The team from one of Melbourne’s favourite pasta bars is rewriting the script with its fifth venue, an all-day spot in the business end of town.
The brains behind Tipo 00, one of Melbourne’s most treasured Italian restaurants, are making a bold departure with their next venue, opening in late June beneath a city office block at the business end of town. Harriot won’t be strictly Italian, or strictly any cuisine. Instead, it aims to distil the relaxed refinement found at Europe’s hottest wine bars and new-wave bistros.
James Kelly, a chef with several years’ experience at mod British restaurant Lyle’s in London, and several years at Melbourne’s own Embla, will draw on France, Spain, Italy and the UK for his menus.
“A lot of Harriot is based around James’ food,” says Luke Skidmore, a partner in Conferre Group, which includes Osteria Ilaria, Figlia, Grana and Tipo 00, together covering pizza, pasta, fine dining and a wine bar. Harriot will be the group’s first restaurant without an Italian identity.
“It’s definitely new,” says Skidmore. “But the idea for myself and Andreas [Papadakis, chef and fellow partner] is to support younger staff members to do a venue they want to do.”
Kelly’s menus might include wood-roasted quail with mandarin, pig’s head terrine with raw globe artichoke salad, and spanner crab ravioli with butternut sauce and bergamot. Skidmore describes Harriot’s pastas as “not really Italian, more Spanish and French-influenced”.
The lunch menu will be approachable and zippy, with two pastas, wood-grilled steaks (one big cut for sharing, one smaller), and seafood sourced by Afishonado, which works directly with fishermen.
At dinner, the kitchen will flex its creativity, serving more game and offal, such as lamb sweetbreads with finger lime and witlof.
Supporting Kelly’s menus will be a deep cellar assembled by Justin Howe (currently at Osteria Ilaria), who’s been buying wine for the past two years for the venue.
Skidmore says Harriot draws on cooking and service at some of the team’s favourite restaurants overseas: Parisian spots Septime, Maison Sota and Parcelles, and London’s Brat, Planque and Lyle’s.
“We get quite inspired by [places] where really seasonal produce is delivered in quite a modern bistro way,” says Skidmore.
Harriot sits on the ground floor of a revamped office tower on the corner of Collins and King streets and promises to boost the city’s west-end dining, which is dominated by fast-casual options and franchises.
Studio Esteta’s design marries pink marble, warm timber and deep reds for a warm lived-in feeling. “You want to walk in there and not feel like you’re on King Street,” says Skidmore.
Kelly says working as chef de partie and then senior sous chef at Lyle’s, which closes this month holding a Michelin star, was formative in teaching him about evolving menus and dishes, butchery skills, and using classic techniques to showcase top ingredients. He hopes to bring all that to his first head-chef gig.
“We’re not really planning on having any signature dishes that we’re known for [at Harriot],” he says. “It will hopefully be changing constantly with the seasons.”
The name is a nod to the grand 1880s Federal Coffee Palace that stood on the site until 1973: Harriot was the mother of one of the architects, William Ellerker.
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Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne eating out and restaurant editor.
