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There has been a fair amount of controversy over Fifteen Melbourne. Surprisingly since opening on 20th September 2006 it has been relatively quiet, review wise. Vicious Ange was the first (and only so far) to have a look in. This was followed by the fuss that was the ejection of Stephen Downes, Herald Sun food critic, from Fifteens doors. And Ed over at Tomato has questioned the financial side of the foundation. But at the end of the day, I wanted to reserve my judgement until I had tried it out myself. And now I have.

Housed in the old Momo space, Fifteen has cottoned onto that oh so successful Melbourne equation of locating itself furtively in a laneway in the depths of a basement. I was here for lunch with T, an ol’ friend from way back. We have shared many culinary adventures together, and were looking forward to seeing what Fifteen could come up with.

Descending the stairs one is immediately greeted by a window showcasing the kitchen. It is a somewhat confronting entrance, especially when you find yourself looking down onto an apprentice hard at work trying not to look too self conscious. Zoo-like almost. The exposed brick and stainless steel is quite appealing though, and the little vases of parsley a nice touch.

The word “trattoria style” has been bandied about somewhat by Tobie. But what does this mean? To me it is red and white check tablecloths, candles in empty bottles of Chianti, and a wicker basket for your bread. Fifteen Melbourne is none of this. It is a contemporary and somewhat industrial space, colourful, slick in places and opulent in others. The artists impression of the bar area (which had Jamie aghast), actually works. The raffish colours are complementary and not so “in your face”, probably due to the fact the room is quite dark and offers that detraction.

Our table wasn’t ready on arrival, so we were seated in the bar area and offered the drinks menu. The front of house staff were quite something. Friendly, gregarious and engaging - the banter over the cocktail menu was quite entertaining. I choose a lovely little number called “five”, which was a concoction of pink grapefruit, basil and campari. As T and I kicked back with our aperitifs, we took in the circus that is Fifteen.

Holding up the other end of the table was a production crew of three; sound, camera and director. They were kicking back having a quick drink - obviously nothing worth capturing at that exact moment. But the place was busy. Not a free seat in the house, floor staff were whizzing around with drinks and plates of food, looking quite the part in their funky uniforms. And all eyes are on the open kitchen space. Tobie is at the pass, inspecting and rearranging dishes as they appear. Interestingly there are five qualified chefs on deck and eight apprentices. They are certainly well staffed.

We were shown to our table 20 minutes later and offered the menu, which for lunch is a la carte only (degustation is offered at dinner). The menu is created daily, although I’m sure the majority of it would remain a seasonal standard. Five choices of entree ($17 - $19), pasta ($16 - $20), main ($31 - $38) and dessert ($12 - $20) are offered, all with a decidedly modern Italian influence. Vegetarians can choose from the entree and pasta menu only - there are no main equivalents.

Ciabatta or light rye is offered, with a dipping bowl of Fifteen olive oil. I’m not sure if the bread is done in-house (I suspect not), but the oil was a beautiful late harvest product with plenty of fruit and pepper to tantalise the tastebuds.

For entree I chose the fried zucchini flowers with Murray River salt and lemon. The success of this dish relies entirely on the freshness of the sole ingredient. That being said, firm baby zucchini, still with their flower attached, were battered and deep-fried till crisp and golden. The little spears were generously sprinkled with salt and served with a lemon half. They certainly could be eaten without lemon, but it was a good accompaniment to cut through the fresh oily taste.

T went the finely sliced bresola (sic), roasted golden beets, horseradish creme fraiche, lemon zest and olive oil. This is a dish that certainly has Jamie Oliver written all over it (he of the messy chuck it artfully on a plate and voila!). Strewn haphazardly and horizontally, the shaved bresaola, or air dried salted beef, was dressed simply with olive oil and lemon zest. The teeny golden beets were little gems of sweetness, and the horseradish creme fraiche superbly complimentary. T lamented that there should have been more of the fraiche, just because it was so damn good. A winner of an entree.

I decided to leave the mains and go for the pasta, as the special of potato gnocchi with a ragout of kangaroo tail topped with an orange and rosemary gremolata and parmesan just sounded too damn appetising. The gnocchi were amazingly tender - I suspect they were heavy on the potato and light on the flour. But they were lukewarm, which was a lil’ disappointing. But the sauce - hello…perfection! The kangaroo was so tender it was just about falling to bits, and the caramelly braise of mirepoix added a subtle sweetness. The orange and rosemary gremolata was a superb aromatic highlight that I’ll be sure to add to my culinary repertoire.

T went the stracci pasta (which literally translates to “rags”), cherry tomato and basil sauce with a little balsamic and pecorino cheese. T could not get over how sweet and luscious the cherry tomatoes were. They remained whole, yet were obviously slow cooked/roasted till their natural sweetness came to the fore. The pecorino added the necessary saltiness, and the pasta rags were a delightfully silky.

Before I forget (…and get carried away with dessert), just a quick mention for the waiter who looked after us. She was delightfully knowledgeable on the wine list and recommended a great 2005 tempranillo for me and a voigner for T. Both great selections, despite the fact I forgot their names

Okay…dessert. I decided on the chocolate tart with orange and Vin Santo creme fraiche. The chocolate was unbelievably rich, dark, sweet and bitter in all the right places. The chocolate pastry was very thin and consequently a little overdone. It is always a hard to get it “just right” as you can’t really tell when it’s golden brown, as it’s so dark already! I couldn’t really detect the orange or Vin Santo in the creme fraiche either. But kudos to the absolute perfection of the velvety chocolate interior.

T went the divine vialano nano tiramisu (little twist on the traditional). Vicious Ange chose this dessert on her visit as well, and T concurred that it was an outstanding dish. The twist on the traditional was replacing saviorardi with a creamed coffee infused rice. It was bloody magnificent. And the crostoli were a wonderful touch. Nicely served on a timber board too.

We finished up with an excellent coffee and a bill totalling $158.00. That was for two people who had one cocktail, one glass of wine, entree, main, dessert and coffee each. Pricey? Hell yes. Was the food worth it? Well…er…somewhat. It was amazingly good food and the quality was excellent. But at the end of the day the techniques used to produce the food were not that complex (understandably). Seriously, Fifteen prices are not that far off Vue de monde’s (a mere dollar or two difference in some instances). And I know which one I would rather choose (hands down in fact) in a showdown.

So, in summary:
Pros: Giving disadvantaged youth an opportunity to learn a trade, wonderful use of quality ingredients, good food, location, decor, parsley features hanging from the ceiling, excellent front of house staff, wicked wine list, aesop handwash/cream in the bathroom.
Cons: Price. Crappy unisex toilets with cheap plastic seats.

Written by mellie on October 13th, 2006 | Tags: restaurants | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL