I confess I don’t often visit the Dark Side – i.e. south of the Yarra. My visit to Attica came about as a result of a visit from Foodie Little Sis, who despite living in Hobart manages to stay right up with the Melbourne food scene, and is determined to work her way through the entire Age Good Food Guide.
So we took two trains to get to Ripponlea station, where the only two things open on Glen Eira Rd are an Indian restaurant, and the Age Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year ’09. Attica has a warm and understated appearance both inside and out; it’s chic but doesn’t want to intimidate anyone. We were greeted warmly at the door and shown immediately to our table.
I wanted to start with a glass of bubbles (as you do), and the manager Camm Whiteoak was visibly pleased to announce that he could offer me a glass of 2000 Jacquesson Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs for the same price as their usual by-the-glass Jacquesson NV – apparently the NV had been recalled and the 2000 Blanc de Blancs offered as a same-price replacement. I thought it was really good that Attica was passing on the good price, and the champagne was absolutely divine.
We decided to go for the 8-course tasting menu, which commenced with warmed Dench bread and a morsel of caramelised chicken as an appetiser:
The chicken did seem like a slightly odd starter – given that lighter dishes were to follow – but it was damn tasty.
Shortly afterwards, a few more nibbles arrived to go with the bread: a selection of olives, homemade relish, and local almonds. (Not long after this I had to physically restrain my hand from continuing to put bread and relish in my mouth. I would say to myself, “no more bread, there are 8 courses”, and yet there was my left hand picking up the bread. Mmmmmm… Dench.)
Not long after begging the waitress to remove the bread from my reach, the proper first course arrived – the snow crab:
I really loved the way the horseradish “snow” added some heat to the dish without overpowering the delicate flavours of the crab. This was one of the best dishes of the night I think.
Next was the Age Good Food Guide Dish of the Year ’09: fresh trout with smoked trout broth, pork crackling and basil seeds, delivered theatrically under a glass of fresh hickory smoke:
I’m pretty sure the reason this dish won the award is the pairing of pork crackling with fish. It sounds really weird but it does work. When they pour the broth over the top, the pork makes a lovely popping noise like Rice Bubbles, and then goes all squidgy and somehow blends in with the trout. The basil seeds look like frogspawn; I don’t think I could taste them but they did look neat.
And next, “a simple dish of potato cooked in the earth it was grown” – which was offered with shavings of truffle for an extra $15:
I know – to look at the pics, you’ll think “uh… it’s a potato with truffles on it”. And yes, technically it is, but I really love potatoes. I know they’re not exotic, but when they’re good, they are sooooo good. The scent of this dish was just amazing – earthy and rich and warm but also clean and wholesome. We had the recommended “beverage” match with this dish, which was not wine but a pear cider – Eric Bordelet Poiré Granit Cider from Normandy (France). Perfect.
Dish number four was kingfish with chorizo, almond and squid:
I did not love this dish; it was a little too fishy for my tastes. I do usually love kingfish but I think that with the squid as well, it was just a bit too much for me.
We then got into the meat dishes, which I thought were still very light. First up there was a triangle of wagyu teamed with onion and peanut puree:
Much more delicate and light than wagyu usually is. In a good way.
Next, pork loin with a deliciously evil black sphere of morcilla, with apple cider gel (which they make in a nifty distiller contraption that we could see in the dessert station through the glass windows), fennel seeds and pollen.
Then, my favourite dish of the night: “terroir”, part sweet and part savoury.
The textures in this dish were amazing. There was a zingy lemony fromage frais sorbet at its heart, covered by a “soil” of beetroot and berries made into crumbs. It was a complex dish so forgive me if I get some of the ingredients wrong or leave anything out – I remember there was kiwifruit, and avocado oil jelly, and a sorrel granita. Each mouthful was an explosion of flavour and I adored it. (Although apparently not everybody likes it, according to our waitress when she collected the plates. Philistines, obviously.)
And finally, the Violet Crumble: a scoop of violet icecream and violet and chocolate powder on a bed of oozy caramel, covered with crunchy crumbled honeycomb.
Delicious – and again, so light and delicate! Camm insisted that we needed to try it with the wine match, 2007 La Spinetta Moscato d’Asti, and gave us each a complimentary tasting glass – very kind. The light and bubbly moscato was gorgeous with the honeycomb.
The wine list at Attica seemed to me to be on the brief side – only 7 pages, including beer and cocktails. (Thi
s does seem particularly short after the 84-page monster at Royal Mail, where the style of dining is not dissimilar.) That said, it’s reasonably priced, and there’s certainly enough good stuff to satisfy most wine snobs. It’s heavy on the white side, and after tasting the menu I understand why; however I do prefer red in cold weather. After we’d finished the bubbles, I enquired about the 2006 Craggy Range Te Muna pinot noir; Camm however steered us in the direction of an Austrian pinot noir (2006 Pittnauer ‘Fuchsenfeld’ from Burgenland) which he assured us would be better with the food. It was a lighter style pinot, but not without flavour; we really enjoyed it.
Service was top notch. All the staff were very knowledgeable, efficient, friendly and down-to-earth – no “attitude” or snobbery whatsoever.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got the bill – a little over $500 for 3 people including wine… and then we realised they’d left the champagne off. Even so, when that was added on it was still under $200 a head, which for this kind of dining I think is very reasonable.
I’ll be keen to revisit Attica in spring or summer when they bring in a new menu. We had a great night and I’d thoroughly recommend it.
www.attica.com.au
KATE