Due to a series of unfortunate events (I got stood up by Minh haha), F and I fortunately got to finally visit this mysteriously frequented restaurant.

The menu is quite extensive and it took us a while to decide what to order. Sometimes it sucks ordering for two people – you want to eat/try more dishes, but you can’t because you’re physically constrained by your stomach real estate. Much sadness.

Crostini - Mixture of Wood Fired Bread topped with Tomato, Bocconcini, Basil, Smoked Salmon, Avocado and Spanish Onion ($15)

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Coming from the west, we took Parramatta Road and then Anzac Parade. Let me tell you, that’s not the best way to get to Centennial Park on a Saturday afternoon. We most probably got stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes, where poor Howie was waiting for us, at Taste, all that time.

Dish 1

Restaurant Balzac - Crispy Wagyu Beef with Wild Mushroom and Truffle Foam (10 Crowns)

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Read the rest of Taste of Sydney Festival, Centennial Park (1,481 words)

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Post tags: beef, Dessert, pork, Seafood

“Since you’re the food blogger,” he said. “You can choose where to eat. You must know lots of good places!” I sighed. It’s hard to think of a place to eat when there is no preference for cuisine, location and definitely not price. With such high expectations and no defined constraints (besides “just not a spicy place”, which I can definitely do), I fretted. So much pressure! What if I chose a place that he didn’t like?

As the day drew nearer, I vaguely told him to meet me on the corner of Pitt St and Phillip St – hoping to find some last minute inspiration of where to eat when we got there. Puzzled, he asked, “But Phillip St doesn’t cross Pitt St?” Oops. I meant Church and Phillip St. “If you didn’t want to meet up with me you could just say so!” he joked. Ugh. Even though I have every intention to meet up with him, I felt bad anyway… I’m so easily guilt-tripped.

I got to our meeting point a few minutes before he did and looking around, I noticed massive banners declaring that Liana’s is under original management. Hmm, interesting. I’ve noticed over the years a decline in patronage (or perhaps I’ve just visited them at odd times?), which I found a bit sad as I’ve always liked Liana’s. I suggested the restaurant to Chung and mentioned how they make pretty good risotto there, which I always ordered in the past. Perhaps foreseeing a lot of aimless wandering around if he didn’t, Chung agreed to try Liana’s.

Roma Salad - Fresh Sliced Vine Ripened Tomato, Bococcini Cheese, Olives, Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic with Crusty Bread (as a side, $13.90)

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Read the rest of Liana’s, Parramatta (907 words)

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Post tags: chicken, Dessert, Seafood

On our last trip to the snow (yes I know, it’s been a while – sorry!), we all finally made it to Bredbo Pizzeria and found that our dinner booking for 4.30pm was a bit superfluous: we were the only customers there. I’m sure I’m not the only person to somehow become super indecisive when too many options are available and it doesn’t help when the other parties in the group are blasé about the decision that is to be made (such as where to sit). Even though I know they don’t care where they sit and we’ve already sat down, I still fret for a bit about the chosen table. Ugh, it’s terrible.

Mmm... dough

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Read the rest of Bredbo Pizzeria, Bredbo (771 words)

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Post tags: chicken, Seafood

This afternoon, I decided to do the new york-touristy thing and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have my first sample of what’s been voted in a number of circles as New York’s “best pizza” at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. A reputation such as this, comes with certain things (i.e. lines, long lines).

After braving the brisk early autumn weather to cross the bridge, my dining companion and I chose to brave the approximately thirty-minute long line outside for a chance to sample New York’s best.

The interior of Grimaldi’s is quaint and reminiscent of most old-school Italian pizzerias. Plenty of red and white checkered tablecloths and pictures of Old Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra).

The seating was rather cramped with my friend and I sharing a a long table with a number of other diners. Service at the restaurant was prompt and helpful. The menu options at Grimaldi’s were small, 16-inch pizza, or a large 18-inch pizza. We went with a large pizza with anchovies and capers on half and sausage, mushrooms and black-cured olives on the other half and…a couple of Brooklyn pilseners.

The pizza’s are said to fire in a coal oven that blasts the food at 1000 F. Which is over two times as hot as your conventional oven. Fire makes pizza good, may be considered their philosophy. We’re kind of going out of my culinary depth here, to be honest, I’m just speculating. The pizzas are baked in the oven for probably about ten minutes, it’s hard to say, the sparkling conversation I was sharing with my dining companion made it hard to tell how much time had passed.

The pizzas were brought out to our semi-cramped tables and were placed on a pizza rack that left the pizzas nearly in our faces. We dug into our first slices of pizza, me starting with the sausage/mushroom/cured olive combination and my lovely dining companion digging into her anchovies and capers.

My first reaction to the pizza after the initial bite was “these olives taste strong.” I continued to think that halfway through the slice and by the end of my first slice of pizza I was picking off the olives. They are strong black olives with a bit of a bitter taste that permeates throughout the pizza. I don’t highly recommend ordering the olives on your first visit here unless you really love olives.

Anchovies and capers. Two technically salty ingredients did not overpower the other half of the pizza and we found it to be the better side of the pizza. The experience overall was good. The crust on the pizza was chewy, not crispy and the fresh mozzarella and basil they used on the pizza really made it something to remember. If I had to rate this pizza on my overall experience, I would say it’s good, but it’s not worth the wait. If you find yourself in New York City and are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge definitely give Grimaldi’s pizzeria a shot. Make sure to visit during off hours. Visit early and on weekdays. The reputation for this pizza was too tough for any food to live up to. If you find yourself in the area and you find the line’s not that long at Grimaldi’s pizzeria, give it a go, but remember New York has too many great restaurants to be waiting around for a good pizza, not a great pizza.

There are a few stores around the New York state area, but I hear the original one in Brooklyn is the best. Plus, what’s better than a brisk walk across the Brooklyn bridge then devouring over some warm tasty pizza.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
19 Old Fulton Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Ph:718.858.4300
Opens…
Sun – Thurs 11:30-11:00
Fri & Sat 11:30-12:00
Web:http://www.grimaldis.com/

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My problem is that I tend to leave things to the last-minute. Unfortunately my daring baker’s challenge was no exception. From the day that Lisa revealed the challenge, procrastination took the better of me, until it was the weekend before the reveal date. The conditions of the weekend allocated for the DBC couldn’t be any worse. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the average temperature of Sunday was 41 degrees Celsius (106 F). Essentially what that meant was I’d have to make something that I’ve never made before, then deep-frying it and filling it, all on the second hottest day ever recorded in November here in Sydney, Australia. That will teach me not to leave things to the last-minute again.

My first experience which soon developed to an obsession (yes I know, another one) with Cannoli started precisely 4 years ago. It was 4 years ago, that I started a new job at a shop which was directly opposite to a beautiful Italian patisserie. Each morning, my request would be a ricotta filled cannoli with a medium cappuccino. I can remember how the cannoli tasted, with its crispy shell encasing an airy mixture of ricotta cheese, doused in a little sprinkle of icing sugar, seems like it was only yesterday. Regrettably, I left that job 2 years ago, and was forced to leave the cannoli behind. Imagine my joy when I found out that this month’s DBC is cannoli, another thing that I absolutely adore eating, but never had the courage to try.(...)
Read the rest of Daring Baker’s Challenge, Cannoli (1,322 words)

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The first day of SIFF saw me head to Uccello for their Let’s do Lunch menu. During the month of October, participating restaurants offer a $35 menu with one main course plus coffee, and a glass of matching Brown Brothers wine, Coopers beer or a 500ml bottle of S.Pellegrino sparkling or Acqua Panna still mineral water, a great way to sample the menu of some great restaurants. Like a few restaurants during SIFF, Uccello offer 3 choices for Let’s Do Lunch. Luckily I was dining with a few friends and we managed to cover the entire menu plus a dessert.

linguine ai frutti di mare traditional amalf coast recipe of fresh seafood cooke in fresh tomato white wine and a touch of chilli

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Read the rest of SIFF Let’s Do Lunch, Uccello (507 words)

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Bacco is situated on the ground floor of Chifley Plaza, during the day the restaurant operates as a Pasticceria serving breakfast, cakes and coffee. Sadly the cake service ends at five and the premises transform into a Wine Bar and restaurant. Arriving past 6pm without a reservation our relatively large group is seated with no problems. The restaurant is snugly located just behind a set of escalators and the seating space inside is actually quite small, we are seated just outside the restaurant next to an impressive looking glass wine storage area.

The pre-requisite bread shot

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I apologise for taking so long to blog about our gastronomic Easter long weekend journey, but there’s just one more restaurant to blog about before this series comes to a close. Well, two if you include this one.

I also would like to apologise for the photos. The restaurant wasn’t horrendously dark, but the ceilings were high and the candle slyly played havoc on the white balance. Ugh, so frustrating!

I’ve seen a couple of episodes of the Fifteen show where Jamie Oliver teaches disadvantaged kids cooking skills (and inevitably life skills), but I never thought much of his restaurant in Melbourne. That is until my fellow foodie, with eyes aglow, stated that we’re going to Fifteen and that’s final.

Fifteen’s entrance is in a small alley, which gave off the vibe of some secret food joint only the privileged knows about. The vibe was strengthened by glossy, dark wooden stairs taking you down into depths unknown. And then you notice the brightly coloured spray painted decor on the walls, which made me wonder if we had gone through the right door.

Wall decor

Almost at the same time that I noticed the spray paint, I saw the kitchen. I was intensely curious and transfixed by the sight of chefs going about doing their thing, seemingly totally oblivious to those coming down the stairs peering into their world. Being the big klutz I am, I almost tumbled down the stairs from trying to see more of the kitchen and what they were cooking.

Through the looking glass

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Read the rest of Fifteen, Melbourne (1,250 words)

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Post tags: Dessert, duck, Seafood

A sad looking piece

It’s been freezing this week in Sydney. The sudden change of seasons has been reinforced by the cold snap which has hit us. What’s a sure fire way to keep warm ? I’d avoid the heaters and get stuck into some good comfort food, and what better comfort food is there than lasagna ?

I’ve had Neil Perry’s “Good Food” cook book for a while now. It has a good mix of traditional food with the trademark Neil Perry touch. One of his recipes which has intrigued me for a while is his best ever lasagna. Does the finished product live up to it’s name ?

Recipe : Best ever lasagna

Serves 6
Adapted from Neil Perry : Good Food
Ingredients
9 instant cook lasagne sheets
500g fresh buffalo or cow mozzarella- torn
100g freshly grated parmesan

meat sauce
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion- finely chopped
6 garlic cloves – finely chopped
300g (10 1/2 ounces) pork mince
300g (10 1/2 ounces) veal mince
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tsp. plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
pinch of caster sugar
700ml (24 fl. oz.) tomato passata
400g (14 oz) tinned diced tomatoes
1 large handful basil leaves

bechamel sauce
50g ( 1 3/4 oz) unsalted butter
2 tbsp. plain flour
600ml (21 fl oz) milk
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Find a big lasagna dish
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (375 degrees F/ Gas 5)

To make the meat sauce

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, but not browned. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant.
2. Increase the heat to medium-high and add both of the meats and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon for about 4 minutes, or until the meat loses its raw colour but has not browned.
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, then pour in the balsamic vinegar and stir occasionally untill it has almost evaporated.
4. Add the sugar and passata and diced tomatoes and allow the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it reduces and has started to thicken slightly. Add salt and pepper. Stir through the basil leaves and set the sauce aside.

To make the bechamel

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the flour to the butter and stir constantly over the heat, for 1 – 2 minutes.
2. Remove pan from the heat and add the milk all at once, whisking constantly to avoid any lumps.
3. Return the pan to the heat and continue to whisk constantly, until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble

1. Spread one quarter of the meat sauce at the bottom of the lasagne dish. Place 3 of the lasagne sheets over the sauce. Spread another quarter of the sauce over the lasagne, followed by 1/3 of the mozarella.
2. Continue to layer the lasagne sheets, sauce and mozarella two more times. Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the final layer of mozzarella, then sprinkle evenly with the parmesan.
3. Cook the lasagne for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has browned and the sauce is bubbling. Remove the lasagne from the oven and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

The verdict ? It’s a good feeling to have lasagna you’ve made yourself. But lasagna is the type of food which takes hours to make but really tastes like spag bowl with copious amounts of cheese. In saying that, it’s one of my favourite comfort foods and I deliberately cooked a massive batch to store in the freezer. It’s perfect for the colder months ahead and just a microwave away from a fantastic meal.

Neil Perry’s lasagna is wonderfully creamy and full of flavour. He also mentions this in his book, but the addition of balsamic vinegar really does shine through and adds a new dimension in flavour. I’d say that it is one of the better lasagna’s I’ve tried, but I try to steer away from it at restaurants as I feel the price doesn’t warrant it being a good restaurant dish.

The recipe looks long but it is incredibly easy. There are essentially 3 parts to the recipe and they all tie in really well. Lastly, lasagna is up there as the best of the best for left overs!

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Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15. This year it is held on a Sunday and attracts not only the Sydney Italian community, but cultures of all corners of Sydney. It was a glorious day to be out and about , made even better with the copious array of fresh Italian food and a genuine festival atmosphere.

I feel somewhat lucky to live in Sydney where we are never short of different festivals and markets to attend. I’m sure it’s the same in other cities in Australia. We are indeed the lucky country!

Traditional italian entertainment

There was plenty of entertainment on the day which was great. This man had a few instruments handy incase any broke.

Home made olives & honeys

The variety of home made foods was fantastic. Olives , honey , biscuits were all available on a try before you buy it basis.

Piadina with rocket and roast pumpkin and cheese

Preserved meats ... bacon goodness

Pig on a spit

BBQ prawns marinated in garlic and spices

Taste test relishes and marinades

Seafood Paella

The queue for this paella was ridiculously long. Naturally, we followed the trail of red plates and eventually found the store. Generous amounts of seafood were a drawcard for us, not to mention the beautiful flavours of the paella.

Seafood paella

Chocolate, Hazelnut and almond nougat

The nouget was surprisingly soft with very generous amounts of almond and hazelnut. My only regret was only buying one of these!

Pigs 'ears' , very random

Dumpling lady

There were a few non italian restaurants on Great North Road plying their trade as well. This lady was unfazed by the copious amounts of people flocking Great North Road, it was business as usual for her.

Bye bye Farrogosto 08

It was such a beautiful day, all the stalls met customers and curious wanderers with a friendly smile and cheerful hospitality. It was great to try a bit of everything in terms of food and to just soak in the atmosphere of Ferragosto. I’m looking forward to next year already.

Before I forget, here is quick tip for parking. If you don’t mind walking 5 minutes, park on Parramatta Road in the Salvation Army store car park. They are closed on Sunday and it seemed no one knew about the car park as there were plenty of spots left

Did anyone else go? Feel free to share your thoughts.

Ferragosto Street Fair 2008
August 17th 10am to 4pm
Great North Road , Five Dock

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Post tags: festival, Five Dock, pork, Seafood

Putting that side, I was surprised at how good the food looked. The taste however ….. please read on.

Roasted rack of lamb with potato cake (thing)

The lamb was tender but lacked a certain something. Oh that’s right, flavour. The sauce was misleading unfortunately, it was more like oil drizzled over my lamb. The salsa and potato was a nice change though, I have not had something like the potato before. Apologies for the poor description effort with the potato thing.

Pan fried salmon fillet with fish roe and salad

Fresh fillet of Coral Trout with mixed sauted mushrooms and braised spring onion ($26)

We don’t eat coral trout often so we jumped at the opportunity for this dish. The trout was slightly overcooked but the flesh was very fresh and the skin was quite crispy. The mushrooms and spring onions added some character to the dish.

Finest Australian Wagyu Beef , marble score 9+ -12+ 700 day grain fed with poached brocolini and fresh lime ($49)

The actual beef tasted awesome. The texture and tenderness was what you would expect from a $49 piece of wagyu beef. I might be showing my ignorance and beginners knowledge here, but the actual dish was quite tasteless. Maybe this is how you are suppose to eat it though? I welcome any comments so please feel free to post one below.

Great atmosphere , great looking food, great service. But to me what lacked was the true signature flavour of each dish. Maybe I need to come again, they might have had an ‘off’ night.

Milano Italian Restaurant
Website

Lansvale Hotel
161 Hume Highway
Lansvale NSW 2166
Phone (02) 9727 5255

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We experimented a bit by noting down the ingredients on Pizza menus of our favourite restaurants and came up with this ridiculously simple and quick yet tasty pizza recipe. It’s for those people who claim they cant cook or have no time.

Recipe

• 1 piece Lebanese bread
• Handful of basil
• Mushrooms
• Red onion
• Tomato paste or Sauce
• Salami / Pepperoni or meat of your choice
• Mozzarella cheese
• Bocconcini cheese
• Freshly cracked pepper

1. Toast the lebanese bread. I use a sandwhich press which has a flat surface. You can also put it under the grill. The reason for toasting is because it ensures the base is flat and crispy. Toast until it is flat and hard.
2. Spread tomato paste and lightly spread some mozzarella cheese onto the base.
3. Add meat ensuring you leave space to put bocconcini into the gaps. Rip the bocconci and add to the base into the gaps.
4. Add rest of ingredients.
5. Put under the grill until cheese is melted. You can also use an oven but I don’t because the base is so thin there is no need. Served with freshly cracked pepper.

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