The Aylesbury: 103 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 9077 0451
My score: 4/5
Jesse and Vanessa Gerner, the young Iberian-influenced couple who opened Gertrude Street’s excellent Anada in 2008, have just opened another more ambitious restaurant and bar. The ground floor dining room has taken over the space where Barbagallo Trattoria used to be. It’s a handsome place with large windows onto a laneway, a long bar which prods towards the kitchen and tactile wooden tables, all of which gently suggest that you should sit down, eat and drink, then eat and drink some more.
Before you settle at sea level, take the lift to the fifth floor where the bar adds to Melbourne’s list of libational rooftops. Many snacks up here are from the roster of tapas classics: tortilla, chorizo, jamon. Fried padron peppers are a tasty form of Russian roulette: approximately 10 per cent of peppers pack a punch that propels people off perches. (Pardon.) The smoked eel croquettes are an upscale illustration of how a crisp shell and a gooey centre are a simple pathway to yum. There are also excellent examples of the mini-burgers that seem compulsory these days, one with prawn, one with chorizo. They’re fab.
Downstairs, the Spanish-ish tendencies are clear but the real inspiration is produce. Yeah, sure, everyone says that. But not everyone pulls leaves and flowers from their own garden to create a daily raw plate. The pretty assembly of dehydrated tomatoes, beetroot chips, carrot and carrot dust, nasturtium leaves and broad bean flowers is a signpost: the flavours are distinct and lingering, the philosophy is seasonal and heartfelt. When it comes to animals, the guiding principle is rare breed, and runs the carnivorous conservationist line, “Eat ’em to save ’em.†Hence the name: the Aylesbury is a slow-growing heritage duck, served here in delicious style with confit leg, sous vide breast and an earthy slurry of beetroot. Nose to tail is a snug ethical fit (check out the plate of various bits of pig’s head) and preserving slots in too so there’s lots of pickling, curing and smoking. Everything is served on gorgeous crockery.
The Aylesbury’s staff seem happy to be here and willing to engage – we got great food and wine advice sitting at the downstairs bar. Other kinks are still being ironed out but there’s such a clear vision for the place that I’m sure the Aylesbury will be a safe place to duck in for tasty times. Bookings are welcome.
See their website.
More Spanish:
Robert Burns Hotel, 376 Smith Street, Collingwood, 9417 2233
The swish reincarnation of the Spanish stand-by includes a beer garden that’s begging for summer sessions.
MoVida, 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne, 9663 3038
The oldest MoVida is still my favourite for top service and dishes such as the spiced chicken escabeche.
Simply Spanish, South Melbourne Market, Cecil Street, South Melbourne, 9682 6100
Sit streetside for tapas, paella and sangria in the sunshine, then tote your trolley around South Melbourne market for supplies.
First published in The Age, October 30, 2011
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