Andrew McConnell on what to expect at new Melbourne restaurant Côte Basque

Opening on Friday 7 August, Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann’s latest Melbourne restaurant, Côte Basque, is the duo’s first opening in the city since 2020. The Melbourne CBD site of Côte Basque, which has operated as a restaurant for almost 70 years now has a wood-fired grill and wood oven at its heart: “The core of our menu, and the focus, revolves around the grill and cooking with fire,” McConnell told Gourmet Traveller.

“Côte Basque has been particularly special to develop because of the site and its history, and we are doing something quite different to what we’ve done in our other restaurants,” he says. The history in question stretches back to the 1950s, when Pellegrini’s Tavola Freddo Cantina opened before Becco opened in 1996.

Andrew McConnell and head chef Allan Doert Eccles at Côte Basque (Credit: Sharyn Cairns)

“The inspiration for Côte Basque comes purely from how produce is handled and cooked in the Basque. There are subtle Basque references and nods on the menu, but the simplest way to put it is it’s a European grill,” McConnell says.

For the Melbourne chef and restaurateur, his interest in Basque cuisine started decades ago: “The first time I went there was as a young chef in the ‘90s,” he recalls. “The cooking there is unique. It’s not Spanish, and it’s not French either. It’s very different.”

At the Melbourne restaurant, the menu is divided into a selection of à la carte dishes, and a dedicated grill offering. Highlights include a txangurro crab tart; boudin toast with smoked tomato and royal red prawns; and roast duck with treviso, Madeira prunes and mustard cream. Head chef Allan Doert Eccles highlights the ttoro: a Basque fish soup he describes as “a pure expression of the sea.”

(Credit: Sharyn Cairns)

The grill selection might include seasonal seafood like strawberry clams, red mullet and Fremantle octopus; the likes of txistorra sausage, or leeks; and select cuts of Blackmore’s Rohne beef (a cross of Galician rubia gallega and wagyu), aged in house. “The grill menu is printed every day, with what’s best at market,” he says. “What I like about this is it keeps the menu quite spontaneous, which is great for us to work with — and great for the diner as well.”

Now, with the fire at its core, the familiar dining room and its tiered layout is more impressive than ever, with a significant renovation and restoration taking place over the past year.

“The brief [to architects and interior designers ACME] was basically to create a really smart European bistro, without specifying whether it’s French, Basque or Italian,” says McConnell. “There’s original terrazzo flooring from the ‘50s which is so beautiful, but it was quite damaged so we had to do a lot of restoration work. The original vaulted ceiling is gorgeous. We’ve really enjoyed is having this heritage template to work with, and enhance.”

Across the dining room and leather-lined bar, sommelier Leanne Altmann’s European-leaning wine list is accompanied by classic cocktails and aperitifs. “The bar is beautiful,” says McConnell. “We have a 16-metre-long mural painted in Spain by a friend, Magnus Reid.”

(Credit: Sharyn Cairns)

One might assume that McConnell had been a disciple of Bittor Arguinzoniz’s restaurant Asador Etxebarri near Bilbao, which has been on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for decades. “I haven’t been!” he exclaims. “I pulled out all the stops and all the favours to get a table this year, but I left it too late. You need a good six-month window.”

One Basque grill experience does stand out for him, though. “The first time I went to a really authentic Basque grill was just outside of San Sebastian, in the hills, called Casa Julián [de Tolosa],” he recalls. “It’s a very humble grill restaurant buried in the side of a mountain. There’s a tiny little two-foot by two-foot grill, and that’s it. That feeds a whole restaurant.” At Côte Basque, it’s safe to say he’ll be calling on that memory. “There was a certain amount of finesse, refinement, and purity of flavour that blew me away; that it came from such a tiny little space, and was feeding so many people.”

McConnell and McGann are known for some of the city’s most adored restaurants like Gimlet, Supernormal, Cutler and Cumulus Inc. — and they’ll take on Stokehouse in St Kilda later in the year.

Côte Basque opens on Friday 7 August at 25 Crossley Street, Melbourne.

Author

Georgia Condon

Digital Editor

Georgia is an experienced food and lifestyle journalist based in Sydney. After launching her career in marketing and public relations for hospitality clients in Brisbane while completing a Master of Communication, she transitioned to media as the Brisbane editor, and then Sydney editor, of Urban List. With family ties to the beef, prawn, cane and hotel industries, Georgia is passionate about supporting and spotlighting Australia’s primary producers, and considers a visit to a small-town pub or bakery equally as exciting as a booking at a top chef’s latest opening. At Gourmet Traveller, Georgia covers restaurant, hotel and events news online and in the magazine.

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