Trendsetter Flotilla continues to raise the bar when it comes to refined casual dining in Newcastle

Mansfield is captain of the kitchen and Molina runs the restaurant while managing the extensive drinks menu. Together, they work hand in glove to make the Flotilla experience a memorable one.

Chris Joannou and business partner Zach Scholtz opened Flotilla in 2019, having spent a year transporting Venice Beach vibes to industrial Wickham.

"What we set out to achieve in terms of refined casual, I think we've done it. We're excited to see where the venue can be six months or 12 months into the future," Joannou told Weekender in April 2019.

If they were excited back in 2019, they should be ecstatic with the direction Mansfield and Molina are taking the restaurant in 2021. At Flotilla the balance is just right. It's casual but refined. Trendy but welcoming. The staff are professional but approachable.

It is a well-oiled and constantly evolving machine.

Read more: New Wickham restaurant looks to be a trendsetter in Newcastle

"When you come here you're going to get hatted service, a hatted wine list and hatted food, regardless of whether or not we get a hat - it's what we're going to do because that level of food and service has always been our aim," Mansfield tells Weekender.

"But - and this is important - we want it to be like coming to our house. Homely and relaxed. I am not a fan of pretentious fine dining."

Walk in to Flotilla and Molina takes your coat, hangs it up and offers you a drink. Mansfield is busy working in the open kitchen but calls out a greeting. If you sit at the "chef's table" (a long bar overlooking the kitchen and its charcoal oven) you can chat to Mansfield and his fellow chefs as they work.

It is fascinating to watch them move effortlessly from one work station to the next, seasoning and searing.

You can order from the menu or ask for chef's suggestions, each expertly paired with a beverage. Wines you would normally have to order by the bottle are available by the glass here.

Watching your dish being prepared and cooked heightens the anticipation. Mansfield explains each ingredient and the inspiration behind the flavours and textural combinations. It makes you appreciate each delicious forkful just that little bit more.

Read more: Flotilla is re-opening at Wickham and it's the hottest ticket in town

Originally from Brisbane, Mansfield has worked at e'cco, City Social in London and The Long Apron. Being made redundant last year as head chef of Restaurant Botanica due to COVID was a turning point in his career. Mansfield reached out to chef friends in Newcastle, starting helping out at The Edwards and The Criterion and ultimately wound up at Flotilla last September.

Then chef Paul Niddrie left Flotilla to host cooking classes at The Essential Ingredient Newcastle. Mansfield has steered the ship ever since.

"I think the biggest thing for me at Flotilla is that I've found myself as a chef. I've found my voice and I know who I am and what my style is, and so I'm just building on that," Mansfield says.

"Someone said to me the other day, 'You run this kitchen with such grace and beauty', and that was such a massive compliment. When I was in Europe I worked at Gordon Ramsay-type places where they yell at you and you have horrible days and, I have to admit, maybe a little of that came back with me to the Hunter Valley. But as soon as I got to Flotilla I'm like 'I don't want to do this any more'. You spend 70 or 80 hours a week with these people, you need to have a nurturing environment.

"Collectively, Eddie and I have about 35 or 40 years in the industry, so we have a bit of knowledge there, but we will still do the dishes or scrub the floors with a toothbrush [laughs]. We just do it because Flotilla's our baby."

The menu officially changes every three months in accordance with the seasons, however Mansfield finds ways to flex his creative muscle at any opportunity.

"We have a set menu every Sunday and it runs for a month. You get five courses for $65 and it allows us to be a bit more experimental and adventurous," he says.

"It works as a feeder for our next menu. If people don't like it, well, you still got five courses for $65 [laughs]. I've paid more for fish and chips on a Monday. We've had a watermelon sashimi dish on there, which is a bit different, but I could do it without the fear in the back of my mind that people might complain about it."

Review: Flotilla's flair impresses curious crew

This week Mansfield added four new dishes to the menu.

"I've got some beautiful quails from Redgate Farm with beeswax potatoes and parmesan, then I've got some lovely blueberry balsamic which is soaked in charcoal. We're going to play around with that," he says.

"I like doing things with food that people can relate to, but they can't do at home. That, for me, is a win. The crab and corn dish, for example, came from a favourite of mine: Chinese chicken and corn soup.

"Sometimes when we write the menu it can sound a bit plain on paper but as soon as people get a dish in front of them they get overwhelmed."

As for the front-of-house team, Molina describes it as "really solid".

"We have years of experience and I think that shows, especially on Fridays and Saturdays when we have to set up the restaurant not once but twice. We really do push it," he says.

"I think Flotilla as it stands right now is in a really good place, with really good food and really good service and a really good beverage program, but it is also changing and evolving. There will always be different seasons, different menus, different cocktails.

"As a contemporary dining spot in Newcastle it's in a state of constant evolution."

A quick note in response to Judith Whitfield's dining review of Flotilla, published in the Newcastle Herald on June 22, 2019. Flotilla now has hooks under the "chef's table" bar to keep handbags off the floor.

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