The stuffed red snapper was a beautiful main dish. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Kingston’s newest belle is a charming little venue by the same team behind corner-bar Queenies. Eve has recently opened just a few doors down from her big sister, and while Queenies is big and boisterous, Eve is cosy and elegant.
Chef Adi Davos has been given full creative licence and is wielding her powers well. The menu follows the classic entree, main, dessert structure, and diners can order à la carte or opt for a three or five-course menu ($65 and $95, respectively, with your choice of dishes).
Like Queenies, Eve’s entire menu is gluten-free, and there are plenty of options for vegans. So, of course, I had to bring my sister, who is both gluten intolerant and prefers to eat vegetarian.
Owner Pamela Howarth sees Eve as a place for chefs like Adi to express their creativity. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Eve benefits from the classic fittings in this Kingston building – wooden floors, arched windows and a high ceiling – and they’ve added their own touches. There’s an electric fireplace at one end, and a black and white film is being projected onto one wall (we’re pretty sure they were showing All About Eve for at least part of our meal).
Unobtrusive piano music plays at a respectable volume, and overall, the space is quiet, and it’s easy to hear each other speaking.
Having followed Chef Adi’s career, I can recognise her signature approach.
There’s a classically trained sensibility to dishes like pork terrine and beef tartare, but you can expect most dishes to also contain ingredients from across Asia. The pork in the terrine is braised in soy sauce, and the tartare contains Korean gochujang chilli paste.
Adi’s Filipino heritage is on display with kinilaw kingfish, marinated in a coconut dressing, and duck arroz caldo, barbecued duck served on a vibrant yellow congee with turmeric, ginger and chilli.
Chef Adrianne Davos is at the helm of Eve. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
But first, drinks.
As designated driver, my sister opts for a non-alcoholic rosé, but I am intrigued by the blackboard of cocktails, including a full lineup of martinis. I requested a dirty martini, and our lovely server asked all the right questions: Two olives? Yes.
Dirty, or filthy? Absolutely filthy, please and thank you.
For entrees, I chose the pork terrine, which was tender and tasty. The edges had been slightly charred, which enhanced the flavours, and it was topped off with a tasty relish. My sister opted for the antipasto board (the staff happily popped the cured ham on the side for me to enjoy). It came with a beautifully oozy brie, mushroom duxelle, pickled onion and house-made rice crackers.
On a whim, I had added a serve of bread to the order, and I’m so glad I did. More like a savoury scone, these warm morsels were dripping with honey butter and served with a plum and brandy jam. Just fabulous.
I also ordered the fish of the day (Red Snapper, on this occasion), which came stuffed with a prawn and crab mousse and served with smoked eel velouté, caper butter and dashes of flavourful oils. The dish was lovely, full of flavour, and the fish was beautifully cooked.
My sister very much enjoyed the hand-rolled mushroom pasta, which came in a (vegan) cream sauce with six different kinds of mushrooms. A lovely dish for a cold evening.
Chef Adi herself delivered desserts and told us that the caramel leche flan is her grandmother’s recipe. She encouraged me to play with my food and spoon my chocolate riz au lait into the blood-orange ‘leather’ and eat it like a taco. She describes the dish as “grown-up Coco Pops”, which definitely fits the bill! Scatterings of citrus keep the whole thing light.
The thing that impressed me most about Eve is that it’s not ‘pretty good for gluten-free’ or ‘pretty good for vegan’. The menu is just genuinely good.
Eve is located at 34 Giles Street, Kingston. They are open from 12 noon to 9 pm, Wednesday to Saturday. Follow Queenies and Eve on Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
