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7 Alfred Place, Melbourne, 9525 5555
My score: 4/5
When St Kilda’s Stokehouse burnt down in January 2014, Melbourne lost a favourite venue. Tears spilled, teeth gnashed. Six months later, owner Frank Van Haandel elbowed another of his restaurants, Comme, out of the grand Mietta’s building and installed a version of Stokehouse in its place, as though Melbourne should never be without its Stokey. Stokehouse City was meant to draw regulars but it hasn’t turned out like that. Apparently St Kilda folk don’t much come to the city and CBD lunchers tend to keep meals short and wine consumption tight. Rolling out of lunch at sunset, ties akimbo and shirts untucked, doesn’t really play when the office is a tram stop away.
So what is Stokehouse City? There’s bar and casual dining downstairs and a more formal restaurant above. Proportions are grand, tables are well-spaced. Light spools. The feeling is crisp and contemporary. Service is on point. I lunched upstairs, where chef Ollie Gould’s food is thoughtful and skilful. You can eat it just because you’re hungry; you can also appreciate it as cuisine. The sirloin is impeccable, served with silky potato puree and mushroom butter. A pumpkin dish is more technical, with four preparations of pumpkin (salt-baked, roasted, pureed and curried, shards of blackened skin), compressed pear, citrus-braised witlof and grains. Sounds tricky, eats easy. The bombe dessert (meringue, strawberry sorbet, white chocolate parfait) is a Stokehouse classic but is now more petite. Don’t blame dainty CBD appetites – the resize is because the old bombe moulds melted in the fire.
Some changes are forced upon us; the measure is how we manage. It’s a credit to the Stokehouse team that they’re keeping the flame alive (bad metaphor, sorry) and simultaneously creating a compelling new restaurant. A rebuilt St Kilda Stokehouse is to open next year; Stokehouse City will be retained.
See their website.
More business lunch spots:
Bistro Guillaume, Crown Promenade, Southbank, 9292 4751
Service is excellent and the food is reliably tasty at this classic promenade bistro. Daily specials keep things interesting: book in an autumn Wednesday for cassoulet.
Flower Drum, 17 Market Lane, Melbourne, 9662 3655
Absolute discretion, seamless service and impeccable food is the promise, always delivered, at Melbourne’s most famous Cantonese restaurant. Favourites include duck wontons and sautéed pearl meat.
Hare and Grace, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne, 9629 6755
At the base of the Rialto tower, Raymond Capaldi’s ‘eatery and minibar’ always has innovative and creative food but it’s just as easy to keep it simple with charcoal-grilled steaks. There’s a $40 set lunch menu too.
First published in The Age, March 29, 2015.
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