Ode, on Bondi Road, Bondi, is very much a local’s haunt that blurs the line between casual restaurant and wine bar, as many modern wine-centred hotspots do. But that notion of being a neighbourhood place (bar, restaurant, wine bar…) – somewhat carefree, familiar, pretence free – shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of depth.
Ode has a fairly eclectic, bohemian vibe, with exposed bricks and beams, upcycled fixtures and casually dressed staff, all in keeping with the minimal-intervention wine list. But scratch the surface and there’s a world of rigorous experience at play, with manager Patrick Frawley a 15-year veteran of head sommelier roles in London, New York and Hong Kong at Michelin-starred venues.
Heading the floor, top sommelier Olivier Bonnetton has a little Michelin experience, too, with a meaningful stint at a three-star restaurant in Corsica before landing in Sydney. Bonnetton now shapes the wine list at Ode, which can waver between 150 and 250 offerings. Minimal-intervention wines are the core focus, with many falling into the ‘natural’ camp. Although wines are not chosen as dogmatically ‘natural’, minimal sulphur additions, no fining and minimal filtration are absolutes, with organic and biodynamic practices a cornerstone.
And though that formal training runs deep at Ode, the service is marked by warm generosity rather than formality, which was always the intention of operational owners Jerome Wallcroft and Jeremy Moyle who wanted “a place to call a home away from home, for us and the guests.”
Overseeing the food is Alexandra Shannon, who adds a couple more Michelin stars to the collective resumé, having trained at a two-star Italian restaurant. Shannon works with Walcroft to drive the menu, which traces general European arcs. House-made focaccia, oysters, olives, jamon, salumi and the like make up some of the simpler offerings, with kingfish carpaccio, mussels on toast, braised octopus with nduja and fried school prawns taking things up a notch. You might find barbecued pork belly, crisp-skinned blue-eye on wilted mustard greens, as well as all manner of things charred over coals on the hibachi grill, with sparklingly fresh sardines a feature; and pasta and gnocchi are made in-house, of course. As said, wine bar or restaurant… the lines are delightfully blurred.
At Geralds, the early arrivals dictate the open bottles, which can be switched around once exhausted, with ten typically open at any one time.
Amongst a happily crowded field that has been redefining the culinary landscape in this country, Mat Lindsay has stood out somewhat since the opening of his ground-breaking restaurant Ester in 2013. Working with the very back-to-basics essential of today’s chef–fire–he has forged (pardon the pun) a singular path of deceptively simple and visually exquisite dishes…
Nomad’s fire-charged, produce-first cooking turned many heads back in 2013 when it burst onto the scene. Eight years later and the grill has doubled in size, as has the wine list, while the commitment to sustainability has never been stronger. Plenty more reasons to go – if you needed them.
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