Modern Australian

REVIEW The Lane Vineyard’s welcoming staff are proud of their show-stopping Adelaide Hills views. Our entrée is an even prettier landscape: folds of ocean trout dotted with marinated roe and threaded with tiny marigolds, violets and cornflowers, while dill oil is pooled in a peak of the whitest crème fraîche. Main courses aren’t hard on […]

REVIEW Fresh from a stint at Maxwell Wines’ Ellen Street Restaurant, chef Tom Boden has a new home among the vines and paddocks at Penny’s Hill. In keeping with the rural vibe, Boden’s food is honest, rustic and bound to sate the hungriest of appetites. A slab of slow-roasted lamb is meltingly tender and delicious […]

REVIEW The lunchtime crowd seems oblivious to the rain and thunder causing a commotion just beyond the restaurant’s timber deck. They’re too consumed, it seems, by chef-owner Spencer Patrick’s food. In particular, his 14-hour slow-roasted lamb shoulder cooked with Madras spices and topped with crisp curry leaves. The meat, which falls from the bone, is […]

REVIEW You can find Muse in the heart of NSW wine country, housed in a grand industrial building on the Hungerford Hill estate. The menu is packed with flavour, latterly leaning towards Japanese ingredients – an entrée of deer tartare with puffed buckwheat and shimeji is shaped like gyoza in pickled turnip, and seasoned with ginger, sesame […]

REVIEW There’s intensity here: in the energy levels of floor staff working a perpetually full house, in the furious output in the open kitchen from early evening, among diners packed cheek-by-jowl along the narrow terrace’s brick walls, in a drinks list big on organic wines, left-of-centre grape varieties and craft beers. But most of all […]

REVIEW Sage has seen about as many head chefs as Canberra has sworn in prime ministers in recent years. Fortunately, the cosy fine-diner has found consistency with Thomas Heinrich at the helm. He’s pared back the menu and the reliance on foams and soils. And floor staff have dialled down the formality, if anything this […]

Prefer your salad leaves manicured? Jeremy Strode, a chef with possibly superhuman powers of finesse and consistency, is in full flight at Bistrode CBD, writes Pat Nourse.

Two small, well-crafted restaurants have sprung up on either side of the Yarra: a boon for both neighbourhoods, writes Michael Harden.

The lauded team behind Glebe Point Diner have brought their unique brand of rusticity without clichés to Neutral Bay, writes Pat Nourse.

Bloodwood, with its funky setting and smart food, is a shining light in Newtown, writes Pat Nourse.

The views at Melbourne’s Sofitel are legendary and now chef Stuart McVeigh is delivering food which gives the glittering vista the respect it deserves, writes Michael Harden.

Melbourne’s enjoying a gastropub revival as big-name chefs – Mangan, Lambie and Wilson – lend their talents at glammed-up watering holes. It’s pub food reborn.

Fix St James has become an oasis of good eating in the heart of the city, writes Pat Nourse, who finds himself seduced by its gutsy, honest food and wine.

Michael Ryan’s excellent cooking highlights the strength of local produce and places Provenance among the country’s best regional restaurants, writes Michael Harden.

The Deanery’s food is finally playing to the strength of its impressive wine list by tapping into the whimsical talents of former Interlude chef Robin Wickens, writes Michael Harden.

REVIEW Coda has cemented its place as a CBD stayer. Its basement location has lost none of its industrial-chic edge. And despite the changing of the guard in the kitchen (still overseen by Adam D’Sylva), the dining experience hasn’t skipped a beat. Today, Coda’s Asian accent is more pronounced than ever, making the old buffalo […]

REVIEW Watch out for the new hit from chef Shaun Arantz, ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Menu’. Now it’s just four entrées and four main courses, plus a charcuterie platter and four desserts. But no complaints, because every dish has been perfected. Arantz marries seemingly incongruous flavours and textures with impeccable grace – snapper with wheat […]

REVIEW This quaint white timber restaurant was a turn-of-the-century ex-Methodist church, tucked down a quiet Penola street. Ten years ago, accomplished floor manager Erika Bowen and her chef husband Simon transformed it into a tidy, efficient dining room, and have remained true to the building’s historic charm. A small but carefully considered à la carte […]

A classic aesthetic and sober-toned interior belie the novel and forward-thinking cuisine delivered by chef Martin Benn at Sepia, his first solo venture, writes Pat Nourse.

A fine pedigree, good looks, pronounced flavours and a sense of energy and fun have helped Coda deftly parry some great expectations, writes Michael Harden.

With its Art Deco glory and soaring atrium, Rockpool Bar & Grill is probably the grandest restaurant Sydney has ever seen. It’s a steakhouse, writes Pat Nourse, but not as we know it.

Andrew McConnell shows he’s still plugged into the zeitgeist with the opening of his latest venture, Cutler & Co. It’s smart, sexy and seriously good, reports a smitten Michael Harden.

The menu at Etch delivers the oomph and finesse we’ve come to expect from the team at Bécasse, says Pat Nourse, plus a little intrigue. And the soup is a must.

Paul Wilson has made his mark at The Botanical and now brings the same magic to Half Moon in Brighton, a reborn pub where seafood rules, writes John Lethlean.

REVIEW No, Google Maps is right: this venue really does share an address with an office/apartment block near the picturesque Kwinana Freeway. While the location (and irksome traffic noise) isn’t ideal, team Red Cabbage work hard to put guests at ease. The hushed, low-lit room chimes with the restaurant’s fine-dining aspirations, but swatches of Fornasetti […]

REVIEW Calling Smolt a safe pair of hands is underplaying it. Sure, it has savvy staff, a good-looking room and a kitchen that loves a Mediterranean bistro classic, but this all-day diner is more than just a safe bet. Chef Joseph Koops starts with top-notch local produce, on show in an excellent saffron lumache pasta […]

Every cloud has one, so the saying goes, but Andrew McConnell’s latest venture, Cumulus Inc., seems to have more than its fair share. John Lethlean takes a trip to seventh heaven.

Hiding in plain sight on Crown Street, the crack team at Marque are turning out some of the country’s finest food. With a minor facelift, the restaurant sparkles anew, says Pat Nourse.

Lotus’s reputation for attracting the young and fun crowd remains intact with rising star chef Dan Hong’s appointment to the Potts Point bar and bistro, writes Pat Nourse.