In a tiny, tiled-floor shopfront out on Melbourne’s bushy fringe, the two-person team of Zoe Birch (chef) and Lachlan Gardner (floor) serve a 10-ish course, daily-changing dégustation as vigilant about the local, seasonal and sustainable as it is focused on creativity, surprise and deliciousness. Birch’s food skips lightly across cuisines – a two-bite spelt crumpet topped with warrigal greens and pesto spiked with almonds and zucchini; a duck-egg chawanmushi flavoured with Mornington Peninsula seaweed and crisp fish skin; a sweet and salty Tropea onion tarte Tatin accompanying flash-grilled wallaby. It’s ably assisted by a concise, approachable wine list that skews local with labels from the neighbouring Yarra Valley but also dabbles in smaller makers from the Old World. At just eight seats, Greasy Zoe’s is a classic of the micro-restaurant genre, deftly mixing intimate, homespun hospitality with precise cooking and a wonderfully calm vibe that’s almost as nourishing as the food itself.
Kristoffer Paulsen
