Yorkshire-born Donovan Cooke opens new Melbourne venture

Donovan Cooke, the Yorkshire-born chef who gained culinary acclaim in Melbourne, Australia in the late 1990s with his Est Est Est restaurant, has returned to the city to open a new dining venue, Atlantic.

The new restaurant is a joint venture between Cooke and Australian businessmen Con Andronis, Tony Schiavello and Hatem Saleh, the directors of the Atlantic Groupv], one of Australia's leading hospitality companies. It is located on the south bank of Melbourne's Yarra river in the Crown Entertainment complex, which also hosts branches of Nobu and Rockpool.

Atlantic is a 300-seat, high-spec design fish restaurant, which houses a wood-fired grill in its main, open kitchen. It includes an oyster and crustacea bar, six semi-private dining areas, a 12-seat chef's table and a bar, the Den, the latter open until 3am. The restaurant opened on 14 March and is staffed by an international brigade, which includes chefs from England and Hong Kong.

Cooke commented: "We do everything from fish and chips to eight-or-12-course degustation menus." Initially, the restaurant is open only for lunch until the brigade has settled in, then it will extend its remit to encompass dinner.

Cooke spent his formative working years in the UK with Michel Roux at the iconic Waterside Inn and Marco Pierre White at the legendary Harvey's and as head chef at White's former three-Michelin-starred The Restaurant in the Hyde Park hotel (now the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park) before heading off to France and then finally to Melbourne with his ex-wife, Philippa Sibley, to open Est Est Est in 1997.

After Est Est Est closed in 2004, Cooke took up the post of chef de cuisine at the Derby Restaurant & Bar at Hong Kong Jockey Club's Happy Valley Clubhouse, where he was succeeded last year by Eyck Zimmer.

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By Neil Gerrard

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