It’s not often an opportunity to resurrect yourself lands neatly in your lap. Whilst having dinner last week, Elly turned to me and said “what are we doing for our anniversary next week?” I forgot it was next week.
Luckily, TV celebrity chef, published author and proud owner of a small working farm in Tasmania, Analiese Gregory has collaborated with the WA focused Hearth Restaurant Sous Chef, Brian Cole and head chef Alberto Cuzzit inside The Ritz Carlton to showcase the possibilities of West Australian food and wine and I was invited to try the new menu. Anniversay – saved!
Every element of the exerience is well considered at Hearth. It is more than just a meal. Thousands of bars of locally sourced wood line the outside of a dining looking into Elizabeth Quay on one side, and the most calm and relaxed open plan kitchen I have ever seen in a professional restauraunt on the other. The ambient lighting created the perfect date night mood, but wasnt great for photographing the beautifully presented food, you’ll see that later.
To add extra to the challenge of trying to find locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and blend all the chef’s processes into one, we have a plant based diet.
Let’s start with a spoiler: They had no problem adapting the menu to our diet and the front of house staff were excellent at making us feel comfortable, relaxed and normal, a huge thing that vegetarians and vegans worry about when eating out, especially in nice places.
We were treated to a cullinary tour of the entire state, from spent grain bread, made from biproducts of the brewery opposite in Elizabeth Quay, to beetroot from Magodalup, the only thing we ate or drank from outside WA all evening was the Vintage Moet we were given on arrival. Each of the five courses was paired with a Margaret River wine from Domiliona and we got a true taste of their entire vinyard from crisp fruity white chenin blancs to an equally as fruity and refreshing chilled shiraz. Our carnivorous friends to either side took an equally as diverse journey through abalone, octopus and duck breast.
Just like any good journey it had twists, turns and surprises. The tartness of orange on asparugus, the way that black rice was made so flavourful and the discovery of my new favourite vegetable, the kohlrabi and just how easily it absorbs and releases flavour.
Desert arrived and whilst most people were full, it was near impossible not to finish, the subtlty of the liquorice adding new levels to what I thought chocolate cake could be.
Hearth have clearly spent time with Analiese weaving their passion for keeping it local with her low key, rustic charm and this is the start of a beautiful relationship, let’s hope it’s the start of many collaborations over many seasons.
What we ate:
Pre meal: Spent Grain Bread
Course 1: Grillled King Oyster mushroom, wakame jame
Paired with: Domiliona semillion
Course 2: white asparagus, miso and orange sabayon
Paired with Dormiliona Chenin Blanc
Course 3: Kohlrabi, smoked macadamia, pickled currant
Paired with: Dormilona “Tinto” chilled Shiraz We were advised to try chilling Shiraz at home in the future. The process pulled the fruit flavours out of this glass and gave it a juicy, sweet note.
Course 4: smoked Mandogalup heirloom beetroot, lemon myrtle, black rice, grilled silver beet.
Paired with: Dormilona “Rojo” Tempranillo Shiraz.
Course 5: Chocolate mud cake, anise myrtle, soy and vanilla ice cream (vegan), Bahen & Co chocolate and liquorice cake, wild fennel icecream, aniseed myrtly marinated fennel
Paired with Dormilona Teacher’s Pet Petillant Naturel Tempranillo (not currently online).
Trying to save date night? Be prepared and book online with Hearth.
For more date ideas, check out our events listings to find something your loved one will love.