Restaurant review: Cutler Co

Restaurants should avoid espousing a ‘philosophy’. But a ‘concept’ is a different kettle of fish. This one gets 4.5 stars.

I’m not sure about restaurants with philosophies. Most restaurateurs, it seems, feel they ought to have one these days, posting it on their website like the unlamented Mission Statement of decades past, framed and hung in tea rooms across the nation. And it’s usually just as predictable: seasonal, local, produce-driven … who’d have thought?

But concepts? Yes, every restaurant should have a strong concept, a kind of foundation upon which everything else is built. The new concept at Andrew McConnell’s reinvented Cutler & Co isn’t radical: seafood-focused wine and cocktail bar at the front with its own menu, à la carte dining at the back (some in booths and love-seats, à la Hubert in Sydney), with menu items bleeding between the two, all from the same open kitchen. Produce of serious quality used in an elegant, contemporary European manner without a hint of the foraged, the succulent or the saltbushed.

Everyone, not least the chef-owner, recognised the need for a rethink at Cutler, and a new look, layout, menus and staff have all helped realise the outcome. But something less easily defined — the Cutler DNA — has hung around, clinging to the old brick walls of a building McConnell has progressively colonised (he now has Marion next door, pumping bistro equerry to Cutler’s dining crown). The new Cutler feels more refined yet more relaxed, and thoroughly energised by a new quest to reposition luxury in Melbourne. New head chef Chris Watson, over from the late (and lamented) Luxembourg, is an important part of that spirit.

It’s not just that the dishes are clever and timeless, reminding you of classics in new sneakers. It’s the outstanding attention to detail, from house-made cob with chickpea miso butter to sable appetisers slathered with parmesan custard and porcini dust, and the “customer first” flexibility, that makes Cutler so pleasurable again.

Somewhere between a martini “grasso” with spanner crab in tarragon mayo served with perfect blini, and confit apple terrine with brown butter ice cream and a side order of Calvados, I fell heavily for the McConnell myth all over again. The small menu’s exciting; the place oozes sass, from the chocolate Ultrasuede banquettes to the deco-ish lights from New York; the drinks and wine list is handled with proper, unpretentious knowledge; and the staff do their work cleverly but with humility.

And the food? That brilliantly presented crab with the mayo and tarragon in perfect balance; fried school prawns and calamari served with whipped cod roe; the most impressively fresh and generous ice tray of fruits de mer (pictured) I’ve ever seen. Seaweed emulsion, mayo and mignonette dressing all at the centre of a seafood storm, and have you eaten finely sliced raw scallop dressed with salmon roe lately? Goodness.

The flavours penetrate and soothe in a way I’d almost forgotten, from a caprese-like tomato salad with smoked curd and kombu oil to the clawed glamour of roasted pigeon breast, confit leg, candied fig and seared liver, sheathed in jamon with a splash of sweet jus.

You could have that absurdly good apple confit with caramel and oat cake or a vacherin with syrupy blueberries, fromage blanc and raspberry sorbet that you think will be too sweet. But isn’t. Go and have something; whatever the concept, it works.

At a glance

Address: 55—57 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, Melbourne Contact: 03 9419 4888; cutlerandco.com.au Hours: Lunch Sunday; dinner Tue-Sun Typical prices: Entrees $28; mains $48; desserts $17 Like this? Try … Cirrus or Fred’s, Sydney Summary: Co-opted, again Stars: 4.5 out of 5