Fork In Review

This about a few Sydney restaurants myself and others have eaten at in late 2011:

Bay 88 

88 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay, NSW 2011

Prices: Entrees in the teens; mains mid twenties

Approaching this restaurant the thing you first notice is the traffic noise, which put me off a bit. This is a very local restaurant for me and my neighbour, and we don’t go to it often enough. Well, that turned out to be a mistake. If the traffic noise drives you nuts, you can retreat inside. It’s on the corner which is the approach to the lovely Rushcutters Bay Park, our front yard. The outdoor furniture looks attractive and comfortable, separated by bamboo dividers.

Bay 88 is under new ownership, (Daniel Bloom and Mark Glatter) and they sensibly have not wasted a million dollars on a reno. Instead the bar has been refashioned with recycled and unpainted wood, reflecting a contemporary aesthetic.

This venue is very popular for weekend brunches, so arriving early is kind of mandatory.

But the services tend to merge into each other which makes all-day eating viable.

It was an early mid-week dinner for us. My neighbour who generally chooses conservative dishes, chose grain-fed yearling sirloin with sauce Bordelaise and chips. She loves the fact that generally restaurants cook steak better than non-professional cooks. She was not disappointed. Whereas I would choose something that I would not cook at home. It was apple glazed roast belly pork with kipfler potatoes and waldorf salad. I loved belly pork, crackling and their interpretation of it. They have a specials board which is a very good way to test-drive dishes for the next menu.

For locals this place is really worth going to if you can’t be bothered cooking, or any other excuse.

 

Garfish

21 Broughton St, Kirribilli, Sydney

This restaurant dominates the footpath covering it with tables and tent-like protection against inclement weather. When you sit down at this restaurant you notice that the napkin is neatly wrapped in brown paper. On further exploration, that brown paper turns out to be the a la carte menu.

But, there’s another menu which is structured like the menu of a noodle bar. You choose your fish, its cooking method, its accompaniment, and it’s hinged together Lego-like. For example, I had terakihi, pan fried with mash, spinach and beurre blanc. My two companions had the same but with mahi mahi. (priced about mid twenties)  Deeply satisfying with the beurre blanc, and cut with a bottle of SA Coobara pinot gris Adelaide Hills ($39).

This was a pre-theatre meal, expedited efficiently, and was the perfect solution. On leaving we observed that the restaurant had filled with locals and other pre-theatre patrons. This confirmed our assumption that this is a popular local.

 

Alio

5 Baptist St (near Cleveland St), Surry Hills, Sydney

This restaurant is gem hidden off the beaten track of Crown Street. Unprepossessing on approach and nor is the décor striking, except for dark wood and 70s-style cut-out panels. But the décor of Italian restaurants in Italy is not usually striking either. You’re mainly there for the food, which makes a refreshing change. Oh, and there is some space between the tables. Now, there’s an idea.

Having been in Italy recently (September 2011), Alio’s food appears not to be the same as conventional as that in Italy, but that’s not always a bad thing. One gets a bit tired of “tipico” Italian dishes. The party I was with shared a couple of anti-pasto platters which included beautiful bresaola, coppa, prosciutto and grana padano. ($30). It seems that chef Ashley Hughes concentrates on quality ingredients well prepared. This he would have learnt when he did time for Marco Pierre White, and Ruth Rogers at River Café, London.

I’m a fiend for belly pork on any menu in any restaurant. On this menu, a chunk of it was roasted, then chargrilled, with roasted spring vegetables, and salsa verde ($35). This salsa is one of those gutsy olive oil-based condiments, like pesto, and gremolata. It consists of basil, parsley, garlic, capers, cornichons, anchovies, processed with olive oil. Salsa verde gives the pork and vegetables a rounded savoury flavour, with some piquancy from the capers and cornichons. Much more rustic and satisfying.

Top billing on the list of main courses (at the time of our visit) was grilled salmon with a salad of asparagus, beans, olives and a sauce called bagna cauda (about $35). This is garlic and anchovies fried in olive oil, with a little butter. It’s a traditional sauce from Provence which can also be served with vegetables.

Being a mixed group we were democratic in our choice of wine: a bottle of 2009 Casa Bianco (Arneis, Riesling & Savagnin) Cheshunt, VIC ($28) and 2009 Little Demon Cabernet Merlot, McLaren Vale, SA ($39). Both complemented the food very well.

This restaurant is not old school Italian restaurant, either very expensive and traditional, or a cheap little pizza and pasta joint. It’s a judicious compromise focussing on quality products and less of the tradition of creamy sauces. And Hughes can pull this off without a million dollar fit-out or a harbour view. The service was not noticeable, therefore very good. Definitely worth the trip, and would happily repeat it.

Spice Temple

Bligh St, Sydney NSW 2000

I have been anticipating a visit to this restaurant for some time because I love Asian cuisines. And I like good quality Chinese cuisines and cooking even more.

 

This venue is part of the Rockpool stable, and is a conduit for Neil Perry’s interest in Asian cuisines; he used to run XO at Potts Point.

The entrance is on Bligh St through an interesting video door, downstairs to a large and dark dungeon, lit with little table lights. It’s organised like a courtyard panelled off from the corridor around it. The building is Art Deco and to a small extent this has continued within, but with the impression of red lacquer work and black tables.

Euphemistically, the lighting is moody, leaving you a bit in the dark reading the menu. I think one is meant to imagine sharing the room with other opium smokers. The menu is a bit agonising because you will probably want to order all of it.

The northern style lamb and fennel dumplings (8 for $18) came with a mild chilli dipping sauce. We could have ordered another helping straight away, they were so good. Northern cuisine is less rice based and a more wheat based cold climate food. Most cuisines seem to have their version of Cornish pastie, only vastly superior here.

A plate of steamed blue eye arrived. One half was covered in salted red chilli, and the other in pickled chilli ($34). What a knockout. The fish was beautifully moist, and especially good when washed down with Neil Perry’s house brand, Riesling Rockpool by Grosset Clare Valley ($58). This wine also cuts the richness of the Guangxi style roast pork belly with coriander, peanuts, red onion and sesame seeds. My personal opinion is that the pork could have been cooked a bit longer so that it falls apart more readily. A minor quibble, because it was beautiful.

Would drop tools to return to this restaurant anytime.

This is about a few Sydney restaurants myself and others have eaten at in early 2012:

Wilbur’s Place

Llankelly Place, Kings Cross 2011

Waiting on a stool outside Wilbur’s Place for my friend to arrive, Llankelly Place appears to have been brought to life a la Melbourne. It always seemed bleak and uninviting. Now there’s plenty of foot traffic – all sorts of people.

Wilbur’s has a darkish interior with natural wooden stools. But a seat outside is attractive if you enjoy people-watching.

It’s owned by the Bourke Street Bakery people, and the rustic nature of the breads and pastries carries through to their menus here.

Lamb ragu with orecchiette ($19) is rustically Italian, but slightly let down by the undercooked pasta. Another rustic dish is slow roasted suckling pig with borlotti beans and Brussel sprouts ($22). The added attraction was a decent chunk of crunchy crackling. Hard to go past that.

My friend bought a bottle of Otago pinot noir, which was a good choice for the food. They don’t have a liquor licence yet.

We shared a toasted brioche ice cream sandwich ($12). Lovely idea, but needed a hit of something wet such as a strawberry salad, or some caramelized apples.

This little restaurant gets very busy – lots of a Gen Y nice young things who like interesting food without paying a fortune.

 

Agape

1385 Botany Rd, Botany, NSW 2019

Having driven through an unprepossessing light industrial suburb, we enter a dining room with yellow oak tables and chairs, and interesting second-hand Victorian era reproduction antique furniture. There are also chandeliers and plenty of pretty tea lights. None of this fits the suburb and is a comforting relief nonetheless. It felt like home; no standing on ceremony.

The floor staff are pleasant and refreshingly unpretentious. This is a family run business, and it shows. The chef is Simon Lawson who used to be the chef at Nove Cucina at Woolloomooloo. He also used to be a supplier of organic foods, and now that he has his own gig, he can put all sorts of organic foods and wines on his menus.

Agape runs special menus and ours was an 8 course menu ($88) using ancient grains from Peruvian and Bolivian cuisines. The first course was a ceviche using amaranth, quinoa, kingfish, lime, chilli, sweet potato helped along with spelt crispbread. Probably the best ceviche I have ever eaten – it had a soupcon of chilli and lime to balance the flavours.

Saltenas are like small empanadas, but made with spelt pastry providing a very short crumb. Inside was organic wagyu beef, accompanied by a thick tomato and herb sauce.

Humitas sound like something steamed and sure enough – a sweetcorn pudding  wrapped in corn leaves with cheese, aji pepper, amaranth, chilli and spring onion.

By the way, all of this was being washed down with the Agape carafe of house white ($30). It was a chardonnay, and nice for a variation from the default position of  NZ sauvignon blanc.

Chupe de camarones was a slightly spicy prawn, potato, milk and quinoa soup. Expecting the classic bisque base, a similar flavour was effected with milk, producing a thinner product than a roux-based bisque.

Chairo was a lamb ragout made with aji pepper, corn on the cob, potato, barley and black quinoa. The barley, quinoa and potato provided a natural thickener. This stew was comforting and brought alive with a hit of cumin, and sweetness from the sweet corn.

We were indulged with not one but three desserts. Biscuits which looked like bought ones, were made with spelt, and were iced together with condensed milk caramel and drizzled with ganache. They crumbled very easily – even shorter than sweet pastry and shortbread.

Good old rice pud metamorphosed into arroz con leche. Except that it wasn’t arroz but quinoa and amaranth flavoured with cinnamon. A few slices of poached stone fruit wouldn’t have gone astray.

Helado e picarones – corn chia ice cream with Peruvian sweet potato fritters. It would have been like vanilla ice cream but for the lack of vanilla, and the sweet potato fritter was reminiscent of Spanish churros.

This lovely meal was one of the monthy Agape Love Feasts; the next ones will have different themes. Definitely worth signing up for.

 

Popolo

50 McLachlan Ave, Rushcutters Bay, NSW 2011

Popolo is very popular – full by 7pm on a cool Monday evening. I would like to think it’s because the food is fantastic. However, judging by the eating out scene at the moment, it’s more likely to be because the restaurant is new, shiny and trendy. And, maybe a celebrity might have dined there.

The food is southern Italian, Sardinian and Sicilian, using seasonal produce, cooked simply. A bit like Elizabeth David’s cook books.

Grilled prawns done with lemon zest, parsley and a drizzle of olive oil, and couldn’t be nicer. Even the tail shells are delicious to crunch in your mouth. The octopus salad with green olives was not fridge-cold and tasteless; it was beautiful.

Italian standards such as ravioli and lasagne are a cut above the usual. The pasta with slow-cooked chicken and tomato ragu could be nudged apart with a spoon.

In the primi section of the menu, the pasta is often free-form.

Fregola with tomato and mussels was cooked like a risotto. It had a good depth of flavour suggesting it had been cooked with a real seafood stock.

There was a special of slow-braised veal with thyme and Cos lettuce. Again you could nudge it apart with a fork.

Even the potato wedges were exceptional: skins on, with onion and rosemary.

The wines are Italian and Sicilian and some are available by the glass.

Prices are reasonable, and along with the good cooking, make the perfect formula for repeat business. No wonder this restaurant is full most of the time.

They have a wood-fired pizza oven. My next visit will be to sample some of that.

The pizza put in front of me was enormous. How do they expect…….. Anyway, I wolfed it down with a glass of vino blanco della casa. I soon realized that enormous and thin was the size of all the pizzas served in this famous Brandi pizzeria near Via Chiaia, Naples.

I wanted to try some pizza; Naples is reputed to be the home and origin of this famous street food. The topping on mine, however, was not typical: it was whitebait and garlic, apart from the usual tomato pasta. I expected to see a lot more basil, but it seemed to be just a leaf or two for decoration.  As Brandi has a reputation to maintain, the pizza was of course delicious.

I did a little gastronomic research before leaving Sydney to find out what to expect in this part of the world.

I arrived in Naples as an independent tourist for about a week before I would meet our tour group (through Sydney University Continuing Education) in Palermo. The plan was to visit art galleries and museums and absorb as much of the neapolitan baroque as I could.

Also, sample dishes from some of the less “tipico” menus offering spag bol or carbonara. In Italy they mostly eat typical Italian food, and in France, French food etc. Whereas, in Sydney we can sample from many different cuisines and create some rustic and stylish combinations. Occasionally, you can find restaurants in Italy and Sicily which will turn their hands to a bit of inventiveness as well.

After a few days in Naples the menus started to look the same, until I happened to pick up an old brochure somewhere about a promotional week of Neapolitan food sponsored by local government and industry bodies. It was called Mangiare con l’Arte, loosely translated as eating with art.

One of the participating restaurants was La Stanza del Gusto in Via Costantinapoli, which I happened to walk past after visiting the National Archaeological Museum nearby. I had an octopus and vegetable salad with cous cous and soda bread. The next visit I tried fish with cous cous. They serve organic, or “biologica” products, and use a lot more imagination than the “tipico” menu planning. This is why I returned for more.

During a passagiata up via Toledo, I stopped at a very crowded gelataria called “Infanta”.  As Naples and the Amalfi coast are famous for lemon products,  I had a lemon ice cream called Amalfi. It was nicer than lemon sorbet because it is creamy and less acidic. The next visit I tried Crema which is like crème patissiere with some citrus and alcohol flavouring. Gelato Messina (Victoria St, Darlinghurst, Sydney), need to know about this retailer if they don’t already. My guess is that “Infanta” is what we turn into when faced with a cone of delicious ice cream.

Around near the Riviera di Chiaia, at Piazza Samazarro I had lunch at Al Sarago, part of the Mangiare con l’Arte program. I had a seafood risotto, beautifully cooked and I didn’t have to hunt for the seafood. Even the green salad had a squeeze of lemon juice which not all restaurants offer.

Another participant restaurant was Cantini dei Mille, on Piazza Garibaldi. I had a more tipico dish of pasta with seafood in tomato sugo, with a salad as a nod to my health. I arrived a bit after midday. Italians don’t understand people who lunch before 1pm – must be “mad dogs and Englishmen…” But situated near the main station, they are probably used to foreigners and their strange eating habits.

Sicilian food is a bit different; a slightly more north African influence, with some cous cous, and fried items such as cannoli, and panelle (chickpea fritters). The landscape has more palm trees, and prickly pear trees, which means prickly pear jam. They eat a lot of seafood; sardines are on every menu, as is octopus, tuna and sword fish. Their food and wine is generally more hearty with strong flavours.

Palermo is where I met up with our tour group. Naturally, the choice of restaurants was close to the hotel, but in a few days as we became more familiar with directions, we were keen to venture further afield to a few restaurants recommended by websites for being less tipico and more adventurous.

One of these is Sant’Andrea at the Piazza Sant’Andrea for example, we had sardines with pumpkin, onion and chili sauce. And at Osteria dei Vespri, near Piazza Croce, they offered cuttlefish soup flavoured with fresh laurel and ravioli filled with tomato, peas, potatoes and saffron. Or a loin of baby pork with fennel seed sauce, roll of leek filled with mushrooms and potatoes, and stewed mandarins. Or tuna tagliata served with spicy caper sauce, potato croquette and rice flavoured with mint.

After a few days we gradually realised that many restaurants and hotels offered

Items that are slightly different from those in Italy. During the Arab period of occupation, their cuisine was influenced accordingly with the introduction of cous cous, chickpeas, caponata, citrus fruits and cane sugar.

For example, stuzzichini, are very similar to anti pasti. In Sicily though, some are slightly different from Italian anti pasti. For example, mini sfincione (small Sicilian pizze without cheese), panelle (chickpea fritters), and caponata (like ratatouille but with capers, olives, celery, and a dash of sugar and vinegar).

I tried panelle with caponata on top – it was beautiful. Panelle are little fritters made of chickpea flour. Like most fritters they are very easy to make, and via the internet, a recipe would be very easy to find.

Cannoli are often seen on a dessert menu in cafes or pasticcierie everywhere. They are the best known pastry in Sicily: basically fried pastry in a tubular form, into which pastry cream and ricotta cheese is piped. Often this has candied fruit, pistachios and grated chocolate mixed in.

Later, we found a small publication listing exclusive restaurant and hotels in Sicily. Another happy accident like the brochure I found in Naples, Mangiare con l’Arte.

A group of us went to Oinos, via della Giudecca, Syracuse, situated in the old Jewish quarter in the island of Ortegia. The chef uses local and seasonal foods which are styled a la Sydney, for example, tagliata of tuna with five peppers and salad of fennel, onions and oranges, or a cous cous of fish and vegetables.

Other interesting restaurants are:  Vite and Vitello, in Noto, which we didn’t get around to due to lack of time.   At Il Covo de Pirati, Cefalu, we ate twice in one day.  They have a specials board on which are daily dishes using fish fresh from the sea, cooked simply. That was the attraction and makes this restaurant recommendable.

We left Sicily very impressed with the food, and my expectations about Sicilian food were superseded.

Here are a few easy Sicilian recipes which have been tweaked to suit Australian kitchens:

Pesce Salmoriglio

This is basically fish which has been grilled, served with salmoriglio sauce.

This sauce is a paste similar to pesto or salsa verde, but uses oregano, which originates from the Greek colonization of Sicily.

You will need about 500gm fish fillets to suit your wallet and taste. In Sicily they would probably buy swordfish, tuna, octopus and/or squid.

For the salmoriglio, put into a food processor:

• 120ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 – 2T fresh oregano leaves
• 1 – 2T fresh parsley leaves
• About ½ a large chilli de-seeded
• Optional: a little grated lemon zest

Process this until fine and creamy, then add in a slow drizzle 60ml warm water and the juice of 1 lemon. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Place into a dish, and serve with the cooked fish, boiled new potatoes and a salad.

If there is any salmoriglio left over, refrigerate in a screw-top jar.

Pasta alle Sarde

This is pasta with fresh sardines.

• 250gm dried pasta
• 300gm sardines scaled and filleted
• 1 head of fennel, sliced
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• ½ t each of ground cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger
• 2 – 3 anchovy fillets
• 2T currants
• 2T pine nuts, toasted
• Chopped parsley, mint and marjoram
• 2 – 3T toasted breadcrumbs

Place a large pot of water on the heat and bring it to the boil. Using a lid will speed this up. Put in the fennel and blanch for a minute or two. Scoop it out and set aside.

Put the pasta into the boiling water and cooking according to manufacturer’s instructions. Drain through a colander and place into a large serving dish.

Heat some oil in a pan and slowly cook all the ingredients except: half the sardines, breadcrumbs, fennel and herbs.

Mash the sardines and anchovies with a wooden spoon until they disintegrate. Add the fennel to reheat. Then put in the serving dish with the pasta, and mix.

In another frying pan, heat some oil and cook the remainder of the sardines.

Arrange in the serving dish and sprinkle with herbs and breadcrumbs. Grind some black pepper over it.

Serve with some lemon wedges and a tomato salad. And a chilled bottle of crisp white wine.

Torta Ricotta

In Sicily there are many agriturismo operations, most of which only offer bed and breakfast. We stayed at Il Gigliotto just outside Piazza Armerina. It is a vineyard and also grew crops of prickly pear and olives. The dining room is open-air and we overlooked the beautiful rural landscape for dinner. Meals usually include home-grown and local products such as ricotta, cured olives, and prickly pear jam.

For the pastry, put the following into a food processor, and process until just amalgamated. (Don’t over-process or your pastry will be tough):

• 500gm plain flour
• 150gm butter
• 1 egg
• 125ml marsala  (or cold water or sherry if you’re stuck)
• 50gm grated pecorino and/or parmesan cheese

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the contents, mix the following in a bowl:

• 500gm ricotta cheese
• 150gm prosciutto, finely sliced
• 200gm grated pecorino and/or parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs
• Ground black pepper
• Optional: chopped fresh herbs such as oregano, marjoram or basil

Grease a 23cm pie dish, and cut off a chunk of the pastry. This is for the base so it will need to be a bit more than half. Set the oven for 200oC.

Roll out to about ¼”thick and ease it into the pie dish. Then roll out the lid.

Scoop in the cheese mix and drape over the pastry lid. Wet and crimp the edge, and cut some holes in the top to allow for steam to escape. If you like, decorate with some remaining pastry.

Bake for about 30 minutes and serve with a rocket and tomato salad.