Name & shame: Let’s start July with a serious item. Do you think that restaurants warned by health authorities should be named and shamed? Yes. OK. Consider these points.
First, the American newspaper Newsday (June 27th) reports that a New York City health inspector has been arrested after telling a restaurant in Brooklyn it could avoid being closed for violations for the price of a bottle of tequila and $500. The inspector was fired and could go to jail. Could it happen here?
Second, consider the case of a restaurant that operates without any problems for a number of years, then fails one minor health inspection. Should they be named and shamed? That’s the end of their business.
Third, some time ago I was dining at the restaurant of a well-known chef with five other people. We all ate the same dish. I was the only one who became severely ill. I was reminded of that by the case of Tables in Pymble, where the 81-year-old man died after eating the sauce on the asparagus. A tragedy. But 14 other diners who ate the sauce did not die.
Public health is a difficult area and, yes, we all want to believe we are eating uncontaminated food. But there are no guarantees anywhere in life, especially not in restaurants. And, might I add, neither you nor I would want a health inspector in our home fridges.
Personally, I think the first time a restaurant commits an offence it should be given a warning and a specified time to clean up its act. If it doesn’t, or if it offends again, all bets are off.
Tea up: Coffee is out there. Tea, on the other hand, is in here (he points to his head). Coffee is action, tea contemplation. Sydney is a coffee town but, just occasionally, don’t you yearn for a really good cup of tea?
I want to introduce you to two very different tea experiences.
At the Sussex Street entrance to the Sussex Centre, at Dragon Espresso, a tiny hole-in-the-wall on the left as you walk in, Christina Wong sells takeaway coffee and Ceylon Tea Hong Kong style. Her father, Wong So, has had tea shops on the Kowloon side in Hong Kong since 1950. Dad sends her the Ceylon base and she blends it with 12 other teas. It sits on top of a simmer pad, brewing, and you drink it with condensed milk. Strong and delicious. Her coffee isn’t bad, either.
But for a truly serene Chinese tea experience, surrender yourself to the knowledge, ritual and the astonishing range of teas at Zensation (656 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, Ph 9319 2788). Originally a Chinese art and antique shop below owner Raymond Leung’s design studio (among other work that he does, he makes beautiful lanterns), it has been remodelled as a tea house cum art and antique store. Raymond knows his tea and if you sit at the bar with him he will lead you through a selection of teas the like of which you have never tasted — the remarkable milky oolong from Taiwan, a tea that changes flavours with each successive cup, from fragrant creamy vanilla all the way to lime. Or pu erh, a twice-fermented tea of legend and romance (see the tea geek site www.pu-erh.net), sold in a hard disc and better when aged. Pu erh is an acquired taste — earthy, minerally, robust.
Raymond, and on Saturdays his daughter Christina, will show you how to prepare the tea and also offer you little tea nibbles such as tsin doi, little sesame balls filled with redbean paste, and dam taat, egg custard tarts. It is an experience. And where coffee revs you up and gets you going, Raymond’s teas will relax your body and clear your mind. Maybe that’s just what we need after a hard Friday night.
Coffee down: Now, we certainly don’t want to gloat, but when it first opened in Balmain we wondered how long Starbucks would last. Not long is the answer — around six years. That makes Balmain the place that has seen off a Starbucks and a Macdonald’s. And for those of you who love both, keep going. But give me a place where I know the owner, a place where the profits stay put.
And it’s not just Balmain. The New York Times reports they’re closing an additional (there were closures a while back) 500 stores and cutting 12,000 staff. All of whom, hopefully, will go on to open cool and comfortable corner cafes. Which serve real coffee rather than frappes. What is a frappe, anyway?
Restaurant news: There’s a bit of news this month, so I’ll set out in point form…
Opening soon: We didn’t have a great experience at Pony (Shop 14 The Rocks Centre Playfair Street, The Rocks, Ph 9252 7797) but to be fair it was first weeks — we were forced into an early review (not by Sydney Eats, I assure you). The place was attractive (Michael McMann design) and the service was smooth. We should go back and will. Now Damien Heads and crew are off again, with Steel (60 Carrington Street, Sydney, no phone as yet), another McCann design, this one sounding sleekly steel and white onyx. Cleverly, they’re providing breakfast, lunch and dinner and they’re not trying to do more than offer seasonal and well-provenanced woodfire-grilled meat and seafood share plates, barfood and a few vego options for the busy suits. Not too sure how the communal table will go downtown, but it’s worth a go. And we’re not too sure what to make of the media release’s assurance that “guests will be greeted by an interactive feast illuminated by silver pebbled lights”. Opening August — we’ll let you know more.
| | Reopened: One of our favourite Flash restaurants, Marque (355 Crown Street, Surry Hills, Ph 9332 2225) is open again after being given a bit of a swoosh by Mark Coulston of Black Box. Well, they call it a “bold refinement”, which includes a bigger dining room and a private dining room for 16. And more good news. After the reopening, chef Mark Best will be offering a series of degustation dinners for $145 a head until July 12 and after July 18 they’ll be open for Friday lunch — with a fixed-price menu of three courses for $45 as well as the ordinary menus.
Gone: While they’re still there for a couple of weeks, Daniel and Elio Cordaro have handed over the now 10-year-old Elio (159 Norton Street, Leichhardt, Ph 9560 9129) to new owners. The brothers actually began the Norton Street renaissance, which has been a bit up and down lately (with one of the ups surely being our current fave Osvaldo Poletti over the way — and it’s no coincidence that the chef there, Robyn Touchard, is Elio’s former chef). We wish Elio and Daniel a good rest and hope they come up with something fascinating in the future — and we’ll give the new Elio a while to settle in, and report back.
Good: Not so new but one of our favourite recent finds is the new version of Bau Truong (42 John Street, Cabramatta, Ph 9727 4492) turned up by Sydney Eats managing editor, Kerry Boyne. I went on her recommendation and am about to give my own. First, it represents a new generation of Viets in Cabramatta — Laminex tabletops don’t cut it any longer. Bau Truong shows clear signs of the hand of a clever designer with an avocado and chocolate colour scheme and comfortable padded chairs. But, fear not, there’s still a box of tissues on the table but, more importantly, sensational food. Locals know them for their chargrilled meat and seafood, but we went for a few more complex dishes. Two that stood out for me were the caramelised fish claypot and the goat curry, two of the best dishes I’ve had anywhere this year. Reasonably priced, too. We’ve given it the $ rating (2 dishes for under $25) — you could certainly spend more, but you needn’t. There’s also a branch in Canley Vale (250 Canley Vale Road, Ph 9755 7099). Hint: if you’re going out at night in Cabramatta and you want a bit of buzz, go early — around 6.30–7pm, when you’ll see a full restaurant. Of course, if you want to be alone … go at 8pm.
Coming up: The old post office behind the Leichhardt Town Hall (109 Norton Street) is in the process of being remade into a winebar. We tried to get in touch with Leichhardt Council to find out more, but guess what? They didn’t ring back. Stay tuned.
The Chocolate Queen is teaching: If you haven’t been to Dylan Roden’s remarkable shop Blackamoor Confections (75 The Kingsway, Kingsgrove, Ph 9150 8441) because you don’t know where Kingsgrove is or whatever reason, get a map and get over it. It is one of Sydney’s most eccentric and rewarding experiences (the column is full of them this month — one more to come). First and foremost, Dylan is a chocolate maker and her chocolates are as wonderfully whacky as the shop itself: sit on filigreed chairs among chandeliers and waving palms and eat her delicious creations at faux marble tables. Drink tea or hot chocolate. But the news is that she has begun to teach for the local Loftus TAFE, chocolate making to certificate 4 students but also post trade — and that can be you — at Blackamoor. A 16-hour course spread over four hours by four weeks, at the end of which you’ll be able to make chocolates for yourself. And we promise you, with Dylan teaching, it’ll be enormous fun. There is also a series of Sunday Workshops alternating between chocolate making (Dylan), wine appreciation (Mike Cooper of Classical Wines) and coffee (Peter Brawn from Gourmet Gold Roasters). Starting at 9.30am, with breakfast, lunch and arvo tea thrown in, the education is all over before lunch and then with lunch there will be, in Dylan’s words “a few glasses of pleasure” and after lunch in each instance prac work — for the chocolate day you’ll learn tempering, ganache, dipping and moulding. Then finish the day with a glass of bubbly and a nibble. If you’re in the chocolate-making course, go home with the chocolates you’ve made yourself. Insurance assessors! Bank tellers! Brain surgeons! Wouldn’t you rather be making chocolate? Ring Susan Donohoe from Loftus TAFE on 9710 5824 for all the details.
Wine, food and Chinese antiques: I have to tell you I had a little trouble finding this one, but then I am geographically challenged. John Cunnington’s Art of Wine & Food (Unit 10/14 Green Street, Banksmeadow, Ph 9363 2817 www.artwinefood.com.au) has relocated from Queen Street Woollahra — and that’s a relocation in more ways than one. John shares the warehouse space with his wife Lynette’s collection of superb Chinese antiques. I trotted over there on a recent Saturday. This is for the true wine and food geek and if you have any of those close to you — or indeed admit to yourself that the description fits — this is where you come for gifts or to treat yourself. Books rare and precious and merely curious: corkscrews (Mr Cunnington collects them) through the ages; absinthe glasses; French provincial plates; old menus; and one of the most intriguing and bizarre items described thus: “French artist Gerard Puris recycles champagne and wine capsule foil to produce captivating decoupage-type colourful works of wine-related images.” You gotta see it. If you remember the paintings that hung around the old Clock dining room when the late Anders Ousback redesigned it — they were collected by John and he still has many similar works. Another good reason to get out the street map. Open Thursday, Friday & Saturday 11am-5pm or by appointment.
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