REVIEW
Score a seat at Pipit's counter, and your dégustation experience comes with a hypnotising display of culinary efficiency, centred around a wood-burning stove above which hang gently smoking fish and slow-drying persimmons. Owner-chef Ben Devlin's innings at Noma instilled not only a love of the fermented and aged, but also an ability to see every scrap as the foundation of a new dish. Just-picked, cut-to-order veggies are paired with a luminous, umami-rich paste made of the fermented offcuts. Grouper bones become crisp biscuits holding caramel made from grouper fat. Smoked oysters lie in a bright dashi cream made from leftover oysters. The "use everything" practice crescendos in a celebration of duck: blushing crown-roasted breast over sake-marinated quince, a celeriac "taco" of richly spiced wing sausage, and leg prosciutto draped over blackened sunchokes. It pairs perfectly with a crunchy Tasmanian pinot meunier and a view of all the action in one of the country's most exciting kitchens.
ABOUT
Chef Ben Devlin
Price guide $$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access Yes
Open Lunch Fri-Sun; Dinner Thu-Sat
Price guide $$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access Yes
Open Lunch Fri-Sun; Dinner Thu-Sat
This review was written independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide's reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way. To learn more about the process, head over here.
