New chef gives Love, Tilly Devine a culinary shake-up

Is a local version of the famed brains dish from Clown Bar in Paris about to drop in Sydney?

"It's a touch presumptuous to say yes, but not unlikely either … it really depends on getting quality produce," says Michael West, the new head chef at Love, Tilly Devine.

West, who worked at Clown Bar – where brains are served in dashi spiked with soy, ginger and yuzu – and has a CV that mixes venues in Japan and France with local joints Automata and Bar Brose, has only been in the Love, Tilly kitchen a couple of days but has already overhauled the wine bar's food menu.

"I've put on a Grandvewe sheep's curd with shaved pear and white beetroot and a chocolate pudding with olive oil and salt," he says.

"I loved the way in Japan they really champion, say, a really great eggplant, or in the markets in France things would only be available for a couple of weeks when they were at their absolute best," he says.