Three guys with fine-dining experience walk into a North Fitzroy pub. The punchline? A local with all its hospitality fundamentals in place, a cracker of a wine list and a menu that includes name-brand steak (Hopkins River, O’Connor) with chips and snags with barbecued onions alongside more complex dishes like superb blood pudding and tortellini in a smoked duck consommé. Grossi Florentino alumni Joe Durrant and Mark Protheroe are front of house, ensuring smooth attentive service, while chef Steven Nelson (of Bistro Gitan) delivers a menu big on both flavour and classic technique. Baked scallops with salmon mousse may bring about 1980s flashbacks, but a veal tartare with pickled radish and a wasabi rouille or a mascarpone cheesecake with elderflower granita feel just about right now. A little something for everybody then, plus a bottle shop that includes aged gems from sommelier Protheroe’s own cellar. Now that’s a punchline.
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
Wine: ★ ★
Gourmet Traveller’s star-ratings, which range from zero to three stars, reflect reviewers’ first-hand experiences. The best-rated restaurants form our national Top 100. Our wine ratings, from zero to three stars, are made by wine editor Max Allen on the strength of the quality of the restaurant’s wine list. View our rating key here.
