David Hirsch, who spent 45 years mapping the faultline soils of Sonoma's foggy coast and transforming a remote ridgetop into one of California's great sources for Pinot Noir, died Tuesday of respiratory failure in Santa Rosa. He was 81.
The news comes the same week Andrew McConnell, the chef behind Gimlet and Supernormal, bought Stokehouse, the 36-year-old St Kilda restaurant where he once worked as a young chef under the van Haandel family.
The two stories, separated by an ocean and a generation, share a throughline: the people who stay on the land, who map the soil vine row by vine row, and who return to the rooms that shaped them, now holding the keys.
What We Published This Week
David Hirsch Dies at 81
David Hirsch bought an 860-acre sheep ranch on a ridgetop less than three miles from the Pacific near Fort Ross in 1978, not to plant grapes but to hear himself think, according to his daughter Jasmine Hirsch.
Over 45 years he decoded the complex faultline soils he called "earthquake terroir," mapping them vine row by vine row and transforming a remote stretch of west Sonoma County into a world-class source for Pinot Noir. Hirsch was born in 1944 in New York and retained his thick Bronx accent throughout his life.
After a career in the garment business that took him around the world, he purchased the property a stone's throw from the San Andreas fault and began exploring its history, eventually devising a grand ecological project to restore it to something like its original state. Jasmine Hirsch said her father always talked about a 200-year plan for the place.
Andrew McConnell Buys Stokehouse
Andrew McConnell and his wife Jo McGann, who own Trader House, the restaurant group behind Gimlet and Supernormal, bought Stokehouse, the 36-year-old St Kilda institution, from Frank, Sharon, and Hugh van Haandel.
The property, which includes the hatted fine dining restaurant upstairs, Stokehouse Pasta and Bar downstairs, and an outdoor kiosk, will be handed over in October. McConnell used to work for the van Haandel family as a young chef.
The kitchen has been a training ground for some of Melbourne's most prominent chefs, including Michael Lambie, now at Juni, mod-Oz originator Andrew Blake, and seafood specialist Maurice Esposito.
Current executive chef Jason Staudt, originally from Canada, moved from Sydney's Aria in 2019 and steered the downstairs area from a hard-drinking party zone to a wine-focused local lounge room. McConnell and McGann are not planning wholesale changes to menus or personnel until a 2027 refresh.
They are in the midst of opening Cote Basque, their first Melbourne restaurant since 2020's Gimlet, both in the CBD.
Geoff Davis Opens Uncle's in Oakland
Geoff Davis, the chef behind the acclaimed Oakland restaurant Burdell, is preparing his next act: a bar and grill called Uncle's, set to open in the former Wood Tavern space on College Avenue in Rockridge. Wood Tavern will close at the end of 2026 after nearly a 20-year run.
Whereas Burdell is known for its produce-driven soul food that celebrates Davis's family matriarchs, Uncle's will build on Davis's memories of hanging out with his uncles. Davis calls it a classic restaurant, not a steakhouse or a supper club, though the restaurant will serve steaks of various kinds. He prefers the term bar and grill.
Uncle's will feature lesser-loved cuts of beef such as picanha, coulotte, and hanger steak, as well as oysters and Italian American pasta dishes like rigatoni alla vodka.
Burdell's Valentine's Day pop-up, dubbed the Tavern, was a preview of what is to come at Uncle's, featuring tableside Caesar, chopped salad, clams casino pasta, seared pork chops for two, loaded potatoes, and creamed spinach.
Zara Fernandez-Aurelio, who runs logistics and operations for Burdell, will become a partner in Uncle's, as will Seth Corr, Burdell's wine and service lead. Burdell chef de cuisine Brandon Cavazos will move over to Uncle's to run the kitchen.
Karen Martini Opens Delmonte on Lygon Street
Karen Martini, the culinary director behind the hatted Bar Carolina, opened Delmonte, a 160-seat Italian restaurant and wine room, on the corner of Lygon and Faraday streets in Carlton, occupying the street-level space where the historic King & Godfree deli and grocer stood for more than a century.
Jamie Valmorbida, whose family bought King & Godfree in 1955, is behind the latest addition. The deli was retained in the site's previous iteration, which reopened with the addition of casual dining in 2018, but this most recent reroute leaves it in the rear-view. Valmorbida said it was hard for the family to close the deli.
Martini's kitchen team at Delmonte includes executive chef Mark Glenn and head chef Diana Desensi, who Martini worked with at St Kilda's Saint George.
Their menu is intentionally familiar and all-encompassing, featuring house-baked focaccia Genovese, house-made tuna 'nduja, and Martini's take on charcuterie-loaded chips: crisp shards of gnocco fritto dough made with chicken fat and draped with culatta and white anchovies. Martini likes to call the full experience "the full catastrophe."
Manāo Dubai Wins a Michelin Star Five Months After Opening
Manāo, the Thai restaurant in Dubai co-founded by Chef Abhiraj Khatwani and Chef Mohamad Orfali, earned a Michelin star five months after opening. Khatwani said the first moment he felt something special was happening was when guests started coming back again and again, bringing their friends and then their families.
Orfali, no stranger to acclaim himself, said he believed it could happen when he saw how consistently the team delivered every single day. The moment it became real was hearing Manāo announced. Khatwani said they refused to make things complicated for the sake of appearing sophisticated, keeping the focus on flavour.
Orfali said they refused to fit into a category, wanting to create a place where the food spoke honestly. Khatwani's cooking carries both Thailand, where he learned his culinary foundation, and Dubai, where he grew up and was exposed to different cultures, ingredients, and ways of thinking.
Efrén Hernández Opens Pez in Hudson
Efrén Hernández, the James Beard Award semifinalist who oversees Mexican restaurant Casa Susanna in the Camptown Hotel in the Catskills, opened Pez, his newest restaurant, in Hudson's Rivertown Lodge.
The focus is entirely on East Coast seafood, paired with hyper-seasonal Hudson Valley ingredients and rooted in regional Mexican cooking, heavily focused on the Yucatán. Hernández and team make no concessions for diners hoping for a requisite burger or roast chicken.
The Chesapeake Bay blue crab tostada, priced at $22, features a generous mound of lump crab topped with ribbons of marinated asparagus and dotted with chintextle, the smoky Oaxacan paste made with dried shrimp, vinegar, garlic, and chiles.
The razor clam ceviche, priced at $25, features xnipec verde, the bright, fiery salsa with Mayan roots that's synonymous with the Yucatán region, finished with serrano ponzu. The dayboat scallops, priced at $25, arrive nestled in their shells alongside pickled cactus, kombu, jalapeños, and creamy bayo beans.
Ray Pirkle and Kim Bucci co-own Rivertown Lodge, the host property.
Michael Lo Presti Opens Lo Presti's in Redfern
Michael Lo Presti, former head chef at Baba's Place, and restaurant manager Rachael Trewin opened Lo Presti's, a 50-seater restaurant overlooking Redfern Park in the former Moon Park site.
The Mediterranean-leaning menu features grilled pork with local pipis, ling wrapped in vine leaves, and an avgolemono sour cocktail inspired by the Greek lemon chicken soup. It took three months for Lo Presti, Trewin, their friends, and family to prepare the two-storey corner terrace for its Thursday launch.
One of Lo Presti's father Greg's old sketches was repurposed into an illuminated sign out front. Lo Presti grew up in the family's Darlinghurst restaurant of the same name and watched as regulars became friends. Trewin and Lo Presti met early in their culinary careers, both working at now-closed Sydney restaurants Momofuku Seibo and Automata.
Lo Presti went on to three-hatted Stanmore restaurant Sixpenny and was a finalist in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2024 Young Chef of the Year award. For the past two years they worked alongside each other at hatted Marrickville restaurant Baba's Place.
The goal was to create a warm, inviting space where diners could just as well walk in for a glass of Montepulciano at the bar or book ahead for a relaxed Sunday lunch on the terrace.
Rutini Wines Puts Gualtallary in the Spotlight
Rutini Wines' recent awards success has put Gualtallary fine wine in the spotlight. The company's winemaker and CEO explained to The Drinks Business how the win plays into a broader push for regionality in Mendoza. The story signals a shift in how Argentine producers are positioning their wines, moving from broad Mendoza appellations to the specific sub-regions that shape the character of the fruit.
1932 at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor Launches Four Khmer Tasting Menus
The 1932 restaurant at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor launched four distinctive new tasting menus, further cementing its position as a leader in Khmer fine dining. Three of the new menus are curated by Executive Sous Chef Dorn Doeurt, a Siem Reap native and renowned expert in Cambodian cuisine, while the fourth is a creative collaboration led by Executive Chef Memo Hernandez.
Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Applications Open
Applications are now open for Young Chef of the Year, awarded annually by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guides. The next Young Chef of the Year recipients will be named at the Good Food Guide Awards in Melbourne and Sydney in October. Finalists will also be invited to cook at special Young Chef of the Year dinners in Melbourne and Sydney.
In 2025, Infinity by Mark Best head chef Jen Kwok Lee took home the award for The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, while The Age crowned Viveik Vinoharan, who won fans at Cremorne wine bar Lilac Wine, its winner. Lee is currently leading the Infinity by Mark Best kitchen into its second year of operation.
Vinoharan earned the inaugural head chef gig at Dutch Rules Distilling Co in Mitcham. Previous winners include Phil Wood, Brett Graham, Lauren Eldridge, and Andrew McConnell. To apply, chefs must be under 30 years old, a permanent Australian resident, and based in Victoria, NSW, or the ACT.
The industry judging panel and Good Food Guide editors are looking for chefs who are fantastic cooks, have a social conscience, work to better the community, lift up their fellow chefs, and are keenly interested in learning and improving.
The award is open to chefs working in any section of the kitchen, but they must not be an executive chef or the owner of a restaurant. Applications from head chefs are accepted if there is also an executive chef in the kitchen. The first step is completing an online application before 11:59pm, August 23.
Finalists will appear in front of a panel of industry leaders and representatives from the Good Food Guide for face-to-face interviews in the following fortnight.
What to Watch
Andrew McConnell takes over Stokehouse in October, and the 2027 refresh will show whether Trader House can preserve the 36-year-old institution's soul while expanding its footprint. Young Chef of the Year applications close August 23, with finalists cooking dinners in Melbourne and Sydney before the October awards. If you are under 30 and working a station in Victoria, NSW, or the ACT, complete the application before the deadline.
