Busy. Tired. Tired. Busy.
That time of year, I'm afraid.
Hectic weekend, biggest two nights out that I've had since... since... well, probably since the first half of this year. Cocktails, Martinis, Tequila, Cowboys, Bacardi, Jager-bombs. Ouch.
No hangovers, but extreme tiredness, definitely. And it'll just keep going this week... DJ Krush on Thursday, a work Christmas party on Friday and a wedding on Saturday.
Will post more once I'm energised a little bit more.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Hot off the presses
As mentioned as coming soon in previous posts, I wined and dined at The Press Club last night.
Short review; food was delicious, service was average.
The restaurant itself is pretty slick; lots of dark colours, sharp modern lines, an open kitchen, and some big windows looking out towards Exhibition and Flinders Sts. The table set-up seems pretty flexible - we had 6 at our table, but other tables had anything from 2 to 8 or 10 people pretty comfortably. (Actually, now that I think about it, I did find the actual chairs/table set-up reasonably comfortable - I didn't get particularly fidgety or on edge at all, which I usually do by the end of a big meal courtesy of my long legs and a general lack of leg space in fine dining establishments). The menus are on a single large cardboard sheet, with a layout definitely influenced by newspapers.
The first signs of underwhelming service were when I received my pre-dinner drink in a short glass, rather than tall glass, despite the waitress specifically asking if I wanted a tall glass (and me saying yes), as well as a description of the menu that ended up with me being more confused rather than less (an attempt to describe the entree/main/dessert versus sharing plates). Unfortunately, this trend continued through the night... drinks forgotten or taking an awful long time, loads of time taken to clear away finished dishes, a long wait with the menus before someone took our dessert orders. Perhaps they were only teething problems - I certainly hope they work them out soon. It didn't turn me off, it just left a slightly sour memory of the night.
Anyway, on to the positive - the food. These was probably some of my favourite dishes of the year, easily up there with choice dishes from Taxi, Pearl and Becco during 2006. I was doubly impressed since, as much as I love my food, I can be a little picky when it comes to avoiding prawn/scallop/oyster types of seafood and there were some of these options on the menu, so I had to choose carefully.
I chose the salad of cumin roasted beetroot, pistachio biscuit, yoghurt cheese and honey for my entree. The beetroot had a lovely intense flavour, with each mouthful finishing with a distinct cumin flavour. The pistachio biscuit was more like a mini-pistachio sponge cake with a slightly firm/crisp outside... sweet, spongy and delicious. The yoghurt cheese rolled in herbs and the drizzle of honey complimented the rest of the dish beautifully.
For my main course, I chose the seared salmon with cauliflower cream and a moussaka cigar. Wow. Easily one of the most perfectly cooked pieces of salmon I have ever eaten, still moist and rare inside, slightly crispy and salty skin, and a lovely delicate taste. The salmon fillet was in a "puddle" of cauliflower cream - like a smooth and creamy cauliflower-flavoured sauce. Tasty, but subtle enough to compliment the salmon, not overpower it. For a different texture, a flaky pastry "cigar" with moussaka filling was on the side. The dish was topped off with a passionfruit sauce, adding a slight tang. Top marks.
Dessert was a rich, intense and divine chocolate souffle, with cinnamon ice cream and what was listed as sour cherry jam but seemed to be more chocolate (with a gold leaf sprinkle). The souffle was an impressive size, and was a decadent mix of fluffy, spongy souffle and oozing chocolate.
So, in summary, the food did not disappoint (we could even see head chef George Calombaris running things in the kitchen, complete with surprisingly shaved head), but the service was not quite up to scratch when compared to some of the slick operations at other restaurants we've dined at this year. But don't let that put you off... the food was well and truly worth a visit to the Press Club.
Short review; food was delicious, service was average.
The restaurant itself is pretty slick; lots of dark colours, sharp modern lines, an open kitchen, and some big windows looking out towards Exhibition and Flinders Sts. The table set-up seems pretty flexible - we had 6 at our table, but other tables had anything from 2 to 8 or 10 people pretty comfortably. (Actually, now that I think about it, I did find the actual chairs/table set-up reasonably comfortable - I didn't get particularly fidgety or on edge at all, which I usually do by the end of a big meal courtesy of my long legs and a general lack of leg space in fine dining establishments). The menus are on a single large cardboard sheet, with a layout definitely influenced by newspapers.
The first signs of underwhelming service were when I received my pre-dinner drink in a short glass, rather than tall glass, despite the waitress specifically asking if I wanted a tall glass (and me saying yes), as well as a description of the menu that ended up with me being more confused rather than less (an attempt to describe the entree/main/dessert versus sharing plates). Unfortunately, this trend continued through the night... drinks forgotten or taking an awful long time, loads of time taken to clear away finished dishes, a long wait with the menus before someone took our dessert orders. Perhaps they were only teething problems - I certainly hope they work them out soon. It didn't turn me off, it just left a slightly sour memory of the night.
Anyway, on to the positive - the food. These was probably some of my favourite dishes of the year, easily up there with choice dishes from Taxi, Pearl and Becco during 2006. I was doubly impressed since, as much as I love my food, I can be a little picky when it comes to avoiding prawn/scallop/oyster types of seafood and there were some of these options on the menu, so I had to choose carefully.
I chose the salad of cumin roasted beetroot, pistachio biscuit, yoghurt cheese and honey for my entree. The beetroot had a lovely intense flavour, with each mouthful finishing with a distinct cumin flavour. The pistachio biscuit was more like a mini-pistachio sponge cake with a slightly firm/crisp outside... sweet, spongy and delicious. The yoghurt cheese rolled in herbs and the drizzle of honey complimented the rest of the dish beautifully.
For my main course, I chose the seared salmon with cauliflower cream and a moussaka cigar. Wow. Easily one of the most perfectly cooked pieces of salmon I have ever eaten, still moist and rare inside, slightly crispy and salty skin, and a lovely delicate taste. The salmon fillet was in a "puddle" of cauliflower cream - like a smooth and creamy cauliflower-flavoured sauce. Tasty, but subtle enough to compliment the salmon, not overpower it. For a different texture, a flaky pastry "cigar" with moussaka filling was on the side. The dish was topped off with a passionfruit sauce, adding a slight tang. Top marks.
Dessert was a rich, intense and divine chocolate souffle, with cinnamon ice cream and what was listed as sour cherry jam but seemed to be more chocolate (with a gold leaf sprinkle). The souffle was an impressive size, and was a decadent mix of fluffy, spongy souffle and oozing chocolate.
So, in summary, the food did not disappoint (we could even see head chef George Calombaris running things in the kitchen, complete with surprisingly shaved head), but the service was not quite up to scratch when compared to some of the slick operations at other restaurants we've dined at this year. But don't let that put you off... the food was well and truly worth a visit to the Press Club.
Showing my age?
Two things I just wanted to comment on... perhaps these topics show my age? My slow loss of coolness? I don't know.
1. Why the f*ck can't anyone younger than me spell properly any more? Seriously. It isn't even just spelling, it is general grammar and comprehensibility. Sure, I'm occasionally guilty of messing around with words ("'cause" instead of "because", and often "kinda" instead of "kind of"), but just reading the extreme ineptitude of the wording of messages on Myspace pages (or watching that Vodafone ad with the girl who only speaks in acronyms, or reaing that schools in NZ were going to allow "text-speak" in exam answers...) makes my head want to explode. If I ever create my own Myspace space, I'd ban anyone who ever left a mess of a message...substituting "8" for an word with "ate" in it, or "luv" instead of "love", all of it. What freaks me out is the fact that it probably takes longer to type words incorrectly (on a keyboard or mobile phone keypad) as opposed to just typing them correctly, or letting predictive text or spell check clean everything up. Even more worrying is if spelling like this comes naturally to these kids... then we are developing entire generations of complete linguistic f*ck-ups. Bodes well for the future of the human race.
2. Guys and their narrow, tight jeans these days. I'm not going to try and analyse the what/why of this "fashion" trend (I'll leave that to those more qualified than I - Footpath Zeitgeist) but what really freaks me out is that, after the world has somewhat calmed down with the hip-hop culture-influenced baggy jean trend, stick figure guys are busting out the narrow leg denim with the crotch hanging somewhere near their knees. What is the point of this look? On what planet of what universe does this look good? I don't get it... they certainly aren't doing it to display stylish underwear or a ripped chest (unless you count an emaciated rib cage as buff). The only thing it looks like is that they couldn't get to the bathroom in time and went in their pants instead, and without a belt, it is starting to drag their pants down...
1. Why the f*ck can't anyone younger than me spell properly any more? Seriously. It isn't even just spelling, it is general grammar and comprehensibility. Sure, I'm occasionally guilty of messing around with words ("'cause" instead of "because", and often "kinda" instead of "kind of"), but just reading the extreme ineptitude of the wording of messages on Myspace pages (or watching that Vodafone ad with the girl who only speaks in acronyms, or reaing that schools in NZ were going to allow "text-speak" in exam answers...) makes my head want to explode. If I ever create my own Myspace space, I'd ban anyone who ever left a mess of a message...substituting "8" for an word with "ate" in it, or "luv" instead of "love", all of it. What freaks me out is the fact that it probably takes longer to type words incorrectly (on a keyboard or mobile phone keypad) as opposed to just typing them correctly, or letting predictive text or spell check clean everything up. Even more worrying is if spelling like this comes naturally to these kids... then we are developing entire generations of complete linguistic f*ck-ups. Bodes well for the future of the human race.
2. Guys and their narrow, tight jeans these days. I'm not going to try and analyse the what/why of this "fashion" trend (I'll leave that to those more qualified than I - Footpath Zeitgeist) but what really freaks me out is that, after the world has somewhat calmed down with the hip-hop culture-influenced baggy jean trend, stick figure guys are busting out the narrow leg denim with the crotch hanging somewhere near their knees. What is the point of this look? On what planet of what universe does this look good? I don't get it... they certainly aren't doing it to display stylish underwear or a ripped chest (unless you count an emaciated rib cage as buff). The only thing it looks like is that they couldn't get to the bathroom in time and went in their pants instead, and without a belt, it is starting to drag their pants down...
Sunday, November 12, 2006
How a stupid door policy almost f*cked up my night a.k.a dealings with Miss Door Bitch
OK, so last night I was heading into to Honkytonks to go for one last dance (ankle permitting) before they close at the end of the year (yeah, I know, you can see where this story is going already). Heaps of people have different views on HTs... some love it, some hate it. I've never had a bad night there, but that's mainly because I make sure I laugh at the collar-up guys, watch the drunks with intrigue as they try and find the correct bathroom, and generally just bust out on the dancefloor and try to avoid the attitude. I just wanted to make sure I had that one last night out there; besides, I'm getting old, I don't manage to go "clubbing" much any more.
So where was I? Yep, we were cruising into town, detoured to Loop to have a quick drink before heading to HTs a bit after 10pm. We wandered down the lane, pretty much no one else is sight... looking quiet, it was pretty early, even the door folk were sitting on the stairs. We say hello as Miss Door Bitch wanders up and replies "are you on a guest list? sorry, guest list only tonight"...
WTF? Seriously? Now I've been knocked back maybe once or twice from Honkytonks before (in a crowd of like 10 people once, on a very busy night another time), and had the occasional bit of trouble getting in, but we've never been knocked back on that old classic, the flimsy guest list pretense. Bullsh*t. There was nothing special on that night. There probably weren't even 10 people inside yet.
I don't claim to be the greatest kid on the block, but I'm not quite out of it enough to warrant that sort of behaviour (well, maybe I am and I just don't know it??)... I'm shallow enough to wear the funky threads and do the messy hair thing. In Miss Door Bitch's defence, she doesn't know that I've been there like dozens of times before, that I'll be out on the dancefloor before most, that I even bought the Honyktonks mix cd the other day 'cause I do in fact go for the music, not just to pose. But even still, she could have been a little more lenient. She was just too cool for school (actually she was looking pretty old, trashy and try-hard; no surprise there - but I guess the Saturday night power trip is all she's got going for her... oooh, burn).
Beautiful way to ruin a legacy of great nights there with a final memory of such poor form. Part of me is still keen to go (maybe next weekend, for Steve Bug...?), part of me just wants to vent some more (they have an enquiries email address on the website), and part of me just doesn't care (f*ck 'em all).
And how did the night end? Not too badly actually - we went back to Loop, got the alcove facing out on to Meyers Place, dranks apple martinis all night and watched the world go by...
So where was I? Yep, we were cruising into town, detoured to Loop to have a quick drink before heading to HTs a bit after 10pm. We wandered down the lane, pretty much no one else is sight... looking quiet, it was pretty early, even the door folk were sitting on the stairs. We say hello as Miss Door Bitch wanders up and replies "are you on a guest list? sorry, guest list only tonight"...
WTF? Seriously? Now I've been knocked back maybe once or twice from Honkytonks before (in a crowd of like 10 people once, on a very busy night another time), and had the occasional bit of trouble getting in, but we've never been knocked back on that old classic, the flimsy guest list pretense. Bullsh*t. There was nothing special on that night. There probably weren't even 10 people inside yet.
I don't claim to be the greatest kid on the block, but I'm not quite out of it enough to warrant that sort of behaviour (well, maybe I am and I just don't know it??)... I'm shallow enough to wear the funky threads and do the messy hair thing. In Miss Door Bitch's defence, she doesn't know that I've been there like dozens of times before, that I'll be out on the dancefloor before most, that I even bought the Honyktonks mix cd the other day 'cause I do in fact go for the music, not just to pose. But even still, she could have been a little more lenient. She was just too cool for school (actually she was looking pretty old, trashy and try-hard; no surprise there - but I guess the Saturday night power trip is all she's got going for her... oooh, burn).
Beautiful way to ruin a legacy of great nights there with a final memory of such poor form. Part of me is still keen to go (maybe next weekend, for Steve Bug...?), part of me just wants to vent some more (they have an enquiries email address on the website), and part of me just doesn't care (f*ck 'em all).
And how did the night end? Not too badly actually - we went back to Loop, got the alcove facing out on to Meyers Place, dranks apple martinis all night and watched the world go by...
Is this a food blog?
Once again, I find myself writing about food... this is definitely becoming a theme.
I just got back from lunch at the Botanical; a nice, casual pre-Christmas catch-up Sunday lunch with a few old work friends. The food was great, I'm not entirely sure I'll need dinner tonight! I decided to limit myself a little bit, and so I only indulged in entree and main (no dessert, although I was definitely tempted). I started with the smoked spiced salt and pepper calamari with roasted almond aioli - soft, tasty calamari with a nice smoky tang to it. For mains, I succumbed to the temptation of the wagyu beef, and had the Botanical wagyu burger with fried duck egg and crispy pancetta. Even my much-vaunted burger eating technicque couldn't handle the burger stack, and I had to deconstruct it with knife and fork. The burger itself was delicious, while the accompaniments (rocket, egg, pancetta, dressing etc.) worked really well.
This is turning out to be a heavy (literally) duty festive season already, and it isn't even December yet.
I just got back from lunch at the Botanical; a nice, casual pre-Christmas catch-up Sunday lunch with a few old work friends. The food was great, I'm not entirely sure I'll need dinner tonight! I decided to limit myself a little bit, and so I only indulged in entree and main (no dessert, although I was definitely tempted). I started with the smoked spiced salt and pepper calamari with roasted almond aioli - soft, tasty calamari with a nice smoky tang to it. For mains, I succumbed to the temptation of the wagyu beef, and had the Botanical wagyu burger with fried duck egg and crispy pancetta. Even my much-vaunted burger eating technicque couldn't handle the burger stack, and I had to deconstruct it with knife and fork. The burger itself was delicious, while the accompaniments (rocket, egg, pancetta, dressing etc.) worked really well.
This is turning out to be a heavy (literally) duty festive season already, and it isn't even December yet.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Awesome
Apologies... double geek out moment; embedding a YouTube video for the first time, and the Gears of War trailer.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Food for thought
I'm on a bit of a food bender at the moment; both at home, and out at the glorious restaurants around Melbourne. I've already mentioned the "at home" aspect, mainly courtesy of Ready Steady Cook, now for the "going out" aspect...
We went to Libertine in North Melbourne on Friday night, for delicious French food and wine. The restaurant itself is rather small and quaint; we sat upstairs next to a fireplace (fortunately not working or we would have been the ones cooking). The food itself was delicious; it was the "spring menu", so the dishes were hearty without being too heavy. I started with pressed pork belly with apple and crackling for entree, followed by seared tuna in a hock consomme for main, and a callebaut dark chocolate and hazelnut pithivier for dessert. All the courses were worthy, but the dessert was something else entirely - quite thick, firm pastry in a "pie" type shape, filled with molten dark chocolate and hazelnut pieces. Wow. I also sampled a wide array of beverages... champagne, red and white wine, and even a sherry (with dessert) - all at the recommendation of our waiter, and all very well chosen (as I had hoped and expected - Libertine won best short wine list in The Age Good Food Guide awards this year). Highly recommended.
Looking ahead, I'm off in 2 weeks to The Press Club (in the Herald Sun building on the corner of Flinders and Exhibition Sts), which is the new endeavour of George Calombaris, who did Reserve at Fed Square (which I unfortunately never tried) and who also regularly appears on Ready Steady Cook. His creations always look and sound delicious, and somewhat creative, so I'm definitely looking forward to our meal at Press Club.
I'm also keen to try Gingerboy, which is the recently opened offshoot from Ezard.
Busy eating times ahead.
(Fortunately, in my line of work as an all-round lazy slacker, the post-eating exercise is optional... but probably recommended).
We went to Libertine in North Melbourne on Friday night, for delicious French food and wine. The restaurant itself is rather small and quaint; we sat upstairs next to a fireplace (fortunately not working or we would have been the ones cooking). The food itself was delicious; it was the "spring menu", so the dishes were hearty without being too heavy. I started with pressed pork belly with apple and crackling for entree, followed by seared tuna in a hock consomme for main, and a callebaut dark chocolate and hazelnut pithivier for dessert. All the courses were worthy, but the dessert was something else entirely - quite thick, firm pastry in a "pie" type shape, filled with molten dark chocolate and hazelnut pieces. Wow. I also sampled a wide array of beverages... champagne, red and white wine, and even a sherry (with dessert) - all at the recommendation of our waiter, and all very well chosen (as I had hoped and expected - Libertine won best short wine list in The Age Good Food Guide awards this year). Highly recommended.
Looking ahead, I'm off in 2 weeks to The Press Club (in the Herald Sun building on the corner of Flinders and Exhibition Sts), which is the new endeavour of George Calombaris, who did Reserve at Fed Square (which I unfortunately never tried) and who also regularly appears on Ready Steady Cook. His creations always look and sound delicious, and somewhat creative, so I'm definitely looking forward to our meal at Press Club.
I'm also keen to try Gingerboy, which is the recently opened offshoot from Ezard.
Busy eating times ahead.
(Fortunately, in my line of work as an all-round lazy slacker, the post-eating exercise is optional... but probably recommended).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
