How the West was won

It’s not just the resource sector that’s booming in Perth: a vibrant new drinking and dining culture is changing the way the west is fed and watered.

words Max Veenhuyzen Photography Robert Frith

Seafaring and seasonal at Rockpool Bar

photography: earl carter & Grill, Perth

september 2012 95 perth fine dining

Cinnamon rose quail with wood-roasted pumpkin, beans and pomegranate at Pata Negra (left); Restaurant Amusé (below)

arolynne and Hadleigh Troy don’t know what is crazier: the fact they held an all-dessert degustation at their lauded East Perth diner, Restaurant Amusé, or that the event sold out in days with a waiting list big enough to fill a week of encore performances. WhileC dishes such as bite-sized gin and tonic trifles, bee pollen milkshakes and smoky hay custard afforded guests immediate gratification, the night’s success carried with it inklings of some- thing even sweeter: the city’s attitude to food and drink as a whole. When the Troys opened Amusé back in 2007, dining out was virtually confined to Fridays and Saturdays. Hadleigh admits he The city itself is a flurry of activity with the skyline-changing reckoned on needing to keep only a skeleton kitchen team on City Square on St Georges Terrace something of a hub, at least during the week (five years on and Amusé is invariably booked for locals Scott and Angie Taylor. Just as the siblings’ cafe/ out every night, Tuesday to Saturday). These days, with locals gourmet/deli Beaufort Street Merchant (488 Beaufort Street, exposed to travel and the globe-shrinking power of the internet, Highgate, 08 9328 6299) helped put the inner-city neighbour- Perth has embraced a vibrant eating and drinking culture that’s hoods of Highgate and Mount Lawley on the food map, Scott is au fait with national and global trends. hoping the Taylors’ newest venue, The Trustee Bar & Bistro, will be A shift towards more casual dining including – gasp – options similarly influential in the CBD. on Sundays? Check. Chefs courageously pursuing their own They’re not on their own, either, what with allies such as the cooking ideas utilising local produce? Check. Idiosyncratic bars rapidly improving Sentinel Bar & Grill (111 St Georges Terrace, big on personality and choice? Check, check, check. 08 6103 0507) and soon-to-open Print Hall (Brookfield Place) in Even out-of-towners want in on the action, starting with Neil the vicinity. “Being surrounded by good neighbours is something Perry, who opened a western Rockpool Bar & Grill outpost in 2010. we learned on Beaufort Street,” he says. “Back in the day, people He has since been joined at the Crown Perth complex by other would come to Must Winebar (519 Beaufort Street, 08 9328 8255) high-profile restaurateurs including Nobu Matsuhisa (Nobu, 08 because it was the only good venue on the strip. Now, people come 9362 7551) and Guillaume Brahimi (Bistro Guillaume, set to open to Beaufort Street as a precinct. If you can’t get into Must, then you its doors later this year). go across to Clarences (see below), up to Cantina 663 (663 Beau- “I could see the emergence of this new dining culture in Perth,” fort Street, 08 9370 4883) or down to us. There’s a wealth of not says Perry of the Rockpool venture. “The time seemed right to only great venues, but great characters who operate them.” launch a large-scale restaurant offering great atmosphere, food, Locals and visitors alike will want to get to know this vibrant service and wine. So far, that hunch seems to be working.” collection of characters at the forefront of the west’s food frontier. 

september 2012 QANTAS 97 Greenhouse’s Joost Bakker- designed hanging garden exterior (right); recycling rules inside (below)

Pata Negra seats in this two-storey house of 26 Stirling Highway, Nedlands. food and drink are in the (08) 9389 5517. downstairs bistro. From exemplary www.patanegra.com.au vitello tonnato to a thick, salted It’s Spanish for “black foot”. Out caramel tart lightened up by crème west, it’s Perth’s best tapas joint. fraîche ice-cream, the cooking is But while there’s plenty of Madrid all about rustic peasant flavours. in the menu, it’s the whispers of Marrakesh, Morocco and all things Izakaya Sakura Moorish that best define Kurt 2/182 James Street, Northbridge. Sampson’s food, the barbecued (08) 9328 2525. quail with Baharat spices a case in izakayasakura.com.au point. Don’t miss the immensely Across the country, Japan’s izakaya satisfying churros with Pedro model – shared eating and drinking eat Rockpool Bar & Grill Ximénez ice-cream. in a loud, pubby environment – is Restaurant Amusé Crown Perth, Great Eastern gaining traction. Of the Perth 64 Bronte Street, East Perth. Highway, Victoria Park. Dear Friends contingent, this newcomer is one (08) 9325 4900. (08) 6252 1900. 100 Benara Road, Caversham. of the best. Go the juicy chicken www.restaurantamuse.com.au rockpool.com.au (08) 9279 2815. karaage, sake-steamed clams and Hometown seasonal produce. Bold It’s the Neil Perry luxe steakhouse www.dearfriends.com.au slices of earthy kazunoko (dried combinations. Exemplary service. we all know and love, only with a Chef Kiren Mainwaring pays herring roe). Flasks of sake and Just three reasons why Amusé is West Aussie twang. While head homage to his surrounds with shochu are also a must. the toast of Perth’s dining scene. chef Dan Masters thrills with produce-driven dishes such as Despite being degustation-only, charcoal-roasted crab and a golden house-made cheese with nettles Greenhouse dietary requirements are pie of pulled Jarrahdene pork, and ajo blanco. Keeping step with 100 St Georges Terrace, Perth. imaginatively catered for, so bring gun sommelier Richard Healy her husband, restaurant manager (08) 9481 8333. an open mind and buckle up: ensures Riedel glasses remain Kelli Mainwaring ensures Swan www.greenhouseperth.com whether it’s creamy chestnut topped up with the good stuff. Valley wines feature prominently. Born in ’s Federation polenta with gooey egg yolk and Flying solo or feel like something Square, raised in Perth and about crisp chicken skin, or the wondrous more casual? The bar does a great The Trustee Bar & Bistro to go global, Greenhouse is (albeit unlikely) union of smoked line in cocktails, classy finger food 133 St Georges Terrace, Perth. environmental crusading made eel, cuttlefish and beetroot, this and more substantial fare, such as (08) 6323 3000. thetrustee.com.au fun. Yet for all its sustainable, culinary journey passes through the house-made chorizo hot dog While suits flock to the grandiose credentials, Joost Bakker’s concept some wild places. with jalapeño hot sauce. bar for post-work relief, the best is also thoroughly enjoyable, 

98 QANTAS september 2012 fine dining perth

the CBD, this culinary UN is home El Público to everything from value-packed 511 Beaufort Street, Highgate. Lebanese to vast noodle 0418 187 708. elpublico.com.au emporiums. Start your exploring at This airy house of drinking and To To, a fun, high-volume diner that eating proves Mexican doesn’t caters to both the shared and have to equal Cancun-style every-eater-for-themselves camps, madness. A bountiful list of then go wherever your feet and mescals and tequilas promotes stomach take you. sipping rather than shooting, while house-made mixers add pep to Bivouac zippy cocktails. The kitchen’s input 198 William Street, Northbridge. is similarly off-piste: think (08) 9227 0883. bivouac.com.au crisp-fried school prawns and Equal parts bar, restaurant and art tostada pickled pig’s feet. space, Bivouac manages to be both classy and casual. Chef Zaki Anwar 399 brings bold Mediterranean food to 399 William Street, Northbridge. the party; menu items include ras www.399bar.com el hanout goat chops and kohlrabi Since this watering hole opened in dry-aged sirloin. 2009, Northbridge has taken to 399 like a proverbial duck to tonic Rochelle Adonis water, and rightly so. The mood is Storm in a teacup 193 Brisbane Street, Northbridge. laid-back, the shelves groan under cocktail, The Classroom (08) 9227 0007. the weight of a dazzling spirit www.rochelleadonis.com stockpile and bartenders mix A former pastry chef at ’s cocktails as per guests’ wishes. especially at breakfast. Start the Aria, Rochelle Adonis has taken online day right with spanner crab congee her sugar-coated show on the Andaluz eat your or that day’s brekky pizza. road. Fancy treats such as nougat, 21 Howard Street, Perth. deluxe lamingtons and salted- (08) 9481 0092. art out... Divido caramel everything are available www.andaluzbar.com.au After wining and dining, sate 170 Scarborough Beach Road, to take away or enjoy in-house Don’t mind a side of volume with the senses at one of Perth’s Mount Hawthorn. (08) 9443 7373. with tea or plunger coffee. your jamón? Then come on in. many Artist-Run Initiatives. Read our story on new ARIs at www.divido.com.au Andaluz enjoys a steady supply qantas.com/travelinsider Modern, stylish, casual: it’s a drink of after-work traffic, the bodies compliment payable to both Jason Helvetica (and racket) increasing markedly Jujnovich’s Italian cooking and his Howard Lane, Perth. towards the non-business end of sleek diner. While the wood- (08) 9321 4422. the week. Reflecting the kitchen’s roasted duck is set in stone for helveticabar.com Spanish bent, Rioja, sherry and good reason, there’s plenty of For all of Helvetica’s liquid-based verdejo rule the wine list while the satisfaction to be had with the fun – cocktails run the gamut from below-ground rabbit warren of vitello tonnato or the day’s classic to modern with Manhattans rooms is all class. unfailingly pleasing pasta special. available in both textbook and barrel-aged configurations – much Lowdown To To Vietnamese of the bar’s charm can be chalked Shop 16a, Cloisters Arcade, 875 Albany Highway, East Victoria up to the truly engaging staff who Hay Street, Perth. (08) 9226 3041. Park. (08) 9355 2388. understand that the smile is just as lowdownespresso.com.au When it comes to multicultural important as the drink. Dig whisky? A collaboration between brothers eat streets, few can match it with This two-storey speakeasy is home Adam and Mark Lowes, Lowdown Albany Highway. A short drive from to Perth’s finest selection. espresso bar gracefully debunks 

100 QANTAS september 2012 the myths that (a) coffee in Perth around familiar, comforting is bad, and (b) coffee in Perth is flavours does little to harm expensive, one well-made cup of Clarences’ appeal. Joe at a time. A selection of baked goodies serves as the icing on the The Classroom cake. Open weekdays until 5pm. 1/356 Charles Street, North Perth. (08) 9444 7729. Clarences www.theclassroom.com.au 566 Beaufort Street, Mount Like the name suggests, North Lawley. (08) 9228 9474. Perth’s first small bar is something www.clarences.com.au of a primary school best-of, its In a neighbourhood not exactly playful fit-out taking in everything hard-up for drinking spots, this from indoor netball rings and homely bar-cum-restaurant gets hopscotch courses to wooden our vote for offering something desks and benches. Beyond the for everyone. A handsomely fun and games, however, is a stocked liquor cabinet translates top-notch food and drink package to great mixed drinks, while a with cocktails rating as the bar wine list big on boutique names team’s favourite subject. c (and house wines made by cult For airfares call Qantas producers such as the Swan on 13 13 13 or visit qantas.com. Clarences Valley’s Bella Ridge Estate) will For holiday packages to Perth please oenophiles. A menu built call Qantas Holidays on 13 14 15.