MEDÉ, the new restaurant from the Melrose team, brings the Mediterranean to Bulimba
As we move in the the latter third of the year, our Instagram feeds are, thankfully, becoming less populated with posts from friends enjoying summer holidays in the Mediterranean. Coincidentally, a dash of Euro summer has arrived in Bulimba with the opening of MEDÉ Modern Mediterranean – the new nosh spot from the team behind fellow Oxford Street favourite, Melrose. We took a peek at the newcomer and sampled its offering – here’s what we saw …
Since taking over chic pan-Asian restaurant Melrose almost 18 months ago, Anna and Paul Adams have kept one finger on the pulse of Bulimba. With the Balinese-style rooftop bar and restaurant an overwhelmingly popular spot for locals, they’ve been able to get a solid read on what the suburb’s dining set wants more of.
But Anna and Paul had no plans to open another restaurant – at least not right now. That changed when the owner of King Crab Co. reached out to see if the couple were interested in taking over the crab shack’s home a short trot down Oxford Street. The corner space, with its sun-dappled alfresco area and convenient position right in the thick of the action, proved too good to turn down. As they signed the dotted line, Anna and Paul had the wants and needs of the community in the forefront of their minds.
“Our decision became cemented once we considered the community around this area,” says Anna. “We’ve had nothing but great feedback with Melrose and if we can offer something different on the street, then why not go for it?”
Once keys were in hand, the next step for the couple was deciding on a direction for their budding restaurant, which, as it turns out, was an easy process. “We thought of Greek food straight away, because that’s what we love,” says Anna. “But we didn’t want to keep it narrow – we wanted to broaden it a bit, so we decided to go with Mediterranean.”
And so MEDÉ Modern Mediterranean was born. The team engaged Brooke Harlander from Retail Collective Co and build crew Tonic Projects to give the corner site a bright and clean makeover via a blistering eight-week redesign and refit. The resulting look evokes the feeling of a lavish Mediterranean holiday, courtesy of premium touches like pastel-pink bar stools, terrazzo-tiled bar tops and olive-green leather furnishings. Natural light streams in from the site’s dual-aspect floor-to-ceiling windows, while a number of timber booths outside are shielded from harsh rays via retractable shade cloths. Some of the building’s original brickwork has been exposed behind the bar, contrasting sharply with a pair of arched back-lit alcoves where MEDÉ’s top-shelf spirits are displayed.
No matter how attractive a space is, any discerning foodie will know that a restaurant is only as good as the produce it sources. At MEDÉ, Anna, Paul and head chef Sam Richards (formerly of Cloudland and Manly Boathouse) are building off a foundation of locally sourced ingredients, from grass-fed meats and line-caught fish to organic fruit and veg. “A lot of our produce is local,” says Anna. “That was a key feature, to make sure that diner’s know whatever we are using is locally sourced. There’s a story behind where the food comes from – we can tell you who caught our fish. We want to be able to support locals, as well.”
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Sam has crafted a menu that is informed by culinary traditions and contemporary trends, with an offering encompassing everything from snacks and small plates to hulking share-style centrepieces that can handily feed a group. Guests might opt to simply graze on the likes of house-made hummus and taramasalata, sizzling serves of saganaki with pickled figs, ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers, oysters with Moroccan lemon mignonette or Greek-style fried-chicken sliders. Meanwhile, those buckling in for a feast can push the boat out with plates of fresh Mooloolaba king prawns swimming in Tunisian-style spiced cocktail sauce, Mooloolaba yellowfin tuna crudo with a Moroccan-inspired lemon creme fraiche, filo pie with warrigal greens and macadamia cheese, and twice-cooked Darling Downs lamb noisettes with chermoula and pistachio labne. The aforementioned centrepieces include barbecued line-caught whole coral trout with esplette pepper butter and Warilba organic lamb shoulder with tzatziki – both of which are eye-popping showstoppers and belly stuffers.
MEDÉ Modern Mediterranean’s wine list has been curated by Vita Milojkovic, who has gone to great lengths to source drops (many organic and biodynamic) you’re unlikely to readily find elsewhere. “Fundamentally, we wanted to encapsulate both what we get here regionally in Australia and what is really known in the Mediterranean, yet difficult to come by,” Vita explains. “We’ve got some beautiful grapes that you’ve probably never heard of and all of them are hand-picked. We want to be able to bring people on a little rollercoaster – if we don’t have your favourite producer or favourite type of wine, I can pinpoint something that’s even bolder, even brighter and even more magnificent.”
On MEDÉ’s list, you’ll spy a number of Greek wines, including an assyrtiko from Santorini, a xinomavro from Amyndeon and a malagousia/roditis blend from Noussa. These are available alongside a curated selection of drops from France, Italy, Spain and New Zealand, as well as domestic options sourced from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Margaret River and the Macedon Ranges. A clutch of classic and signature cocktails are also available, with the likes of MEDÉ’s banana rum old fashioned (Appleton Estate 8 rum, Fugit Crème de Banane and chocolate bitters) and the Stone Fruit Iced Tea (78 Degrees vodka, apricot liqueur, peach tea, ginger, lemon and simple syrup) shaping up to be early standouts.
When asked about her long-term goals for MEDÉ’s future, Anna hopes that her restaurant evolves into a dependable dining destination for Bulimba – a go-to for celebrations, intimate dinners and casual catch-ups. “I hope that people do come in with their families or for date night and create new memories,” says Anna. “The benefit of being in a suburban area is that people get the luxury of walking down the street to their local favourite restaurant and know that every time they come here it’s consistent, and that’s the key.”