A CUT ABOVE

Andrew McConnell’s flagship Melbourne fine diner, Cutler & Co, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year, and to celebrate the chef has shared a menu for this month’s issue. The recipes here represent some of McConnell’s favourite dishes from the last decade and, he says, can be “eaten together as a complementary meal, or lifted off the page one at a time”.

“We’ve covered a lot of ground over the last 10 years so it was hard to choose which dishes to include,” he says. “But I think these provide a good snapshot of our approach at Cutler and the constant process of evolving ideas.”

So what is it exactly that keeps a restaurant at the top of its game for so long?

“Ten years ago, our main objective at Cutler & Co was to do top-end fine dining in Melbourne with a really relaxed environment and a more casual approach,” he says. “We weren’t about neglecting professionalism or service quality or good-quality tableware or anything like that. We just wanted a friendlier, more casual approach to the service, and the food as well.

“It was all about evolving to meet the changing needs of how our customers wanted to dine. If they wanted a fine-dining experience or a dégustation they could have that, but they could also come in, share a steak or some duck with a glass of wine, or turn up and eat a dessert like the apple terrine at the end of a night out.

“We wanted people to be able to use Cutler & Co the way they wanted to use it. It’s the same way with these recipes. You should use them anyway you like, one at a time or all together. It’s the kind of flexible approach that I like and I think it’s why we’re still here 10 years later.”

Cutler & Co, 55-57 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, Vic, (03) 9419 4888, cutlerandco.com.au

Doughnuts with sour cream and salmon roe

SERVES 4-6 //