Mondo Organics - fine dining with a very healthy attitide

http://www.mondo-organics.com.au/

Quite often, when I am lacking inspiration or simply have no clue where I want to go for dinner, I hop onto one of my favourite resources sites, which normally sets me right.  While I love most food, the style of food that I feel most at home with is fine dining.  There are a couple of resources around to get some inspiration about where to eat out but I constantly find myself coming back to the Australian Good Food & Guide (AGFG).

Each year the AGFG produces a list of the finest restaurants in the country and awards them coveted Hats and then lists out the best restaurants in the country.  If you've ever wondered what the Hats rating system is all about, you can check it out here, but the AGFG takes it's lead from the Michelin standard, where AGFG inspectors are anonymous and their identities kept strictly confidential - this ensures the highest level of integrity when determining who is best.  

The 2014 AGFG list of 'Hatted' restaurants came out just a few weeks ago and Mondo Organics was again awarded with a coveted Hat.

So, during the week I really felt like having a fine dining experience from a restaurant that I'd never been to before, which is getting increasingly difficult in the Brisbane area.  Of the forty five hatted restaurants in  the South East, I've been to most of them but there is one in particular that I've been dying to try for a long time, but have just never made it to.  When I'm looking for a spot to have a nice dinner, I usually make out a list of two or three restaurants and then pick one of them.  For the last few years, Mondo Organics has made that list but never quite made it to the number one spot, until now.

Organic Char - where the wild things grow

http://www.organicchar.com.au/

Its like a garden party inside

For a quite a few years now we have been in the grip of a revolution, which started slowly in the back streets of suburbs like Paddington and West End.  Slowly over time I have seen the changes coming, firstly in little stores that took some getting to and more recently in the aisles of the major shopping chains, like Coles and Woolworths   I am of course talking about the Organic food revolution and its creep from the fringes of our consciousness to the main stream.

It is little surprise that this organic phenomenon should find its way to the core of the restaurant scene, after all, don't chefs love to use the freshest and tastiest seasonal produce?  What was surprising is that a restaurant like Organic Char open up as the little brother to Brisbane steak institution Cha Cha Char.  Originally conceived by well know restauranteur John Kilroy (Jellyfish and Cha Cha Char)  Organic Char takes a very different approach than it's big city brother next door.

While Cha Cha Char is well known with the Brisbane lunch time scene as a classy and upmarket restaurant, Organic Char takes a much more relaxed approach and does not take itself too seriously, a fact which becomes abundantly clear once you step through the doors and take a seat.  The interior has a bright airy feel to it and is decorated much like a fancy garden party, 'tall grass' decals adorn the walls adding to the feel of being outside on a lovely summers day.  High backed comfy chairs complete the feel of whimsy and you definitely know you are in for something a little different.