There’s an immensely attractive sense of space at Blume. It’s not just the small-town location in the aptly named Scenic Rim, or the light-flooded room with its honey-coloured timber floors and pressed metal panelling. It’s also present in owner-chef Jack Stuart’s dégustation menus, where often complex dishes never read as complicated and focus equally on ingredients, technique and flavour. Excellent hibachi-grilled, pepper-spiced quail becomes thrilling with a celeriac rémoulade umami-charged with savoury yeast. Slivers of pale-pink beetroot, its texture attractively chewy from a slow bake in clay, are rendered spectacular thanks to a dynamic accompanying trio of cultured cream, sweet apple-marigold leaves and Avruga caviar. Raw yellowfin tuna, meanwhile, is spiked with a glorious horseradish ponzu sauce, while a chickpea-flour cannolo flavoured with sharp cheddar and celery relish hits the bullseye. Service is attentive and low-key, the Euro-Oz wine list compact and intelligently mustered, the experience completely satisfying.
Grace Dooner
