THE ROAD TO PARADISE.

The best eating in May is in the backyards, the back streets, and off the beaten tracks.

Everyone has a different idea of Paradise. Mine’s pretty simple – it requires a glass of wine, a good chat, some decent food, and the sense that people are being true to themselves, doing what they’re meant to be doing.

That’s it, done, I’ve found it. The brothers Paradiso have quietly opened a corner bar in the back streets of King’s Cross, and it’s a good place to be. Humble food, wine made by real people, a hand resting on your shoulder, and a kitchen with a wine window.

But then paradise can be whatever you want it to be. A family lunch in the middle of a winery on the Bellarine Peninsula, Thai fried egg salad in an alleyway in Geelong, or a slab of terrine in a backyard of a bottle shop in Paddington.

And if this month’s eating is any indication, then back streets, back yards and laneways are our stairways to heaven.

Let’s downgrade the idea of Paradise to something earthly and achievable, without having to die to get there.

BACKYARD BOUGIE: L’AVANT CAVE, PADDINGTON

I first met Nik Hill when he was cooking in the kitchens of Woolloomooloo’s Old Fitzroy Hotel during the lockdowns. His chicken pot pies – with two chicken feet sticking out the top - made me laugh. His next move, to the rustic first floor digs above P&V wine store in Paddo in 2021, gave him a home and a platform for exploring the classics of French cuisine with wit and shimmy built in (like the whole smoked eel in brioche, its head and tail sticking out either end).

Then in April, he and his business partner Harry Levy took on the menu for P&V’s downstairs courtyard, and called it L’ Avant Cave, because it’s ‘in front of’ the cellar, and also because it’s taking the idea of the cellar forward, with food.

Merimbula Sydney Rock oysters with smoked eel vinegar. Pigeon liver parfait. Oeufs Caesar – hard boiled eggs filled with seafood and topped with a mayo dressing. I like a Plat Provencal of herby, garlicky goats cheese, red pepper and tapenade, and a slab of beautiful pork, prune and pistachio terrine with duck fat toast. It’s wine food, good and simple. “Today’s pours” have a little something for everybody, and a Chateau de Musigny Petit Chablis for me. Nothing fancy, and if it rains, you’re stuffed, but it’s full of low-viz charm.

Big congrats also to Nik Hill for taking off the Golden Knife in the Bocuse D’Or competitions in Melbourne last week. He’s now on a journey towards the 2029 finals in Lyons. From a Paddo backyard to the world. P&V Paddington, 268 Oxford Street, Paddington. L’ Avant Cave. pnvwinemerchants.com

ON SONG: SONG BIRD, DOUBLE BAY

Neil Perry opened Song Bird in 2024, as the second stage of his take-over of Double Bay; Margaret being the first. I thoroughly enjoyed it because I’m a fan of classic Cantonese, but it didn’t capture the wider public imagination as much as it could. So he’s shifted gears, moving it more towards the modern Asian schtick we know and love from his former Wokpools and Spice Temples, etc, mixing up the dishes of Sichuan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Core Perry.

I ate at the ‘new’ Song Bird with Neil and his wife Sam, as their guest, and we chowed through some beautiful coral trout, crab noodles, and a lovely dish of roast duck with orange and caramel that builds a bridge between East and West. The wow dish is the Sichuan beef tartare, jumping with pickled ginger, tomato and Sichuan pepper, served with crisp wontons for crunch; what a winner.

The décor is softer, the service has kicked in, and the wine list has everything from 2023 Grosset Riesling to 2015 Chateau Latour. Perry is carving off the extraneous (Bobbie’s cocktail bar below) and sticking to his main guns; good move. 24 Bay Street, Double Bay. themargaretfamily.com.au

BIRD OF A DIFFERENT FEATHER: SONGBIRD, GEELONG

This Songbird is different - fresh, punchy northern Thai straight off the BBQ. It used to be Igni, the fire-driven, two-hatted fine-diner in a back street of Geelong run by Aaron Turner, Joanna Smith and Drew Hamilton. They still own and run the joint, but these days, head chef is their old mate Nathan Lancaster, who developed his love of Thai food while working with James Syhabout at Hawker Fare in San Francisco (now shuttered).

His love for it is real, and so is the cooking, jumping with lime juice, chilli and aromatics, punctuated by the mesmerising clang, clang of the pounding of pastes and smashing of coriander roots in a mortar. The concept works. Diners come early, drink Thai Slipper cocktails and love the charred BBQ chicken. It also works to bring life and energy to the dark and moody space, and works, too, for the dream team of Jo and Drew on the floor as they shake cocktails, pour SingHas and Full Moon Chalawan Pale Ales, talk food and cover the wipe-clean tables with plates. They’re a chef down in the kitchen tonight, so Aaron in his trucker cap is on duty on the smoky grill.

Have-to-haves: the Fried Egg Salad (Yum Kai Dao), in which eggs are tossed into oil until puffy and fluffy, and doused with a ladleful of sharp, sweet, fruity cherry tomatoes, pounded garlic, shallots, lime and coriander roots, with palm sugar and lime juice.

Also the Goong Paoi Skull Island grilled prawns with naam jim Talay. The Sai Oua grilled pork sausage with curly crunches of pork crackling. The skewered Luk Chin Moo Ping meatballs. The fiery, juicy, textural duck laap; the best I’ve had. Not so much, the bone-in satay kra-toog nua short ribs. I didn’t quite get them - a bit pasty, like eating carpet samples. But every single dish is distinct, every bite smoky, every sauce and dressing clean and sharp and cut-through. No passengers here. Rear, 205-207 Moorabool St, Geelong songbirdthaibbq.com

TEST MATCH: KOLKATA CRICKET CLUB, MELBOURNE

Dropped into Mischa Tropp’s new Kolkata Cricket club at Melbourne’s Crown Casino to see what’s happening. There’s a good sense on nostalgia, with old cricket matches playing on the telly, portraits on the wall, nice big booths, white-clothed tables and dark woods; and in the way the dishes come out on huge trays, to be served to the table.

Start with a Marigold martini and puchka - hollow, paper-thin ball of puri filled with spiced potato to which you add a tamarind dressing.

I’m not a huge fan of butter chicken – beginner’s food - but I am a huge fan of kosha mangsho, or goat curry. Cooked on the bone, the meat is then taken off and left to swim in rich gravy, topped with the crunch of deep-fried shallots. Giant, puffy naan, not too oily. Good rice. Don’t need much more than that, really. The thin dahl isn’t my favourite; I prefer a thicker texture.

The way Tropp adds a modern twist is reminiscent of Adam D’ Sylva’s Coda, and the nostalgia takes me back to a lot of my old London/Indian dining. Really good team on the floor, personable and pro-active. Level 1, Crown Melbourne, Southbank kolkatacricketclub.com

RABBITING ON: JACK RABBIT, BELLARINE PENINSULA

Wafting around the Bellarine Peninsula is always a good thing, whether you’re getting your tomatoes from Lonsdale Tomato Farm, stocking up on Lard Ass butter, or drinking local wines and beers. The sleepy no-pub coastal hamlet of Ocean Grove is jumping with new life, with the fun Mona cicchetti bar, Kala Greek taverna and newcomer Red Park, a café by day and pizza and wine bar by night; all run by keen young teams.

Jack Rabbit is a household name in these parts, located on a stunning spot in the winery, overlooking the bay. Lyndsay and David Sharp also run Leura Park Estate, Flying Brick Cider Co, and the Curlewis Golf Club, and probably more that I don’t know about. They’ve done a lot for the area, and the menu is proudly local. There’s a casual House of Jack Rabbit (have the Portarlington mussels), and a finer diner called Jack Rabbit.

A motley bunch of Duracks and Dupleixs rolled up for lunch, drank the house’s own wine, and dined on prawn tortellini with pickled Portarlington mussels, tomato consommé, bronze fennel and artichoke; Western Plains pork belly; and Great Ocean confit duck. Caring young staff, a great sense of place, and an ever-changing panorama of sheer bloody “weather” unfolding across the sky. 85 McAdams Lane, Bellarine Vic. jackrabbitvineyard.com.au

SPANISH-LED MED IN OXFORD STREET: CANESS, PADDINGTON.

Newcomer Caness has done a great job of building a warm, darkly inviting dining room into the space that used to be Farm Fresh Foods. People walking past stop and stare at the bottle-lined walls, blackboards of wines, and big bunches of Mediterranean herbs hanging in the smoke of the grill at the rear. Owner Erez Nahum (ex Shaffa) has brought in former Shaffa head chef, Juan Colmenares to do a sort of Spanish-led Med tapas menu.

Dishes such as the big fluffy puff of kombayeh bread, and a lemony brandade, are good to share, and charred lamb and chicken skewers show off the grill. Sweet spot: the Basque cheesecake is enriched with halva, which actually works. 362 Oxford Street, Paddington caness.com.au

A SLICE OF HEAVEN: PARADISE, POTTS POINT

This tiny corner-store-turned-wine-bar in the back streets of King’s Cross is jumping out of its skin by the time I wander in at 8pm. It’s not surprising, when you consider the very extended ‘family’ that has been drawn to brothers Enrico and Giovanni Paradiso in their 24 years at Fratelli Paradiso in Challis Street, on the other side of Potts Point.

Perch at the bar or at the large communal table at the back under the distinctively high ceiling, or at a tiny table on the street, and check out the blackboard for some ‘slow food’ ideas dreamed up by chefs Trisha Greentree and Francesco Ruggiero of Frat Paz and 10 William St respectively. The kitchen is as big as a cupboard, with no gas and no coals. Less, in this case, is more, and the cooking is direct, responsive and as long-flavoured as a nonna’s.

Start with Fiore’s Spiga (like the French epi), and a dish of fleshy vongole in a pond of mussel stock, wine and oil (and the secret ingredient of lardo). Another soupy dish, of stewy lentils with short, thin pasta, is real cucina povera. A chicken ballotine has a prune and pistachio stuffing – there’s a French accent in a lot of these dishes - and a side of wilted greens.

So yes, there’s food, but it’s not a restaurant, it’s a wine bar that just so happens to have real food on the side. “I don’t want another wine bar becoming a restaurant, because that’s what they all become,” says Gio.

First visit, I had the white wine they were pouring that night. You drink what they’re drinking. Second visit was a take-over by wine importer Giorgio Di Maria and Italian wine-maker Gian Marco Antonuzi of Le Coste Di Gradoli, just north of Rome, which led to an exploration of just what sort of wines you can make from iron-rich volcanic soils, hard work and masterly judgement - across juicy Rosato, tannic Syrah and fruity Pinot Noir. I’d call them ‘food wines’, but they’re almost food themselves.

The name of the game at Paradise is hospitality. As Gio says, “a lot of kids ask me for advice, but I don’t give advice. All I say to them is whatever you do, do it with integrity and you’ll be okay.”

Note: The boys don’t do social media, but it’s going to get rammed anyway. For everyone’s sake, please don’t start queuing - it’s not a cronut. Just stay cool, respect the 'hood, and come back another time.

As George Ezra sings in his hit song, Paradise, meet me there.

Time to wrap it up for May. Thanks for joining me. As always, I’ll note if and when I was a guest (thanks Neil and Sam! Next dinner’s on me). I’ve also made a later edit on chef names for Paradise. Next month’s post will be interesting - to me, at least - as I’ll be travelling OS for a few weeks. Hit the subscribe button below, if you haven’t already, and you’ll get the June report in your inbox, last Friday of the month. Thanks, Terry.