4

Menu

Peas, beans, ricotta and

mint bruschetta

Anchovy and tomato bruschetta

Koerner “Watervale” Riesling

Lamb shoulder ragù

with gnocchetti

Brash Higgins Nero d’Avola

Rib-eye steak with

chilli sauce

Cucumber, olive and

roasted-onion salad

Witlof, grapefruit and

pecorino salad

Grilled Roman beans

Podere Le Boncie “Le Trame”

Chianti Classico

Hazelnut tiramisù

Pellegrino Passito di Pantelleria,

or a Negroni

A

part from the occasional rush of jet engines, Botany

Road in Mascot is a straight-up-and-down suburban

strip complete with a chicken shop, a discount

chemist, an IGA and a cake store. Look a little closer

at the pub, though, and all is not as it seems. Round the back

of the Tennyson Hotel in the old drive-through the lights are

down, the music’s up and a wood-fired oven

is running hot. Chairs are scattered around

the concrete floor, plates of focaccia come out

draped in lardo, and patrons don vintage ski

suits to duck into the walk-in cool room. Past

the slabs of XXXX and VB, Franck Moreau,

master sommelier, has filled the shelves with

outstanding wines at outstanding value. This

is Mr Liquor’s Dirty Italian Disco, the latest

incarnation of Pinbone, and Mike Eggert and

Jemma Whiteman are in their element.

The pair are no strangers to trying

something a little different, having been

through a few incarnations, and while they

mightn’t have thought a collaboration with

Merivale was next, the pitch was solid: “They

basically said, ‘We have this shed... What do

you want to do? It can be really fun, chilled,

different, exciting. Oh, and it’s in the middle

of nowhere in a bottle shop,’” says Eggert. “So

we thought Italian, but more American-style

Italian. More casual. More laid-back. Fluffy

old-school focaccia and big servings. We

wanted it to be less stuffy and less traditional.”

And that’s how it works at Mr Liquor.

The plates are enamelware, servings are

generous, ingredients are geared to work together and most

dishes have seen the inside of the wood oven. “Peas and ricotta,

tomatoes and anchovies – they’re classic flavours,” says Eggert.

“Then the ragù is like a Sunday sauce where we throw everything

in the pot with this rich, unctuous lamb.” Salads keep it civil, but

a rib-eye is the main event, grilled hard, then roasted to finish and

served with condiments. “I remember being in

Rome and being served a steak with this big

wedge of parmesan,” says Eggert. “It was

amazing, so we’ve borrowed that. And then,

wherever we are, we always make a chilli sauce.”

We have the dishes. But if you’re looking

for the authentic Mr Liquor experience at

home, Eggert has some advice: “It has to be

alfresco for starters,” he says. “Then crack

out the Christmas lights, put them on flicker,

crank up the tunes and have a dance – that’s

important – and you don’t need to have ski

suits; any arctic-wear or cold-weather gear is

fine, just make sure it’s colourful and fun.”

The Mr Liquor pop-up is slated to end

in mid-May. Once the dust has settled the

obvious question is what can possibly be next

for a team who’ve been lauded for their café

food, lo-fi Chinese and now their Italian?

“First? A holiday,” says Eggert. “But we’re still

on the hunt for a woolshed in the country.

We want to do Australiana. Something mad,

something rural. Like Porteño meetsThe Man

from Snowy River.”Mr Liquor’s Dirty Italian

Disco, Tennyson Hotel Bottle Shop, 952 Botany Rd,

Mascot, NSW, (02) 9240 3000, merivale.com.au

Mike Eggert and

Jemma Whiteman.

ALL PROPS RESTAURANT’S OWN

116 GOURMET TRAVELLER