Confidence Men

Experience. Know-how. Old-school hospitality. The Recreation is a polished operation with a firm focus on flavour and style 

- Michael Harden

Here’s The Recreation’s take on a tarte Tatin. It’s pears that are poached in cider with cardamom and star anise, then doused in balsamic vinegar caramel. Spicy black pudding glistens on top, keeping the tarte’s sweetness in check. A little hazelnut, watercress and celery salad brings refreshing crunch. It’s rich for an entrée, so you might consider sharing it. Until you tuck in and decide there’s not enough to go round.

A meal at The Recreation might have you reconsidering your devotion to the whole share-plates thing more than once.

Spätzle sautéed with broccoli charred on a wood-fired grill and cabbage, topped with a salty, magnificently retro Gruyère fondue sauce – like a mac and cheese that’s done time in a Swiss finishing school – will also test your resolve. As will the little round cheesecake: mascarpone, cream cheese and vanilla perched on a ginger-biscuit base. The lid of confit apple, shiny with apple juice caramel, a scattering of snowy, perfectly pitched elder flower granita and a few fresh blackberries make it easier to convince yourself that devouring the thing solo is best for everybody.

The Recreation conjures thoughts of simpler times when everybody ordered their own plates of food and queueing was something you did at nightclubs. The approach is old-school and there’s a firm grip on the fundamentals of hospitality at play here. It’s the result of three blokes with fine-dining backgrounds deciding to do it for themselves in a former pub in Fitzroy North.