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“Good cooking is the result of a balance struck between frugality and liberality,” writes Patience Gray in the introduction to Honey from a Weed: the British author’s seminal autobiographical cookbook. “It is born out in communities where the supply of food is conditioned by the seasons.”
So begins Gray’s reflections on decades spent feasting and fasting in Tuscany, Puglia, the Cyclades Islands and other Mediterranean destinations popular with the Eat Pray Love set. Like any high-functioning Italophile, reading Gray’s thoughts on zuppa di pesce and fagioli brought back plenty of happy travel memories. Conversely, her stories of village weddings in Naxos and Hellenic Easter traditions felt like the universe’s way of asking me, not for the first time, why haven’t you been to Greece yet?
One person who’s ahead of me on that front is Aaron Moore. Not only is the Belfast-born chef a long-time visitor to Greece, it was also the country where his kitchen career began, with Moore cutting his teeth at tavernas in Athens, Antiparos and – like Gray – the Cyclades. Since then, he’s added some notable Australian names to his CV with Bread in Common and Aria Brisbane chief among our man’s former ports of call. Early signs suggest that his latest gig will be similarly memorable.
Opened in March 2026, Farra Dining is a polished Greco-inspired eatery where linen, blond wood and muted colours dominate. And while it shares an address with the freshly minted Hyde Perth hotel, a cookie-cutter hotel restaurant it ain’t.
One look at the food offering and it’s clear that Farra is no “concept” designed by committee or focus group. When was the last time that you saw goat sheftalia (juicy caul-wrapped sausage grilled over charcoal) on a menu in Perth? Crunchy pastirmopita – a fillo pie cradling air-dried beef – was another new one to me, as was its accompanying tyrokafteri, a perky cheese sauce that’s cleverly doctored with fermented chilli and vinegar.
Beyond a fondness for exploring Grecian cuisine’s deeper cuts, Moore also enjoys using kitchen know-how to put new spins on the familiar. Smoked salmon roe is a wonderful addition to taramasalata, as is the baked to order flatbread. Sardines, while synonymous with Mediterranean dining and wining, don’t get quite as much love here. Perhaps if more people adopted Moore’s softly-softly approach – each fish gets deboned and butterflied before getting the briefest skin-side blowtorching – that might change. Add enthusiastic waitstaff and a thoughtful drinks list, and it’s the full package.
At a time when many hospitality operators are, perhaps understandably, playing it safe, it’s heartening to see places like Farra enter the fray. Best of all: it isn’t just notable for daring to be different, it’s also emerged fully formed and with a strong sense of identity and purpose. If this is how Farra looks – and tastes – just two months in, we have much to look forward to.
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