Porcine

Porcine is a French bistro run by former Old Fitz head chef Nicholas Hill and ex-Don Peppino’s co-owner and chef Harry Levy. It’s above the Paddington outpost of P&V Wine & Liquor Merchants

At Porcine, the pair’s impressive careers have culminated in intoxicating food and atmosphere. For Hill, who won accolades with his Gallic-influenced pub food at Woolloomooloo’s Old Fitzroy Hotel, Porcine marks a return to the polished techniques he forged at fine diners including Sepia and London’s Michelin-starred Ledbury. For Levy (also ex-Bar Brosé and Love, Tilly Devine), it’s a return to a strip reinvigorated over the past several years by players including Fred’s and Saint Peter, as well as his now-closed Italian diner Don Peppino’s.

The menu revolves around a whole Berkshire pig – ordered every fortnight from Hungerford Meat. Each 60-kilogram carcass is aged for up to three weeks to improve flavour and texture before it’s broken down into house ham from the legs; cretons (a French-Canadian pork spread) and chou farci (pork-stuffed cabbage) from the neck and shoulder; 600-gram tomahawks from the ribs; as well as T-bones and rump chops.

Other highlights include a Québécois-style pate of spiced pork mince and chicken livers enriched with crème fraîche and pork fat.

But vegetarians are also taken care of: there’s a dish of seasonal vegetables in a bay-leaf vinaigrette, a Jerusalem artichoke vol-au-vent with garlic hollandaise, and a salad of endive in grilled orange vinegar.

For drinks, your best option is to BYO wine from the P&V bottle shop right downstairs – it’s a game changer.

The homey interiors include a cosy fireplace, a balcony, red-velvet curtains, and a neon sign reading “Cocktails & Dreams”. In case you missed the pork memo, there’s a huge pink “sausage pig” mural on the wall courtesy of Levy’s partner, artist Kim Siew.