Dany Karam

The fire and grill station at BLACK Bar & Grill at The Star in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia asks for control: heat management, timing, and enough patience to let char and sear do their work. Dany Karam built part of his base there, working in a room where precision mattered as much as pace. That kind of service sharpens a cook’s read on flame and develops the discipline to push flavour without overworking the ingredient.

That grounding now shows in Magma by Dany Karam, where Karam has been owner and operator since 2025. The shift from grill cook to proprietor is less a change in direction than an expansion of authorship. The restaurant carries his name, and with it a set of decisions about fire, flavour, and restraint that come from having spent time in the demands of the pass.

At Magma by Dany Karam, the work reads through the details: how a plate is paced, how richness is checked, and how a few elements are arranged to hold together cleanly. The name points to heat, but the cooking appears to depend just as much on control. As owner and operator since 2025, Karam is responsible not only for the food but for the structure around it — the kind of room where technique and identity need to match.

Karam’s signature dishes move between richness, precision, and contrast. Duck Liver Custard with Fermented Black Bean Sauce pairs a dense, savoury base with a finish that reads dark and deliberate. Blackmore Beef Tartare with Anchovy Mayonnaise uses raw texture and saline intensity to keep the plate taut. Olive Oil-Poached Spanner Crab with Dashi Cream and Warm Brioche shifts into a softer register, with delicacy held in check by cream and bread.

Taken together, these dishes show a cook working with interplay rather than excess: richness against brightness, softness against structure, depth against clarity. They rely on ingredient selection, timing, and balance — the same skills that matter on the grill, now extended into a more personal kind of service.

Dany Karam has received World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants, No. 14 in Australia's Best Steak Restaurant 2026 (2026).