Hayden McMillan’s Etta one of Melbourne’s Best

A number of Melbourne’s best-known restaurateurs and chefs opened new venues in 2017, and they did not disappoint. This was a year for the industry veteran with a precise and emphatic vision, executed with style. New Zealander Hayden McMillan’s Brunswick East restaurant Etta is one of Broadsheet’s favourite openings.

“McMillan (formerly of The Roving Marrow) runs [the] restaurant with wife Dominique Fourie McMillan, and Hannah Green. McMillan and Green used to work together at Neil Perry’s Rosetta and regularly ate together at The Roving Marrow where the group concocted their own future diner,” Katya Wachtel writes for the Australian online city guide.

“Etta is just the right mix of polish and warmth. It feels like a special, elevated local, as well as a casual fine diner worth travelling to from other parts of the city.

“More than half of McMillan’s seasonal menu is vegetarian. Dishes include tamari- and brown-sugar-roasted buttercup pumpkin served with a dairy-free sunflower cream, and Flinders Island lamb marinated in a cumin and fennel seed dry rub cooked on a Japanese-style binchotan charcoal grill.

“We can’t remember having a better crumbed whiting. And the bread – well. It’s doughy, warm and dense for a start. It’s got to be some of the best in Melbourne. Lathered with the accompanying burnt butter? Unforgettable.”

Original article by Katya Wachtel, Broadsheet, December 13, 2017.

Photo by J Forsyth.