Lunch @ Church Street Enoteca

Why not start with a shot of the exterior?



And a nice shot of those cute Valdo Prosecco bottles.




We decide to share a couple of starters:


Four Raw Tastes of the Sea - one of the specials of day


and the Cured Meat Platter




For mains:


Risotto with Moreton Bay Bugs, lemon, chives, mascarpone (entree size)



Risotto of White Asparagus and Jamon (entree size)



served with a side of steamed green beans with persian feta and toasted almonds.

The details:

Church St Enoteca
527 Church Street, Richmond

Phone: 9428 7898

Restaurant Open:
Lunch: Monday-Friday 12-3pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 6pm to late

Web:
www.churchstenoteca.com.au

Young Guns Wine Dinner 2008

This is Matteo's fifth "Young Guns" dinner and the first we've attended.

According to the blurb the aim of the dinner is "to celebrate and acknowledge the dynamic new generation of up and coming young Victorian Chefs and front-of-house professionals, whom many in the industry believe will make an impact in years to come"

Indeed, the industry was very much in evidence tonight - from both sides of the fence. Those that actually work and produce something useful and those that pass judgements. It was fascinating observing the seating arrangements.

As we waited for the assembled masses to arrive we enjoyed glasses of a just bottled Sutton Grange Flor Rose from Central Victoria.

The first food items of the night were made by Jake Nicolson from Circa, The Prince. There aren't any photos as they were finger food - offered up on large trays as we mingled.

There were three items - a disc of tuna in seaweed with miso pickled asparagus and oyster cream, a foie gras and quince club sandwich cube and a rather striking, parmesan custard and truffled egg white cornet.

I'm not sure why there were offered in that order as we felt that after the quince sandwich you couldn't really appreciate the subtle flavour of the cornet. It might have been better to serve the cornet first.

MC for the night was Matteo's very own Silvio Sgarioto who certainly entertained us through the evening. Sally Humble from St Jude's Cellars was the sommelier, who we found out is allergic to eggs.

The first of our sit-down courses is by Rebecca Hoswell from Fifteen.

Hervey Bay Scallops, Pomegranate Pearls, ginger, coriander cress, coconut and lime

2007 Mac Forbes Riesling RS31

The scallops were sliced and lightly cooked in the lime juice - served quite simply the flavours were clean. Rebecca aptly described it as spring on a plate.

Th second course is by Cameron Morrison from Oyster Little Bourke


Moreton Bay Bug Tortellini with stinging nettle puree, crayfish bisque and artichoke chips

2004 Giaconda "Aeolia" Roussane

It was during the discussion of this course that we found out about Sally's allergy with one of the guests sensibly asking how do you match a wine to a dish you can't taste. Excellent point and one that should be asked of the squawking drongos present.

The third course is by Troy Payne from the yet to be opened MoMo


Pigeon Take Away - Sharwarma breast, souj bread, pickled green chilli, honeyed labne, briout legs, crisp pastry, sweet spices, fried almonds

2007 Bass Phillip Gamay

This was our favourite dish of the night and certainly worked in getting us excited about MoMo's reopening.

Dessert is by John Paul Twomey from Three One Two.


Flourless Chocolate Cake, peanut parfait, coconut sorbet

Wells and Young Double Chocolate Stout and NV Henriques & Henriques Finest Full Rich 5 Year old Madeira

It was very interesting to see a Chocolate Stout offered up as a wine match.

All in all, it was an enjoyable night. Good to see and hear from the Chefs outside of the kitchen and get an idea of what motivates them and what they want to do in the future. It was fun and light-hearted and an excellent look into the future.

The details:

Matteo's
533 Brunswick Street, Nth Fitzroy
Phone: 9481 1177

Open:
Lunch: Sunday-Friday from noon
Dinner: 7 days from 6pm

web:
www.matteos.com.au

Lunch @ Church Street Enoteca

Since we're here at Lunch and there are no problems with light I thought I'd grab a snap of the dining room. At night it looks prettier but it's very hard to photograph.

At lunch there are a couple of options - a fixed price, limited menu and the regular a la carte menu. Our dishes are from the a la carte.


Wild Mushrooms, chanterelles, local morels, trompettes, peas, organic garlic, warm egg yolk

This is so deserving of at least two photos just to admire that absolutely gorgeous soft egg yolk. The whole combination just works so well I'm hard pressed to decide what I like most about it.


Grilled smoked ox tongue salad with sweetbread fritelli

Paalo's choice was one of the daily specials. Thick slices of smoky ox tongue were perfectly grilled - the smokiness adding a wonderful aspect to the dish.

For mains:


Penne Rigate with Queensland Tiger Prawns, Roasted Baby Roma tomatoes, chilli, garlic, torn basil

This is the entrée size - a pleasant touch of heat from the chilli, not too much to overpower the juicy prawns. The sauce well reduced with ripe, rich tomato flavour. Keep some bread handy to mop up that sauce.

Saffron risotto with chorizo and Jamon

Paalo also went for an entrée size - this was another daily special. Upfront flavour of saffron well balanced with the chorizo.


The details:

Church St Enoteca
527 Church Street, Richmond

Phone: 9428 7898

Restaurant Open:
Lunch: Monday-Friday 12-3pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 6pm to late

Web:
www.churchstenoteca.com.au

Lunch @ Eleonore's Restaurant

Joining us for a trip in the country are regular dining companions, Al and Elle - the destination, Eleonore's Restaurant at Chateau Yering.

On Sunday, a limited option menu is available at lunch.

Our starters:


Roasted Yarra Valley Quail, foie gras farce, truffled linguini, sauce périgord
No need to guess, this was my choice.


Ballotine of King Salmon, Yarra Valley Salmon Roe, Cucumber and Coconut Jelly


Elle's choice is well worth two photos. The layered cucumber and coconut jelly sits at the front, topped with local salmon roe.


Tataki of Wagyu, wasabi Panna Cotta, crisp sushi, black bean vinaigrette, beer air

Both Al and Paalo went for dish - just like I find it hard to go past the quail, Paalo finds it impossible to forgo the tataki.

For mains:


Beef fillet, boulangerie potatoes, spinach, forest mushrooms, bearnaise sauce
Al and I couldn't resist the call of this dish.


Butter poached Glenloth Chicken, truffled bread and butter pudding, sautéed asparagus and morels


Elle and Paalo both opted for this dish. The strip wedged between chicken and pudding is pressed chicken skin - roasted until crisp, it's deliciously evil.



For a side we went for the Gratin Dauphinois Potatoes - a touch of truffle present in these.

For desserts:


Coconut Tapioca Semi Fredo, seasonal tropical fruit salad, coconut macaroon, passionfruit ice-cream truffle, mango sorbet

Paalo's choice just speaks of summer - wonderful fresh flavours



Broken Lemon Cake, mandarin bruleé, lemon sherbet

Elle's choice is quite light and refreshing. A touch of whimsy in the swiss cheese like white chocolate slices.


Milk Chocolate and Peppermint Delice, choc-mint aero, pistachio financier, dark chocolate ganache, pistachio ice cream

With a heavy pistachio presence this was always going to be my choice. There are just so many components, differing tastes and textures that it is a sheer joy to eat.

We must say that the desserts have been particularly impressive - a great sense of style and balance is showing. They certainly work to compliment the savoury dishes but also work as a statement of their own.

The details:

Eleonore's Restaurant at Chateau Yering
42 Melba Highway, Yering
Phone: +61 3 9237 3333

Open:
Dinner - every evening from 6.30pm
Lunch - Saturday and Sunday from 12pm - 3pm

Web
Eleonore's Restaurant

Dinner @ Church St Enoteca

There is new tasting menu option that's just started in time for the Spring Racing Carnival and knowing our love of degustation of all types, we just had to try it out.

The meal starts with glasses with Billiecart which is an utterly civilised way to begin any evening out.

They are followed by our first course


Pea and Ham Soup - its vibrant colour matched by its taste. A clean essence of pea.


Cured Meat Taster with truffled Potato Salad
This isn't part of the degustation but we so love our cured meats and the kitchen has just started serving their own cured products that we luckily, got a sneak tasting of them.

At the front is an excellent sopressa style salami studded with large chunks of melt in your mouth fat, you'd be hard pressed to find a better example. At the rear of the plate is the Waygu Braesola and in between, prosciutto and jamon.


Deep fried stuffed zucchini flowers served with hazelnuts and watercress



Tortellini of Parmigiano Reggiano, ricotta and pecorino with sage butter sauce, pine nuts, goats cheese, raisins and 30 year old balsamic



Abbachio alla Romana - wet roasted Meredith lamb with soft polenta, parmigano reggiano and breadcrumbs.



Lovely unctuous Brie



Crema Strappazzata - cinnamon custard, apple crisps, caramelised apple puree, green apple sorbetto

This Spring Racing Carnival Tasting Menu includes Billiecart on arrival and each course is matched to Italian wines and is an absolute steal at $95 a head.

The details:

Church St Enoteca
527 Church Street, Richmond

Phone: 9428 7898

Restaurant Open:
Lunch: Monday-Friday 12-3pm
Dinner: Monday-Saturday 6pm to late

Web:
www.churchstenoteca.com.au

Dinner @ Livingroom Restaurant

It's been a while since we've tried a new restaurant so tonight we head off to visit Livingroom Restaurant and Café. It's located on the corner near Malvern train station in what used to be 4 Victorian shops. The tables are an eclectic mix of antiques of all periods, shapes and sizes.



The dinner menu is divided into small plates to share and larger main course sized offerings.

We decide to start with the Livingroom Plate Selection ($45) - that is a chef's selection of small dishes


Quite a generous offering.


Left front: Labne balls marinated in preserved lemon, oregano and chilli
Left rear: Grilled Bread
Right rear: Fried Manchego Cheese with Pedro Ximinez dipping sauce (right front)



Left rear: Five spice chilli squid with nam pla dipping sauce
Left front: Mushrooms roasted with garlic and fino sherry
Right rear: Salt Cod Croquetas with Lemon Aioli (right front)

Of these items, the five spice chilli appeared on the surface, to be the odd one out but surprisingly, its flavours fitted in perfectly with the rest of the dishes. The huge bowl of mushrooms were incredibly tasty but way too many for us to finish. The croquetas had a lovely moist interior while the fried manchego was deliriously addictive - how does anyone resist melting cheese?

For mains:


Pot roasted free-range Chicken with Kipfler potato, prunes, bacon, green peas and rosemary

Beautifully cooked and presented, thick cut lardons of bacon mixed with sweet green peas and prunes.


Special of the Day: Venison Pie with sautéed spinach and parsnip puree

As a side, we ordered


roasted kipfler potatoes with garlic and rosemary



Orange Blossom Pannacotta with berries



Crème Brulee

This is the type of place that I imagine come weekends at breakfast and lunch would be absolutely packed. There's a lovely quirky atmosphere and good food too.


The details:

Livingroom Restaurant and Cafe
12-18 Claremont Avenue, Malvern

Phone: 03 9576 0356

Open:
Tuesday: 6pm - 11pm
Wednesday - Saturday: 8am - 11pm
Sunday: 8am - 4pm

www.lroom.com.au