O.My in Beaconsfield offers best farm-to-fork dining
This outer Melbourne superstar offers one of the best produce experiences around. And they’re so committed you’ll even know the name of the cow you’re eating.
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“And this is butter from Norman.”
One of the biggest – and most welcome – dining trends of the past few years is an increasing celebration of producers and every chef worth their salt knows they are nothing without the work of the farmers and focused artisans who create their raw materials.
But this is the first time I’ve had the cow itself namechecked. Norman isn’t the farmer who churned the milk, but the Hereford from the tiny Ruby Red farm in Drouin whose fat has been rendered and whipped into milk to form nostalgically creamy dripping to spread across some of the best sourdough in the state.
Norman is the second whole cow the brothers Chayse and Blayne Bertoncello have had come through the doors of their Beaconsfield restaurant (thanks also to you, Nancy) though the first since they moved next door into their bigger, more mature digs in June.
Whole-beast butchery makes not only economic but philosophic sense here, for the brothers have, over the past six years, refined and expanded their vision of farm-to-fork dining so that the entire menu is now dictated by what’s grown in their 1 ha farm down the road in Cardinia.
That means making the most of seasonal bounty – they reckon they grew 50,000 (!) tomatoes last summer of various sizes, hues and personalities - and preserving the rest, which you’ll see in myriad artfully lit jars lining the downstairs corridor in the converted one-time local post office.
So you might find tiny, sweet diamond tomatoes – both pickled in their water and dried on the vine – on a dot of black garlic puree in a small sourdough tart, alongside a slice of green tomato fried crisp in sourdough batter as two of the tastes that make up the onslaught of bites that are quick to arrive after seating.
A crunchy fried watermelon radish leaf dusted with kimchi powder, pickled beans and gherkins and a smoky stalk of broccolini charred soft are also part of the opening act that heralds a veg-first focus that’s even more pronounced than in past.
That might mean Jerusalem artichoke in pickled, roasted, puree and in crisp form, the sticky sweet roasted veg hidden under a pretty hat of sharp shaved veg that brightens its earthy richness. Or a knockout dish of watermelon radishes filled with buttermilk cream sitting in a decadent chicken broth, tiny pickled coriander seeds delivering a deliciously herbal burst of freshness.
Or, indeed, the signature “zero waste” dish of pumpkin, where offcuts are dried and milled to make the flour for tortelloni that’s then filled with roasted seeds and flesh.
Across the eight or so courses, meat is used sparingly and usually to simply season a heroed vegetable. A snack-sized piece of venison, threaded with zucchini on a skewer; a kimchi-spiked pork broth to dress the tortelloni; carrots poached in chicken stock and finished with a chicken skin crumb - there’s a first-name-basis respect for animal proteins that’s both bang-on-trend and a vision of dining’s future.
Norman turns up again tonight in a deeply comforting ragu under velvety soft slices of topside, with celeriac puree, a patch of acidic greens and flowers and the tiniest pickled green tomatoes adding bursts of sharp sunshine.
It’s exceptionally enjoyable, but the unlikely dish of the night goes to a piece cabbage, cooked sous vide in its own juices then pan-fried and served with a sticky, rich chicken jus. Incredible.
While Blayne calmly directs the quietly effective open kitchen from the restaurant-side of the pass, Chayse looks after the dining room with infectious, unaffected enthusiasm. The well-briefed team dressed in mufti lends an approachable air that locals clearly have warmed to, whether in the handsome, Scandi clean-lined (full) dining room warmed by Stevie Wonder funk, or in the new bar out the front. There Orbost’s Sailors Grave beer by the $6 pot/$11 pint is joined by Chayse’s lovingly tended cellar filled with mainly Victorian small producers augmented with international interest, with Prahran’s Maker & Monger on cheese duty.
That cellar is lots of fun to plunder – the two-page list is augmented by a leather-bound handwritten ledger of one-offs collected over the years - but for those driving the 50-50 booze/non-booze pairing is a clever idea.
As is a lovely watermelon granita, curd and honey cleanser that precedes a pot of rhubarb with sourdough crumbs hidden under a soft sticky custard that proves a deftly restrained yet comforting full stop.
MORE DAN STOCK REVIEWS:
BISTRO COMFORT FOOD WITH A TOUCH OF CLASS
THE BEST MASH-UP DISH YOU’LL SEE THIS YEAR
THE BLOODY DELICIOUS ‘UNAUTHENTIC’ INDIAN FOOD
At $135 a head for food, O.My remains as terrifically enjoyable as it is terrific value, the new, larger dining room and bar losing none of the country charm of the restaurant of old, yet gaining a new-found maturity and clarity of purpose.
For a celebration of produce, it’s one of our best.
O.My
19-21 Woods St, Beaconsfield
Open: Dinner Thurs-Sun; Lunch Sat-Sun
Go-to dish: Beef with acidic flowers
Score: 16/20