September 2006

Food and Drink News

by John Newton

Lunch at the Kirketon

News has it that this welcome recent addition to the Sydney bar and restaurant scene will be open for lunch Monday to Friday from 3rd October with a new spring menu – you’ll find it on the website www.kirketon-diningroom.com, which owner/host James Ingram was working on when we rang (if the site isn’t up yet, patience, keep trying). We’ve had a sneak peek at the spring offerings and they look terrific – one of those ‘I want everything’ menus. Buck the short lunch trend and book a long one with a bunch of mates.
229 Darlinghurst Rd,
Darlinghurst,
Ph 8354 5400

Do-good dragon

We held the 2007 edition Reviewers’ Dinner and Bent Fork presentation at 2007 winner Blue Eye Dragon in Pyrmont – seriously good food and fun was had by all. One of the dishes we ate was dubbed the Vegetarian’s Dilemma: tofu with pork belly sauce, prompting one committed omnivore and tofu-phobe to comment: “Pork belly sauce can make anything taste good.”

Now for the serious bit. Every year, owners Muriel and Jade Chen bung on a fundraiser – last year they raised $14,000 for the Spastic Centre of NSW with a dinner. This year, it’s a Sunday brunch at 12-4pm on October 8 in aid of Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets program. $165 buys you food, drinks and a series of mini wine tastings – there’ll also be raffles and a live action. All staff work for free and every cent goes directly to the  program.
Call Muriel on 9518 9955 or email eat@blueeyedragon.com.au for your tickets.
 

Buyer beware

My 14-year-old daughter was cooking up a pack of two-minute Chicken & Corn Noodles billed on the pack as ‘Simple Goodness No Artificial Colours or Flavours’. Turning the pack over, I found no mention anywhere of chicken or corn in the long list of ingredients. How can this be when those two ingredients take up most of the room on the front? Because when you look at the label closely, in tiny letters, coloured to blend in with the  background, you’ll see the word ‘flavour’, which means – legally – it doesn’t  have to contain any chicken or corn (can you believe that?). We called the Consumer Helpline and asked what were the ‘natural flavours (contains soy)’ listed in the ingredients. “The flavours are part of the recipe; they can’t be divulged,” we were told. Is there any chicken or corn in the product, we asked. “No one’s saying there isn’t” was the answer. Is it a flavour derived from chicken? “It may be. I know what it is, but I can’t tell you.” But one of the ingredients is MSG – that’s not natural. “No, but that’s not a flavour; that’s a flavour enhancer.” Of course. Check before you buy.

Choco buco?

Had lunch at Osteria dei Poeti in Glebe, a benefit for the Bridge For Asylum Seekers Foundation. Chef Aurelio Spagnuolo kindly offered his food at a very good price and put on a menu from Campania – the region around Naples. It was all good, but one dish was as sensational as it was fascinating: Osso Buco Cioccolata – yep, osso buco with chocolate. The story is this: the Spanish ran Naples for 200 years from around 1500 to around 1700, and where did chocolate come from? Mexico. And who brought it back? The Spanish. So when they went to Naples, they decided to drop a little into the osso buco. Aurelio uses a dark cooking chocolate, just enough to intrigue without overpowering. Try it for yourself until the end of September.
73 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, Ph 9571 8955

Not so good

Another recent eating-out experience left me gob-smacked – literally. Family dinner, suburban Thai (no names) – I couldn’t believe some of the stuff that landed on the table. Salt and pepper squid looked – and tasted – like it had been not so much dipped in batter as cast in plaster. Was there actually any squid there? The jury’s out. But the weirdest dish of the year goes to something called coffee duck – a boned duck dipped in batter (not plaster) and deepfried ... as if duck isn’t fatty enough. It was the fat equivalent of adding a few tablespoons of sugar to a glass of Coke. Have you had any really weird/bad food lately? Let us know.

Eat out to help the homeless

It’s called StreetSmart and it’s a rare example of a really good idea from Melbourne (hang on, we forgot AFL). Here’s how it works. From November 13 to December 24, participating restaurants ask you to add $2 to your bill and StreetSmart give it to charities helping the homeless. They’ve raised almost $80,000 in Melbourne with this scheme and it’s beginning to take off in Sydney with restaurants like Longrain, Bird Cow Fish, The Barn and Il Piave already signed up. If you want your restaurant/cafe to take part, visit  www.streetsmartaustralia.org or call
03 9836 1926. And if you’re eating out and you get hit for the $2, you know why.

Hail to the chefs

The restaurant industry gave out the awards to its own at Restaurant & Catering NSW’s lavish do at the function centre at Royal Randwick. I’m glad I didn’t have to light the candles on the tables – they sat and fed 800. One well-deserved award was Tony Bilson’s induction into the John K (Johnny) Walker Hall of Fame. Fitting, really. Tony’s first job as a young cook  40 years ago was at Johnny Walker’s Angel Place Bistro (he started there as a dishwasher – that didn’t last) under Paul Harbulot. The Lifetime Achiever Award went to Beppi and  Norma Polese of Beppi’s and, as the restaurant is now in its 50th year, you might be forgiven for saying about bloody time! It was very touching to see Beppi hug his wife and tell her he loved her and thank her for everything. Congratulazioni, Beppi e Norma.

So who won the big gongs? Marque picked up Best French and Restaurant of the Year: Fine Dining went to Guillaume at Bennelong, but the contest was soooo close (down to two decimal points, adjudicator Jane Adams said), an Honourable Mention also went to Tetsuya’s. And many more, too numerous to mention, except to say, good on you all.