Funny things happen at Bar Liberty, and not just because my jokes get better after a few chardonnays. Oxidised wine is turned into an aperitif. Bread is served with scissors (don't run with it). A cold-pressed vegetable juice is the zingy base for cured scallops.
Australians each eat 47 kilograms of chicken a year. Surely that's too much, not least because it's sad to see a special occasion meal relegated to cheap protein, eaten unthinkingly in nuggets and wraps, but also because few of those chooks are as delicious as the roasted chicken at Napier Quarter. Like all the meat there, it's carefully sourced and adoringly cooked, as though every bite matters, which it does.
It was a note under a Sydney door that brought Macelleria, a butcher that cooks, to Richmond. "If you don't bring this to Melbourne, we're going to copy it," said the missive.
Chef Jerry Mai has a mission. It's to show Melbourne that Vietnamese food isn't (just) what we've been eating in Richmond, Footscray and Springvale all these years.
I'm supposed to be somewhere in half an hour when it happens. A huge, steaming, fragrant bowl of noodle soup is put in front of me. Before I take my first slurping spoonful, I send a text message. "I'm going to be late. Something urgent has come up." Noodle soup can't be rushed, not in the making of it, certainly not in the eating of it, and definitely not when it's as good as the soup at Melbourne's first dedicated Laotian noodle house.
Vanilla and orange blossom yoghurt panna cotta with 'hempnola' (hemp granola). Photo: Chris Hopkins Back to restaurant reviews 144 Ormond RdElwood, VIC 3184 My score: 4/5 ...
MasterChef's Matt Preston hosted the show today - we talked about the illustrious history of Spaghetti Bolognese...listen in to learn why it's The Dish That Doesn't Even Exist!
I love dropping into ABC Radio Melbourne every couple of weeks to chat food. This wintry day we talked casseroles and, as always, took some great calls from listeners with lovely recipe ideas
I'm a radio regular, chatting food on ABC Afternoons. This time I talked about my fish milking adventures (yes!), the caviar I harvested and whether such luxury foods are worth the fuss and expense
I'm a radio regular, chatting food on ABC Afternoons. This time I talked about my fish milking adventures (yes!), the caviar I harvested and whether such luxury foods are worth the fuss and expense
