Up The Ante!

Declared “Miss Thing” near the rear end of 2022, Ante still remains my favourite restaurant  in all the land. Mentioned in every food and culture journal possible, the nihon-italia cuisine trendsetting, sexier predecessor to new hot girl Ito (yeah I said it), has made such a strong impression in all our hearts. And how is this so? My hypothesis is this.

1. A revolving, seasonal menu. I’m a sucker for seasonal produce, and for meals that are curated with care according to the environment. The level of precision, dedication, research and development needed to procure an evolving, changing- almost daily menu is batshit. The juggling of fatty cuts of meat, fresh citrus, pickled and fermented produce and great carby dishes is expertly handled by Ante. One season, I’m eating a prawn, kanzuri and clementine cassarecce pasta, the next a grilled cut of pork neck with cumquat, or peach, then a turbot with a lemon caper sauce and crisped up potatoes. Insane stuff to me. Every visit is a new encounter in and of itself, which would obviously lap up a great amount of repeat, loyal patrons.
2. Variance in cooking methods and techniques. A traditional Japanese charcoal grill for skewered meats, with a chef fanning the smoke with care; fermenting shiitake mushrooms for their stellar tagliatelle (one of my favourite pastas in Sydney – it’s so comforting, the shiitake is astoundingly bouncy and the sauce is so … oooooughhhh); deep-frying their potato mochi. Ante has a great range in garnish/flavour too – think aleppo pepper, ponzu paired with crème fraiche, burnt honey. With such a range of cooking material and direction in flavour, each plate is of jubilance.
3. She’s capital P – Pretty. When a venue takes the extra mile to consider the way they present their atmosphere, their restaurant identity is made resoundingly clear. I appreciate this dearly. Dimly lit, vinyls revolving for hours, a lit up fridge of multi-coloured sake bottles; Ante takes extraordinary care of its interior. The napkins match, the drinks always have coasters, the glass and ceramic ware is elegant, upscale and droolingly simple. Even in your cocktails (you have to get one) – the ice comes in one, uncracked,  singular prism. They also have an open kitchen. Ohmygod – an *open kitchen*.

Ante’s appeal to me has subsisted in its calculated manoeuvre in all facets of hospitality, the food is astoundingly and obviously great; but the extra mile in its menu curation, service codes and identity takes it for me. The presence of Ante is magnetic but not stand-offish, it’s a real REAL sexy, understated izakaya; and, for me, I think, from here, it’s only up!