Archive for June, 2006
V rating: VVVV Where: 12 Salamanca Square, Battery Point For those of you with a bit of time on your hands looking for a place to eat in Hobart’s trendy Salamanca area, you can’t go wrong with Machine Laundry cafe. I looked at four other cafe menus before reaching Hobart’s version of vegetarian breakfast bliss - a cafe where only three of the many options were not vegetarian, and where the breakfast items were combinable according to your whim. I went for the tofu scramble roti at first, until the waiter warned me kindly that it was a cold dish (maybe my scarf, five layers and gloves gave me away as a non-local). So I opted for a couple of poached eggs, mushrooms, homemade baked beans and spinach. That and a couple of decaf soy lattes later and I was a very content little vegemite. The prices are reasonable, the menu varied and the vegeterian options innovative. Plus, you can do your laundry next door while you eat and drink in the Hobart sun (truly - there is sun to take the edge off!) in a laundromat straight from the set of Happy Days. Ever since I started getting into food blogs I’ve been reading about online food blogging events. The idea is that every month a different blogger ‘hosts’ a cooking event and chooses a theme ingredient. Bloggers from around the world then come up with a recipe using the theme ingredient and send a link to their blog to the host.
Here’s what I did: Ingredients: 1 litre of vanilla soy milk Method: Leave the sago to soak in water for a couple of hours. Drain and set aside. Heat the soy milk in a heavy-based saucepan over mild heat then gently add the sago. Stir gently with a whisk. Add the sugar incrementally, stirring through slowly. Leave on mild heat for about ten minutes, or until the pudding is cooked through. At the end, add the cinnammon and vanilla and stir through. Remove from heat and let the pudding cool. Take out the cinnamon and vanilla stick. Serve with raspberries (or fresh or stewed fruit of choice) on top. I haven’t tried sago pudding before but was happy to find it’s easy to cook with. The recipe was tasty, although you could use smaller portions because it’s a hearty feed! NB: I did a bit of Internet research beforehand to check if soy milk could be safely substituted for cow’s milk, or coconut milk, in sago pudding. I read a couple of sites which suggested that the pudding would not set, so I added some corn flour. I don’t think this was necessary.
V Rating: VV Last Sunday I went to the Sydney Foodbloggers event where we shared a High Tea spread and lots of foodblogging dirt. The food was nice and prettily arranged, but did not quite live up to my expectations. The chocolate fountain was a visual highlight and I enjoyed my mango pudding served in a small glass with raspberry garnish. The options were vegetarian friendly as most dishes were cakes and puddings. However, vegans would be disappointed, with little more than fresh fruit to get them by. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more savoury food as I’m not much of a sweet tooth (not that this stopped me from having two full plates of food). To be fair, my expectations were high. My first ever high tea was at Harrods in London. You sit in the stately Georgian room and share a three-tiered tray of food (tier one is cucumber sandwiches, tier two is scones, and tier three is sweet cakes.) Waiting staff circulate and refill your trays as many times as you like. Legend has it that an English schoolboy once ate 64 cakes. Sure that was a fun bus trip home. Even as a hungry and poverty-stricken backpacker I couldn’t come close to this record. My second go at High Tea was at the Hyatt Hotel in Canberra, the gorgeous 1930s building designed by John Smith Murdoch (the architect behind Old Parliament House). This a cornucopia of afternoon tea dishes, with plenty of savoury foods and love handle inducing sweet treats. I remember the atmosphere as being suitably parlour-like, although the hordes of people gave it a slightly unruly air. The best part about the Swissotel High Tea was getting to meet all the other bloggers. The day was organised by the lovely Helen from Grab Your Fork, the doyen of Sydney foodblogging. I was really looking forward to meeting her and finding out how she takes such beautiful photographs (sadly, the answer appeared to be talent, although a tripod and good light helps). I also got to meet the uber-lovely Emily from Pickos, Suze from CChocolatesuze, Nic and Tiff from Sweet Little Treat and Canadian Kevin from Kevin’s Travelling Food Journal. He impressed us all by running from afternoon tea to a cake competition that he’d entered. Hope you fared well! Cucina Rebecca and Sydney Cafes, two of the oldest food blogs / websites in Sydney, were also represented, but with a big group of people I didn’t have the chance to Putting faces to blogs was interesting. Most of the bloggers were young women who had other jobs. Some bloggers wrote exclusively about food, while others wrote about eating among other parts of their lives, or had second interests like the creative Nic and Tiff (check out their t-shirt stall at Paddington Markets on Saturdays) or traveller Kevin. It was great to be able to swap tips on cameras, photo-taking etiquette, blog programs (most people went with blogger, though a couple of us use Word Press and Moving Type) and programming tips. After asking some really impressive questions about restaurant photography (i.e. do you actually use a camera, or just a mobile phone?) I distinguished myself by running out of camera batteries and not being able to take a photo. So if you want to check out what the Sydney foodbloggers look like… you’ll have to keep guessing. But if you want to see what you missed at High Tea, check out these gorgeous pics from Helen and Suze.
V Rating: VVV La Sala is a collaboration between Restaurant Manager Andrea Mellas (Otto Ristorante, Icebergs Dining Room & Bar) and TV fame chef Darren Simpson (Le Gavroche, River Café, Aqua Luna). The restaurant has a swanky bar area at street level, with low tables and long banquette seats. Here you can sip upon some expert cocktails, a mélange of both traditional and inventive. Down the dark carpeted stairs is the open dining room, which is probably my favourite dining room in all of Sydney. The room is low lit but has a warm glow from the frosted glass candle holders and the delicate wrought iron chandeliers that radiate out from their centres like spidery petals. The use of dark wood and chocolaty coloured upholstery exudes elegance and the long glass window into the kitchen certainly provides entertainment, especially when you catch a glimpse of the chef doing his thing. I found the room to be very elegant, very modern and yet still extremely warm and inviting. But let’s get to the vegetarian food! Let me state first that I am not a vegetarian. So what makes me think I am qualified to write this is that my fiancé, Jonas, has been a vegetarian for the past eleven years: no meat, no fish (I feel the need to emphasise this considering a lot of people who call themselves vegetarians still eat fish). This restaurant has a separate menu for vegetarians, which includes around eight options and is even listed separately on their website. These can be purchased either as entrees or mains, which means significant variety for the veggie lover. The night we were there, the special was also a vegetarian dish – joy! For the pescatarians or seafood eaters, there were a lot of options available and I’ll mention those too in case the semi-vegetarians would like to know. For appetisers I had two Port Stephen rock oysters ($3.50 each), which were simply divine – creamy, a light taste of the sea. We also snacked on a bowl of rosemary and garlic marinated olives ($7). For entrée, Jonas chose the vedure mista ($16) and received a variety of vegetables, each cooked a different way. Green beans, tossed in olive oil, were topped with a salsa of kalamata olives and pine nuts; long, thin slices of zucchini and eggplant were gently chargrilled; white beans were stewed with tomatoes and topped with fresh oregano; mushrooms had been fried deliciously. What Jonas appreciated most was that every vegetable was enhanced differently and yet the natural flavour of each vegetable was present. They recommended he drink a glass of the 2004 Campagnola Soave Classico ‘Le Bine’, also from Veneto ($11). I had the carpaccio cipriani ($18) and even though you won’t care because it isn’t vegetarian, it was the best I have ever eaten in Australia, or even Italy. For main I had seafood dishes (two entrées instead of a main): first was the caldo vedure ($15), which on this day was an organic kale and cod soup. It was delicious and seemingly pescatarian friendly, but I suspected the broth was not seafood based and found out upon enquiry that it was chicken. V-ware on that one friends! My second dish was the whitebait and potato pancake ($22), which arrived at the table like a plump, golden blini, flecked with chives, and topped with a quenelle of crème fraîche and vibrantly orange Yarra Valley salmon roe. The pancake was firm and gold on the outside with a soft, creamy interior. The crème fraîche added sour lactic oomph and the robust pearls of roe provided bursts of sweet saltiness. Although very decorative, potentially they could have served less caviar. The glorious vegetarian main was trule unique: tagliatelle ortiche e gorgonzola ($30). It was the only special of the night and came in entrée and main sizes. This dish used stinging nettles, cooked until they formed a vibrant green sauce. The nettles were then smothered over the tagliatelle, their earthy, verdant flavour contrasting subtly with the light gorgonzola dolce sauce. Topped with a sprinkling of parmigiano this was a subtle yet extremely invigorating dish using rare ingredients. He drank the 2004 Jeremiah One Pinot Noir from Lenswood, South Australia ($9) with the meal, but this is because Jonas loves pinot noir and not because it was a recommended match. He said it worked nonetheless. For dessert, I pounced upon the mela cotogna ($15), or honey roasted quince. Served with a vanilla ice cream was bright yellow quince flesh, perfectly textured with a soft resistance and smothered in a rich honey glaze. I was really pleased with this choice. Jonas was very impressed by the service (he’s a waiter, so that should mean something) and although I am still in two minds, I have to admit my unease is potentially unfounded. The staff were conscious of customer needs and quite attentive, but unfortunately I felt tables of older patrons received that little bit extra. To be fair to the waiters, experience tells them that this is where their big tips will come from, so I can’t really fault them for leaning towards older customers. On the other hand I had to watch the waiter seemingly fawn over the tables next to and behind us. We were treated very well, but I felt they got it better. Jealousy? I honestly can’t say. Nonetheless, we were seated quickly and introduced to the only special for the evening, then walked through the menu. We were given time to make a decision and then he returned for any last minute questions before taking our order. My queries over wines to match my meal was answered, although not confidently, which concerned me a little. The wait staff visited unobtrusively throughout the evening, checking on water, wine and whether everything was to our satisfaction. Courses were delivered with perfect timing in between and overall the waiters were friendly, knowledgeable and professional. I have only two comments for improvement: first, the tables for two were much too small to fit all our wine glasses, water glasses, olive bowl, oyster plate, breads and olive oils, courses etc etc. Secondly, the room is so dim that it was only through taking photos that I saw how gorgeously presented my food was. In fact, every dish was exquisitely composed – colours were vibrant and beautiful but no diner ever sees this in such romantic darkness. This is certainly a place to return to. Prices were very reasonable, produce was excellent and the food coming from the kitchen was superb and provided plenty of vegetarian options. The venue itself is very beautiful, creating a wonderful environment to wrap yourself in for an evening. Highly recommended. - Anna, Morsels and Musings. Fellow food blogger, Rebecca of Cucina Rebecca just gave me my first tag, 5X confessions. 5 items in my freezer 5 items in my closet. 5 items in my car (technically not my car. So not so much of my stuff in it). 5 items in my wallet NB: PURPLE LOTUS CLOSED DOWN IN MARCH 2007 V Rating: Super V On Friday my friend L. agreed to be my date for Perhaps Love, a Hong Kong musical starring the beautiful Takeshi Kaneshiro (Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, House of Flying Daggers).
My first impression of Purple Lotus was vivid colour, from the lilac neon sign, to the shoulder height display stand filled with candy yellow vegan custard cakes. I took an immediate liking to the place. Inside, the shrine with three large buddha statues on the back wall makes the restaurant’s disposition clear. This is backed up with a no alcohol policy, which was fine by me because it meant a good selection of sparkling grape juice varietals. Mmm, sugary ambrosia.
The noodle dish was also tasty. There were plenty of mixed vegetables, including corn, snowpeas, large Asian mushrooms and what was either crunchy lettuce or seaweed.
I really enjoyed Purple Lotus and almost gave it a Super V. My only hesitation was that I’d tried just two of the many dishes on offer. However, now I know of Purple Lotus I plan to be a frequent visitor. Stay tuned for a ratings update. Update: I went back to Purple Lotus and sampled their yum cha. It was great, so I’ve updated Purple Lotus to a Super V.
This post was meant to be heaped praise for Belle and Sebastian disguised as a restaurant review. Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the name of the restaurant I ate at before going to the concert. So now it’s just about the heaped praise. I saw Belle and Sebastian at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney last Tuesday with my friend Jen. This is the second time I’ve seen them there, and both times I’ve left the concert vowing that any time they enter the country I have to go and see them. They are that good. Their concerts rock, soothe, entrance and charm. With about eight people on stage wielding guitars, keyboards, drums, a violin, trumpet, and a cello they make a big, lush, glorious sound. Stuart Mudoch, the lead singer, is a very funny man with an angelic voice. He loves to create a rapport with the audience that makes you feel like you’re sitting alongside him in a bar. Anecdotes range from licking a girlfriend’s eye, to his recent jog along Lady Macquarie’s Chair where he admired the architectual wonder of the Opera House (’it’s still standing’), and art commentary on an audience picture of a cuckoo ‘I should acknowledge that it’s feasible that an eight year old could have done this.’ He even justified using a song lyric sheet with the aside ‘this one has a lot of words in it’. And then there was the music. Belle and Sebastian mainly played songs from their latest album, The Life Pursuit, including a beautiful version of Dress Up In You and Another Sunny Day. They let rock with Song for Sunshine and White Collar Boy, and treated the audience to some lovely dancing with Jonathan and David (because that’s the thing - Belle and Sebastian live is a joyful, head-knodding, sneaker-shuffling (or for those seated) foot-tapping experience.) For older fans, the set was pepperd with classics like The Boy With the Arab Strap, The State that I Am In, I’m a Cuckoo, If You’re Feeling Sinister, and Sleep The Clock Around. While I loved this show, and thought that The Life Pursuit was a stronger album than Dear Catastrophe Waitress, I preferred their earlier 2004 concert because it had more light and shade. There was everything from an AC/DC cover (Problem Child), to B-side favourite La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie (that was for you, J-Lo) and a beautiful keyboard solo version of The Fox in the Snow performed by Stuart bathed in a green light. The 2004 concert was also longer, just because the band was enjoying being on stage so far as I could tell. Watching the concert was a cathartic, but slightly bittersweet, experience. Each song was so good, and there was so much promise of more Belle and Sebastian goodness to come, that I spent the night entranced. But with every great song, I knew we were getting closer to the end, and that was something I just didn’t want to face. |
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