Delicious Australia – (12)December 2018

LESA,Melbourne
I’ll be honest, I prefer Embla, the seductive
wine bar downstairs, but Dave Verheul’s
mastery with a piece of pork had me
wanting to ascend to sibling Lesa again
and again. Slowly cooked as an entire rack
for hours above searingly hotbinchotan
coals, with the loin then sliced to order.
Its pretty, blushing-pink flesh is seductively
tender and the cracklingasgoodasanyI’ve
experienced. It’s rich,butacleverlittleside
of pickled walnut, crisp kale and buckwheat
miso completes the dish beautifully.
DISH: Pork loin, buckwheat miso,
kale, pickled walnut
CHEF: Dave Verheul

GAZETTE,Perth

Itwasararecoldnightoverinthe

West when this dish warmed more than

mycockles.TheItalianswaggerinside

this monolithic beast is something to

savour – especially the sweet flesh of

Exmouth tiger prawns. Topped with

salsa verde, the prawns wade in the

spicy punch of ’nduja that’s combined

with the rich umami from the juices

of the crustaceans’ heads to create a

sauce that requires a serve of bread to

mop up. Waiter, I’ll need a new bib!

DISH: Exmouth tiger prawns,

’nduja, salsa verde

CHEF: Giles Bailey

AGRARIAN

KITCHEN,Tasmania

This is real food, cooked with love,

consideration for provenance and

a keen sense of adventure, too. A

crackling-coated wedge carved

from a larger beast, our suckling

pigwassoft,delicateandsweet

beneaththesurface–butitwas

thearrayofsidesthatreallyfloated

my boat: salted cabbage with

toasted sesame dressing; shredded

potato with chilli oil, peanuts and

black pepper; plum sauce, kim chi

andcucumberpickles.Oneofthe

best shared feasts I’ve ever had.

DISH:Wood-roasted suckling pig

served with sides

CHEF:Rodney Dunn and

Ali Currey-Voumard

Shobosho,Adelaide

Leek is one of the most underrated

ingredients, and, in fact, it may well be

my favourite. At this Adelaideizakaya

it’stheherooftheplate,thanksto

high heat courtesy ofbinchotancoals.

The leek is charred on the outside so

it steams inside. Its sweet, soft centre

succumbs to the acidic spark and smoky

allure of buttermilk, rounded out by

Kyoto green onion oil. Stunning.

DISH:Charred leek, Kyoto green

onion oil, spring onion oil and smoked

buttermilk

CHEF:Max Sharrad

NATURAL HISTORY BAR & GRILL,

Melbourne

I’ve loved seeing the resurgence of the classic beef tartare,

and what I loved even more was Natural History’s ode

to keeping it as old school as possible – if it ain’t broke,

don’t fix it. (Okay, they’ve added beef tendon chicharrón

to provide the vehicle to scoop up textural O’Connor

pasture-fed aged sirloin tartare laced with smoked oysters.)

It’s served with all the usual condiments (eschalot, capers,

garlic, chives, pickles) and a big bright-orange soy-cured

yolk on top. It’s fabulous.

DISH: Beef tartare

CHEF: James Wilkinson and Morgan McGlone

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