Attica

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Attica – Ripponlea – Saturday 30 July 2022 – Dinner

Our third time in the hallowed dining room of Attica feels more comfortable. We know certain aspects will take care of themselves. The heights of attentive service are assured, and we have already long since paid for the food, which is required upon booking.

Whilst comfortable, there is certainly no feeling of “been there; done that” whatsoever. Part of the script is to continue to evolve and change, and the native Australian ingredients are probably no more prevalent in everyday dining than they were the last time we dined here in 2016. There is always intrigue in the dishes to come.

As I write, I realise that already more than three weeks has passed since our experience, and yet much of it is more vivid than normal dining, because it is so unique. Four hours passes effortlessly, with the only confrontation the occasional ingredient which especially puts Catherine on the back foot.

An example is the parfait, which in this case lives up to its French meaning. You don’t need to look far to find someone who is a bit hesitant to eat liver. So what’s the consensus on Emu liver? Utterly exceptional and my favourite dish of the evening!

The wine is delightful throughout the evening, but the kitchen remains easily the star of the show, and there is some theatre here. Later in the evening, the now usual foray into the back courtyard reveals a camp setting this time around, with the most delicious Basque cheesecake our first dessert. Cooked over the fire, it is still semi-molten, and lives in my memory so vividly I can almost taste it.

Crocodile ribs appeal in a manner hard to imagine. The look, texture, and taste, with the barbeque used to compelling effect, is just really cool. It’s a dish served early on, but I’m not pacing myself tonight, and every piece of flesh is valuable. The wattle dahl is just the same. I’m not leaving a trace.

The final savoury course is another winner, but it is difficult to pick my favourites after the parfait. Here we have a skewer of delicately treated kangaroo, served with frites, béarnaise (Aussie style with local thyme), and a rich pepper sauce too. There’s a spray bottle of vinegar for the frites for obvious reasons. It is so very good. My wish is that in some later stage of life we go to the local pub for kangaroo almost this good, instead of cow.

From interesting, difficult to ordinarily obtain Rose Champagne by Pierre Paillard, to 2013 Lethbridge ‘Allegra’ Chardonnay, to 2021 Jasper Hill Shiraz, there is exceptional wine by the glass to suit any palate, and it is possible to have glasses for less than $20 if you like, or even to try some half glasses. The sommerlier does a superb job, and assisted us several times. Showing an interest always helps.

Attica is expensive. It is a tribute to the restaurant that we’ve been three times and couldn’t imagine not continuing to go back. It is not comfort food, and does not remind us of travel and holidays. It does however make me somehow feel more connected with Australia. How beautiful that a New Zealander writes a menu, and his team execute it impeccably, and it takes you to a place you already live in.

Attica
74 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, Vic 3185
https://www.attica.com.au/
+61 9530 0111
meet@attica.com.au

Past reviews:
Attica in 2016
Expectations of Attica prior to our 2016 visit

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Impressions from the AGT Restaurant Guide for 2018

Orana – Crab & yoghurt sorbet, codium & sea purslane

My favourite restaurant guide has been released for yet another year. When you narrow down the thousands of restaurants in Australia to a top 100, there are naturally some surprises, but in the end, every single one of those restaurants is a terrific place to have a day or night out.

Getting down to the pointy end is exciting. There are only eight restaurants in the whole of Australia that get three stars. They set themselves apart by doing the basics perfectly, and innovating in a way that is remarkable. They are not always the obvious, but equally, they are certainly not places you stumble over by accident.

Attica – Marron, Lilly Pilly and Pearl

Take Orana in Adelaide. If you were to turn up unannounced one evening and somehow get a table, you would initially be skeptical of the price tag, and then be wondering whether you are on “candid camera” as you open your mouth to allow a spoon of green ants to greet your tastebuds. What about Brae in Birregurra, near Geelong. If you were dropped off outside this homestead and farm, you might be searching for the nearest uber to take you back to civilization.

Cutler & Co – Roast chicken, house ground polenta, baby corn & miso

These are not ordinary, everyday experiences. There is a touch of discomfort. It might be the cost, the reverence, the soft gasps, or the sheer oddity of three star dining. But like most experiences, when you are out of your comfort zone, or at least on the edge of it, the memories are bigger than the moment.

Vue De Monde

When Shannon Bennett says that he wants his customers to have a comforting experience, he doesn’t mean eating meat and three veg in your tracksuit in front of the television. He means he wants the experience to be memorable for different reasons, and for his staff to do everything to make such a potentially awkward meal something to aspire to do again, and to relive in stories for the meantime.

Momofuku – beef, radish, fermented black bean

There are the unassuming places. Momofuku Seiobo looks a bit oddly placed in The Star casino and entertainment complex. The Bridge Room is almost quaint. Attica is in the suburbs. Cutler & Co sounds like a ye olde medicinal shop, placed in one of the quieter parts of Fitzroy. They were not dining destinations before the owners set up shop and created something special.

The Bridge Room – Aerated passionfruit, roasted nougatine, passionfruit ice cream, passionfruit seed powder, glass biscuit

Then there’s Quay. That is the one that stands out because it is entirely appropriate. A restaurant overlooking the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House serving food with Ferrari price tags. The achievement of Peter Gilmore keeping this restaurant at the top of its game is surely not lost when you eat at some of its neighbours.

Brae – Egg yolk, potato and jerusalem artichoke, sauce of comte and vin jaune

It is the first time I’ve been to all eight of the three star restaurants. I believe they all deserve a spot for what they have achieved, and what they are currently doing. I love the fact that really none of the top five have a view (sorry Brae, the farm is actually very serene), and I love the fact that with all of these restaurants while the basics are done very, very well; it is the food that is the reason they are so brilliant.

Well done to Australian Gourmet Traveller on a sensational list. A real statement has been made by putting Orana as number one whether the Sydney and Melbourne dominant audience likes it or not. I have never had a meal like it, and that is what separating yourself is all about.