Vineyard Restaurant

LOCATION
On Willoughby Road near the intersection with Albany Street.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
A wooden grate wrapped in plastic vines, with clusters of fake red grapes making an occasional appearance, sounds like a kitschy recipe for disaster, and yet at The Vineyard Restaurant and Lounge where it makes up the ceiling, it works. It is a little strange and more than a little kitschy, but the inverted vineyard gives the long restaurant an undeniably cosy feel. Below the interweaving greenness, the dining room is modestly appointed with wooden tables and chairs. The back of the restaurant, however, reverts to a showier mien with a red-toned function lounge area where variously-coloured cushions complement red carpets, red walls and low, candle-lit tables. It shouldn’t work, but (again) it does.

The reason why this quirky eatery is bustling from Tuesday to Sunday however, is not because of the decor, but because of the food and wine. The latter (hailing from Australia as well as from overseas) can be seen sitting in wooden racks behind the bar, just asking to be opened. If wine isn’t your thing, there is also a wide selection of aperitifs, cocktails and beer. Losing a little of the restaurant’s apparent originality, the food menu starts off with entrees like duck and orange pate with homemade toasted brioche and pickled fennel, and quickly moves onto mains like goat’s cheese, pumpkin and walnut tortelloni with thyme butter and Grana Padano, succulent prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast, filled with mozzarella and pesto on roasted sweet potatoes, wilted spinach and red wine butter as well as a selection of seasonal specials. Though not as quirky as the grapes, the meals are both generous and delicious. However make sure to leave room for the sweet stuff – the “zabaione” (zabaglione) parfait with hazelnut praline and caramel sauce is an incredible twist on the traditional Italian dessert.

Agnes Gajewska