We had the pleasure of trying the newish Ateş Restaurant Blackheath on last week's trip to the Blue Mountains.
Here is what Scott Bolles had to say in Good Food earlier in March:
"It is arguably the most famous restaurant space in the Blue Mountains, and this week the Vulcan's site at Blackheath will rise from the ashes with a former head chef from Rockpool Bar & Grill in control of its famed oven.
Ates, the Ottoman Turkish word for fire, is a nod to the old Vulcan's moniker. And the restaurant's owners have the pedigree to follow in its footsteps: Terry Tan (Vesta, Victor Cafe) and chef Will Cowan-Lunn, a graduate of the Tetsuya's kitchen, who also steered the ship at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne.
“I've been lucky enough to work with some great chefs, including Phil Wood, Dan Hong and Dan Pepperell,” says Cowan-Lunn.
Cowan-Lunn admits he has big shoes to fill. With Searle's blessing, the chef will offer "a few homages" to Vulcan's classics. Searle's duckling sausage with pickled beetroot has been re-imagined with roasted Maremma duck, and the chef is playing around with Searle's chequer board ice-cream.
Cowan-Lunn will deconstruct and reboot the dessert of star anise ice-cream and pineapple granita. "It's a work in progress at this stage, we'd like to get it on the menu down the track," he says.
But for the most part Ates' owners will focus on new creations, which include octopus with capers and a Cabernet-Sauvignon vinegar, and a Yellowfin tuna dish with fermented chilli and pickled cucumber.
With a focus on Mediterranean share plates from an iron bark-fueled oven, Ates hopes to make its own history in the Blue Mountains."
We tried the octopus and it was indeed tasty. Also the Muhammara with coriander & pomegranate ( very similar to the Ezra version ); wood roasted Dory with salsa verde, fennel, radicchio; cumin roasted pumpkin with garlic yoghurt & coriander oil and Hasselback sweet potato with hazelnuts, bread sauce and vincotto.
Being lucky enough to have dear friends to visit in the area, we will definitely be returning to Ates.