For a warm, friendly and inviting dining experiencing, Anise Restaurant on West Row in the city will more than fit the bill. Located in the iconic Melbourne Building, Anise is situated among some of Canberra’s finest restaurants and wine bars.

Opened in September of 2001 by husband and wife team Jeff Piper and Justin Kavanagh, Anise offers patrons a relaxed dining atmosphere with modern Australian cuisine.

“Anise is a really nice blend of modern cuisine infused with flavors of Thailand, China, Japan and Greece and offers dining in a relaxed atmosphere,” Justin said.

“My husband and I opened the restaurant. He’s the chef and I work on the floor and we just thought it would be nice to get out there and do it for ourselves.”

“We wanted the restaurant to be a casual place, bistro style, where you can come in and have a glass of wine and some pâté, or a main meal with some wine from our degustation menu.”

The neutral brown and beige colors used in the décor give Anise a really warm feel. The chocolate carpet and the caramel suede chairs minimise noise while the white tablecloths make the restaurant just that little bit more formal.

“I think you can make what you want with Anise. The best part about it is that it is casual, but it is also formal at the same time if you want it to be. You can make Anise your own atmosphere, how you like it.”

Anise was recently awarded with three wine glasses by Gourmet Magazine as part of the Gourmet wine list awards. The restaurant holds six to eight wine dinners per year which usually include a set degustation menu with matching wines. The dinners are building quite a big following with people regularly attending the dinners and make Anise a little bit different from other restaurants in Canberra.

“What sets us apart is that we are husband and wife working for ourselves. Jeff is the Chef and is always here. It usually makes a big difference when you have a chef who’s an owner. We both take great pride in our work and Anise is a creation that we are very proud of. Anise keeps us busy and we get great feedback so we are very happy with it.”

Please click here for more information on Anise’s Ravensworth Wine Dinner tonight.