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Why Are Sydney Restaurants Trying to Butter Us Up?

Once a humble dining table staple, butter is having a main character moment, with elevated versions of the churned dairy cream served at restaurants across Sydney. The newest among them is the butter seasoned tableside with eschalot, chives and native pepper berry at Tilda, but flavoured butter at Longshore, Chiswick and Single O have long been menu favourites.

“Compound butter [butter mixed with herbs and spices] has always been around, but over the past year or so, we’ve definitely seen a rise in artisanal and specialty butter, both in stores and restaurants,” says Shay Cullen, general manager at Chiswick. “Combining butter with other ingredients is a delicious way to take the simple ‘bread and butter’ up a notch, starting the meal on a great note.”

Chiswick serves a tomato butter that’s half butter, half semi-dried tomato and a bit of seasoning, and Cullen says the now-closed Chiswick at the Gallery served a chicken butter. He also says he’s noticed seaweed variations on several Sydney restaurant menus.

Image: Chiswick

Espresso butter has been on Single O’s menu for over 15 years. It’s served atop banana bread. “We start with top-quality unsalted butter from Pepe Saya and let it soften at room temperature,” says Dan Cesarano, Single O’s retail manager.

“We then brew some espresso and reduce it to a syrup to bring out the coffee flavours without overwhelming the butter. Once cooled, we mix the espresso into the softened butter, tasting along the way for the right balance of richness and coffee. A sprinkle of salt elevates the flavour further.”

Longshore serves lightly truffled brown butter and whipped cultured butter with soy, salted kombu and rice wine vinegar. Jarrod Walsh, group executive chef at Ode Hotels, which owns Longshore, says many chefs were once scared to play with the spread as diners demanded it plain. Now, he’s seeing more chefs use their talent to convince diners otherwise.

flavoured butter
Image: Single O

“What has helped definitely is the bread service restaurants are doing these days which has come a long way,” says Walsh. “If you do a special bread, you need to have a special butter to complement it. Bread-making is hard work, so it only makes sense there’s just as much effort put towards the spread.”

Nathanael Merchant, head chef at Tilda, says his venue’s bread and butter service, which also uses Pepe Saya, is regularly a guest highlight. He says levelled-up butter is slowly shifting from a simple side dish at restaurants to an integral part of a dining experience.

“It’s part of a broader trend that celebrates simplicity and quality,” Merchant says. “As a chef, you want every part of the dining experience to leave an impression, starting with bread and butter. Whether it’s letting great local producers’ work shine untouched or adding a twist to elevate the butter, it’s about recognising that the simplest elements are memorable.”

best bread sydney tilda
Image: Tilda

Cullen agrees that infused butter is linked with the trend of simple and quality food. He says butter is perfect for that as it’s simple to make. There are endless flavours to explore and it can be switched up frequently to keep diners interested.

“Compound butters provide a fabulous opportunity for chefs to express themselves and explore their creativity,” Cullen says. “So I definitely think we’ll see the experimentation continue. I think we all agree there’s nothing better than using a piece of bread to mop up the sauce of a great dish — so we may see butters taking on even more creative flair.”

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