15/20
Middle Eastern$$$$
The hummus comes to the table in a heavy stone mortar,still flecked with nutty,softly cooked chickpeas. It is gently pounded into a warm,thick paste,spooned into a bowl and doused with extra-virgin olive oil.
A wooden board arrives holding a proudly puffed loaf of Palestinian bread - taboon- its crust charred,its bready base cakey-light. What a luscious,evocative combination;the tahini-powered hummus,the smoky,hot bread;it's as if we have gone back centuries.
That's really all you need to know about Michael Rantissi's new Kepos&Co,just around the corner from the nearly three-year-old Kepos Street Kitchen. It tells you that there is the commitment of a wood-fired oven;that somebody in the kitchen can bake like an angel,and that Rantissi continues to draw inspiration from his cosmopolitan upbringing in Tel Aviv,channelling Middle Eastern,Mediterranean and North African food into a confident,classy mix of small plate feasts.
What else do you need to know? That Kepos&Co is ensconced in the smart,sleek Casba development in Danks Street,facing a palm-fringed,brick-paved courtyard complete with oasis-like pool. That the dining space is all a-glow with decorative screens,rough-hewn floor and Moorish tiles under a flotilla of filigreed pendant lamps;that the kitchen is all stone,brick oven,and bronzed metal behind white-washed stone arches;a look that Rantissi calls"old Jerusalem". That it's modestly sized inside,with extra seating outside for those brave enough to do the throw-rug and patio heater thing;and that service is downright sweet and hospitable.
What else? Rantissi's cooking is rich and forthright;he keeps accompaniments simple and precise rather than decorative or cheffy. Flavour notes are big at weekday lunches and dinners:tahini,walnuts,coriander,pomegranate,eggplant,haloumi,kalamatas,grape vinegar.
There's oven-baked baby cauliflower ($18) - the leaves curling like blackened octopus arms encircling the soft,cumin-spiced head - with little more than a slather of raw tahini (made from unprocessed,untoasted sesame seeds) on top. At night,quail ($34) is stuffed and slow-cooked,then roasted and served cleft in two under a sweet Israeli date honey glaze,spilling out spicy sucuk sausage,date and pine nuts.
Wagyu brisket ($28) is slow-cooked into a motherly stew with the slightly bitter leaves known variously as mulukhiyah,molokhia or mallow,accompanied by a big bowl of mujaddara - a comforting mix of rice and lentils that could be a meal in itself. Dessert could be a modest baked labneh cheesecake ($15) topped with medjool dates and a date syrup of biblical sweetness.
Weekends see all-day brunches starring a great"laham bil agine",Lebanese spicy minced lamb pizza topped with pinenuts,yoghurt and mint ($22);and"mum's favourite soup",a full-bodied chicken broth sweet with Israeli egg noodles,leeks and poached egg.
You'll be needing something light and juicy as well,like a Shirazi chopped vegetable salad with house-smoked feta ($15).
A spice-friendly,well-travelled wine list runs to a 2014 Gaia Thalassitis ($74),an intense,citrussy white from Santorini,and a ripe,cherry-led 2010 Vinea Marson sangiovese from Heathcote ($16/$72). As well,there are iced teas,cocktails and excellent coffee from The Grounds via a powder-coated Synesso.
I love that Rantissi&Co is going next-level on a cuisine too often relegated to cheerfully cheap status,treating it with respect,delivering it with skill,and pitching it right in the middle of home-cooking and dining-out.
But really? That hummus. That puffy,crusty taboon. That's all you need to know.
THE LOW-DOWN
Best bit The breads,the breads …
Worst bit Tables for two too small for share plates
Go-to dish Warm hummus with taboon bread $17
Terry Durack is chief restaurant critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and senior reviewer for theGood Food Guide.This rating is based on the Good Food Guide scoring system.