642 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley
www.measurebar.com.au
A measure of success: Perth’s new confectioners quantify good food
Imagine a dining experience engineered to build to a crescendo, a place where you can have your cake and eat it too, where dessert is a sweet salutation to diners – welcome to Measure.
From French origins, dessert means to clear the table, a sugary course after the main meal to close the dining experience. The innovative concept of Measure’s small bar and dessert restaurant as an after dinner dining establishment reminds us of the standalone power of desserts.
An intimate darkened dining room evokes the possibility of a prohibition era speakeasy, the plush black velvet banquet seating and generous bar inviting you to take a seat, take a drink and take a load off. The cozy slanted ceilings create subtly lit contained spaces offering a timeless romantic dining experience.
The hub of the restaurant, an open galley kitchen, reflects its intimacy. The collaborative design from Arcus and Moffat, and a series of sleek black appliances from Moffat’s Waldorf Bold range chosen for their lasting style, combined with tonal tiling and splash backs, allows diners to appreciate the intricacy of each dish.
An engineering surveying graduate, chef Karmen Lu says the mathematical precision and exactness drew her to desserts, an interesting idiom in the uber creative dessert world, and her carefully honed menu highlights the beauty in the complex veracity of desserts.
While a dessert bar might sound like a confectioner’s ultimate fantasy, Lu’s emphasis is flavour balance rather than overloaded sweetness. Experimental tastes garnered from her Asian background, such as black sesame and yuzu, a citrus fruit, offers each dish a chance to challenge the diner, while an evolving menu will challenge her own skill growth.
Harmonising the myriad elements of each well-balanced dish is no mean feat, and ultimate bartender Ryan Mitchell has concocted a worthy drinks list. Dessert wines, spirits and signature cocktails offer perfect beverage countenance, allowing Ryan to remind people that sweet drinks are not mutually exclusive of quality.
Each pairing of dessert and drink works together differently, cutting through the sweetness or richness of the dish, or balancing an element. This allows Ryan to take classic cocktails and experiment with dessert elements including salted caramel or house made marshmallow, to work with Karmen’s masterminded dishes.
Fans of Karmen will recognise the classic flavours of the Peanut dish as an homage to the dessert that
earned her a place on Masterchef. A subtle dark chocolate brownie acts as foundation for fluffy peanut bavarois, with a smooth house-made popcorn gelato being a surprisingly refreshing contrast to the brulee banana and caramel popcorn.
Like a comforting hug from your grandfather, the flavor profile of the Earl Grey is warm and inviting. Designed around the fragrant bergamot oil present in the rich, fruity chocolate truffle, the dish takes a comforting memory and gives it style. The Darjeeling panna cotta is the stand out, light but full of flavor, while the chocolate notes add a level of decadence.
The Pear Rice Pudding, to be paired with the German Dr Loosen Beerenhauslese dessert wine, offers bitter honey notes from the rice pudding and dark honeycomb. The pear and ginger flower sorbet adds an intensely concentrated pear explosion tying together the playful Asian influences, and is enhanced by the gritty poached pears and caramelised pear shards.
While Measure is still dipping its toes in the water, expect big things from this dynamic duo. The pair is keen to establish themselves as a positive addition to the area and believe innovative local partnerships will promote healthy venues and a buzzing atmosphere in the local food community.
