Little Bourke Street

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Osteria Ilaria – Melbourne, City – Thursday 10 August 2017 – Lunch

Pistachio semifreddo

Have you ever been reluctant to try the sister of one of your favourite restaurants? It can potentially tarnish the feelings you have of the original when you meet the family. Will the new be the focus to the detriment of the old?

The first thing to do is make sure the two are located close to each other. The second is to not copy the original but keep enough similarity that the two can be seen as complementing each other; that they have a reason to exist side by side. I believe the crew behind Tipo 00 have done this to the letter when it comes to Osteria Ilaria.

Spaghettini with clams and squid

Located right next door, the new kid on the block to the gastrotemple that is Tipo, does not look to provide more space just for the same menu. It takes some of the building blocks, in a much larger setting, and adds some modern pizzazz. If you consider Tipo the modern tick to great Italian classics, Osteria goes that one step further, appealing to an even more diverse audience.

Today is a stealth mission, with limited time to dine, and no booking, we have no idea what to expect. Gladly we get a place on the bar and we are ready to eat. What we didn’t realise is that we would not just try a main, but indulge in dessert too.

After we order our main we have some time to look around. There is a lot of bar space, and many areas for sitting comfortably in groups through the large rectangular space. The waitstaff have that authenticity you see at Tipo, but they are a bit busier with all the diners.

Goat with fregola

My spaghettini, a special on today’s menu, arrives beautifully presented, with lashings of clams and squid. It is a clear demonstration that the quality of the chefs here is the equal of next door, and I do believe they work between the kitchens. An instruction on rusticity, the goat and fregola is also one of the specials today. The slow cooked goat is delicious, and the fregola is the perfect carb, capturing the sauce and providing some texture. Unbelievably I have a little bit of menu envy for Catherine’s choice in a bit of a role reversal for the two of us.

For dessert we were back in our usual position. Me ordering the chocolate, and Catherine ordering something a little less rich. The olive oil chocolate mousse reminded me a touch of our favourite Tipomisu from next door in presentation, but it was a dessert all of its own. The biscuit was crisp, offering texture and restraint to the deep chocolate richness of the mousse, crumb, and sauce. By the end it was a bit too much, so maybe one for sharing. The pistachio semifreddo on the other hand could be finished off in a matter of a couple minutes. Distinct pistachio creaminess was elevated with the use of a generous scattering of chopped pistachios, the whole dish another winner.

Olive oil chocolate mousse

By now our casual lunch had escalated quickly. It is difficult to think of how to split future visits to this patch of Little Bourke Street that has two sibling restaurants side by side, absolutely smashing it. My take is that sitting on the bar at Tipo 00 as a couple is still my perfect place for a classic Italian three course; Osteria Ilaria is still great on the bar, but seems to be suited to a small group too, with lots of dishes designed to share, in a much larger (and perhaps more comfortable) setting. Either way I’m impressed by this restaurant on its own merits.

Osteria Ilaria
367 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
https://www.osteriailaria.com/

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Higher Ground – Melbourne, City – Saturday 9 July 2016 – Breakfast

Lamb sausage roll, cucumber pickle, garlic, anchovy

Lamb sausage roll, cucumber pickle, garlic, anchovy

It is difficult to do justice to this venue in words. It may be the epitome of what a next generation cafe looks like. This is without doubt, one of the most beautiful converted and renovated buildings I’ve ever seen.

To have a place like Higher Ground in our incredible city is a testament to the rise, and rise, of Melbourne as a dining destination. Indeed this would be a difficult undertaking, even in the world’s busiest cities. To go ahead with a project such as this, you need the funds, but much more importantly, the overt confidence, to know you can execute in gusto.

The owners and connections of Higher Ground have built up the funds and confidence for this ultimate of dining projects over a long period of time. High ceilings, several open mezzanine levels, arch windows, sleek lounges, and modern furnishings, show extreme attention to detail. Even after the hour long wait, and the time spent perusing the menu while sipping my first coffee, I couldn’t get over the architecture which needs to be seen to be believed.

The Square One coffee being used is roasted only a couple of streets away from where I live, and it is excellent, with two single origins from Kenya being offered today. I try them both, but the decision on what to eat is not as straightforward. We came for breakfast but it is well and truly lunchtime, and we have been up and about shopping for a couple of hours, building up an appetite in the process.

Slow cooked beans, green sauce of rocket, spinach and cress, poached eggs, feta, fried croutons, pine nut crumb

Slow cooked beans, green sauce of rocket, spinach and cress, poached eggs, feta, fried croutons, pine nut crumb

Catherine narrowed her choice down to either the mushroom and polenta dish, or the slow cooked beans. Unfortunately she chose the latter which needs some work. Under a generous serve of perfectly poached eggs sits too few beans, dominated by the green sauce which lacks seasoning. The main question mark is what the slow cooked beans have been cooked in, because on their own they lack flavour too. Neither of the star ingredients have impact.

My dish on the other hand is up to the standards of sister cafe, Top Paddock. While I’ll definitely be back for the wagyu short rib roll which looks fantastic, I went out on a limb to try the lamb sausage roll. For $20 you expect something out of the box, and this one delivers flavour in spades. The lamb mince is rich, the pastry is delightful, and the anchovy and garlic sauce adds the usual softness. This is a well thought out dish, with the pickled cucumber working beautifully, adding acidity to cut through some of the richness, whether in the same bite, or separately.

On the whole I thought service was reasonable, considering this was the first Saturday the cafe had been open, but I expect some natural improvement. One thing I did notice is the staff knowing a customer on our communal table and that seemed to translate to their order coming far quicker than anyone else. It’s fine to have a network, but I suggest offering special people their own table so our thirty minute wait (after happily waiting in line for an hour) isn’t even harder watching the newcomers get served first having ordered long after us!

You can tell that as Higher Ground settles into its groove that this will become a flagship cafe, with a must-go reputation for locals and tourists. Perhaps it will be mentioned in the same breath as Cookie Rooftop, Supper Club, or Chin Chin one day? There is reason to be incredibly excited. Places that set the scene like Higher Ground are why I live here.

Higher Ground
650 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
https://highergroundmelbourne.com.au/
info@highergroundmelbourne.com.au