42 APRIL 2018 / TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM
/ place settings /
GOING BIG ON WESTERN Australian produce seems the intuitive way
to go, and Market Grounds, a massive new 780-seat restaurant, bar
and beer garden, does this as well as celebrating the city’s past.
Fashioned after the old Perth Market that operated here from 1897 to
1937, the complex sits within King’s Square, a commercial precinct at
the heart of the new Perth City Link, which was constructed over a
railway that had previously separated the CBD and the Northbridge
neighborhood for more than a century.
The multi-million dollar venue provides distinct places to dine: go
for a grazing menu at the sunken lounge, small bites at the bar or
shared plates at the 75-seat main restaurant. Menus are broken
down into butcher, baker, grocer and fishmonger sections—a
connection to the old market halls—and ingredients are sourced
from farming communities located within a 200-kilometer radius of
Perth: fruits and vegetables come from Wanneroo; meat from
Dardanup; seafood from Fremantle.
It’s the ultimate modern pub, says Adam Kapinkoff, group
operations manager of his family’s Ark Hospitality Group, which
launched Market Grounds in December. “As pubs evolved in the last
10 to 15 years, there has been a serious shift in providing restaurant
quality food in a relaxed casual setting. We’re all proud Western
Australians who want to support the local suppliers. With such great
access to quality local produce, it’d be silly not to.”
It’s the same pride I encounter as I round off my trip at a weekend
brunch with local friends at Island Market Trigg, a bright beach
diner clad in pink and marble with Mediterranean vibes and a
Levantine menu. The minds behind the menu, executive chef David
Coomer and head chef Sunny de Ocampo, have cooked in some of
Perth’s best kitchens and are long familiar with the West’s bounty.former bank vault that’s now a cold room filled
with more than 40 types of cheese.
Here, the tasting boards feature the best
table-aged cheeses paired with artisanal liquor.
Today I’m presented with rare goat and sheep
cheeses from Toodyay and Nannup (“small
communities with a strong focus on artisanal
produce and sustainable farming practices,”
Quinlan says) alongside a newly arrived Sartori
BellaVitano, an American-made sweet cow’s
milk cheese rubbed with roasted ground coffee.
“The goat cheese from Gidgegannup [near
Toodyay] is one of our biggest sellers, but there
are days where the owner gets busy with the
goats and finds it hard to deliver to us,” Quinlan
says. “When you’re running an establishment
and people are expecting to have the same thing
in a consistent way, relying on small local
producers can be challenging. But while you
may not know what cheeses you’ll get, you know
it will be of good quality with a great story.”
No matter, busy goat owners are easily
forgiven when you can also order from a menu
of decadent bar bites—the 10-cheese toasted
sandwich, which melts a secret mix of high-end
remnants of the day (some costing as much as
A$120 per kilogram), is best eaten with a dab of
spiced tomato chutney made by a Peppermint
Grove Beach producer southwest of Perth.
FROM LEFT: A peek at the tasting room at Fromage Artisans; the limited edition Avo Splash cocktail at Market Grounds blends avocado
with a dash of tequila; order the selection of Middle Eastern–style dips at Island Market Trigg with a plate of their warm pita bread. FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF FROMAGE ARTISANS; COURTESY OF MARKET GROUNDS; COURTESY OF ISLAND MARKET TRIGG>>