Former Quay and Jonah’s chef Abby James is bringing a new seasonal menu to The Botanica Vaucluse, where everything from slow-fermented focaccia to woodfired seafood is prepared in a dedicated 100% gluten-free kitchen.
Accredited by Coeliac Australia, the Sydney dining destination has built its offering around a simple idea: guests shouldn’t have to choose between an exceptional restaurant experience and the confidence of knowing what they can eat.
Abby’s latest menu puts Australian produce and considered technique at the centre, with dishes that draw on local seafood, seasonal vegetables and bold, complementary flavours.
Highlights include Fremantle octopus with marigold and choko, Western Australian scampi with sweetcorn and preserved lemon, and glasshouse eggplant finished with black vinegar and puffed buckwheat.
Larger plates bring Aquna Murray cod cooked over hot coals and served with caper and herb butter, dry-aged duck with orange, Sichuan and witlof, and Riverine striploin with Café de Paris butter and black garlic.
The attention to detail extends to the bread. Botanica’s gluten-free focaccia undergoes a slow fermentation of up to two days before being finished in the woodfire oven, creating a golden crust and subtle smokiness.
For guests wanting to explore more of the menu, the Botanica Feast offers two or three courses ($99 and $119 per person respectively), with desserts including dark chocolate mousse with strawberry and macadamia, and tiramisu with mascarpone and espresso.
“Gluten-free dining has been treated as an alternative for far too long. At Botanica, we’re changing that. Abby’s new menu puts exceptional Australian produce and flavour first. The fact that everything is gluten-free shouldn’t be the most remarkable thing about the meal,” explains The Botanica Vaucluse Venue and Events Manager Sara Paganelli.
For owner Evette Moran, the new menu is part of a broader ambition to make Botanica a restaurant guests return to for more than its setting.
“A beautiful restaurant might get someone through the door once, but it’s the food and the feeling they leave with that brings them back. We’ve never wanted Botanica to be a place that relies on how it looks. Every season is an opportunity to raise the standard, surprise our guests and give them another reason to return,” said The Botanica Vaucluse owner Evette Moran.
Set among lush botanical interiors in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, The Botanica Vaucluse brings together produce-led dining, considered design and a fully gluten-free kitchen.
