(see part one)
Supper remains my ideal moment to experiment unusual flavours and new restaurants and here in Perth the idea of something exceptional is still present; you don’t go out by chance, or because you don’t want to cook: you go out for the sensorial experience, the setting, something to share with your friends. There’s no culinary tradition to follow, nor is there a “home cooking” that needs to be reinvented, so there’s plenty of space for experimenting and there are lots of Asian and European traditions to enrich.
My first choice is always Greenhouse in the Cbd: a concrete cube covered outside with ivy leaves and with a kitchen garden on the rooftop. Each piece of furniture and of the building was recycled to create a place where you can touch natural materials, understand from where our daily objects come from and taste food that is picked right from the vegetable garden.
The menu changes with the season and in line with Matt Stone’s creativity, head chef at 26 and since he was only 22. Pairings are unusual and flavours are a pleasant discovery: Wood oven baked sardines with cherry tomatoes and sumac, Roasted pork neck with beets and turnips, Plum and lavender parfait with sesame brittle.
Rendang, a dish with Indonesian and Malaysian origins made with beef marinated in coconut milk and spices, is one of the strongpoints in Ria’s menu
Another must, at least once every month, is
Pata Negra in Nedlands. The name could already say everything:
tapas,
jamón iberico, home made
chorizo and a selection of Spanish wines…
Arroz negro,
paella,
deheso manchego and
boquerones with artichokes, lemon and parsley are not to be missed.
El Publico in Highgate, instead, is the right place for an authentic Mexican dinner. The menu, created by chef
Sam Ward, has a space dedicated to the glossary so you won’t get lost with the names of Mexican street food and you will avoid looking for the usual
burritos. Two important tips: keep some space for the
pineapple and guajillo ice cream and pair each course with a margarita. Another must is
Ria in Leederville: informal setting and Malaysian cuisine for the best
rendang I have ever tasted.
Kiren Mainwaring is the young chef at Dear Friends, the best restaurant in the area of Perth
It is necessary to leave town, instead, and go towards the Swan Valley for the best restaurant of all:
Dear Friends in Caversham. Chef
Kiren Mainwaring and his wife
Kelli in the dining room take care of every detail obsessively.
The tasting menu with nine courses and as many wines is a journey of discovery of unique flavours; the menu in fact changes every week and always leaves some space for the “mystery dish”. The secret of perfection is in the local raw materials, when possible very local – the cheese is produced there and the aromatic herbs are grown in the garden – and the technical skills of
Mainwaring. Naming a favourite dish is impossible, just as it would be impossible to arrive in Perth and not to allow oneself a dinner or a Sunday lunch here.
2. the end
