WHY I LOVE THIS PLACE

LEE HOLMES
Food blogger, author of Heal Your Gut and ambassador for Southernature supplements

WHERE
Drake Eatery, Bondi

WHY
"The first time I went there I stumbled across it and noticed it looked like a good local suburban restaurant. I noticed that you could see the kitchen and the meals coming out, and they were also prepped in front of you and they looked incredible. The interior is simple and earthy, with the kitchen the focal point, and the atmosphere is a casual eatery and low key. And I really like how close the chefs are to you, and you can see the care they put into the food.

"I've been about five times now. The best thing about it is you don't need an occasion to go, but having said that, I was there for my birthday breakfast and had the quinoa, pistachio, pear and coconut breakfast bowl, which was delicious. The food is hearty and wholesome and locally sourced, with great flavours and combinations. It has a focus on seasonal and sustainable produce."
 

WHAT
"​We always order the iceberg, radish, basil, parmesan salad with buttermilk dressing. One of my favourites is the chargrilled Rosedale angus scotch, horseradish, roast onion and watercress – it melts in the mouth. Usually if a restaurant gets the steak right, you know the other dishes will fall nicely in line. Other dishes we like are the pan-roasted Red Gate Farm duck, beetroot, chicory, charred blueberries and the confit Mirrool Creek lamb forequarter fillet with broad beans, lemon and anchovy crumb."

AT HOME
"I love cooking at home – so much so I created a blog called Supercharged Food around it. I knew it was a way for my work life to involve and revolve around my passion for delicious and healthy food. The last meal I made that the family really enjoyed was a slow-cooked lamb with rosemary and garlic and I served it with turmeric cauliflower with a tahini dressing topped with coriander and crispy sage leaves from my garden, and on the side we had smashed peas with mint and goat's cheese."

DRAKE

Corner Curlewis Street and Gould Street, Bondi 

9130 3218, drakeeatery.com.au

Breakfast $6-$17, lunch and dinner menu $7-$38. About $100 for two, plus drinks.

★★★★✰

It takes courage to have personality and stand out from the crowd. There's a formula to many of Sydney's bars and restaurants these days: blond on blond, wood, concrete, a hanging garden, an open kitchen. Elegant and yet impersonal.  It is easier to be pretty and plain than offend anyone.

In fact, I often think Sydney can be the beauty without the brains. There are pockets of personality, but more often than not it is brash and beautiful and a little lacking in substance. There is, perhaps, no better example of this than in Bondi, where – among the people and the places – the style, look and feel can be a little homogenous.

So when I walk into Drake early on a Saturday night, I am worried that the pretty, breezy, blond neighbourhood eatery is another Bondi Barbie doll.

I'm happy to be proven wrong and, of course, the important part is whether the clean lines of Drake are indicative of a safe approach or are a blank canvas for something more special.

Our waiter, thankfully, has personality. Friendly and relaxed and in a washed denim-and-cream uniform that is colour co-ordinated with the interior, he chats through the short, personality-rich wine list and offers to bring over tasters. Always willing to try before we buy, we happily settle on glasses of smooth Precipice pinot noir from the Yarra Valley.

We sip and sup on a generous bowl of oil-licked, citrus cured olives, and although our order of Sonoma miche is forgotten, when it eventually arrives and we greedily ask for more oil and whipped butter, they come quickly and without question.

Thyme gnocchi ($17) arrives, all delicate, crispy pillows scattered with golden raisins, hazelnuts, a variety of mushrooms and nuggets of Gippsland blue. It manages to be rich without being heavy. A perfect partner in crime is the roasted new season asparagus, with torn apart cheddar souffle, sage and hazelnuts ($19).

It's good, but Drake has plenty more behind the facade than we guess. A pretty plate of roasted yellow and green spring beans ($13) comes with candied walnuts and a creamy tarragon and mustard dressing. They are crunchy flavourful and, again, generous. 

The baked celeriac ($25) comes in soft, thick wedges, drizzled with a hazelnut vinaigrette, the crunch of crushed hazelnuts and puffed grains as well as the delicate hit of celery salt. We pick up the creamy, decadent wedges with our fingers, in heaven. 

Despite full bellies, a dessert of deconstructed flourless dark chocolate cake catches our eyes. It comes with fat dollops of vanilla creme and rhubarb strips ($15) and is worth the distended stomachs.

We leave Drake far fuller and more content, having seen the depth beneath the beauteous exterior.

I suppose most of us, at the end of the day, just want to be liked, so although Drake might be a Barbie doll, she's a Barbie doll with soul and, thankfully, plenty of personality.