Small portions on display at new art gallery restaurant

The dishes look beautiful - fitting for the art gallery location, but the portions at this new high-end eatery don’t exactly match the rather hefty price tags.

It seems an art gallery is not complete these days without a signature restaurant.

Brisbane’s GOMA has its eponymous dining room presenting fare as modern as its exhibitions, while the avant-garde Mona in Tasmania boasts an impressive five venues to eat and drink, ranging from a casual burger bar to the ultimate culinary salute to the Apple Isle in The Source.

When the Home of the Arts (HOTA) gallery opened in May at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast it too needed a trademark restaurant and so came Palette.

On the ground floor of the gallery, a brushstroke from the gift shop, lies the contemporary and relaxed version of a
fine diner.

The decor is influenced by Brisbane artist William Robinson’s painting The Rainforest, with polished wooden floors mirrored by intricate timber detailing across the high ceilings, banquettes and stone table tops in shades of green and a scattering of potted plants to reinforce the inspiration. It’s a beautiful and calming space kept that way thanks to some seriously well-drilled staff, who know the menu inside out and the finer points of hospitality, delivering service that is professional without being stuffy.

Chef Dayan Hartill-Law (ex-Palazzo Versace and The Star, Gold Coast) is in the kitchen on a mission to showcase the best produce from across the Gold Coast and just beyond, including a heavy focus on native ingredients.

He takes the latter to the extreme in a three-bite entree of Fraser Island spanner crab ($28), throwing blue quandong, pandanus and lemon myrtle at the delicate seafood, making a dish that scores highly for creativity and aesthetics, but possibly at the cost of sheer deliciousness.

The Fraser Island spanner crab with watermelon radish, blue quandong, pandanus and lemon myrtle at Palette restaurant at HOTA, Gold Coast.

Almost just as petitely portioned is the Brisbane Valley quail entree ($32) with the tiny bird served two ways – its tender leg meat filling a single tortellino, while the breast sits blushing pink in a shimmering Spanish sherry jus, its richness pleasantly balanced by squirts of slightly foamed natural yoghurt. But the star from the compact lunch menu of just three entrees and three mains is the vegetarian-friendly Jerusalem artichoke ($28).

The knobbly vegetable is showcased through all manner of cooking techniques: roasted, pureed, turned into chips, alongside beautifully creamy stracciatella from Byron Bay, plump native mulberries and a sticky rosella jam, delivering a plate of textures, lightness and shade.

Insubstantial serving sizes (with rather hefty price tags) mean there’s plenty of room for dessert, with another trio of options. Our enthusiastic waitress suggests the Davidson plum sorbet with pepperberry meringue and grilled cucumber and lime granita ($18), but we keep it classic opting for the apple tart ($18).

Ditching traditional pastry for a French butter cookie sable breton base, the apple component arrives in the form of a tower of slices layered over a dark apple stew, with a ball of ice cream infused with the sweet, Japanese fermented rice drink amazake on the side. It’s simple and pleasant enough, but perhaps we should have heeded the waitress’s advice.

Just like the food salutes local ingredients, so does the drinks list with a special “local” page dedicated to regional wines from the likes of the Granite Belt and Tamborine Mountain, alongside Queensland and Northern New South Wales-produced spirits. There are, of course, options from further afield with the wine list a global affair of mostly popular French styles; while there are pages and pages of spirits and other alcoholic options.

Palette is still only new but hopefully, with time and progression, it can blossom into a destination just as popular as the artworks themselves.

PALETTE

HOTA Gallery, 135 Bundall Rd, Surfers Paradise

5588 7000

hota.com.au

Open Wed, Thu and Sun 11.30am-2.30pm and 5pm-9pm, Fri-Sat 11.30am-2.30pm and 5pm-10pm

VERDICT – Scores out of 5

Food 3.5

Ambience 4

Service 4

Value 3

Overall 3.5

Must try dish

Jerusalem artichoke