Balmain’s Casa Esquina Closes, Making Way for Live Music and Cheery Bistro Plates at Elliott’s

The old, much-loved Efendy space – a revamped Victorian mansion and courtyard on the corner of Elliott and Darling Streets – became Argentinian grill restaurant Casa Esquina 18 months ago. It was the perfect place for fugazzeta and empanadas, premium steaks off a parrilla and cocktails. But now owner Atticus Hospitality has reimagined the space yet again, this time, as Elliott’s.

“[Casa Esquina] was really meat driven,” Elliott’s head chef, John Frid (ex-Esteban, Tequila Mockingbird), tells Broadsheet. “A lot of smoke and fire – it doesn’t appeal to everybody. I think that’s why it became more of a weekend destination … when you’re trying to get people in [on a weeknight] or at lunch, it’s not top of mind to go and have a giant piece of meat.”

Add in the fact that, generally, people aren’t spending as much on dining out, and quick pivots – like we’ve seen recently with Neil Perry’s Gran Torino and Bar Copains’ newbie Vin-Cenzo’s – can be necessary. Enter Elliott’s.

Across the plant-filled Balmain courtyard and dining rooms upstairs and downstairs, you’ll find the likes of double smash cheeseburgers in buttery croissant buns, Alaskan king crab croquettes and smoked steak tartare. Or you can go all in with gin-cured salmon topped with bee pollen, calamari with lemon myrtle cream, ponzu-roasted eggplant on a bitey barley risotto, and steak frites.

“The food is fresh and light, with French and Italian influences,” Frid says. “Time and skill and technique are involved, but it’s not pretentious.” To pair with the food, Elliott’s has a range of signature cocktails, including Smokey and the Bandito, a riff on a white Negroni with Aguas Mansas Espadin, a top-shelf mezcal.

The new direction includes the addition of a healthy live music program, which is mostly thanks to recent council reforms. In June, the inner west got six special entertainment precincts, including Balmain, where venues can trade till 2am on weekends and host small gigs without council approval.

“I’ve always been a music person, but it was hard to do [at Casa Esquina],” Atticus Hospitality director Michael Fegent says. “Then the changes with the night-time economy came, [bringing] more allowances for live music.”

Making the most of this is Elliott’s courtyard, where you’ll find DJs spinning vinyl all weekend, and live bands playing blues, soul and funk on Saturdays. The surrounding garden, which includes birds of paradise, giant ferns and cacti, was a DIY effort.

“I was up gardening with a head torch and a glass of red wine till 2am most nights last week,” says Fegent. But a retractable butterfly roof, imported from Italy, keeps the courtyard all-weather.

Indoors, the bar area is all burgundy leather, blonde timber and red lamplight. Upstairs the atmosphere is quieter, the walls dotted with original work from independent artists from Serbia, Norway and beyond. Outside, a massive wraparound balcony hugs two giant, shady trees.

“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel,” says Fegent. “Balmain is having a resurgence right now, and people want to stay local. We just want them to feel comfortable to walk in, have a Grifter and a cheeseburger, and listen to a band, or go upstairs and have a three- or four-course meal.”

Elliott’s
79 Elliott Street, Balmain
(02) 9290 7033

Hours:
Wed to Sat midday–midnight
Sun midday–10pm

elliottsbalmain.au
@elliottsbalmain