It’s been a long focus of Essentials to celebrate the many landmark icons of Melbourne, Australia – its sensational cafés, historic restaurants and art galleries; including its people:…
Modern Siberia has arrived, embracing culinary flourishes from as far afield as France. Essentials discovers one of a new breed in Siberia’s capital city, Novosibirsk. Pardon My French,…
Melbourne-based chef Alejandro Saravia says he was inspired by Frank Camorra’s approach of introducing authentic Spanish cuisine to Australia, and felt confident to introduce true Peruvian cuisine -…
Each month Hot Plates Australia – Coast-to-Coast takes a look at some of the most exciting dishes around the nation, created by some of our top chefs. Autumn…
We’re sitting in Provenance restaurant admiring the simplified new interior and listening to the playlist. Chef Michael Ryan puts as much effort into his music as he does…
It’s early evening and the warm glow of the bistro spills out from the broad verandah into the street. Inside, the Edison lamps bathe the beautifully simple dining…
Its no secret that the extensive 2017 redevelopment of Rutherglen Estates’ cellar door, featuring the newly established Aboriginal Exhibitions Gallery within the same historic 1880s Seppelts Cellars building,…
It is one of the best oysters I have had in a long time. Fat and flinty, it sits on the half shell brimming with salty brine. ‘I…
French-born Australian chef Philippe Leban knows a thing or two about the importance of premium food ingredients. While his personal style in cooking is centred around a keen…
What does consecutive years of work in Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant test kitchen do to a chef, and what kind of person must you be to stick it out?…
Harry’s Singapore Chilli Crab is a Sydney restaurant icon. Having opened in 1982, its fed half the city and almost all of its local celebrities at one time…
Va Tutto restaurant in Ivanhoe, a leafy North East suburb of Melbourne is an icon. Operated by husband and wife team, Paul and Myrto Recinella, Va Tutto is…
Chef Luke Mangan has transformed his Sydney restaurant headquarters, offering a unique inner-urban neighbourhood bistro that plates up spice-trade influences and modern Australian fare. Essentials’ Jamie Durrant spoke…
It is early autumn and the Ovens River slides quietly over the rocks below the gardens of Ginger Baker. It is one of the long warm days that…
It’s time to wine and dine on the Apple Isle Why eat in a bland room when you can dine in an orchard, on a tiny island or…
A truly excellent new Japanese restaurant in Melbourne’s CBD is quite literally a hidden gem. Melbourne’s newest and most exclusive Japanese restaurant is genuinely hard to find. It’s…
As tourism booms in Malta, international guests and their sophisticated palates have demanded finer dining. Drawing on the island’s rich past, Hammett’s Maċina Restaurant opened late in February…
The late afternoon sun floods Albury’s central park with golden light. Bounded by the city’s art musueum, court house, entertainment centre and the 19th-century St Matthew’s Church, the…
The Hyatt’s latest addition to the Australian hospitality landscape comes complete with a brilliant new destination restaurant. Since Mr McCracken opened at the base of Hyatt Place, Essendon…
A Tiny Place reminds me of a Lilliputian version of Stephanie’s, the eponymous Melbourne restaurant of Stephanie Alexander who championed local seasonal produce and French technique. A Tiny Place…
Rinaldo’s Casa Cucina new Wangaratta riverside location and gelato bar is the perfect group destination for summer. Chef Adam Pizzini is sitting pretty in the new Ovens River…
A collaboration of Tony Conigliaro of East London’s Drink Factory and Ashley Palmer-Watts, Chef Director of Dinner by Heston (Melbourne & London), has resulted in a cocktail list…
Pink neon, a layering of tropical plants and banquette seating covered in palm frond prints dress the set. Towards the rear a wall garden paints a Hawaiian garden…
Queensland restaurateur Danielle Gjestland is a standout dynamo. Her Wasabi Restaurant and Bar concept opened on Sunshine Beach almost 12 years ago. Since then it has grown into…
How a Scottish chef is creating a new cuisine using ancient ingredients. One of the Australia’s most influential restaurants is found at the end of a nondescript set…
Bethany Finn understands essence of fine dining hospitality like few others. Having crafted perhaps Australia’s finest classic British- and European-influenced dining menus for Adelaide’s 5-star Mayfair Hotel, she’s…
Satisfying Mediterranean-inspired bistro supports a worthy cause. Amid the hustle of inner-city Sydney, just south of Hyde Park, is a stylish, feel-good little haven. Song Kitchen, newly refurbed…
Chef Julian Hills looks out of the window of the dining room at Paringa Estate Winery. He shares the same view through the kitchen pass of the winery…
As Melbourne and Sydney’s upmarket eateries tweak their offerings, jostling to maintain market share, one Sydney restaurant strikes a clever balance without stooping to the lows of burgers…
What do the explorer and botanist Joseph Banks and vermouth have in common? They’re both celebrated at Banksii Vermouth Bar & Bistro, Sydney’s first vermouth restaurant. If you’ve…