Bistro Bruno
“This place makes you feel good, don’t you reckon,” a diner at the next table asks his companions. He’s hit the nail on the head actually. The handsome restaurateur, Erez Gordon, glides around the room. His good looks are the product of a Lithuanian father and a Polish mother, though he describes himself as a “Scottish Jew”. It’s an intriguingly bloodthirsty tale of clan warfare that I’ll leave you to uncover in situ, perhaps as you tuck into tasty pig? The Pork Belly with Chilli Caramel Dressing ($18.50) is set against a salad of spinach and pear, and eats a treat with the fruit-forward Mornington Peninsula 2010 Moorooduc Devil Bend Creek Pinot Noir ($52/bottle). Those more fragile of temperament might ease their blade into the delicately cured King Salmon ($17.50), complimented by micro herbs, tomatoes and capers, and well-served by the Dal Zotto Prosecco Pucino ($8/glass). Nothing is faxed in, from solid mains like house-made Linguine with Pipis, Chorizo and Cherry Tomatoes ($29.50); to specials like Duck Breast with Fig and Onion Tart ($32) to generous sides of Spinach, Pumpkin, Walnut and Goat’s Cheese Salad ($8.50). Pillage and plunder through an assortment of Summer Fruit ($13) buried under a wicked, blow-torched sabayon for a very fitting finale.
Bistro Bruno
3 Beattie Street, Balmain
Ph: (02) 9810 7707 www.bistrobruno.com.au
Modern Australian/Modern European $$$-$$$$
