Restaurant review: Manly Pavilion

The Manly culinary revolution is now in full swing. The latest opening is the finest yet and will have rivals across the harbour heads wondering “where is everyone?” Written by Justin Wastnage.

The following article originally appeared in Australian Traveller magazine.

Seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care” was how Manly used to portray itself on steamship posters. For decades the Insular Peninsula has liked to pretend that it's somehow not part of metropolitan Sydney, a half-truth belied by the hordes of suited, boardroom-bound commuters thronging its ferries each day.

The transition from seaside resort town to outlying suburb has been an easy one for Manly.

A seemingly never-ending flow of Poms have set up home over the past 20 years, their hitherto powerful pound propelling house prices into the unimaginable levels of the Eastern Suburbs. But Manly has suffered from a perceived lack of sophistication compared to the sought-after South Head suburbs.

The freshly renovated Manly Pavilion is part of a new wave of north shore re-awakening that includes China Beach and Pilu at Freshwater. No longer content to play step-brother to Sydney’s urbane ways, a clutch of new openings has gone some way to restoring the dented pride felt when Will & Toby’s upped sticks two years ago.

Like its near-namesake Balmoral, Manly Pavilion was built in 1933 as a bather’s pavilion. After extensive remodelling by Squillace Nicholas Architects that includes the restoration of Italian marble terrazzo stairs, Manly Pavilion has more grandeur than its iconic rivals in Bondi.

The setting, too, rivals Bondi. Perched like a wedding cake on a promontory overlooking Manly Cove, Manly Pavilion has unrivalled views over the comings-and-goings of North Head, the ferries providing a perfect accompaniment to your meal.

Head chef Jonathan Barthelmess (who regularly tops up-and-coming chef lists) draws less on his own Greek-Australian heritage than the Italian lessons he learnt from former mentor Steve Manfredi at Coast, where he earned a prized chef’s hat in 2007.

Yet having spent little more than a holiday in Italy, the influences in Barthelmess’s food are distinctly second-generation. The flavour-driven simplicity of the Mediterranean produce shines through – despite lacking some of the technique normally acquired during a European apprenticeship.

Guided by the well-trained personnel, we start with grilled buffalo mozzarella delivered on a lemon leaf as an oyster sits on its shell. Covered simply with salt crystals and olive oil, the excellence of the single ingredient infused with lemon overtones is sublime.

Next up, a refreshing cuttlefish salad; with only the merest hint of aniseed coming from the fennel it’s mixed with and with eggplant to balance out its texture. The snapper sashimi similarly demonstrates the outstanding quality of the chef’s suppliers. However, two other courses on the degustation, the crostini and the scampi, would not have been out of place in a good café, save for perfect presentation.

A local feral hog supplier is no doubt rubbing his hands in glee at the news that a sublimely smooth wild boar ragù is one of the signature dishes here. The flavours are delicate, not robust, with the base ingredients of onion, carrot and celery still evident. The pasta was al dente, but a little too smooth for the rich sauce to cling to adequately.

The grilled short rib on the bone was the flashiest display of technique. Tender but with a beautiful crust – almost certainly cooked sous-vide then gently braised – the beef melted in the mouth. I would have preferred the option to soak up the melted marrow with bread, but my side plate had been cleared away long ago.

Rice pudding at the end of a big meal is a brave call, but the Manly Pavilion’s pastry chef has the ability to surprise and delight in equal measures with the budino, which is lifted immeasurably by the candied apple.
Like the waiting room, where a lurid turquoise chaise longue breaks the otherwise sleek elegance of the interiors, there are some aspects of the Manly Pavilion menu that do not quite work. The density of tables, for example: diners are crammed a little too tightly together, leaving servers to raise their voices to be heard.

Yet there are simple extra touches – like embroidered scarves to keep outside diners warm, or the 375mL carafes that open up the wine options beyond glass-or-bottle – that work very well indeed.
The menu, too, works extremely well, as the young chef has stuck to letting the superiority of his fresh ingredients shine through. An impressive cocktail list, with a whole page devoted to Campari-led mixes, shows Manly Pavilion’s desire to ape Eastern Suburbs trends.

There is some evidence it’s working too:
a table of young girls with super-sized sunglasses lent the dining room some glamour, and the presence of a former athlete added a frisson of celebrity excitement.

What’s the gossip?
Here’s what other reviewers have said:
“This is exhilarating food of great lightness and freshness from a sensitive chef . . .” Terry Durack, The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The food is fresh in both its thinking and execution, and resonates beautifully with the setting.” Pat Nourse, Gourmet Traveller.

The AT Verdict
Justin Wastnage, who paid his own way and visited anonymously, says:
“Manly’s desire to be taken seriously has taken a massive step forward with the Pavilion. The quality of the ingredients, seasonal use of produce and perfection of cooking make Manly Pavilion the north shore’s first destination restaurant.”

AT Menu
Stuzzichini: Mozzarella di bufala grilled on a lemon leaf with extra virgin oil $12
Crostini del giorno $12
Antipasti: Grilled scampi, celery ragù and bagna cauda $28
Cuttlefish, fennel, eggplant and lemon $26
Raw snapper dressed with white balsamic, capers and parsley $24
Pasta: Pappardelle with wild boar ragù, verjus and mascarpone $24
Carne: Grilled beef short rib with bone marrow, olive and a cress salad $38
Dolci: Rice budino, candied apple and toasted farro gelato $14

Drinks: Negroni cocktail
2008 Matthias & Emile Roblin “Terres Blanches” Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc
2006 Bannockburn “The Bruce” Cabernet Shiraz Merlot

Total cost: $280.50

Where // Esplanade, Cnr Commonwealth Parade, Manly.
Notes // Stuzzichini from $9; antipasti & pasta from $22; mains from $34.
Contact // (02) 9949 9011, www.manlypier.com

Hawaiian Airlines eyes Asian expansion

Over a million Japanese visit Hawaii every year, drawn by the tropical beaches, the US culture and relative proximity.

This article appeared in July 2010's Asian Aviation

There is one particular quirk of Japan’s love affair with Hawaii that visitors never forget: Hawaii’s favourite snack is the ‘Spam musubi’ – a Japanese-style ‘onigiri’ roll of rice and seaweed, but with pink processed meat replacing the traditional raw fish.

Over a million Japanese visit Hawaii every year, drawn by the tropical beaches, the US culture and relative proximity. There are about a dozen daily flights between the US island chain and Japan, divided among two US carriers – United Airlines and Delta Air Lines – and two Japanese – Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

Despite being based in Hawaii’s capital Honolulu, Hawaiian Airlines has never had rights to serve the route under the existing bilateral air services agreement. This is about to change, as Hawaiian, along with American and Delta, is now set to begin operations to Tokyo’s downtown airport Haneda in October once the airport’s fourth runway is completed. The US Department of Transport has now granted Hawaiian access to the market in order to stimulate competition.
Hawaiian has been growing in competitive strength over the past five years, expanding to become the tenth-biggest US airline. In the mid-2000s the carrier expanded its services to the mainland USA, building up a network of ten destinations on the US West Coast connecting to Hawaii’s three main islands.

Westward Ho

But for Hawaiian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Mark Dunkerley the future is west. Westward from Hawaii lies Asia, offering potentially fatter yields than the carrier could gain by chasing its US rivals for a larger slice of the leisure traffic to the archipelago.

“Asia is a growth-region economically and with that will come a desire to travel among the middle class,” Dunkerley says. He points to Australia, a country that has successfully lured Asian tourists, with massive inflows not only of Japanese, but also Chinese, Korean and Thai visitors.

The expansion plans are underlined by the aircraft orders Hawaiian has placed. The carrier ordered six Airbus A330-200s in November 2007, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the European manufacturer covering 24 long-range jetliners in a US$4.4 billion deal.

In addition to the six A330s, the airline also took purchase rights on a further six, the first of which it exercised in March for a 2011 delivery. The deal was completed with six firm orders and six options for Airbus’s planned long-range A350-800, which Hawaiian hopes to fly non-stop to US east coast cities after it enters operational service in 2013.

Deliveries of the A330s have already started. Two will be in service this year, with the remainder joining the fleet over the next two years. But Asia’s potential is such that Dunkerley cannot wait that long. Hawaiian has now agreed to lease two additional A330-200 aircraft from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services (AWAS), beginning in 2011, and one from CIT Aerospace, which arrived in April.

Hawaiian Airlines officially welcomed the first of the widebody twinjets into its fleet on 1 June, saying that the aircraft heralds “a new era” in the company’s history. The 294-seat aircraft completed its first commercial service from Honolulu to Los Angeles on 4 June.

Long-range capability

The new aircraft has been named ‘Makali’i’, the local term for the constellation of the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, which guided ancient Polynesian voyagers across the Pacific and was seen high in the sky when Inter-Island Airways (renamed Hawaiian Airlines in 1941), launched its first scheduled flight on 11 November, 1929. Each of the new aircraft will be named after a constellation used for astral navigation by Polynesian voyagers.

The aircraft first arrived in Honolulu on 3 May and had been undergoing final preparations for service since then. Hawaiian’s second A330, named ‘Hokule’a’ (‘Star of Gladness’), arrived from the manufacturer’s Toulouse plant on 29 May.

“The A330 provides Hawaiian with an increased operating range of 6,050 nautical miles and the capability to expand its service area on both sides of the Pacific by offering non-stop flights between Hawaii and points in eastern Asia and all of North America,” the airline says.

The only long-haul routes Hawaiian currently flies, other than to the mainland US and Samoa, are to Manila in the Philippines, Papeete in French Polynesia and Sydney, Australia. However, the new A330s open up new choices.

For the moment, the airline has made an economic decision not to fly to the US East Coast with the A330s, due to operational restrictions, Dunkerley says. “We review the economics all the time,” the airline chief says.

The US has bilateral Open-Skies agreements with South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which are all markets ripe with further tourism potential, Dunkerley says. Still, some markets will have to wait until delivery of the A350s in 2017.

“The A350-800s have a range of 8,000 nautical miles [15,000km] so we could even go direct to Europe, but we will certainly go deeper into Asia,” he says.

China hurdles

China, however, is a less likely prospect, having a “less progressive” air services regime that favours the larger US carriers, Dunkerley says. Also, the USA is not on the Chinese government’s list of approved destinations, making visas for travel to Hawaii hard to obtain for the ordinary tourists the island chain wants to attract.

Hong Kong, on the other hand, with its special autonomous region status, might be a suitable target market, Dunkerley says. Similarly, Taiwan has much of the same economic and cultural potential of South Korea and of Japan some 20 years ago. The carrier will weight up the merits and may launch services later this year, he says.

Hawaiian is also betting on the strength of the Virgin name to aid it in the wider Asia-Pacific region. It has signed a code-share agreement with Virgin Blue, Virgin America and V Australia that extends to frequent flyer reciprocity. The move will see Hawaiian codes placed on connecting flights to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne from its daily Sydney service and Virgin Blue codes on Hawaiian’s inter-island routes.

Dunkerley says the deal will have “enormous impact” since the Virgin Blue brand is one of the best-known leisure brands in Australia, one of Hawaiian’s biggest source markets.

Australian passengers are also being targeted with stopover services to Las Vegas, Seattle or the eight other US West Coast ports served by Hawaiian. These destinations will also be promoted to the Tokyo market when it opens, with Honolulu a hassle-free alternative to Los Angeles.

The airport had better start stocking up on Spam musubi.