Leftovers: The Best of Bureau 2023
A slapdash grazing board of 2023's highlights
We made it. Like delirious, exhausted chickens settling after a day of frantic coop roaming, we lurch to the end of the year and collapse into our piles of hay. For myself, it’s a peaceful time; my days are spent writing, cooking in the evenings, and imbibing all too readily in the glorious and sundry fermented grain beverages our wonderful city affords. Next week, Bureau’s Top 5 Beers or 2023; you won’t want to miss that. I’m easing out of a trying year, and starting to feel good about life again.
I thought I’d start with a little message for those reading this for whom the holidays are not a celebration; a little more Feast of the Seven Fishes than New York limo pizza. You’re not alone, and you’re not wrong for feeling that way. It’s an intense time; for my friends in the hospitality industry, this past week has been brutal; you’re appreciated. And to those in the retail industry, you deserve a government stimulus cheque for the unordained hell you’ve gone through. Remember to be kind to those behind the counter or wearing an apron this holiday season; they’re just trying to survive like you.
If you’re alone, or feeling alone, that’s okay too: this can be an exhausting period. Whether you’re carrying the weight of others, or you’re a little unmoored in this frightful, tumultuous sea of life, take some pride in just getting here. But whatever you do, don’t forget to do something nice for yourself. 30 minutes, half a dozen oysters, a glass of something bubbly and a turned-off phone could be just what the doctor ordered.
Our year started a little strangely. In January, we were approached by Parisian-based Lampoon magazine about doing a feature on our dearly departed shop Provisions & Periodicals. What I envisioned to be a quick chat, having only really been acquainted with Melbourne food media’s PR-tinged cursory questioning, turned out to be a hard-hitting inquisition. When the article was published in February under the title “Facing the Press Monopoly in Australia”, I was most amused, barely recalling what I even said, the interview having taken place via Zoom from my hotel room after a day of liberal imbibing at the Australian Open. You can read it here:
The following day I had occasion to meet Australia’s Piscatoial prince Josh Niland, surely the most impactful Australian chef on the world stage in my lifetime. Niland was heading up the AO’s celebrity chef offering, and whilst waiting for my yellowfin tuna cheeseburger, we chatted about the rising demands of his new-found stardom. Little did I know at the time, Niland would soon expand his imprint with an international venue, Fysh at Singapore’s Edition hotel. I also couldn't have foreseen how different my life would come to be by the end of the year either: I was now interviewing another Aussie chef, Victor Liong, about a Singaporean venture of his own, for this very newsletter. Victor’s generosity and eloquence when forecasting the trends of 2024 gave a true insight into what lies ahead. Life comes at you fast.
A few other highlights from the year that was:
Being asked to appear on Dani Valent’s Dirty Laundry podcast, in the wake of our shop closing and our newsletter launching, was a cathartic experience. Dani is such an empathetic and caring presence in the Melbourne food landscape, and it really was an honour to be afforded such a platform.
Jay Clough on The Dirty Linen Podcast
By far our most read article of 2023, The Anchovy Toast interview really tapped into something truly organic and ineffable in our Melbourne hospitality community. I still don’t know who Anchovy Toast actually is, but there’s much to be learned from their insights. Do not underestimate the power of the meme.
The Anchovy Toast Interview
New media has taken the Australian restaurant industry into some unpredictable areas in recent years, but few could have predicted the rise of the meme as a form of service journalism. In part a reflection on our dwindling attention spans, in part a testament to the innate and immediate nature of the artform, the internet meme has become the modern shor…
Getting to sit down in person with Mischa Tropp, amongst the excited mess that is a restaurant in opening week, was a great thrill. Hearing about Mischa’s passion for the Toddy Shop concept, and the clarity and wisdom he speaks with, was really enlightening. Certainly one to keep your eye on in 2024.
Mischa Tropp on His Accidental Career
“I guess I accidentally fell into cooking Indian food. I got back from the UK 10 years ago, and I decided to do a pop-up”. If you know Mischa Tropp, it’s no surprise his first foray into the restaurant business was a pop-up. Tropp has made his name as one Melbourne’s most exciting young kitchen voices through a series of temporary rest…
The Bureau Awards 2023
Back in November, upon the occasion of the 2024 Age Good Food Guide launch, we took it upon ourselves to hand out a few gongs of our own. The inaugural Bureau Awards were an instant success, spurring restaurateurs to flood my inbox with thinly veiled bribery in the form of free lunches, and catapulting me into the stratosphere of Melbourne’s most influential food voices. Not really, but lists are fun. If you missed them, read on:
The Bureau Awards
As a little addendum, I thought I’d hand out the inaugural Bureau awards, voted entirely on by yours truly, encapsulating absolutely no criteria other than my own personal opinions.
And while I spent most of the last year busily working on my own venue and having very little time or disposable income to spend at restaurants, I still managed to enjoy a few tasty morsels.
The Best Sandwich of 2023
The absurd rise of the hipster deli sandwich cafe has been Melbourne’s greatest shame in recent years. Hector’s Deli, a concept already deeply appropriative of American sandwich culture, has since become the most ripped off brand per capita in the world. Seemingly every week a new version of Hector’s, with a slightly different name, serving a near identical menu, and espousing a similar Canva-generated aesthetic pops up in a new suburb. And, sickeningly, people absolutely go mad for it, including depending on my level of hungover-ness, myself. For this reason, ALL Hectors-adjacent sandwiches are ineligible for this award, simply because I am sick of the sight of them.
Instead, I’m going to give the award to the excellent Kingsville cafe Nabo, a personal favourite. Nabo’s Scandi-leaning (mostly) plant based menu is a delight, but there are a few indulgent pockets of solace for us dairy enthusiasts, none more enticing than their cheese toastie. A gurgling, molten blend of cheese and charred leek pieces housed under the satisfying crackle of properly toasted bread, elevated with the moreish sweetness of burnt honey and the aroma of thyme. So simple and yet so difficult to execute to this level, a recent visit to Nabo (in an admittedly hungover state) and this toastie elicited a rare primal groan of pleasure. It’s that good.
My Favourite Fancy Meal of 2023
This came early in the piece, as I was able to score a booking at Keralan Feast, Mischa Tropp’s pop up collaboration with the picturesque Avani winery in Red Hill. Everything was delightful, a truly beautiful Summer’s day made better by Tropp’s colourful, textural and deft take on South Indian cuisine. A banana leaf fish curry, so aromatic and delicately prepared, the highlight of a wonderful, generous experience. Tropp is one to watch, and rumours of his return to the scene in a more permanent regard hopefully come true in 2024.
My Favourite Unfancy Meal of 2023
I have long held the view that Mile End Bagels is the best place to eat in Melbourne. No caveats. No supposition. I’m not playing. It’s number one. This largely is fueled by three core truths to the human experience, which every person, no matter what creed or faith, agrees upon:
Bagels are the best food.
Woodfired, crispy bagels are the best type of bagel
MIle End is the only place in Melbourne that does good woodfired bagels.
So there you have it, argument over, I see no reason to continue this debate. MIle End’s monthly specials have been a riot, each one received by my bagel-bae brethren and I like Taylor Swift tickets to a white woman. The breakfast bagel, now happily permanent, was a triumph, a Japanese-style aerated omelette the star. The recent porchetta special was a winner too, but it was their Reuben that sent me into the sort of hedonistic eye rolling state that cements Mile End as my go-to.
The Dish of 2023
I always endeavour to select something from a menu that I’m not innately familiar with, or at the very least seek a staff member’s recommendation as to what they’d order. The two coalesced this year, when to much personal excitement, The French Saloon announced its surprise return from hiatus. A personal fave, and one of the best rooms in the city, Saloon represents so much that is right about hospitality, the food never less than stellar. On this night, their second night back, the effervescent fizz of champagne still alive on my lips, a divine plate hit our table that I now recognise as my favourite dish of 2023. Luxurious, impossibly fatty windows of smoked eel, tessellated across the plate like a mosaic, carefully decorated with batons of green apple and chiffonade herbs. In one corner, a quenelle of doubly dense horseradish creme fraiche, to be spread across the eel, then rolled and devoured by hand, like French temaki sushi. Served cold, billowing smoke permeating the fatty fish created a sense of campfire warmth, the crispness of the apple and insistent, lingering horseradish giving the effect of rising through the air, like fat happy hot air balloons. Yes, I was very happy to be there, and yes, I don’t get out as much as I should, but no dish filled the quadrants of experience, execution, exploration and elegance like this in 2023.
Wishing all of my wonderful subscribers a peaceful, happy holiday. We’ll be back next week with the best beers and new pubs of 2023, and plenty more reading material for your Summer.