Get your stir-fry on

TWO openings, both with Asian roots but modern foliage, grab our attention this week.

Lawyer turned chef Chui Lee Luk, pictured in January at the now defunct Claude's, has opened a new restaurant, Chow bar, in Surry Hills.

TWO openings, both with Asian roots but modern foliage, grab our attention this week. In Melbourne, chef Victor Liong fronts Lee Ho Fook, which we expect to fire up tonight.

He has backers with great experience and management skill, the location (Collingwood) is tragically hip and, well, the guy's a great cook. Melbourne's Billy Kwong? Maybe. While in Sydney, lawyer turned chef Chui Lee Luk has opened Chow Bar, her answer to the demise of Claude's, and the rebirth of the old Bentley site in Surry Hills. Her youthful interpretation of Malaysian and other Asian dishes should be fascinating. - John Lethlean

RIESLINGORAMA:  CLARE Valley winemaker Kerri Thompson has released five rieslings from the 2013 vintage, and they're all crackers: the 5452 (named after the vineyard's postcode; $22) is all up-front grapey fun, very much drink-now; the wild-fermented Melva ($29) is round, seductive, off-dry; the Peglidis ($33) is bright, nervy, lime-juicy, fine; the Churinga ($33) is more restrained, slatey, textural, cellar-worthy; but my fave - as in: I finished the bottle first - is the new, wild-fermented and unfiltered Pazza ($29): ever so slightly cloudy, and a brilliant mash-up of lime-juicy gluggability, rich texture and intensity. Gorgeous stuff. winesbykt.com. - Max Allen