A chunky mauve LED light snaked its way around the balcony of The Esplanade
Hotel.
asserted
light → snake → Hotel
Closer to the markets, dramatic uplighting transformed the new Garde Hotel into a giant Grimace.
asserted
uplighting → transform → Grimace
At Leighton Beach’s waterside cafe-slash-art gallery Palette, guests ordered drinks crowned with thick, paisley caps of foam flavoured with ube: an earthy yam found in drinks and desserts across the Philippines.
asserted
guests → order → Philippines
Major sporting events look good on Fremantle.
asserted
events → look → Fremantle
If you’re an especially good I Spy competitor, you might also have clocked a Dockers flag discretely hung inside the entrance of Strange Company: a neighbourhood bar that proves you can teach an old wetsuit factory new tricks.
uncertain
you → ’re → tricks
Taken on face value, Strange Company isn’t the kind of establishment you’d expect management to fly sporting colours or insignia.
asserted
management → take → colours
But if there’s a way to be of service to the Freo community, Strange Company will oblige, just as it has since it opened in 2015.
asserted
it → ’ → 2015
Communal sofas fringe the back
corner of the bar: a demi-sunken living room giving low-key swinger party vibes.
asserted
sofas → fringe → vibes
Cocktail enthusiasts and solo drinkers will want to snaffle bar stools where career bartenders make the art of dispensing great chat and drinks look easy.
asserted
art → want → chat
Check out the Batanga Vision: a svelte, Mezcal-enriched adaptation of the tequila and cola classic that a fellow drinker at the bar succinctly described as “witchy”.
asserted
drinker → check → bar
Pristine sound is a given, even in the toilets.
asserted
sound → give → toilets
If Strange Company’s look is hard to pigeonhole – “Bond villain lair meets co-working space” is the best I’ve got – it’s largely because Freo architects spaceagency crushed the brief for designing a multi-purpose venue that can cater to guests’ many whims and needs throughout the day.
asserted
that → pigeonhole → day
Spend enough time bending the elbow or quizzing staff about highlights from the knockout wine list and you’ll eventually get to know Greg Leaver: an established name in Freo’s hospitality landscape (The Wray Cafe, X-Wray, Il Lupo) and the most hands-on of the bar’s owners.
While venue manager Alex Handley and bartender Amelia Smoker are among the
other long-serving staff members you might recognise, some new faces have also joined the cast.
uncertain
faces → spend → cast
One belongs to Sergion Guazzelli.
asserted
One → belong → Guazzelli
Formerly of Blink Coffee, Guazzelli flips the space every morning into Il Brutto: an Italianate coffee bar where the focus is exceptional drinks and hospitality.
asserted
focus → flip → Brutto
But if you want something to eat other than jiggly custard encased in flaky pastry shells, Zane Morrison is a name you’ll want to remember.
asserted
you → want → shells
You want olives?
asserted
You → want → olives
You want Basque-style sausages that you douse with salsa verde?
asserted
you → want → verde
You want “drunken” Italian glera and other European cheeses and cured meats that have long anchored Strange Company’s food offering?
asserted
that → want → offering
Morrison, a Freo boy that counts Madalena’s and Cable Beach Club as former workplaces, has you covered.
asserted
you → count → workplaces
But if you let him, Morrison will also show you that the good ship Strange Company is equally at home navigating Asian waters as it is sailing through the Mediterranean.
asserted
it → let → Mediterranean
A plate of local La Delizia stracciatella beautified with plush Genovese basil leaves and gummy sun-dried cherry tomatoes is uncut la dolce vita.
But once the warming spice of chilli crunch joins the party, the dish goes somewhere different.
asserted
dish → beautify → party
Octopus, that long-legged beauty found in so many seaside tavernas and osterias, is given the char siu treatment and glazed and grilled till dark and sticky.
asserted
Octopus → find → treatment
But even if such west-goes-east crossovers aren’t your jam, there’s enough pep in this menu to suggest Morrison is an emerging kitchen talent worth following.
asserted
Morrison → go → menu
Like many younger chefs raised in the modern wine bar and social media era, our
man and his kitchen team adhere to the house-made, high acid, big flavour style of small plate cooking, even when they’re keeping things traditional.
asserted
they → raise → things
So the bitey tabasco-esque hot sauce deployed in the thick-cut steak tartare is fermented in situ.
asserted
sauce → deploy → situ
Anchovy toasts topped with lardo are a glorious example of the surf and turf genre.
asserted
toasts → top → genre
While I would have liked more fattiness in the steak sandwich to counter the bite of the provolone and zippy tomato relish, I have zero notes on the bitter leaf salad: a dainty arrangement of canoes of witlof cradling clusters of crunchy sunflower seeds with verjus and a slash of bitter orange puree lending cut-through.
asserted
I → like → cut
European at heart, yet modern Australian in taste and execution, it’s a dish that’s
hard to categorise but all too easy to like.
asserted
that → ’ → taste
I can’t think of a better spirit dish to represent the continued brilliance of Strange Company.
asserted
I → think → Company
The low-down
Atmosphere: helmed by a mix of experienced and emerging talent, this model small bar continues to lead by example.
Go-to dishes: bitter leaf salad with verjus ($14), stracciatella with chilli crunch ($26), beef tartare with chilli and potato crisps ($28).
asserted
bar → helm → crisps
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
asserted
reviews → book → ?
A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
asserted
restaurant → pay → Guide
The Aporia
