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I think it was the 10th anniversary of Movida, a bit of the Melbourne Food Festival and an opportunity, with Greg Malouf in town, to get two great chefs to turn out a joint dinner. Frank Cammora and Greg turned out an interesting series of dishes that one is not likely to ever again see on one menu.
Starters included gently seasoned Pittwater oysters lightly spiced with tomato vinaigrette and a slice of Merguez sausage.
Bastourma, one of Greg's favourites, air dried beef wrapped around goats cheese and rocket leaves is an irresistable canape.
A beaker of fresh veggies followed with baby pitas and a labneh dip flavoured with cucumber and tarragon. Not too hard a dish to produce for any decent chef.
Another of Greg's favourite dishes came next, and this was really excellent, a large fillet of salmon covered with a tahini and yoghurt dressing,
coriander and crushed walnuts. The salmon which had been cured was also cooked - I would have preferred it raw, but it is a dish not to be missed.
Quail with saffron, fenugreek and organic chick peas was yet another dish with Greg's name written all over it. It provides the sort of reason he got a Michelin star in England last year. Tender, tasty, fragrant super.
Fish stew was a bit disappointing to me. I did not care for the potatoes, the fish was overcooked and it could not be saved by the seasoning, lemon rind and mint. The mussels, plump and perfectly prepared was the best of the dish. It did look nice
but what was astonishingly attractive was the salad that came with it.
The last main course was quite excellent. A slow roasted shoulder of lamb served on smouldering hay. The meat was nicely spiced with a touch of chilli and wonderfully tender. I don't particularly care for having to fish bits of hay out of my dinner but it is a great dish.It was served with an eggplant salad.
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This was supposed to be a set menu but, because Sandra has developed an allergy to chilli Frank Cammora prepared a special meal for her without chilli which was used in most of the dishes. This was an exceptional courtesy and furthermore a very fine meal.
Dessert was a variation on a yoghurt and burnt honey pannacotta flavoured with flower water. It had a slice of caramelized peach under another Malouf specialty, a very light fairy floss. It was accompanied by an undistinguished chocolate ice cream. Bits of Turkish Delight, chopped nuts and an orange baklava completed the dish. I felt it was a bit tricked up for this meal.
Each dish was served with a Spanish wine on which I don't feel in any way competent to comment.
It was in all a very interesting meal of very good quality products, presented attractively, served in beautifully spiced and delicate middle eastern sauces. A great night and one which led us to return a few days later.
The meal we had last week was stamped with Greg Malouf's influence. On this occasion we returned to sample a more extensive range of their regular menu which was stamped all over with Farank Camorra's influence (he was not there).
The menu is designed for sharing and is divided into small dishes, Tapas Classica, medium size dishes, Raciones, rice dishes, Arroces as well as a number of fish and meat dishes.
We sampled quite a few.
Jambon, ($18). Movida is noted for it's Iberican food and of course pork is a specialty.
Tortilla, ($5), confit potato with organic egg and caramelised onion - de licious!
Venado, ($7), cured venison loin on brik pastrywith celeriac and morcilla. A tiny titivating serve.
Bocadillo de calamaris, (8) a calamari sandwich with Basque guindilla and mayonnaise. Here the calamarie were sandwiched in a lightly toasted small bun. Quite different but reminiscent of Andrew McConnels signature lobster roll at Golden Fields and equally good.
Sopa, ($6.50) chilled hazelnut with grape granita, pickled and black garlic a special that night, just a couple of very tasty mouths full.
Asparagus ($16) char grilled with Romesco sauce.
Croquettes, four to a serve. Don't miss them if they are on the menu.
Gambas con sobrasada ($22). Prawns with sobrasada, broad beans and cider. Large, sweet, tender and great if you like prawns. I don't generally care for them but these were very nice.
Mejillones, ($18). Jumbo Spring Bay mussels cooked a la plancha with parsley, garlic and fino. These were the plumpest most fantastic mussels I can ever remember. A super dish.
Bistec (35), a large serve of char grilled Robbins Island rump with sweetbreads, white anchovy, egg and patatas fritas. They could not get all this on one plate! It was cooked as requested. The sweetbreads were outstanding and it was a totally enjoyable dish.
Here is the egg on chips.
And a couple of desserts
Helados, ($14.50). Ice creams served with fig bread
and creme caramel ($14.50) served with pestinos. Far from the best creme caramel but we were not expecting to be blown away by desserts
The place is buzzing with it's odd interior decor; drink crates hanging over the bar,
its rough wooden tables inside and casual patio furniture outside. It has plenty of atmosphere well supported by the food.
We were pleased to break with tradition here and drank sherry instead of wine. They served us a pleasantly dry Manzanilla and a superb sweet dark, almost oily smooth Pedro Jimenez. Never mind the terroir, the berry notes, the slight plum hints of this wine or that, the sherries were simply delicious.
Score:15.25 /20
Just two months ago Chris Badenoch and his new wife featured in the HeraldSun. They were struggling to pay their bills and customers were hard to score. For what they are, a meat specialty nose to tail style restaurant with a concentration on specialty beers, I thought they were pretty good, even though they did not make it into the 2013 or 2014 Age Good Food Guide.
Their menu is dsigned for sharing. It is divided into Bites, about $4 to $8, Charcuterie, Seafood, Vegetables etc, Meat and Desserts $12, two of them, and cheese. Mains run from $16 to $25 with half a roast pigs head at $65.
They have a long bar and high tables with bar stools. There is one large table with chairs at the end of the room.
The place was packed with happy Gen X and Y drinkers and diners.
I would have liked the sweetbread nuggets with tartare sauce but they were off the menu so I started with a small plate of charcuterie ($18) The rabbit terrine was the best part of it but but everything on the platter was excellent. I especially liked the spicy sausage modified by the quenelle of onion jam between the pickles.
The aged American cheddar and smoked potato croquette ($5) was quite good but not a mouth watering delight.
Chicken liver parfait ($12) was prettily decorated with edible flowers. It was very light but over sweet.
We particularly enjoyed a beetroot carpaccio with roast baby beetroot, grilled haloumi and smoked almonds ($15)
Chips were pretty good too.
Although not their normal practice the kitchen swapped the picalilli that is usually served with the grilled hop smoked ox tongue for a gratin of cauliflower and, I think, cabbage ($18). The gratin was great but the slice of tongue over grilled.
Mulled wine braised beef cheek with parsnip puree and crispy parsnip ($19)was an honest, tasty serve, the meat falling apart and the jus strong but not overwhelming.
The best dish of the lot was braised pigs trotter stuffed with sweetbreads and mushrooms with smoked potato mash ($25). Except that I did not get any smokiness in the mash the rest of the dish was perfect. Some may not care for the wonderful gluey texture of the braised skin but I loved it. The stuffing went well with the trotter giving it variety and balance.
They have a small wine list, about 250 beers, I had a Belgian Ale,
and a few soft drinks.
Service was amateurish but very obliging and the kitchen rather slow. I suits them that everything is designed to share so it is less important to coordinate the serving of dishes.
Score: 13.5/20
Before the days of Paul Bocuse, Joel Roubochon the Roux brothers and other great chef's there were two absolute giants of French cuisine. Carême, glorified today as the king of cooks and the cook of kings, and August Escofier who was a great organizer and codifier of French cooking. After some early training in restaurants Escoffier developed a relationship with Cesar Ritz, who had worked himself up from hotel groom to manager of some of the world's leading hotels. They went to London to cook at the Savoy where they were incredibly successful. He was later involved in setting up the kitchens and cooking at the Ritz Hotel in Paris and the Carlton in London. He organized the management of kitchens and was a most imaginative and creative chef. He created a dessert for Kaiser Willhelm 2nd which so impressed the Kaiser he told Escoffier that whilst he was the Emperor of Germany Escoffier was the Emperor of chefs! Escoffier created peach Melba in honour of Dame Nellie Melba and is reputed to be the originater of Tournados Rossini and many many other dishes.
He is perhaps best known for having produced reduced hundreds of sauces, many created by Careme to five 'mother' sauces. These are Bechamel, Espagnole, Veloute, Hollandaise and a Tomato based sauce. He appreciated that times were changing and diners had different requirements. To handle the greater numbers of diners and their needs for quicker service he simplified recipes and abandoned many of the labour intensive and time consuming decorative aspects of dishes.
Escoffier's magnum opus was his book Les Guide Culinaire which has over 5000 recipes in it. He certainly simplified them, obviously presuming his readers knew something about cuisine. Here is a recipe for Salad Rejane, a salad he invented for a renowned French actress at the time.
Cooked rice,slices of hard boiled egg, grated horseradish and slices of truffle, lightly mix with whipped cream and season with a little salt!
In a brief preamble he notes that when rice is used as a main ingredient it should represent about half the total quantity.
Although he died more than 75 years ago he has left an indelible mark on French cuisine.
So
Steer B & G put on a special dinner 'The Beef Dishes of August Escoffier' accompanied by seven French wines.
The table were set with style featuring candelabras and good quality cutlery.
Beginning with a Canape, Crayfish Newberg, a tasty deconstructed morsel which would have surprised Escoffier, and pleased us,
we moved to the first course - Double beef consomme, spring vegetable and herb crepes. The consomme had been cooked first with veal and then a second time with beef. Well clarified it was excellent.
The second course - Steak Americaine, Melba toast, sauce tartar, used a waghu steak. It was excellent too.
Third course - Pasture fed full blood Waghu, Sauce Chasseur, pommes Parissiene Cooked a little more than I would have liked but it would be boorish to complain.
Fourth course - Poached grain fed beef Endive salad, Fourme d'Ambert (a Cheese) dressing was nice but did not appeal to me greatly.
Fifth course - Beef Bourguignon, Duchess potatoes, asparagus fricassee is a classic. The meat was meltingly tender, the taste of the sauce not too strong and the mashed piped potatoes oven browned all made for a lot of work and a great dish.
Finally a deconstructed Peach Melba.
I would not rave about the wines which were well suited to the dishes. They are available from Grand Millesme Wine and ranged from $18 to $70 a bottle. The most expensive was a 2009 Domaine Loew 'Ostenberg' Vendange Tardive Gewurztraminer from the Alsace area.
Score: 15.5/20
There is nothing reminiscent of a garden here, except the name, which is Italian for garden, but there is plenty reminiscent of Italy. The staff certainly, the three guys making the pizza's, but most especially the food itself. It is good solid Italian domestic cooking. No frills.
The place itself is less than ordinary. Bare wooden tables, unremarkable chairs, cheap cutlery, paper napkins and lots of noise. Decor is simple and minimal with a couple of S.Pellegrino posters. I don't understand the second line from the bottom!
There are heaps of pizza's available, a small typical Italian menu accompanied by an inexpensive wine list. All Yellow Tail as far as I could see. A blackboard on the wall covers most of the wines and an adjacent one some specials on the food.
Prices are extremely reasonable so it is unfair to have excessive expectations.
We were pleasantly surprised. Thin crust pizza's were tasty and not overcooked, which has often been my experience.
Calzone was very good, well filled and very very tasty.
Flounder could have been a little larger and less cooked but was still good.
The last main we tried, a marinara risotto, was well filled with prawns, calamari, scallops and muscles. It was a substantial serve also very satisfying with a good creamy tomato sauce.
Service was slow but obliging.
What especially appealed to me was the flamboyant, very short, guy kneading the dough and spinning it into the air, like a flying saucer.
Good value for the price.
Score:13.25 /20
We had the pleasure of another of the Melbourne food festivals fine dining experiences at Davids restaurant last week. David's is certainly moving with the times. They have remodeled the restaurant, opening up the entry to the rear section, which is still separated by a piece of furniture used as a storage place for condiments, serviettes and so forth.
They now also offer home delivery over quite a wide area and advertise that on the bottles they use for water at the table.
Titled World Dinner – Beyond the Bund it was a five course meal featuring dishes from five different regions of China. The bund is in the wharf area of Shanghai filled with shops and restaurants of every kind and every quality. It has been a highlight for tourist visits for decades.
The menu included several very unusual dishes and appropriate beverages.
The following dishes were served:
Lion head – pork and chestnut meatball in chicken broth (Jiang Su) accompanied by a Blue Pyrenees sparkling, a very pleasant white. The meatball was fabulous, not dominated by either the pork or the chestnut, it was beautifully combined with the clear chicken broth.
Crunchy prawn clusters with a melted butter centre (Shanghai) came with a Tsingtao beer. This was another excellent dish one could see the melted butter, on biting into the centre of the prawn meat and it tasted delicious. The light beer was very appropriate.
Hard to see the little pool of butter in the centre of the prawn cluster.
Many guests thought that the next dish, crispy flash fried whiting smoked on caramelized leak (Zhejiang) was the dish of the night. It came with a slightly sweet seasoning. I found the fish very dry and thoroughly overcooked.
The Plantagenet Reisling from Mount Barker Western Australia was a good match for the slightly sweet fish.
The following dish, crispy beef with orange peel (Hunan) was the best of the night. It was quite spicy though the chilly was not overwhelming. I was pleased that it came towards the end of the meal as I find chilly spoils my palate for fine tastes. Here the meat was tender and exceptionally tasty and the strips of orange peel, which lacked any bitterness, help to balance the saurce. This was served with a Mitchell GSM Granache Sangiovese Mouvedre from the Clare Valley.
The last course Sichuan wok fried Chinese cabbage with dried chilies (Sichuan) was a spicy crunchy end to the meal. It left one with a good feeling of having had a very satisfying meal, almost fat-free, and with no feeling of discomfort that sometimes accompanies the end of a large meal.
This was served with Iron Buddha tea.
Apart
from a deep knowledge of Chinese cuisine David is renowned for his
knowledge of the curative properties of Chinese teas. There were no tasting
notes however so I am unsure of what I have cured. One thing is for sure it
has not cured my love of Chinese cuisine.
It was a rather strange meal, a conglomeration of dishes, which I quite enjoyed. The first two courses were quite small, the fish was plentiful but needed something more with it. The beef was also plentiful but the cabbage was really what one might expect as a side dish rather than the last course of a five course meal.
It was a unique event but not one that I would recommend.
Score: 13.5/20
