March 1, 2025 • 7 mins
Today, I want to talk to you about Flint. Flint is a restaurant on the Fitzroy side of Smith Street in Melbourne. Here, the focus is on fire. The food is flamed or smoked. Think charred meats and smoked fish. This is the kind of place that you go if you want a really nice fancy experience that’s really relaxed and comfortable.
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Episode Transcript
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Jaz (00:11):
Hey there. Welcome to this episode of My Mate In. This
podcast is all about reallygreat places to go for food or a
drink. It's not criticalreviews. It's good vibes only
about places that my matesreally enjoy.
This episode is a side questepisode. In side quest episodes,
(00:35):
I talk to you about a place thatI tried myself recently and that
I really enjoyed. Today, Iwant to talk to you about Flint.
Flint is a restaurant on theFitzroy side of Smith Street in
Melbourne. Here, the focus is onfire.
The food is flamed or smoked.Think charred meats and smoked
(00:59):
fish. This is the kind of placethat you go if you want a really
nice fancy experience that'sreally relaxed and comfortable.
The dining room is dark andminimalist. One wall is well lit
and showcases a row of picklejars of all different types.
(01:20):
Flint meals tend to feature apickled or fermented element.
The space is rectangular withseating at low tables along one
wall. The other long wall has abar and bar seating. Along the
front wall, there's low seatingjust inside a window that looks
out onto busy Smith Street. Atthe back of the restaurant, most
(01:44):
of the space is taken up by thekitchen.
There's an opening for somestairs and then a small number
of high tables, and that's wherewe sat, at a high table right
next to the kitchen in the backcorner. The kitchen is also
pretty minimal, drawingattention to the large grill.
The grill has wood fire at thebottom and then multiple levels
(02:07):
of racks above the flames forcooking and smoking. When you
first go into Flint, it takes alittle while for your eyes to
adjust, and then they do adjustto the darkness. And on this
occasion, that's when I noticeda large trout hanging from the
grill.
Above the kitchen is an openinginto another room. It's a cutout
(02:31):
in the wall. When we arrived, itseemed like it might be another
kitchen space or preparationspace because there were no
chefs doing prep in the diningroom kitchen. But I'm going to
come back to this mystery spaceabove the kitchen later. The
waiter/bartender talked usthrough the menu.
(02:51):
It was a really useful overviewof the intention of the menu,
and they suggested roughly howmuch we should order to share
between the two of us. The menuis also minimal and focused.
It's a selection of fewer mealsdone really well. Most of the
things on the menu are intendedto be shared, including the
(03:13):
mains. I noticed that most ofthe starter or entree options
feature some kind of seafood.
Although I'm always open tosuggestions from staff about how
much to order, something I'velearned is to order about two
thirds of what is suggested if Iwant to just feel full by the
(03:33):
end of the meal. The times Idon't follow this rule is when I
want to try all of the things ona menu and expect to feel
excessively full by the end ofthe experience. Rather than
ordering multiple starters and amain each, we decided to order
two mains to share. After weplaced our order, the head chef
(03:54):
and owner, chef Nicki, came downthe stairs next to our table and
into the kitchen and started toprepare our mains. Chef Nicki is
awesome.
She has a really relaxed vibe.On the day that we visited, she
was wearing a cap and casualdark tone clothes, apron, and
boots. Chef Nicki moved aroundthe dark kitchen and oven fire
(04:16):
confidently and effortlessly,meanwhile, having the occasional
banter with a guest. After wefinished our meals, she came
over and had a chat, asked ournames and how our meal was. Our
meals were excellent.
We had a char grilledporterhouse to share. This meal
is about $82. It's a singlelarge cut, sliced to share. It's
(04:39):
pink and soft inside and blackand crunchy on the outside. It's
served on a small amount ofrich, creamy garlic aioli type
of sauce. Sorry, chef Nicki.
Not a critic or a chef myself,might have gotten that totally
wrong. And a small amount ofpickled cabbage comes on the
side. Each element individuallywas delightful, but put
(05:03):
together, it was awesome. Theirpickled cabbage gave the meal a
zingy quality that was reallypleasing. Don't be put off by
the price tag of theporterhouse.
Other high end restaurants willoffer a small, high quality cut
for about $40 to $50 So justimagine that you've ordered two
of those. Our second main wascalled Carrot Carrot. The waiter
(05:27):
said it's a favorite and kind ofa signature dish at Flint. The
Carrot Carrot dish was about$22. This dish is char grilled
carrot, cut and prepared inthree to four centimeter length
and arranged in multiple smalltowers, topped with dollops of
what I think may have been thesame aioli sauce from the
(05:49):
porterhouse. And all of that wason top of a carrot puree.
The Carrot Carrot dish is richand has a lot of levels going
on. We were definitely satisfiedwith the taste and quality of
the food and left feeling reallyfull. Remember before I
mentioned that opening above thekitchen? Partway through our
(06:09):
meal, a group of people came inand walked up the stairs between
our table and the kitchen.That's when we realized there's
a private dining space mezzaninethat overlooks the kitchen.
Very cool. If you enjoy a drink,there is a solid but brief wine
and cocktails menu. We got atempranillo, which was a great
(06:29):
red to go with the flamed smokeyaromas in the restaurant and
flavors in the meal. The wineswere about 17 to $20 ish per
glass. We also got a fermentedblueberry and gin cocktail.
It was about $25. It was areally pleasing pink color and
actually not sweet. It was saltyand dry, and it came without any
(06:54):
garnish. Flint is a relaxed,effortlessly cool, minimalist
experience where you'll getexceptional food prepared and
presented without anyunnecessary distractions. Check
it out.
Hey there. Welcome to this episode of My Mate In. This
podcast is all about reallygreat places to go for food or a
drink. It's not criticalreviews. It's good vibes only
about places that my matesreally enjoy.
This episode is a side questepisode. In side quest episodes,
(00:35):
I talk to you about a place thatI tried myself recently and that
I really enjoyed. Today, Iwant to talk to you about Flint.
Flint is a restaurant on theFitzroy side of Smith Street in
Melbourne. Here, the focus is onfire.
The food is flamed or smoked.Think charred meats and smoked
(00:59):
fish. This is the kind of placethat you go if you want a really
nice fancy experience that'sreally relaxed and comfortable.
The dining room is dark andminimalist. One wall is well lit
and showcases a row of picklejars of all different types.
(01:20):
Flint meals tend to feature apickled or fermented element.
The space is rectangular withseating at low tables along one
wall. The other long wall has abar and bar seating. Along the
front wall, there's low seatingjust inside a window that looks
out onto busy Smith Street. Atthe back of the restaurant, most
(01:44):
of the space is taken up by thekitchen.
There's an opening for somestairs and then a small number
of high tables, and that's wherewe sat, at a high table right
next to the kitchen in the backcorner. The kitchen is also
pretty minimal, drawingattention to the large grill.
The grill has wood fire at thebottom and then multiple levels
(02:07):
of racks above the flames forcooking and smoking. When you
first go into Flint, it takes alittle while for your eyes to
adjust, and then they do adjustto the darkness. And on this
occasion, that's when I noticeda large trout hanging from the
grill.
Above the kitchen is an openinginto another room. It's a cutout
(02:31):
in the wall. When we arrived, itseemed like it might be another
kitchen space or preparationspace because there were no
chefs doing prep in the diningroom kitchen. But I'm going to
come back to this mystery spaceabove the kitchen later. The
waiter/bartender talked usthrough the menu.
(02:51):
It was a really useful overviewof the intention of the menu,
and they suggested roughly howmuch we should order to share
between the two of us. The menuis also minimal and focused.
It's a selection of fewer mealsdone really well. Most of the
things on the menu are intendedto be shared, including the
(03:13):
mains. I noticed that most ofthe starter or entree options
feature some kind of seafood.
Although I'm always open tosuggestions from staff about how
much to order, something I'velearned is to order about two
thirds of what is suggested if Iwant to just feel full by the
(03:33):
end of the meal. The times Idon't follow this rule is when I
want to try all of the things ona menu and expect to feel
excessively full by the end ofthe experience. Rather than
ordering multiple starters and amain each, we decided to order
two mains to share. After weplaced our order, the head chef
(03:54):
and owner, chef Nicki, came downthe stairs next to our table and
into the kitchen and started toprepare our mains. Chef Nicki is
awesome.
She has a really relaxed vibe.On the day that we visited, she
was wearing a cap and casualdark tone clothes, apron, and
boots. Chef Nicki moved aroundthe dark kitchen and oven fire
(04:16):
confidently and effortlessly,meanwhile, having the occasional
banter with a guest. After wefinished our meals, she came
over and had a chat, asked ournames and how our meal was. Our
meals were excellent.
We had a char grilledporterhouse to share. This meal
is about $82. It's a singlelarge cut, sliced to share. It's
(04:39):
pink and soft inside and blackand crunchy on the outside. It's
served on a small amount ofrich, creamy garlic aioli type
of sauce. Sorry, chef Nicki.
Not a critic or a chef myself,might have gotten that totally
wrong. And a small amount ofpickled cabbage comes on the
side. Each element individuallywas delightful, but put
(05:03):
together, it was awesome. Theirpickled cabbage gave the meal a
zingy quality that was reallypleasing. Don't be put off by
the price tag of theporterhouse.
Other high end restaurants willoffer a small, high quality cut
for about $40 to $50 So justimagine that you've ordered two
of those. Our second main wascalled Carrot Carrot. The waiter
(05:27):
said it's a favorite and kind ofa signature dish at Flint. The
Carrot Carrot dish was about$22. This dish is char grilled
carrot, cut and prepared inthree to four centimeter length
and arranged in multiple smalltowers, topped with dollops of
what I think may have been thesame aioli sauce from the
(05:49):
porterhouse. And all of that wason top of a carrot puree.
The Carrot Carrot dish is richand has a lot of levels going
on. We were definitely satisfiedwith the taste and quality of
the food and left feeling reallyfull. Remember before I
mentioned that opening above thekitchen? Partway through our
(06:09):
meal, a group of people came inand walked up the stairs between
our table and the kitchen.That's when we realized there's
a private dining space mezzaninethat overlooks the kitchen.
Very cool. If you enjoy a drink,there is a solid but brief wine
and cocktails menu. We got atempranillo, which was a great
(06:29):
red to go with the flamed smokeyaromas in the restaurant and
flavors in the meal. The wineswere about 17 to $20 ish per
glass. We also got a fermentedblueberry and gin cocktail.
It was about $25. It was areally pleasing pink color and
actually not sweet. It was saltyand dry, and it came without any
(06:54):
garnish. Flint is a relaxed,effortlessly cool, minimalist
experience where you'll getexceptional food prepared and
presented without anyunnecessary distractions. Check
it out.
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