Every year The Age Good Food Guide editors and reviewers nominate the ten hottest new restaurants to open in Melbourne in the year since the last guide was published. Here are numbers seven and eight on this year's list.
Alfred Place (between Collins & Little Collins Streets), Melbourne, 9654 81841
Storied chef Philippa Sibley graces the kitchen at Melbourne's first ticketed restaurant. The themed set menu
changes monthly.
What the 2015 Good Food Guide reviewer said: Go online to book a ticket for this theatrical restaurant from star chef Philippa Sibley. It's a new approach to the restaurant fiscal exchange, but be warned: once booked, those tickets are non-refundable. Still, there are plenty of reasons to go on with the show, including the elegant, two-tiered dining room with lighting set to flatter, and Sibley's assured Euro-leaning food. Four-course themed dinners ('an ode to autumn', for example) change monthly. Maybe a modern vichyssoise, with sweet gorgonzola ice-cream, chive oil and potato crisps; a tasting plate of hare terrine, venison carpaccio, jerusalem artichoke and parsnip remoulade and a powerhouse pear and ginger chutney; or a perfect, golden-topped pheasant pithiviers with brussels sprouts and smoked lardons. To finish? A sticky terrine of slow-poached quince, gingerbread ice-cream and toasted macadamia crumble. It's a new narrative for a classic restaurant experience, where pitch-perfect food is the star of the show.
And … Wine matching, at $55, is a good idea.
Vibe Old World elegance.
Best bit Paying ahead.
Worst bit Want to change your booking? Bad luck.
102 Smith Street, 9416 0698
Chef Adam Liston (ex-Hare & Grace) brings a drink-happy Aussie-Asian mash-up to Smith Street. Lively pan-Asian influences flit from Sichuan to Thailand, and the binchotan charcoal grill gets a workout.
What the 2015 Good Food Guide reviewer said: There's hip-hop on the stereo, much of the seating is on bar stools, and the menu flits from small dish to slightly larger dish. Welcome to the restaurant new school, where casual is king. Knockout pan-Asian flavours dominate the menu, where something as innocuous as a prawn cracker creates fireworks with chilli-spiked prawn meat and seaweed mayo. A Thai influence creeps in with a golden-fried egg, heat-licked onion, fried shallots and caramel dressing; things go modern Japanese with diced calamari and apple bound in yuzu mayonnaise, with toasted nori sheets and a powerful yuzu powder. China? Yep, it's Sichuan-style lamb ribs in a mighty chilli sauce with soft swatches of red pepper. The elegance of the presentation, almost at odds with the sheer eatability of the food, extends to the yuzu curd-based dessert with milk jam and gingerbread. With a wine offering as funked-up as the food, this is a new hipster haven on happening Smith Street.
And … The set menus offer good value, from five courses at $55.
Vibe Hipster haven.
Best bit It takes bookings, in Smith Street!
Worst bit It's tiny.