Bone Marrow

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Cherrywood by Residence – Parkville – Saturday 26 July 2025 – Dinner

Control freaks don’t love surprises. Tonight I asked for one, and I’ve been excited for weeks in anticipation. Catherine has not let me down. We are somewhere both familiar and unfamiliar.

The Potter Museum of Art has never been “graced” with our presence. Even back in my days as a tourist to Melbourne it may have barely earned a passing glance as the tram went down Swanston Street taking us towards the corner of Elgin and Lygon Streets in Carlton. Apple Maps is quite unclear where the Museum is actually located, and parking nearby is a little difficult. (Google is far more accurate.)

All of this makes our drive to Cherrywood by Residence a bit of an adventure, as we listen to the Triple J Hottest 100 of Australian songs near its finale. The soundtrack to our journey is epic, and eventually we are led past the open kitchen bar to our cute table on the banquette that allows us both to face into the intimate restaurant with well spaced tables. Looking out I’m struck by the simple but beautiful lighting of the white double-hung sash windows, and the simple elegance of the whole renovated Victorian era space.

Catherine’s surprise is a beauty. I had no idea even as we drove to the restaurant where we were going. The hard working floorstaff, professional but with a relaxed nature, explain that the concept at Residence is to have a new head chef every twelve months that brings their own experience and perspective to the menu. In this current phase, called “Cherrywood”, Robbie Noble utilises his over ten years of experience as a chef to create a menu that is limited by Museum influences.

Those museum influences have nothing to do with art. I’d never thought about it, but you cannot cook with an open flame (ie gas) in a museum or art gallery. There is simply too much risk. What makes me curious is whether the name of the restaurant (a nod to wood often used in flame grilling and smoking) is a bit of tongue in cheek. The natural question to ask now is what is the food like?

The food offered is seasonal, diverse, reflects the influences of the chef, and has a depth of flavour that balances even the richest of ingredients. Catherine and I worked through the highlights together, and a day later I’m not sure which of several dishes I’ll most crave in coming weeks, which is obviously a big compliment. One piece of advice is do not hesitate a moment in starting with Mum’s roast chicken tea.

As if an entire roasted chicken is pressed and liquified, then poured into a small ceramic tea cup, over black garlic and tarragon, you are left in complete comfort, yearning for a little more, but knowing that what you’ve enjoyed is enough. Next is a softly cooked scallop covered by an utterly delectable almond and saffron sabayon, with burnt butter. Scallops in a half shell in fine dining restaurants are abundant, and this is the best one we’ve eaten this year.

Through this first phase of the meal we’ve started with a seasonal negroni, and the peartini, both of which are beautifully made, the quince used as part of the negroni adding another dimension without taking away from the classic combination. We are now onto a white, Catherine with the Macedon Chardonnay by Garden of Earthly Delights, which is the wife’s side of a team with her husband making wines under the banner Syrahmi. This team of Pip and Adam Foster have their wines featured by Residence, and the Grenache by Syrahmi I try later is excellent with the lamb. As I’m inclined to do when there is a wine offered from the Savoie region of France, I try it (and another glass); the Dupraz Rousette de Savoie Altesse is austere, balanced, and absolutely delightful.

Robbie is from Bradford, England, and no doubt there is some of Fergus Henderson and accomplices in the bone marrow topped with oxtail marmalade and horseradish, with a bread crumb, and parsley salad to break through the richness. The combination works, and it is good to share, as a few tastes is satisfying, but a few more might be too much.

We stage mains, with the first a blue eye fillet sitting atop a stunning haricot blanc (white bean) cassoulet, that also features smoked squid that has real impact through the dish. The blue eye is perfectly cooked, and the white fleshy fish is a match made in heaven with the cassoulet. Yet another highlight.

For our final savoury dish we select the lamb rump. The primary reason I was swung away from the hanger of beef with ox tongue (a favourite protein) was the Jerusalem artichoke, which I rate as my favourite vegetable. Throw in some red cabbage, a delicious sauce for the lamb, and a side of heirloom beetroot, and we are in business. The lamb, like the blue eye, is perfect. The artichokes are just the same, and unlike some other big meals, Catherine and I finish every last ingredient on our plates.

Dessert is the lesser light, but in no way diminishes the meal. Great in concept, my honey tartelette showed off the prime ingredient, but ultimately less (honey) would have been more, and more cream would have added better balance. Catherine’s rhubarb and custard, had the textural element with the brandy snap, but the rhubarb was a little tart for her taste, and knocked off the balance too.

From the adventure to get to Residence, to the adventure through the menu, we were very impressed in our evening out in Parkville / Carlton. Robbie Noble’s stint here is reason to follow his next move too, and thanks to his Mum for the roast chicken tea, which is worth writing home about.

Cherrywood by Residence
https://potter-museum.unimelb.edu.au/visit/residence-at-the-potter
https://www.residenceatthepotter.com.au
Potter Museum of Art – University of Melbourne
Corner Swanston Street and Masson Road, Parkville
Lunch Monday to Saturday; Dinner Wednesday to Saturday
hello@residenceatthepotter.com.au
PH: 0422 082 330

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Dessous – Melbourne, City – Friday 3 June 2022 – Dinner

There are times where you remember how difficult the restaurant game is, and how much genius and luck is involved when it all comes together perfectly. The important elements can be dissected into incredibly granular detail, most of which are standing side by side like dominos. This doesn’t indicate how Dessous, French for “underneath”, is going during its infancy.

It struck me recently how many restaurants are now around $200 a head for an indulgent meal, where you order whatever you feel like, and drink particularly well. This is even for smaller appetites like ours, and particularly in Catherine’s case, not more than a few glasses of wine. Divergent from other great cities to dine out is the fact that lunch costs the same as dinner in most cases too, so there’s no respite.

How do these separate ideas come together? Dessous was relatively expensive (though not up to the $200 a head mark) but sits where, back only a few years ago, upper-end of the middle-tier (UEMT) restaurants would aim. I’ve completely made this up, but UEMT in my mind is those places with nice fitouts, fine food (as opposed to full fine dining), and relatively attentive (but not perfect) service, that is going to set you back about $100 a head. In this respect I think the goal posts have moved, and are starting to impact how I dine.

In this famous area of Flinders Lane you can find Hazel upstairs, Supernormal almost next door, Kisume and Nomad across the road, and Gimlet up on the corner. You need to be on your game and providing a point of difference to attract a substantial clientele and have a consistently full restaurant. Tonight, Dessous is full, and from my booking experience, it appears to be consistently popular.

As we are seated, besides the charm of the basement level restaurant, and high revelry, there is a darkness that creates an atmosphere of indulgence. I wonder what it is like when you can see? As Angus holds his phone’s torch to the menu, we peruse the menu and sip on our drinks from a nicely balanced list.

The menu is designed to share, and as a result, is split between snacks, smaller, and larger dishes. I cannot recommend enough a focus on the snacks. One taste of the crab doughnut has me penciling Dessous for future bar excursions. Unlike the lobster roll at Supernormal, where I’ve had several, I can only judge on two bites, but this is a destination snack. Directly prior I had my three bites of a scallop sando that was not far off. As I sip my Adelaide Hills Fiano by Oxbow, this is a tremendous start.

The pork hock croquette, pickled Spring Bay mussels, and the red curry corn fritters were great, but they need to step aside for the doughnut and the sando. Expectation levels are growing as we order glasses of the Spider Bill Chardonnay, also from Adelaide Hills. Our smaller share dishes are the double baked gruyere cream soufflé, roasted bone marrow with sticky rice (which I insist upon), and char-grilled albacore (long fin) tuna in chilli sauce with pippies.

The latter of the three is the winner. The tuna is perfectly cooked, with a spice that creeps up on you, making perhaps a more aromatic wine a better match. Sticky rice is uncomfortably sticky with the bone marrow; and it’s hard to top the classic toast and parsley of St John fame, but it is still a dish I would prefer to have tried than not. Lastly the soufflé is disappointing, lacking the full flavour and perhaps seasoning, that is necessary to lift the gruyere cream.

Prawns and pork belly with baked vermicelli is the first of our two larger dishes, and the better of them. While there could always be more prawn meat, there is a good dose of favour in the sauce, and the vermicelli work in well. Wagyu rump cap with XO spinach, and Cipollini onions closes our savoury courses, along with a side of buttered cabbage. I’m not sure if it is luck, but I’ve now had several beef dishes at a series of well regarded restaurants that are just not hitting the mark. It appears that in this case it is the beef, rather than the way it has been cooked, which seems soundly executed by the chefs.

Almost making up for the low point of the beef, is a delicious Sangiovese from Umbria by Cantina Margo. On reflection it seems the general trend of the meal was downhill, but it was not a steep slope, and not without some nice inclines. We were comfortable with the amount of food, and decided to just try one dessert in the form of the jasmine rice pannacotta with citrus syrup. I liked the dish; both refreshing with evident citrus, and comforting with sweet pannacotta. A dish reflecting the cultural influences of the broader menu, and a level of creativity that could elevate the menu over time.

If you accept where Dessous now sits in terms of expense, it is a nice proposition. The concern I have in this day and age, where there are other pressures on disposable income, is whether inflation is going to reverse the dramatic and welcomed swathe of restaurants hitting Melbourne. In any scenario, continuous improvement and growing attention to every detail, could see Dessous part of our dining scene for many years to come.

Dessous – https://www.dessous.com.au/
164 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Tuesday to Saturday from 5pm
+613 9070 4939
info@dessous.com.au