years at Noosa Beach House, chef Peter Kuruvita is upping stumps to create Alba by Kuruvita in Noosa Heads. By day, expect a cooking school, café, providore, pizzeria and relaxed bar; followed by a restaurant and cocktail bar at night.
Jack Stuart (ex-Gauge head chef) is heading to the country to open his first restaurant, Blume. Located in Boonah, Stuart will be cooking solo and only opening on weekends for now, so expect an intimate experience with a focus on produce.
Uncle Su is the new flagship Chinese restaurant located at The Star Gold Coast, with executive chef Song Yao Su putting his 35 years experience into action. On the menu is Queensland groper, barramundi, abalone and coral trout, all pulled from the tank; alongside 24-hour marinated Peking duck and a tea “sommelier” offering personalised recommendations.
PERTH
Servo, a cuisine-crossing restaurant and bar, has opened within the ambitious Leederville Precinct. The all-day bar and restaurant has a Middle Eastern-leaning menu that also ventures into Indian, Spanish and Italian territory. There’s an emphasis on sharing, similar to mezze dining, with Turkish-style sesame bread, falafels, curried clams and fried prawns. Elsewhere on the menu, there’s a sense of fun and exploration, with a tikka masala rigatoni, (an Italian-Indian hybrid with vegetarian butter-chicken-flavoured sauce and buffalo ricotta); or the casarecce, complete with a puttanesca-like tomato and anchovy sauce, the warmth of turmeric and ginger, plus seaweed breadcrumbs to finish.