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Details

SAXE MACHINE

Former Press Club and Saint Crispin

chef Joe Grbac has gone it alone

in a new joint in the CBD. Downstairs,

Saxe(above) has a bar serving

snacks and grown-up cocktails like

Tiple 00, a whisky, amaro and sherry

number. In the dining room upstairs

Grbac dishes up interesting

combinations such as asparagus

with Grana Padano custard and

white miso gazpacho. The wine

list is sharp, as is the service from

a seasoned team.211 Queen St,

Melbourne, (03) 9089 6699

CLASS ACT

Chef Donovan Cooke has fled the

gigantic Atlantic and openedRyne

in Fitzroy North. Cooke’s lost none of

the technical prowess that attracted

so much attention in the 1990s at

Est Est Est. Dishes like raw tuna with

jamón and black garlic, an exactly

roasted pigeon, or a chocolate

soufflé teamed with raspberry are

classic rather than cutting-edge.

The wine list favours the classics,

too.203-205 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy

North, (03) 9482 3002

POCKET ROCKET

The Grossi family has been busy with

two businesses opening in the CBD

in quick succession: laneway bar

Arlechin and now their version of a

fast-food joint,Pezzo, serving Guy

Grossi’s pizza-pita hybrid – little

pockets of pizza dough filled with

combinations like polpette and

provolone or cotoletta and coleslaw.

The Grossis have partnered with

Pitzy Folk from Capi soft drinks so

the drinks include Capi’s versions of

RTD (try the gin and dry tonic), plus

own-brand wine in 250ml bottles.

88 Flinders Ln, Melbourne

Right: young coconut

jelly with grilled corn and

coconut sorbet. Below:

sate grilled octopus

with green mango

and nuoc mam.

Annam

56 Little Bourke

St, Melbourne

(03) 9654 6627

annam.com.au

Licensed

CardsAE MC V

EFT

OpenMon-Fri

noon-11pm,

Sat 5pm-11pm,

Sun noon-4pm;

5pm-11pm

PricesEntrées

$12-$21, main

courses $27-$45,

desserts $12-$14

Vegetarian

Four entrées, two

mains, plus a full

tasting menu and

off-menu items

NoiseBustling

Wheelchair

accessYe s

MinusPatchy

service

PlusMai’s pan-

Asian repertoire

and neon signage, then overlays

it with a looped reel of martial

arts films projected onto a wall

over the main dining space, a wall

of mahjong tiles, strings of fairy

lights and an open kitchen with

a smoking grill. Original? Perhaps

not. But it’s effective.

The wine list has its moments

• the well-priced, nicely textural
  Airlie Bank Gris on Skins from
  the Yarra Valley or the juicy and
  vibrant Chalmers nero d’Avola


• but has a work-in-progress feel
  to it, as though it doesn’t entirely
  understand the food it’s working
  with. There’s a similar feel to the
  wine service, which can come across
  as green and unfocused. Cooking
  of this quality deserves better.
  Take the warm salad – it should
  be on the radar for all vegetarians
  and the people who love them.
  There’s a separate vegetarian
  menu, but this dish, combining
  green papaya, edamame, enoki,
  pickled baby king brown
  mushrooms with a robust, salty
  black vinegar dressing, makes it
  almost redundant.

And hey, vegetarians, if

you’re thinking of jumping the

fence, give the grilled octopus

salad some thought. Smoky, spicy

octopus, green papaya and superb

nuoc mam dressing deliver a

mouthful of earthy, spicy, sour

and crunchy satisfaction. Oxtail

dumplings, the meat braised in

masterstock and sarsaparilla, will

inspire return visits, as might

delicate crab banh cuon and fatty,

sticky ssämjang beef ribs served

with pickled radish, applause-

worthy pineapple kimchi and a

tamarind-heavy crying tiger sauce.

Melbourne has a fondness

for pan-Asian restaurants with

a party vibe and a decent cocktail

list. Annam belongs to that club,

but the quality of Jerry Mai’s food

is such that it also stands apart.

Precise cooking, deft balance and

clean flavours are welcome in a

genre that’s often bereft of light and

shade and too reliant on salt and

sugar to do all the lifting. Not

so here. And then there’s that

waffle-coated fried ice-cream.

What are you waiting for?● PHOTOGRAPHY MARCEL AUCAR (SAXE)

58 GOURMET TRAVELLER

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