Gayan Pieris describes his new restaurant Agnii as a “collection of memories”. The Many Little chef’s ambitious new Windsor venue, which opened on Chapel Street on Saturday, is almost a decade in the making. But it’s more than just a love letter to Sri Lankan food, his mum’s kitchen and Victorian produce. As far as Pieris can tell, it’s also the only Sri Lankan restaurant in Melbourne cooking over traditional woodfire.
“Even around the world, I’ve never seen a Sri Lankan venue do something like this,” says Pieris, who grew up in Kandy, in Sri Lanka’s central highlands. “Not even in Sri Lanka. We don’t have restaurants, as such, where you’d sit down and spend a couple of hours. Unless you go to a five-star hotel, which is more colonial style.”
Instead, cooking with fire typically happens in Sri Lankan homes. Pieris’s mum, a rice farmer, would hang, smoke and dry fish above an open hearth in their kussiya (kitchen). It’s a similar scene in the kussiya at Agnii – appropriately named with the Sanskrit word for fire. The chefs use a traditional dara lipa (an open clay hearth) and a poranuwa (similar to a kiln) to smoke and dry ingredients over red gum charcoal. Both pieces of kit are custom built by Sam Fraraccio (aka The Brick Chef), and act as the centrepiece of the elegant, earthy-toned dining room.
“I always thought, if I do my own restaurant, I want it the way I had back at home in my mum’s kitchen,” says Pieris.
The opening menu includes a range of small plates and interpretations of Sri Lanka’s ubiquitous short eats, or snacks. There’s a savoury version of asmi – traditionally a celebration sweet – made here with squid ink, coconut, rice flour and okra and served with swordfish. Then there’s the beef ismoru – braised with spices, coconut and tamarind. It’s presented tartare-style and served with curry sauce in a crispy hopper tuile.
“When I started eight years ago … it was so hard to find a hopper pan back then. I had to fly them in from Sri Lanka. Now there’s a lot of Sri Lankan food but it’s still about the curries, pan rolls and hoppers,” says Pieris. “But our cuisine is much bigger than that. I want to touch on things we haven’t done before.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a dish such as Agnii’s showstopping bath mula anywhere else in Melbourne. Chicken curry, dal, veggies and coconut sambal are steamed in a banana leaf parcel and ceremoniously unwrapped tableside.
The crisp house lager by Seaford’s Banks Brewing is made with Sri Lankan red rice flakes and draws inspiration from Pieris’s connection to Sri Lanka’s rice fields. Arrack, the country’s national spirit, takes centre stage on a cocktail list created by Chelsea Catherine (ex-Black Pearl) and mixed by Laurie Simpson (ex-Longrain, Chin Chin). Try it in the Kapruka Highball coconut toddy, or go for a Ceylon Martini with vodka, vermouth and tea. Cocktails are joined by a 280-strong list of mainly Victorian wines developed with Polperro’s Sam Coverdale.
Every little detail has been considered at Agnii – right down to a custom Ayurvedic scent by female-run, Sri Lanka-based business Healing Island, which permeates the room with cinnamon, cardamom and musk. Again, home is a recurring theme. The menu features an image of Pieris’s mum (he still calls her up for recipe input) while his brothers carved the wooden plates by hand and designed the uniforms and branding.
“I have all these little bits and pieces [of inspiration] in 15 different scrapbooks. I had time – one thing I didn’t have was money – which is why this has taken 10 to 15 years. I wanted to create a template for a Sri Lankan restaurant.”
Agnii
(03) 9620 7025
Hours:
Tue to Thu 4pm–10.30pm
Fri & Sat midday–late
Sun midday–10.30pm