Ezard

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Any fears Teage Ezard's new Gingerboy venture might have diluted the energy at his eponymous smart restaurant can be safely dismissed.

In fact, the case is made by some regulars that Ezard has, if anything, regained some of its supreme poise after a degree of short-lived complacency some years back. On the table, certainly, it's all there: the gorgeous plating, the potent flavours, the playful collision of textures.

Starters like the house-smoked duck salad with pickled beetroot, pink grapefruit and salmon roe, or the kingfish sashimi with sesame custard, lime caramel and pear salad, have an effortless quality. Ezard's food is known for its intensity and mains uphold this reputation: think Humpty Doo barramundi with eggplant, softened tomatoes and a yellow curry dressing; or the classic crisp-fried pork hock, still wowing diners with its chilli-flecked, caramelised edges. Desserts are wonderful, too.

If there's a false note struck, it may come with the service, which can approach those seemingly outside its target market with a hint of condescension.

A quibble. Ezard may no longer routinely deliver the shock of the new, but it does offer up the deep pleasures of consistent excellence.

Teage Ezard is a wizard of oz cuisine, a chef who can take ideas from Asian or Mediterranean cuisines and transform them into something magical on the plate.