A Few of My Favourite Things !

Ed and Matt have (separately) written about a certain, self-claimed ‘celebrity’ chef who has sent unsolicited emails to many of us. Have a read here and here - what are your thoughts on this? Did you recognise it for what it was immediately? Maybe I’m just a little naive but I really thought he was being friendly in letting me know about his articles but there was just this niggly little feeling that this wasn’t going to form into the usual blogger friendship…anyway, have a look at the more articulate ramblings of these guys

Our friend waved to the maitre d’ who was at the next table with another waiter standing next to her, wanting to ask about a dish on the menu.

Maitre d’: (abruptly) “Wait! I’m busy here.”

Probably not a good start to our night here but we persevered with our order which was taken by the maitre d’ herself. After that, we were left with trainee waiters as she spent the rest of the night playing the sycophant to the guest at the next table, who appeared to be a food critic or restaurateur from Singapore, and his friends.

Don’t they train wait staff during the week anymore? It was the second night for one of them and his hands were trembling so hard when he was placing our plates and condiments down that I thought I was going to end up splattered with soy sauce.

We were presented with a amuse bouche of overcooked fried fish to whet our appetites… The sashimi moriawase, petit awabi sashimi (abalone) and salmon toro sashimi came out one after another. I had been looking forward to their sashimi all week, understanding that it’s meant to be of top standard at this establishment. I don’t think I’m being harsh by saying that I’ve had as good if not better at food courts.

The next dish turned out to be the gyu-tan koshu-ni, an ox tongue stewed in Japanese seasoning and red wine. However our waiter did not have a clue what it was when we asked him. There was no “I’m not sure but I’ll find out for you” -

Waiter: I don’t know…
Us: Is this the ox tongue?
Waiter: Maybe

Anyway, it was sliced thickly and eaten as a sandwich between a mantou bun was the best dish of the night - with or without the mantou. The scampi kinokoyaki, grilled scampi topped with some thinly sliced shitake and anoki mushrooms, was garlicky and sweet. Pretty perfect too. We were also delivered a plate of mapo lobster which we had decided against, but figured it was too much trouble to let them know. Deep-fried lobster pieces (slightly overdone) with cubes of tofu surrounding it, it wasn’t spicy enough for our tastes.

We even went so far as to order dessert -

P: I’ll have the black sesame and green tea ice cream
A: The black sesame and green tea ice cream as well, we’ll share (waving in my general direction)
T: The pannacotta please.

The four scoops of ice cream came out on a big platter, garnished with three slices of pannacotta. Silence. Then a request for the desserts to be separated. 10 or 15 minutes later (I think they were waiting for the ice cream which had already started melting, to harden up in the freezer again) two plates came out with two scoops of ice cream and only one slice of panncotta each. Sigh…it felt like a long night. The maitre d’ served us some complimentary plum wine at the end of the night but somehow this didn’t go very far in helping us feel better. So, my question is SHOYA you wanna try this place?

SHOYA Nouvelle Wafu Cuisine 25 market lane melbourne 3000 vic
tel: 9650 0848　fax: 9650 0950

When I first read Melissa’s post calling for foodbloggers around the world to compile a list of 5 things they would recommend everyone to eat, all these great food thoughts came tumbling into my head. Even though there was no need to be tagged before posting this meme as everyone was invited to make their contribution to this list, I really, really wanted to be tagged! After waiting and waiting and waiting (yes, I’m impatient by nature), Julie was generous enough to pass the baton on so now I can finally post my list.

In the making of this list, my husband had to be consulted because (a) I am the least decisive person in the world and my list would consist of at least 15 or 20 or more of some of my favourite foods in the world and I would be utterly helpless when it came to whittling them down to just five and (b) it’s not just what you eat but who you eat it with that counts for me and my ultimate companion for trying new things and exploring new places is of course, my husband.

So, here is our list of five things to have before you die:

1. Macarons from Pierre Herme - Yes, I’m sure that this is going to get quite a few mentions but we could not leave it off the list, especially the caramel à la fleur de sel ones that A. would make a special trip to Paris for.
2. Indonesian Layer cake from Amsterdam - we came across a bakery/cheeseshop that sold wedges of this rich butter cake spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomom, cloves. Can’t tell you the address I could probably find it again when we are next in Amsterdam.
3. Salted-butter Caramel crepes and Blue cheese Saracen - there were many many stalls selling crepes at the Christkindelmarkt in Strasbourg. One of the smaller stalls had just two people behind the stand, a stout, moustached gentleman making the crepes and his daughter helping with the hot drinks. They were taking a short break when we went by but something about the stall compelled us stop and wait for them to return. What a great decision that was - the most amazing salted-butter caramel crepe. Pity we didn’t get the chance to have another. We have been searching for salted-butter caramel crepes since but it’s like finding a needle in a haystack!
4. Prosciutto pizza with egg in Etoile, Paris - On our first trip to Paris, we met up with friends at a little pizza place between conference sessions. He was having a pizza that we had never seen before, just thinly sliced prosciutto with an egg cracked into the middle just before taking it out of the oven. So simple but mind blowing. We have returned to this pizza joint every trip since but always at the wrong time - either too early or too late.
5. Tea from Mariage Frere - you just have to try the tea blends from this place. There are just so many choices but I have no doubt that each is as enticing as the next.

I’d love to hear from:

• The intrepid Aussies at Sticky Rice
• Ginny of La Petite Chinoise
• Michele of Oswego Tea
• Martha & Tejal of 2 Tasty Ladies
• Arthur of Arthur Hungry

How can you eat at a top gastronomic institution like this one every single day and have someone else pay for it?

Here’s how….I’m sure the lingerie helps!

A team from The Age’s Epicure department tracked down and tested this dense, creamy Italian hot chocolate brew that is cioccolata calda to announce that the best of the best can be imbibed at the Lygon Street institution, Brunetti’s.

I can personally attest to fact that Brunetti’s cocoa, milk and sugar concoction, which is made by their in-house chocolatier and kept churning in their heated cioccolatiera, is very good indeed, however having not tried the others I cannot definitively name it as the best

PS: Unfortunately, despite mentioning that two places did not rise up to standards due either to their uninspiring brew and bad service, the journalist does not name names. Too bad for us as we won’t know which places to avoid

During the course of our meal, we even had the honour of meeting THE MAN himself. Apparently Tetsuya is often away due to other engagements, however when he is in the house he does make it a habit to greet his diners. We were fortunate enough to have him come by our little table for two to say hello. We could also see heads from surrounding tables turning around and whispers of ‘That’s him. That’s Tetsuya‘. Boy, did we feel special!

Of course, he didn’t stay long. Just long enough to wish us a good meal and to recommend that we take our time and enjoy. Just long enough for us to get the impression that he is a down-to-earth and humble guy despite his impressive international reputation.

The word is out!

There are some fantastic Australian foodblogs out there and some of them are featured in this article by Liesl Rampono. I think it’s great that Rampono has actually looked into the Australian blogging scene in more detail than this article. There are even some quotes from the lovely Saffron at The Food Palate, so please check it out. Access is free however if you have any difficulties, I can email you a copy instead.

Yesterday morning, I went (as I do every morning) to collect our mail from the post office box. On most days there is some registered mail that I have to sign for, but that morning I noticed that there was a medium-sized box with my name across the side! I was ready to leap over the counter, snatch the box from the person behind reception, run home and rip the box open so that I could examine its contents! BUT, I managed to summon up sufficient self control to sign for all the registered mail, thank the gentleman who handed me the box and saunter out of the post office with the box under my arm, looking as if I received parcels like this every day. I even managed to wait for A so that he could share the excitement with me. What a great parcel this was! My BBM partner, Sandra who is an Australian expat now living in the US, put so much thought into the parcel - have a look at what I received:

Copper River Smoked Sockeye Salmon, a Seattle’s Best Coffee mini-sampler pack, Redhook Brewery Party Mix , chocolate mint shortbread cookies and chocolate from Fran Bigelow, Maury Island Marionberry jam, a Space Needle Douglas Fir ornament. I’ve never heard of Marionberries, but these are a domesticated blackberry variety that is favoured for pie, yoghurt, ice cream and jam. I can’t wait to try everything out!

Sandra’s cat, Jasper, sent Bella & Tasha some Wild Side Salmon cat treats. Look at them trying to get their paws on the treats! They sent purrs of delight and thanks to Jasper for thinking of them.

I stopped by the post office again this morning and was delighted to find another parcel from Sandra waiting for me. Knowing that Australian customs can be pretty strict on allowing food items through, she sent two parcels in the hope that I would receive at least one of them. The second parcel contained a Seattle cookbook, a Halloween edition of Martha Stewart Living magazine, Halloween tissues, Halloween hot chocolate and a hand salve and lip cream. Sandra also wisely chose to send 3 biscuit recipes instead of actual biscuits because it is likely that they would not have made it through customs. I’m looking forward to trying her special Chocolate, Cranberry & Orange Sable biscuits - yum!

I’m blown away by the effort Sandra has put into my parcel - thanks so much, Sandra! - and I hope that she received an equally great parcel from her BBM partner.

Head over to The Samantha Files for the round up and make sure you sign up for BBM3…

We had some lovely weather in Melbourne last Sunday. The sun was shining and crowds of people were outside in T-shirts and singlets enjoying the spring weather. A & I packed a picnic lunch and took the cats out for their first outdoor adventure. We placed the girls in their harnesses and carried them to the nearby Carlton Gardens, laid out a picnid rug and let the cats out of the bag. At first, they both stayed close by A, getting used to their new environment.

Soon, however, we noticed Bella creeping off the picnic rug to lay on the ground. Look at her reaching out with her tongue for the blades of grass! She was just soaking up the glorious sunshine and keeping a sharp eye on her new surroundings, her curiousity aroused by the movement of people, birds and bees around her. Tasha remained too cautious to stray off the rug. She remained close to A the entire time, content to sit in front of him and to share some gourmet cheese offerings that we had picked up from Simon Johnson. Look at the way she is gazing adoringly at A in this next photo:

Head over to Clare’s at Eat Stuff to see photos of the other gorgeous felines…