Firewater Grille
Duxton Hotel
1 St Georges Terrace, Perth
Ph: (08) 9261 8000
www.perth.duxtonhotels.com
Fire and magic at the Firewater Grille
Style and elegance abound in the Duxton Hotel’s Firewater Grille Restaurant, with water cascading over quarried stone creating a relaxing ambience. Multiple gold plate and luxury hotel awards adorn the walls. To build on its continued success, the Firewater Grille has secured the exciting, creative talent of Director of Culinary, Chef Senthil Chandrasekaran.
New to the Perth Food scene, Chef Senthil began his culinary journey assisting with his mother’s catering business in Tamilnadu, Southern India where he first experienced bringing joy to others through food. From his humble beginnings, a passion was born to experience different food cultures across the globe. Chef Senthil explains, “you cannot begin to understand people and their food without living in a place”.
Over the last 12 years, he has worked with the Kempinski Group establishing new restaurants in Qatar, Oman, Dominica and Dubai. Chef Senthil now brings this vast international experience to the Firewater Grille’s customers with his “infused international” dishes.
Sustainability and fresh seasonal produce are also central to Chef Senthil’s food ethos with more than 90% of all ingredients sourced within Western Australia.
The Black Angus Crudo is a marriage of Japanese and Italian cuisines featuring tender thin medallions of Black Angus sauteed and dressed in a teriyaki sauce. There is a depth and sweetness to the beef and touches of romesco sauce, a punch of black garlic and sweet wilted spring onion provide succulent savoury notes. The 2017 Firetail Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River was a great pairing choice, matching the strong bold flavours with medium tannins, vanilla oak and pepper notes.
This was followed by Grilled Octopus served with wild rice, pickled vegetables and pico de gallo. The creamy tender octopus had just the right amount of charring and the wild rice provided an earthy background and texture to the dish. It was finished with pickled gherkin and radish which lent an acidic zing. The fresh tastes of the Mexican salad balanced the flavours in the dish. Perfectly complementing the seafood dish was a 2022 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Riesling. Possessing a vibrant citrus foreground and lightly herbaceous nose, this wine is elegant with nuances of flint.
The third dish tasted was the Squid Ink Linguini with prawns, mussels, scallops, cherry vine tomatoes, garlic and parsley. The linguini was silky smooth, prawns and scallops sweet and fresh with just enough tomato sauce to bring the dish together, providing a depth of flavour. Once again, the Riesling was a great accompaniment to the dish.
Our next dish was Futari Full-blooded Wagyu Tenderloin. A dish like this is why the restaurant has won several recent Gold Plate Awards for best BBQ, Steakhouse or Grill. The prime cut of the multi-award winning Australian produced wagyu sits almost reverently upon the plate. This fillet was lovingly basted to a dark caramel colour. Other accompaniments on the plate are a creamy potato mash, broccolini and an understated beef jus allowing the main ingredient to shine. The bold flavours and pepper notes of the 2017 Firetail Cabernet Sauvignon paired seamlessly with the beef.
Our final course was the Apple Tea Tart with apple compote, apple tea namelaka and raspberry coulis. The namelaka has the silkiness of chocolate, the lightness of whipped cream and is often used as a filling in choux pastries. The raspberry coulis was sharp, cutting through the rich creaminess of the dish. Indulgent, dessert heaven.
The Firewater Grille’s à la carte menu will be revised every three months, consistent with the changing of seasons. Specific food themes will also be offered to provide further variation. Now with a young family, Perth is a lifestyle choice for Chef Senthil and we are lucky enough to be the beneficiaries of his creative talent.
By Chris O’Halloran
