Scott Eddington has poured a whole lot of love – and 20-odd years of kitchen experience – into Arnold’s. His résumé is jam-packed with flavour with time on the pans at Sydney’s Automata and hit North Melbourne Mauritian restaurant Manzé, and that translates to a menu that’s equal parts delicious, discerning and, in his words, zingy.
Here’s what Eddington thinks you should be ordering when you’re next in Kensington.
How about a drink?
We’ve been getting some fun little green tomatoes and treating them as olives. They’ve worked their way into the drinks list as a green tomato Martini, which we love. It’s the Four Pillars olive leaf gin, which is such a fantastic spirit, a good splash of Dolin vermouth and green tomato brine.
Let’s dive into the wine list at Arnold’s. How did it come about?
We did the wine list with a very good friend of ours, Nagesh Seethiah from Manzé, and what we wanted to achieve was a small, ever-evolving wine list that’s got a little bit for everyone. There’s some fun, big wines mixed in with some well-produced Victorian everyday glasses. We wanted to focus not only on good producers, but on great suppliers, too; it’s just so nice to work with such passionate group of people.
We’ve also been loving a lot of wines coming out of Gippsland at the moment, so there’s a few on the list including Allevare from West Gippsland and some fantastic reds from the lovely William Downie.
Got anything light and fresh?
At the moment, moving into spring, it’s been so nice to have some crudos and tartares on the menu. One we’re loving is a little diced oyster blade mixed with tomatillo, heaps of lime, and some almonds. It gets served with a little habanero crème and some mustard leaf to wrap it all up in. Super zingy and a little spicy – the best combo.
What if I like tasty food but don’t eat animals?
Lots of the snacks lean into the animal-free world but it’s the cabbage dish that we’ve been playing with that we all are really loving at the moment. It’s a sugarloaf cabbage, charred, then braised in a white corn adobo and finished off with a green watercress salsa. It’s got such a nice warmth and body with the chillies and the white corn. Big fan of the cabbage.
Is there a dish on your opening menu that captures the Arnold’s vibe?
The flathead crudo at the moment is special. Blue-spot flathead coming from Long Jetty Seafood in Corner Inlet. It’s cleaned and cured, then cut thick and served in a dressing made out of annatto seeds and finished with lots of blood oranges. The dressing is vibrant and punchy and the fish has enough flavour and texture to sit with it, and the oranges just bring it all to life. It’s fresh, bright, delicious and kind of sums up what we want to cook.
Let’s go big. Let’s go crazy. What have you got for us?
We always will have a few cold magnums of wine in the fridge. This weekend it’s Latta’s Rattlesnake, a skin-contact blanc. Perfect for the courtyard in summer.
And to finish?
We have a small list of rotating amari and vermouths that I always love finishing a meal with, but lately I’ve have been loving the Bakery Hill Single Malt Whisky. It’s made around the corner in Kensington.
Arnold’s, 192 Bellair St, Kensington, open Thu 5pm-10pm, Fri 5pm-11pm, Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-6pm, 0477 437 994, arnoldskensington.com, @arnolds_kensington