At least they have editors!

From last week's (garb)Age

Chef Tanya Connellan — head of the kitchen at Port Fairy's Portofino on Bank — called last week to put the record straight: she is indeed still the restaurant's head chef, in contrast to our item here in Espresso.

Recent arrival Andy Hall is, in fact, the restaurant's new pastry chef. The mistake was made by a reporter, with a bit of help from the restaurateur.

Obviously we have no idea since we have don't have degrees in journalism and are but merely part of the great unwashed, but surely if you were writing about Tanya's position you might actually have given Tanya a call?

Stranger still considering the most flattering review given today on Portofino's main competition, The Merrijig Inn.

Lunch @ Enoteca Sileno

We had intended to lunch at La Luna - unfortunately it was filled to the brim with people taking advantage of the last day of the melbourne food and wine festival's lunch express deal - so we headed up the road to the Enoteca.

We mull over the menu with glasses of 'Zeta" Brut di Conegliano Prosecco and these, Olive Regionali



Taggiasche and Cerignola olives warmed with garlic, extra virgin olive oil, rosemary and chilli.

We decide to share a few of the assaggini and to drink, a bottle of 2000 Adanti Sagrantino di Montefalco



At the top is the Tasting Plate of Bruschetta - from left to right; tomato and basil, caramelised onions and tapenade, white bean puree with capers and lastly, anchovies

On the bottom is a special of the day: Seared Scallop on Pea Puree, Fresh Crab on toasted brioche, Deep fried bacala on caramelised onions



Grilled Eggplant filled with buffalo and smoked mozzarella

All the assaggini are delicious - simple flavours but superbly executed with top quality ingredients.

Onto mains:



Paalo has the Lamb Sirlion, served on orzo with lardo topped mushrooms



The lamb is perfectly cooked - tender and full flavoured.



I have the special ravioli - filled with cabbage, parmesan and ricotta and served with a ragu of wild boar. It may not look the greatest but the ragu was fabulously rich as it should be, the pasta was light and cooked correctly.



Side: broccolini with garlic and toasted crumbs

Since we have a bit of red wine left we order cheese - imported Italian Toma



As this has become one of those lazy day long lunches we do order dessert:


Panettone semifreddo with candied fruit and orange vincotto - it tastes exactly like a panettone, delicious and not too heavy.


Tiramisu - excellent ratio of marscarpone to savoiardi.

We were quite impressed with the quality of dishes offered - they aren't trying to do anything too fancy but relying on the produce and the solid traditional cooking to speak for themselves. 

The Details:

Enoteca Sileno

920 Lygon Street, Carlton
corner of Lygon and Richardson Streets
Phone: 03 9389 7070

Open:
Monday: 8am - 4pm
Tuesday - Saturday: 8am - Late
Sunday: 9am - 5pm

closed Good Friday & Easter Monday

web:
http://www.enoteca.com.au

Dinner @ Bacash

We've been on a bit of an Italian bent of late so I thought it was time to try something a bit different and decided to give Bacash a go.

My first lesson of the night was take a taxi - parking around here was nigh on impossible and just by chance we finally found a spot after searching for 15 minutes.

After being seated and having ordered champagne to start with, I was bit put off by the rather slapdash manner of our blonde waitress, who just sloshed the champagne into our glasses, splashing it on the table. There was zero care in the way she poured, no waiting for the bubbles to subside to check the real volume in our glasses. Not a good first impression.

We decided to start with a half dozen Moulting Bay Oysters - served with a dressing of red onion, chives and sweet vinegar



The presentation was good but the oysters hadn't been fully shucked, they were still attached to the shell. With our little spoon and fork, the job of detaching them wasn't easy.

I think that our ordering of these oysters might have confused the kitchen as our next course came out within 5 minutes of finishing the oysters.

For our starters:


Paalo has the Garfish and Prawn Nori Rolls.
This is the type of dish we expect - fresh, excellent execution and extremely tasty. The boned garfish has been filled with salmon and prawn and then reformed into a cylinder. After cooking it is rolled in nori and sliced - served with a spicy soy based sauce.


I have the Sea Scallops Seared and served on Cauliflower Cream with crisped pancetta and a fine herb salad.

This was scallop perfection.

After those two great dishes unfortunately service let them down again with an inexplicably long wait for our mains.


Paalo has the Crispy Skinned Ocean Trout served with a puree of nicola potatoes with black tiger prawns and a lemon beurre blanc

Once again the fish is perfectly cooked - besides the two grilled tiger prawns served on either side of the trout, large pieces of prawn studded the creamy mash.


I have the Garfish served with herbed garlic crumbs and a mixed leaf salad.

This dish really shows why garfish is such a fabulous fish - moist and tasty it is beautifully flavoured. One negative was the overly acidic oven-dried cherry tomatoes in the salad.

We decide to share the cheese platter - once again the service is a bit questionable, when our brunette waitress plops the plate on the table with a "here's your cheese"



After spying our various neighbours desserts we tempt fate and decide to indulge our sweet tooth. Once again we had our plate plonking waitress plonk the desserts in front of us with a "here's your desserts"


Paalo has the Pannacotta Melba - buttermilk pannacotta with raspberry jelly, vanilla poached peaches and fresh raspberries

The peaches were lovely but the pannacotta was set with too much gelatine and the flavour just missed somewhat.


I have the Three tastes of Lemon Verbena - Jelly, Granita and Syllabub

I really wanted to try this as I just love Lemon Verbena however this dish was a great disappointment. Overly sour and missing those typical refreshing characters of lemon verbena.

Generally, you can't complain about the fish, it's perfectly cooked and of excellent quality, however there are aspects of the service that is questionable.

The details:

Bacash
175 Domain Road, South Yarra
Phone: 9866 3566

Open:
Lunch: Monday to Friday from noon
Dinner: Monday to Saturday from 6pm

Event @ Vue de Monde

3,2,1 Dinner!

Three continents, two great minds, one astounding dinner. The countdown begins to one of the most anticipated events of the Festival when Oriol Balaguer, whose sweet creations are prized from Barcelona to Tokyo, joins forces with Shannon Bennett at Australia's Restaurant of the Year, Vue de monde. The menu may be totally cutting edge but, as they're still sticklers for tradition, Shannon will do the savoury courses and Oriol will look after the desserts in this six-course degustation dinner with matched Spanish wines, each paired with a Victorian wine of the same style or varietal.

For us, this event was easily the highlight of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival - a festival in general that seems to have lost the lustre of earlier years. Perhaps it is trying too hard, perhaps it is too big and trying to serve too many masters, whatever it is, the events have become repetitive and staid. But this post won't dissolve into what is wrong with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, it's about this special dinner.

We had quite the surprise on Friday when Vue called to confirm the booking, they also informed us that Audi would be picking us up and taking us home as well!

Come Sunday night, right on time, the car arrived - a very lovely Audi A8. On the trip in we found out that Penny, our driver, would be waiting outside the restaurant along with the other 7 drivers, so she'd be ready to go whenever we were.


The calm before the storm

why you shouldn't drink when making glasses

One of the most pleasant aspects of the night was that we had private tables - none of that having to make awkward conversation. It was good just to be able to enjoy the evening - it's a pity though, that people can't work out how to turn their flash off.


Now onto the menu:



Amuse Bouche: A Spanish Tasting Plate
Drink: NV B Argueso Manzanilla Classica San Leon Sanlucar de Barrameda



The amuse consisted of 3 dishes:
toasted cubes of brioche, brandade, salmon pastrami and gazpacho jelly



Left: Jamon tartare with quail egg and brioche toast
Right: Crystal Bay Prawn





CRABE SAUTE:
King Crab, sautéed with a crab emulsion and potato tuile

Under the potato tuile sat the shredded crabmeat and on the other end of the plate sat a large piece of crab claw, in between sat a cluster of white grapes in jelly

To drink: 2006 Valminor Albarino, Rias Baixas and 2002 Pizzini Verduzzo, King Valley









GNOCCHI AU FROMAGE DE CHEVRE:
Goat's cheese gnocchi, 'pulled' chicken, burnet shoots, golden beetroot and perigold truffle

To drink: 2005 Senorio de Otuza Pezas de Portela, Valdeorras and 2002 Tallarook Marsanne, Central Victoria

Usually gnocchi made in this style are made to mimic the shape and size of a traditional gnocchi, in this case it's been served up as a long coil. I do enjoy the texture that comes with spherification, the way they just rupture to the bite and release their luxurious interior leaves you with such an intense flavour. I wasn't sold on the 'pulled chicken' - I don't think it really added anything to the dish. I should also note that in all the years of dining at Vue, it's the first time they actually forgot an ingredient - alas, the truffle went missing.


SALADE: Jicama

A light break before our main - a citrus dressing combined with jicama and diced apple.









ROTI DE PORC ET JAMON:
Pork roasted with Jamon

To drink: 1985 Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva, Rioja Alta and 2006 Quartier Barbera, Mornington Peninsula



The warm jus is poured over by the waiter - topping the pork is a Gruyere crust and Brussels sprout leaves



The jus just disappeared into the meat - a very rich course.



It was served with these shots of warmed herb broth - they were to be drunk after finishing the pork.



SOUPE DE MELON: Oriol's Melon Soup with Watermelon and Basil

To drink: 2003 Telmo Rodriguez Moscatel Molino Real, Malaga and 2006 Crawford River Nektar, Henry

Simple and refreshing and a welcome course after the richness of the pork.




LES QUATRES SAVEURS DE LA TERRE:
Flavours of Chocolate inspired by the corners of the earth - A dessert collaboration by Oriol Balaguer and Shannon Bennet

To drink: NV ALvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927, Montilla Moriles and NV Chambers Old Vine Muscadelle Classic, Rutherglen



The dish we've all been waiting for - part work of art, part dessert. Chocolate represented in various forms, from a sauce to a frozen chocolate sand



Shannon's input came in the form of that spun sugar globe - inside was a mix of chocolate and lemon "crumbs"



The lemon was the pivotal ingredient here as after going through all that chocolate, the lemon provided that contrast and cleansing note.


PETIT FOURS:
Salted Caramel Truffles with Silver Leaf; Coconut Jellies, Meringues, Torrone with Candied Carrot, Toffee Kiwiberries



Left: Toffee Kiwiberry
Right: Meringue injected with Mango Puree



To finish off we were presented with a menu signed by Oriole and boxes of his chocolates.



We felt sorry about Penny having to stay outside all this time so we decided to give her one our chocolate boxes.

The details:
Vue de Monde
Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins Street
Melbourne
Phone: 03 9691 3888

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday Bookings:12.00pm-2.00pm
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday Bookings:6.30pm-9.30pm

Lunch @ Centonove

To celebrate the start of Autumn, we've returned to Centonove for a leisurely Saturday lunch. As it's a lovely sunny day we order a bottle of Prosecco to see us through the meal.

Dinner @ Maris

It's hard for me not to think of Frasier when dining at Maris but once you eliminate that connection, you'll find yourself in a rather compact restaurant located in the less salubrious end of Glenferrie road.

Paalo wasn't too impressed with the bread chicken but the bread itself was excellent as was the olive dip served alongside. The wine we selected was a 2004 Monte Antico, a sangiovese blend from Tuscany.

For starters



Paalo had the grilled tongue served with a slow cooked egg, salted caramel, cauliflower puree. This was a dish that certainly had us reminiscing about Fenix.



I had the quail dumplings with almond cream and flaked almonds - it may not be very photogenic but it certainly was tasty. At the base of the dish is a surprise of spherisized stock.

For mains:



I had the beef fillet - cooked rare served with sauteed mushrooms, egg and cabbage. One of the more perfectly pieces of beef I've had - wonderfully tender with excellent flavour.

Paalo had the suckling pig with smoked beetroot and apple cubes -the pork was tender, the crackling appropriately crunchy. The smoked beetroot were particularly good.

Just because we can - we try the cheese platter



4 cheeses served with an excellent assortment of breads and crackers.

We probably didn't need dessert and on second thoughts, one would have been more than enough for the two of us



Left: Mango Meringue with Sheep Milk Ice cream
Right: Panna Cotta with stewed fruits, crostoli and almond biscotti

The details:
Maris
15 Glenferrie Road, Malvern
Phone: 9500 0665

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday