Sydney Restaurant News 

March 2008

MUMU NewNew:

In the old Red Centre site at Crows Nest (MUMU Grill 70-76 Alexander Road 9460 6877), it’s the brainchild of Craig Macindoe whom we last met at Café Tunis and The Tasting Room, and it sounds to this munger muncher like a real winner. Chef Andreas Kirschgasser comes on board from Wildfire and before that La Grillade and brings the meat knowhow.

Craig decided early on that grass-fed was the way to go and today is serving Taralga grass-fed beef from the southern highlands, the best beef I’ve eaten in a long time – and will be a showcase for all grass-fed beef producers. He came to the decision first through reading Weston A Price (go to www.westonaprice.org ) on environmental concerns and finally by putting it in his mouth. “We started serving grain-fed beef and then decided it just didn’t taste as good as the grass-fed product.” It all happens in the woodfired oven – alongside organic chicken, suckling pig and lamb.

There’s also an 11-metre bar with a refrigerated tapas counter under it – with about 10 small plates on the menu and others according to seasonal availability. What you could do is order a big steak, slice it up and share it: beef tapas. Oh, and the coffee, Caffé Colombari, comes from his brother-in-law, Luke McSweeny. Well worth a look and an interesting addition to old Crowie.

Sailing Away?

For many years, we’ve looked at the sensationally positioned Sails (couldn’t be closer to the harbour without being bitten by
a shark) and sent reviewers to check it out, only to have them sometimes report back, no thanks. All this may be about to change with new owner Greg Anderson, who cooked with some of Sydney’s finest (Matt Moran at Aria, Thomas Johns at Pello) before branching out as a restaurateur and opening the very successful and well-regarded Sugaroom at Pyrmont in 2005. Refurbishment begins this month and an April re-opening is planned. We wish them well and all who sail in her. 2 Henry Lawson Avenue McMahons Point 9955 5998

Cheeses!

Now, when a French cheese expert says our goat cheeses are “spectacular” and wants to take one of them back to France, we’re probably finally getting over those cultural cringers who say our cheeses aren’t up to scratch (gidday Downesy, how you going?). The distinguished guest judge, Yves Boutonnat, singled out for praise most especially a cheese from Sutton Grange Organic Farm in Victoria. The brand is Holy Goat and the cheese is called La Luna. Remember that name and seek it out. It’s a white mould goat cheese (sort of goat cheese brie) with the most wonderful, clean, rich flavour. One of the judges, Russell Smith, told of trying it earlier and crying “because it was so good!”… cheese people are weird like that. It won Champion in the Sheep, Goat and Buffalo Milk section. Other big winners included King Island Bass Strait Blue and good old Bega Cheddar.

M. Boutonnat made a most interesting speech at the awards lunch, at which he brought up the taboo (at least in Australia) subject of raw milk, observing with a straight face that it was a great asset in image-making and to immune systems – to mutters from old pasteurised milk supporters.

Cheese and:

Bread. In fact, daily bread. Le Pain Quotidien is the name of two new bakery cafes in town (Fitzroy & Bourke Streets Surry Hills 9360 8460 and 54 Norton Street Leichhardt 9564 0099). It all started in Brussels in the late 80s when Belgian chef Alain Coumont couldn’t find a decent loaf (maybe he should have popped across the border), so he opened the first PQ in Brussels in 1990. Now, they’re in 11 countries and their Sydney bread is being baked by La Tartine’s Nick Anthony – and it’s terrific. The decor is a bit faux – distressed French (or Belgian?) bicycle seats, pine scrubbed raw – but, hey, if the pain is bon, who cares? Lots of sambos, soups and salads plus tarts and pastries all day. There’s also a little range of food products. Worth a look if you’re in either of the neighbourhoods.

Greek legend:

When you ring a restaurant at nine in the morning and the chef is there, you know the food’s in good hands. David Tsirekas of Perama (88 Audley Street Petersham 9569 7534) is always there, even earlier, mucking round with eggplants and lamb, thinking up great ideas for his lucky customers. And, boy, does he have a few right now. First, two treats for Tuesday nights: ouzo mezzedakia nights – order an ouzo and let David send out three plates of mezze to match it. Actually, right now you can do the same thing with a retsina or a Greek beer while he builds up his stock of different ouzos. Mezzes include octopus pickled in red wine, ricotta and sage puree, vela sweetbreads, barbecued sardines – 4 rounds, 12 plates. I say yassou to that.

Then, next month, his dad George will be coming in to spit-roast the lamb out front and he’ll serve it with salads and entrees for just $45 a head. Dad on the spit – how Greek is that? And then on Wednesday nights, there’s tou spitiou, which is Greek for pot luck or chef’s choice. David heads out to the markets, comes back with whatever’s good and turns in three courses for $60. Recently, for example, you would have got a taster plate of fresh figs stuffed with pastourma and ricotta; a Greek salad turned into a terrine; mullaway (we used to call it jewfish) in Turkish pastry stuffed with giant beans, fennel and chorizo; and a dessert of filo stuffed with white chocolate and peppermint tea mousse. All for $60. In the future, watch for the rembetika singers on the weekend. It’s sort of like Greek jazz – the kind of songs they sang in the disreputable cafes in the port of Piraeus in the 50s.

The Dali of desserts:

According to a wonderful book I’m still reading
(A Late Dinner by Paul Richardson, Bloomsbury – I’ll review it on the site soon), the whole modern Spanish food business began in San Sebastian in 1975. Since then, it has found a high priest, Ferran Adriá of el Bulli at a place called Roses on the Costa Brava. He’s the bloke French chef Joel Robuchon pronounced “the best cook on the planet”. That was just before Adriá told the world that French cooking was dead.

Recently, I ate a dessert cooked by the Adriá of pastry chefs, Oriol Balaguer. He flew into Sydney, cabbed it to Tetsuya’s and cooked three sensational desserts and gave a demo. The whole meal was superb, but his desserts – well, they’re hardly your common garden puds. Just one example – orange sorbet with olive oil, honey jelly and Pedro Ximenez jelly – was a mardi gras for the mouth. He’s picked up a few awards: Best Spanish Restaurant Pastry Chef, Best Spanish Handmade Pastry Master and Best Dessert in the World.

His desserts combine the sweet, the savoury and the salty in a way I’ve only tasted once before, and that was a fruit gazpacho from an earlier-generation modern Spanish chef, Pedro Subijana from Akellare in San Sebastian. But Oriol’s stuff was much further along the road to madness. You can try his chocolates or the Sydney cake he created here (we didn’t get that) by calling the concierge at the Park Hyatt Hotel (9241 1234) or by calling importer Javier Degen (The Spanish Pantry 9690 2369). Javier has copies of a book that any young pastry chef would kill for.

 Special Offers:

Selah Circular Quay The perfect venue for stylish city dining. Enjoy this special offer with your candlelit dinner

The Balmain Bug Balmain Enjoy the Chef's menu at one of Balmain's finest for a heavily discounted price this month

Quayside Brasserie Circular Quay Commanding views of the Opera House & fresh Australian produce and an irresistable offer

More sweeties:

From Dali to dhal: