Cool, not cold: New Collingwood bar boasts style and substance
THIS year does seem to be the Year of the Pig. Deliciously gelatinous pork is turning up at the coolest joints in town — including a fetchingly handsome new wine bar in Collingwood, writes Dan Stock.
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“PIG HEADS, pig heads, roly-poly pig heads. Pig heads, pig heads, eat them up, yum”.
If there were ever a time for Barnes & Barnes to update Fish Heads, their unlikely and annoyingly infectious early 80s hit and bring it back for one last spin, this could be their chance.
For 2018 seems to be the Year of the Pig (head), where it’s turning up at the coolest joints in town, including Congress, a fetchingly handsome new wine bar in Collingwood.
Here it’s served in sanga form ($7 each). Between two slices of fluffy soft white bread, a fat perma-tanned puck is literally filled to bursting with rich meaty goodness, as all that deliciously gelatinous pork is set with a chicken jus jelly that liquefies and bursts upon first bite, like a soup dumpling.
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Along with a squirt of vibrant green mustard leaf mayo and some baby capers to cut through, it’s a hot dripping mess of yes. I mean really, don’t wear white and what’s not to like?
But that’s equally true of the whole package, one of the best-looking and sympathetically built-under-an-apartment-block restaurants you’ll likely see.
Congress is a partnership between Katie McCormack and twin brother Michael, who runs Milieu, the development company that built this space and the apartments above it. On paper it’s achingly, painfully, hip — the design, the overarching mission statements, the lo-fi wines, the soundtrack, even the Collingwood conversations you’d expect to be filling the room.
But it’s not. At all. It’s beautiful and considered and welcoming and comfortable and that has everything to do with Katie’s sheer class in working the room.
Though a qualified chef, Katie’s spiritual home is on the other side of the pass, where she’s been honing her brand of hospitality over time (Van Haandel Group, Richmond’s The Grand) into what she is today: the perfect host who’s knowledgeable, intuitive, softly friendly and patiently welcoming.
Add a great soundtrack of funk through afrobeat through jazzy house perfectly pitched for this early week early evening, a can of Moon Dog pale ale ($9) soon in front of me along with completely delicious pickled zucchini with waftingly smoked house-made curd (gratis) and the recipe for happy is well on its way.
Chef Jack Stuart’s menu — he’s picked up a thing or two from the kitchen at NSW’s much lauded Fleet, run by Katie’s sister Astrid McCormack (herself a gun operator) — smashes the drop-in for a bite or stay for the whole shebang with style.
Either way, don’t miss the kangaroo pastrami. Slivers of deep ruby yet surprisingly subtle meat with unmissable pastrami tang come served on a sharp cultured cream and under a blanket of crunchy-fried shallots. It’s a winner ($13), as is the malt butter served with a thick slice of rye sourdough that’s well worth paying the $2 per person for.
That pig’s head sanga is somewhat of an outlier, for the vegetable dishes here are equally strong. While Matt Stone out at Oakridge served up last year’s best brussels sprouts (thanks to his excellent XO sauce) the version here is now a clear contender for the title. Roasted soft and crisp in varying degrees, they come on a swipe of deeply creamy tahini with a scattering sunflower seeds atop. Just wow ($8).
A plate of bitter cima di rape spiked with fresh chilli is also good, but would’ve been great if the chickpeas were fried crunchy rather than blanched soft ($9).
Bigger plates are easily appealing, a Hopkins River striploin ($39) and roasted Milawa cook ($29) are custom built for the solo diner/apartment dweller who can’t be bothered cooking but would rather some company and a glass of something equally appealing ($10-$13) from the list that while favouring the non-interventionist maker doesn’t grant a leave pass to the terrible.
A ‘pigagto’ vermintino from the Clare Valley is brilliantly crunchy, slightly saline and both interesting and incredibly drinkable ($13), while Nina Stocker’s In Dreams Yarra Valley chardonnay packs all sorts of creamy length into the glass ($10).
The only real miss of the night was a generously fat fillet of mackerel that, while served with good ideas — charred fennel, juicy pink grapefruit and orange segments and a sticky miso glaze — was overcooked ($34), though the surprisingly light molasses spice cake, served with whipped custard, thin apple ribbons and pecans for crunch sent me smiling into the night ($13).
It’s excellent, keenly priced food and delicious wine in cool not cold surrounds that will happily serve the ever-growing audience of apartment dwellers but is well worth a visit from further afield.
While we increasingly see style over substance it’s refreshing to see an offering that’s smart on every level. Style and substance. Now you’re talking and that’s exactly what Congress delivers.
Rating: 14.5/20
Congress
Cnr Peel & Wellington Sts, Collingwood
Open: Mon-Thurs from 4pm; Fri-Sat from 11.30am
Go-to dish: Kangaroo pastrami
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