First look: Cirrus, Sydney

Grilled West Australian marron with sea bananas

“A lot of the crustaceans at Cirrus are cooked over charcoal. I just love the flavour,” says Brent Savage. “We serve the marron with a little lemonade-fruit jam and a drizzle of marron butter. We make the marron butter from shells that we collect and cook down. As it’s cooking we brush the marron with the butter; it brings out so much umami in the dish – and although it presents really simply, the depth of flavour is fantastic. The sea bananas are a salty succulent and add a little bit of freshness – a little burst of salty water at the same time you have that really rich marron taste.”

The Cirrus dining room, designed by Pascale Gomes-McNabb

“We have really high ceilings here and Pascale does good ceilings. For a lot of designers it’s a second thought, but it’s essential to the design at Cirrus. The timber dowel coming from the ceiling is quite dramatic, almost like an art installation or sculpture, and it’s integrated into the banquettes and outside as well. When you look at the building from the outside, the shape is almost mirrored on the inside of the restaurant.”

“It’s different to any of the other work Pascale has done for us – it’s lighter and more bright, but still modern, contemporary, cool, elegant and stylish. She gets what we do, we get what she does, and there’s a great mutual respect. We let her just run with things; she smashes the budget all the time but at the end of the day it’s worth it.”

BRENT SAVAGE

Grilled cos with whipped mullet roe and cured egg yolk

“This wasn’t designed to be a Caesar but people will call it that. It was something that came to me not long before we did some dinners in Singapore with the Unlisted Collection at Salted & Hung and it balanced the menu really nicely. The grilled cos is lightly brined before it’s cooked, which makes it very crisp. “We give it a quick flash over the charcoal and then dress it with tomato vinaigrette, then add the cured egg yolk, Ortiz anchovy, a few chives and the whipped mullet roe. It’s delicious.”

“The concept at Cirrus is to have beautiful, simple sustainable seafood. People eat with their eyes first and everything needs to look beautiful… Our plates are simple and not overworked.”

BRENT SAVAGE

Alvin, the vintage speedboat suspended from Cirrus’s ceiling

“Alvin is a 1950s speedboat that was built in Gladesville, so it has a little bit of local heritage. It was something that Pascale [Gomes-McNabb, Cirrus’s designer] and Nick [Hildebrandt, the restaurant’s co-owner and sommelier] devised as an idea almost from the start. Pascale said, ‘well alright you’ve got to find one first’ and eventually Nick found it on eBay and was pretty taken by it. It was only three weeks ago that we found it; the restaurant could’ve been called Alvin had we got the boat first.”

BRENT SAVAGE

The wine

“All my lists are really different and they all have their own personalities. Cirrus has more of a white focus – chardonnay, Chablis, lots of our favourite varieties – and reds with more of a light focus and rosé. My lists tend to blend the classic wines with up-and-coming producers, and a lot of wines that are really hard to get and won’t be found on any other lists. We’ll be doing a lot by the glass and the carafe. We want it to be a fun list and don’t want it to be boring or stiff.”

NICK HILDEBRANDT

“At the bar we have 20 to 25 seats – you can come in to sit at the bar and have some nice wine and the same menu as in the main dining room. We want it to be casual and fun and accessible. All are welcome always and walk-ins are encouraged.”

BRENT SAVAGE

Kingfish with yuzu daikon and black bean

“I’ve always been influenced by Japan – and lots of my food has spikes of umami here and there. This dish really represents the fact that Cirrus is not just restricted to Australian ingredients, but we’re also using ingredients that I just love, like daikon and black bean. For this dish, the daikon has been pickled in yuzu and the black bean sauce is a combination of salted black bean, lime, coriander, ginger and garlic. The lime gives it a really zesty finish.”

BRENT SAVAGE

Northern Territory mud crab with green garlic and tarragon sauce

“Lots of the mud crab that you see in Sydney comes from the Northern Territory; the meat is super sweet. At Cirrus, I wanted to do whole crab but I didn’t want to do chilli crab or black pepper crab. That has its place and is fantastic, but Cirrus is doing it a little bit differently – the crab is steamed and served with a green garlic and tarragon sauce and brioche. We’re making the brioche in-house so it’s nice and soft and has a nice glaze on it – and we’re quite generous with the sauce, so it’s great for mopping.”

BRENT SAVAGE

The Cirrus dining room, designed by Pascale Gomes-McNabb

“The big glass doors open completely… it allows the whole space to open up. I’m still getting to know the space but I love the fact that we have outdoor seating for 40. During the day at lunch it already has a great feel – I can imagine in summer how wonderful it will be to have all the doors open.”

“The wonderful views were a big motivation in opening another restaurant. When is that opportunity going to come up again where you get to open a brand new seafood restaurant, by the water, in the middle of the CBD?”

BRENT SAVAGE