RESTAURANT NEWS
THE LATEST FROM CHEFS AND RESTAURANTS AROUND THE WORLD
SYDNEY
The team behind Hinchcliff House is dishing up Australia’s newest beachside restaurant, opening the impressive Promenade Bondi Beach. Taking up shop in the historic Bondi Pavilion, you’ll find a formal dining room joined by a large alfresco dining area with prime views of one of the world’s most iconic beaches. House Made Hospitality culinary director Stephen Seckold is joined by executive chef Chris Benedet (ex-Monopole and Rockpool) as they serve a bright and breezy coastal menu; think crumbed trevalla with sauce gribiche and jazzed up kipfler potato scallops; mud crab comes cooled and picked, served on a perilla leaf; while king prawns are doused in a bright and aromatic curry leaf butter. There will also be pasta and a rotation of vegetable focused dishes.
While the venue is divided into clear spaces – the main dining room with an ocean-facing verandah; two semi-private dining rooms; a 140-seater alfresco lounge; and a small coffee kiosk window – there’s a natural flow throughout the venue thanks to its cool and casual interiors. House Made Hospitality director Scott Brown stresses he wants Promenade to be a place for locals, but also somewhere they’d be proud to bring their visiting friends. Director’s chairs and red parasols outside are ideal for kicking back straight after a swim at the beach; while the dining room serves up casual elegance with curved leather banquettes and marble tables.
In more waterfront dining, St Siandra has opened at The Spit in Mosman, where head chef Sam McCallum takes inspiration from the ocean and the
Amalfi Coast. The day-to-night eatery has St Dreux coffee and pastries from Seaforth’s Staple Bakery in the morning before switching to long lunch and tasting menu mode in the afternoon.
The coastal Italian menu is joined by cocktails named after superyachts and the nautical motif continues with the restaurant being accessible by boat.
In the CBD, Sydney’s newest five-star hotel Capella is home to Brasserie 1930. It’s the latest venture from Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt of The Bentley Group, and will draw on methods such as curing, smoking, fermenting, preserving and pickling. Starters consist of Flinders Island scallops with brown butter and finger lime; spanner crab alla chitarra with sea urchin sauce; and beef tartare with rye crisp. As for mains, much is cooked on the theatrical charcoal grill, which can be seen from the dining room. Think coal-roasted Murray cod with pepperberry butter, lobster with finger lime and tarragon, whole roasted duck, and three cuts of steak. Hildebrandt delivers an interesting and exhaustive wine program to match the restaurant’s grandeur, championing Australian and European labels across 400 producers as well as a rotating by-the-glass list from the Bentley Wine Vault.
Also in the CBD, the Love Tilly Group will open Palazzo Salato, which takes over a former beer hall on Clarence
Street. Executive chef Scott McComasWilliams and the team hope to fill a culinary gap here. “It’s the best part of the city to drink – but there’s not a great deal of food and wine around there,” says McComas-Williams. As a bigger sister venue to Ragazzi, expect fresh handmade pasta and excellent Italian wines. Upstairs a more casual bar will focus on the four great Roman pastas (cacio e pepe, all’ Amatriciana, carbonara and alla gricia).
Downstairs will focus on Roman signatures (including trippa alla Romana), but also look to wider Italy and beyond. Expect a raw bar (where you may find scallop tartare and just shucked oysters); cotoletta or porchetta; and grilled seafood. “We’ll be doing bugs and prawns on the plancha – keeping with my Spanish style,” says McComasWilliams. There will be a bigger emphasis on filled pastas with scarpinocc and agnolotti del plin with duck or pork from Tathra Place or goat by The Gourmet Goat Lady. When it comes to mains there will be a tight few options. “A beautiful fish; a couple of steaks to share – it’s a really nice way to eat.”
Finally, in Chippendale, ex-Hartsyard owners head chef Jarrod Walsh and
Dot Lee have taken over the former Automata site to open the seafoodcentred Longshore. Diners can lock in for a 10-course snack flight (divided into hot and cold stages); go à la carte; or try the five-course tasting menu. Dishes may include glazed green lip abalone crumpet with guanciale and sansho pepper; or grilled Westholme wagyu, served with a bone marrow sauce and smoked fat.
BRISBANE
Melbourne restaurant stalwart Guy Grossi is bringing a touch of Positano to Brisbane’s CBD with the opening of Settimo at The Westin. The restaurant features light and bright interIors, including lemons atop the tables and olive trees to bring the coastal feel indoors.
Dishes include a rustic slow-cooked beef ragù with house-made paccheri; and pasta al limone (which could dethrone cacio e pepe off its perch as the most popular pasta). The fish of the day may be fat char-grilled swordfish cutlets from Walker Seafoods of Mooloolaba, dialled up with a little colatura di alici with ribbons of zucchini; while the bistecca showcases Queensland beef. Dishes skew retro but fun, be it the delizie al limone or the classic tiramisù, and gelato flavours will change daily.
MELBOURNE
Fitzroy has a new trattoria paying homage to Piedmont with a menu of lush pastas. Alta Trattoria’s head chef McKay Wilday started out as an apprentice under Guy Grossi, which sparked his love affair with Italian cuisine, only to be further emboldened by a three-year stint living in Italy.
To this end the menu includes tajarin (a thin ribbon-like pasta) with a rich rabbit ragù; gnocchi della val varaita (a Parmigiano-Reggiano gnocchi with hazelnuts and sage) and spaghetti alla chitarra pomodoro.
Meanwhile, Glen Bagnara of Bar Bianco is opening two new venues in South Melbourne. Clementine is a low-key but refined daytime eatery that will take in influences from across the world while staying firmly in Melbourne. This opening will be followed by Castlerose, a restaurant and bar inspired by old-school dining traditions in the UK. The drinks list will focus on Champagne, with grower Champagnes such as Marc Augustin, De Sousa and Cédric Moussé; and rotating Champagne flights. Snacks such as duck cigars and two-bite pork pies will be joined by a cheese trolley wheeling around with 10 to 12 different cheeses. Mains may include Brit classics like a whole roast chicken with black garlic, lemon and gravy; beef Wellington; or wagyu steak with Yorkshire pudding and red wine sauce.