Get ready for a new take on the food of the Iberian peninsula as restaurateurs Ross and Sunny Lusted make their Melbourne debut with Marmelo. This beautiful two-level space, which fronts the glam new Melbourne Place hotel on Russell Street, takes Portugal as its guiding inspiration. In the hands of Ross, a chef with many, many runs on the board from years of work with Rockpool, Darley Street Thai, Aman resorts, and he and Sunny’s own hit Sydney restaurants The Bridge Room and its successor Woodcut, it’s a boldly imagined tour of the maritime nation’s food, and the places it has been influenced by and influenced, all brought to the plate with Lusted’s signature rigour and finesse.
Here are his rigorously finessed thoughts on how you might tackle things on your first visits.
Portuguese food, you say?
When I started cooking Thai food it unearthed in me a questioning of everything I knew about food and its history, my South African heritage and why our coriander seeds were different to Indian coriander seeds. As I delved deeper, it was the Portuguese that dominated my food memories from shared meals in Durban to Peranakan Street food in Singapore and the best and worst of pastel de nata.
The Portuguese charted the waters of the Atlantic, the African coast and on to the Americas and, of course, their largest trading post Macau, which they leased from the Ming Dynasty in 1557. As a seafaring nation, their influence has been felt the world over and the bounty of their travels has made it one of the most diverse countries in Europe. Spices from the Orient, chilli from Africa and rice from the Americas combined with the rich sea life of the cold Atlantic waters makes for a food with a history of discovery and creativity. As a chef I live for the journey and for me this has manifested in Marmelo. It’s a menu of travel, of collected flavours, of discovery.
If this is our first experience with Portuguese food, what should we expect?
The familiar and the unexpected. What looks like a crème caramel is a pudim abade de prisco “a 19th-century custard made with port and pork fat”. Clams with white wine and garlic is a familiar dish in Europe; in Portugal the Vinho Verde is as unique as the addition of coriander and coriander seeds. The stale bread seafood stew acorda, I’ve cooked down to a rich punch of umami in a single spoon served with marron slow cooked in butter, the humblest dish refined and elevated. But the one ingredient that has shaped the food of Portugal above all else is salt cod. At Marmelo we salt large Murray cods and roast the bones, which are used for the rich “stock fish”-based sauces. Throughout the menu there are the classic nods to Europe with a huge punch of African herbs and spices.
E se adoramos comida Portuguesa e já comemos muito – o que recomenda então?
The Portuguese start their day at the pastelaria with coffee and pastries sweet and enriched with egg yolks. Salgados, or snacks, usually eaten before 11am, are salty and briny and smaller than petiscos, which are eaten later in the day. Caldo verde, a soup made with potato, collard greens and chourico, is a favourite of mine with a crusty roll. Fish with stock-rich rice, beef grilled over charcoal with bitter leaves are served at lunch and dinner, and if you think you can’t eat any more there is always the late-night café serving bifana, thin slices of pork cooked in chourico butter. So, my only recommendation is that you leave a little room after every meal.
If we’re just looking for a casual snack, what does Marmelo offer in that department?
Bar Marmelo is a drop-in bar where our salted Murray cod croquette is served with rich garlic cream and hot mustard sauce, great with a cold beer or a glass of Anselmo Mendes, Muros Antigos a Loureiro from Vinho Verde. Another favourite: the jamon and sheep’s cheese bikini with – what else? – a Martini. Martinis and bikinis. How can you say no?
What if we want to go big – like, muito, muito grande? Lobster party?
Is the anchovy the caviar of the Atlantic Ocean? Anchovies are processed, stored and sold in varying qualities of oils. Originally these delicate fish were stored in butter as olive oil was a currency like salt and cod. There are only a handful of anchovy processors still packaging anchovies in butter, almost as expensive as caviar. We have been able to secure this seasonal product as an exclusive to Marmelo. At Marmelo we will serve this delicacy gently warmed in the tin to release their oils and not to be wasted the butter is poured over wood-oven bread. As muito grande as it gets.
You’re famous in Sydney for offering some of the best steaks in town at Woodcut. Are we going to see a little bit of that action at Marmelo?
Portugal and Spain are famous for their wood-grilled beef, served salty and rare, it’s the best way to enjoy the Galician breeds. In looking for beef to cook at Marmelo we didn’t have to go very far. Fourth-generation cattle farmers John, Keith, Alex and Chauncey Hammond have been breeding wagyu on Robbins Island since the early 1990s. I love the unique flavour of the beef, and it works very well on the grill. (The short answer is yes.)
How do vegetarians fare?
Vegetables make up a huge part of the Portuguese diet. Pickles and preserves allow vegetables to be enjoyed throughout the year. Like the famous Bolhão market in Porto, Melbourne is blessed to have markets in and around the city where vendors are so connected to the local growers. Markets always inspire, and Melbournians are always eager to talk about their produce and food culture that makes this city unique.
We’re all about Victorian-grown produce here; what are some of the standouts from Vic growers, fishers and farmers?
I love the proximity to the producers in Victoria, I have in years past made cheese in Castlemaine with Carla and Ann-Marie from Holy Goat and Ivan and Julie Larcher from Long Paddock Cheese, and I’m working on a Basque-style cheese that I’d like to see come to life at Marmelo. Fish from Corner Inlet is exceptional, of course, and being so close to the source makes a huge difference.
You and Sunny are famously big on detail in your venues. Is there anything in particular about the design or fit-out that you’d love guests to notice?Restaurants are spaces that thrive with people in them. Adrian Zecha, the founder of Aman, asked me once to define luxury, I talked about marble, fabrics, lighting. He said, “No, they are all the things we can control. Luxury is everything that happens between the elements that we can’t control”. It’s the breeze, the morning sun, it is the unexpected. I’ve always tried to remember this in the spaces we create. Our wish is that each time our guests return to Marmelo they will notice a new detail and they will fall deeper in love with the space.
And to finish? A sweet thing? A drink? More salt cod?
Ginjinha is a Portuguese liqueur made with wild berries and cherries. It is served in shot glasses all over Portugal and in Sintra I had it with sour cherries in a little chocolate cup. We have a local distiller making our version here in Melbourne as we start to get better and better cherries. It is the perfect way to end your night at Marmelo, Ginjinha in a chocolate cup.
Marmelo, Melbourne Place, Ground Floor/130 Russell St, Melbourne, (03) 7035 2999, open noon-11pm Tue-Sat, marmelorestaurant.com.au, @marmelorestaurant