Many may frequent this relaxed, Euro-style wine bar because of its meat-free stance, but there are reasons aplenty – beyond the personal and political – to dine at Patsy’s. The owners’ central Victorian farm supplies most of the excellent produce, for starters, which might emerge from the open kitchen in the form of a brilliant, savoury tarte Tatin that swaps apples for borettana onions, caramelised to a silky, salty-sweet richness with washed-rind cheese and vincotto. Or crisp pastry fingers filled with preserved-lemon-laced mashed potato and accompanied by glistening, tangy green harissa. There are more thrills where that came from: chewy squash flatbreads with creamy goat’s curd; a wonderfully airy pumpkin-and-cheese sformato; cannoli piped with dark chocolate and praline. This combo of sharp cocktails, a strong Oz-Euro wine list and clever takes on historically veg-leaning Mediterranean cuisines means that Patsy’s no-meat thing is as much a pleasing “and also” as it is headline attraction.
Annika Kafcaloudis
