Review: Bistro Fitz serves pub hits from the 70s, 80s and today
| Address | 129 Dowling St View map | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening hours | Pub from noon every day; brasserie Mon-Wed 17.30-21.30; Thu 5-11:30; Friday-Saturday afternoon-evening; Sunday afternoon-10 pm | ||
| Feature | Pub dining, Licensed, Bar, Pre-post theater, Accepts reservations, Outdoor seating | ||
| Price | Medium ($20-$40 electricity) | ||
| Payment | eftpos, Visa, Mastercard | ||
| Phone | 02 9356 3848 | ||
You can tell a lot about a pub by its chips. Limp and unseasoned: the hotel cares more about pokies than you. “Pale ale-battered”: chefs use cheesy tricks to distract from bland food. Hand cut: this place should be backed by some serious cash if it can afford someone to slice potatoes all day long. Frozen: good, large portions – with the right oil and cooking time.
At The Old Fitzroy, chef Toby Stansfield uses pre-cut sebago potatoes, frying them a more brownish color than Kirk Douglas in Spartacus, then sprinkle the crispy stalks in the kombu seaweed and white pepper mixture. I always thought you couldn’t make a more savory condiment with chicken salt – Australia’s third-biggest invention after Hills Hoist and Warwick Capper – but in this backstreet Woolloomooloo boozer, here we are.
The Old Fitz has long been a pub lover’s pub, a locals favorite for its “Same again?” service, antique fixtures and dog friendly attitude. Stansfield’s chips show that he wants people across the suburbs to dine at Bistro Fitz — the smart-casual brasserie upstairs from the public bar — too. Frites also told me that he knows a great deal of umami is essential to crowd-pleasing pub food that can be eaten with any schooner or shiraz.
Steak frites with Diane sauce. Photo: Louise Kennerley
Stansfield led the kitchen of pasta shop CBD Fabbrica before taking over Fitz pot in June after chef Anna Ugarte-Carral announced she was leaving the pub. Compared to the previous Basque-ish menu, this new carte is more pubby and pan-European, with some influences coming from a time when crockpots and vol-au-vents ruled the world.
Diane’s sauce overwhelms the $34 sirloin served with the chips. This is a lean, clean-flavoured steak served on the right side of the pink color.
Grilled brioche ($8) ferry mayonnaise and grilled chicken confit with deep knowledge of duck fat; it’s the kind of snack I imagine the fancy folk eat during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. I like it.
Main course: Brioche toast with chicken confit, mayonnaise and fennel. Photo: Louise Kennerley
Crudites with gribiche ($16) have a similar 1970s vibe, especially their upcoming dinner party starter in a minute of crunchy carrots and turnips standing on egg and a creamy sauce sharpened with mustard and salted capers. You can – and should – swipe chips through it too.
While downstairs is a controlled commotion of Reschs clinking patrons, the bistro feels part members-only club and part your nan vestibule. There are chandeliers and jazz and cabernet red walls covered in landscape prints one might find in Chester Hill Salvos.
A small front-of-house team is led by hospitality legend Traci Trinder, who can anticipate customer needs in a way that never seems overwhelming. “Why yes, we will like a bottle of Beechworth’s 2019 A. Rodda Aquila Audax Tempranillo ($85) so the subtle tannins can traverse steak frites and coal-grilled spatchcock marinated in chipotle, paprika, and a dash of honey ($32). How do you know?”
Coal roasted spatchcock marinated in chipotle, paprika and honey. Photo: Louise Kennerley
Good luck, however, finding the wine to stand out with the insalata at the $22 mare (a cold seafood salad for you and me), featuring scallops and octopus gliding around a bowl with black beans, ancho chili oil and fermented garlic. It’s an incredibly rich endgame, best eaten with a baguette provided by Paddington’s Organic Bread Bar ($5).
Semolina tropie – a short, twisted, slightly chewy pasta – costs $24 and is topped with pine nut pesto in the Ligurian tradition. It’s okay but forgettable and should probably be marked on the menu as “FVO” (For Vegetarians Only).
Taramasalata ($14), meanwhile, requires one of the “Here the waters are uncertain” sea dragons found on the map Australian Terra. Beaten cod eggs need more whipping, not to mention the acid, salt, and reason to exist. Avoid.
Crepe cake with dulce de leche cream and rosella flowers. Photo: Kitti Gould
There’s a crepe cake ($15) layered with dulce de leche cream and covered with boiled rosella flowers. It is balanced, filling and beautiful. Clap.
But a $6 scoop of one of the ice creams du jour (chocolate, parmesan or turmeric) is all we need to end a great night, maybe with a whiskey or two on the side.
The nights weren’t limited there, of course, because we were in a pub and it was a Friday night and there was beer. Downstairs, our group emptied beers and didn’t talk about anything in particular until the last drink and time for the regulars and their dogs to leave. On the way home, I wished The Old Fitz was my local. That also says a lot about a pub.
Open: Lunch, Friday-Sunday; dinner every day
Atmosphere: Schnitzel-free pub dining with hits from the 70s, 80s and today
Main dish: Brioche toast with chicken confit, mayonnaise and dill
Drink: A reliable lineup of mostly natural wines, plus tap beers and fruit cocktails
Cost: Around $110 for two, not including drinks
This review was originally published on Nice weekend magazine
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