There are not too many people who would rather style over substance when it comes to food. Sure, there is a place for the fancy, but genuine flavour is prime. While some of my favourite dishes I’ve had are beautiful to look at, the reason I remember them is the taste, which is the sense that dominates when it comes to dining, even though visuals are also important.

Here, at Hazel, the style is strong, but the substance is palpable. Is it crazy to say my favourite dish was the barbecued potatoes with shoyu (Japanese style soy) and saltbush. To say these potatoes are cooked perfectly is a tremendous understatement. Like most of us, having had potatoes in the many forms, many times, this one had me thinking of the perfect consistency of Attica’s “potato cooked in the earth it was grown”. It was that good that to call it a side is offensive. I could happily have these on the bar on their own prior to my other favourite dish of the evening.

Before I get to my dessert, with the potatoes, Catherine and I also tried the chopped salad, and scotch fillet with mushroom butter. The chopped salad, you may find humorous, was epic. It is hard to describe why, and how, it was so great, and I’ve tried a few times to blank looks. In summary it is a combination of the most gorgeous fresh vegetables chopped in a small and rustic fashion. If I could get this in my repertoire I could win friends with salad.

The scotch fillet was very nicely cooked, and the mushrooms really shone. Somehow the steak took a back seat to our “sides” but was still excellent. Earlier we had a pig’s head croquette each, which were rich and delicious, topped with some nettles that had seemingly been pounded in a mortar and pestle. The charred octopus could have been a little more charred for my taste, but the broad beans were superb, and featured in the chopped salad too.

Back to dessert. The honey tart is quite simply stunning. Paired with cultured (sour) cream to balance the sweetness of the honey, this is a meticulously created dessert, from a technical perspective primarily, but because of the perfect technique, the result is a dish that I want to eat again now.

This ode to farm-to-table dining in the city is not in a rustic space. The dining room is sleek and stylish, with pale tones, and a bar acting as the centrepiece of the main room, with other spaces upstairs and next to the main room. There is a minimalist feel, with artistic touches, such as the sketch on the menu, which captures your attention immediately on being seated. The location in Richard Allen & Sons on Flinders Lane near many polished restaurants such as Kisume and Supernormal, is a smart choice from management.

We recognised one of our waitstaff who worked at places such as Bistro Gitan, and had a great manner about her. Generally service was good, and there is no stuffiness, even though the whole venture is very professional. When we entered early after Melbourne Cup day at Flemington, there was one table with a little baby enjoying herself (but very well behaved), and when we left a couple of hours later the whole restaurant was full on a Tuesday.

Catherine had discovered Hazel because the head chef, Brianna Smith, worked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York. We haven’t been to that three Michelin star masterpiece, but we’ve been to the city sister restaurant in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and Hazel captures some of that vibe. Though in the end, the only vibe we needed is what was captured on our plates during a delicious meal, showcasing the best local producers and their seasonal produce. The low waste cooking, and sustainable sourcing, adds even more weight to the script.

Hazel
164 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
https://hazelrestaurant.com.au/
+61 3 9070 4938
info@hazelrestaurant.com.au