Restaurant Amuse, East Perth
Eight years on, Restaurant Amusé sits in a different landscape. Jackson’s, Star Anise, The Loose Box all gone. Many of Perth’s remaining fine diners have capitulated to the shared-plate revolution and formal has loosened up. Hadleigh and Carolynne Troy know how to straddle the void while staying true to the degustation that’s made their name. A nostalgic ice-breaker is hands on, a curried egg and cos appetiser evoking a ’70s dinner party or Sunday at Nanna’s, depending on your age.
As a chef in Western Australia, Hadleigh Troy is spoilt for choice. Beef from the Great Southern cooked over coals is served with capers and cornichon. A risotto eschews rice for buckwheat, with pickled purple carrot, marron tail and claw; enveloped by a brûléed sabayon, made from a bisque of marron heads and carrot juice, it reveals itself piece by piece. This standout is paired with a funky orange wine from Jauma, whose freestyle winemaking is a mirror to the invention at Amusé.
The landscape may have changed, but the Troys’ vantage point is still high above the chasers of fashion and favour.
Must eat: Beef, apple, coal and celeriac
Source: The Australian, 21st August 2015
Originally published as: Restaurant Amuse, East Perth
