Open-Flame Restaurants That Cook With Fire and Smoke
Nine restaurants where coal, ironbark and open flame do the cooking instead of a gas line, from a Surry Hills chef who trained in Spain to a Cabramatta steakhouse with meat dry-aging behind glass.
None of these kitchens treat gas as anything more than a backup – if they keep it at all. Coal, ironbark, apple wood and olive wood do the actual cooking here, from the steak on the grill to a cocktail getting a hit of smoke on its way to the table.
A few have staked entire careers on it — one chef spent five years apprenticed to a wood-fire master in Spain before opening his own place, another named his second cookbook after the same flame that cooks his whole menu. Presented by Honda ZR-V, here are nine restaurants that put fire at the centre of everything they cook.
Read other guides in our A to Z with Honda ZR-V series:
After-Work Drink Spots to Meet Your Friends and Wind Down the Day
Degustation and Set Menus Worth Booking for a Proper Splurge
Neighbourhood Restaurants the Locals Try Hard to Keep Secret
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RestaurantFirebird
223 High Street, Prahran
Neo-Vietnamese cooking gets an extra edge from open-flame grilling at this Commune Group restaurant on Prahran’s High Street.
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RestaurantEster
46-52 Meagher St, Chippendale
Mat Lindsay’s wood-fired oven drives the entire menu at this influential restaurant, paired with a compact natural wine list.
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RestaurantFiredoor
23-33 Mary Street, Surry Hills
Lennox Hastie trained under Victor Arguinzoniz in Spain before shaping an entire Surry Hills menu around fire.
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RestaurantMAGMA by Dany Karam
1 Bartley Street, Canley Vale
Dany Karam dry-ages meat in a glass-fronted butchery before it’s cooked entirely over open flame at this new Cabramatta steakhouse.
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RestaurantAgnes Restaurant
22 Agnes Street, Fortitude Valley
Chef Ben Williamson shuns gas and electricity, letting fire and coals cook everything here — even the cocktails.
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RestaurantEssa Restaurant
181 Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley
Chef Phil Marchant shapes a harvest-driven menu entirely around fire, working directly with local farmers, hunters and providores.
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RestaurantOyama Japanese Restaurant
115 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley
An opera-singing head chef performs teppanyaki tableside at this Fortitude Valley institution, family-run since 1991.
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RestaurantAfricola
4 East Terrace, Adelaide
The fearless, multi-cuisine menu here revolves around a single wood-fire oven.
