Show me you love me – with a stuffed pig’s trotter at the most romantic restaurant in Sydney

In the spirit of Saint Valentine’s Day,I’m looking for a place with rich red wine,flickering candlelight and live music. But if you really want to show me you love me,do it with a stuffed pig’s trotter.

Luckily for me,it’s on pre-order at the most romantic restaurant in Sydney,Restaurant Hubert – all dark,moody,timber-lined nooks and crannies,and a jumble of small bars,bottle-lined shelves,fringed table lamps and tall white candles. Sight-lines are angled towards a small but dramatic stage set with a grand piano and red drapes,where the Calvin Welch Trio is sending out cool jazz vibes.

But the stuffed pig’s trotter,formally known as pied de cochon,isn’t the only reason we need to take a second look at Hubert right now.Brendan Fong,a chef I greatly admired when he was head cheffing atMr. Wong and Parramatta’sLilymu,has taken over the kitchen.

While Hubert’s menu has always been a celebration of the great bistro classics,it’s always had a twist,something instilled in its DNA by founding chefDan Pepperell. So while there are gruyere souffles,charcuterie platters,boeuf Bourguignons and creme caramels,Fong has channelled his Chinese-Fijian heritage and Cantonese expertise into a few new standouts.

Hubert is already a deliciously decadent restaurant,but Fong’s influence brings fresh perspective and technique that makes it out of the ordinary.

Scallop and prawn toast,for instance,is now Saint Jacques et tartine de crevettes ($36) – a golden-crumbed,crunch-tastic mousse of scallop and prawn that’s rich,sweet and crisp-bottomed. Kingfish crudo ($32) is given heightened interest with a brown butter and bonito soy dressing,along with little outcrops of white cloud mushroom (snow fungus) for crunch.

He has even infiltrated the sacred territory of France’s tarte tatin ($28) by incorporating the salty-sweet fungal nature of miso into the caramelised apples;so tender they merge as if one.

Service is spry,and seemingly more relaxed than on past visits. They say the best seats in the house are by the stage,but I rate the cute booths-for-two that front the long raised bar,elevated above fellow diners.

Really,the best table is any that has pied de cochon on it ($150 for two). This dish has history – pigs’ feet have been cooked for as long as there have been pigs and fire – but rose to fame in the 1970s in London,when legendary French chef Pierre Koffman stuffed them with an elegant farce of morel mushrooms and chicken mousse and sent them out in a richly sticky jus with a mound of pomme puree. One of his most talented proteges,Marco Pierre White,made it even more famous. Another,the late Jeremy Strode,brought it to Australia,passing on the technique to one of his chefs,Brendan Fong.

So it’s a homage to a homage that takes 48 hours to prepare,from deboning the trotter and braising the skin until tender,to making the chicken and sweetbread mousse (Fongified with ginger,chives and shiitake instead of morels). Stuffed into the skin,it’s then chilled until set,while the collagen-rich cooking liquid is reduced to an intensely dark and sticky sauce. Poached to order,it’s thickly sliced and heavily sauced,transformed into a glorious,death-defying dish,a seductive pool of stickiness.

The pomme puree is perfect. The bitter leaf salad with soft herbs ($16) is perfect. Even a juicy,earthy,unfiltered William Downie Cathedral Pinot Noir ($80) holds up to the onslaught. It’s good value,but then,value is always relative. The Domaine de la Romanee Conti Grand Echezeaux 2017 at $4500 is also good value.

Hubert is already a deliciously decadent restaurant,but Fong’s influence brings fresh perspective and technique that makes it out of the ordinary. And it doesn’t need to be St Val’s to have a great date night.

One night,apparently,a musician brought his girlfriend to dinner at Hubert. Having composed a piano piece for the occasion,he played it on stage for her,finishing with a proposal of marriage. Nice story. But seriously? He could have just pre-ordered the pig’s trotter.