Via Napoli Pizzeria

Via Napoli has but a small amount of indoor seating, with the majority being on the slanted footpath situated undercover and equipped with gas heaters when needed. The tables are arranged quite close together and the ambient chatter is punctuated with Italian being exchanged between the waitstaff. I may not be in Naples but the pizza is quite likely to be the best I’ve had in Sydney.

Taste of Sydney 2012

While torrential rains of the past week caused dams to overflow and threatened to make this year’s Taste of Sydney into a Woodstock/Glastonbury, the sun has at least shown its face enough to sufficiently dry things up at Centennial Park to allow this market stall-style restaurant festival to proceed following the cancellation of the initial Thursday evening session.

Ormeggio: “Aperitivo Stuzzichini Sciatt” (8 Crowns)

Terrazza and Ben & Jerry's, Chatswood

Where once a brown rundown local town hall stood attached to council offices and a library, now stands a shiny revamped council complex housing a concert theatre, library and new dining precinct. Amongst the various eateries to recently open up shop is Terrazza, an Italian joint offering woodfired pizza. The owner has trialled offering breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week, during their opening period but will soon be revising this down to lunch and dinner only on weekdays, with breakfast as well as lunch and dinner being served on weekends. It appears us Sydney folk do take the time to enjoy breakfast out when we have the time, but are otherwise too rushed on workdays.

Big John’s Sans Souci

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve eaten at Big John’s, either dining in or getting takeaway, over the years. Having previously lived in the Shire, Big John’s at Sans Souci is an easy location to get to and offers big, value-for-money serves. Service can be a bit brusque when busy and the seating is cosy, but the food is tasty and always generous.

Funnily, however, I’ve never tried their pasta possibly because I get sidetracked by other things. Their Caesar Salad, at only $13.90 and large enough to feed 2 people as a main meal, has a creamy, garlicky and not-too-tangy dressing, hard-boiled egg segments and a smattering of bacon bits. Pizzas are generally thicker-based than I’d like but that’s so they can stand up to the all the toppings which make the pizzas a little difficult to eat without the aid of cutlery. A lighter option is their garlic pizza crust (not pictured) but be warned that this is not for the garlic-phobic. Or vampires.

Monsieur Poisson gave their American-style ribs a try on a recent visit. There are pork, lamb or half-half combination varieties and ribs are smothered in a smoky, tangy sauce on a bed of steak-cut chips for “relief”. The pork ribs are fall-apart tender and receive my mother’s stamp of approval. The sauce gets thicker and stickier on the surface of the ribs as they cool, but this makes for a wonderful caramel-y surface when they’re reheated.

And reheat you will, because you are bound to have a container or two of leftovers to take away with you.

Big John’s Sans Souci

502 Rocky Point Rd (between Sandringham St & Russell Ave), Sans Souci NSW

Tel: 9529 8094

happy eating!

Café Sopra Waterloo, 20 Nov 2009

On a particularly hot Friday that Monsieur Poisson had off work, we ventured to Waterloo in search of some lunch. This has become an increasingly favoured area of mine in recent years to dine at or just to browse through places like Fratelli Fresh and Macro Wholefoods. On the upper level of Fratelli Fresh, past all the varieties of dried pasta, tins of tomatoes and bottles of balsamic vinegar, Café Sopra can found more often than not teeming with people waiting for a table. To the right, hidden in a corner, is what looks like a private dining table in front of a massive board with a recipe for minestrone written in Italian. The table is not part of the café itself and I would love to find out what its reserved purpose is.

We arrive mid-lunch rush and add our names to the waiting list. In the meantime I go for a bit of wander around the produce aisles and admire all the things on offer. I’m really tempted to take home a pack of Vittoria gianduja chocolates but the day really is too scorching for me to guarantee their safe journey to my pantry. Not long after, we are offered a couple of seats at the bar which suits us just fine. Much to my delight, our seats offer a direct view into the kitchen which is down only a few stairs behind the bar area.

The menu is scrawled on a huge blackboard propped up against the window side of the café and items are erased as they sell out. We start with a couple of ‘Zucchini flowers stuffed with five Italian cheeses’ which are encased in a light batter to conceal very cheesy tasting contents. The sweet crunch of the young flowers and stems are perfect with the soft, pungent filling and are served with more shredded parmesan sprinkled over the top.

As it’s hot, we’ve gone for the light pasta option of ‘Linguine with lemon, chilli, parsley and pangrattato’. I am most taken by this conical mound of perfectly al dente pasta with its balanced and refreshing flavours of lemon, chilli and parsley against the crunch of garlicky breadcrumbs. It’s quite a generous serve too.

Next up we’ve ordered the ‘Shaved Brussels sprouts with poached egg, cavolo nero and pancetta’. Its composition is a brunch-style salad dressed with a sweetened balsamic. I must admit I’ve never had shaved Brussels sprouts before and the overall taste is more lettuce-y rather than baby cabbages with the usual after-tinge of bitterness. The oozy poached egg melds with the dressing, and coats the pancetta pieces in a sweet, creamy kind of way.

On the side we have a salad of ‘Baby cos and cherry tomatoes with salad cream’ which I mainly order due to the mention of retro salad cream. I struggle to remember when it went out of fashion but it adds a lovely milky creaminess to the lettuce leaves with a hit of ground black pepper, without clagging it like some Caesar dressings do.

To round off our very satisfying meal, I order an affogato which comes with a silken and dreamy vanilla bean gelato. This was also around the time that I was told by a staff member that cameras are not permitted at Café Sopra, and I have since read that this is a widely-known fact. As usual I neglected to ask the reason for such a ban but we did manage to sneak in a photo of Monsieur Poisson’s caffe latte with its beautiful latte art.

It was a great cup of coffee to boot and to not photograph it would have been a major injustice to the very talented barista!

Café Sopra

Upstairs level of Fratelli Fresh, 7 Danks St, Waterloo NSW

Tel: (02) 9699 3174

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  10am-3pm

                        Sat  8am-3pm

                        Sun  10am-3pm

happy eating!

Epicure Recipe Card #20: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

On the night that I had friends over and made the Sardine & Tomato Tart, I also made this spaghetti alla puttanesca. As both recipes involve using tinned tomatoes and a minimum of ingredients, it was easy to make both on the same evening. Whether the easiness or speediness of this dish has anything to do with its mythical origins of being related to prostitutes is now not possible to prove, but what can be attested to is the simplicity in preparation yielding a complexity of flavours.

I made this using angel hair pasta instead of spaghetti or spaghettini, which made for a less robust texture but tasted great all the same. The amount of anchovies used results in a surprisingly subtle flavour, but if these pungent fishies aren’t your cup of tea then omit and add a few extra olives instead.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

(adapted from The Age – Epicure 50 Best Recipe Cards, recipe by Jill Dupleix)

Ingredients:

·         350g spaghetti or spaghettini

·         4 tbs olive oil

·         1 garlic clove, finely sliced

·         6 anchovy fillets

·         400g can crushed tomatoes

·         2 tbs small black olives, sliced

·         1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped

·         1 tbs small salted capers, rinsed

·         1 tbs mixed dried herbs

Method:

1. Cook pasta in a pot of well-salted water until al dente.
2. In the meantime heat the oil in a saucepan or frypan over medium heat and gently cook the garlic for a minute or so. Add anchovies and mash them into the oil.
3. Add tomatoes, olives, chilli and capers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add herbs and season to taste. Add drained pasta and toss through sauce evenly to serve.

happy cooking!

Five days in Brisbane: Il Centro, 22 Oct 2009

I actually can’t remember how we ended up choosing Il Centro for dinner. Wifey, having lived in Brisbane five years previous, had suggested we try Cha Cha Char also at Eagle Street Pier but for some reason we went with Il Centro instead. We are seated at a table outdoors, taking advantage of the pleasant evening weather, and the menu had sounded quite promising until I studied it again after getting there.

I start the evening with a glass of prosecco. I actually did not intend to drink but I find it very hard to go past a glass of bubbles these days – it just so appeals to the girly girl in me! Monsieur Poisson, as usual, does not join me and misses out on this light drink with a dry note at the end. We order a ‘Pizza ai porcini, pancetta e basilico’ to start and the aromas of porcini are overwhelmingly inviting. The pancetta is finely chopped and not too salty, and we notice the distinct absence of garlic from this pizza which is scattered with a few leaves of rocket.

Our other primi is the ‘Capesante con riso carnaroli di timo e fave’ ordered partly out of wanting to try risottos on Dr King’s behalf and also to indulge Monsieur Poisson’s love of scallops. The scallops with roe attached are unfortunately just that tiny bit overcooked, but their sweet flavours are complemented nicely by the creamy, light lemon sauce and crunchy sweet broad beans. Interestingly, the scallops sitting atop are dressed with a tomato salsa before being topped with a herb salad.

For mains Monsieur Poisson orders the ‘Fruitti di mare con gnocchi di patate, salvia, castagne e piselli’ but I can’t remember if it’s the seafood or gnocchi that has attracted him. I’m encouraged by the mention of chestnuts but then am confused by the flavours when the dish arrives – I associate seafood with summer, chestnuts and gnocchi with winter, and peas with spring. The nutmeg-scented gnocchi (confirmed by my questioning of a waitress who had to check with the kitchen) are a flattened elongated shaped and are smooth and light in texture without risk of falling apart. However, the flavours don’t really gel for me in this dish which is topped by more of that tomato salsa.

I’ve chosen the meaty ‘Bistecca di manzo alla griglia’ that comes with duck fat roasted King Edward potatoes, broccoli and beans as well as either Béarnaise or pepper sauce. The menu says the steak is a certified 300 gram, 150-day, black Angus sirloin and is most definitely well-charred but juicy. The steak arrives unseasoned and for some reason I have chosen the Béarnaise to accompany this otherwise Italian steak. The sauce is served in a gravy boat and is devoid of herbs, which is normally Béarnaise’s distinguishing feature from Hollandaise. I am disappointed by the duck fat potatoes, only because I was expecting them to be like those served at L’étoile, and am further confounded by more of that mysterious tomato salsa adorning the steak.

Although we are quite full by this point, we make room for dessert mainly because we notice that petits fours are offered on the menu. Monsieur Poisson relaxes with a caffe latte which comes with biscotti. The biscotti are light and crumbly and not chewy like the usual, but the coffee is slightly grey in colour.

I settle back with a pot of T2 Earl Grey which is wonderfully fragrant. Our ‘Assortimento di cioccolatini e dolcetti’ is placed on the table without any introduction so we are left to guess what the eight individual components are. We assume them to be: a thin and crisp poppyseed tuille; a chocolate, cherry coconut slice; a frangipane tartlet with strawberry jam centre; a mildly bitter chocolate truffle with gooey centre; an apricot tartlet; a chocolate tartlet which is neither bitter nor sweet; an almond slice; and a chocolate stick perhaps with candied orange peel. It definitely brings a forensics component to the end of our meal!

Overall the food at Il Centro is not bad and the service is both friendly and personable. We just found the menu to be a bit confused, or perhaps it was just us that were confused by it. Nonetheless, the restaurant enjoyed an almost full crowd that night which should attest to its popularity.

Il Centro

Eagle Street Pier, 1 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD

Tel: (07) 3221 6090

Opening Hours:  Sun-Fri  lunch from 12pm

                                    dinner from 5:30pm

                        Sat  dinner only from 5:30pm

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Bottega, 11 July 2009

For our last night in Melbourne, Monsieur Poisson and I decided to take Anna’s suggestion and have Italian at Bottega which is situated a couple of doors down from two-hatted Grossi Florentino.

We have a confirmed table reservation and are seated in the corner of the front window just around from the doorway in an already half-full restaurant. The atmosphere in the restaurant is warm and the background conversation buzzing when we are offered complimentary sourdough bread with butter.

I order a bellini with berry purée which unfortunately does not arrive until after Monsieur Poisson enquires about it after finishing our first course. The funny thing about our primi is that Monsieur Poisson has ordered the ‘Pancetta-wrapped scallops with truffled mash and sauce vierge’ while I have ordered the ‘Peppered beef carpaccio with truffled aioli, capers and parmesan’; and because carpaccio is seemingly such a more masculine dish, it is routinely placed in front of Monsieur Poisson instead of me. (We politely waited until the waiter had turned and walked away before swapping our dishes around.)

Both primi are amazing. The scallops are wrapped in paper-thin pancetta strips which have been grilled crisp. These are then rested on top of dollops of truffled mash. Cubes of tomato are balanced on top of these before being drizzled light-handedly with sauce vierge. The beef carpaccio is easily the best I have ever had. The plate is entirely covered with thinly sliced discs of beef fillet which are dressed in thick, creamy aioli and a drizzling of olive oil. The capers and parmesan add just the right amount of salty pungency.

Our waiter, we’ve discovered, has a habit of extending his hand to place and collect dishes through the gap between Monsieur Poisson’s seat and the adjacent window pane instead of walking around our table so that we can both see him. This gives us several small frights throughout the evening.

In the meantime a table of two couples has been seated next to us who are perplexed by my photographing of food and proceed to discuss it in loud whispers. We try our best to ignore this when our main meals arrive. Monsieur Poisson has the ‘Roasted pork with celeriac, roasted shallots and apple slaw’ which is warming and earthy with its pork crackling and fragrantly smooth celeriac purée. There is also a massive shallot roasted until sweet served alongside. However what I love is the refreshing crunch of the tangy apple slaw which I keep picking at from Monsieur Poisson’s plate.

I opt for a serve of the ‘House-made tagliatelle with blue swimmer crab and nettle’. I am attracted by the mention of crab but somewhat intrigued by the inclusion of nettle, which I know only to be a stinging plant. Later research reveals that both soaking and cooking the nettles removes its stinging quality and that it is rich in iron. In this particular dish I think the nettle has first been flash-fried before being incorporated into the sauce, so some bits are slightly crispy. Overall the taste is mildly herby and the house-made pasta is wonderfully slippery and soft.

For dessert I cannot go past the ‘Affogato with house-made vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce and house-made biscotti’, as affogato is a favourite of mine. And when there’s chocolate included in the mix? Even better!

I am pleasantly surprised by the array of biscotti and am much more full after this dessert than expected. Monsieur Poisson has the ‘Cannoli filled with ricotta, hazelnut and chocolate candied orange with bitter chocolate ice-cream’ which has thin, crisp tubes of cannoli enclosing a light and slightly nutty filling. The bitter chocolate ice-cream lends a jaffa taste when paired with the candied orange.

To finish, Monsieur Poisson orders a caffe latte which arrives with a couple more pieces of biscotti and we are thoroughly stuffed full of food before heading back to the hotel to pack and return to Sydney the next morning.

Bottega

74 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC

Tel: (03) 9654 2252

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  12pm-3pm (lunch)

 5:30pm-11pm (dinner)

Sat  5:30-11pm (dinner only)

Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!

A week in Melbourne: Steakhouse & Theobroma Chocolate Lounge, 5 July 2009

Early in July Monsieur Poisson had the fortune of being sent on a week-long training course being conducted in Melbourne. As his accommodation and airfares had been paid for by the training company, I decided to take advantage of said free sleeping and showering premises and purchased myself a plane ticket to accompany him. I hadn’t been to Melbourne for five years and this was a great opportunity for me to wander the streets and sample food I’d previously had, food I’d read about, food I’d heard about, food that had been recommended to me and food that I can’t get in Sydney.

I researched extensively and planned a list of things to see, do and eat whilst Monsieur Poisson was busy during the day. It pays to plan ahead as I discovered it is more common for Melbourne restaurants to be closed Sundays or Mondays than in Sydney. So, armed with my list I booked restaurants to try and wandered through most of Melbourne CBD during our week there.

After checking into the hotel, our first stop is the Docklands area which has been developed into a dining hub since my last visit to Melbourne. I was particularly interested in their ‘Slow Sundays’ promotion which involved several restaurants providing a small meal paired with beer or a glass of house wine for only $15 from 2pm-6pm each Sunday during July and August.

We decide to walk there after having spent the morning on a train, a plane and a coach. It is a cold windy day but expected for this time of year. Of the places participating in ‘Slow Sundays’ we select Kobe Jones as Monsieur Poisson’s never been, not even the one in Sydney. However when we arrive just before 3pm, we are told their lunch service is finished for the day and that the restaurant is closing for the afternoon. So we glance down our list and decide to go to Steakhouse instead.

The place is empty when we walk in. It is 3pm on a wintery Sunday after all. We are seated at a corner table for two near the front window which is an interesting arrangement, as they really could have seated us at a roomier table elsewhere. The waiter doesn’t seem to know much about the ‘Slow Sundays’ deal when we enquire about it, despite there being a flyer attached to one of their windows, but produces us the appropriate menu after a brief disappearance. There are two choices available: black Angus beef carpaccio or mushroom risotto with either Heineken or chardonnay. We order one of each dish and each drink.

The carpaccio is a little dry but the toppings of rocket, shaved parmesan and flash-fried capers are very fresh. The risotto is creamy and has plenty of mushrooms as well as the intriguing inclusion of tiny carrot dice. The serve is bigger than I expect and comes presented in an asymmetrical satellite dish-shaped bowl. Not being a beer drinker, I take the chardonnay leaving Monsieur Poisson to tackle the beer.

On our way back to the CBD centre we pass by DFO South Wharf which has a chocolate café at the front. Theobroma Chocolate Lounge is teeming with people as a major football match has just concluded at nearby Etihad Stadium.

The interior is dark brown which is only befitting a place that sells chocolate. You order at the counter, collect a number stand, seat yourself and wait for your food and/or drinks to be served or for collection at the takeaway counter.

When I place our order, they have run out of clean cups for hot drinks and have to sell everything in takeaway cups instead. Monsieur Poisson has a hot chocolate which I did not photograph as I would only be taking a picture of a disposable cup. We also get a ‘Strawberry Sensation' which is melted milk chocolate with strawberries for dipping. I find the chocolate a bit too sugary for my liking and leave the store without purchasing any of their chocolates.

We pick up some fruit bread for Monsieur Poisson to have as toast for breakfast through the week before retiring to our hotel to ponder what to do for dinner. Having only lunched at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, our appetites are a little out of whack!

Steakhouse

66 New Quay Promenade, Docklands VIC

Tel: (03) 9640 0808

Opening Hours:  7 days  lunch & dinner

Theobroma Chocolate Lounge

DFO South Wharf, Shop 219, 201 Spencer St, Docklands VIC

Tel: (03) 8689 7570

Opening Hours:  Mon-Fri  7am-6pm

                        Sat  7:30am-6pm

happy eating!

Lucio’s, 16 June 2009

Following our visit to L’étoile it seemed our dining-out bugs had well and truly been bitten. So with Dr King’s birthday being just around the corner, this was excuse enough for Kiki to arrange a surprise dinner for him to enjoy one of his favourite cuisines: Italian. And the restaurant of choice was none other than the Sydney Morning Herald two-hatted Lucio’s.

Parking is fairly easy to find around the back residential streets in this part of Paddington – just watch out for the one-ways. We end up parking near Kiki and Dr King and shuffle together through the cold Sydney air around the corner to the restaurant. We are early and only the second table on a Tuesday evening. The staff see that I have a large handbag and provide a bag hook from which to hang my bag from the edge of the table – a rather attentive touch.

The inside of the restaurant is warm and inviting with Tuscan appeal, where the walls are adorned with the works of Australian artists.

Gingerbreadman arrives soon after and we start poring over the contents of the menu. It is thankfully not crowded with too many options but I get a bit lost with the Italian! Dr King is put in charge of choosing us a wine again and we toast to his birthday. In the meantime we are presented with grissini and bread rolls with butter. We chomp away before realising that we’d like to have our bread with the traditional olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The staff happily bring us some on request.

Dr King begins his meal with the ‘Taglioni alla granseola’. It is a delicate dish of fine green pasta with blue swimmer crab in a tomato sauce. He is lover of noodles of any description so it does not surprise us that he has gone with this choice!

Monsieur Poisson has chosen his favourite scallops in the dish ‘Cappesante avvolte in pancetta’. The scallops are wrapped around their circumference with thin pancetta, instead of over the top as per usual. As a result, all sides have been seared evenly to crispy perfection to encase a just-cooked interior. The scallops sit atop a salad of witlof, grapefruit and walnuts – there is slight bitterness, crunch, acidity and sweetness.

I order the primi special of ‘Zuppa di vongole e cannellini’. It is a creamy puréed cannellini soup with vongole, served with garlic crostini on the side. It is smooth and warming and manages to retain its heat right til the bottom of the bowl.

Gingerbreadman has the ‘Fazzoletti neri ai fruitti di mare’ which is black handkerchief pasta with cuttlefish, mussels, prawns and chilli. The little black pasta sheets are glossy and slippery smooth with a light coating of salty, garlicky sauce. The white seafood pieces and coral mussel pieces are a lovely visual and textural contrast. Kiki skips primi in favour of having a larger portion of this pasta as her main meal.

After our selection of primi all revolving around seafood, we finally see some food arrive on our table that consists of meat. I have ordered the ‘Saliccia e pancetta di maialino in brodo con lenticchie’ – a beautiful dish of pork belly and smoked sausage simmered in broth, served with lentils and baby vegetables. The dish is brought out in a lidded casserole and placed on a nearby side table before the contents are plated up in front of us. The visual performance is tantalising and the depth of aromas wafting across to us titillating.

The vegetables are tender and the broth imparts flavour to everything. The pork belly is soft and easily shreds apart although I had expected the amount of lentils to resemble a small pile as opposed to just a few scattered throughout. At the end of the meal I have a pool of golden brown liquid left on my plate and feel saddened by the loss of not knowing how to consume it.

Dr King has ordered himself the ‘Anatra arrosto con topinambour e scorza d'arancia’ which comes with two sizeable pieces of balsamic roasted duck teetering on a bed of Jerusalem artichokes with orange peel. This dish is dubbed ‘charcoal’ by us due to its dark colouring but tastes much better than our description thankfully! The balsamic is sweet through roasting and has rendered the duck nice and crispy.

Gingerbreadman has the ‘Quaglie in foglia di vite con rattatuia’ which is roasted quail wrapped in vine leaves served with smoked tomato ratatouille. The quail is presented laying rather seductively on its side with most of its body covered with vine leaves. The meat is tender and smoky.

Monsieur Poisson goes for the seafood option again with the ‘Risotto ai ricci di mare con medaglioni di trota salmonata’ which has sea urchin blended into the risotto, imparting a slightly fishy flavour, with thin coral slices of salmon rolled tightly into medallions. Dr King loves risotto but gave this a miss due to his aversion to sea urchin. I, too, have a mild aversion to the fishiness of sea urchin but find the flavour is quite subtle and the chilli oil, which is not too hot, helps to conceal any pong.

Dr King, Kiki, Monsieur Poisson and I decide to share the ‘Assaggi’ tasting plate of desserts. It arrives prettily presented on a large square plate with a date and walnut pudding with butterscotch sauce, Pedro Ximénez ice-cream, Italian doughnut filled with sour cherries in vanilla custard, chocolate and polenta tart and mandarin sorbet. We are told the ice-cream is designed to go with the custard, the sorbet with the tart while the doughnut has its own custard. The ice-cream is sticky and sweet against the pudding which has fine shreds of date through it. The tart filling is quite dense sitting in a delicate pastry and the sorbet is very refreshing. The doughnut is denser than I expect with quite a sour centre, but the custard is thin and light.

Gingerbreadman greedily has a ‘Panna cotta con consomme di rabarbaro’ to himself which is made from buttermilk. It is silky, wobbly and surrounded by a rhubarb and bay leaf consommé. The rhubarb liquid is light and not as tart as I usually associate with rhubarb, which may serve to alleviate my poor feelings towards it.

And just when we thought we were absolutely full of food, a plate of complimentary petits fours appears when we request our bill. There are mini-quince and mascarpone tartlets coupled with biscotti. We are five happy little campers and, to top it off, Kiki announces that it is her treat! Our protests to split the bill and shout Dr King to a birthday meal fall on deaf ears so we can only resort to thanking her profusely instead.

Lucio’s

47 Windsor St, Paddington NSW

Tel: (02) 9380 5996

Opening Hours:  Mon-Sat  12:30pm-3pm (lunch)

                                      6:30pm-11pm (dinner)

                        Sun  CLOSED

happy eating!