Family Potluck - Bexley, NSW

Earlier today, the Mrs and I posted an entry about our visit to Cafe Oratnek, well...that's not all we did (ate) over the weekend. Aside from enjoying a beautiful brunch, the Mrs and I had been invited to attend a potluck hosted by one of my close family friends. For the uninitiated, a potluck is an event or meal where each guest is in charge of contributing one dish. I quite enjoy our semi-regular potlucks as our families have always been close friends (our fathers all worked together at the same restaurant for many, many years) and as a result of being so close to the dining scene, our love for the culinary is equal to each others.

I decided that I'd take this opportunity to try an idea that's been floating around my head for a while: yakiniku tacos with radishes pickled in rice vinegar and asian inspired chimichurri. To make the dish, I marinated a couple of beef flank steaks in a house made yakiniku marinade overnight. The marinade is just equal parts cooking sake and soy sauce cooked with onions, garlic, sugar and honey (next time I might even try to add some fruit like apple or nashi pear in for some acidity). For the pickles, I sliced radishes on a mandoline slicer and pickled them in a rice vinegar pickling liquid overnight. Finally, I made the chimichurri out of the white parts of some spring onions, some garlic cloves, italian parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a green chilli. Overall, I was very pleased with the result. I would have preferred to use a more tender cut (such as harami/skirt steak) and maybe marinade it for less time but the interplay of the sweet and crunchy pickles and the spicy, herby sauce made for an excellent party dish.

My friend decided to make ribs and takoyaki (a weird combination I know, but it worked). The ribs were very tender and flavoursome which really reflected the amount of effort he put in to make the ribs. It would have been even better if it was warm enough to have a backyard barbeque where he could have put some smoke and charcoal on it. My friend also took the opportunity to try out various ideas for takoyaki flavours. My two favorites of the night were the XO takoyaki and the truffle aioli takoyaki. Being that the takoyaki was already very creamy inside, the addition of the tobiko and aioli really pushed it to a new level of decadence....a must try for any truffle fan. The XO was also really nice as the chilli oil from the XO sauce melded with the batter to create a ball of spicy goodness.

Another friend also took the time to make a pot of spicy napolitana penne. Although she did indicate that it wasn't her intention to make it as spicy as it was, we were all really glad that it came out the way it did because it was deliciously appetizing. As with any good chilli dish, the heat built up with each mouthful which made you want to eat more. Additionally, some other friends made quiches in potato cups. The quiches were perfectly contained in nice, crispy and carby cups which made them rather delectable treats.

For dessert, we were served lemon curd cupcakes and a chocolate tart. The lemon curd cupcakes were amazing and had a perfect balance of creaminess to tartness. It really was a wonderful way to cut through the intense flavours we had earlier in the dinner which was great because it gave us the ability to kick on and eat the decadently rich chocolate tart. Topped with sliced strawberries and shavings of white chocolate, this chocolate tart was all manner of lovely. Honestly, I probably hoarded half the tart to take home because it was that good.

I truly love the way our families have remained so close and still somewhat regularly find the time to get together and enjoy some great food. I genuinely hope that even as the Mrs and I move further to the west, our ties will remain strong and we still find the time to get together and cook up a storm.

Spago - Beverly Hills, NSW

We are honestly rather spoilt for choice in the south with our abundant Asian options and various areas where you can get a good feed, but when it comes to contemporary Western cuisine, there's only really one place that stands out to me. When I think about how long it's taken me to write a blog post about this place, it amazes me because anyone who talks to me knows I won't shut up about this place. I am convinced that Spago is the BEST that the south has to offer. Which is why when it came time to celebrate my birthday, the choice was obvious. It was definitely not the first time the Mrs and I have been here so it really didn't take long for us to decide what to order (we were so quick that the waitress was rather surprised).

Our entrees came shortly after we had ordered. I stuck with what I knew was good and ordered the Angus Beef Carpaccio. This dish amazes me in it's flavourful impact and sheer simplicity. The texture and taste of the raw beef meshes so well with the capers and cheese that you just can't help but love it. The hint of Truffle aioli on top really kicks it up a notch for all those who love truffles. The Mrs chose the Octopus salad which based on previous experience, is rather impressive. The octopus was unbelievably tender and rather well seasoned which worked really well in the crisp and fresh setting of the salad of rocket and red onions.

For our mains, I chose the more indulgent experience by ordering the rump steak with cafe de paris butter and hand cut chips. As the butter melts over the seared exterior of that beautiful piece of meat, the flavours of the herbs and spices melds together with the charred. beefy meat to give you a delightfully moorish steak. In particular, the tart and savoury flavour profile of the capers really highlights how well prepared the dish is. 

The Mrs stuck with what she knew was good (and had been craving for a while) and ordered the squid ink spaghetti. In all the times where I've had the pleasure of eating that pasta, I've never once had a bad experience with it. Like always, the pasta is cooked al-dente and coated ever so lightly in a light olive oil sauce. The cherry tomatoes are ever so slightly cooked to accentuate the natural sweetness and the bits of crab is perfectly flavoursome. For good carby measure, we also ordered the fries with truffle aioli...I mean, how could you not? 

For dessert, the Mrs let me choose her dessert (which came as a part of the Weekday deal we ordered) and I chose for her the Panna Cotta. The panna cotta is rather seasonal as each time we've ordered it, it came with a different fruit compote. I believe this time it was a berry compote as it had bits of strawberry on top which worked really well in cutting through the smoothly sweet cooked cream.

In continuing the theme of indulgent dining on my birthday, I opted to have the triple chocolate mousse cake as my dessert. Indulgent is a pretty apt description of the dish as it was layered with hazelnut, dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse. This was all set on top of a chocolate and almond cake and covered with a chocolate mirror glaze. This was a chocolate lover's dream (which was great for me cause I don't like anything sweet but chocolate) and despite the heavy sounding description, it really wasn't that filling as I had expected to be bloated after the meal but wasn't.

As I mentioned above, I don't ever really stop talking about this place and they never really give me a reason to stop. With each subsequent visit, I just find more and more to love about the work that they do there. The quality of the service and food really speaks volumes about how much dedication the team there puts into the menu and the food. Pair that with excellent service and an incredibly decent price (the weekday deal is the best value ever), Spago becomes that one gem that you can never pass up.

Jamie's Italian Trattoria - Parramatta

Normal people adore musicians and celebrities right? I don't, I fanboy over chefs. I follow people like Dave Chang, Chase Kojima, Dan Hong, Nic Wong and Anthony Bourdain more closely than I do the Kardashians. That's mostly because I practically learned to cook before I learned to run and it's the chefs I saw on TV and in the cookbooks that fostered my intense love of the culinary (special thanks to my dad as well). That's why when I found out (about a month or so ago) that one of my all-time idols; Jamie Oliver was opening a restaurant in Parramatta...I made it my life mission to go. This was rather convenient as the Mrs and I also had a monthsary to celebrate so we booked a table as soon we had a chance. We didn't choose to dine on a busy day so it wasn't immensely packed and upon being seated, we had our orders taken relatively swiftly and so, the date night started out spectacularly.

Now, I'd heard rumors about the long wait times for food at Jamie's Italian in the city so I was rather worried at first but surprisingly, the food came rather quickly! First to come were the porcini mushroom arancini and crispy squid & zucchini. The arancini was fried to a nice crisp on the outside but unfortunately, the rice was a little undercooked in my opinion. It also lacked a bit of the deep mushroom flavour I was expecting from the porcini but the sauce made up for it with it's intense depth and richness.

The squid was perfectly crispy and spicy, almost reminiscent of an italian version of salt & pepper squid. The zucchinis were slices super thinly and the squid was cooked to a perfect tenderness. The chillies gave it a decent amount of heat which really complemented the way the dish worked with the zesty lemon juice and aioli. Honestly, the dish was a wonderfully crunchy and appetising way to start dinner.

The meatballs came shortly after and it looked visually amazing. The piping hot sauce covered the bottom of the dish with five plump little meatballs sitting in the middle. The odd numbered balls made it slightly harder to share but it worked out fine in the end cause the Mrs was more interested in the other dishes to care.

After our plates were collected and a short intercession, our much anticipated mains arrived at our table. The Mrs stayed safe and ordered a prawn linguine which was good but according to the Mrs, lacked a bit of heat. The bowl it was served in also retained heat so well that the pasta continued to cook in the indirect heat. Still, she was satisfied with her dish and that's what matters right? Portioning was large too despite the small looking dish. 

My dish was heaven in a bowl (to me). I ordered the truffle tagliatelle and honestly, I wouldn't have wanted anything else. To meat? No veges? No problem...it was just you, the carbs and the sensory overload of truffle. Despite the intense aroma wafting into the air, the dish was surprisingly light in flavour which made I really appreciated. We had also ordered the rosemary scented skinny fries which I had the absolutely brilliant idea to throw into the truffle sauce thereby creating truffle fries. Waste not want not right?

Overall, I was rather impressed with Jamie's Trattoria. To me, it tasted exactly how I'd imagined Jamie's food to taste (rustic and homely). Definitely a big plus that there were minimal wait times for food and ample seating. Parramatta now has another great foodie destination.