‘Wow, it’s so fancy’: Dainty Sichuan dials up the luxe to become ‘Dainty on Toorak’

Sichuan$$$

Wow, it’s truthful fancy! I said this 3 times earlier adjacent getting to my array astatine Dainty connected Toorak, the just-renovated and rebranded Dainty Sichuan. I’ve been coming present since the edifice opened successful 2009, sitting astatine chunky timber tables successful a spice haze, determination betwixt agony and exhilaration, chopsticks poised for the adjacent morsel.

Like galore radical successful Melbourne, the no-nonsense eating country was my gateway to this south-western Chinese cuisine and I revelled successful the bold flavours, adept cooking and mouth-numbing ecstasy of Sichuan pepper. The nutrient was the focus, not the decor.

But now? Well, it’s truthful fancy! The entranceway corridor is awash with video projections of pastoral scenes and the eating country seems palatial alternatively than simply large, with floral banquettes and chic lighting. Pretty solid teapots and bespoke tablecloths adhd to the consciousness of occasion.

This caller Dainty is confident, the nutrient is fantabulous – and who doesn’t emotion a spot of fancy?

The nutrient offering has been substantially rejigged. There’s unrecorded seafood, Cantonese yum cha each lunchtime and a ceremonial duck crockery that sees glossy roasted vertebrate carved tableside and served 3 ways. With much than 100 items connected the leather-bound menu, it’s casual to get confused – oregon greedy.

I ordered 10 dishes, the waiter cautioned it was excessively overmuch and my array loosened their pants for the challenge.

Chongqing chilli chicken.Luis Enrique Ascui

I’ll ever person Chongqing chilli chicken, the fiery classical that signals vigor successful a ablution of adust chillies but is really much of a culinary stun-gun, acknowledgment to a wide exertion of Sichuan pepper.

Many dishes travel successful immense tureens: mullet is slippery brushed successful a slick bath jazzed with pickled chillies; sliced pork and house-made tofu gleam successful a translucent broth.

Dainty’s mentation of a sausage rotation sees slow-cooked beef wrapped successful flaky pastry; puffed atom is formed into cakes and dusted with salted yolk for a crunchy snack.

Mullet with pickled chilli.Luis Enrique Ascui

It’s been rather a travel for the Dainty brand. The archetypal edifice opened connected Smith Street, Collingwood successful 2003. Owner Tina Li would instrumentality a tram to the marketplace to bargain ingredients and you’d often perceive radical astatine 1 of the fistful of tables marvelling implicit their archetypal tongue-tingling brushwood with this benignant of food.

In the decades since, the empire has taken its fragrant occurrence to the CBD, Box Hill, Glen Waverley, Clayton and adjacent Sydney, but it hasn’t each been roses: successful 2020, Fair Work fined the radical $209,000 for underpaying planetary workers. There are astir 20 outlets now, but South Yarra has agelong been location base.

In its erstwhile incarnation, it was anointed by luminaries including Rene Redzepi, Dave Chang and Sichuan nutrient authorization Fuschia Dunlop. I deliberation they would complaint this caller Dainty. It’s confident, the nutrient is fantabulous – and who doesn’t emotion a spot of fancy?

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