Chancery Lane
Raise a toast to champagne, caviar and the fine-dining renaissance.
From its luxe designer livery to a menu riffing happily on the French greats, restaurateur Scott Pickett’s newest darling makes a strong argument in favour of dressing for dinner (remember that?).
The elegant inner-Melbourne eatery dives deep into indulgence, with a caviar service as well as caviar bumps (in which the beluga eggs are warmed on the back of the hand; see story on page 72). There are silver platters of exquisite seafood and a team of waiters whose professionalism belies the industry’s current staffing shortage. A winning fit-out of the historic former lawyers’ chambers (more recently Shannon Bennett’s seafood-centric Ike Jime) is masculine and moody; the walls pale and textured, the ceiling dark and cloistered. Brass accents gleam here and there and the lighting is set to flatter.
Pickett – the brains behind Estelle, Matilda, Lupo, Pastore and CBD Thai institution Longrain, which he recently rescued from imminent closure – and right-hand man Rob Kabboord (previously head chef at Sydney’s iconic Quay) compose the French classics through a contemporary lens. An elegant sliver of pissaladière offsets flaky, buttery pastry with the sucker punch of anchovy and olive. Of the raw seafood that arrives in a nest of ice, the chewy little nubs of Storm Bay clam stand out thanks to tiny cucumber orbs and the surreal blue of sea-scented scampi roe. And for those who thought aspic was a thing of the past, the swoon-worthy smoky Skipton eel encased in a jewel-like jelly orb with an equally gooey quail egg, served alongside a pot of matchstick fries, will force you to happily reassess.
The rich bordelaise sauce that comes with pan-cooked John Dory is so good it’s tempting to order a cup of the stuff to drink. Crisp-skinned wood-roasted duck is electrified with blackberries and earthed in braised puy lentils. And the thinnest wafer of Pedro Ximénez chocolate tart is the only logical way to end the meal (actually, maybe the triumphant peach Melba is as well).
At its essence, Chancery Lane is a restaurant with the courage of its own convictions. Fanfare for the virtues of a fancy night out as well as a place to soothe pandemic-weary souls. Our advice? Dress to impress.
430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne; chancerylane.com.au
If you’re lucky or do a little planning, a visit to Coogee Common should begin unconventionally. Not with a drink or a tour of the building, which melds heritage sandstone-pub chic with contemporary architecture in a manner others might use as a template. No, lunch should start in the garden.
In a southern suburb of sprawling Perth, where a sizeable plot would make your average property developer salivate, Coogee Common has devoted the majority of its impressive two-hectare footprint to... peas. And salad greens. And olives. And fruit
trees. Beehives and grapevines. Compost and cucumbers. Terraced, irrigated, closedloop agriculture, with full-time gardeners, surrounded by two-storey project homes. It’s inspiring. And it says a lot about the restaurant’s priorities. Coogee Common represents a cocktail of Perth money, flair and talent. Restaurateur Nic Trimboli has been behind many hospitality businesses, including this one’s Fremantle sibling, Bread in Common, while property developer and design maven Adrian Fini is best known for his stunning redevelopment of the city’s State Buildings precinct. Chef and general manager Scott Brannigan’s energy, food ideas and simpatico with his audience made him an influential player at Bread and Balthazar, before this project launchedstalled-relaunched in the uncertain months of March and April last year. The owners are household names (if your household takes an interest in Perth’s booming restaurant scene) but this eatery is a no-ego exercise. Rather, it’s a shrewd reading of the way people like to eat and drink these days, built around light, clean interior design, a diverse and well-informed wine offering, ingredients with transparent provenance and modern bistro cooking that’s part of a flexible platform. In short, there’s a lot of experience and knowledge behind this venue, even if the locale – to an outsider at least – may seem a touch outer-suburban. (Fini tells me the location has hit the bullseye.) You can snack here – exceptionally – on local sardines with sourdough and horseradish cream and a glass of new-wave Swan Valley chenin blanc, such as Corymbia, or dive into the garden with homegrown pumpkin gnocchi, kale, silverbeet, mushroom and Persian fetta, which calls for the official lunchtime drink of Perth, a Margaret River semillon sauvignon blanc. Or sauvignon blanc semillon. Fortunately, the clever booze selection is anything but parochial. A green salad straight from the garden is a must, whatever’s in season. And seafood is handled particularly well here, too – as it should be in the west, where chefs have access to the best available – whether it’s with pasta (spaghettini with prawns) or a fillet of, say, nannygai, cooked in the coal oven with roasted red peppers and a walnut and anchovy dressing. The menu is interesting but accessible, with Brannigan’s food polished but unpretentious. It accurately reflects this marvellous addition to Perth’s dining scene. 371 Cockburn Road, Coogee; coogeecommon.com.au