Ashley Ludkin
It was worth the wait. The lengthy gestation of Tom Sarafian’s first standalone restaurant might have raised some will-they-won’t-they ripples among the chef’s fan base but when Zareh finally landed in August last year, the advantages of delay were made abundantly clear. Here was a restaurant that knew exactly who, why and what it was from the moment it opened its doors.
At a time in restaurant culture when the cult of the rockstar chef is ceding to a more holistic approach, where the design details of the dining room are as important as what’s on the plate, Zareh has met that moment with a full-throated hell yeah.
The shopfront space on Collingwood’s Smith Street is a triumph of atmosphere. Taking its cues from a menu influenced by Armenian, Egyptian and Lebanese cooking, the all-vinyl soundtrack pumps out lively jazz and funk by musicians from the same region. The closely packed room with its lengthy bar takes in the flash, dazzle and scent of the open kitchen’s wood-fired oven and charcoal grill and the exciting drinks program (a brilliant wine selection and on-theme cocktails like a magnificent arak-spiked Martini). It brings the party from the instant you walk through the door; it’s clear you’re in the right place even before the food arrives.
It was never in doubt that Sarafian’s food was going to impress – he’d already proved this with his previous restaurant, pop-up and festival appearances and with the cult-like fervour his retail lines of hummus, toum and harissa attract. Still, the coherence and flex of Zareh’s menu exceeded those expectations.
The attention to detail with every ingredient is worthy of a standing ovation, from the chilli-flecked prawn and crabmeat topping the hummus and the three types of flour used in the bread, aish baladi, that comes with it, to meticulously cured and air-dried bastourma and the pickled green chillies that accompany the char-grilled chicken kebabs.
Some of the city’s finest service – friendly, knowledgeable and wondrously efficient in an always packed dining room – adds further proof Zareh has carefully considered, and ticked, all the boxes. Dining in a restaurant firing on all cylinders is always a joy. Doing so in a place that’s only been open a year adds something extra that’s a rare commodity at this point in time – excitement for what comes next.
Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant of the Year is presented by Lexus.
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