Great British Chefs is an online community that – unsurprisingly – focuses on, and promotes, great British chefs.
Proving that great British cooking sometimes happens outside the British Isles, they’ve posted my review of a recent meal I had at Rick Stein at Bannisters here in Australia.
My youngest brother and his wife recently visited us here in Australia, from Canada. It was really great having them here. They made the most of it; you can read more on his blog if you like.
They’re wine folks, like us, so one of the highlights was something that was as new to us as it was to them: a flight across to Perth and three days in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. The countryside is beautiful out there, the coast is breathtaking, the food is great, and the wine is top-notch.
I wanted to make a record of the wineries and wines I liked for future reference. Lucky you (if you have my taste in wine): you can have this list for free. Also, Cabernet Sauvignon is the highlight wine of the Margaret River, and that’s reflected in a lot of my favourites.
In no particular order:
I love me an Oktoberfest; have ever since I did the real one in Munich in 2000.
As it happens there’s a German club – the Concordia Club – in Tempe just around the corner from where we live. And, as any good German club should be expected to do, they’re holding their own Oktoberfest celebrations over two weekends.
A few friends and I went over yesterday. It was better than I expected: they had the dancers, band, tent, tons of German food, big beer glasses, and crazy felt and goat hair hats. The band switched between polkas and pop tunes effortlessly. It was a fun, beer-drinking singalong.
If you’re in Sydney next weekend, you should go.
I also ate a pig knuckle that was as big as my head.
Before
After
If you can’t make out my t-shirt, it says “Meat Is Murder. Tasty, tasty murder.”
A couple of smart, driven people I knew back in London are doing well for themselves, and getting books published. I believe in celebrating successes. So yay!
Sian Meades has her fingers in several writing pies. But it’s you-can-have-it-all blog Domestic Sluttery, which she founded, that’s going to be published in book form in November. If you’re a woman who realises – or wants to realise – that you needn’t be perfect to be fabulous, pre-order it now.
Niamh Shields has been blogging about food and travel at Eat Like A Girl for a long time now. But she recently saw the publication of Comfort & Spice, her first book of recipes. Buy it now, if you love food and want to love making it. No one loves food like Niamh.
There you have it: two great people who are realising dreams. That’s pretty awesome.
It does imply, however, that if you want to get published you need to have an Irish [or Welsh] woman’s name.
Last year I visited Porteño when it was just opening and hosting the TimeOut Sydney Bar Awards. In fact, all I visited was the upstairs bar, Gardel’s, but even then I thought it was pretty cool.
Since then the rockabilly Argentinian resto has made a big splash. It’s packed every night, and its no-bookings-under-5-people mean there are queues before it opens every day. Its love affair with TimeOut has continued, garnering great reviews, articles, and winning the best new restaurant in the city.
We went last night for the first time with M&B visiting from Brisbane. We agreed it was pretty cool from top to bottom.
We started with a drink upstairs at Gardel’s. My smokey bourbon-based cocktail was excellent, and the pulled pork slider was…whatever’s better than excellent. In fact, this place is made for carnivores (not surprising, as it’s Argentinian food).
Downstairs was buzzy, trendy, and a little too good-looking. The firepit hooked us, and we shared big dishes of roast lamb and pork (it’s surprisingly economical to do this, as each order – at $44 – is plenty for two people). And a Malbec, of course. We were pretty impressed by the level of service, too.
Porteño is super-trendy, but also super fun. If you’re not afraid of slicked hair, tattoos, red wine, and meat sweats go for it.
The last couple of times I’ve been in Brisbane – including this weekend just passed – I’ve found myself in the Gabba, at the new antique/dining district development at the end of Logan Road. It’s a great little corner of the city.
Last Friday night we:
Crave is the name of Sydney’s International Food Festival, and it’s on now.
One of its events is two weeks of Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park. If you’re downtown after work you can stroll over to sample Asian and Middle Eastern food from dozens of restaurants, set up to look a bit like southeast Asian hawker stalls. In addition to all the food and drink there’s music and dancers and other entertainment.
I went last night and had some pretty good chicken satay with a cold beer, some decent chicken pad thai, and some wonderful passionfruit and chilli sorbet. There were Chinese dragon dancers. There were other people dancing on a stage that I couldn’t really see because it was raining and I was huddled under a tree. The lights made the park a really nice place to be at night. I’ll definitely be going back to sample some of the other stalls next week.
The Night Noodle Market is on in Hyde Park, from October 11-15 and 18-22 (weekdays only), from 5 to 9.30pm on each of those days.
Night Noodle Market in Hyde Park, part of Sydney Crave
I never had the chance to go to the Bayswater Brasserie, the recently-closed bistro-style eatery in King Cross, though I hear it was quite good.
I went to the building last night, however, for WLG, the Brasserie’s new (if temporary) assignment as a pop-up restaurant showcasing New Zealand food, drink, chefs, and servers. For two weeks the place will have a rotating menu of Kiwi dishes, designed and cooked by Kiwi chefs. All the wine and beer and coffee comes from New Zealand. It’s essentially a gustatory tourist show for our southeastern neighbour.
It was a good deal. A sample plate of starters, a choice of three mains, a dessert, and coffee for $29 per person. All wines were $7 per glass (or something like $27 per bottle).
I got the heads-up about the event from TimeOut, and got tickets a couple of weeks ago; I think it’s all sold out now, though you can walk up and hope for no-shows. Last night was the only night we could make it. It was also opening night. I knew that meant there was a high probability of chaos. In the end we did get some of that in the form of very long waits and slightly scattered service.
But everyone was very nice during that extended service. The vibe was great, and the brasserie looked good and was packed elbow-to-elbow (dining was at long, shared tables). All the food was good (barring the average whitebait in our starter plate), especially my just-right venison. Some of the wines were quite good. The coffee, from Mojo, was excellent.
WLG seem like a lot of fun, good value, and a great idea. The pop-up nature means they’re never going to work out all the kinks, so expect things to take an hour longer than they should, sit back, and enjoy. And maybe plan that trip to NZ.
Almost by chance we happened to visit Catalonia, a tapas restaurant in nearby Kirribilli tonight. It was one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had.
The place itself is casual, warm, not too bustling, with good service, and a good layout. It’s on a side street, but seems busy with regulars in the know. The food…my god, the food.
Serrano ham with endive, fig, honey and sherry vinegar jelly, and walnuts: just the right balance of textures, and a sweet-and-salty mix that made me drool.
Chorizo with lentils and saffron potato pure: superb. Not oily, nor overcooked. Brilliant texture, even a nice temperature.
Green salad with aged manchego and sherry vinaigrette: just the right crisp break between meaty bites.
Crisp pork belly with mojo verde, roasted romaine, radish and tomato compote: mind-blowing. I’ve had an awful lot of pork belly in my life. This was clearly the best I’ve ever eaten. Its fat was marbled throughout the flesh, rather than concentrated in a layer. The skin was bubbly, crispy, and thin. The accompanying sauces were perfect. It was seriously, seriously good.
This sets a radically dangerous precedent.
Friday night we went down to Sydney’s Chinatown to soak up the flavour of its night market. I’ve not been to China, but I have been to night markets in other Asian cities that have Chinatowns. Although Sydney’s isn’t huge – it’s concentrated onto Dixon Street – it feels pretty authentic. There are stalls of silks and woven goods and cosmetics and street food and all sorts of knick-knacks.
And there are tons of restaurants all vying for your business. We had a decent meal, but will head farther north along the street next time; things looked less touristy up that way.
It’s a great way to get some Asian ambience on a Friday after work. Just don’t drive; you’ll be stuck in traffic and pay a fortune for parking.
