The Corner Dairy

The Corner Dairy is a neighbourhood wine bar with a serious kitchen on the corner of Woodside Street and Scarborough Beach Road in Doubleview, Perth. Sam and Tom Hart own it, and James Cole Bowen runs the kitchen.

The Harts had lived in the suburb for several years before they opened the bar in 2021. They took a former tax office and refitted it as the relaxed natural wine bar they wanted near their own homes. The space is open and full of daylight, with soft tones and natural materials, and there are tables both inside and outside. In the morning a takeaway window sells coffee and something baked, so the corner works for the street at both ends of the day.

Cole Bowen cooked at Restaurant Amuse, Ku Dining and Le Rebelle in Perth and at Omnia in Melbourne before coming here. His menu is contemporary Australian and built for sharing, with suppliers from around the country and a strong lean towards Western Australia. Wagin duck liver parfait comes with brioche, black garlic and onion jam and Kampot pepper, while La Delizia stracciatella is paired with yellow peach, basil and an ancho chilli dressing. Kingfish ceviche has been on the menu since the first day.

Dry-aged sirloin from the barbecue arrives with peppercorn sauce and oyster mushrooms from Mushroom Guy. Dessert might be a Filipino leche flan under a caramel of whisky and orange bitters, or Unknown Pleasures, with barley and malt ice cream, beer caramel and charcoal meringue. Oysters, hot chips and margaritas are regular orders, and a three-cheese toastie turns up now and then as a special. The drinks list centres on Australian natural wines, most poured by the glass, with rotating craft beers and Swan Draught on tap. Bar food, a fine-dining background and suburban regulars meet in the same room.