Take a grand tour of Latin America at Morena

As much as I love living in Sydney, it’s always nice to be transported somewhere else for a night. At the new Morena in Martin Place, I’ve been trekking through Latin America, from Peru to Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Cuba and Colombia, and having a ball.

So has Peruvian-born Alejandro Saravia of Melbourne’s produce-driven Farmer’s Daughters, who even highlights the provenance of each dish on the menu with an airline code. Hence, the PER for Peru against the pan de yema ($9) with cultured butter and charred corn leaves, and the MEX, PER and COL against the various ceviches on offer.

The surroundings do their bit to convey you to another time and place as well. The golden-stoned history and majesty of the heritage-listed GPO building could have turned Morena into a mausoleum. Instead, it’s warm and alive; the portico outside fringed with cocktail tables overlooking the broad sweep of Martin Place, the inner dining space transformed into a long, confident bar with a busy kitchen at one end and library-like private dining on the other.

The space, once the Italian Intermezzo, also opens to the inner atrium, where it faces The Fullerton Sydney.

Everything here is high-personality; including Morena’s frothy take on a Pisco sour ($25), a beguiling mix of Barsol Quebranta, Australia’s Marionette bitter curacao, and sweet and extra dry vermouths.

Sommelier Pablo Toledo (Otto, Botswana Butchery), insists there is more to Argentinean wine than malbec, with an educational list of varietals such as the high-altitude 2022 Alamos Torrontes, which is crisp and refreshing ($16/$80). Or keep travelling with a glass of carmenere (CHIL) or tannat (URG).

The place is elegant and comfortable, with good chairs, generous tables, banquettes and herringbone-parquetry floors; the kitchen seems a bit squeezed as a result. Saravia has brought along some serious talent, including group head chef Samuel Rivas, head chef Gianni Moretto, and restaurant manager Luca Capecchi.

You have to start with ceviche, the most classic being diced, raw gold band snapper teamed with cubes of sweet potato and chulpi (toasted corn kernels) with a marinade of leche de tigre (a refreshing “tiger’s milk” of lime juice, salt, celery, ginger and chilli). Toss with a spoon and you can almost see the acidity “cook” the fish before your eyes.

For my money, the king prawn ceviche ($24) is stronger, with its tomato, clam and lime dressing and crisp, salty plantain chips.

Follow with anticuchos of tender ox tongue concertinaed onto skewers and crisped on the grill. They’re rich, smoky and fruity and almost gritty with spice, their sun-dried chilli marinade playing off a sunny carretillero sauce of fresh Peruvian yellow chillies, lemon and shallots.

A deep-fried, savoury corn arepa ($6.50) oozing with eggplant puree is heavy, but a salad of palm heart and avocado ($16) is revelatory; a must. Goat’s cheese custard ($22) from BOL sits in a pool of deep green huacatay oil made from black mint (marigold) leaves, a gentle respite from the spice.

Morena is warm and alive; everything here is high-personality.

Main courses are indeed main – large and meaty. Hazeldene half-chicken ($39) served on a white corn puree is big, brined and chunky; difficult to cut into smaller portions, with leg and wing meat the most rewarding.

Forequarter of Kaloola suckling pig is listed on the menu for $260, but often appears as a special for $42. The meat is sweet and soft, but don’t be hanging out for crisp skin – it’s not the point. The meat is the point, the skin sacrificed.

Dessert is a return to elegance. A coconut sponge ($16) a delightful layering of soft, blonde cake, coconut cream and dulce de leche caramel, wearing a mortar board of a thin crisp oblea wafer (ARG) for crunch.

Saravia and team bring a respectful but still creative take on mainly South American and Mexican food to this treasure of a building, bringing together dishes from PER, BOL, VEN and CUB while retaining their charm and personality. Welcome to SYD.