Aria Sydney has long been considered one of the city’s best fine dining offerings. It’s a title that the restaurant looks set to hold well into the future, with the harbourside location today unveiling a jaw-dropping new menu. The list of new dishes are equal parts extravagance and flavour and come courtesy of new executive chef Joel Bickford. Aria’s latest menu is a collaboration between Bickford and owners Matt Moran and Bruce Solomon, and partners well with the venue’s existing wine list. “We’re really excited to have Joel join the Aria team and head up the kitchen and we share a similar philosophy on cooking and ingredients. We can’t wait to see what he does in the kitchen, and for our guests to experience his food”, says Moran. Bickford’s menu favours local ingredients and seasonal bounty, which is no surprise considering his career has included stints at Biota and The Gantry. Bickford’s menu comprises of a signature Aria four-course experience, with two or three course options, as well as a six-course tasting menu. “Having the opportunity to step in and takeover the Aria kitchen, and create a new menu with Matt and the team has been a pretty amazing coup in my career,” says Bickford. “I like a lot of decadent things and this is reflected through the menu we have created, but it is served in a fairly simple way. I love incorporating nature, I love coming across unique and native Australian ingredients, and the new menu showcases a passion of combining all the elements I love, on a plate.” Entrees include a smoked carrot, olive, fennel, liquorice and flax and a steamed Murray cod with angasi oyster. There’s King oyster mushrooms, sweetcorn, leek and black garlic for mains, or a pink snapper served with fungi, snake beans, ginger and shallot that might take your fancy. Desserts are similarly reflective of the seasons, built around a colour palette of warm autumnal tones with a chocolate, chestnut, cognac, cocoa concoction the stand-out.