Ember & Salt

Wood-fired degustation · Surry Hills, Sydney

Ember & Salt

Eight courses cooked over one ironbark fire. Dinner only, Wednesday to Saturday.

Eight courses $165Seatings 5:30 & 8:15Sample prices

Walk the menu
  1. IOyster
  2. IILeek
  3. IIIFlatbread
  4. IVKingfish
  5. VCarrot
  6. VIMurray cod
  7. VIIDuck
  8. VIIICustard

Course I of VIII · Snack

Coal-kissed oyster

  • Rock oyster
  • Finger lime
  • Kombu butter

Opened to order and set over the embers just long enough to warm the shell, then finished with a bead of kombu butter.

PairingBlanc de blancs, Tasmania

Course II · Vegetable

Leek from the ashes

  • Leek
  • Hazelnut
  • Brown butter

Buried whole in last night’s coals until the outer layers turn to charcoal and the heart turns to silk. We peel it at the pass.

PairingChenin blanc, Swan Valley

Course III · Bread

Hearth flatbread

  • Heritage rye
  • Cultured cream
  • Smoked salt

Blistered on the bare bricks of the hearth floor and torn at the table, with cream we culture for three days and salt smoked over the fire.

PairingFarmhouse cider, Adelaide Hills

Course IV · Raw

Kingfish & burnt citrus

  • Kingfish
  • Burnt mandarin
  • Kelp

Cured beneath a sheet of kelp, sliced thin and dressed with the juice of mandarins charred black in the coals.

PairingRiesling, Clare Valley

Course V · Garden

Ember-roasted carrot

  • Heirloom carrot
  • Macadamia
  • Pepperberry

Roasted in the ash bed until sticky and collapsing, with macadamia cream and a crack of native pepperberry.

PairingSkin-contact pinot gris, Mornington Peninsula

Course VI · Fish

Murray cod over ironbark

  • Murray cod
  • Mussel
  • Saltbush

A thick cut of farmed cod grilled skin-side down until the skin shatters, with a mussel sauce and saltbush crisped in the embers.

PairingChardonnay, Yarra Valley

Course VII · Meat

Dry-aged duck

  • Duck
  • Davidson plum
  • Red gum smoke

Aged fourteen days on the bone, roasted at the edge of the flames and glazed with its own fat and Davidson plum.

PairingGrenache, McLaren Vale

Course VIII · Sweet

Burnt honey custard

  • Honey
  • Smoked cream
  • Wattleseed

Honey taken to the edge of bitter, set into a custard and caramelised at the table with an iron heated in the fire.

PairingBotrytis semillon, Riverina

The room

Twenty-eight seats, all turned towards one fire.

A former print shop on a Surry Hills back lane, with the hearth built into the old loading-dock wall. Ten counter stools face the fire directly, so you can watch each course leave the coals.

  • 10Counter stools, facing the hearth — best for one or two
  • 5Tables for two along the brick wall
  • 1Long table under the skylight for parties of seven or eight
Floor plan: the hearth on the back wall, a curved counter of ten stools in front of it, five tables for two along the side walls and a long table for eight under the skylight near the entry. HEARTH COUNTER · 10 LONG TABLE · 8 · SKYLIGHT FOR TWO ENTRY

The fire

Ironbark for heat, red gum for colour, vine cuttings for perfume.

There is no gas line in this kitchen. Every course is cooked on, in, over or beside one brick hearth, and the menu moves with the fire through the night.

  1. Lit

    Kindling and split ironbark. The bricks take three hours to come up to heat.

  2. Bread coals

    The hearth floor at its hottest. Flatbreads blister in under a minute.

  3. Service fire

    Red gum goes on for a steadier coal. The first oysters go over at 5:30.

  4. Second wind

    Fresh ironbark for the late seatings; the duck roasts at the edge of the flames.

  5. Banked

    Ash raked over the coals. Tomorrow’s leeks go into the embers overnight.

“We don’t cook to a clock. We cook to the colour of the coals.”— written on the kitchen whiteboard

Before you come

Dietary notes, hours and how to find us.

Dietary requirements

With 48 hours’ notice we cook vegetarian, pescatarian, gluten-free and dairy-free versions of every course.

  • Tell us in your booking notes, or call the restaurant.
  • We can’t safely cook for severe nut or shellfish allergies — our hearth, benches and tools are shared.
  • A fully vegan menu isn’t possible on this fire, and we’d rather tell you now.

Hours

Wednesday – Saturday
Dinner. Early seatings 5:30 & 6:00 pm, late seatings 8:15 & 8:45 pm.
Sunday – Tuesday
Closed — the hearth rests.
Allow
About two and a half hours for the full menu.
Eight courses$165
Wine pairing$110
Zero-proof pairing$70
Sample prices, per guest. Please give 48 hours’ notice to change or cancel.

Find us

Surry Hills, Sydney NSW — down a back lane, look for the woodpile by the door.

(02) 5550 4127 table@example.com

Phone lines open Wednesday to Saturday from 2 pm.