The beaches in William Bay National Park are case
studies in the untouched. From the lookout near the
Greens Pool car park, the Southern Ocean looks like
Neptune’s own Jacuzzi, the wind whipping furious
white peaks. We descend the wooden staircase to
Greens Pool, however, and find a sheltered beach of
pale sand framed by smooth boulders. Around the
corner are the idyllic Madfish Bay and Waterfall Beach,
the latter cleaved by a waterfall spilling onto the sand.
We arrive at Cape Howe Cottages near the rugged
West Cape Howe National Park as the sun begins
to gild Lowlands Beach, visible beyond the forest
surrounding the six cabins. Later that evening, we
enjoy excellent lamb Madras cooked and delivered by
owners David and Gaynor Clarke. They’re just back
from a road trip, much longer than mine. “It took six
months travelling around the country to make us
realise how good life is here in Denmark,” Gaynor says.
For a town of 6,000, Denmark eats well. We head
to a cheery café called Mrs Jones for shakshuka and
good coffee; at lunch the menu segues to marron and
kelp noodle salad, and beef noodle soup. Next door is
the Butter Factory Studios, a gallery showing pottery,
paintings and sculpture by local artists. On the main
street is Massimo’s Place, a pizza joint run by Roman
pizzaiolo Massimo Rinaldi. He ferments his dough
for at least 24 hours, and his oblong pizze are offered
rosse (with tomato), bianche (without), and Australian
(meat-lovers' and Hawaiian).
Denmark’s best table is Pepper & Salt, an airy
restaurant run by Silas and Angela Masih at Forest
Hill vineyard, about 10 minutes’ drive out of town.
The richness of Silas’s marron and crab kedgeree teams
well with the acidity of Forest Hill’s Block 1 riesling,
one of the highlights on the all-local wine list. Nicely
pink Denmark quail is paired with cross-hatched
pommes gaufrette and dainty spears of local asparagus,
while slow-cooked duck curry is a permanent fixture
on the menu.
The return trip to Albany is full of temptation, the
roadside dotted with signs for farm-gate sales. Savvy
locals head to Nicklup Orchard near Kalgan River for
heirloom stone fruit in summer. Otherwise, there’s
Handasyde Strawberries, a farm-gate operation selling
trays of certified-organic fruit and eggs.
All roads, though, lead to Liberté, a lively bar and
Parisian-louche restaurant in the London Hotel in
Albany, one of the state’s first licensed buildings.
If you’ve always wanted to dine on a daybed in a Belle
Époque-style room and pass a wall-sized Delacroix print
on the way to the bathroom, here’s your chance. Or
take a seat in the bistro, surrounded by mismatched
furniture and posters for vintage booze, and have barmanager Keryn Giles mix a textbook Martini or
a Roger Ramjet, an earthy mix of mezcal, rum,
Cynar and grilled-pear syrup.
After 10 years, chef-owner Amy Hamilton regards
Albany as her home and its farmers part of her
extended family. “I’m emotionally invested in this
region,” she says. We chat in the kitchen as she dices
fennel and baby carrots plucked from her backyard.
“I don’t feel like a fraud when I talk about the Great
Southern. In Albany, you’re forced to have a very
direct relationship with producers. Sometimes they’re
hard relationships to maintain – it’s a lot easier to
sit in an office and fax an order form – but that’s
part of the charm.”
Much of Liberté’s charm lies with Hamilton’s
interpretation of French and Vietnamese flavours
using Great Southern ingredients. She makes a sort
of bottarga using roe from Australian salmon fished
at nearby Parry Beach and uses it to add punch to
crisp-fried akoya oysters; she dries the fish’s flesh into
a ham-like “sa-mon” and serves it crudo style. Shards
of rice paper add crunch to beef tartare. I think of
her flaky salted egg-yolk custard millefeuille as an
Indochine vanilla slice. Then there’s her whitebait,
caught locally, fried and swiped through a pot
of tamarind mayo. It’s the taste of Australian
summers to come.●Above: Liberté's
bar manager
Keryn Giles (left)
and chef-owner
Amy Hamilton.
Opposite,
clockwise from
top left: Youngs
Siding store; quail
and pommes
gaufrettes at
Pepper & Salt;
fried Brussels
sprouts with
lime, honey
and sriracha at
Liberté; chef
Silas Masih of
Pepper & Salt.148 GOURMET TRAVELLER