December 2006

Food and Drink News

by John Newton

Double dose:

One of the funniest things that long gone Sydney restaurant reviewer Terry Durack said was that each night, Sydney restaurants have the atmosphere sucked out to be replaced by ambience. A press release that hit our inbox recently tells us that the recently opened Fix St James (111 Elizabeth Street 9232 2767) has a ‘modern and ambient atmosphere.’ I guess someone forgot to suck.

Owner Stuart Knox tells us that chef Kristen McGuirk also offers three size plates – piccolo, medio and grande – a mix and match option that seems to be sweeping through the kitchens of Sydney. Because it’s a good idea is why – you can nibble or gorge.  McGuirk has come to town from the Hunter where she opened Tatler and moved on to the kitchen at Belltree @ Margan. Why Fix? Knox told us that he has a smaller coffee shop on Castlereagh called Fix. “As in get your fix of caffeine. We wanted to keep the name – and now it’s come and get your fix of good food and wine.” 

Ben Ngu out. Dong Ba in:

One of my favourite Bankstown restaurants was Ben Ngu which served the food of Hue (‘hway’), the old Imperial capital on the Huong river halfway between Hanoi to the north and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to the south.

Terrific banh khoai, crispy rice flour and coconut milk pancakes holding morsels of fried cha hue (a feathery light pork sausage), prawns and bean sprouts and topped from a plate of  fresh greens and sensational bun bo hue, the local pho - fat rice noodle soup with slices of brisket and steamed cha hue floating on it, spiced with chilli lemongrass sauce.

I said when I reviewed it that I could eat this every day. Well, Ben Ngu is no more. In its place, a branch of a very popular Cabramatta place, Dong Ba – also, breathe a sigh of relief, serving food from Hue. I tried their bun bo hue and it’s neither better nor worse than Ben Ngu’s – it’s different. Didn’t get a chance to try anything else because it was packed – had to queue at the door – and they’d run out.

It should settle down soon.  Dong Ba Cabramatta is at 40 Park Road 9755 0727: at Bankstown, 297 Chapel Road

Chilli in the sushi?:

The grandly named World Gourmet festival held annually at the Four Seasons in Bangkok has a tradition of inviting world famous chefs – Tetsuya went for Australia. This year they decided to look beyond famous to interesting and asked Yoshii Ryuchi.

By all accounts, he had a great time, served his food to some impressive palates and rubbed shoulders with other worthy pot rattlers like Michael Mina from Bellagio Seablue in San Fransisco and Fatema Hal from La Mansouria in Paris. He also took a liking to the local tucker – he may Thai it on at Yoshii (sorry, but they started it)
115 Harrington Street The Rocks 9247 2566

On a red roll:

This is really a rolls to riches story. Almost 20 years ago, a Vietnamese migrant named Hong Ha opened a little bakery shop in Mascot selling fresh bread and rolls. After a while he began selling bahn mi, those crusty rolls stuffed with pork or chicken and chilli, coriander – indeed anything you fancy.

The word spread, and pretty soon there were queues down Mascot Road every lunchtime. Hmm, thought Hong Ha, my rolls are pretty popular – but Mascot is a little out of the way, so he did what any enterprising businessman would do –and spread his wings. Today, you can buy Hong Ha’s bahn mi – today called Red Rolls – at World Square in the city, at 324 Forest Road Hurstville, at 53 Park Road Cabramatta and at the original, 1151 Botany Road Mascot.

“So delicious, so Mauritius”:

That’s the slogan on the Golden Buddha restaurant near Pailles on this dot in the Indian Ocean. I was there recently as guest of the Mauritian Government to attend their first Festival of Creole Culture. Creole (or Kréol as it is spelt in their language but we’ll stick with Creole) means, essentially, the language spoken by all the different ethnic groups on the island – African Indian, Chinese and French. But it’s more. It’s culture, it’s music – and it’s food. One day of the festival was devoted to cuisine, and we poor journos traipsed from restaurant to restaurant trying the various cuisines. Highlights for me was the chilli boudin noir (a spicy bloody pudding) and the goat marsala made by chef Bernard Phillipe from the island of Réunion, and the snapper cooked in coconut ‘chutney’ with a little achard of bitter melon by chef Robert la Biche from the Seychelles.

These were interesting, but Mauritian food is the main game, a fascinating mixture of African, French, Indian and Chinese – often in the same dish. And because the island is the playground of the European rich and famous (French film folk love it – Gerard Depardieu a frequent visitor) there is also an interesting nouvelle Maurititenne cuisine, perhaps best practiced by the doyenne of local cuisine, Jacqueline Dalais. Madam Dalais explains that she calls her cuisine ‘la cuisine Creole qui parle le Français” – Mauritian food that speaks French. She has several restaurants on the island but her main hangout is La Clef des Champs in the suburb of Floreal.

It is a beautiful and fascinating island. Colourful, much to do, terrific food – and they don’t do coups.

A book full of extra virgins:

I forget whether this is the second or third edition, but the 2007 Guide to Australian Olive Oils by Melbourne olive oil shop proprietor Jenny Birrell is the best yet. There are now 76 commercial groves featured, with extensive information on each of their oils – and a few recipes from the likes of Kylie Kwong and Robert Marchetti.

I don’t know about you, but I find it useful to have this little book with me when I’m confronted by yet another Oz Oil I’ve never heard of. You’ll find it for $14.95 at most good food stores – or call Jenny on (03) 9818 2375 to find a stockist near you.  

Doing up the deli:

It’s been one of the finest delis in town for many years – it opened, original owner Michael Papahatzis reminded us, on November 29th 1989,  and now it’s been totally re-vamped and re-stocked by Michael’s gorgeous daughters Clio and Meni – who’ve taken over from their dad.  Well, he still lurks, you know what fathers are like.

The cheese counter is terrific – and the fabulous Micky is still in charge to make sure you only get what’s in the best condition – and it still has one of the most impressive ranges of Australian olive oils for sale in the city – take your guide with you.

And finally:

At the end of a year when we discovered that Global Warming didn’t mean endless summer and Peak Oil wasn’t the winner of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil prize and Single Desk wasn’t a tiny country school and we ate far too many pork bellies and learnt to pronounce viognier and were offered tiny plates everywhere – not necessarily at tiny prices – may I wish you a merry Christmas/ happy Hanukah or good tidings for whatever you worship at this time of the year – good eating, wise drinking and see you next year.