It was a tough sell, but Sydney chef Mike McEnearney’s From Here By Mike at 1 Hotel Melbourne is one of the openings of the year.
Contemporary$$
At first glance, there wasn’t much about 1 Hotel Melbourne to get me excited. Docklands: meh. A hotel restaurant: must we? Touting a sustainability mission: greenwashing, surely. Hiring a Sydney chef to oversee it: cringe. But I checked it out, loved it, came back again, loved it a little more, dug a bit deeper and am now convinced.
From Here By Mike is one of the openings of the year and a significant step towards the revivification of the Yarra’s north bank. More radically, it pushes forward the notion of a destination restaurant in Docklands, a harder sell in Melbourne than a night-time grand final.
1 Hotel’s first Australian property has a “sustainable luxury” brand promise. It sounds unlikely, but there’s definitely more going on than just, “Reuse your towels for the planet.” The heart of the development is an old goods shed: it has been restored, and the new build framed around it uses repurposed wharf timbers, bluestone pavers and railway sleepers.
There’s lovely, natural light, thousands of plants, and the feeling is tactile and earthy – in the lounge-y lobby bar, the drop-in-or-stay-a-while riverside deck and the restaurant, where timber, leather and a kitchen built around a wood oven make the large space feel warm and welcoming. The staff help, too: some are experienced, others green but keen, all of them seem engaged.
So about that Sydney chef. Mike McEnearney was doing paddock-to-plate before many of Victoria’s young farmers were born. A former Rockpool head chef, his restaurants, Kitchen By Mike and No. 1 Bent Street, always led with great produce, and he’s curated the harbour city’s Carriageworks Farmers Market for a decade. He also loves Melbourne, having been a frequent visitor, diner and even party-guy here. (Like me, he remembers going to a rave in the goods shed.)
The first page of the menu is a map of Victoria dotted with farmers who feature. It sets a tone. Dishes are constantly in flux, depending on supply, and work within a broadly European repertoire conceived by McEnearney alongside head chef Josh Bosen (ex-Smith & Daughters). The food blew me away. Each plate is a clever, delicious showcase of ingredients, working on its own terms but also singing in harmony with the rest of the menu.
Puffy-crisp flatbread is slathered with almond “ricotta” and piled with a mushroom XO condiment. Grilled octopus and smoked mussels are laid over romesco, a layering of fire-licked flavour. Raw, sustainably fished marlin, cut thinly but still firm, is a gorgeous canvas for Sicilian leanings: blood orange, olives, plus native mountain pepper for a lively prickle.
A medley of raw and grilled asparagus is tumbled with broad bean leaves, peas and basil oil: hello, sunshine. A wedge of cabbage is braised, grilled and baked in the wood oven, its meaty succulence highlighted by the bright pop of fermented mustard seeds and the frisky crunch of crisp rye crumbs.
A springy honey sponge with creme fraiche for dessert is simple perfection.
A destination restaurant in Docklands is a harder sell in Melbourne than a night-time grand final.
It’s not easy to source like this – a bit from here, a bit from there – and it’s certainly different to most hotels, which rely on tick-a-box ordering. The rigour around rubbish is also unusual: everything that goes into a bin is weighed and tracked. The kitchen is currently diverting 87 per cent of potential waste from landfill; the goal is upwards of 90.
If it all sounds overly worthy, it’s a joyful place, too, riffing on the seasons, playing with what a hotel restaurant can be and maybe, even, giving Docklands a drawcard in the process.
The low-down
Atmosphere: Luxurious staycation
Go-to dishes: Chargrilled octopus ($26); flatbread ($19); roasted cabbage ($30); honey sponge ($17)
Drinks: Melbourne’s already strong martini game is boosted by two special examples. Rich, savoury Seafarer’s Martini includes saltbush-infused vermouth. Espresso Martini pushes the sustainability angle by including coffee run-off from the daytime cafe. Wine leans to Victorian small producers; there are also exemplary wines from further afield.
Cost: About $180 for 2 people, excluding drinks
This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine.
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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