16/20
French$$$
They call this part of town the Sandstone Precinct due to the abundance of stunning structures hewn from Sydney’s preferred golden stone. They might need to refer it to in future as the Leather, Marble and Whole Roasted Duck Precinct rather.
Now that the high-end hotel Capella Sydney has actually moved into the heritage-listed previous Department of Education structure, with its mesmerising collection of Australian paintings and lighting setups, towering ceilings and indoor pool, there’s large bloody high-end by the metre.
Colonising the ground flooring corner is a dining establishment supervised by Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt of Sydney’s well known Bentley Restaurant Group, with light spilling in through high steel-framed windows that deal with onto Bridge and Young streets.
They call it a brasserie, however it’s a quite grand brasserie, with its leather banquettes, marble tiles, brass-bound tables and wonderful flower display screens. Stroll in, and you will instantly feel underdressed, amongst the gleaming sophistication of the smoky mirrors, burnished ice containers and subtle brasserie lights. The word magnificent come to mind.
So it’s not as if they can simply send a sausage roll.
Brent Savage and head chef Niroshan Richards call the food “traditional brasserie with an Australian spin”, which is adorable however not always useful.
A traditional relocation such as a veggie tart, for example, is crisp, buttery pastry holding a quite structure of salt-brined daikon, roasted and raw yellow squash and fresh breakfast radish. They perch on wattleseed curd, with chervil and dill peeping out as if they had actually grown there. Fresh and fragile, it’s like a roam through the cooking area garden.
The luxury is boosted by linen napkins, rough-hewn battery charger plates and uniformed waitstaff with that mindful however not servile way that Australia does so well.
Amid such riches is richness. Flinders Island scallops ($38) are sauced on the half-shell, entwined with nectarine and topped with scarlet finger lime and marinaded wakame – surged mouthfuls of high-end.
Spaghetti alla chitarra with spanner crab ($52) is highly sauced and garnished with fat lobes of sea urchin, however at what point is something simply too abundant?
Glazed quail ($38) is skillfully pictured as 2 halves resting on whippy feta with a stunning green olive salsa, and a charming fillet of steamed coral trout ($68) sits serenely on a pillow of potato yoghurt puree with grilled pencil leeks in participation.
They call it a brasserie, however it’s a quite grand brasserie, with its leather banquettes, marble tiles, brass-bound tables and remarkable flower display screens.
The space functions as a brasserie because individuals utilize it in various methods. 2 females purchase the signature meal of roast Tathra Place Maremma duck ($190) with a bottle of pinot noir, and destroy both (that’s a whole duck, by the method, with crisp-skinned breast, neck sausage, roasted plum, fennel, spinach and glazed eschalot).
Corporates order Yarabah’s F1 wagyu 250- gram rump cap, O’Connor’s 400- gram bone-in sirloin or Coppertree Farms 600- gram rib-eye grilled over ironbark, and cover the table with all 4 sides– leaf salad, green beans, roast Andean potatoes and french fries.
Cooked specifically to the uncommon side of medium unusual and served sliced beside its bone, the sirloin ($85) is a huge serve for one however provides long flavour and an unwinded chew.
Luke Curry’s juicy 2021 Banjo pinot noir ($110) from the Mornington Peninsula is similarly elegant and long-flavoured– and tastes even much better when you know it’s called for his pet dog. Hildebrandt guarantees the white wine enthusiast can go from the unusual and distinct to a more friendly concentrate on more recent wine-makers (and their vineyard pet dogs).
Desserts are timeless, with a wedge of skillfully made brown sugar tart served with figs ($24), and there is a rather grand trolley of cheeses all set to roll if you are.
It’s an intriguing relocation for the Bentley group. With its superb environments, high convenience and signature duck meal, Brasserie 1930 lines up more with the city’s other grand brasserie, The Charles, than it finishes with its own high-art Bentley dining establishment or jazzy Monopole red wine bar.
One more of this ilk, and we’ll need to call the CBD the Grand Brasserie Precinct rather.
The low-down
Drinks: Wines go high and deep, worldwide and regional, with a turning by-the-glass list from Bentley Wine Vault.
Vibe: Hitting the heights of convenience, high-end and quality
Go-to meal: Whole roasted duck to share, $190
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