Mark Best and the French-Australian Bridge

Mark Best's Marque in Surry Hills, Sydney was arguably the most technically ambitious restaurant in Australian history. Best was classically French-trained — "my first love was classical French and regional French cuisine — that is the base from which I work" — but deployed that technique against Australian ingredients with a precision that connected French rigour to Australian terroir. Western Australian marron with paprika, wakame, avocado, and lemon. Blue swimmer crab with almond jelly and sweet corn. Spring onion with jamón, tuna, and Madeira. Every dish was French in its bones but Australian on the plate.

Best represented the intellectual wing of Australian fine dining — a chef who read widely, thought deeply about the relationship between technique and ingredient, and pushed the boundaries of what classical training could produce when applied to non-classical ingredients. Marque closed in 2017, but its influence on the next generation of Australian chefs is permanent.

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