When it comes to cooking, restauranterer, top chef and owner of Hello Auntie, Hey Chu and Fugo Cuong Nguyen doesn’t like to be put in a box. At his latest venture, Penelope's, Nguyen wants to challenge stereotypes and make guests think about what ‘Australian cuisine’ should be. Though whatever you do, don’t call it "fusion".
“We’re simply passionate about sharing our authentic Aussie experience,” says Nguyen.
He’s brought on some star talent to help, including general manager Lee Potter Cavanagh (ex-Rosenbaum and Fuller) and head chef Bremmy Setiyoko (ex-Spice Temple and Sepia). The trio aim to explore and celebrate the flavours that make up the Australia of today at the 132-seat Quay Quarter Tower restaurant. We can absolutely get behind that.
That looks like bakar chicken with garlic toum and turmeric and lemongrass sambal (a take on a dish Setiyoko enjoyed as a child growing up in Indonesia); a prawn cocktail with bush tomato Marie Rose sauce, charred witlof and nuoc cham; and pork and prawn ravioli with a brown butter and sage sauce, which is inspired by the classic wonton. Prime dry-aged cuts of beef are also on the menu, along with enough sauces to please a condiment fiend.
Penelope’s joins the wave of new openings we’ve seen of late in the Tower, including finger-licking-good Bells Hot Chicken, Cantonese restaurant Pearl, and the South of France-inspired Martinez.
Whether Penelope’s will sink or swim in the Emerald City is unknown. But we will say this: we dig the idea, and the cute name.