Good Food hat15/20How we score
Contemporary$$$$
The first challenge is finding it,hidden behind filmy curtains on an unexciting strip. This is a fine diner with an edginess that’s felt beyond the punk-rock soundtrack.
Derek Boath is on tweezer duty. His precise cherry tomato,avocado and chevre tart – close to a Caravaggio still-life – belies bold flavours. Ditto the cornbread madeleines with crab-infused sweetcorn custard.
Sommelier Tony Schuurs drives the drinks:a broad sweep of the region’s top producers and global gems. Sparkling mead from Byron Bay is pitch-perfect with butter-poached scallops and salty guanciale in a frou-frou almond sauce. Lamb rump hums with smoked yoghurt,charry onion and the glossiest,curry-inflected jus.
Warm cinnamon doughnuts with a trio of molten hazelnut,salted caramel and peanut butter are spot-on in their simplicity. Making it from the opening snacks to the four-dessert encore is a commitment of three hours or more,but fortune flavours the brave.
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Classic cooking brims with country charm.
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