OPENING a restaurant? The checklist is endless: from the kitchen essentials of the grease trap, coolroom and target-top, through to the dining room ephemera of decorations and tableware (take a visit to Cedar Hospitality for a masterclass in the dizzying manifestations of the pepper grinder). And, before you get any further, the little matter of staff.

It’s hard enough finding a competent chef who knows what a margin is but Sydney Road newcomer Albert St Food & Wine scored a coup in signing up Philippa Sibley. More than simple good luck, she’s the stuff of the late-night, alcohol-fuelled wish list – kind of like David Bowie jamming with Arcade Fire or Jessica Lange’s diva turn on American Horror Story.

Sibley working behind the stoves is just one reason Albert St doesn’t have the feel of a new restaurant run by two new owners. Ruth Giffney’s and Stuart Brookshaw’s lengthy experience in charge of some serious restaurant names, including Longrain and Bondi Icebergs, is another. And back-up from a number of career waiters who don’t give the feeling they’re ticking off the hours until they can hit a bar? As the ad says, priceless.

Summer cassoulet with chicken. Photo: Rodger Cummins

Albert St is an industry rarity: a place that pops out of the box poised and ready for anything; able to withstand the onslaught of crowds that embrace it from the get-go. It has judged the market well, marking Sydney Road’s evolutionary shift from cheap and cheerful ethnics to a serious food-and-wine enterprise that reflects the inner north’s gentrification. The table of three professionals to our left who’ve been eating here every Friday night since its early-December opening (tables are closely spaced; it’s easy to eavesdrop) love it as much for the cracking wine list with its seriously good prices as for the food (excellent) and ambience (chic but casual) and the way they’ve never been pressed to hand the table back after an allotted time.

Banks repurposed into restaurants find it hard to shake the clinical feeling of commerce but Albert St has exorcised the ghosts of clerks past for a smart fitout. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cumulus Inc was used as a reference point for the big, bright room, with the interest-grabbing mix of table height, the casual bar seating, the latest in designer furniture and lighting, and the olive-green banquettes that aren’t so deep as to make reaching the cutlery an act of aggression against the lower back.

If you’ve encountered Sibley’s cooking at one of her many employers since the legendary est est est, including her most recent stint at Il Fornaio, you’ll be hip to her way of doing things: she doesn’t reinvent the wheel but gives classics a little twist for a new sense of self. Am I getting too metaphysical about lunch? Go try her summer cassoulet and see if the gods don’t weep at the way this quintessentially winter dish is repositioned as a warm-weather beauty, sauceless but not dry, which substitutes a feather-light, mousse-like boudin noir for Toulouse sausage and makes a virtue of chicken instead of duck. A salty confit leg and thigh is covered in a crunchy, bready crust and the depths of the earthenware pot reveal beans (haricot and borlotti) with green beans, tomato, carrot and baby onion. I think the technical term is delicious.

This is Euro comfort-food territory, a buffer zone against the travails of life that begins with sliced baguette and butter whipped with basil-infused olive oil to a shade of light-green Pantone might want to consider trademarking. You can get pizza – super-thin, terribly good even when topped simply with garlic, rosemary and parmesan – and grilled sardines on toasted rye with pine nuts and an agrodolce flourish of currants and minced capers. Pink-centred jubes of wagyu – striped by the grill, finding a smoky confluence with eggplant puree – are sharpened by pickled white anchovy laid with Germanic precision over the top. Even boring old carrot soup is a stunner with the addition of Vin Santo, sliced scallops that cook in situ, and a sophisticated scattering of crumbled amaretti biscuits.

Mains cough up some familiar names without becoming prosaic. Roasted lamb rump slices relaxing on a soft, creamy polenta are jazzed up with the restrained tang of warmed cherry tomatoes and black olives. Trofie pasta intermingles with zucchini flowers, soft goat curd and dehydrated black olives in an oil and garlic-based sauce. It’s simple, easy stuff but executed faultlessly.
For dessert, you could head to the adjoining food store and pick up a copy of Sibley’s new book, PS Desserts, but it’s a darned sight easier to summon a waiter.
If you haven’t tried her sorbets, which are like the pure taste of fruit distilled into a velvet-textured ice form, now’s the time to do so. Her version of panna cotta is out of sight – a restrained hand on the gelatin and the funky addition of truffled honey, chewy salted, caramelised cashews and a buttery biscuit base making a ubiquitous menu item interesting again, which is a miracle akin to the virgin birth.

The only slightly off note over three visits was the headline dessert act, an expensive ($18) deconstructed tiramisu that I found too boozy and too bitter.
When it comes down to it, there’s no alchemy behind a successful hospitality business. Good location, good staff, a good chef and the right pitch. It sounds straightforward but in practicality it’s a minefield littered with the bodies of the unwary. But at Albert St the planets are aligned. The gods are smiling. Sydney Road begins a new chapter.

Food Contemporary Mediterranean
Where 382 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Phone 8354 6600
Cost Typical starter $19, main $32, dessert $14
Licensed
Wine list A cracker: smart, sassy and price-savvy
Owners Ruth Giffney and Stuart Brookshaw
Chef Philippa Sibley
Wheelchairs Yes
Vegetarian Two starters, two pizzas, one pasta
Dietary GF available
Noise Moderate, mostly
Value Good
Service Friendly and polished
Outdoors Yes
Web albertst.com.au
Cards AE MC V Eftpos
Hours Daily 8am-late

Contrary to what you might expect, Australia’s ”dessert queen” Philippa Sibley is no sweet tooth. Salt is her vice. The best chocolate or the most fantastic pastries in the world just don’t do it for her: ”I’m allergic to flour, for goodness sake.”

Sibley is aware of the irony and points out that her grounding is in all aspects of cooking. ”It feels like I’ve been pigeon-holed with the whole desserts thing,” she says, not that she’s complaining.

It was the salt element of the Snickers, her favourite chocolate bar as a child, that gave rise to her signature dish of the same name. Created when she worked at Circa, it was immortalised in the latest series of MasterChef. The dish was loosely based on the chocolate bar but also inspired by a layered chocolate dish a friend described eating in Japan, and a salted caramel from one of Heston Blumenthal’s books.

”People ask how you get ideas for things … it just seems like an organic process,” she says.

Her book, PS desserts, features the Snickers, as well as others in her repertoire including the poire belle-Hellene, peach melba for Oprah and her fabulous sorbets. It is divided into basics, classics and signature dishes, and is beautifully designed, with photos illustrating each step of the process.

The opening notes detail must-have equipment and tips on eggs, butter, fruit and chocolate. It reads a bit like insider information, a fact not lost on Sibley. Demystifying desserts is part of what she set out to do.

”After all the brouhaha about the Snickers – which I call the Charlie Sheen because it’s completely out of control – [the book is] kind of a homage to all the recipe books that I’ve loved and used over the years.”

A cookbook tragic, Sibley still has her original copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, which she used when learning to cook.

She is on her fifth copy of Michel Roux’s Desserts: A Lifelong Passion and her third of another by legendary patissier Frederic Bau.

Sibley signed on to write PS desserts in February and it will be published next month, a speedy turnaround – two years would be more usual. ”I would’ve gone mad! I’m a chef – I’ve got attention deficit disorder,” she laughs.

She did all the cooking and styling herself, with just one helper, at home: ”I’m still cleaning the chocolate off the walls and the sugar off the floor.”

Novices note: Sibley is reassuringly frank that baking can be tricky for the uninitiated, an attitude that imbues the book.

”It’s the stuff that would’ve helped me,” she says. ”I’ve always had major issues trying to make puff pastry, for example. Back in the day, I wouldn’t try to make it without someone showing me.”
Working as a young chef at restaurants including Le Gavroche, Est and Harveys in London, and the three-starred La Cote Saint Jacques in Joigny, France, Sibley learnt from some of the best.
Back in Australia in 1996, she and then partner Donovan Cooke had a brief stint at Mietta’s before opening est est est and, two years later, Luxe. Those restaurants ”blazed white hot” for a few years but then the GST hit hard and they sold Luxe and closed est est est.

Sibley’s next venture, Albert Street Food and Wine, is expected to open early next month, in Melbourne’s Brunswick. Backed by Stuart Brookshaw, a past manager of Icebergs, and his partner Ruth Giffney, formerly of Longrain, Sibley will be executive chef.

The plan is to make as much as possible on site, including charcuterie down the track and perhaps some ”signature” cheeses. On offer will be rustic food, the best of Mediterranean. And, yes, desserts will be served.

RECIPES (external links)
Summer pudding
Poire belle-hellene

PS desserts by Philippa Sibley, published by Hardie Grant, $49.95

Opening in December, Albert St Food & Wine is a new all day eatery, wine bar and store in the heart of Brunswick’s Sydney Road. Combining the very best talent, passion and love for local produce, Albert St Food & Wine will be an oasis in the busy urban neighbourhood. A destination for foodies and wine lovers everywhere, Albert St Food & Wine embraces the traditions and craft of food preparation in a modern environment that everyone will enjoy.

Albert St Food & Wine is inspired by its location on Sydney Road, Brunswick, the original food bowl of Melbourne, where growers would wheel their merchandise down to the Victoria Markets. Reclaiming this history, Albert St Food and Wine is inspired by the integrity and abundance of local food from Victorian regions and will to bring the country to the city through sourcing the finest quality produce, distilled through the skilful hands of Executive Chef Philippa Sibley and overseen by owners, Stuart Brookshaw and Ruth Giffney.

Albert St Food & Wine will feature the extraordinary cooking skills of Sibley. Having had her final say on desserts with her recent book, P.S Desserts, Sibley will turn her attention to unfussy, fresh and immaculate savoury dishes.

Phiippa describes her menu as “romantically seasonal”. The highly innovative Mediterranean cuisine will focus on organic and local produce emphasising the ‘country to city’ and ‘paddock to plate’ ethos. Signature dishes include rainbow trout rilletes, fresh broad bean falafel, Philippa’s famous flavoursome soups and a summer cassoulet; a confit of chicken. Albert St will also have three classic pizzas on offer and one seasonal pizza, starting with The Tomato Party (pesto Genovese, summer heirlooms and Treccie).

Stuart Brookshaw and Ruth Giffney are the backbone of Albert St Food & Wine. Inspired by rustic Italian enotecas, Spanish bodegas, baby bistros and food stores such as Dean & Deluca in New York, they have a wealth of experience to back up their inspiration. Ruth received the 1998 Harpers & Queen Premier Cru award for service excellence, and has previously been the manager of L’odeon London, Bluebird London, Coast Sydney and operations manager at Longrain.

Stuart’s long and extensive history in the industry, both in Australia and internationally, includes sommelier and manager of Conran restaurants Mezzo and Bluebird London, Salt Sydney, Otto Ristorante Italiano, Nove Pizzeria and Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, as well as being wine writer for Sydney Morning Herald’s Sommelier section, wine consultant to Bills Sydney and global marketing manager form Mount Langi Ghiran and Plantagenet Wines.

Under Stuart’s passionate and skilled watch, Albert St Food & Wine will have a serious yet approachable attitude towards wine. With a complementary, extensive list of over two hundred wines, celebrating the eight wine regions in Victoria as well as a selection of international styles, the wine experience at Albert St Food & Wine will be memorable.

Albert St Food & Wine will offer visitors the opportunity to order wine by the bottle, glass and carafe, have small tastes of wines, choose bottles from the former bank vault turned wine cellar, ponder wine at the ‘wine wall’ and choose wine at the providore to then be enjoyed at the restaurant.

The Albert St Food & Wine Store will have a separate entrance as well as be accessible through the wine bar. With the feel of a true providore, the produce available in the store will follow the theme from the restaurant and will emphasise locality, seasonality and quality and include fresh artisan breads, cheese, wine and beer as well as a charcuterie island and a condiment and comestible refill service.

Embracing zero packaging, the refill service will feature local olive oils, terrines, potted hams and jams and other comestibles prepared by Philippa. Wine will be available off the shelf and although prepared food will be a focus, a crate of tomatoes or fresh quince might appear, highlighting the constantly changing produce available.

With the design by Fiona Drago, the regal space that is Albert St Food & Wine is both impressive and welcoming. The former bank has large windows that look onto Sydney Road, inviting all to enter. The design focus is on sustainability and locality, which is evident with materials including re-recycled timber tables originally from old Turpentine trees and more recently used as a basketball court on Fraser Island. Hamish Knox, son of Alistair Knox, has lovingly created seating and tables with these materials.

In the ever-changing streetscapes of Brunswick, Albert St Food and Wine will be a reassuring fixture, a solid, smart, thoughtful restaurant with long opening hours and a seven-day week.