Overview
If you're the kind of restaurant-goer who picks their places to eat based on accolades, acclaim and applause, then you'll be familiar with France's Mirazur. The three Michelin-starred eatery sits in the French Riviera near the Italian border, calls an old 1930s villa home, and is the work of Argentinian-born chef and owner Mauro Colagreco, who takes culinary inspiration from his Italian grandparents. It's also a former winner of the World's Best 50 Restaurants' top spot, and it should be high on everyone's food bucket list.
For three weeks in autumn, from Friday, March 10–Friday, March 31, Mirazur is also visiting Australia. Its destination: the hatted The Gantry at Pier One Sydney Harbour, where the coveted restaurant will put on its first-ever Harbour City residency. That'll make ticking off a visit a whole lot easier — no overseas plane ticket required.
Mirazur, Nicolas Lobbestael
Swapping one waterfront locale for another, Colagreco is making the trip Down Under from Menton near Nice on the Cote D'Azur, accompanied by a sizeable portion of his team. That includes Mirazur's Chief Operating Officer Maria Tancredi and Executive Chef Luca Mattioli, as well as front-of-house and kitchen staff, plus sommeliers. Silvina Dayer, its agronome — aka garden scientist — will also head our way with the crew.
Heroing Australian ingredients, the Mirazur cohort will serve up a multi-course tasting menu, plus snacks, which won't come cheap — $685 per person, in fact, with wine pairings starting from an extra $210.
Matteo Carassale
The specific focus: using the best Aussie wares they can source, working with producers who are respectful and passionate about the land and sea, to whip up an original menu that showcases the restaurant's commitment to sustainability, nature and biodiversity. Taking inspiration from different cultures and cooking environments, and highlighting their ingredients and suppliers, is what the Mirazur Beyond Borders project is all about — which this residency slots into.
"Mirazur Beyond Borders is the opportunity for us to enrich our knowledge, philosophy and commitment. I have visited Australia a few times and what excites me is that it is a country where there is a huge diversity of nature, landscapes, and species," said Colagreco, announcing the Sydney jaunt.
"It's very important for me and my team to learn from and experiment with the ingredients we find in the country we visit, and to learn from all the people and products we encounter on the way. Although we are coming to Australia for a few weeks, I already know we will leave with something that lasts forever," he continued.
"I am thrilled to cook in Sydney, as it's such a diverse Australian city, where many cultures and foods coexist. What I love about Australian gastronomy, and particularly Sydney's, is that it has been influenced by many different cultures, from Asian to European, and a large range of produce to create its own gastronomy, and reinvents itself constantly."
The Gantry, Alana Dimou
Mirazur will temporarily take up residence in Sydney just a few months before three Michelin-starred English restaurant L'Enclume, from British chef Simon Rogan, does the same in July and August.
Mirazur Beyond Borders at The Gantry, Pier One Sydney Harbour, will run from Friday, March 10–Friday, March 31 — operating for lunch and dinner Wednesday–Sunday. Head to the residency's website for bookings from 12pm AEST on Tuesday, February 13, and to register for the priority list in advance.