Luminary Chef Steven Snow schmoozes with patrons on a balmy Friday night while I learned that Fin's has won ‘Chef Hat’ awards consistently for twenty years. However, what really gets Steven tapping his hand on his heart with pride is the ‘Most Sustainable Seafood Restaurant’ award in the SMH Good Food Guide. Steven’s quest for sustainable methods means goods from the Pacific Ocean must be line-caught, and he embodies a genuine ‘Pacific-to-plate’ ambition.
Steven is effervescent as he explains that virtually every wine at Fin's comes from a sustainable wine producer. "It has to start in the vineyard," he says. "We research and check all their biodynamic methods. We don’t just take their word for it." Fin's sustainable ideology translates to quality and flavor on the table. The fact that Fin's service and atmosphere also ooze ‘fabulosity’ is icing on the cake. Renovated last June, Fin's is a place you dream of discovering on an exotic adventure.
Antique chandeliers, nautical lamps and candlelight shed a golden glow across the vintage timber. The pressed-metal and split-level ceiling panels hint at an Oriental past life. Pre-loved plantation shutters and banks of bottle-green palms cloak the room in colonial charm. The wooden-pegged napkins reveal a welcome abandonment of stifling fine dining conventions and Steven’s "no rules" approach to experimentation. As you sink into the intimate booths, you are transported to another world where it’s easy to let your imagination run wild.
Perhaps in that fantasy you’re dining in a notorious shop-house in old Saigon. The Yellow Fin tuna sashimi is rolled in nori dust, dressed with hot shallot oil, avocado and a harmonious blend of trimmings. The pretty pink glow of the matching French Rosé, resembling the colour of the tuna flesh, suggests a symbiotic sensitivity between the two.
For a fantasy that could only exist in the northern rivers, try the char-grilled Brunswick king prawns and green papaya salad on top of sweet barbecue Bangalow pork, all delicately towered onto rustic earthenware.
Maybe your prefer a fantasty where you’re chilling out in a Caribbean hideaway with your crew. The aromatic, slightly sweet Marcarini Moscato D’Asti white wine is best paired with the lemon myrtle panna cotta, grapefruit and ginger syrup and apple crumble are an uplifting finale. The 32-page wine menu is indeed a first class around-the-world ticket (but without the jetlag, of course!) After savoring the six degustation menu wines from six different countries, there was no hint of a foggy head the next day – simply fond memories of a fantasyland feast at Fin's. This extaordinary eatery is nestled along the coastline at Kingscliff, only one and a half hours south of Brisbane, Australia.
