Time Out Food & Drink Awards 2023: Best Innovation

Everyone has that one friend whose restaurant recommendations are to be trusted. They’re the type of friend who follows food blogs religiously, who knows their nduja from their natto, always the first on the ground when a new hot sandwich joint opens or, in Alt’s case, a sultry modern pasta restaurant. So when that type of friend in my life gave the Niagara Lane newcomer a big, fat, green tick, it soared to the top of my hit list in an instant. 

Restaurant and wine bar Lene, pronounced Lenny, doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a veritable gallery with wall-to-wall expanses of bold and colourful paintings, but there’s no stiff tablecloths or opaque dining codes to abide by here – unlimited sparkling water is available for only $5, off-menu items are rattled off with an easy nonchalance. The narrow space, all timber, has a relaxed feel. 

The heady smell of incense is apparent as soon as you walk into Flint’s dark confines. Charcoal walls surround a centrepiece open kitchen where sous chef Yukio Endo works his magic on the night we visit. Through an alcove is a private mezzanine dining area that overlooks the restaurant while perched aloft. Flint combines the no-waste fermentation ethos of the since-closed Parcs with a healthy respect for flames and a penchant for wood-fired grilling, which is all the rage at restaurants like Matilda 159, Cutler and Co and Grill Americano. There are no ovens at Flint – only ‘fire, smoke and charcoal’.  

‘Low-waste’ and ‘sustainable’ aren’t just buzzwords at Ends and Means. This Gertrude Street cocktail bar puts its money where its mouth is, fuelled by combatting the high-waste practices co-owners Marc Frew and Josh Hunt saw throughout their respective careers. Very little in the bar’s fitout is first-use. Timber is recycled, including from the previous tenant’s old bar, and the current L-shaped bartop is made from from copper, resin and a storm-damaged elm from Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Menus are printed on recycled paper, there are no single-serving packaged beers or ciders available, and any organic fruit waste left over from creating stocks, jams and cordials is composted at Collingwood Childrens’ Farm.