St.Crispin (Fitzroy) 04/2014

Each month Delicious magazine 'does dinner' at some Australian restaurant. A few times a year they are in Melbourne and are usually fully booked about five minutes after reservations open. We were fortunate to get a seat at their most recent dinner at St.Crispin. Characteristic of this modern style of feast there is no hierarchy in seating, everyone gets the same food, the choice is only to eat it or not to eat it, there are no displays of wealth, no strengthening of  social or political ties. In these cases there is not even an occasion. They are simply an opportunity to eat the best food that the restaurant can produce. Chefs work flat out to get all the dishes out to the guests as near as possible to the same time.
 
You can go to St.Crispin and often get these dishes, or variations of them on their regular a la carte menu.
Table settings were simple and crowded.

Our dinner began with a platter with two different amuse bouche on tacho'swhich were very moorish.

 Unfortunately we only got one each.
 
The first course, salt baked celeriac, Jerusalem artichoke, smoked walnut, parsnip, toasted seeds, pleasant but not outstanding. It is interesting to see two different platings of the same dish.
 


Bannockburn chicken, wild cultivated and mushrooms, risoni, parmesan came next. I would have liked a lot more risoni which was buried under the rest of the dish and full of flavour.

Atlantic salmon, prawns, nicola potatoes, shallots, smoked eel, calamari is an ambitious dish for a big group. There is not enough time to get it right for everyone. It takes only a minute to overcook a delicate piece of fish and unfortunately mine suffered from the extra cooking time.
 
Wagyu cheek, rump and tail, nettles and shaved broccoli, miso was th best dish for me and even better because Sandra decided she had enough to eat so I had hers too!!

Chocolate, caramelized pears and apples, Earl Grey, crispy pearls is one of those things you would not dream of making at home. A technical and taste rich  dessert totally suited to the occasion delicious for a Delicious dinner.





Finally a platter of sweets.
 
Each course was complimented by a particularly well suited Victorian wine. My two favorites were the Dal Zotto King Valley Prosseco that we were first served and the last a Rutherglen Chambers Muscadelle dessert wine.