They’re right. There is no competition. Sydney leaves Melbourne in the dust for dynamic,trailblazing restaurants. And by “Sydney”,I mean all of Sydney – Bondi,Strathfield,Bonnyrigg – not just the CBD,although it should be said that the inner-city is going off. White-hot restaurants are opening at a rate we haven’t seen since the 2000 Olympics.
In the past five weeks,Sydney’s CBD and The Rocks have welcomed sprawlingMediterranean grill Le Foote,swanky trattoriaPalazzo Salato and New York-inspired bistroClam Bar. Melbourne’s most exciting new restaurant this year seems to bea fancy souvlaki shop from one-timeMasterChefhost George Calombaris.
Sydney rock oysters,nuoc cham and ginger chipolatas at Clam Bar.Edwina PicklesMelburnians will say that more Italian and American joints do little to advance a city’s unique food culture. Sydney needs more “Sydney-style” restaurants. I say Clam Bar,for one example,is entirely unique. The steakhouse model is lifted from New York,sure,but a Manhattan grill chef would sooner serve oysters with Vegemite than Clam Bar’s choice of Vietnamese dipping sauce and ginger chipolatas.
This is what Sydney restaurants do best. They take the most delicious ingredients and ideas the world has to offer,and they create something thrilling and fresh.
It’s what Sydney restaurants have always done best,though. The line-up of Sydney-based chefs that helped define Modern Australian dining is massive,from Tetsuya Wakuda and hishigh-end “fusion” cooking, to Jenny Ferguson’s passion for beautiful produce in the late ’70s at You and Me on George Street.
Sydney’s restaurants take the most delicious ideas the world has to offer,and create something thrilling and fresh.
Then there’s Kylie Kwong,Bill Granger,David Thompson andSerge Dansereau;Janni Kyritsis,Matt Moran andSean Moran;Christine Manfield,Peter Gilmore andNeil Perry,not to mention Philip Searle and Barry Ross,Peter and Beverley Doyle,Gay andTony Bilson,andDamien and Jospehine Pignolet. (I’m only stopping here because I have a limited word count.) These giants of the industry have helped shaped the way Australia and,indeed,the world eats today. Can Melbourne claim that?
Kylie Kwong at her Eveleigh canteen,Lucky Kwong.SuppliedImportantly,many of those chefs are still firing on all cylinders. Granger’s sunny-side-up cafes continue to create morning queues in 19 restaurants globally,Perry is wood-firing the best selection of home-grown produce in the country atMargaret in Double Bay,and Kwong cooks her take on Australian-Chinese for the local community and workers ather Eveleigh canteen. You can see her influence in a new generation of chefs inspired by their own experiences and cultural background to forge a singular path. I’m thinking ofPaul Farag at Aalia,andHo Jiak’s Junda Khoo.
Meanwhile,Gilmore has continuously held threeGood Food Guide hats at Quay for more than two decades – a national record. The fine-diner isone of four three-hat restaurants in Sydney,with Oncore at Crown,Stanmore’sSixpenny and Surry Hills’Firedoor also claiming theGuide’s top gong. Melbourne,by contrast,has two three-hatters –Vue de Monde in the CBD,and Richmond’s sushi-focusedMinamishima.
The view from Oncore by Clare Smyth,one of Sydney’s four three-hat restaurants.Courtesy of Crown SydneyHark! Can I hear a Victorian yelling that “Melbourne has better mid-tier restaurants”? They’ve been saying that ever since Andrew McConnell openedCumulus Inc in 2008 and introduced Flinders Lane to sardines on house-made toast. Sydney caught up yonks ago,however,and the city and suburbs are rich with one- and two-hat restaurants serving share plates for less than $30. We’re talkingCafe Paci,Ante,Ester,Continental,Ragazzi,Nomad,Lankan Filling Station,Porkfat,Kiln … (again,word count).
Exciting booze is being poured at these “mid-tier” places too. Outside the actual wineries,Sydney was ground zero for Australia’s natural wine surge. Rootstock festival helped create a new generation of invested,progressive drinkers when it launched in 2013,while venues such as Aperitif,Bentley and 121BC informed the natural wine bar template that’s so popular across the country today.
Battered Murray cod and chips at Charcoal Fish,Rose Bay.Rob PalmerSydney,arguably,can also claim Australia’s best:pho (An Restaurant,Bankstown commonly held as the country’s best),fish and chips (Charcoal Fish,Rose Bay,run by the famous Josh Niland,need we say more?),Thai (dozens of examples),and char kwai teow (first table on your left at the hawker centre opposite Guildford train station). I’ll concede that Melbourne has better spaghetti.
Melbourne,you’re also better for food shopping,and your pubs are way more fun. Pokies have turned so many of our old boozers into lifeless gaming dens. I still love your big,grey streets,and I’ll always be jealous of Gerald’s Bar,Embla,and yes – that massive mud-crab-stuffed soup dumpling atFlower Drum. But a few choice snacks and world-class dim sum can’t match Sydney’s energy,innovation and all-round deliciousness.
“The winner is Syd-er-ney!”
Callan Boys is the editor ofThe Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.