Asha opens today, and punters can expect high-end casual fine dining that is “contemporary Australian with Middle East and North African inspiration”.
Inside Asha by the Good Gilbert crew
Aug 22, 2024, updated Nov 04, 2024
From L—R: Wilson Shawyer, Scott Fox, Awhe Pahau and Stephen Tzanakis.
After some lengthy delays, a much anticipated restaurant opening is here – almost: Asha by the Good Gilbert crew which includes Wilson and Isabelle Shawyer, Stephen Tzanakis, Scott Fox and Mel Holmes, is opening today.
“We’re so excited we finally made it to this point,” Wilson says.
“But I think it’s at the point that it’s ready to open — we’re ready for it to open,” says Stephen.
While the venue is smallish at 36 seats, the team complemented the space with soft colours and timber.
“We’re big believers when it comes to the venue of never having a preconceived idea of what we’re going to do in there. It’s feeling out what the space can lend itself towards,” Wilson says.
“You know, you look around here and it’s a very narrow space. It’s long, but it’s narrow. So we’ve raised the ceiling, we’ve re-levelled the entire base floor, and just like made it our own and designed it around what we can get the best out of the space from.
“And that kind of led into the concept, which was a really beautiful neighbourhood restaurant that does high-end casual dining.”
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This picture: supplied.“[Head chef, Scott] has drawn flavours and techniques that he’s seen in his travels across Morocco and even parts of Spain and stuff, and so he’s used a lot of that as inspiration for his dishes,” Stephen says.
“But it’s not a traditional dish. So, the idea is not to just present traditional food. It is to present food that is inspired by, but still very contemporary.”
Wilson says these dishes will be a modern take on “traditional flavour profiles of those areas”.
“A lot of spice — but we’re talking like savoury spices — heavy influence on protein,” Wilson says.
“We’re fully aware that of this food culture, especially Muslim culture, that pork is a no-go. There is no pork on this menu. We want to be respectful and mindful.”
In terms of menu specifics, Wilson says the food is “fucking wild” and something that he’s “so in love with”.
“I’m so interested to eat everything on there, but until that kitchen is cooking it, we can’t say for certain that we can operationally do that menu,” Wilson says.
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“But some things that I’m excited by are like the Merguez balls, which are like an Iraqi beef sausage, but they’re being de-skinned and used in a different setting, which will be really fun.”
This picture: supplied.Asha’s alcohol offering will be less complex than its sister venue two doors down because it is a “restaurant first and foremost” whereas Good Gilbert “is a bar first and foremost”.
“It’s not going to be extravagant; it’s not going to be the destination as a bar, perhaps like next door. It’ll have its own swing to it,” Wilson says.
“So a lot of really cool cocktails that Mel, our business partner, is working on with some tea influence in it.
“The wine list is going to be evolving initially. As we find our feet and source really good wines from the regions that we think are going to be quite generous to the food offering here. It’s going to be a fun, beautiful, reflective wine list. It’s not going to be huge; it’ll probably hit 50 at a maximum.”
When deciding on aesthetics and the general vibe of Asha, the team put a lot of consideration into their location, and the fact that they’re in the suburbs and not the CBD.
“It’s got all the benefits of fine dining: it’s a beautiful space, it’s well designed, food will be beautiful, it will be an incredible beverage offering, incredible service and without all the stiffness that comes with it — without the one-to-one waiter to guest ratio,” Wilson says.
“The staff are going to be more casual, well informed, but they’re not going to tell you ‘how we de-boned the quail to do this’ or ‘we went out and picked this’. I mean, they might, and if a customer wants to have a conversation about it we’re happy to talk about what we do and how we do it.
“It’s there if people want it, but we’re still going to be fun and us. We’re still going to have personality. We’re still going to engage with people at the table — high-end casual fine dining.”
Asha is opening today and is located at 135 Goodwood Road, Goodwood. They will be open from Wednesday to Saturday for dinner from 5pm until late, then on Saturday from 12pm until 2:30pm for lunch.
Connect with the business on Instagram, or book a table through the website.
This picture: supplied.