On my journey to find the national dish of Australia, I headed off to Sydney and ended up having dinner at ESTER. At his very new and very hot Chippendale diner, former Billy Kwong head chef Mat Lindsay has little more than a combi-oven, a Thermomix blender and a vacuum sealer by way of high-tech tools. The beating heart of Ester is a massive wood-fired oven. They have recently been awarded Two Hats and were named Best New Restaurant in Sydney.
Dining with friends Rob and Vicky, Mike and Sue, Howard and Shelley, this is what we were indulged with…
Raw Kingfish, Mandarin and Nori – simply sublime
Lobster Sausage Sanga (an Australian Slang word for sandwich!)
Octopus, Nduja, Ink. Nduja is typically made with parts of the pig such as the shoulder, belly and jowl, as well as tripe, roasted peppers and a mixture of spices
Prawns, Brown Butter and Capers – unbelievable combination and have already tried it at Londolozi!
Greens, Fermented Chili and Garlic. Whole Fennel, Leeks and Spring Onions with Pak Choy – all done in the wood fired oven.
Whole Yellow Eye Mullet
Whole Cauliflower, Almond and Mint – this was incredible!
Contributed by Anna Ridgewell
Details:
ESTER Restaurant
46-52 Meagher Street
Chippendale NSW 2008, Australia
Rich Laburn is filmmaker, photographer and writer who is based at Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Spending his time capturing scenes of the wild and communicating the beauty of the African bushveld, he runs the Londolozi Blog as a way to entertain and engage people wishing to visit these wild lands.
