Igni

For the ultimate antidote to any stuffy five-star dining experience, all roads lead to Geelong.

Buttermilk custard, kiwi, red cabbage. Picture: Rebecca Michael

Ryan Pl, Geelong

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restaurantigni.com

For the ultimate antidote to any stuffy five-star dining experience, all roads lead to Geelong.

For almost four years, on an unassuming backstreet laneway, Aaron Turner has been serving multi-course feasts of fire and ferments to a soundtrack of Stevie Wonder, alongside a fridge filled with always interesting small producers stomping to the beat of their own grapes.

Moodily lit spacious tables are the canvas upon which an onslaught of terrific snacks begins every meal.

This will include the signature roasted chicken skin with whipped roe, but newer bites, such as zucchini flowers filled with duck rillettes, are equal instant classics.

Igni, Ryan Place. Picture: Rebecca Michael

A DIY ethos of making, preserving, milling and baking is pervasive across the eight-course menu that looks increasingly to the divisive, sharp flavours of fermentation rather than the smoke and flames of the kitchen’s hearth.

Pine mushrooms tossed through lacto-fermented wattleseed, koji-cured chicken and a pungent garum-style sauce served with grass whiting are just some of the boundary-pushing combinations, while a tendency to underseason across others – including an old-school gravy served with Sunday roast lamb – makes for a more uneven experience than in times past.

Service remains an on-point pleasure: knowledgeable and passionate and proud, while one of the best forward-looking selections of wine in the state undergoes alchemical transformation when matched with dishes that elevate both.

Must eat dish: All the snacks

Cuisine: Contemporary

Chef: Aaron Turner

Price: $$$$

Bookings: Yes

BYO: No

Open: Lunch Sat-Sun; dinner Thurs-Sat

Instagram: @restaurantigni