Otis restaurant opens in Kingston

The newest restaurant in Kingston is Otis.

It's the brainchild of chef Damian Brabender, who previously worked at Sage in Braddon and also runs cooking sessions at the Truffle Farm at Majura.

Otis takes up the spot where the Belgian Beer Cafe used to be but there's no hint remaining of the Belgian pub. Instead there are glowing lamps, wood panels and deep leather seats clustered around wide recycled pallet tables from Boy & Girl Co. A large booth takes up the back of the restaurant under a large mirror and there are plenty of little touches, such as phone charging outlets under one of the tables.

Brabender says it will be an approachable, neighbourhood restaurant with a bar for late night drinks and finger food until late - the kind of place you go for a really good pepper steak.

"The food that we are doing is not reinventing the wheel, it's just remembering dishes such as a caesar salad that tastes like a caesar salad but we're doing it as little bite pieces," he says. "We're doing a creme caramel that we're serving with some whisky and redgum smoked salt on top. Just nice dishes and very grown up techniques, it's grown up cooking."

If diners want something a little more formal, they can take on the tasting menu, which includes five dishes plus a "nostalgic themed pre dessert and amuse bouche".

Brabender and his fellow owners settled on Otis for the name of the restaurant because they wanted a simple, neutral name.

"We thought, Otis is ambiguous in the name, it's open for interpretation. Is it Otis Redding? Is it Milo and Otis? Is it an elevator? It's really up to your own interpretation," he says with a laugh.

Brabender also has chef Adam Wilson on board and sommelier Tristan Tomlinson, late of Buvette.

He says the wine offering will celebrate Australasian producers with a focus on sparkling. "Otis bar is the perfect late night spot for specialty whisky and signature cocktails, for example 'Uncle Bob's Truffled Martini, featuring the prized black truffle from the Truffle Farm."

Brabender is originally from Narrawong in Victoria which he describes with a laugh as "a town of about 80 people... and I'm from a family of 13". He previously worked at the Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa and in London.

He moved to Canberra for the lifestyle "and the truffles" and struck up a partnership with Jayson Mesman of The Truffle Farm at Majura.

29 Jardine Street, Kingston, 02 6260 6066, thisisotis.com.au

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