Sydney is no stranger to wood-fired ovens, but there must be some sort of black magic going on inside the one at Ester. How else to account for the way a hulking kingfish forequarter smothered in citrus kosho emerges with such remarkably pearlescent flesh, at once tender and firm? Or how the edges of duck dumplings reach such beautifully bronzed crispness as they braise in a claypot with rib-stickingly rich broth? While smoke and char do lots of the heavy lifting, chef-owner Mat Lindsay and his crew know how to fill the space between too, be it via crunchy Brussels sprouts with hot mustard and a slow-cooked egg or the piquancy of a pink radicchio and pickled pear salad. Still, these are flavours that hit hard, leading you right to the precipice, helped along by casually confident staff and a drinks list that rides the zeitgeist. How good is life on the edge?
