“It’s all about the ingredients,” says James Cole Bowen, chef at recently opened Doubleview bar The Corner Dairy. “Once you’ve got good ingredients, the rest just follows.”

Which, of course, is true in a way. But when you’re a cook with a CV like Cole Bowen’s, your ingredients are more likely to succeed than those that wind up in other kitchens.

Throughout his career, our man has clocked time at some of Perth’s more demanding restaurants, including Restaurant Amuse and Ku Dining, where he met Le Rebelle duo Liam Atkinson and Adam Sayles. (The trio was reunited over the past year, when Cole Bowen took on a role as sous chef at Le Rebelle). In addition to his hometown experience, Cole Bowen has spent time in high-flying Melbourne restaurants Omnia and Lûmé (he was named an Appetite for Excellent Young Chef finalist while working at the latter in 2019).

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It’s a formidable resume, certainly, and on (menu) paper, it translates to smart dishes that impress thanks to sharp thinking and attention to detail in the kitchen, rather than cheffy showboating. It’s also a menu that feels very “now” for Perth, with Cole Bowen drawing from a diverse set of influences including ’60s dinner-party throwbacks, cafe culture and a much-loved Northbridge Vietnamese restaurant. The legendary Welsh rarebit from London’s beloved St John also features, as does a Wagyu cheeseburger made with potato buns. In short, Cole Bowen’s first menu as a head chef very much marks him out as a talent to watch. Here are six more reasons to visit The Corner Dairy.

Stuffed barbeque chicken wing, ’nduja, honey
Deboned chicken wings stuffed with a mixture of pork mince, prawn and mushrooms are ubiquitous at Vietnamese restaurants around Perth. Some – such as the legendary specimens at Viet Hoa – are deep-fried. Some are barbequed. None, I’m certain, are filled with a mixture of chicken mousse studded with hunks of spicy ’nduja – Calabria’s famous spreadable salami – grilled over binchotan charcoal and glazed with honey gathered from flowering paperbark trees. Glorious.

Fried school-prawn lettuce cup, cocktail sauce, horseradish
The classic prawn cocktail gets reborn as a san choy bow, the make-your-own-lettuce-cup leg of the multi-course Peking duck feast. While the kitchen does all the filling, the pay-off is no less gratifying, with Marie Rose sauce and fresh shaved horseradish adding welcome richness and brightness to the party.

Stracciatella, witlof, cumquat marmalade
Also from the department of leaves as a delivery vehicle for deliciousness: this pretty arrangement of young witlof leaves around a puddle of La Delizia Latticini straciatella (creamy and room temp) topped with dabs of cumquat marmalade. Simple, effective and utterly delicious.

Rye cracker, avocado, togarashi
Taking avo toast as his inspiration, Cole Bowen and fellow chefs Glen Miller and Rian Zehnder make their own rye-and-caraway-seed cracker and top it with fanned slices of avocado and a house-made togarashi blend, Japan’s famous chilli condiment. (Here it’s given an Aussie remix with the sly addition of chiffonade Geraldton wax.) Staff will ask if you want to add some Yarra Valley rainbow-trout roe smoked in-house with cherrywood to your cracker. The correct answer here would be: “Yes, please. Very much so.”

Fried Wagin duck egg, soft herbs, hot sauce and black pudding
Vietnam once again gets a reference in this brunchy wonder of fried duck egg (gooey!) wreathed with coriander, Vietnamese mint and Thai basil (herby!) and rings of red chilli (spicy!). Add a slick of PG-rated fermented chilli sauce and pieces of British-style black pudding, and life doesn’t seem so bad.

Bahen & Co chocolate delice, olive oil and sourdough
Olive oil might seem like an unusual workout buddy for rich chocolate mousse, but it works – doubly so when said delice is seasoned with sea salt and finished with a golden wafer of sourdough, made with bread supplied by local pop-up baker Bread Bros.

The Corner Dairy
260 Woodside Street, Doubleview

Hours:
Wed & Thu 4pm–11pm
Fri & Sat 12pm–12am
Sun 12pm–11pm

@thecornerdairy