I must admit, straight up, I am a little jealous of this place. The old Canary Club. maybe I am not keeping up with things as best as i should, but this is a site that I would love to get a hold of for myself, and i did not even know it was on the market. maybe I will get my own place in a few years....... ha, who am i kidding!
Maurice and Mariano have got themselves a great little sight. a quick little refurb from club into restaurant, and open the doors. i have no doubt that they will do more work in the next few months, but if you don't look too closely, the place does not need one.
Anyway, back to the point of the story, the food, November they are offering 50% of the food bill, wow!!
I am impressed straight from the start, this was a trick from Europe, when a place first opens, and they are training staff, gettying procedures set up and ironing out the kinks, a discount is offered, only fair considering the prices and level of professionalism?
Personally, I would do it differently, i dont know yet how, but differently.
Entree: the wife has the the South Aus King prawns, with lwmon, Mums parsley. baby capers, and white balsamic great dish, simple and clean, and as she is always so kind, offers me a taste. 8/10.
I have the Yabby Gyoza, with roasted beets, baby cucumber, shiso,and beetroot vinaigrette, again a lovely dish, components all compliment each other, but i did not see any sign of baby beetroot, and it was more of a tortelinni than a gyoza, adn the baby beets where un-peeled, this may have been the intention, but i felt a little mislead on the dish, and as lovely anf fresh as the dish was, if you say yabby gyoza, i want to see pan fried little dumplings, with discernible yabby flavour, call it what it is, tortelinni, and i would have been happier. genorous 7/10 Both starters were served with a little seaweed and herb salad, it was a delightful little cleanser after out starters.
Main Courses arrive, and the the wife has the John Dory with mud crab, white asparagus, radish and Cinzano Bianco mayonaise, this looks to be a very clever dish fromthe outset, Dory is one of my favourite fish, it is clean, great flavour, and can hold its own with any nimber of combinations, and in this instance, proves the point, i did not even get a taste of this dish, but am told it was a beautiful dish.
I have the Ocean trout with cauliflower, dolcetto glaze, coral mushroom, and horseradish. It was beautiifully presented, with a crispy skin. To my liking, it was cooked a little too long on the flesh side, and not long enough on the skin side, to me, and in my kitchen, this is very important, if you cook it on the flesh, it dries it out, making it slightly chewy and stringy, sounds extreme, I know, but I would not serve it, cook it longer on the skin, and only for 30 seconds on the flesh in foaming butter, (I might do a demo on this sight in the near future). My other gripe with this dish is the dolcetto glaze, it was very sweet, a reduction of red wine always has a very tanic flavor that takes a lot of skill to work with, the alternative is to sweeten it. 6/10
I sound like I am being picky here, but I do not intend to, I really enjoyed myself, and the wines were very interesting indeed, a Contino Vermintino was delighful, at $13.00 a glass, and a chestnut hill pinot noir at $14 a glass was a great match for the trout.
Lets be honest 50% off the food for November, i think they are cutting themselves short, get in before they fill up!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
London part 2
After time, you become accustomed to the hours and attitude that comes with the environment. It was not that long that i was asked to move to the larder section, not really the step up that I wanted, pastry section was good, but it required a different type of concentration. I wanted to get into the hot section, where you sweat, work hard, all the people on that side of the kitchen seemed so determined and committed. It was like you get to that side, and you have made it, not just someone who they would forget about in 2 months time.
Any way, back to Larder section, it was a minor step up, but i wanted more, so i called a few restaurants, including Tom Aitken, the 1 star that i had previously done a stage in. He was very keen to talk to me, so i made a time for my next day of, in 3 days time.
The next day at work, on larder, was an interesting day. Just after lunch service, the chef starts to head to the office, follwed by the junior sous. 1 minute later, i hear yelling, 'your only giving me 1 week's notice, a fucking commis gives me 1 weeks notice, are you fucking serious, fuck off now, go on, fuck off, don't waste my time.'
Another minute, and the now ex-junior sous comes to me and says goodbye, and runs out of the kitchen.
Another minute, later, and the chef comes to me and asks to talk to me in his office.
'yes chef' i reply
In his office he quickly explains to me that the chef resigned resigned, and only offered 1 weeks notice (it is standard to give 4 weeks for senior staff), and he said why......bla bla bla........fuck off. 'Would you like to step up to the meat section. It is the most important section in the kitchen, if you go down on that section, the whole kitchen goes down. Your always busy, and its fucking tough, are you up to the challenge'
'Absolutely' I say, 'its what i want'.
I was put on sauce that evening, under the guidance of the senior sous, it was tough, and i was completely lost, this kind of cooking meat was like no method I had ever used before, so much more intensive. you do not just throw the meat on the char grill, turn it with your tongs, and say yeah no worries mate. there are no tongue in this kitchen, everything is turned gently, with a spoon, so as not to damage the appearance of the meat. Some is cooked in foaming butter, all about heat control, to much heat, and the butter burns, not enough, and heat meat just stews. other in buerre noisette, more problems here. The whole service, i had no idea what was going on. Every thing i did was checked by the senior sous, the temp of the meat, the seasoning of the food, And the carving of the meat had to be so precise, even slices, no sawing the meat.
So much to take in in one night.
I got through that night, and the next day was even harder, I had to start learning how to prep the section, the (i thought over the top method of mash potato. By the time i got to the end of that day, I was ruined.
The next day, my day off, i had arranged to talk with Tom, but i no longer wanted to leave, I new now that if i stayed, I would learn heaps, and I had the chance to make in this kitchen. this was the point, after 8 months, I new i had to talk my partner into staying in the U.K for longer. I new something good could come of this.
to be continued........
Any way, back to Larder section, it was a minor step up, but i wanted more, so i called a few restaurants, including Tom Aitken, the 1 star that i had previously done a stage in. He was very keen to talk to me, so i made a time for my next day of, in 3 days time.
The next day at work, on larder, was an interesting day. Just after lunch service, the chef starts to head to the office, follwed by the junior sous. 1 minute later, i hear yelling, 'your only giving me 1 week's notice, a fucking commis gives me 1 weeks notice, are you fucking serious, fuck off now, go on, fuck off, don't waste my time.'
Another minute, and the now ex-junior sous comes to me and says goodbye, and runs out of the kitchen.
Another minute, later, and the chef comes to me and asks to talk to me in his office.
'yes chef' i reply
In his office he quickly explains to me that the chef resigned resigned, and only offered 1 weeks notice (it is standard to give 4 weeks for senior staff), and he said why......bla bla bla........fuck off. 'Would you like to step up to the meat section. It is the most important section in the kitchen, if you go down on that section, the whole kitchen goes down. Your always busy, and its fucking tough, are you up to the challenge'
'Absolutely' I say, 'its what i want'.
I was put on sauce that evening, under the guidance of the senior sous, it was tough, and i was completely lost, this kind of cooking meat was like no method I had ever used before, so much more intensive. you do not just throw the meat on the char grill, turn it with your tongs, and say yeah no worries mate. there are no tongue in this kitchen, everything is turned gently, with a spoon, so as not to damage the appearance of the meat. Some is cooked in foaming butter, all about heat control, to much heat, and the butter burns, not enough, and heat meat just stews. other in buerre noisette, more problems here. The whole service, i had no idea what was going on. Every thing i did was checked by the senior sous, the temp of the meat, the seasoning of the food, And the carving of the meat had to be so precise, even slices, no sawing the meat.
So much to take in in one night.
I got through that night, and the next day was even harder, I had to start learning how to prep the section, the (i thought over the top method of mash potato. By the time i got to the end of that day, I was ruined.
The next day, my day off, i had arranged to talk with Tom, but i no longer wanted to leave, I new now that if i stayed, I would learn heaps, and I had the chance to make in this kitchen. this was the point, after 8 months, I new i had to talk my partner into staying in the U.K for longer. I new something good could come of this.
to be continued........
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Point, Albert Park
As seems to becoming a regular thing on a Sunday, our day started at the Albert Park hotel, for some bar snacks, and a bottle of wine. Our original intention was to eat at spice temple at crown for the second time, but a last minute change of mind saw us heading to the point. It had been about 6 months since my previous visit, not long, I know, but long enough for things to drastically change in a restaurant
.
This was not the case, the point is still doing the same style of food it is becoming known for, Scott Picket is doing a very good job here, but there is always room for improvement.
The entree arrive, we are sharing the suckling pig with rock lobster, and the salad of heirloom and organic vegetables. the suckling pig is very tender, with a soft crunch from the skin, the plates are artfully presented, but the initial problem is the temperature of the pork. It is cold. I work in kitchens, so i understand how this can happen, but at $29 for an entree, i do not expect it to happen. the flavour and texture of the dish are very good, safe, but good, i would like to see more rock lobster. 7/10
The heirloom and organic vegetables was a distinct disappointment, I wanted to love the dish but, so many issues, dont get me wrong, producing food at this level is very difficult, and when successful, an absolute delight to eat, so i wont go through all the problems, except to say, it need more flavor. 5/10
Main courses arrive, i had the Onkaparinga venison, and the wife had the new season lamb. The flavor on the venison is very nice, and it comes with a bonus potato gratin, again, it is a little on the cool sideand a touch under cooked, but still a very impressive dish, baby white asparagus, and sauce grand veneur, a huntsmans sauce, traditionally thickened with blood, (i dont know if this is the method used here)7.5/10
The new season lamb, I sadly did not get to try, but looked very nice, with sweetbread, brain, rump, and fillet.
The wine for the evening was an exceptionally good value, john duvel plexus, for only $63.
service at the Point is very friendly, staff have reasonable knowledge of the food, are efficient and friendly.
The point is a serious restaurant, and i always expect a good experience, but sadly, it does not quite live up to my expectations. Why do i keep going back? Lets call it hope!
.
This was not the case, the point is still doing the same style of food it is becoming known for, Scott Picket is doing a very good job here, but there is always room for improvement.
The entree arrive, we are sharing the suckling pig with rock lobster, and the salad of heirloom and organic vegetables. the suckling pig is very tender, with a soft crunch from the skin, the plates are artfully presented, but the initial problem is the temperature of the pork. It is cold. I work in kitchens, so i understand how this can happen, but at $29 for an entree, i do not expect it to happen. the flavour and texture of the dish are very good, safe, but good, i would like to see more rock lobster. 7/10
The heirloom and organic vegetables was a distinct disappointment, I wanted to love the dish but, so many issues, dont get me wrong, producing food at this level is very difficult, and when successful, an absolute delight to eat, so i wont go through all the problems, except to say, it need more flavor. 5/10
Main courses arrive, i had the Onkaparinga venison, and the wife had the new season lamb. The flavor on the venison is very nice, and it comes with a bonus potato gratin, again, it is a little on the cool sideand a touch under cooked, but still a very impressive dish, baby white asparagus, and sauce grand veneur, a huntsmans sauce, traditionally thickened with blood, (i dont know if this is the method used here)7.5/10
The new season lamb, I sadly did not get to try, but looked very nice, with sweetbread, brain, rump, and fillet.
The wine for the evening was an exceptionally good value, john duvel plexus, for only $63.
service at the Point is very friendly, staff have reasonable knowledge of the food, are efficient and friendly.
The point is a serious restaurant, and i always expect a good experience, but sadly, it does not quite live up to my expectations. Why do i keep going back? Lets call it hope!
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