At Farra in the Perth CBD, a Top Chef Is Serving Up Greek Island Energy

For Aaron Moore, taking the role of executive chef at Farra wasn’t just about taking another step up the hospitality career ladder. It was personal.

After moving from Ireland to Greece at 17, Moore first learnt to cook by working his way around various tavernas in the Greek Islands. 

“Farra is full circle for me. It’s where I’ve pulled together all my food memories from Greece,” says Moore, who previously worked at top restaurants Roscoff in Belfast and Mint in Dublin, before his more recent roles as head chef at Fremantle’s Bread in Common, and Coogee Common. “For me, cooking is about trying to re-create a memory, about wanting to pay homage to food culture and beautiful produce.”

But for all his talk of memory, “Farra is not traditional,” says Moore. “It’s a modern take on that ethos. It’s about doing high-end food that’s fun, that doesn’t lose the spirit of Greece, where it’s all about enjoying good food with family and friends.”

It’s a philosophy that also strikes a chord with Hyde Perth. The hotel brand is known for creating boho luxury spaces in fashionable cities like Los Angeles, London, and Ibiza. Pair this with Perth’s practically Mediterranean climate, and Farra seems a perfect match for the boutique hotel, which opened on Pier Street in March.

Farra occupies three separate-yet-connected spaces within the hotel: a dining room, the pool deck and a terrace. Guests are welcome to choose their own adventure, stopping in for snacks and a drink or luxuriating over multiple courses. Either way, you won’t be rushed.

“It’s designed for people to interpret the way they want. It’s free-flowing like the tavernas of Greece where people sit for hours without needing to rush.”

Hotel guests might start the day at Farra Pool Bar with breakfast dishes like eggs Benedict served with thick-cut bacon, Aegean hollandaise, and dried olives. Lunch could be a myriad of hot and cold meze.

The dinner menu flows from snacky options like tomato keftedes, rabbit meatballs, and mizithra dumplings folded with zucchini blossom and basil to larger plates like goat sheftalia, or saltbush lamb cutlets.

If you can get a crowd together, Moore recommends the slow-roasted lamb shoulder. “We brine the lamb shoulder on the bone for 24 hours, then marinate it for 8 hours before slow roasting overnight. It’s served up with muhammara, revithia and a horiatiki salad,” he says.

While Farra champions Western Australian produce, working with local suppliers such as Fins Seafood and Adrian’s Continental Smallgoods, the drinks list looks further afield. The cocktails are aromatic and tropical, wine is predominately from Greece and the broader Mediterranean. But there is a tight edit of Australian wines for those who prefer an Aussie drop.

Farra

Hyde Perth, 37 Pier Steet, Perth 

(08) 9200 5517

Hours:

Tue to Sat 12pm–2.30pm, 5pm–9.30pm

farraperth.com

@farraperth