An afternoon on the peninsula: La Pétanque

On the Saturday before mother's day I took my mum for a pampering afternoon on the Mornington Peninsula.

We started out with a decadent lunch at La Pétanque in the gourmet hamlet of Main Ridge (also home to Ten Minutes by Tractor). This was risky because nice restaurants have an innate ability to fail miserably when I happen to take my mum to them. Luckily that didn't happen this time. 

La Pétanque is a set in beautiful location is a posh meets rustic 'barn'. It also has a little spot to actually play pétanque while overlooking the grounds. 

The setting

We started with a delightful amuse bouche of saffron poached potato creme fraiche and salmon roe.

Our entree was an exquisite dish of dill cured salmon with blue swimmer crab with gin and tonic jelly. 

My mum had the crown roasted pheasant special that was resting on a cassoulet and topped with latticed potato. It was fantastic but slightly overshadowed by my main (which I of course shared). 

The Aylesbury duck breast is the best overall duck dish that I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a lot of duck). The breast was perfectly cooked: juicy, a bit pink and with crispy skin (but not so crispy that it was hard). The duck liver parfait was a richly spiced accompaniment to the duck that added that level of decadence that could make you feel guilty as you eat - if you were that way inclined. The rhubarb and sous vide beetroot added an earthy balance. There is a wistful tear in my eye just thinking about it as a write this. 

Our dessert was a wintry rhubarb ice cream with rice pudding crumbed apple.

Highlights: everything, the duck, the location, the service



We followed lunch up with a visit to Peninsula Hot Springs for more relaxation. I would recommend a visit if you haven't been. The hill top pool has a spectacular view and the facilities (which include a hammam steam room) are lovely.

Decadent dinner @ Daniel NYC

During my visit to NYC last August I wanted to have one truly memorable, fabulous and decadent evening with my travel crazy cousin Josh from Kansas City (who was filming material for a pilot for the Travel Channel) and his housemate B who was visiting on business. My strategy for this was to pick one of the best restaurants in the city and make sure I had a booking. As Per Se was closed for the summer my choice was Daniel, one of the few restaurants to combine three Michelin stars with four NYT stars. I was close to being swayed by twitter advice from Matt Preston about the awesomeness of Corton but decided that the long running success and the more sedately luxurious dining setting would be better.

Daniel has the choice between a la carte, three course prix fixe ($108 + tax & tip) or tasting menu (six course $195 + $105 wine pairings and eight course $220 + $130 wine pairings). We chose the three course option after I made it clear to my dates that we would be sharing each course because I was blogging (quite possibly the motivating factor in me having a food blog). We chose Domaine Joseph Drouhin Vaudon Chablis (2009, $60) from the heavy tome that was the wine list after consultation with the Sommelier. 

Our meal began with an amuse bouche of golden beet salad, borscht and smoked salmon to whet our appetites.

For the first course I chose the trio of arctic char, which showcased the versatility of the main ingredient brilliantly. The confit with tarragon and lemon balm (right) was delicious as was the pickled with yellow tomato vinaigrette and turmeric (left); however, the standout was the tartar with wasabi and Northern Lights caviar – a wonderful contrast of textures and flavours. 

Josh’s chilled melon veloute with Maine lobster, compressed watermelon, lomo Iberico and espelette pepper cream was also amazing with its subtly spiced melon veloute contrasting nicely with the delicate lobster and more punchy combination of watermelon and ham. 

B’s choice of peekytoe crab in an heirloom tomato gelée with Thai basil, avocado, mango, lilliput capers and olive bread tuile was a deliciously summery combination. 

I chose the duo of beef for my main, which comprised of delectably sticky Black Angus short ribs with cauliflower mousseline and lusciously tender seared wagyu tenderloin with chantarelles, crispy potato and poached bone marrow. 

Josh had the tasting of veal with rare roasted tenderloin with eggplant puree, amazing braised cheeks with glazed zucchini and crispy sweetbreads with caper caponata (which was hastily remade when B knocked water onto Josh’s plate). The sweetbreads were ‘unfortunately’ a bit daunting for Josh, so I helped him out by finishing them. 

B’s chose the Yellowfin tuna ‘a la plancha’ (Spanish for grilled) with sweet pepper ragout, marinated anchovies, chickpea panisse, mustard salad and iberico ham.

For dessert I was swayed by the warm guanaja chocolate coolant with liquid caramel, fleur de sel and milk sorbet. The coulant was decadent with its oozing salted caramel paired with a not too sweet milk sorbet… and yes that is gold leaf on the cake. 

Josh chose the lemongrass poached pineapple with coconut meringue, lime-rum gelée and piña colada sorbet.

B went with the caramelized hazelnut crumble with dulce de leche cream, caraïbe chocolate mousse and horchata ice cream.

Our server decided to bring us out the lavender-honey roasted apricots with almond milk cream, crunchy praline and apricot saffron sorbet, compliments of the house. 

By this stage we were feeling pretty full but were tempted into further indulgence by:

freshly baked madeleines still warm from the oven,

petit fours,

and finally chocolates.

CBD lunches: affordable luxury @ Waffle On

Workers in Melbourne’s CBD are spoiled for choice when it comes to lunchtime sustenance to fuel their afternoon of hard work (or endless meetings interspersed with internet time wasting). I want to share one of my favourite budget friendly but luxurious lunch spots. 

Waffle On is one of those places that everyone would have walked past (it’s sneakily sitting at the top of the Degraves Street subway entrance to Flinders Street) but not necessarily noticed. It specialises in baguettes and of course waffles. 

The waffles are top notch and range from around $3-6 depending on how piggy you’re feeling with toppings (ice cream and maple is $6). 

There are seven types of baguettes (all $9, or $10 with water), which are fresh baked throughout the day and filled upon request by the charming French owner/baguette maestro . My favourite baguette is so favoured that I have only ever once ordered a different type (the roast beef, awesome but not my favourite). Not even blogging would draw me away from ordering the chicken baguette, which is filled with slices of house cooked tender chicken, lettuce, tomato and a delicious house made mayonnaise. 

My equally gluttonous lunch companion ordered the ham, gruyere, cornichon and mustard  baguette, which was also delicious (note: he has now switched to the chicken upon return visits).

The baguettes are always perfectly crispy on the outside and on most occasions (including this one) the soft interior bread is still warm.

Chicago: All that... food 1

On my recent trip to the US I stopped for a few days in Chicago to visit my College roommate and check out what Chicago had to offer. Chicago has an abundance of good restaurants and an innovative dining scene. It’s also home to some of the top restaurants in the USA if not the world (Alinea, Next etc.). Unfortunately my quest to get tickets to Next Restaurant was unsuccessful thanks to a lack of understanding and a billing system that doesn’t accept foreign credit cards (tsk tsk it’s 2011 get with the program). Instead I had to ‘settle’ with going to a few different restaurants to sample the variety available in Chicago.  

The French Market

Before lunching at Blackbird KC and I wondered around admiring the red brick buildings. We wandered into Chicago’s French market to admire the baked goods and see what kind of produce was available...

Macarons

Pastries

Blackbird

 

Blackbird is the flagship of the James Beard Award winning chef, Paul Kahan, a Chicago born and bred culinary master. Its fit out is very modern and light filled with non-offensive white façade and white/grey and dark wood interior. Despite the modern touches, the main dining room is charming, no doubt assisted by the sunshine streaming in from outside (lunch visit) to warm diners accompanied by extremely competent staff that one would expect at a michelin starred restaurant. 

Upon entering the well oiled machine that is blackbird, KC and I were made extremely welcome by our server. We chose the extremely good value $22 (plus tax & gratuity) three course prix fixe.

We began our meal with brilliant cocktails ($12). Blackberry Betty: a sophisticated short cocktail combining Plymouth Gin, crème de violette, basil, blackberry and lime.

Blackbird Orange: a sweet, sour and caramelised concoction of Moon Mountain Coastal Citrus vodka, Punt e Mes vermouth, orange marmalade and ginger beer. 

 Very good sourdough with cultured butter.

An entrée of chilled vichyssoise with parmesan gourgeres (croutons) and ginger cream was poured at the table and deliciously creamy.

The other entrée of charred baby sepia (cuttlefish) with green tomatoes, blueberries, chamomile almonds and cynar was beautifully presented and an interesting combination of flavours and textures.

A main of roasted chicken and sausage with lime onions, tamarind and smoked cucumbers was also impeccably presented. The roast chicken was deliciously succulent and well accompanied by the cubes of tamarind and smoked cucumber; however the sausage was quite dry.

The wood grilled sturgeon with chantarelles, kohlrabi, plums, thai poppy jam and brown butter fish sauce was good, the only discordant note for me was the poppy jam.

For dessert my highlight was the vanilla parfait with blackberries, saffron honey and milk meringue. The milk meringue was extremely light and combined wonderfully with the berries, honey and parfait.

The milk chocolate mousse with grilled corn and silk, frozen peaches (sorbet) and mesquite was also delicious. The slightly off beat flavour combinations corn, chocolate, peach and mesquite worked well for me but scared KC a bit.

Rating: highly recommended 

Next Chilam Balam...

CBD lunches: Roule Galette

I was recently joined by PHo and YP for a Friday lunch at one of my favourite Friday lunch venues, Roule Galette. Roule Galette serves galettes (savoury buckwheat crepes) and crêpes in tiny café on Scott Alley off Flinders Lane.

Some of the perks of food blogging include creative direction in venue choices and tasting rights. On this Friday we agreed to order three galettes and divide them so we all got to taste all three. We began our meal with a Perry from Henry of Harcourt ($11 for 500ml), a traditional accompaniment to galettes, and a nicely dressed side salad.

 

Our first galette was the Monsieur K ($14) that was filled with creamy melted raclette and topped with salty prosciutto.

Next came the Forestière ($9.50) filled with a decadent mixture of béchamel, bacon, mushrooms and cheese.

Our final galette was the Saint Jacques ($18) filled with flavourful sautéed leek and topped with seared scallops (a tiny bit more done than PHo and I would prefer).

Time constraints meant we skipped the crêpes. However PHo and a dropped into Breadwell to pick up some Macarons by Josephine ($2.50).

 Earl Grey and Rosewater