55 minutes ago
2
The new dining room is the cherry on top of the New Zealand fashion label’s global flagship.
European$$$
The Lodge Dining Room is the cherry on top of the New Zealand fashion label Rodd & Gunn’s four-storey global flagship in Melbourne. The precinct includes a shiny retail shopfront on Little Collins Street and beneath it the Cellar & Caffetteria, the subterranean wine bar and bottle shop with cocktails curated by Matt Bax (Bar Americano) and a snackable, shareable Italian menu.
The Dining Room incorporates not only the restaurant, but a moody bar one level down, also helmed by Bax. Chef James Evangelinos is offering a menu that focuses on technique-driven, French-influenced fine dining with mostly classic flavours. Meals start with the old-school European hospitality of complimentary bread, featuring several bakes of the day centred around a lofty brioche loaf glazed in caramel.
The $75-a-head fruits de mer is essentially a table-blanketing seafood course, a selection of raw and creatively cooked bites such as moreish abalone croquettes. Beyond, find gently poached Shark Bay scallops with charred white asparagus and a liquid-nitrogen-charged almond dressing spooned on tableside. Sweet marron is served in a delicately flavoured marron bisque alongside a roulade of summer squash.
Mains include an ember-roasted kohlrabi dish with wild greens and a pecan emulsion, and a deconstructed bouillabaisse where roasted bass grouper is the star. Finish with the handcrafted chocolate bons bons. Diners can order a la carte or choose from a three-course prix fixe for $145, or six- or nine-course tasting menus for $155 and $255 each.
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