One of Fremantle’s most enduring chefs turns the page on a new chapter.
Having moved on from his breakthrough restaurant, Manuka Woodfire Kitchen, chef Kenny McHardy hasn’t gone far – his new bistro is just metres away. Doubtless many are happy at this fact, McHardy having become part of the fabric of food in the West End.
The Kiwi chef has gone back to basics in many respects, getting to grips with techniques learnt in his formative years in the kitchens of the likes of Gordon Ramsay as he’s evolved the menu. Shirley’s, named for co-owner Jody McHardy’s grandmother, was first envisaged as a vivid wine bar, a riot of pinks and neon, where you could get a pie and a glass of wine for fifteen or so bucks. But it’s morphed into more of a bistro for locals, where you might expect to find focaccia with bone marrow butter, a riff on a classic prawn cocktail with plump Exmouth prawns and pickled cucumber, or richly braised beef cheeks with Tuscan kale and mash potato. McHardy still uses many of the Great Southern producers he built relationships with a decade ago when he helmed Due South in Albany, and that commitment to produce is something that truly shines here.
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