Dining in Fremantle : Famous Race Perks Seaport Town Down Under

“It’s really wonderful what’s happened to Fremantle,” said John Bertrand, the yachting skipper who won the America’s Cup for Australia in 1983.

“Before we won the cup this was a drab little seaport town in Western Australia--few people even knew where Perth was--but now all these marvelous turn-of-the-century buildings have been restored, and the hotels and restaurants are thriving. This year we are the focus of the world and anybody who is important in sport will be here.”

We are having coffee and croissants with Bertrand in a prime example of this refurbishment--the newly restored 1879-era Esplanade Plaza Hotel. Its airy blue and white atrium, furnished in white wicker and enhanced by towering palm trees, has become a favorite meeting place for those involved in the America’s Cup yacht races running here until February.

“You won’t see many crew members in the restaurants, though,” says Bertrand, who is not racing this year but is director of the Bond Syndicate that owns yachts Australia II, III and IV. “They’re up on the boats by 6 every morning and often have to work past 7 at night, so they don’t have much time for socializing.”

International Clientele

Others involved in the races, however, from owners to fans, are filling the cafes and restaurants of this town on the western coast of Australia just 10 miles from Perth, and the international clientele lends glamour and excitement to dining in Fremantle.

Fresh seafood is a main culinary feature here, and if you’re planning to come to the yacht races you shouldn’t miss such specialties as fresh oysters, Pacific lobster and dhufish, a sweet and tender whitefish similar to snapper.

The best restaurant in town--and one that could hold its own with any in Florence or Rome--is Club le Maschere, a creation of Ciga Hotels and the Costa Smeralda Yacht Club of Sardinia.

The restaurant is housed in a 19th-Century building across the esplanade park from where the yachts are moored. An elegant bar downstairs offers sleek, modern Italian design.

As we climbed the huge staircase the space of the dining room became apparent, a high-ceilinged room with commanding views of the esplanade. Waiters in formal dress move quietly among the tables and a huge antipasto selection is laid out in the center of the room.

Classic Italian Style

The menu offers a variety of Australian ingredients prepared in classic Italian style. We started with a cooked-to-perfection risotto with fresh vegetables and a tortellini with ricotta cheese.

For the main course we chose veal sauteed with white wine, lemon juice and parsley--European-style veal rich with flavor, and fresh dhufish sauteed in butter--succulent and sweet. The accompanying vegetables were fresh and tender. Desserts were profiteroles dripping in chocolate and an Italian strudel with cream.

This is the place to see the yacht captains, such as the Stars and Stripes’ Dennis Conner, or sponsors such as the Aga Khan and Aldo Gucci. The tab for dinner with wine (a fine selection of Italian and Australian wines is available) is about $75 (Australian) per person, or $40 U.S. (All prices listed are in Australian dollars.)

A real find is Rumbles, a modern, California-style restaurant just a block from the old Rund House jail. Chef Gregory Green’s cooking is original and imaginative. “I try never to cook any dish twice,” he says. “I change the menu every six weeks and the daily specials are always different.” He is 25 and already a first-rank chef.

Sauteed Squid

We dined on fresh oysters glazed in a hot oven until the frothy Brie mousse was just browned, leaving the oysters barely warmed. A mushroom and dandelion soup was rich and flavorful. An entree of calamary was perfectly sauteed in a light dusting of flour. Each squid had been cut carefully to imitate the tentacles of a whole baby squid, but without the attendant toughness of real tentacles. (In Australia, “entree” means appetizer.)

The loin of venison was braised in claret and served with fresh apples cooked in port.

We recommend a Rumble Crumble for dessert. This is a mixture of fresh apples and boysenberries covered with a lightly crumbled crust and accompanied with fresh apple ice cream.

Although Rumbles is a very serious restaurant, food is only part of the experience. Instead of traditional chef’s hats, Green and his staff wear Australian bush hats and entertain the patrons with an assortment of hand puppets.

To summon waitresses, Green squeaks a rubber bat hanging from the ceiling. “If people are having a good time at their work,” he reasons, “what they do will be good.”

This is Australia, after all, and nowhere do people know better how to have fun. Prices at Rumbles run $4-$9 for appetizers and $12-$16 for main courses. The Rumble Crumble is $5. Rumbles is a BYO restaurant (they don’t serve alcohol, but you’re welcome to bring your own bottle).

Lively Pubs

At other places in Fremantle, however, alcohol flows in abundance, and the city is known for its lively pubs. The Sail & Anchor, in the center of town, is a Victorian public house with high pressed-tin ceilings and long, richly carved wooden bars. Owner Phil Sexton has his own mini-brewery on the premises, and serves 13 homemade beers and ales. Fremantle lager (small glass, $2.25; large, $4.25) is the most popular--smooth and rich, with no taste of bitterness.

Light lunches and snacks are served here--a hamburger with mushroom sauce and chips for $5, roast beef on rye with a salad for $4.70, or a ploughman’s lunch (bread, chese, and fruit) for $5, but the main attraction is the boisterous air of fun. Locals crowd in at all hours to hoist a pint and chat with friends, and on Friday nights, the big night out in Australia, they spill into the street.

Fremantle has a large Italian population and some excellent Italian restaurants. Papa Luigi’s, on South Terrace, has an outdoor cafe and is a great place for sipping a cappuccino and watching the street life. You can also get quick lunches here, cafeteria-style, but locals will tell you that better Italian food, at lower prices, can be had at the Capri next door, or at Roma on High Street near Rumbles. Both of these restaurants offer good, inexpensive (less than $10 per person) Italian food in unpretentious surroundings.

For a little more atmosphere you might try Alfonso’s, a candle-lit Italian cellar in the Norfolk Hotel. Huge trays of antipasto come with cheeses, prosciutto, coppa sausages and black olives, all arrayed on leaves of fresh basil.

The pastas are excellent (we sampled a mastaccioli in tomato sauce and a tortellini in cream), and the seafood is fresh and varied. A zuccoto ice cream cake for dessert was delicious. The pastas run $5-$7 if served as an entree or $8-$10 as a main course. Soups and salads are $3-$6, meat or fish dishes $11-$15 and desserts $4-$6.

Slightly Bland

Tivoli is on a quiet side street and offers a wide range of pastas, a good antipasto ($4.80) and some good desserts, including peaches in maraschino liqueur with ice cream ($2). We enjoyed the penne matriciana with bacon, onions and fresh tomatoes all folded into a mild, rich cream sauce ($6.20) and pasta primavera with fresh vegetables ($6.20). Everything is well prepared but slightly bland. The fresh garlic bread ($1), however, was full of garlic flavor and just perfect.

For a more formal meal, in addition to Le Maschere, we suggest Spinnakers restaurant in the Esplanade Plaza Hotel across from the waterfront. The cool, inviting restaurant done in pastels specializes in fresh seafood, and dinners run $35 with wine.

Also the Essex, in a small restored building around the corner, is comfortably refined and invites leisurely dining. The menu features a variety of steaks for $11, squid deep-fried in beer batter for $7.50 and dhufish chowder for $5.

On the waterfront, where you can watch the sleek, graceful sailing yachts being towed out of the harbor, are a variety of informal seafood restaurants with views. Cicerello’s Fisherman’s Wharf has been serving fish and chips ($3.40) since 1903, and Alan Bond, the owner of Australia’s winning yacht in 1983, is said to drive down from his mansion in Perth for regular fixes.

Seafood Market

Lombardo’s Fishing Boat Harbor is a new complex that houses Straggler’s Bar--a popular pub, Harbour Lights--an elegant bar right over the water, Seashells--a family restaurant that offers an elaborate buffet daily for $14.95, Fisherman’s Landing--a seafood market, and Lombardo’s Fisherman’s Wharf--an informal restaurant offering fish and chips and cold salads for $5-$10.

Dining in Fremantle can be almost as much fun as watching the yachting action.

At all but the most informal restaurants, reservations are recommended during the race period.

Alfonso’s, Norfolk Hotel, 47 South Terrace, phone (09) 335-3095. Capri, 21 South Terrace, phone (09) 335-1399. Cicerello’s Fisherman’s Wharf, Mews Road (waterfront). The Essex, 20 Essex St., phone (09) 335-5725.

Le Maschere, 6 Collie St., phone (09) 430-5090. Lombardo’s Fishing Boat Harbour, Mews Road (waterfront), phone (09) 340-4343. Papa Luigi’s, 33 South Terrace, phone (09) 336-1599. Roma, 9 High St., phone (09) 335-3664.

Rumbles, 19 High St., phone (09) 335-9525. Sail & Anchor, 64 South Terrace, phone (09) 335-1334. Spinnakers, Esplanade Plaza Hotel, Marine Terrace and Essex Street, phone (09) 321-2311. Tivoli, 20-22 Bannister St., phone 430-4241.