Clover
Fire and wine combine at a big-hitting hotspot.
15/20
Contemporary$$
Clover nails the zeitgeist. How else do you explain the glossy young things buzzing over bright cocktails in the sunny courtyard, the wine stans propped along the bar interrogating the natural wine list, and diners lured by the flame licked creativity of chef Charley Snadden-Wilson?
Here is a chef cooking with flair rather than flamboyance, who tilts wine bar tropes on their axis. Fat prawns luxuriate in olive butter, while the tang of green tomato and a sluice of buttermilk lifts kingfish crudo. Convention is honoured with char-edged, pink centred wagyu, bolstered by smoky and herb-flecked mustard sauce.
The deservedly celebrated honey bread with its molar-challenging crust is a necessary super-sopper for the night’s proceedings. The restaurant stocks of Richmond are on the rise, and Clover is a leading reason why.
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Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/vic-good-food-guide/clover-20240304-p5f9r7.html