a Spoiled Cochon

March 18, 2011

This was maybe the most talked about event of this year’s festival, after last year’s David Chang dinner at Cumulus Inc. I haven’t been to L.A. in ages, so I am not familiar with Roy’s trucks and Chego restaurant. His food was so tasty, salty, fun, everything you would expect for amazing street food! It was a great experience and now all I want is fly to L.A. and try his food for real. The soundtrack fot that dinner was so cool, with 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G. and other of the 90’s rap legends. Only thing it lacked maybe was at least one real taco dish, with a tortilla, as the only taco-like thing we had was wrapped in lettuce, bo ssam style. But besides that it was damn good, and Roy is the man!

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March 18, 2011

Zak Pelaccio at Longrain (MFWF)

I flew to Melbourne for 2 nights and was pretty excited about this first dinner! After having tried Zak’s food in New-York in November, both at Fatty ‘Cue and Fatty Crab, the least I could say was that I was pretty pumped! It’s always interesting to see what a chef can do with another country’s produce, even if they’re super jet lagged and tired! The dinner was great, even though the atmosphere was a bit cold, mostly because Longrain is a huge room which lacks something in my opinion. But I was there for the food, and it was very good. If you go to New-York, you absolutely HAVE to go to Fatty ‘Cue, the smoky meats with Asian influences you will try there are truly life changing.

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Filed under: Food Events Melbourne New-York

January 21, 2011

Royal Mail Hotel

If you think you had a fine dining experience in Australia and haven’t been to the Royal Mail, you might want to think again. This restaurant, lost in between Melbourne and Adelaide, is world class. Dan Hunter, who was chef de cuisine at Mugaritz in Spain, cooks amazing food with vegetables grown in the hotel’s gardens, which kind of says it all. This meal was 3 Michelin star quality, whatever that means, and I would be happy to eat it anywhere in France or Spain. It’s modern yet simple, some dishes reminded me of the best stuff I had at L’Astrance, L’Arpege or Le Chateaubriand. And the wine list is superb, with great picks, both French and Australian. I have never been to Mugaritz (hopefully this year) but I can only imagine how it is after having tried Dan’s food. Now all I want to do is go back, as the degustation menus change almost weekly, as soon as they run out of a vegetable or when another one is in season. Dan Hunter surely has a great future ahead of him, and is truly Australia’s shining star right now.

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Filed under: Food Restaurants Melbourne

January 19, 2011

Attica (chef’s table)

On Tuesday nights, Ben Shewry’s restaurant serves a special menu with only 5 courses where he can test new dishes, as opposed to the usual 8 course degustation that showcases the chef’s signature ones. This dinner was a bit disappointing. There were a few great ideas, like the strawberry oil of the last dessert, made out of 40 punnets of fruit! But besides that, it wasn’t the mind blowing experience I was waiting for. Not enough protein is usually what people say about meals there, and I have to agree. However I will definitely go back for the “real” menu and I’m sure I will like it, because the chef has big talent and judging him by his “work in progress” dishes might not be ideal.

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Filed under: Melbourne Food Restaurants

January 19, 2011

Der Raum

After an early dinner at Hu-Tong in the city for the best “soup dumplings” in town, we went to this bar in Richmond. I heard a lot of good things about that bar but did not expect it was going to be THAT good! We are lucky to have Eau de Vie in Sydney, but Der Raum is beyond. Melburnians are truly blessed to have it as well as Gerald’s, two bars that would be some “must-go” in any city in the world. The bar is dark, and looks very cool with all its hanged bottles. The cocktails are super creative and very tasty. It really feels like the best cocktail bars of Downtown Manhattan in there, so run there for the best cocktail experience in Australia.

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Filed under: Melbourne Bar Cocktails

January 18, 2011

Loam

I’m back! This Sunday lunch was the first stop of the Victoria trip for me. Loam restaurant in Drysdale, near Geelong. This place has been voted best new country restaurant in the Good Food Guide and I was very keen to try it. Aaron Turner, who was part of the TOYS Melbourne dinner, serves food from the region, with local produce including amazing vegetables among other things. I had to leave early so I couldn’t do the entire tasting, which included 10 courses that day. Overall it was a great meal, with interesting ideas, wonderful produce and every dish was absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to go back for a full meal, especially to try their famous suckling pig.