Hearth Restaurant Perth – Chef’s Counter
Monica Tindall
We hit the WA culinary trail with a running start on our first evening in Perth! We’ve scored seats at Hearth Restaurant’s Chef’s Counter and are ready for a personal introduction to gourmet Western Australia with Chef de Cuisine Brian Cole.
Hearth Restaurant is located in The Ritz-Carlton, Perth, on the edge of Elizabeth Quay. It boasts three hats in the AGFG Chef Hat system, Australia’s equivalent of the Michelin Guide. The design is modern and sophisticated, with a touch of warmth and elegance. Large windows and white shutters create a bright, airy atmosphere, while clean lines and minimalist decor give the restaurant a sleek, contemporary look. The versatile kitchen serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with special experiences like the Chef’s Counter, which we’re about to discover.
Chef’s Counter – Hearth Restaurant Perth
The Chef’s Counter experience is an interactive five-course menu (AUD 180) paired with premium local wines (AUD 160) if you so choose. Everything on the menu has been meticulously chosen to emphasise the unique flavours of the region, and that wine list is worth a visit all on its own – 43 wines by the glass! The Coravin system allows more than a few premium drops to be part of the compilation.
Chef Brian Cole welcomes us to two bar seats at the counter with a close-up view of the kitchen. He’s smiley and friendly, lighthearted and generous with his laughter. We immediately like him. Not only does the restaurant hold three hats, but Brian was also named WA Good Food Guide’s Young Chef of the Year 2024! We are in for a treat!
Brian shares that most of the ingredients are sourced from Western Australia, paying tribute to the native lands and six seasons. The hearth is the restaurant’s centre; every dish comes from the fire or a derivative, such as ash or smoke. Nothing is given away in the menu; it’s simply a list of one ingredient per course. Brian tailors experiences to individual guests – the menu is just a guideline, he says.
Sparkling
With the hotel turning five this year, we start with a sparkling celebration with another five-year-old, the 2019 Howard Park Grade Vintage Jete, Mount Barker, WA. The chardonnay and pinot blend is made with a secondary fermentation in the bottle, creating those characteristic bubbles and complexities associated with the best of the best. It’s a vintage sparkling wine that is only made in years when the grapes are fab.
A Bundle of Leaves
The experts say eat your veggies first, and Chef ensures our nutritional needs are met with what he calls ‘a bundle of leaves.’ Red elk, red mizuna, tatsoi, and gem lettuce are wrapped in a white onion ring, resembling a napkin holder. I love the diversity of flavours in greens, but here, the lemon myrtle tartare sauce topped with a five-spice dukkah steals the show. Lemon myrtle, anise myrtle, wattle seed, bush tomato, and pepper berry create a crunchy topping that we’re hoping Chef will sell us to take home. We grab the leaves and drag them through the sauce, attempting to clean the plate. It’s wonderfully refreshing with a zesty herbaceousness teasing our tastebuds.
Caviar
Even though it’s not listed, Chef says he likes to have a caviar course on every menu. Tonight’s recipe is a brand-new creation, and we’re the first to try it! It’s a trio of tobiko (orange), Aquna Gold Murray cod caviar (pale straw) and Asetra caviar (black) that sits atop herbed sour cream with fennel and garlic chive oil, giving an attractive green ring. Redback ginger (like the spider) gives a lovely lemon fragrance with a soft ginger kick. The caviar is fancy, but oh gosh, do I love a bouncy crumpet, especially one that’s been grilled with brown butter. They’re hot off the charcoal, and the cream melts into the surface, the spongey holes absorbing the dairy. The eggs offer tiny juicy pops that are elegant, like a fine sparkler, rather than the kaboom of a firecracker. It’s a winner!
Bread
The bread course is the result of 18 months of work. It’s a light sourdough with a thin, crunchy crust and fluffy middle. Three types of barley – Pharmfarm black barley (an ancient grain brought to life by a WA professor), dark roasted malt barley and pearl barley cooked in local beer – go into the dough. The shape and faint beer whisper remind me of dampers my dad used to make in the pot belly stove while camping. This beauty has been left to ferment for 48 hours before being cooked first at a high temperature to achieve the crisp crust, then at a reduced heat for the soft interior. The butter has been mixed with wagyu beef fat trimmings and smoked hickory powder, then set into a mould reminiscent of a mooncake top. It’s rich already, but a sprinkling of smoked salt with Davidson plum, vinegar powder, and wattle seed, followed by a final drizzle of Davidson plum honey, ensures every tastebud is treated.
Chef knows a lot about indigenous produce and happily answers all of my nerdy questions. He notes how important it is to enjoy these native ingredients as they really are. They’re often bitter, sour and salty, not always attractive to the modern palate. However, this is their beauty. They have not been genetically adapted. It’s untampered history in every bite.
Lobster
Geraldton rock lobster surprises us with a wagyu beef tongue companion. Both proteins are actually quite similar in texture, and the tongue’s smokey cider vinegar and black peppercorn preparation is an excellent complement. An aromatic oil of lobster shells, curry leaves, galangal and lime leaves elevates the flavours and katsuobushi (bonito flakes) adds umami. It’s covered with pickled kohlrabi, pink emerald finger lime pearls and a marigold leaf. Lastly, it’s drizzled with dill oil. I love these fresh flavours, and it’s early in the evening, but I already have a feeling that this will be my favourite dish.
White
The wine mate also rates high on my scorecard. The 2024 Riesling Gewurztraminer Pinot Grigio blend, Battles Blendaberg, Frankland River, is a lovely summer wine. However, summer does not meet trivial. This is a serious wine with a complex bouquet of lychee, tropical fruits and a whisper of petroleum. It’s light and crisp, playing well with the seafood and citrus in the lobster dish.
Octopus
The artsy seaside suburb of Fremantle provides us with the protagonist for the next recipe, octopus. It’s layered atop a nduja emulsion (spicy Italian sausage) with fragrant white onion and cream. Charred kale with brown butter and crispy saltbush are deep fried and seasoned with vinegar powder. Society garlic flowers are pretty and pungent. Aquna Gold Murray cod caviar adds a dainty, crunchy texture on top, and tiny desert limes ring the plate. There are many new ingredients here, so trying them separately is fun, but ideally, they’re best eaten together.
White
Restaurant manager Thomas Staples confides having a man crush on the winemaker behind the 2023 Chardonnay L.A.S. Vino Wildberry Springs, Margaret River, WA. Nic Peterkin has wine in his blood with his family leading Pierro and Cullen wines. He was named Ray Jordan’s 2024 Winemaker of the Year and seems to have a cult following amongst those in the know. Our first sip of this biodynamic chardonnay has us quickly on the bandwagon. It’s all the wonderful things from this region – stone fruit, citrus, and a whisper of flint. Yet, there’s also elegant macadamia and faint creaminess, which gives complexity and length.
Off Menu
Chef intrigues us with an off-menu dish, telling us all of the ingredients, bar one, instead insisting we guess. Apparently, no one has yet been correct, so it’s game on for The Yum List. The known components are charred rainbow trout, braised cuttlefish from Shark’s Bay, cocktail onions, gherkins and dill. The fish sports a paper-thin, crispy skin and moist flesh. As I pick and think, Chef says, “I want you guys to be intrigued by what you’re eating.” I take my guess, and Chef cheers that I’m correct; I’m the only one to ever pick it. I’m unsure if he’s playing me, but either way, I’m not divulging the secret. You’ll have to let me know if your speculation is also accurate.
Red
I can totally relate to the story behind the name of the accompanying 2023 Tempranillo, Dormilona from Margaret River. Dormilona means sleepyhead in Spanish and was a nickname given to the Aussie winemaker when studying in Spain. A surfer, she was used to going early to bed and early to rise. However, the Spanish culture is the complete opposite. While her Spaniard colleagues were having their late-night evening meal, she was always fast asleep – hence the name and tribute to the Iberian grape. The bold red fruits typical of the varietal are immediately present, and serving it slightly chilled softens the tannins and brings the aromas to the forefront.
Duck
The duck in the next course comes from Wagin, the home of the “Big Ram” (everywhere in Australia, there is something big; my mum lives in the town of the Big Banana). However, this is poultry, not lamb, and not a single part is wasted. It’s been deboned, dry-aged for seven days, marinated in liquid koji, smoked with honey, and grilled over the fire with fennel pollen. The legs have been turned into char siew (a taste of home), and the bones are roasted down into a jus with rosella liquid. It’s been on the menu since opening, and each season is a different rendition. This year, it’s complemented with rosella jam, candied rosella flowers, and a sticky pink peppercorn and rosella sauce. White onion is soft with duck fat, and we can’t stop scooping back into the sweet and acidic sauce.
Red
The wine mate, a 2022 Shiraz from Forest Hill, Margaret River, comes from WA’s first cool climate vineyard. It’s a great expression of the grape, deep purple in colour, with spice, fruit and elegance. Its “fruit and spice and all things nice”, like the W. H. Davies poem, encourages us to slow down and appreciate the small moments. Its grace is perfect for the duck, not overpowering it, and the fruity notes go beautifully with the faint gaminess of the meat.
Pork or Beef
A series of three questions allows us to choose our own adventure for the main:
- Beef or pork?
- Savoury or sweet?
- Spicy or salty?
They’ve been telling us for decades that opposites attract, and it couldn’t be more obvious in our answers. Me: pork, savoury and spicy and Hubby: beef, sweet and salty.
Pork
My creation – chef jokes, if you don’t like it, remember you created it – has two slices of sous-vide pork belly sirloin brushed with pork lard and seasoned with smoked salt. The savoury component is a burnt pumpkin puree; the spicy bit is a burnt chilli jam (like a spicy barbecue sauce). Blanched broccolini and a single red-vein sorrel leaf compose the mandatory green balance. It’s matched expertly with the 2017 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon. A layered nose of dark berries, spice and chocolate is carried over into the palate, and it heads out with a lengthy, elegant texture.
Beef
Hubby’s wagyu comes from Pardoo in Broome. Braising breaks the sinewy thread in the oyster blade down to a glutinous texture, and the robust meat is brushed with brown butter and smoked salt. His sweet addition is onion jam, and the salty component is black garlic emulsion. The beef syrup is thick and seasoned with fermented muntries (tiny native berry-like fruits). The tart acidity to the jus with roasted hazelnut oil and pomegranate molasses is yum!
Also from Cape Mentelle, the beef’s partner is a 2018 Margaret River Zinfandel. Black Forest cake aromas are bright and layered with warm herbs and floral notes woven through. Balanced in acidity and tannins, it’s an excellent food wine.
Desserts
We catch Chef saying desserts plural when the menu only lists one and prepare ourselves for another off-menu item. The pre-dessert is his take on strawberries and cream. First, strawberries are grilled with smoked honey, then comes aromatic strawberry gum jelly, sheep’s yoghurt curd with Greek yoghurt (hung to remove excess liquid, then whipped to make it light), chewy vanilla cookies, and a crown of elderflower granita, lime juice and agar agar. The final flourish is a spray of Geraldton wax oil, its floral nature bringing everything together. It’s refreshing and fragrant, an excellent palate cleanser.
Chocolate
Our final sweet is a thought-provoking twist on sweet and salty (think salted caramel but more gourmet) with Bahen & Co chocolate mousse, wattleseed and burnt macadamias drizzled in miso caramel. The textures are light and fluffy, dense and chewy, and creamy and rich with bittersweetness stabilised with savoury miso. It’s another yum.
Sticky
For me, it’s usually wine or dessert but not both, but when you’re dining with WA’s Young Chef of the Year in a three-hatted restaurant, you want to be sure to experience everything on offer. And so it is that our evening is drawn to a close with a chilled glass of 2024 Fraser Gallop Estate Ice-pressed Chardonnay from Margaret River. It’s never cold enough in this part of the world to make ice wine, so they pick the grapes late when they are ripe with sugar, then put them in a giant freezer shipping container and extract the juice with an air press. It’s structured and well-deserving of the name “sticky”, the salty elements in the dessert making the wine pop.
Reasons to visit Hearth Restaurant Perth: dine up close and personal with the charming, vibrant, and fun WA Young Chef of the Year Brian Cole; enjoy an exceptional wine list with 43 (!) available by the glass; and I’d return for food or wine on their own—both were that good—but together, they are unforgettable.
Hearth Restaurant
The Ritz-Carlton, Perth
1 Barrack St, Perth WA 6000, Australia
Link to Hearth Restaurant on Google Maps
+61 8 6559 6822
www.hearthrestaurant.com.au
Hearth Restaurant Opening Hours
Daily: 6:30 am – 10:30 pm
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