Brunswick Street’s Hammer & Tong has taken on this classical erudition of the populace with via its food. Owners, chef Simon Ward and sommelier Dennis Ferreira, like the aforementioned musicians, take the knowledge of classical training and imbue it into what is a celebration of fresh and affordable food. The pair’s resumes read like road map of Melbourne’s finest restaurant with names like Vue de Monde (where Ward and Ferreira worked together), Jacque Raymond and France Soir.
As well as running the busy Brunswick street restaurant, that is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Hammer & Tong also features at The Queen Victoria Market’s weekly night markets with their crab burger a huge hit having sold 250 of them last week! Other highlights from the Hammer & Tong menu include the tomato fondue bruschetta, basil, buffalo bococini ($16), grilled octopus, kimchi, apple & fennel ($17), buttermilk lamb, goats cheese, onion rings, fennel & lettuce ($22) and lavender yoghurt custard, raspberry & mango gel, summer berries, lychee w basil cress ($14).
Ward has this to say about Hammer & Tongs, “Our menu is designed to be shared with family and friends sitting around the table. The meals are based on the concept of creating action around the table and talking points among guests.”
Ward’s vision can be seen in the menu in such dishes as the grilled octopus, kimchi, apple and fennel – kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings. It is often described as spicy and sour. To better understand the integrity of Ward’s vision for the food at Hammer & Tong it is important to know his background.
“I worked at Vue de Monde for two years but then I decided to get out of fine dining and became head chef at Duke’s Coffee Roasters which is cafe in Windsor and I have maintained a relationship with them with us using their beans here. With Hammer & Tong I have tried to combine the best of both experiences.
“A lot of chefs are getting out of the fine dining scene and pushing the boundaries of what food is – people are eating more breakfast and lunch so I think people want to be satisfied and challenged with every meal they have, not just special dinners at expensive restaurants,” contends Ward.
After a well earned break over Christmas and New Years Hammer & Tong reopened this month and launched their new Summer menu.
“We have a lavender labneh custard with freeze dried summer fruits like lycees and mangos, with blueberries and black berries all over it – you can have it during the day as a light meal or as a desert at night. Also, I am really proud of the buttermilk pressed lamb shoulder that with goats custard and a lettuce puree,” explains Ward.
The lettuce puree is a refreshing dollop of gastronomy that Ward admits harks back to his days at Vue de Monde, “There’s a lot of French techniques involved in that I learned through Vue and also I worked at The Point for a little bit.”
To truly accentuate the flavours of each meal Ferreira takes wine matching very seriously. With this in mind he recommends the Garganega from Soave in Italy that is produced by winemaker Gini to go with Hammer & Tongs famous crab burger. While lamenting the pretension sometimes associated with wines Ferreira is desperately passionate about enhancing a diners experience through a wine complimentary to their dish.
“Being a sommelier is about matching the finding the best wine to go with a dish. This month we are lucky enough to be able to offer Gini Soave at $8 a glass because of a good buy. It is similar to a chardonnay and tastes great with the crab burger,” states Ferreira.
BY FAT PRESTON
