little sheep, small bars

We've covered small bars before, and it's not a concept...but they're just so darn cute, and great ones seem to be popping up everywhere in Sydney lately:

121 BC (as covered by me in this week's Daily Addict)

Hidden in the alleyway between big sister Vini and Jared Ingersoll’s Cotton Duck, the latest addition to Surry Hills’ Holt Street food scene is a wine shop slash enoteca that ain’t no slacker when it comes to celebrating interesting wines, liquors and digestives from every region of Italy.

Named after the finest vintage of Falerian wine, from the region between Latium and Campania, you don’t need to be a wine buff to appreciate Surry Hills’ latest vino digs, but those with an eye will find plenty to like.

One half is a walk-in wine fridge, defined by Italian wine regions – buy by the bottle and have it cracked open for you at the bar, or choose from the by-the-glass menu, with the help of the very charming Giorgio de Maria.

Featuring custom hand-blown glass decanters by artist Brian Hirst, intimate seating for 23, and a slimline seasonal menu by Vini and Berta’s owner/executive chef Andrew Cibej; if you like your food simple and sexy, you’re home.

The silky carpaccio of Spanish mackerel is perfect with a glass of Maquè Perricone rosé, the marinated bocconcini with chilli crumbs is a classy winner, and make sure you soak up the earthy pine mushrooms with borlotti beans with plenty of bread.

4/50 Holt Street (via Gladstone St)
Surry Hills, 2010
(02) 9699 1582

Timbah

Glebe natives love Different Drummer. It's kitchy and a little daggy, and for the better part of a two decades (originally opened in Darlinghurst in 1971), the only proper bar in Glebe. Not anymore, if newcomer Timbah has anything to say about it. A converted garage beneath Glebe's best vino bottle shop, Glebe Liquor, the bar is run by the same crew and is satisfyingly 'off the beaten track', just off Forsyth Street at the quieter end of Glebe Point Road, and a stone's throw from Glebe Point Diner.

Cue the sound of falling trees: As the name suggests, there's a fair bit of wood panneling as well as twine-esque partitioning, which gives the space an organic, un-done feel, just don't be lighting any matches indoors.

It's a wine bar, so expect regular changes to vinos by the glass, and some interesting ones at that.
It's not all about drinking though, with a chalkboard menu of seasonal shared dishes like fried school prawns with aioli, kingfish carpaccio with grapefruit, fennel and mint, as well as heftier mains to boot.

A welcome addition to the inner west drinking culture.

Stitch

They say a stitch in time saves nine, but (perhaps more nobly) this Stitch has joined in the effort (with bars like Grasshopper and Grandma's) to save the CBD from being void of cute, interesting places to scurry to, after dark.

Reminiscent of New York's many off-street-level establishments, this basement bar's street-level calling card is a tiny tailor's shop front, that gives way to a downwards set of stairs, opening into the bar. Blink and you'll miss it kinda stuff.

Like Grandma's, there's a kitchy-cool vintage vibe going on, with the bar constructed from stacked sewing machines, sheet-music wallpaper and saloon-style barrel tables. Given the old-fashioned feel, you'd expect classic cocktails to be done with panache, and there's certainly a good Negroni to be had here.

On the food front, it's encouraging to see more hotdogs in Sydney, especially with names like French Poodle, and Mack Ducky Dog. They ain't no basic NYC street dawgs either, featuring schmancy (not just a little bit fancy) bangers like duck, orange and pistachio, as well as fillers of brie, truffle sauce and the like. Top it off with curly fries and you've one solid city bar experience.

61 York Street
Sydney, 2000
www.stitchbar.com

seriously good restaurant desserts

Everybody knows (especially women) that a great meal out at restaurant isn't complete without dessert. It just wouldn't be right. And, from a gastronomic point of view, it balances the palate and rounds out the dining experience.

Here are a couple of great desserts around town you should know about:

1. The Devonshire's Earl Grey Brûleé

Brand new restaurant The Devonshire brings a bit of polish to this neck of the woods, with its sleek interiors and Franglo-style bistro fare (their Bangalow pork loin, bell and shoulder with pumpkin, prunes and apple is a mega win). When it comes to dessert, their Earl Grey brûleé is a classic in the making.

Think of it as a sort of deconstructed Devonshire (geddit?) Tea. The basis of any good Devonshire tea is always a great scone, and in this case, it's in the form of ice-cream. Scones are baked off, and then cut up and dried out in the oven, before being crushed and churned with vanilla bean ice-cream, to really ram in that essence of scone. This is served with cherry jam, whipped cream..and the crown jewel - a delicate teacup of earl grey-flavoured créme brûleé. Clever, cute and beautifully executed.

204 Devonshire Street,
Surry Hills NSW 2010 Sydney
Telephone: 02 9698 9427
http://thedevonshire.com.au/

2. Red Lantern's Banh Cam Man Cau

You all remember my cousin Luke, innit?

Ok, so we're not really related, but it has been fun to tell drunk people at parties that we are. Aside from being my fake cousin, and spending time making television shows and writing books in Vietnam, his restaurant with chef Mark Jensen and Pauline Nguyen serves up some cracker takes on Vietnamese cuisine, including their sesame and rice flour dumplings filled with sour sop served with black sesame ice cream. As Luke puts it, sour sop is kind of the more awesome cousin of the custard apple. A member of the pawpaw family, it's simultaneously sour and sweet. Here, it's caramelised and stuffed inside glutenous rice flour dumplings, rolled in black and white sesame and flash fried. The result is golden-crisp on the outside, sticky on the inside, with a sweet and sour explosion in the middle. Served with black sesame ice-cream, it's one of the more interesting desserts around town.

545 Crown Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9698 4355

3. Lotus' Choc chip cookie

You've tried the Lotus Burger (arguably one of the best burgers in Sydney), and then there is the warm choc chip cookie. There's something about a desserts of your childhood that makes people come over all kid-like. No matter how rich, old, high-brow or cool you are, nostalgic food is the ultimate fountain of youth. Dan Hong's choc chip cookie at Potts Point's Lotus is indeed that: featuring a from-the-oven warm chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream, raspberry and butterscotch, it's a brilliant combination of childlike enthusiasm and grown-up indulgence.

22 Challis Avenue
Potts Point NSW 2011
(02) 9326 9000

4. Bodega's Banana Split

In a similarly nostalgic vein, Bodega's banana split, consisting of a cream flan, carameltastic dulce de leche ice cream, ginger biscuit and fresh banana is a perfect storm of flavours and textures that seem familiar, yet presented in an entirely different way than you ever had it as a kid. There's a reason this dessert has been on the menu from the beginning - it's a total winner. Boys, take note: This is the ultimate girl-pleaser, a date-night must order, if you fancy a crack at the prize.

216 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills New South Wales 201
(02) 9212 7766

let me egg-tertain you

Every so often, the internet presents pure genius. Cooked up by YouTube in 24 hours, no less, Egg Watchers isn't some bizzare form of weightloss program, but a brilliant way to boil an egg. Simply tell the site the size, desired softness and current temperature (fridge/no fridge)..and GO! You'll then be shown a crazy YouTube video, the exact length it takes to boil your egg to perfection. How's that for distraction cooking?

Oddly enough or not, it's quite accurate and thoroughly entertaining (Try: Large egg, from the fridge, squidgy...totally disturbing.) Points for using music from Twin Peaks soundtrack - claymation will never be more disturbing. Amazeballs.

6 hour beef rendang

Like many classic dishes from The Straits that my mother cooked when I was a kid, I've been putting off cooking beef rendang for years because I was paranoid about not being able to nail it the way it should be. Fortunately it's actually pretty easy and now I feel like an idiot for not doing it sooner. Also...can't find 6 hours? Start this sucker off before bed and let this baby cook in your sleep!

This recipe is ridiculously easy, provided you have two things:

1. A blender/food processor
2. A slow cooker

I highly advocate owning these appliances if you don't already have them - it's like a collection of seriously good knives...suddenly life becomes a whole lot easier in the kitchen.

A word of warning: I cook like an Asian (wtf?). What that means, is Asian cooking is all about tasting and adjusting on the go, so while this recipe will provide the right quantities and ingredients, use your own judgement to modify to your taste. 

Ingredients

Curry Paste

1 tbs coriander seeds
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh tumeric
1 generous knob of galangal, coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, halved
3 red chillis (de seeded if you prefer a milder curry)
1 thumb sized piece of young ginger
1/2 stalk of lemongrass, coarsly chopped
1 stalk of shallot
1 tsp white mustard seeds
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 candlenut


4-500g of beef oyster blade, chopped into large cubes
1 tbs ketchup manis
1/2 tin of coconut cream

To serve

steamed white rice
sliced cucumber
nasi lemak chilli sauce, available at all Asian groceries
ikan bilis

Method



1. Blitz the paste ingredients in the blender until you achieve a rough mess, and all ingredients are partying together. Add a small amount of water if the  paste if having issues combining.

2. Turn on the slow cooker and set for 6 hours

3. In a pan on medium heat, stir fry the paste until it becomes aromatic

4. Push the paste to one side of the pan and brown the beef cubes

5. Mix the whole lot together, adding half a can of coconut cream and the tablespoon of ketchup manis

6. Pour into the slow cooker and pop the lid on

7.  Warning: un-authentic twist coming up:

About two hours in, you can choose to add some okra and a handful of cherry kumatos

8. Stir it when you remember, season with sugar and salt to taste

Serve with steamed rice, ikan billis, sliced cucumber and nasi lemak chilli sauce

taste of sydney festival 2011

It's like the Big Day out for adults and the general food-loving public at large. In its third year in Sydney, the festival has become synonymous for giving Sydney an opportunity to taste food from some of the city's best restaurants and chefs, for a fraction of the price...and all in the one space.

Restaurant Balzac's seared regal king salmon with a salad
of pomegranate, mint and feta

This year's festival features an array of different food experiences, including Chefs Table QA sessions, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, market stalls from amazing producers like Gundowring Ice Cream, Bitton Gourmet and Victor Churchill Butcher and a heap more.

The stylish ladies from Monday Morning Cooking Club

With around 21 restaurants taking place this year, including Assiette, Cotton Duck, Bird Cow Fish and Four in Hand, like any good gig, it might be worth studying the guide to plan our your day before you get there.

Alex Herbert from Bird Cow Fish shows off her wares

Here are some of the top picks for Taste this year:

Berowra Waters Inn 

Unless you have access to a seaplane or boat and a stack of cash, Berowra Waters Inn might be 'out' of many a diner's budget. Hit up their stand for their chilled vichyssoise, oyster beignets and salmon roe, or the slow cooked fillet of ocean trout, with 'French onion soup' puree and pepper oxtail croustillant.

Four in Hand

This Paddington pub dining room is no ordinary bistro - it has two hats, for starters. Chef Colin Fassnidge and his team offer up clever, beautifully balanced dishes using seasonal ingredients in unexpected combinations. Case in point, their dish of Confit pork belly, squid, chorizo and chickpea at this year's festival. Sweet lovers, take not also, his famous version of a Dark Chocolate Snickers (a deconstruction of the milkbar classic, comprising of caramel peanut ice cream, caramel nougat, chocolate ganache and crisps and a scattering of herbs.) is also on offer this year.

Flying Fish

Having just come back from Sri Lanka, Flying Fish's offering floats the boat, with a refined take on the paradise island's cuisine. Check out the black pepper and curry leaf prawn skewers with lime and fresh coconut as a killer starter, and one of the stand out desserts at this year's festival has to be The Wattalapam - a Sri Lankan version of creme caramel, with (kithul) palm treacle and roasted cashews.

Wattalapam

Other must haves:

Bird Cow Fish's tiramisu with caramel sauce

Bird Cow Fish's Tiramisu...her's features caramel sauce, which may not be traditional, but what it is, is killer.

Cotton Duck's Nigella and jerky-crustyed Hiramasa kingfish with heirloom vegetables and basil flowers.

Restaurant Balzac's Crisp Wagyu with mushroom and truffle foam make man-friendly snacks.

Crisp Wagyu beef with mushroom and truffle foam

For the full menu at Taste and all the details, click here.

Markus Gerlich from NZ Regal Salmon

nigella lawson: kitchen

It's fitting that with International Women's Day just wrapped up, that one of the most inspirational female foodies in the world is about to grace our shores with a visit. That favourite kitchen minx, Nigella Lawson is back again with a new book. Aptly titled 'Kitchen - Recipes from the Heart of the Home', this time around, the book is about making everyday cooking situations easier and more interesting: What to do with leftovers, how to pull together a last minute dinner for 4...and more. From clams with chorizo to Guinness gingerbread, there's simple food with a twist, plus plenty of handy hints to get things done with style.

The domestic goddess will be signing books and meeting fans next Wednesday in Sydney:

Wednesday 16th March
12.30pm
David Jones Sydney

..and thanks to Random House, Fooderati is giving readers a chance to WIN a copy of Nigella's new book! Simply tell us, in 25 words or less: What is your handiest cooking tip?*. Email your entry to gimme@fooderati.com.au. 


*One entry per person, competition closes Monday 14th March, 2011, 5.00pm

australian bacon week

It's officially National Bacon Week - a festival of all things pork pink, smoked...and delicious. Australian Pork Limited searched high and low throughout the country to find and celebrate the bacon producers, in an effort to showcase why Australia bacon, and indeed pork, is better than imported, often reared under suspect conditions.

The 2011 National winners are:

Overall Best Bacon: Barossa Fine Foods, Schulz Butchers, Elizabeth West, SA

Full rasher: Metcalf Quality Meats, Evan's Head, NSW

Low fat: Barossa Fine Foods, Schulz Butchers, Elizabeth West, SA

parched march

You've heard of Dry July and Feb Fast, now there's Parched March...but don't worry, it doesn't mean you need to spend yet another month of the year abstaining from your favourite alcoholic beverages - this one actually encourages you to actively get out there and celebrate Sydney's vibrant drink culture...in moderation of course!

Started by SMH S section writer Amy Cooper and egged on by drinks writer extraordinare Simon McGoram, the pair created the annual event, in part, to buck the trend for an all-or-nothing approach to drinking, and instead to promote a charitable aspect - and the industry- at the same time.

During the month of March, while you can sponsor teams (or create your own) to hit 30 bars in 30 days, the easiest way to support the cause is to head along to any participating bar, order the specially-created Parched March cocktail, and drink up. This year, proceeds from these bespoke bevvies Sydney Dogs & Cats Home and the Animal Welfare League of Queensland - helping displaced and abused animals.

Parched March cohort Simon McGoram shared some of his picks with us on where to head if you feel like helping the cause. It's thirsty work, after all.

Eau De Vie - Bloomsbury Bitter $19

A frosty mix of Tanqueray No. TEN, amaro, honey, white grapefruit & spiced Lager syrup, topped with soda. A brand-spanking new addition to Eau de Vie's already killer cocktail list, bartender Luke Redington wone the World Class Best Seasonal Cocktail Competition this year with this baby, so you know it's good.

www.eaudevie.com.au
229 Darlinghurst Road
Darlinghurst, Sydney
0422 263 226

The Rum Dairies - Twist(er) on The Hurricane 

The Rum Diaries' own take on iconic New Orleans-born drink, created during a time when you took your recipes to the grave. This version is a mix of Appleton vx & Coruba rums, grenadine, flamed passion fruit, lime, pineapple & orange juices.


288 Bondi Road
Bondi 2026
02 9300 0440
www.therumdiaries.com.au


Grandma's Bar - Mug'o'Punch

Self-described 'retrosexual' bar, this kitch wonderland abounds in crotched rugs, needles (of the knitting kind) and a charmingly warm atmosphere. Tucked away in the basement of 275 Clarence Street in the city, like that blanky your nan made you, once you find it, it's always treasured.

Grandma's is offering a cute enamelled mug of their house-made punch (rotating daily) as their Parched March offering. If all that booze gets your tummy grumbling, the kitchen also makes a mean jaffle to cure what ails you.

Basement 275 Clarence Street,
CBD
02 9264 3004

A full list of participating bars can be found here.