Monthly Archive for July, 2011

Pony Lounge and Dining – Review

I arrived at  Pony Lounge & Dining situated in the Rocks with some trepidation. On occasion I am expected to like or at very least be willing to try just about everything food related. But morally I can’t eat horse, I grew up riding and loving them. I also really don’t like black pudding and Sean Connolly once made me eat  it on the radio show while we were live. It was awful and I am now scarred for life. So to my total relief and joy I read through the Pony Lounge and Dining menu to discover that they do serve lots of wonderful sustainable produce like Kurabuta Pork, Veal, Thirlmere Chicken, Mirrool Creek Lamb but thankfully no pony.

Pony Lounge and Dining Emphasises Good Produce

I interviewed Executive Head Chef Damien Heads on the show and discovered a man who is working very hard. With two demanding restaurants on either side of the bridge as well as a young family he arrived at the studio with a tiny parcel of food. Naturally I hinted I might be a little hungry and he mumbled that they had done so many covers the night before they had almost run out of food. What he did bring was the Seared Sirloin – Soy, Lime, Chilli and Lemongrass dressing. It worked very well with the wine and I was left wanting more.

Damian Heads

My dinner guest was the dynamic, energized and passionate Claudia Bowman from McIntosh and Bowman the cheesemongers. Claudia loves good food so she was the perfect guest. Plus I am cooking up a new exciting venture and I knew she would be a great sounding board. The rocks would not usually be on my list of  food destinations. However in the past few months I have had two very good, reasonably prices meals here. One at Baroque and now at Pony Lounge and Dining.

Sashimi Yellowfin Tuna Spring Roll with Green Soybean Sauce

We started with Sydney Rock Oysters $3.60 each, trying both the natural and the Nham Jim Dressing, Crisp Eschalot. I always love a meal when it begins on the right note and fat creamy oysters are the way to start the magic. We then moved onto the small plates of which there are around 16 dishes. My favourite was the Sashimi Yellowfin Tuna Spring Roll with Green Soybean Sauce $16.50. Good textures with a great balance of crispy and spicy.

The team hard at work

The Tortellini of Slow Cooked Beef Cheek, Heirloom Tomato, Broccoli and Tarragon ($24 entrée, $32 main) was delicious; I was starting to regret the suggestion of sharing everything. The waitress was very knowledgeable about where the produce came from and was happy to assist us with her favourite choices, which made the ordering process a breeze.

The mains are all meaty and hearty

The Firstlight NZ Wagyu Sirloin, with Potato Dauphinoise, Eschalots and De Puy Lentils $46, was very good. Our chips could have been slightly crispier but the meat was tender and full of flavour. I know the supplier of this product personally and I know that he is very particular about quality so these animals live well and the results are in the eating.

The dessert menu is short and sweet with fresh delights

Dessert is the the moment of truth and my Apple Flan, Apple Caramel and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream $15 was delicious, as good was Claudia’s Dark Chocolate Pudding, Salted Peanut Brittle and Espresso Ice Cream $14.80. I did have a little food envy when I saw hers.

The Rocks on the left, Neutral Bay on the right

The interior is long and thin but warm and comfortable, the atmosphere is buzzy and the wine list good. My ideal evening would be going to Wine Odyssey across the cobbles for a pre-dinner drink and then having several Pony dishes to share. On the other hand if I were going to hang out with my North Shore friends Pony in Neutral Bay would be a very good option.

Good ethically produced, sustainable produce puts this restaurant on my top 10 recommends. Well worth the dinner out. www.ponydining.com.au

The Rocks
Cnr 14-15 Kendall Lane and Argyle Street
The Rocks, Sydney
T: (02) 9252 7797
Open: Daily 12pm-3pm, 6pm-11pm
[email protected]
Neutral Bay
12-25 Grosvenor St, Neutral Bay
T: (02) 9904 3400, Sydney
[email protected]
Open: Lunch Thursday – Sunday 12.00 – 3pm
Dinner Monday – Sunday 6p, – late
Breakfast Sundays from 8am
Published on July 27, 2011 in General and Limited Table. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Honest to Goodness

Matt Ward from the company Honest to Goodness was on the show on Saturday. I love a guest whose home lifestyles mirrors their product beliefs. Organic all the way for this family.

Matt & Karen

The Honest to Goodness products are very good for you, many of them include super foods which have far reaching health benefits. The products are all selected and hand packed so there is no production line here. This is a small-dedicated group of real foodies who are more interested in how to offer a healthy, tasty way to live than watching the bottom line. Karen Matt’s wife advocates buyer co-ops to make organic living and eating affordable and believes it brings back community spirit to the food process. There website contains loads of great info  and it is well worth a look. www.goodness.com.au

Hand packed and no preservatives

The delicious list of products is impressive from honey and adult trail mix to flour and berries. They stock the new incaberries which hail from South America, these taste fantastic and are another great antioxidant superfood. You can find Honest to Goodness at the markets and online visit here www.goodness.com.au for locations, information and if you bump into Matt and Karen let them know I sent you.

Published on July 25, 2011 in General and Limited Table. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Bistro Ortolan – Review

When the idea of doing an interview with Paul McGrath from Bistro Ortolan for Bastille Day was proposed I was hesitant. If I was going to do something then I wanted it to be with a really good restaurant not one I had never even heard of. OOPS! My mistake, it is not a good restaurant; it’s a great restaurant. I was in the money. What’s more, I felt like I was really special, as it seemed like everyone else had missed this coup.

Paul & Jenny McGrath

Run by husband and wife team Paul and Jenny McGrath, Bistro Ortolan deserves its two hats, having kept them on for the past three years. Great restaurants are better than great dates; the waiters and sommeliers treat you with utmost respect, laugh at your jokes, and pander to you. The restaurant envelops you in warmth and delights you visually. Then you journey through all the senses, taste, touch, smell getting to great heights as the delicious morsels slip down your throat and after all that you don’t even have to kick them out of bed!

Where we sat - Upstairs Bistro Ortolan

So onto the serious stuff. The venue is located in Marion Street in Leichhardt, it is French and classy in an understated way. The locals love it and I would imagine want to keep it for themselves.  The tables are covered in quality linen and crystal candleholders twinkle at you suggestively. There are two dining rooms, one downstairs as you enter and one upstairs with a more private sunroom where I am sure you could hold a private function. There are no sad corner tables or as I refer to them, Siberian tables. Each seat is carefully considered so you get privacy and comfort but you are still surrounded by a warm atmosphere.

Perfect Vegetables being prepped

There is great attention to detail from the cutlery and crockery to the beautifully plated dishes. My BFF Janine and I started with Sesame rolled loin of Yellowfin Tuna with a petite salad nicoise and softly cooked quails egg $26. When the dish arrives it looks beautiful, tiny perfectly crafted fresh produce morsels carefully placed to visually delight and then you get the taste sensation. Balance and technique come together like an orchestra. Brandade and cured fillet of house-salted ling with baby fennel and seaweed brioche $28, follows with Janine starting to look less likely to share.

Rare spice roasted sirloin of Cervena venison

The stand out main and only because this was mine was the Rare, spice-roasted sirloin of Cervena venison with a fricassée of glazed winter vegetables, foie gras and game pie $45. Warm and wintery with an unctuous jus poured at the table. The dish was generous for this type of restaurant and apparently the locals make sure it all stays very real.

Dessert Roasted Banana and salted Caramel Bombe Alaska

Chestnut, chocolate and Pedro Ximénez ‘Bombe Alaska’ with roasted banana and walnut dacquoise $18 followed but my Cadeau of poire belle Hélène with warm chocolate $18 was indeed delicious, the final moment to a beautiful meal when you know that you would rather stab your BFF in the hand with the fork than share. There is a good selection of cheese on offer and the wine matches for each dish were spot on.

2006 First Drop JR Gantos Cabernet Sauv Touriga Nacional - McLaren Vale SA

When you have a sommelier like Philippe Lebrun, who is a French national, engage you in a wine matching journey the pursuit of the perfect match becomes one of the most exciting parts of the meal, and our journey was as good as the Tour de France. There is beauty, symmetry and perfect balance in this kitchen; Paul is an artist who understands flavour, texture and really works with his superb produce. I realized at the end of this meal that BFF Janine and I had little time to do our usual laugh and cry dinner routine. Most of the time we just closed our eyes and sighed with pleasure.

Bistro Ortolan is now on my top 5 list.

Just make sure you ask how much the specials are before you order when they are full of the good things like fresh truffles and foie gras you can expect to pay a bit more.

Where: 134 Marion St., Leichhardt, Sydney
Times: Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday (6 to 10) – a la carte and degustation.
BYO: permitted Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (max. 1 bottle per person. No BYO for groups of 8 and over)
Corkage: $15 per bottle
Email: [email protected]
Bookings: recommended 02 9568 4610

Published on July 19, 2011 in General and Limited Table. 2 Comments

One Hell of a Bird!

In Africa, the idea of a Game Farm immediately makes me think of beautiful Lions, Elephants and Buck. So you can understand my confusion when I interviewed Scott Evans and Karl Fraser from Game Farm and discovered it was all in the birds. I sighed with relief and got into some very good game bird eating.

I love a man who can cook on the go, sort of reminds me of when I was little and I still believed in the idea of the knight in shining armour. So Karl impressed me with his ability to cook delicious marinated quail breast on a tiny, portable stove in the studio kitchen. I could not get enough of the quail breasts, delicate, easy to cook, tender and great as an entree. Add a little soy, garlic, ginger, olive oil and a touch of lemon juice to the quail breasts, let them stand for a couple of hours (in the fridge) and then pop them on the barbie or in a pan. A little exotic and seriously tasty, serve with a toothpick. I proudly cooked them for my BFF Janine and my son when I came home from the show. He said I was a MasterChef. Got to love the six year old. BFF loved them too. If the quail breasts don’t inspire you go for the whole quail.

Braised Quail with Dates and Leeks

I was lucky enough to come home with a goody bag and I asked Camilla van Beuningen (who is a great chef and was the food editor for the FoodinFocus magazine), how to cook duck breasts.  It was so simple but to do them well it is important to score the fat and to make sure you season well. I got it just right, add a potato rosti and a berry jus and another MasterChef moment was created! I also loved the spatchcock which I poached and turned into a healthy salad.

Spatchcock with White Wine Lemon and Rosemary

I asked Scott about his treatment of the birds. I like to know that like any living thing, while alive they are having a good time and the answer was yes, these birds live the life, happy, fat and juicy. Plus I discovered that Australian birds and that includes all chickens are all hormone free and have been for 40 years. Now there is a good question for trivia. For more information on food myths visit www.abc.net.au/landline/stories/s543233.htm

Game Farm offer access to their Gourmet Club where you can download  the most beautiful magazine style newsletters. They have gorgeous photography, helpful recipes and product information. To subscribe, locate stockists and for recipe ideas click here www.gamefarm.com.au

Recipe

Duck with Spiced Citrus Sauce

Duck with Spiced Citrus Sauce

Ingredients
2 Game Farm Duck breasts
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns

Citrus sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 star anise
1 cinnamon quill
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
(about 2 small limes)
1 orange, skin removed and cut into fillets

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Using a small, sharp knife score the skin of the duck breasts soak into the breasts and spread the salt and pepper over each duck breast.
Heat a non-stick oven-proof frying pan over medium heat.
Add the duck, skin-side down, and cook for 3-4 minute.
Turn the breasts over and place the pan in the oven for a further 7-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, cover with foil and set aside for 5 minutes to rest.
Meanwhile, make the sauce.
Combine the water, sugar and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally for about 7 minutes to reduce slightly.
Add fish sauce and spices and simmer for a further 2 minutes.
Stir through lime juice and orange and remove from heat.
Slice the duck, place onto heated serving plates and pour sauce over.
Serve with steamed asparagus or another seasonal vegetable

Published on July 14, 2011 in General and Limited Table. 1 Comment