The great Aussie food trail

Harry Grover: Founder, Common Man Coffee Roasters

Dine: Propeller

It’s on a charming stretch in North Fremantle, which is very local and not so easily discovered by tourists. Food is consistently good with lots of interesting share plates; I strongly suggest letting the Propeller team take the wheel on ordering and let them feed you chef’s choice, which starts from AUD40 per person. They also have a great wine list, so after a few drinks you can walk right across the road to Mrs Brown Bar or Mojos for live band performances.

222 Queen Victoria St, North Fremantle, WA (+618 9335 9366). Wed-Sun, 8am-11pm.

Drink: Little Creatures

I’m a craft beer fan, so you can never go wrong with sundown beers at Little Creatures. It gets very crowded on weekends, but it’s a massive micro-brewery space so you’ll always get a table, and the wood-fired pizzas are also on point.

 40 Mews Rd, Fremantle, WA (+618 6215 1000). Mon-Fri, 10am-12midnight; Sat, 9am-12midnight; Sun, 9am-11pm.

Brandon Chin: Co-founder, Breakfast Thieves

Dine: Transformer

I discovered this place not too far from Breakfast Thieves in Melbourne, and it’s a vegetarian place that turned out to be really f*cking amazing. Their technique is spot on, and the combination of different vegetables creates this explosion of flavour in your mouth. What’s good here is that they try to eliminate the use of salt – they extract flavours in other ways like using natto beans. The menu changes every month according to what’s in season, and in the past I’ve loved the braised eggplant with grilled mushroom, the polenta with grilled king oyster mushroom, and the starter dish of soy-braised peanut. 

99 Rose Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria (+613 9419 2022). Mon-Thu, 5.30-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11.30am-11pm; Sun, 11.30am-9.30pm.

Photo: Dianna Snape

Drink: Bistro Vue

I hang out with the chefs after work here; the cocktails, champagne and wines are good and they always try to match it with dessert. Best of all, it’s somewhere you can chill out, sit with friends and have a chat. The Snicker Bars here are really good: it’s a dessert where they pour warm chocolate over nougat, and feeds three people.

430 Little Collins St, Melbourne, Victoria (+613 9691 3838). Mon- Sat, 12noon-12midnight.

Lee Ai Peng: Co-founder, Bonfire and The Red Beanbag

Dine: Porteño

Porteño is the restaurant that inspired the start of Bonfire. They focus on Argentinian cuisine, where most of the cooking is done ‘Asador’ or ‘Parilla’ style. The draw here is obviously the meat – their lamb and pig, both cooked whole for eight hours using the Asador. The one thing that you absolutely cannot miss here is their deep- fried Brussel sprouts with lentils and mint. The bitterness of the sprouts immediately dissipates once fried and the taste is replaced by a natural sweetness; I don’t think I’ve eaten Brussel sprouts any other way ever since.

50 Holt St, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW (+612 8399 1440). Tue-Sat, 6pm-11pm.

Drink: Grandma's Bar 

Grandma’s Bar It’s one of those hole-in-the-wall type homey bars usually introduced to you by a friend. Rum is the name of the game here, and fun Tiki drinks are in order. If you’re looking for a bit of flair, order the Ultimate Mai Tai (Appleton’s estate rum, lime juice, roasted pineapple and bitters served with Wray & Nephew overproof rum float), which is lit on fire in front of you.

275 Clarence St, Sydney, NSW (+612 9264 3004). Mon-Thu, 3pm-12midnight; Fri, 3pm-1am; Sat, 5pm-1am.

Robert Gilliland: Founder, Drift Dining & Bar

Dine: Africola 

Africola is considered one of the top restaurants in Australia – it was named as Adelaide’s top restaurant in 2016 and the best in South Australia – and it’s done in a very Modern Australian way in how it does a funky take on African cuisine, while remaining authentic. They certainly have exotic meats and dishes on the menu like roast flank steak with bacalhau sauce, and it features a lot of grain and vegetable dishes like charred carrots with seaweed and goat’s curd, and smoked mussels with fermented cabbage. 

East Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia (+618 8223 3885). Tue-Sat, 6pm-late.

Drink: Hains & Co

I left my hometown of Adelaide almost 19 years ago, and it’s been long considered a little neglected part of Australia. The first question I ask anyone going there is ‘Why?!’ but when I went back to visit my parents over the past few years, I saw a great boom of laneways like Gilbert Place and Leigh Street that are now peppered with great little bars like Hains & Co. It’s a tiny and intimate bar, but you never feel crowded there; the best thing about it is the selection of dozens of the best gin from all over the world. 

23 Gilbert Place, Adelaide, South Australia (+618 8410 7088). Tue-Fri & Sun, 4pm-2am; Sat, 6pm-2am.