apera

The apera kitchen is helmed by Jenny Shaw and Ryan Blagrove, who have drawn upon a plethora of local and international experience to produce a seasonal menu of uniquely Australian dishes. Shaw (Palisade Hotel, The Kitchen Nook) met Blagrove (Marco Pierre White’s The Queensbury), five years ago when she opened sustainable café, Suzie Q Coffee & Records, in Surry Hills.

At apera, the culinary duo are guided by their shared and evident love of Australian produce and commitment to sourcing ingredients as locally and ethically as possibly. Their short, but ever-changing shared dining menu features a selection of small plates to start, alongside rotisserie and wood-fired mains – the latter being a nod to their childhood summers spent cooking over campfires. Think Sydney rock oysters with finger lime and Tasmanian pepper, New South Wales clams with samphire and nduja oil, cauliflower with Birch’s Bay manchego, sage and Riverina hazelnuts, Cowra pasture-fed lamb shoulder with Warrigal greens and chimichurri, and Bannockburn salted chicken. Native ingredients also shine in the desserts with red gum fired pear, lavender crumble, vanilla ice cream and iron bark honey; rhubarb, lemon curd, shortbread and river mint; and chocolate mousse, mandarin, hazelnut and wattleseed praline.

The Australian-heroed philosophy extends to the drinks list, featuring a strong repertoire of Australian spirits, liqueurs and amaros. Bar manager Jordan Blackman has celebrated our growing drinks industry of new distilleries and boutique producers, such as handcrafted sodas from PS40, sheep’s whey vodka from Hartshorn Distillery in Tasmania and amaro from Applewood Distillery. Blackman’s signature cocktail is the apera Negroni – a witty nod to Australia’s love of beetroot with house made woodfired beetroot vermouth, Adelaide Hills bitter orange aperitif and a sugar snap pea gin. The cocktails are perfectly complemented by a bar menu of light snacks, like Toolumka Creek marinated olives, Gembrook Farm fries and Gould’s semolina squid, saffron aioli and citrus.

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Quadrangle Shopping Village, 23-26/100 Edinburg Road
Castlecrag

Wed – Sat 11am – midnight

Sun 11am to 10pm