6

GOURMET TRAVELLER 51

Clockwise, from

above: Flinders

mussels with

seaweed butter

and Peninsula

corn; chef Phil

Wood, sommelier

Andrew Murch

and restaurant

manager Ainslie

Lubbock; Dutch

cream potato

with caviar.

Phil Wood’s talents are front and

centre at his new ine diner, Laura,

writesMICHAEL HARDEN.

Solo

exhibit

T

he first course is called

Land and Garden and

it’s like unwrapping a

present. A section of

roasted onion sits on top of slices

of carrot, next to a pool of beetroot

sauce and topped with pink-tipped,

finely julienned radish. Under

the onion cap are delicate lion’s

mane mushrooms braised in the

style of teriyaki, mixed with

shiitakes from Benton Rise. They

taste like chicken and are teamed

with steamed abalone to great

textural effect. But wait. Like

so much at Laura, it gets better

as you go deeper.

There’s surprise and delight

already – carrots revealing a hint of

star anise, the beetroot sauce edged

with sesame oil – but then, a few

bites in, you find a magnificent

curry emulsion. Somewhere

between mousse and mayo in

texture, it’s like a twist in the tale.

Most dishes in restaurants present

well and then get less interesting

once you stick a fork in them. But

at Laura, the plot thickens.

There’s plenty to get excited

about at Pt Leo Estate. You’d hope

so, given that $50 million has been

spent building the sculpture park

and its glass-fronted cellar door and

restaurant building. The estate’s sea

views, broken only by the occasional

Cragg, Plensa, Halpern, King or

Meadmore, are impressive. But

the food offering is equally stirring.

Big budgets can breed hubris in a

restaurant but there’ve been no bad

decisions here. The choice of Phil

Wood as culinary director has

proven decisive.

Over four, five or six courses,

his food at Laura (the restaurant

is named for the Jaume Plensa

sculpture out front) balances

precision cooking and artful plating

with elements of surprise. The

perception of what you’re eating can

change from one bite to the next.

Orchards, the dessert course,

is a wave-like ripple of meringue,

its troughs filled with dried figs
cooked in estate pinot noir, mixed
with candied lemon rind and
topped with a delicate, foam-like
lemon cream. It’s a clever, delicate
combination. Then suddenly there’s
cumin ice-cream and candied
walnuts. As they emerge from
under the meringue, they seamlessly
add a more complex Christmas
pudding-like layer to the mix.
There’s less sleight-of-hand in
Livestock, but it’s still theatrical,
arriving sealed in a black crust of
salt and ash. Broken open at the
table, it reveals braised lamb brisket
and neck pressed with chicken
mousse and figs, wrapped in fig
leaves from Cape Schanck. It comes
with a decision: would you like the
hot-and-sour or Tuscan chicken-liver
sauce? With livers, pancetta,
rosemary and wine in the equation,
it’s the Tuscan by a nose.
The choices are all good in
this serene space. Separated by
glass from Pt Leo Estate’s busy
bistro and cellar door, Laura’s
dining room is light and tranquil.
The detailing is timber, the tables
PHOTOGRAPHER JULIAN KINGMA topped with leather. Earthenware➤

Melbourne review