Merivale opens Bert’s at northern beaches pub, The Newport
Merivale’s elegant new restaurant, Bert’s, emulates the style of a bygone era at an iconic northern beaches pub.
Manly
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FOODIES will be heading up to Newport in their droves. Why? One word, Bert’s. Merivale’s latest fancy-schmancy restaurant has finally opened on the northern beaches.
Forget thongs and beach attire, Bert’s surroundings emulates the style of yesteryear. The official line is that it reflects the elegance of those grand European dining rooms and American country clubs.
This grand opening has been a long time in coming. It’s been nearly two years since the first big reveal of Justin Hemmes’ first northern beaches pub showed its credentials.
After snapping up the iconic pub, Hemmes chose to work from the outdoors in, opening a selection of casual food shacks, bars and a pizzeria in the landscaped gardens before gutting the upstairs restaurant, The Terrace on Pittwater.
Only that view remains untouched. Bert’s oozes gorgeous chintzy-style with its soft furnishings, rattan, glass, brass and marble in its two-tier dining room, open kitchen, cocktail bar and wine room.
There are 750 wines chosen by Merivale’s Master Sommeliers Franck Moreau and Adrian Filiuta, a cocktail list with signature Euro-style drinkies like the MarTeeny and executive chef Jordan Toft’s take on coastal European food.
It’s simply elegant and elegantly simple in that Merivale way. Toft’s menu showcases quality seasonal Australian produce. His mantra, executed by head chef Sam Kane and the new team, is to keep it simple and let the on-trend food do the talking without any tizzied-up fine-dining.
But at a price. A quick flick through the menu over a glass of $13 Tyrrell’s HVD semillon shows that there’s shared menu of sorts collated under Larder Table, as well as an abundance of seafood and shellfish and mains pushing the $40-plus mark.
Whole fish are part of that decor too, displayed over ice in the marble trough.
The kitchen’s beating heart is the grill and oven fired by Australian charcoal, ironbark and fruit woods, cooking man-sized steaks and fish, as well roasting vegetables for an interesting selection of sides.
Our midweek budget doesn’t quite stretch to the hand-picked mud crab served in a shell with lemon and mayo ($125), so we start with three fingers of super-soft house brioche topped with cured salmon and fennel pollen and grass-fed beef carpaccio and pickled chilli, a dish recommended by the wait staff.
They’re followed by two mains, house made parpadelle with a seriously rich vinegar-braised duck ragout and hapuka fillet.
This firm white fish fillet is fanned by three crispy vine leaves and salted lemon, nothing else. Vegetables and salads are extra, only the pasta ($31) is a stand-alone dish.
Bert’s five desserts, or cheese as an alternative, continue that simple approach to dining. Pavlova, always a favourite and our shared choice, comes with mango and toasted coconut and finger lime syrup. These little bursts of the native ingredient cut through the sweetness.
Bert’s is not a cheap night out. Reality sets in when the bill arrives. Can it really be that much? It is. Bert’s is special occasion dining, just like a holiday in one of those Grand European hotels.
ESSENTIAL DETAILS
The verdit: 3.5/5
The price: $180 for two
Details: 2 Kalinya St, Newport. 9114 7350. Open noon-3pm, daily; dinner 6pm, Mon-Thurs; from 5.30pm, Fri, Sat, Sun
merivale.com
