The Dining Room

Fifteen Years on Flinders Lane

The Cumulus Inc. dining room was designed to blur the line of cafe, bar and restaurant. A space to be interpreted and used as one wishes. We wanted the space to be comfortable and welcoming, and without the pressure of a full traditional, dining experience.

“When Jayden and I opened Cumulus Inc we didn’t set out to do anything other than create a place to eat, relax and socialise. A place where quality was the focus, where you could feel at home, stay as long as you please, and return often. Fifteen years has raced by and this is, and always has been, a place for our guests and friends to make of it what they will,” says Andrew McConnell, chef and owner.

Cumulus Inc. was to be (and still is) a dining room that didn’t impose any preconceived ideas on to our guests. As JP says, if you’re after a canelé and a coffee, take a seat at the bar, we’ll be right with you. If you want something a little more substantial, and maybe a glass of champagne, that would be our pleasure.

When we opened, the concept of all-day dining was something of a new proposition to the city and our menu reflected that. What we really wanted was for guests to take our open policy to heart, to always feel welcome, whether alone or in a group.

“We’ve always embraced the solo diner. I’ve loved that - plating half serves, catering to the guest and we’ve always accommodated that. It’s a really good solo diner restaurant,” says JP.

Our dining room hides nothing, communicating its intentions immediately; we are open and what you see is what you get. Pleasantly transparent, we like to keep things open, as we said in a recent post about our gin martinis, Cumulus is ‘from midday, as you please.’ That’s as much a philosophy for life as it is our opening hours.

Part of the openness is the solid marble bar, which acts as both a front row seat to the kitchen and the pass. In time it has come to be something of a Cumulus Inc. motif, but what a seat here offers is a peak behind the curtain. Sitting here anyone can be privy to the deft hands of our chefs, able to watch dishes come to life, witnessing the transition from starters and entrees to mains and desserts, sometimes receiving firsthand descriptions and explanations as they’re completed. The marble bar is an integral part of Cumulus Inc.’s make up and story, but at first it took some getting used to.

“The customers know,” laughs JP about the open kitchen. “They see you, when it’s working, when it’s not, the customers know. It’s great though, it makes you stronger and it makes you a better chef.”

As the days slowly start to find some more light in them, we start to wonder what tomorrow will bring. There’ll be great wine and fresh produce for sure. We’ll serve some favourites, and we hope to celebrate some wonderful moments with our guests and friends. Like our menu, our dining room is more than just steel and timber and glass. It’s everything that makes it so.

Fifteen years on, the quintessentially Cumulus elements remain the same. Have a canelé and coffee, have a cocktail, as you please.

Our special, fifteen-year menu will be available until the end of October.

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