Richmond’s Anchovy serving long lunches among the vines
How does an acclaimed Richmond restaurant restricted by lockdown rules stay afloat? By taking a country road trip and popping up at a central Victorian winery, writes Dan Stock.
Food
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Even in the darkest days of hospitality’s “annus horribilis” it’s been the creative solutions of our chefs and restaurateurs that have provided the light at the end of the lockdown that we would, in the end, be OK.
Because finding solutions to problems is in hospitality’s DNA. Thus Thi Le and Jia-Yen (JY) Lee from Richmond’s Anchovy now find themselves spending their weekends at a Central Victorian winery.
Their one-room Bridge Rd restaurant can’t seat more than eight people under density rules. So while they continue their takeaway pivot on Friday nights, on Saturday mornings they hit the markets and then the Calder and a couple of hours later turn down the long, winding drive through the vines of Sutton Grange.
Here on the veranda of the winery homestead cellar door, they’re serving the mod Vietnamese that has made Anchovy a two-time recipient of Victoria’s best Asian restaurant in the delicious. 100.
It’s a win for central Victorians who don’t make it into Richmond, a win for Melburnians keen to break through the 25km barrier, and, most importantly, a win for both the restaurant and cellar door.
Adam Cash – who many would remember from Richmond’s Union Dining – is on the door to greet with a smile (it’s all in the eyes) and usher us into the homestead for a pre-lunch wine tasting that, while not mandatory, I very much recommend.
It’s the perfect place to get introduced to “natural wines”; not that winemaker Mel Chester calls them that. But with a focus on organic farming and old-world techniques such as fermenting in concrete – not to mention making Australia’s first “pet nat” (or petillant naturel, an ancient way of making sparkling wine) – and the wines she makes are very much an on-trend overnight success 20 years in the making.
Famous for making one of the first Provence-style rose wines that are super popular today it’s the perfect match with Le’s sophisticated take on South East Asian flavours.
The changing four-course set menu starts with a platter of snacks that today includes a steamed rice cake topped with a decadent pork fat relish; a textural pigs head terrine with pickled pine mushrooms alongside.
There’s also a chewy taro puff topped with duck and pickled ginger, a slice of garlicy sausage and a Vietnamese samosa filled with glass noodles and shiitake, the pastry golden and buttery, the filling earthy and sweet.
All these bits are designed to be dunked in the nuoc cham that delivers a tickle of funky heat to each bite.
A bamboo basket generously laden with sashimi sea bream and various condiments (green mango, banana blossom, snake beans et al) to make for a DIY sunshiny salad follows.
With a rather brilliant tamarind and dessert lime sauce to drizzle at will, it’s a taste of the tropics that’s transportive even on this afternoon where the morning sun gave way to a chilly, windswept afternoon.
As diners, being flexible is the main rule of admission in these adaptive times, so out came the blankets and it was on with the show. Our terrific waitress, upon our seating, gently said: “In the interest of health I’m going to be as hands off as possible so unfortunately won’t be able to pour your water.” And later “Ordinarily, I’d fold your napkins. It’s so hard to change your instincts.”
It’s that innate sense of hospitality the industry seemed to miss most during these guestless months.
Me, it was the pleasure of such perfectly constructed plates as Le’s barbecued duck. The meat, gamy and chewy and smoky, comes with a relish of hot and sour rhubarb of nuance and depth.
Spring-fresh asparagus, also from the grill, topped with shrimp paste sauce, provides the green to go with. Exceptional.
To finish, an Anchovy classic: durian ice cream with logan, lemon and olive oil. Velvety smooth, the ice cream has just enough of the fruit’s famed pong to make you sit up, the oil adding herbaceous lift to the sharp lemony cut through.
The menu is $85 a head (prepaid on booking); the view across the lake to the vines beyond? Priceless.
ANCHOVY AT SUTTON GRANGE WINERY
Carnochans Rd, Sutton Grange
Open: Sat-Sun lunch until Nov 29; Dec 6, 13, 20
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