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editor’s note
Another month gone a week joyously spent temping for the Rockford Stonewall Table while their regular chefs Lauren Remkes and Sandor Palmai took a week off to get their own garden projects under control. On the cusp of spring with tiny amounts of peas, sugar snaps and asparagus the menu needed to be changed for the second service because there was insufficient produce to accommodate both services. Working with the Rockford team especially Sarah Chipman and Christian Watkins and the garden team of Joe, Marie and Isaac is a pleasure I enjoy a couple of times a year and always a reminder that there are still companies whose commitment to excellence is at the forefront of their marketing strategy…little wonder that they become the iconic brands.
The stay in the Barossa gave me the opportunity to dine at the new darling of the Barossa Valley fermentAsian. Given that months were spent trying to talk owners Tuoi Do and Grant Dickson out of opening a restaurant their rise to fame is both a phenomenal and wonderful story…CLICK HERE to read their full review. As a reader of just about anything it is stunning to think that the ABC is considering devoting the Radio national book show to fiction and in their response to my email had the gall to suggest that non fiction could be covered via other programs…“The brief for the proposed new program will focus on fiction, memoirs, literary criticism and publishing news. Non-fiction content is covered comprehensively on a range of programs across the network such as Late Night Live, Life Matters, Breakfast and Saturday Extra. Additionally, we are also proposing to enhance our Book Readings to bring listeners more contemporary releases to listen to and the draft schedule now places the Book Reading in the morning (separate to the new program.”
To see the thread of this story please use the following links Ramona Koval in the Sydney Morning Herald CLICK HERE…and Christos Tsiolkas: a slap to the ABC for killing The Book Show CLICK HERE and to have your say to the ABC by CLICKING HERE
Champagne editor Kaaren Palmer is still travelling in Europe and has internet connection and sending through some terrific content and images. Unfortunately Kaaren and Kevin had their credit cards stolen when boarding the Orient Express but luckily were travelling with a friend who was able to cover their requirements. Anyone who has had the misfortune to experience the same will know just how stressful, time wasting and annoying this sort of travel experience can be. There will be a whole lot more from Kaaren next week and we are looking forward to her letters from Champagne where she is spending three weeks in November.
Often when looking at awards it is possible to wonder if we have all visited the same establishments because our experience and rating is often so very different. The recent Australian Gourmet Traveller 2012 restaurant awards are yet another example of the disparity of opinion and experience. Marque best restaurant in Australia, couldn’t agree more! My meal at Marque in March this year, was one of the best meals I have had in Australia in a very long time. The food was clever but delicious, no nasty bits of rubber or minimalistic smears of sauce, the cooking was intelligent and challenging. The wine matching was outstanding, the choices interesting and far from main stream, service perfect and all added up to being incredible value for money at a bit over $200 AUD.
Dessert was the only weak point in Best’s menu, but Marque is a restaurant that anyone
with a passion for food and wine (from anywhere) should experience! However,in the 2012 South Australian section it seems (to me at least) that many establishments have been rated higher or lower, when there is nothing to separate the dining experience from one to the other. It is possible to celebrate that reviewers world wide seem less interested in posh surroundings than they used to be, and more focused on the food and wine, but surely service must be equated into the rating because they are restaurant awards and as such must encompass a near total experience. The only South Australian regional dining experiences that consistently offer excellent service are Pipers of Penola where co–owner Erika Bowman runs their floor herself and of course the Rockford Stonewall Table where the commitment is to a world class experience. Hell, some of France’s best restaurants are in the country and their owners would be mortified if they thought they did not offer service equal to their Parisienne counterparts.
This is intended to be constructive; I understand how hard it is to find staff in regional Australia, but to rate regional establishments on an equal footing to city counterparts when the total dining experience is not the same is to to a disservice to the both the diner and the restaurant because they will not be able to fulfil expectations. Better to know that the service is a bit shaky or some other aspect of the restaurant doesn’t quite work, rather than get there and be disappointed! Because the Australian Gourmet Traveller awards are basically the last national Australian awards in the conventional print media they are important for many reasons, not the least of which is that it is a valuable resource for older travellers to Australia who might be less reliant on the internet for their research. Food for thought we would welcome your opinion EMAL GALAXY GUIDES
We very much appreciate establishments that take the time and trouble to keep their details up to date so if you change your email address, web site, team it is very good for us to be able to keep your entry current.
Lastly thanks to all those people who take the time to write from where ever they might be, to write and share their travels or to send wonderful photos, like those from our friend Mark Doyle who took the wonderful pictures from Barcelona’s famous markets used in this issue. There are many people who help with Galaxy Guides but another I would especially like to mention in this issue is Diana Hetzel who with her avid reading and research is a constant source of new information for Galaxy Guides. Di is a wonderful and generous woman, whom I suspect knows more about food and food history than the sum of the knowledge of all South Australian chefs (including myself) and her generosity is so, very much appreciated for the thought tangents it always provokes!
Ann Oliver
food editor and publisher Galaxy Guides
the stunning Paxton Vineyard location for the second organic and biodynamic lunch, Sunday 16 October CLICK HERE for full details 
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what’s hot, who’s hot……
the Champagne Bureau annual South Australian Dinner
Devising the menu for the Champagne Bureau’s annual South Australian dinner has been incredibly exciting. So often with Champagne dinners the opportunity to taste the Champagnes before the event does not exist and the menu and matches are devised with tasting notes. All courses have been tasted with the Champagnes, dishes tweaked and in some instances Champagnes swapped to an entirely different course to extract the better match. To be able to ensure that the matches are as close to heaven as it is possible to get has been a fantastic opportunity. The frank discussion and criticism of my friend Darryl Thompson and Champagne expert Jim Smith has been invaluable in coming to the final matches and composition of the dishes.
It is always a bit scary to step out for a single dinner, the first night is the only night, but working with another former apprentice of Mistress Augustine's’ Justin Miles who is now co–owner and executive chef of Windy Point Restaurant and Café and his team is reassuring. We also need to give special thanks to the supporting houses for their generous sponsorship for the South Australian dinner…CLICK HERE to see the labels! AO
To see the menu and Champagnes please CLICK HERE
Thursday October 6, 7 for 7.30 pm
Windy Point Restaurant, Belair South Australia
$190 per person food and Champagne
reservations…can be made by calling the restaurant +61 8 8278 8255 (the restaurant is closed Sunday October 2 and Monday October 3…if calling on either of these days please call +61 403 117 739)
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and the Champagnes are…
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reviewed by David Hay
Thorn Park by the Vines
Comerç,24
08003 Ciutat Vella,
Barcelona
telephone +34 93 319 21 02
email info@comerc24.com
web www.comerc24.com reservations can be made on their web site
open Tuesday to Saturday 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm and 8.30 pm to 11.00 pm
FOOD on our second to last night I decided we had been such good chappies and lived within our somewhat elastic budget and as Barcelona is very cheap by European standards we deserved to try a ‘good’ restaurant. I had a note about Comerç,24 and also a few guide books gave it the thumbs up, but nothing really gave the impression that it had a real WOW factor. So we donned ironed clothes (no mean feat, given that the flat had a Mickey Mouse iron and a Mini Mouse ironing board) and headed for number 24 Comerç Street Barcelona.
We got in for a 10.00 pm table, suited us as that has been our preferred time of dining for some time now (yes me who always does the 9.30 fade…) and turned up to a sort of hip, slightly industrial deep brown/grey interior with STYLE. The place flows around a bar; kitchen which you can see into and then another large room where we were seated at a very nice table with great linen and napery (greeny/grey and heavy weight). We ascertained that they do so a set menu (A la Carte is also a goer), either a 7 or 12 course option, being restrained (yes I can do it) we opted for the seven which really meant we had 16 dishes…! They also do a sort of wine by the glass, silly wine boy thought four would be suitable, himself just looked at him, so we had seven or was it eight, different wines.
“Ok”, I said “just go for it!”… to read the full review please CLICK HERE
Author’s note — Our last night was also an experience, our waiters at the much visited Bar Lobo told us to try Cuines Santa Caterina. Situated in the Mercator (market) Santa Caterina, a city market set in an amazingly contemporary building with an undulating multi coloured tile roof structure. It has the feel of a warehouse (which it sort of is) and offers different products and different cuisine types with different cooking times which more or less means you get your food when it’s cooked. He was in seventh heaven with the slow cooked lamb and potatoes and I loved the Catalan Sausages with baby white beans and foie gras, followed by…,…oh just save us from ourselves!
Well this week in Paris we have Molecular cooking schools, lunch at Jules Verne at the Eiffel tower and to finish, Jan’s birthday dinner at Paris’s 3 star la Cinq Restaurant at Hotel George Fifth, the dinner suits will get their second airing…
Much love from us! In our August 2011 what’s hot David Hay reviewed The Fat Duck CLICK HERE to read this marvellous romp of a review!
to read more recommendations for Barcelona’s famous market CLICK HERE and scroll down. These recommendations kindly given to us by Ferran Adrià when Marian Clarkin interviewed him for Galaxy Guides have been used and enjoyed by many people. Expect some challenges and expect some traditions.
above from top to bottom at the barcelona market…the offal sellers and tomatoes and strawberries, no shifty hydroponics tomatoes there!
…photographer Mark Doyle
fermentAsian…
the delicious cooking of Tuoi Do in combination with the fabulous wine list of Grant Dickson…a tremendous combination. The cooking of Tuoi Do shows a commitment to local producers but most fascinating is that her food, which is really her own, is so wonderfully balanced as to be perfect with wine CLICK HERE to read their full Galaxy Guides review and CLICK HERE to check out their menus and wine list
above left to right, top to bottom…Tinh Phung (mother of Tuoi Do and chef owner Tuoi Do…Nem Ha Noi Hanoi spring rolls with salad of fresh herbs and classic Vietnamese dipping sauce…Tom sao ot Stir fried SA squid with chilli jam and Thai basil …Ca ri vit
Red duck curry with lychees and pineapple |
We are utterly blessed scallops live from nearby Kangaroo Island fished sustainably by local boy Paul Polacco. You can find Paul at the Adelaide Showgrounds Markets where he doesn’t just sell amazing scallops and sea urchins he also shows the general public how to clean and cook them…yes, we wish a few chefs would queue up to learn and buy and stop using that frozen tasteless crap from God only knows where!!!!!
Restaurants wanting to order telephone +61 401 287 109 leave a message and he’ll get back to you and… only a few more weeks for the South Australian scallop season.
to read more up–to–the minute
dining, drinking and cooking news and see forthcoming diary dates come back to Galaxy Guides every week. Content always updated by end of Friday (restaurant end of day) with direct links from the front of the site www.galaxyguides.com to news, new recipes and events or click here
citi zen moves across the road
Well, of course the first question that came to mind was ‘they will upset a lot of people if the don’t still serve green beer on St Patrick’s day!’ Then maliciously since I can’t stand beer I thought beauty gumbai with a green spirit be a perfect replacement.
But, the point is, like it or not, the Brecknock Hotel, as South Australians know it is gone for ever and in its place we have the first big posh Chinese restaurant in Adelaide and all I am hoping is that one day it might have a wine list as fine as Sydney’s Golden Century.
Unable to attend the official opening (always a big event for superstitious Chinese business owners) I ducked in to take a look and have a quick lunch. Service at Citi Zen has always been playful and prompt, mindful of the fact that there was nearly always someone waiting for the table it could even be a little brusque especially on Sundays…but the food always seemed worth it! Having lived through some very disastrous opening experiences I am always sympathetic to everything that can and does go wrong and it is why with very few minor exceptions Galaxy Guides has a three month rule for new establishments and/or change of chef or owners before they are reviewed.
Well my quick lunch (that actually took a very long time) made Faulty Towers look like a well run establishment. Three yum cha items (you know the smallness of the serves) were ordered and came in staggered intervals of 30 minutes, 15 minutes later and another five after that. The ordered Chinese broccoli was in fact spinach and the requested water straight from the tap…a neat trick also used in another new Adelaide restaurant to force you to cough up for water instead of having the pleasure of spending your dosh on wine! Having eaten my way through the streets of Shanghai and been lucky enough to be taken to some of China’s most famous traditional restaurants I appreciate that no restaurant in Australia ever has the luck or money to spend a couple of weeks practicing getting service right before they open. Why might you think am I am bringing the change of venue to your attention? Well, other regulars have been to an evening service and not suffered the same fate and it has to be said that at my visit long term restaurant manager Amy was having a day off. This is a woman who manages a floor with a sidelong look and a blink of an eye so we suggest that regulars should cut them a couple weeks slack until they get used to being double the size!
to read their old review (menu appears to be exactly the same) with updated venue images CLICK HERE |
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September 30, 2011
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galaxy guides october events
South Australian diary
October 6 — 7 for 7.30 pm
$190 per person food and Champagne
at Windy Point Restaurant, Belair South Australia, the Champagne Bureau’s annual South Australian dinner…guest chef Ann Oliver, CLICK HERE to go to the menu and Champagnes.
October 16, 12.30 pm
$90 per person food and wine
at Paxton Cellar Door, McLaren Vale our second biodynamic and organic lunch, this time with Paxton Wines and Gemtree Vineyards CLICK HERE to to to full event details, including menu and booking form…to take a look at the stunning Paxton Vineyard location CLICK HERE
what’s hot index!
- fermentAsian a Barossan jewel with the wonderful cooking of Tuoi Do and a wine list that has to be one of Australia’s most diverse and interesting not to mention well priced READ MORE
- Thorn Park’s David Hay,reviews the new darling of Barcelona, comerç,24…READ MORE
- our favourite Adelaide yum cha Citi Zen moves across the road to take up premises in the iconic Irish pub the Brecknock Hotel on King William Street Adelaide sacré bleu (or whatever the gaelic is for that…READ MORE
new recipes
Most weeks depending on our schedule there are new recipes on Galaxy Guides and we will be writing up this stunning and easy
orange and botrytis semillon baba
…
serves 16 and is just divine, but best of all can be made several hours in advance. to enjoy dozens of kitchen tested recipes check out the Galaxy Guides
RECIPE INDEX
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