Our neighbourhood restaurant Pulp Kitchen reopened in mid-May to much excitement.
Here’s a link to the hotplate article I wrote for GT
Pulp Kitchen, Ainslie
Eschalot, Berrima NSW
There’s a serious step up in the food at Eschalot these days with the arrival of Nick Gardner in the kitchen. Some aspects of the service could be refined to match the fine cuisine.
Highlights
#1 Beautiful new crockery and precision cooking and meticulous presentation
#2 Some serious dessert skills – particularly the bombe alaska with espresso ice-cream centre
#3 Awesome duck breast and duck confit main course – beautifully balanced plum sauce and duck jus on the side.
Clementine, Yass
Clementine is the latest project of Adam Bantock (ex Dieci e Mezzo, A Baker, Temporada) . It also represents something of a lifestyle change, with Adam leaving behind the pans in Canberra to create a cosy little country restaurant (in part of his own house) in Yass. Great portions, stylish presentation, refined technique, no attitude or pretensions!
Highlights
Absolutely loved the fish pie – perfect pastry lid helped gently steam the fish within a white-wine based jus. Stunning.
Beef flank perfectly seared – still rare and juicy.
Loved the hazelnut cake dessert – reminder of times in Piedmont!
Great to see the wine list focussed on local drops – including the more experimental part of the range.
Biota, Bowral
Headed up to Bradman country for a spot (6 course) lunch at Biota on Friday 6 January 2017.
Biota situates itself within the paddock-to-plate, hunting, gathering, fishing and fermenting part of restaurant spectrum. It’s all pretty artistic and conceptual. And mostly it works very well.
‘A selection of fermented ingredients (chickpea, pea, black garlic) on toast’ was the best conceived and executed dish. Starters, aged flathead and the yoghurt dessert were also excellent.
On the downside, the veal was somewhat overcooked and tough (had been expecting a texture more akin to vitello tonnato). I also felt the cocoa nibs somewhat overpowered the sweet pumpkin icecream. Calamari dish lacked a bit of seasoning, and the sous vide egg was a touch underdone (and required a spoon that wasn’t initially provided). The watermelon was fine, but was accompanied by tomato pieces that weren’t particularly ripe.
PS Don’t miss the beautiful rye and molasses bread and house cultured butter.
Dishes of 2016
A few favourite samplings from a big year of dining in 2016
#1 A post Sydney-to-Surf at Ester included my knockdown-and-drag-them-out dish of 2016 – the wood fired roast duck in an Asian dressing
#2 Templo in Hobart moved the dial for me with it’s simple but perfectly executed modern Italian cooking – particularly pasta dishes like this Fusilli Zucchini in a buttery sauce infused with garlic and lemon rind.
#3 Fortunate enough to find a space at the Clove Club on a walk-in, this Scottish black pudding dish (yes, disguised by a foamy mousse, radicchio and apple.) was memorable
#4 Two McConnell brothers cooking in one kitchen (Monster, ACT) was a highlight of early 2016. Here’s their soldiers wrapped in pork lard.
#5 Aubergine’s Ben Willis has hit a winner with his brown butter ice cream and chilled lemon verbena
#6 Franklin (Hobart) killing it with this stinging nettle barley risotto.
#7 Anchovy (Melbourne) became a few favourite – here’s the duck, fermented red rice and celeriac puree
#8 Bo ssam at Mel and Andrew’s in Griffith. What a mighty Saturday afternoon lunch in the backyard
