Kensington Street Social is the grand finale in Chippendale’s The Old Clare Hotel redevelopment, and Anthony Huckstep finds it’s right up his alley.
I have a confession: I knew next to nothing about Jason Atherton a year ago. Michelin stars. Nineteen restaurants in five countries, with another two set to open this year. Skills honed by the flaying knives and sharp tongues of Marco Pierre White, Ferran Adria and Gordon Ramsay. Wake up Huck.
In the Old Dart his name is not quite as household as Marmite, but with an ever-expanding restaurant empire, he’s knocking on the doors of Ramsay, Stein, Oliver and Blumenthal as a culinary crusader of infuence. Atherton is a little different though. When I visit Kensington Street Social, his first restaurant in Australia, Atherton is busy actually cooking in the open kitchen. That may sound odd, but I can count on one hand the chefs with multiple venues who still cook.
The 120-seater is the final installment of The Old Clare Hotel restaurant trifecta (following Automata and Silvereye), opened in partnership with Unlisted Collection’s Loh Lik Peng in the former Carlton United Brewery site. Floor to ceiling windows shed light on its inner industrial chic. Polished concrete oors and pillars point to the peeled back nature of the tout and intended experience.
In the kitchen, ex-Uccello chef Robert Daniels is steering the ship but Atherton has mapped out its contemporary Brit course.
Delicate squid ink crackers are beautifully seasoned, ready for dipping in a light roe emulsion, recalling taramasalata, crowned by cucumber powder and the orange glistening globes of trout roe. It’s bang on.
Meanwhile, a signature whole vine tomato arrives stuffed with Vannella burrata and a lick of 25-year-old balsamic vinegar. It benefits from the tomato salt, but I’d like more burrata.
Then, tantalisingly toothsome risotto lavished in new season sea urchin shares the bowl with Moreton Bay bug tail that plumbs the depths of bug’s own bisque. It’s the kind of moment when you acknowledge you’re in the presence of
a great chef, not just a cook. There’s no respite of joy in the desserts or cocktails, either.
Kensington Street Social may be accessible to all, but it relies on Atherton’s supreme technical nous and innate understanding of balance at its core. It’s easy to assume chefs with multiple venues fail to grasp the expectations of a new city’s inhabitants, but Atherton has done his research. And the thing is, you don’t need to know it’s by a ‘name’ chef to have a great experience. All you have to do is make a booking.
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