Of cakes and babies

Oh hello, blog! Life involves a lot of rushing about when there are young children involved and there is work thrown into the mix – rushing from home to work, work to home, getting things done after kids have gone to sleep, and getting yourself to bed then repeat ad nauseam. Whilst my current job status is “part-time”, I never cease being a full-time mother even when I’m not physically with Mini-human. When I’m at work, I’m thinking about what time I need to leave and what to have for dinner. I also miss Mini-human and wonder what he’s getting up to. When I’m home, I think about things I need to do once I’m back at work. There is down time but there is no holiday, no reprieve.

Happy birthday, Mini-human!

Hooray, Mini-human is a year old and no one has killed anyone nor has anyone gone insane! It’s been fun. It’s been unpredictable. It’s been full of emotion. I look at my fuzzy-haired Mini-human and sometimes I see a cute little baby, whereas other times I see glimpses of a determined little boy. I can’t wait for him to grow up yet I also want him to stay a baby for a little longer. 

(Yes, I made bunting...)

Sugar Hit 2013: The Cortile, InterContinental Hotel

With InterContinental being one of our staple Sugar Hit choices for as long we have been doing them, you can count on the husband and I sampling what they have on offer unless the described dessert is a bit too weird and wacky for our tastes.

An announcement party

There are certain major life events that I just can’t recall how I shared their news with my nearest and dearest. You know – first love, first break-up, first job, getting engaged – some of these events were before the mighty powers of social media intervened in how we interact and stay in touch, and although I’m sure I called some people surely I couldn’t have called everyone individually, right?

Then there are other events, so close to heart that their news has to be timed and calculated. Shared at first with your inner circle, those you trust most, those whom you know will guard your news until you are ready to share it a little further. It’s not about the pecking order of your family and friends; it’s about keeping certain things sacred and private because they mean so, so much to you.

So, with that, I decided to hold sort of an announcement party – an informal gathering where a group of friends were invited to an easy lunch of sausage pasta, salad, pastizzi and trashy (read: soft, store-bought) garlic bread.

  

Afternoon tea & canapés

So what has everyone been up to these past couple of weekends? Whilst the weather may not have been that great, please spare a thought to our neighbours up in Queensland who have sadly once again faced with torrential rains and flooding. The overcast and generally miserable Sydney weather does make for ideal conditions for staying indoors and general lazing about however. And, after 3 weeks of both the husband and I being sick with a cold/throat infection/allergies, we are now finally well enough to engage in some social activities. Any longer without social contact and we would’ve started our transformation into hermits!

Cooking is always a labour of love and I do put more effort into cooking for those whom are nearest and dearest. (On the contrary, when I don’t care as much is when I do stupid things like leaving out key ingredients – stodgy, eggs-forgotten choc mudcake, anyone?) Wifey and Mistress are two of the most supportive and important women in my life, and I may just have gone a little overboard when planning our late lunch/afternoon tea menu.

Sugar Hit 2012: Sheraton on the Park

What is wrong with you, Sydney? Where is your love for all things sweet and the month of Crave Sydney International Food Festival?! I ask this because when we set foot into Sheraton’s Gallery Tea Lounge there is no one there. Not a single soul – no patrons, no staff – and on a Saturday night.

Sugar Hit 2012: Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

How could you resist a Sugar Hit billed as:

“A chocolate dessert feast with opera slice, chocolate and cocoa nibs tartlet, chocolate macaroon, chocolate mousse and a chocolate éclair.”

Sofitel have not participated in Sugar Hits for a good 5 years now, but Monsieur Poisson cannot stop raving about when they last did – it was a Lenôtre gateau opéra. So with Sofitel reappearing on the menu this year, it was chosen mainly because Monsieur Poisson and Mistress both love gateau opera. We made our way to Sofitel as a group of four, and this is when things started to get a little unusual.

Sugar Hit 2012: Azuma

Today being the first day of October means that another year’s Crave Sydney International Food Festival is upon us. A whole month of food-related events are ahead and personally it equates to that time of year when I indulge in way too many Sugar Hits.

Azuma has always been mysterious in its Sugar Hit offerings, only ever describing theirs as an “East meets West Dessert Tasting Plate”. This year is no different and, while their signature bento box presentation remains, its contents are for you to discover. But, here is a preview...

Served with a choice of either Brown Brothers’ Cienna Rosso or a special in-house blend of Japanese green tea, the former has the appearance of sparkling Ribena and, as noted by Tina, smells of strawberries. It’s very easy to drink, in a girly alcopop kind of way.

High tea at Atlantis Seafood Restaurant

It’s funny how you can pass through the same area for years and not actually notice the specifics of what is there. I have been along the section of road where Atlantis Seafood is located a countless number of times and yet have never known that a restaurant there even existed. As part of the Quest Serviced Apartments complex, underground parking is available for overnight guests as well as diners via a down ramp which isn’t signposted but buzz the intercom to reception and you will automatically be allowed entry.

The husband and I are here to try out their high tea through a Groupon deal – only $35 for two – which is normally priced at $29 per person ($36 for sparkling high tea, or $45 with a glass of champagne). We’re not usually subscribers to group-buying deals because the husband’s previous rotational work schedule made it difficult for us to forecast too far ahead our availability to comply with validity periods. Besides, often the deals offer only a restricted sampling of an establishment’s menu when we prefer to have the freedom to sample from a greater range.

Matcha blondies (aka green tea white chocolate brownies)

I have really missed baking, what with being crazy busy at work and paperwork for the sale of my family home being finalised just before Monsieur Poisson and I left on a rather rushed trip to Europe. The first two weeks back in Sydney were no better, with masses of catch-up needing to be done work-wise to meet a tight deadline.

The actions of leisurely baking are always comforting and, coupled with the winter weather, there are so many levels of warmth that mixing, stirring and standing in front of an oven can bring. However with the travel from Munich back to Sydney wearing me out (my inability to sleep on flights strikes again) combined with two weeks’ worth of long work hours, the motivation to spend hours in the kitchen are pretty low – and that’s despite the promise of comforting baking aromas and warming sweets afterwards.

Simmone Logue, Cammeray

I first became acquainted with Simmone Logue’s cakes years ago through working close to a David Jones Food Hall, which meant that office birthdays and departures were commemorated with an amazing selection of cakes. Someone I worked with raved endlessly about her banana cake, but what I didn’t know is that Simmone Logue also offers catering services as well as a sample of her wares through two café stores.

The Cammeray store is situated in an open air shopping mall and was first visited for a girls’ lunch. We’d missed out on trying the breakfast menu due to the time of day, but the “Grilled ham & cheese” served with side salad offers the same satisfaction as a croque monsieur. The chicken “Soup of the day” is on the oily side but full of flavour, while the “Spinach & fetta filo” is light and flaky.

A chocolate cream cake for Mum

For years and years Mum kept saying that the cakes I made weren’t light enough. Turns out it’s because she prefers the spongier texture and subtler flavour of Asian bakery cakes, rather than those with a cakier crumb which I enjoy. So with it being Mum’s birthday – well, one of her birthdays, depending on whether she chooses to celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar or the Chinese Lunar one – and an appropriately timed post from Vondelicious, I decided to give baking one those Asian-style cakes a try.

Random Eats

So things have been a little quiet around here – and with good reason – as other parts of my life have been hurtling ahead at full speed. I am now an expert in getting quotes for minor home renovations and dealing with tradespeople, most of whom do turn up at agreed times. My mother has moved from our family home into a more manageable smaller place, and said family home is now listed for sale. *sniffle*

Sugar Hit 2011: Azuma Kushiyaki

This is Azuma Kushiyaki’s third year participating in Crave Sydney International Food Festival’s Sugar Hits with its offering named ‘East meets West Dessert Tasting Plate’ as in years past. With no description other than that, it is one of several locations taking the mysterious angle with the dessert they are serving up. However if you’ve tried their Sugar Hits previously, then you will recognise the signature stacked bento presentation.

Sugar Hit 2011: Shangri-La

In recent years, the description of Sugar Hit desserts at some venues has become increasingly mysterious. “Your choice from our dessert menu” or “As uniquely designed by our pastry chef” don’t offer any insights for diners who are trying to decide where to go. If you want to grab people’s attention then you really need to advertise what’s on offer.

However curiosity got the better of Monsieur Poisson and I with Shangri-La’s Sugar Hit billed as ‘Indulge in a specially designed dessert’. We’ve had good experiences there in years past – well, perhaps not so much last year – and thought we’d take a leap of faith into the unknown. We later discover through the hotel’s dining website that the Sugar Hit is a ‘chocolate tapas plate’ and that they are being offered from 7pm each evening instead of the usual 9pm. Something to note for those wanting to attempt a Sugar Hit crawl.

The Sugar Hit is presented as a platter of six miniature desserts – chocolate bavarois, whisky candy bar, chocolate and cherry tart, pistachio slice, gâteau opéra and macaron – along with a glass of Brown Brothers Cienna with berry notes which work most well with chocolate flavours. The serving is most certainly sizeable and, we discover, comprised of a selection of desserts offered as part of Shangri-La’s chocolate high tea which takes place from 1-5pm on weekends.

I start with the pistachio slice as I expect it to be the least sweet. Its green foundation of pistachio sponge upholds a white chocolate and rice pudding bavarois and green pistachio glaze. Whilst the flavours are subtle and not overly sugary, I am a little put off by the greenness and the little bits of rice. I am biased, however, as admittedly I am not a fan of rice pudding to start with.

The lemon and white chocolate macaron is much less sugary than I expect and fragrant with lemon flavour. It has a pleasant chewy texture and marshmallow-like filling. The chocolate cherry tart in comparison is much heavier with its thick chocolate filling but the slightly tart cherry offers some relief.

The chocolate bavarois turns out to be my favourite with its smooth, mousse-like chocolate filling bound by jaconde sponge. The mini-pipette of raspberry coulis adds a bit of fun but the dessert is complete in taste even without its inclusion.

We find the gâteau opera a little dry, perhaps from sitting in the chilled display cabinet, but it does have a balance of chocolate versus coffee flavours. The whisky candy bar is saved until last due to its perceived richness but surprises us by being only rich in texture, and not too sweet in taste fortunately. A few chocolate-coated rice krispies adorn the top of a chocolate fudge square which sits on a rice crispy base with texture a lot like a Crunch bar. The chocolate has a hint of bitterness with a note of warmth at the end from the whisky, but it's the crispy base which wins me over.

Definitely a Sugar Hit which delivers good value but I still long for the days when the bulk of venues would offer up a dessert designed exclusively for Sugar Hit purposes only.

Shangri-La

176 Cumberland St, The Rocks, Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9250 6123

happy eating!

Sugar Hit 2011: Sydney Harbour Marriott & InterContinental

October has come around once again and, apart from Christmas paraphernalia popping up in department stores (some since early September!), it also means the Crave Sydney International Food Festival is upon us. For Monsieur Poisson and I it means another year of Sugar Hit desserts, but we have both promised ourselves to take things a little easier than last year where we racked up a mammoth ten Sugar Hits – our most ever!

Sugar Hit desserts are offered at participating venues throughout October with a glass of Brown Brothers dessert wine for $20 from 9-11pm – some only on certain nights of the week so make sure you check before rocking up.

Sydney Harbour Marriott

Although we don’t spot anyone having the Sugar Hit when we arrive at 9pm, we were told when making our reservation that it would be a full house that night. The thing to take note of is that places often have a limited number of desserts prepared for each night and that once they’re sold out then that’s it.

The Sugar Hit here is billed as ‘A chocolate tasting including milk chocolate and hazelnut tower, white chocolate mousse and rich mud cake’. The ‘tower’ appears not so much as a tower as a slice of gelatine-set mousse on a chocolate brownie base and adorned with a puffed rice crunch. The white chocolate mousse is smooth and not overly rich nor creamy. Supported by a thin disc of sponge underneath, it is bound by a dark chocolate woven “basket” which has echoes of last year’s Shangri-La Sugar Hit. The mud cake is rich and dense but the least sugary of the three components, and rounds off the chocolate theme nicely. Served with a glass of Brown Brothers Moscato, the overall presentation of this Sugar Hit has me thinking of portions of desserts from a hotel buffet assembled together on a plate. The swirls decorating the plate are a plus point however, being raspberry coulis rather than a flavoured gel.

I’ve ordered a pot of Earl Grey on the side which, at only $5.50, is the popular hotel choice of Ronnefeldt and is elaborately presented on a silver tray with milk, honey, rock sugar and two bite-sized coconut cookies!

InterContinental

Sugar Hits at the InterContinental have consistently impressed both Monsieur Poisson and myself so we keep coming back year after year. It’s a popular choice as we spot two medium-sized groups of Sugar Hit goers as we are taken to our seats. When the dessert is placed down in front of us, we notice it is very similar in composition and presentation to last year’s.

The description of ‘Home-made pistachio and bitter chocolate vacherin with blood orange custard’ doesn’t actually prepare me for the elaborate layered chocolate slice with which we’re presented. Interspersed with windows of blood orange jelly and custard, the chocolate slice is flanked by a blood orange, chocolate ganache macaron perched on a strip of fruit jelly. I don’t detect any discernible pistachio, meringue, nor bitterness about the chocolate, however the whole dessert comes together well as a subtle and balanced interpretation of the classic jaffa flavour combination. No in-your-face orange here.

As for taking it easier this year, Monsieur Poisson and I have decided to share a Sugar Hit at each place we visit rather than consuming one each. This doesn’t stop him from ordering an affogato though!

Sydney Harbour Marriott

30 Pitt St, Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9259 7279

InterContinental Sydney

117 Macquarie St (entrance cnr of Bridge St & Phillip St), Sydney NSW

Tel: (02) 9240 1396

happy eating!

A trophy of chocolate cakes

I used to work with Dr Colin. Colin is a quietly competitive sort who has been trying to beat me at a particularly popular word-making game. He has been trying to beat me for...

Quite.

Some.

Time.

After countless games – seriously, we didn’t count – he broke that final frontier and, because it was a momentous occasion, I decided that there should be a just reward of cakes. Cakes with tinted buttercream and chocolate writing.

And of course what is better than a cake is multiple miniature cakes, and ones which are decorated with buttercream – bite-sized nuggets of fun that you can devour in one mouthful. Once you remove the frilly paper cases, that is, but there is no stipulation that you must use them in the first place.

I was going for the cute factor by using these mini-cupcake cases which have cupcakes printed on them – purchased purely for their cute factor – but the chocolaty cake made it a little dark for the cutesy cupcake pattern to be appreciated. So my recommendation is to use bright-coloured or foil cases or just don’t bother at all.

The cakes are made from a recipe of one Domestic Goddess that doesn’t call for a great deal of chocolate. The Alter Eco Dark Velvet chocolate which I used is quite fruity in flavour and soft and fudgy in texture to eat on its own, and is different to other dark chocolates I’ve tried which break with more of a snap. It’s not as intensely dark as other dark chocolates either, although it still results in a rich chocolaty cake. A bonus is that it is both organic and certified Fair Trade.

The batter is light in colour when whipped up, especially in my case where a lack of muscovado sugar made for a substitution with plain ol’ brown sugar instead. The cakes darken upon baking and, like most, become denser and damper when left for a bit of a covered snooze overnight. They’re not overly sweet nor rich, again due to the sugar substitution, which makes them the perfect vehicle for being topped with icing or chocolate ganache. If you choose to have these plain then I strongly suggest adding a small amount of caster sugar, as well as substituting cocoa powder for some of the flour.

Decorate the cakes how you like, spell out a message, or leave them nude. And as for Colin, congratulations to him but we have some rematching to do!

Chocolate mini-cupcakes (makes 48 or so mini-cupcakes,or  24 cupcakes)

(“Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake” from How to be a domestic goddess, recipe by Nigella Lawson)

Ingredients:

·         225g soft unsalted butter

·        375g dark muscovado sugar (or brown sugar)

·        2 large eggs, beaten

·        1 tsp vanilla extract

·        100g dark chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

·        200g plain flour

·        1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

·        250mL boiling water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line or lightly grease a cupcake or mini-cupcake tray.
2. Cream together butter and sugar then add eggs and vanilla, beating in well. Fold in the melted chocolate until evenly combined.
3. Gently add the flour and bicarb soda gradually, alternately with the boiling water until the mixture is fairly runny.
4. Divide between cavities of the tray and bake 15-18 minutes for mini-cupcakes, and around 30 minutes for cupcakes.

happy cooking!

Mademoiselle Délicieuse received samples of Alter Eco Dark Velvet chocolate of Kristy Sayer.

Birthdays Part 1: Baffi & Mo and Patisse

My birthday fell on a Friday this year which made for a rather convenient reason to take the day off and have a long weekend. Birthdays are also a good excuse to do nothing but eat, if that’s your sort of thing. Which for me of course, it is.

After a short sleep-in, Monsieur Poisson and I find ourselves sitting at one of the long bench tables at Baffi & Mo. Whilst I admire the Florence Broadhurst-esque wallpaper, a couple has their backs turned to us and are quietly studying the menu. They are alerted to our presence when we place our order with one of the staff and, somewhat conspicuously, they shuffle a little further away from us on the communal table. Hmmm, perhaps my new haircut is scaring people off? That may not altogether be a bad thing!

Our coffees arrive first up before being soon followed by our ‘Pea and corn fritters’ which are served with baby spinach leaves, squeaky salty haloumi and a tomato relish. Whilst at first the fritters appear to be underseasoned, if you take a bit of haloumi with each mouthful then you’ll be guaranteed bucket-loads of flavour! Plus, you will not miss the presence of meat at all.

Although similar in presentation, the ‘Potato hash stack’ served with avocado, lemon-dressed rocket, asparagus, cherry tomatoes and a poached egg is more about contrasting textures. We’ve opted to have ours with smoked salmon (the other option being ham) and our only complaint is that we would have liked the yolk to be runnier to better offer a creamy coating to both the rocket and the potato hash. Ahhh, and what a magnificent hash it is with its matchstick-thin slivers of golden potato and nary an uncooked one in the centre.

Fast-forward a few hours after some uneventful homewares shopping and we stop in at Patisse for a recharge. The afternoon sun is streaming in Patisse’s converted warehouse windows, giving the multicoloured macaron creations an ethereal quality. I choose a colour palette of mixed berry, salted caramel and pistachio, and find that the filling is creamier than others I’ve tried yet manages to be delicately light. Monsieur Poisson cannot go past the gâteau opera which, with its thicker-than-usual layers, makes for one of the tallest we’ve ever had. However the impressive part is that the layers are evenly proportioned so that there is a balance of flavours and textures, plus there are no pockets of dryness to be found about the jaconde.

We head home for a short break to digest, and then it’s off to more eating for dinner!

Baffi & Mo

94 Redfern St (near cnr Chalmers St), Redfern NSW

Tel: (02) 8065 3294

Patisse

Shop G01, PYD Building, 197 Young St (cnr Phillip St), Waterloo NSW

Tel: (02) 9690 0665

Opening Hours:  Mon-Sat  8:30am-4pm

                        Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

Gastro parK

Monsieur Poisson had, until recently, worked in a building which has a coffee kiosk in the foyer. He would usually stop in for coffee and sometimes raisin toast partway through the morning and would regularly chat to the owner/operator. One day, he and Coffee Guy were discussing where they liked to dine out when Coffee Guy handed him a business card saying it was for a new place where he knew quite a number of the staff. He urged Monsieur Poisson to try it and we made dinner arrangements there during a particularly busy period at work for me a couple of months ago. I had read very little about the place and was confused when online maps pointed to it being located at the site I associated with Blanco.

This newish baby of Grant King, ex-head chef of Pier, is intimate, cosy and tucked away from the, erm, bright lights of Darlinghurst Road. The service is friendly and I find it quite endearing that our waitress appears a tad nervous when serving us the complimentary bread when it doesn’t seem to want to leave the grasp of her cutlery-cum-tongs. I treat myself to a glass of Longbend sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand which has tropical fruity notes, while admiring the squishy cutlery rests filled with pebbles suspended in a clear gel. (And, yes, I liked the wine so much that I bothered to have the name scribbled down for me so that I could remember it for future purposes.)

Gastro parK’s menu is brief but full of whimsy and playfulness. From the snacks section of the menu, we start with the ‘Putanesca wafer” and “Onion & mushroom macchiato, caramelised sweetbread”. The wafer is constructed from a framework of lacy grated parmesan which shatters easily and is a bit messy to eat, but a visual delight to admire being wedged into the crevice of a stone.

Monsieur Poisson is blown away by the flavour packed into the small glass of mushroom soup topped with sweet onion purée. The sweetbread has a sticky honey flavour to the outside and is presented skewered on a twig of rosemary.

We share an entrée of “Seared scallops, carrot tofu, Serrano ham, endive reduction, hazelnut” mainly due to Monsieur Poisson’s weakness for anything which makes mention of scallops. There are three scallops on the plate, of which one is encrusted in...I have no idea what, but its appearance resembles the coating on Cheezels! The carrot tofu looks like an orange-coloured panna cotta but tastes like carrot and nothing like tofu. I think at this point in time I started to lose my mind due to my eyes telling my brain to expect certain flavours and then they were anything but!

For mains, I’ve chosen the ‘Rangers valley beef fillet, sauté kale, onion soubise, caramelised veal sweetbreads’. The soft and juicy beef fillet features a thin, even crust and is flanked by onion purée akin to that in the macchiato as well as more sweetbreads. The kale is surprisingly crunchy with a texture like lettuce but served warm.

Monsieur Poisson has what has become Gastro parK’s signature dish – ‘Crispy scaled snapper, smoked potato purée, calamari crackling, ink sauce’. For starters there are the ink black components contrasted with the white plate, then there is the centrepiece of moist fish with an almost-bubbly layer of crispiness. Yes, those are real fish scales and not something else masquerading as. The calamari crackling is crisp like a light prawn cracker but a little oily on the fingers, and we still don’t know what those black little cylinders were!. This is the most fun dish of the evening and reminds us of dining at Restaurant Arras, especially when we are left guessing about the components.

Dessert is the shared ‘Pear & praline soufflé, Chantilly cream’. Soufflés are my default option to round off a meal as they’re light and also pretty to look at. If only we had the room to fit in a dessert each then we would have ordered the ‘Nitro pavlova’ as well!

I can quite confidently say this has been the most exciting meal of the year thus far. It was fun, relaxed and entertaining. Hey, even a certain Mr Durack gave them a 16/20 in his review.

Gastro parK

5-9 Roslyn St (corner Kellett Way), Potts Point NSW

Tel: 8068 1017

Opening Hours:  Sun & Mon  CLOSED

Tues-Thurs  6pm-10pm (dinner only)

Fri & Sat  12pm-2:30pm (lunch)

               6pm-10pm (dinner)

Le Chasseur giveaway winners

Thank you to those who took the time to enter this competition courtesy of Kitchenware Direct. Monsieur Poisson had the pleasure of reading all of your creative responses and has chosen the following one as the lucky winner:

Anonymous said...

Le Chasseur Nordic Square Grill Pan 25cm

This would be fantastic to own, grill steaks with the char lines, garlic bread with olive oil, vegetables etc. would be a great addition to the kitchen's cooking cupboard, the mrs will be happy :) cross fingers

10 July 2011 7:00 PM

Anonymous, I have sent you an email notifying you as the winner and someone from Kitchenware Direct will be contacting you soon regarding how to claim your chosen prize and to arrange for delivery. Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy creating some delicious meals!

Thank you once again Kitchenware Direct for their generous giveaway offer.

happy eating!

Hunter Escape: Restaurant Cuvée at Peterson House

The Hunter Valley has a particular charm in winter. Or perhaps it’s just me being sentimental as it was during winter a good few years ago that Monsieur Poisson and I took our first ever trip away together, and it was a trip to the Hunter. I remember it was a particularly busy and stressful period at work and I was most grateful to be removing myself to somewhere still and quiet – literally, as we stayed at a resort in Wollombi which has almost no mobile phone reception bar one carrier and then only in a small spot at the end of the bed. The days were gloriously sunny and our little cabin had a real, wood log fireplace to provide crackly warmth during the evenings and nights. It also provided many hours of entertainment for the somewhat pyromaniacal Monsieur Poisson.

The trip was so relaxing that, fast forward a few years, we find ourselves visiting the region again and staying at the same resort at roughly the same time of year. Of course for the non-wine drinker that is Monsieur Poisson, there is still plenty of fun to be had indulging in the food of the region.

The last time we visited the Hunter Valley we only had time to stop in at Petersons House for scones at afternoon tea. And, as with a lot of places in the Hunter Valley, Petersons House is not open for dinner so we make a point of trying them out for lunch this time around. We are seated at one of tables on the covered deck overlooking the winter-bare grapevines – check out that blue, cloudless sky! Partnered with the country-quiet and only the occasional chirp of a bird, we felt so far removed from our usual daily city life.

We start the lunch with half a dozen ‘Sydney rock oysters with nuoc cham’. The oysters are small but plump, and their briny juices add some needed saltiness to the pulpy nuoc cham. Monsieur Poisson follows this with ‘Grilled kangaroo loin with steamed asparagus, parmesan polenta and baby spinach with Peterson's wine jus’. The kangaroo is tender and juicy but, surprisingly, it’s the smooth and creamy polenta (I’m so used to grilled polenta being too compressed and dry) which has my heart captured.

A side of potato chips with Maldon sea salt has a distinct aroma of chips bought from fish and chip shops as a child, and has me waxing lyrical about chips from days of yore. And in light of the amount of food we’ve ordered, I decide on an entrée dish to have as a main to achieve some semblance of “balance”. The ‘Deboned spatchcock stuffed with sourdough and pistachios on matchstick potatoes’ fits the bill nicely, arriving with the bird reclining seductively on vermicelli-thin potato threads and surrounded by a syrupy glaze.

We give dessert a miss as we’re happily full and have plans to stop for gelato later. We do, however, pop into the Petersons House cellar door afterwards to sample some sparkling wines and come away with cute piccolo bottles of their Pink Blush Rosé.

Restaurant Cuvée, Petersons House

Corner of Broke Rd & Wine Country Drive, Pokolbin NSW

Tel: (02) 4998 7881

Opening Hours:  7 days  8:30am-11am (breakfast)

            12pm-3pm (lunch)

happy eating!