“One of the backbones of our cooking and philosophy is the principle of sharing, of celebrating food and eating as you would at home with family or friends. We believe in a full circle and not only look at the quality of produce but whether it will be there tomorrow.”

Chicken liver pâté (using livers from the restaurant’s chickens we spit-roast); grilled southern calamari with squid ink dressing; and lamb cutlets with pumpkin skin pickles.

It’s like walking into a farmhouse kitchen, with its loaves of freshly baked bread on display and huge platters of vegetables coming out of the wood-fired oven.

Clearly, this is Mike McEnearney’s restaurant. The Carriageworks Farmers Market creative director knows the best produce in the state, like Russell The Good Garlic Guy’s potatoes, grown under seaweed, and John Farrelly’s Country Valley Milk, pasteurized at low temperatures so that it still tastes natural rather than sweet and cooked.

His menu is heavily plant-based, with stalks saved for stocks, skins and seeds fermented and pickled, and each year he makes the house white wine with organic winemaker David Lowe, and house red with Rose Kentish. Regular diners rave about Mike’s bread with Pepe Saya cultured butter and the fish crudo with mandarin.

“No. 1 Bent St is a beautiful space at The Wintergarden dishing up the kind of seasonal, sustainable menu that is the backbone of McEnearney’s cooking.”

–Alex Greig, Qantas Travel Insider