PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAWhat should one expect when dining at the restaurant of a chef and food stylist who penned a cookbook called “Sex in the Kitchen”? Some very delectable food in very good-looking surrounds, that’s what. Beluga Wine Bar and Restaurant opened in January 2008 in the stylish St Margaret’s complex in Surry Hills, serving a menu of stellar seafood dishes inspired by French techniques. Owner and executive chef, Opel Khan, took time out from leading the kitchen team at Le Khan to write his raunchy cookbook before turning all his attention to his new venture, Beluga Wine Bar and Restaurant.
A sleek open plan kitchen dominates one wall of the restaurant which is simple yet elegant in design, leaving nothing to distract you from the intricate creations on the plate. An entree of citrus ceviche of prawn and scallop resting on segments of pink grapefruit is delicate and light until a little scoop of the accompanying red pepper sorbet is added to the dish, which lifts it to zinging heights. The lobster crepe with pea shoot salad and a vibrant saffron and carrot emulsion is magic to look at and even better to taste, particularly with a glass of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon. If seafood isn’t your thing, the saffron chicken breast with truffle mash and smoked yoghurt offers an exotic blend of flavours on a moist fillet of chicken. Finish on a sweet note with the chocolate ganache topped with chickpea dust and tiny jewels of blueberry caviar. Beluga Wine Bar and Restaurant won’t stay a secret for long, so take your friends there now and impress them with your find – you don’t have to tell them I sent you.
Amy Looker, February 2008
