Aria (Brisbane) 05/2018

*Click on pic's for enlargement. Aria, according to Google, is a long melody with an accompaniment, usually an orchestra. That's a very appropriate name for Matt Moran's Brisbane restaurant. Although there is no orchestra they serve a long and complicated meal which somehow fits the definition.
The restaurant on Eagle Pier, looks over the Brisbane river across the Story bridge, towards the city. A great scene both day and night.

A comfortable bar is separated from the adjacent restaurant by a wall of wine.

The restaurant occupies an elegant split level room with curved floor to ceiling glass wall. 

Well spaced tables are minimally set with white linen cloths. Extra cutlery comes with later courses.

One rather ordinary abstract painting adorns a wall but there is little wall space for decor.

The seasonal tasting menu offers four courses for $135 (/matching wines $190 or  premium wines $235) and seven courses $185 + wines $270 or premium wine $350. For the wine buffs it should be noted that they have an impressive wine list. A little out of step, as usual, I had saki with my meal.
It began with a lovely chef's amuse bouche-  a fig with cheese and a puffed grain

giving a great taste and textural variation.
Sourdough bread came with a caramelized butter as well as the normal butter. 

Kingfish, sea urchin, parsley, kohlrabi

Well disguised I now find sea urchin very palatable
Gold beetroot, sesame cheese, pear, witlof

A pretty dish but I'm not sure why all the ingredients are there.
Spanner crab, black rice, avocado, wasabi leaf

The delicate crab was rather lost with all the rest plus a little too much salt.
Wagyu bresaola, parmesan, eggplant, fried bread

A super palate cleanser.

I love wagyu  but drying it for a few weeks and serving it up like prosciutto really didn't cut it. 
Smoked pork, turnip, mustard

Simply the best dish of the meal
Roast duck, carrot, orange, wood ear mushroom

Equally as good as the pork.
Plum, gingerbread, yoghurt

Petit fours

 This was a beautifully presented meal, every dish a picture. I began to think of the problem of justifying everything that was being served. Would simpler have been better. The more ingredients one puts on a plate the more likely it is that someone will find something not to their taste. In this meal nothing offended my senses but the taste of many ingredients was diminished  so that some dishes became quite bland. Regardless you'd go a long way to get a better meal.
Score: 17/20

Stefano's Restaurant (Mildura) 03/2017

When I told Stefano I fasted all day to better enjoy his food he said "It's just Italian food" Well maybe.
Set up in  the cellar of The Grand Hotel the venue hasn't changed noticeably in the last 20 years. It has a narrow passage way set up with tables for two opening into a comfortable room with larger cloth covered tables.  

Meals are served to the accompaniment of opera played quietly in the background. A nice change.
Warm crusty bread and oil arrived early.

The meal started with ox tongue served on mayonnaise in a crisp tart base with salsa verde and capers giving a very nice flavour to the dish.

This was followed by Port Lincoln mussels in an organic tomato sauce. The mussels were plump and tasty, every on open and perfectly cooked, again very well seasoned.

Feftuccini with duck liver in a white sauce was a mild dish the liver exceptional.

The main dish was osso bucco in a rich sauce. It came with risotto which I would have liked cooked for another minute or two, asparagus, red and yellow peppers and onion. Stefano said, "It's Italian" clearly that's how he wanted it.

Dessert was a vanilla panna cotts with a raspberry coolie and a slice of mango.

I enjoyed a local vermentino which matched the food very well, especially the osso bucco.

Comments: This must be the best restaurant in this region. The food is very well prepared, excellently seasoned and flavoursome.
Score:16.5 /20

Vue de Monde - Why go Again? (CBD Melbourne) 02/2017

So here's the menu and the dishes, 

Sunday 5th. February 2017

Chefs Tasting menu

Quail egg and rocket

Summer vegetable pickles with brown butter and tarragon vinaigrette

Ume plum, kumato, parmesan snow

Flinders Island wallaby with rock melon and fennel

Mussels with sorrel and apple,
 Mooloolaba saucer scallops with nashi pear and lime
Rusty wire oysters with lemon myrtle

Beer and fennel bread with cultured butter was served through the meal
Kohlrabi noodles with salmon pearls, yes truffles too.

Western Australian marron with almond and lemon verbena

Marron snag sizzle with seaweed mustard and onions

Onion jam

Mustard

One with the lot! 

Dried zucchini flowers with pickled & charred stems, powdered vinegar, crème fraise and leatherwood honey

Red hair kangaroo served raw with native fruit pickles and spicy spring greens

This was served with thin sheets of 'bread' cooked at the table.

If you think you don't like kangaroo this is a dish that might change your mind!
Striped black Grouper with baby cucumber, sea grapes and kombu oil

Davidson plum sorbet with sorrel and flowers

The flowers are frozen and crushed at the table.
Flinders Island milk-fed lamb with macadamia nut and sour onions

David Blackmore wagyu tenderloin with carrot heart and leek ash

and more.

Trolley of cheese

Gumnuts

Barbequed mango with ginger and lime

Chocolate soufflé with 

crème anglaise

Lamington

We also drank some wine!
NV Ruinart Rosé, Reims, Champagne, France
Also 2014 Joh Jos Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Gold Kapsel Auslese (Riesling), Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany

2015 Bindi Vue de Monde (Pinot Noir), Macedon Ranges, Australia- not the whole bottle of course and 2013 Ca' d'Gal Vigna Vecchia Moscato d'Asti DOCG, Piedmont, Italy.

What is there to say about this meal.
Firstly, not a bad thing. Everything was excellent. 
The venue is of course unmatched in Melbourne.
The service is close to impeccable. There was an occasional problem with understanding accents but explanations were readily repeated.
The food was beyond criticism. A few dishes were finished at the table, usually with sauces but sometimes unexpectedly with truffles.
Although this is a large menu it was quite well balanced.
Vue has a new head chef, Nobu, who created the red hair kangaroo served raw with native fruit pickles and spicy spring greens which was served for the first time that day. He also visited us and discussed some culinary matters.
All that is fine but for the price we could have had 50 pizza's or 100 hamburgers or donated to whoever so is it reasonable to go to Vue de Monde? This is a philosophical question but for us, 
in a word yes. We would rather have one incredible meal than x number of hamburgers.
It's an experience with unique qualities - a feast for all the senses but, in the end, it's a personal decision.
Perhaps a sneak preview here might help you make up your mind. 
Comments: It's not possible to get much better

Score:19/20