For all the blue-chip properties around North Sydney,Kirribilli and Neutral Bay,there aren’t too many places where you can gorge on steaks more expensive than a Paul McCartney ticket and drink the appropriate shiraz. A bistro for steak frites,sure – and there’s no end of chips-or-salad pub rump specials – but any north-of-the-bridge locals jonesing for high-end wagyu have long needed to venture into the city or grill their own.
If you’re a local who has long dreamt of dropping $280 on a one-kilogram T-bone and walking home,this is exciting stuff. I was champing for the restaurant to open:The Sydney Morning Herald is based in the same office block and it would be nice to have a swanky bolt-hole for cocktails after work. Poetica,I declared to any colleagues who’d listen,would be our Rockpool Bar&Grill of the north.
Beef and bordeaux fans of the lower north shore,your new clubhouse has arrived.
Etymon Projects – the group in charge – also operatesThe Charles Grand Brasserie&Bar in the CBD and hatted Lavender Bay bistroLoulou. They know a thing or two about stiff drinks and French sauces. The team also knows how to gussy up a room and the long,first-level dining area is decked out in soft oak and steel-blue hues. A semi-concealed bar is impressively comfortable and a beaut spot to hide out with a smoky house martini ($26) and half a dozen oysters ($46). Is this what the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge feels like?
Culinary director Sebastien Lutaud has worked with chef Connor Hartley-Simpson to create a menu that’s more contemporary than Etymon’s other venues. A lot of fuss is made about the open kitchen’s charcoal oven and wood-burning hearth,and the steaks,such as a 400-gram wagyu sirloin ($120) from King River in North Queensland,are indeed full of potent,concentrated flavour.
But – and here’s the hot tip – I think the salads are better. Assorted spring vegetables ($23) grown near Lake Macquarie by Newcastle Greens are as addictive as any hot chip:a jumble of pickled and just-cooked beetroot,radish,green beans and snowpeas sharpened with seaweed vinaigrette and pretty daubs of creme fraiche. A bright and light broad bean salad ($24) with mixed leaves and milky ricotta is precisely calibrated with a pickled lemon dressing.
If you worked in North Sydney and needed a spot for a quick lunch with clients,sharing those two salads and a velvety,250-gram rump cap (the cheapest steak on the carte at $55) should have you back at your desk without suffering food-induced narcolepsy. A glass of smooth and savoury Woodlands 2019 Cabernet Merlot from Margaret River ($16) is optional.
However,if time and budget are less of a concern,there’s ample opportunity to have more fun. Oysters flambadou (I mean,it’s fun just to say “flambadou”!) translates to Sydney rocks kicked up with a guindilla pepper and ’nduja salami and drizzled with sizzling-hot beef fat. Yours for $10 a spicy-sweet pop.
Meanwhile,nubs of smoked eel and braised leeks are wrapped in nori and presented like pâté en croute ($25). An eel-bone broth poured over the dish makes it a smart and deeply flavoured choice for the table.
Focaccia di Recco ($16) is another fine idea,stuffed with gruyere cheese and capers,and baked so it’s thin and crispy and looks like something you might find at the Pizza Hut buffet. Team it with a punchy beef tartare honed by green mustard and crunchy with flecks of caramelised onion ($26).
The flavour of buttery fish stock accompanying 200 grams of dry-aged,lightly charred swordfish ($42) is clean and direct,but I’m less taken by the fillet’s too-soft texture.
This is a new charcoal and wood-fired kitchen,though,and it’s going to take time for the chefs to work out its sweet spots. There’s plenty to keep me coming back,not least of all a wonderfully spongy,syrupy,brown butter cake ($20) and a wine list rich with French and Australian reds.
Beef and bordeaux fans of the lower north shore,your new clubhouse has arrived. See you at the bar after knock-off on Friday.
The low-down
Vibe: Smart-casual grill-house for all occasions and very good oysters
Go-to dish: Spring vegetables with herb creme fraiche ($23)
Drinks: Wide-ranging Old and New World wine list featuring well-priced options among the trophy bottles,plus several commendable cocktails
Cost: About $180 for two,excluding drinks and dry-aged steaks
This review was originally published inGood Weekend magazine