Cutlery & Co
Cutler and Co on Gertrude Street is the fine dining restaurant of chef Andrew McConnell with its sister wine bar-restaurant Marion next door. The other two casual restaurants we Melburnians love are Cumulus Inc and Supernormal. There were many years apart since our first visit to Cutler and Co, the open space of the current design looks elegant. The green marble surfaces, semi-circular leather booths and chandeliers are charming. The open kitchen certainly added a sense of buzzing vibes to the restaurant.
Here is our four-course chef menu:
Probably you can work out the difference on the menu between my husband and me? I chose the pescatarian courses while my husband is a high protein driven meat-eater :).
Let's start with my seafood courses first. The entree was King George Whiting, tortarello cucumber, wild fennel and clam beurre blanc. The fillets were tender with beautiful creamy, buttery, lemony flavours. What's next for the main course? Bass Grouper, squash blossom, Mooloolaba prawn and caramelised cream sauce. Again, perfectly cooked tender Grouper fillet. The stuffed squash blossom is delicious. I guess I was just attracted to seafood with creamy sauce. The rich cream sauce with a sweeter taste was marvellous too.
The meat course started with the slow-roasted quail, radicchio tart, red witlof and fine herb salad, followed by the 1 kg ribeye. I had a tiny bit of the quail meat that was tender and flavourful. The pastry of that little tart was incredible. The 1 kg ribeye cooked to medium-rare was juicy and loaded with flavours. Indeed the O'Connor beef lived up to its reputation as one of the finest grass-fed beef in Australia.
We also had the shaved cabbage and fennel salad with burnt honey dressing and roasted Kipfler potatoes with sorrel, confit garlic and hazelnuts as part of the main course.
A memorable dessert always leaves a deep imprint on the meal. We had two different desserts to share. The luxurious mousse-like dark chocolate delice was a truly indulgent dessert for a chocoholic. What's next? The other candle-lit dessert was a complex yellow peach vacherin, ricotta, raspberry and honey roasted almonds. A dessert of vacherin, which is made by layering meringue discs and creamy ice cream, the vacherin in front of me was an impressive French patisserie. It was a stellar dessert.
We love the food, the wine and the vibe in Cutler & Co. An exemplary modern Australian cuisine that we love. A beautiful fine dining experience for special occasions, of course.
Thanks for reading this review. Bon appetit!
Cutler & Co
55/57 Gertrude St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
