Ides began as an idea rather than a restaurant. Peter Gunn — then sous-chef to Ben Shewry at Attica — ran a monthly one-off dinner under the name, a kind of moonlight apprenticeship in his own voice. The pop-up built a cult. By 2016 the cult had outgrown the format, and Gunn opened the permanent version on Smith Street in Collingwood, a few tram stops from the creative hinterland that keeps discovering it.
The room is 36 seats, dimly lit, grey-leather-topped tables set at a distance that permits real conversation. The kitchen, visible at the back, is staffed by a heavily-tattooed brigade that reads more Brooklyn than Melbourne and cooks like Scandinavia. The service is warm without being scripted; the wine guidance is serious without being pious. Raffaele Mastrovincenzo, Gourmet Traveller Sommelier of the Year for his work at Kappo, oversees the pairings.
The tasting menu is six courses, roughly AU$185, and changes fluidly with what Gunn has an idea about. There are no signature dishes in the way that most two-hat restaurants have signatures; the menu is intentionally non-canonical. A recent course paired saltbush lamb from Three Rivers in New South Wales, roasted and brushed with caramelised apple balsamic, sliced at the table with a mustard-and-lamb sauce, alongside a simply dressed slaw of shaved baby Brussels sprouts. That dish captures the restaurant: vigorous, technique-driven, and deliberately balanced between the close-to-stupid-indulgent and the restrained. There is light and shade to the menu. You are never bludgeoned by it.
What separates Ides from the broader two-hat pack is its willingness to be personal. Gunn is publicly present at the pass and in the room; the chef you meet cooked your food. The menu reflects what he is thinking about this month — a plating idea, a new supplier, a pickle he wants to show off. That sensibility, in a city whose fine dining can lean toward the institutional, is the reason Ides is the birthday pick of so many Melbourne food people.
Reservations are taken online four to six weeks ahead. Smaller tables are easier; a party of four to six can usually find a Thursday or Friday within a month. The room suits everything from an intimate birthday for two to a close-knit six, and a private dining room is available for larger groups up to ten on request.
