RESTAURANT NEWS
MELBOURNE
Kata Kita is the second restaurant from the Sanusi family, opening on La Trobe Street in Melbourne’s CBD. Showcasing Indonesian hospitality by combining traditional recipes with locally sourced produce, order up babi guling (five-hour slow-roasted spiced pork) with lawar (vegetables with coconut and fried shallot sambal); and Indonesian-style hot and spicy crab.
The family also want to familiarise people with bebek goreng madura, a slowly simmered duck dish, served with lemongrass and galangal sambal.
Also in the CBD, QT Melbourne is bringing an extra hit of luxury to its lobby, with the arrival of the Champagne Bar. Bottles of vintage Champagne and Martinis can be enjoyed alongside the new snack menu replete with lobster rolls and oysters. Connie’s Pizza is moving on up to a bigger home above Heartbreaker. The late-night hole-in-the-wall will now be able to seat more than 70 guests, and also has a rooftop deck with views over Lonsdale Street, from which you can enjoy 18-inch pizze, eggplant parmigiana and baked clams along with classic cocktails by The Everleigh Bottling Co.
CANBERRA
The capital has welcomed newcomer
Wilma, which has been pitched as a progressive Asian barbecue restaurant. Headed up by James Viles (ex-Biota Dining) along with Brendan Hill (ex-Aria), the pair will serve up hot smoked char siu pork and glazed chilli beef ribs alongside XO pippies and sashimi to the sprawling 200-seat restaurant and bar.
SYDNEY
Sydney is having a real Mediterranean moment. Beau, a new laneway wine bar and deli spin-off by the Nomad crew, will serve lunch-ready manoush topped with spiced lamb shoulder and zhoug; and Ortiz anchovies and shanklish in the front deli. Later in the day, the wine bar will offer cheese, house-made charcuterie, a cold seafood bar and left-of-centre wines on tap.
Il Pontile is bringing a slice of the Italian seaside to Woolloomooloo’s finger wharves. Chef Mario Percuoco
– a Naples-born chef whose father opened Buon Ricordo in Paddington in the ’80s – is on the pans. Menu standouts include linguine al cartoccio (pasta in a paper parcel with mixed seafood) and sweet layered sfogliatelle. Potts Point has welcomed Bones
Ramen, a new pint-sized restaurant by Mike Mu Sung, who also owns the nearby Farmhouse. Chef Jacob Riwaka (ex-Rising Sun and Cornersmith) has crafted a short and sharp menu that features four ramens and four snacks, which may include celeriac chashu with Jerusalem artichoke, shiitake and oyster mushroom broth; or pork shoyu with soy egg, watercress and bamboo shoots.
Bay Nine Omakase has opened at Campbells Cove, the waterfront dining precinct in The Rocks. Chef Tomohiro Marshall Oguro, who honed his sushi-making skills at Sushi-E and Stephen Hodges’ Fish Face, has spent the last two years forging strong relationships with seafood suppliers.
The restaurant features a 10-seat counter dining experience alongside a handful of smaller floor tables.
QUEENSLAND
Dan Clark’s second venue Rothwell’s
Bar & Grill sees the 1889 Enoteca owner joined by chef Ben Russell (ex-Aria) to deliver an elegant dining room and refined classics to a historic CBD building. Expect spaghetti crowned with sea urchin and caviar, fruits de mer platters, Moreton Bay bugs with café de Paris butter, and lattice pastrywrapped beef Wellington, accompanied by grand chandeliers, U-shaped booths and polished silverware.
Finally, the owners of Burleigh Heads’ Labart have opened Paloma Wine Bar.
Chef Alex Munoz Labart’s menu offers European-leaning small plates, such as fried school prawns; pig’s-head risoni; and burrata with white anchovies and peppers on toast. You’ll also find steak frites, plus the ‘la burger’, which sees a permanent menu spot for Labart’s much-loved lockdown burger. Wine-wise, expect both old and new world producers, many available by the glass.