A globetrotting new multi-faceted venue from The Point Group, the team behind Shell House and The Dolphin, has landed in Martin Place this week.
Located next to Harry Seidler’s “mushroom” in Martin Place, The International spans three levels. At its heart is The Grill, a wood-fire-powered restaurant with an additional focus on fresh seafood, including caviar and shellfish.
Chef and culinary director Joel Bickford is overseeing a menu that’s structured traditionally, with the addition of some swish snacks. “It’s easy to navigate and very approachable,” Bickford told Gourmet Traveller. “We have also had a lot of fun putting together a list of luxurious snacks at the top of the menu, which I think will be the real hero.” To this end, expect chilled clams with lovage and grilled young garlic; raw beef served with oyster cream, shiso and black rice; and Port Lincoln abalone served a la Kilpatrick with bacon and seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and ketchup. “My absolute favourite dish is the veal sweetbreads with yabbies from our starters section. We spent a lot of time sourcing yabbies from WA and incredible sweetbreads from the Northern Rivers. There is a real classic technique in the cooking,” says Bickford. He’s joined by head chef Charles Woodward, who spent time in the kitchens at the Lake House in Daylesford and Cottage Point Inn up on the Northern Beaches.
When it comes to the eponymous wood-grill section of the menu, there’s lavish Southern rock lobster served three ways: with potato bread; linguini with roasted shellfish butter and fermented chilli; or in the rich French style, Thermidor. Given the restaurant’s name, it’s no surprise that there’s also a generous meat section, replete with Margra lamb Barnsley chop, Rangers Valley tenderloin, dry-aged sirloin served on the bone, Westholme wagyu rump cap and even a saddle of suckling pig. Despite the hearty carnivorous section, there’s also a generous portion of the menu devoted to vegetables, including a cauliflower cotoletta with sauce au poivre; mushrooms with chickpea and pine nut cream; and white asparagus with celeriac, hazelnut and mimolette, a nutty French cheese. “We don’t want to be known as just another steakhouse,” says Bickford. “It’s a very versatile menu and we’ve really harnessed the wood-fired grill so [that] it’s more than just for cooking steaks.”
Interiors are sleek, favouring high-gloss timber panelling and joinery, textured glass and marble floors, joining a palette of mustard, burnt orange and caramel. Interiors have been overseen by Anna Hewett and Brett Robinson, who founded The Point Group. Alongside The Grill, you’ll also find The Wine Bar and the crowning Panorama Bar.
While the menu and mission at The Grill are ambitious, the team is confident that The International will be a summer – and beyond – success story.
“The menu is huge but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend anything on there. I’m incredibly proud of everything we have achieved so far,” says Bickford. “It’s more than just another Sydney steakhouse.”
The Grill at the International opens today, Thursday, 21 November 2024.
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