Canberra's best restaurants: Black Fire, Braddon

Top 20 restaurants, Food and Wine Annual 2014: number 17.

Black Fire opened in only the latter half of the year but it's got a flair and sureness of touch that brings it into the top 20 for 2014. The Mort Street location is unobtrusive on Mort Street, just round the corner from BentSpoke, but it's filled with Braddon's new urbanites. There's an extensive menu that runs the gamut of Spanish and Italian dishes, including roasted vegetables and slow-roasted meats cooked on the big wood-fired grill in pride of place at the back of the restaurant.

Paolo Milanesi used to run Bicicletta in the former Diamant Hotel and the Locanda Italian Steakhouse in the old Rydges nearby. His touch is sure despite the dozens of items on the menu – agyu topside with bone marrow and mustard seed mash is meaty, earthy and full of old-fashioned punch. Eight-hour slow-roasted suckling pig is utterly melting with an effulgence of crackling on top and some gentle apple sauce to cut, very softly, through the meat and fat. A dish of duck breast is perfectly cooked and ruby red with a sticky caramelised sauce of balsamic sherry, honey and olive bits. All the flavours are big and meaty.

The wine list is reasonably wide, liberally scattered with Spanish rioja and with a limited selection by the glass. Desserts are just as good as the mains and are a little showy. A banana cake with dulce de leche is covered in chocolate shards and accompanied by ruby-red pear poached gently in tempranillo and a silky panna cotta that lends tanginess to offset the rich chocolate and caramel. Yoghurt mousse with crema catalana is a simple, intriguing two-dairy dish that again plays with tart and sweet and rich. A very good experience in our new urban heartland.

Black Fire
38/45 Mort Street, Braddon. 6230 5921. blackfirerestaurant.com.au
Owner and chef Paolo Milanesi.
Seven days from 8am-11.30pm