Review: Ides, a pop up by some of Melbourne's hottest young chefs
Once a month, Persillade in East Melbourne plays home to Ides, a fine dining pop up experience headed up by Peter Gunn, sous chef at Melbourne fine dining institution Attica. For $100 (or $150 with paired drinks), diners are treated to a degustation including bread, snacks, four savoury courses, one dessert and one sweet. I went along on Monday (a chef’s Sunday) 30th June, eager see what Gunn — along with sous chef Mal Meiers of The Commoner and pastry chef Will Jardine of The Builder’s Arms — could come up with in their limited time off from their day jobs.
Our table for two was booked for 7pm, relatively early in the staggered seating process. When we arrived, there were only two tables already moving through the degustation. Raffaelle Mastrovinenco, Ides’ heavily-bearded sommelier and DJ, was pouring wine and chatting with a table of six twenty-somethings (which let’s face it, we’re less likely to see at Attica or The Commoner). Persillade’s natural wine bottle lights juxtaposed with white cloth napkins lent a polished DIY feel to the space, inhabited by young but serious-faced chefs in the small exposed kitchen in the corner of the restaurant. Not wanting to commit to the full pairing, we asked Mastrovinenco to recommend three glasses over the several courses. We were open minded, so long as there was a white and a red included. Our preferences were funky and Australian, and he delivered. Patrick Sullivan’s orange sauvignon was the highlight, served just after the snacks and before the savories. The Story marsanne blend was oily and light, served at room temperature.
We started with a sesame sourdough by Matt Forbes’ (of doughnut fame) café  Cobb Lane, which was delicious. Of the following snacks, the standout was a melonball-sized each piece of confit pumpkin, which was then deep-fried and served with ginger mayo and a mulberry. It packed a punch with a tangy and floral aftertaste. Like everything that would follow, the presentation was simple and scandi-like, but elegant. It looked like what it says on the tin: a little bit fine dining, a little bit pop up.
The monochromatic kojac noodle soup in a plum wine broth was definition umami; it managed to be thick and heavy in the mouth and light in the stomach, placed perfectly at the beginning of the savoury courses. My dining partner, a chef himself, named this as his highlight dish. The complexity disguised in visual simplicity may be lost on non-chef diners, but it was certainly tasty.
It’s difficult to pick a standout savoury, with each of the four being comprised of approachably flavours then reimagined with exotic cooking techniques that sometimes rendered them unrecognizable. The prawn tartare with onions two ways (pickled and fried) and wild cabbage flowers was the most exciting take on this classic I’ve seen. Brussels sprouts with pureed avocados and jerusalem artichoke melded several pleasing textures, but could have done with a touch less vinegar. The currants, however, cut through with a welcome sweetness. In fact, I could have done with just a touch more – enough to have some in every bite.
Ides menu doesn’t deviate from the standard snack-savoury-cheese-dessert format, and the heaviest dishes were predictably towards the end. A warming pressed lamb with almond crumb, dates and chickweed came just before the cheese course. Had the lamb been an a la carte menu item I would have gone home feeling sick, but the five or so bites were perfect followed by a washed orange rind cheese served with baked apple, candied cashew and an apple balsamic vinegar. The dessert — a kiwi, rhubarb, pomegranate and vanilla yoghurt concoction — wasn’t too sweet or heavy, and followed the lamb and cheese superbly. The Ides team managed to capture summer with a dessert comprised entirely of winter ingredients.
The meal finished with Will Jardine’s juniper and espresso infused dark chocolates. The chocolate was clearly high quality, but it only came through at the end after a grittier, danker coffee flavor subsided. The aftertaste of the chocolates was lovely; perhaps lovelier than the taste while eating it. When we mentioned this to Jardine (who asked!), he spoke passionately about choosing chocolate and ingredients, and it became clear that he, like Gunn, is one Melbourne’s next big food thinkers. He is testing and trying ideas, and I predict that each of the Ides dinners will bring something from Jardine that’s more exciting than the dinner before.
Without a doubt, Peter Gunn will open his own award-winning and trend-setting restaurant someday, trickling exciting food ideas down (or through) to the likes of food trucks and cafes - the direction food trickle down often goes in Melbourne. He’s absolutely on trend, utilizing local and seasonal ingredients and, for example, using butter dishes handmade by sous chef Mal Meier. Like his day job boss Ben Shewry, Gunn’s love of food and ingredients shines through every dish. In the face of a “dying” (depending who you ask) fine dining industry, Gunn is the kind of chef who will keep it afloat. On the website, Gunn aptly describes Ides as a “movement, which cultures the balance between fine and spontaneous food.” Without the overhead involved with a brick and mortar restaurant, Gunn  can keep the menu affordable and spontaneous, but still rely heavily on fine dining concepts and experience.
Whether intentional or not, the Ides movement is inclusive: it offers the fine dining experience to those for whom Attica or Heston’s pop up Fat Duck are financially unattainable. For Melbournians who can drop a cool hundred on one meal and who are excited to try pleasingly challenging but approachable dishes, Ides is a must do.Â
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