Shinboners
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Posts posted by Shinboners
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Hrmm... I dunno. I wasn't expecting free food or anything. A simple apology would have been nice. It was mainly their complete and utter denial which I thought to be in poor form.
If I was to look from the viewpoint of the bloke who took your call, I honestly don't know how I would have dealt with it.
It's tricky. You don't want to admit liability in case the diner decides to take legal action. On the other hand, you do want to know just in case there is a food handling, food quality and/or allergy problem to deal with.
With the benefit of spending a few minutes thinking about it (and hoping for an ideal world without lawyers
), I probably would have taken down your details and said that I'd speak to the chef....and made sure that the chef got back to you. -
Now, thats fine. I understand restaurants sometimes make mistakes and you can never account for anything. But the response from the restaurant was simply unacceptable. The person we spoke to denied that the meal could have had anything to do with it and was bodering on hostile. He seemed offended that we would even imply that such a thing could have happened.
I'm sorry to hear that.
How would you have liked them to have handled your complaint?
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The Tony Bourdain seven hour lamb is good as well.
The method in the Bourdain and Alexander recipes are pretty much the same.
But Alexander's recipe has two key differences. The first one is that she suggests inserting a third of an anchovie fillet into the meat with the garlic. The second difference....and for me, this is one that takes this dish to the next level....is that she reccomends putting a piece of pork rind with 5mm of fat onto the bottom of the pot (with the fat side down). It adds a wonderful flavour and texture to the sauce, and the rind, whilst very filling, is utterly delicious.
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I'm an Aussie but god damn do they have good meats over there!
The missus lived in the U.S. for a few years and she talks about how the servings of meat (well, food in general) in the U.S. were super large compared to what we get here. A few other friends have said the same thing.
I did wonder about the quality, so it's good tohear that you rate it.
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Maybe we could send Slammin' Sam Kekovich to sort out the Amercians.
Still, I can see their point. I love lamb, but there are times when I can't handle the thought of eating it as it can taste "too gamey". However, there have been restaurants that I'vegone to, and they've used lamb with a much softer flavour - if U.S. lamb is like that, then maybe the magazine has a point (especially if it was a blind tasting).
On lamb and fat though, I usually trim most of the fat off if I'm barbequing it - the fat burns and the residue leaves that dreadful charcoal flavour on the meat.
Anyway, what's everyones favourite lamb recipe? Mine has to be the 7 hour roast leg of lamb. The recipe that Stephanie Alexander has in "Cooking and Travelling In South West France" is a particular favourite.
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Adding to the list, Libertine in North Melbourne seem to be fans of offal. As in my review, I tucked into some lambs brains and the missus's rabbit dish was cooked with kidneys and livers.
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My favourite Australian olive oil has to be Mount Zero biodynamic evoo, may be I haven't tasted many, but i find most australian brands a bit harsh tasting ( burn your throat even ) , a bit raw and green . but not Mount Zero.
When you use a premium olive oil, is it something you just use with salads or where there is not much cooking required (like quickly searing some fish fillets)?
For other things like browning some onions that will eventually find their way into a stew, do you use just an ordinary olive oil? In this case, wouldn't the benefits of the premium olive oil eventually get lost in the final dish?
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It's back to the Peoples Republic of North Melbourne, and dammit, if I was unhappy with how the place has changed after my last visit (to the Court House), I reckon I can start to forgive after last night's dinner at Libertine. I reckon we're getting lucky down here in Melbourne with more French restaurants that seem to be doing their thing pretty well.
It's a small place, and it seats no more than about 40. So it's intimate, quite warm, and as my significant other said, it's more like a parlour than a bistro.
There's about half a dozen choices for each course plus nightly specials. I started off with crumbed and fried lambs brains. Three pieces arrived, attractively placed on a plate with a white sauce in the middle. The sauce made little impact on me, but the brains were sensational, smooth and creamy in their crunchy coating. The missus enjoyed half a dozen escargot, cooked in butter and garlic and served in their shells. Interestingly, unlike many other restaurants, they didn't drown the snails in the butter and garlic, so you got to taste the almost grassy flavour of the snails. I reckon that escargot succeeds on the strength of the sauce, and so with that, this dish didn't quite work for me. However, she loved it.
My main was a cote de boeuf, served with bernaise sauce and chips. The meat was served medium-rare, slightly towards rare (as per my request), and it was juicy, tender, and sweet. It was a very good steak, but it wouldn't be amongst the best that I've had. The bernaise sauce lacked punch, but the chips. Oh, the chips. Nine thick cut pieces of potato that were fried in.....oh, I just love thinking about it....duck fat. I'm dribbling just thinking about it. Crunchy on the outside, meltingly soft on the inside, and so richly flavoured. Glorious.
Meanwhile, the missus had braised rabbit, cooked with its kidney and liver (rolled inside the meat), and served with mash potato and spinach. The meat was tender, the flavours came out strong, but surprisingly, without the gamey taste you can often get with rabbit.
As for desserts, both were excellent. I enjoyed a strawberry parfait with bits of white chocolate in it. It was lovely and smooth, the berry flavour wasn't overpowering, and the white chocolate providing a good contrast. There were sqeals of delight from the other side of the table over the chocolate fondant. It was like a hot chocolate pudding, with fresh cream poured on top of it at the table. The chocolate was superb, dark and earthy in flavour, and very moist in the mouth. Mixed with the cold cream, and like the Flaming Homer, it was like a party in your mouth and you're all invited.
The service was brilliant. Our waitress was very friendly, and she knew how to guide us with our selections. Out of habit, we always order fries when we're at a French restaurant. But she noted that our mains came with potatoes, and that if we wanted a side, something else would be better. We really appreciated that - it shows awareness and enough care to help the diner enjoy their night.
We had a fine night. My only main quibble is that whilst our dishes were all very good, I think they could be taken to the next level if they get their sauces right.
All the mains were just below the $30 mark, with entrees and desserts were pitched at $12 and sides at $6.
We will definitely return to Libertine, and I reckon the place is well worth a visit.
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That sounds great.
I remember watching Kemp in the "Heat in the Kitchen" documentary series, and the work he had to do to set up the new Balzac.
I think I'm going to have to find an excuse to go up to Sydney for business.
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Went to Libertine in North Melbourne last night. They've got a new autumn menu and it has cassoulet on it.
If the other dishes we had were anything to go by, the cassoulet will be a winner. A full review of the restaurant will be posted later.
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With all due respect, I am on a completely different planet to you on this one I'm afraid.
I always thought that Sydney people seemed to come from a different planet.
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I really don't see what the fuss is about. Interlude has dishes that resemble dishes served at other restaurants - that's what it boils down to, doesn't it?
As a diner, I couldn't care less where Chef Robin (or any other chef) gets their inspiration from. Hell, if a restaurant in Melbourne could do a note for note replica of the degustation from the French Laundry or El Bulli, I'd be there. Anthony Bourdain in his intro to "Nose To Tail Eating" writes of a restaurant in New York that copied Fergus Henderson's version of the bone marrow and parsley salad. If a chef copies the work of another chef, whether or not its intentional, it can only be good for diners.
The concept that one chef can own a dish is similary puzzling. This issue has only come to light due to the power of the internet. As deco75 has pointed out, many other restaurants copy other dishes, but no-one seems to mind because they don't put pictures of it on the internet. In years gone by, I would have thought that chefs would have been borrowing the best recipies for their own use. I remember reading Marco Pierre White's "White Heat", and he has Pierre Koffman's recipe for braised pigs trotters. Do any of you think that he would have mentioned the source of this dish on his menu? I doubt it. The dish only really exists from the moment it's plated til the time its consumed, that would be around 5 to 10 minutes. I can't see how any chef could own that.
Even if we did accept the idea of ownership of a dish, is it good for food as a whole? I can't see how it could be. Take Thomas Keller's dish of the salmon cones and that only he had ownership of the dish, what happens if he decides never to cook it again?. All of us lose out. Hell, we could take it to the logical conclusion and have every new dish owned by someone, and if you want to cook it, you must pay a royalty - enjoy the paperwork kids.
Onto Chef Robin and Interlude. I suppose we could all bring some petrol and burn him at the stake. Force him out of the high end of the business and make him start another bloody gastropub. But people, he's only in his 30s. He is still learning his craft. And he's doing it, whilst owning his restaurant, and doing tricky dishes as part of a 26 course degustation which he aims to turnover every 6 weeks. It's potentially over 200 dishes in one year - I'm damned if I can think up any other chef who would try and do that. Of course he's going to look for new ideas and try to adapt them to his menu. He can take one dish, learn about it, understand it, and then move on. In a few years time, he'll probably come back to the dish and add his own twist to it. I reckon that if given the chance to develop his craft, he can become a extraordinarily fine chef in ten years time.
Also, we're talking about no more than half a dozen dishes in a full degustation of 26. It's a few notes out of a symphony. Those dishes do a job beyond statisfying the enjoyment of the diner. They link the previous dish to the next. It can provide a contrast and connection between courses.
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Noice...
Must be. What's it now? Four times in one month?
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If you check the bookshops, there is a book (around $15 iirc) that is a guide to Australian Olive oils. It's like those wine guides in that they have tasting notes, price range, etc.
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In the Age Green Guide today, Kenneth Nguyen opening his review of the TV show, "The Chef And The Cook" with the line, "Maggie Beer steers well clear of Robyn (sic) Wickens territory on the happily suburban The Cook And The Chef"
I think the chef from Interlude is making quite a name for himself.
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The Observer's point was obviously novelty, to make an interesting headline. I'm not sure what novelty you'd generate by having Mr Megalogenis write an article, but NMM makes a good point when he says that Peter Carey wasn't trying to be a restaurant critic.
The Guardian/Observer is, imho, one of the most pleasureable newspapers you can read on the internet. I love their wry sense of humour.
I guess the thing that bugged me about the Carey article and three of his cohorts (Welsh, you are excused and can join your mates on the Easter Road grandstands) is that they're so damn world weary about it. They seem to be on the verge of enjoying themselves, but can't quite bring themselves to say, "F*ck that was great. I'd do this again, and damn it reader, if you can do it, you should". Actually, Rachel Cook hated el Bulli, but I suspect that the punters will always either love or hate the place.
Edited to add: Daniel, I wouldn't mind having the Observer send a National Rugby League prop forward to write a review of El Bulli.Shane "baked beans" Warne on el Bulli would be hilarious.
I'm of the view that Nigella is a much more attractive proposition.Comfortably so.
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Irvine Welsh seems to be the only one who really enjoyed himself.
Maybe the Observer could do another series. 5 Australian footballers (any code will do) review a book by a great modern writer.
btw, does anyone else here use the Green Guide? The critics seem to have a competition going on who can twist the knife the most into the various chefs that appear on TV. Off memory, they've bagged the Maggie Beer Cook and Chef show, John Burton Race's "Coming Home" series, Jamie Oliver (twice in two weeks), and Gordon Ramsay's appearance on Parkinson (apparently spending 16 hours in the kitchen is no excuse for never having changed one of his kids' nappies). The criticisms seem to be less about the show (that is, does the format work? Is it entertaining?) than taking personal shots at the people involved....Beer comes across as a know-it-all, Oliver is full of himself, Ramsay is arrogant, Race is arrogant - although I'd have to admit that Race does come across as being a bit of a prat.
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The new Kylie Kwong cookbook is out. I had a flick through it at the Hill of Content bookshop today. IT's aimed at those who love the Bill Granger/Marie Claire/Donna Hay "keep it simple" style of cooking. The key difference is that it's in a large format, hardcover, and priced at $60. It will be interesting to see how well it does as I reckon the format is wrong for the recipes that are provided. However, the photography is very good and the recipes appear to be very do-able. The purists won't like it, but for those who want a bit of Asian flavour in their food without the hassle of looking for ingredients in an Asian grocery shop (she says that all the ingredients should be available in the local supermarket) will love it.
There was one thing I found amusing. She separates the book into different sections like meat, seafood, etc. There was one section devoted to duck. The only problem was that it ony had 4 duck recipes. She might have been better off just having a poultry section.
I'm a fan of Kwong's previous two books, but I'll be giving this one a miss. However, others will love it and they should get plenty of use out of it.
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You should check with your council first. Local markets are small scale and I'd be astonished if there was some bylaw against you using your kitchen to bake goods.
But other than that, you should try one of the cooking schools. The might be able to help you.
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for the record...... when you read my reviews of top shelf restaurants, you are getting a very biased point of view.
i do not consider myself a writer. but i know what i like.
I really love reading your reviews. I get plenty of those, "now why didn't I write it like that" moments when I read your posts.
Apart from the bit on having worked in the industry, I'm in the same boat as you. I do look to informed reviews to help me decide where to spend my hard earned money.
From a reviewing viewpoint, there will always be some bias in the review. I'd be useless at reviewing a Mexcian restaurant as I have little interest in the food. But put some French food in front of me and I start to take notice of as many things as possible. When going to a restaurant, I'm looking forwards to enjoying myself. As I eat, I do think about what I'm going to write on eGullet and I take as many mental notes as possible (often I'll get home and scribble down some notes). I don't ever go into a place with a view of trashing it. I'd always prefer to give a postive review than a negative one. And if I do make some negative comments, I hope that I do give good reasons for them.
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The public should not believe everything they read.
That seems quite appropriate since George Megalogenis is a member of the Canberra press gallery.
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On the flip side, I guess it's likely hard to find someone who knows their stuff and can write as well.
ozmouse and PCL. There, there's two of them.
I haven't read the article (in fact, I haven't read the Australian once I twigged that their sports journos knew s.f.a. about A.F.L.), but from the sounds of it, it reminds me of Peter Carey's review of Jean-Georges in New York. He did write about the food, but then went on about how wearying the entire experience was. Personally, I'd rather read about the dining experience rather than his guilt complex.
I reckon one condition for being a good reviewer is that you need to have a love of the subject you're writing about. If you love your subject, you'll be spending your free time learning about the nuances of the topic. It will help you speak to your readers as you will be speaking the same language. I reckon that many people reading the review would have taken a double look when the author admitted to not knowing what a degustation menu was.
Restaurants and chefs are not immune to criticism. But, if they are to be made, they should be made by someone with some knowledge of the area.
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Here in Australia, Stephanie Alexander (for those who don't know, she'd be Australia's answer to Alice Waters), has been running a project teaching kids about food and nutrition. You can read about it here: http://www.stephaniealexander.com.au/garden.htm
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And I too have found myself wondering why the majority of my fellow Americans are so put off by offal.
Anthony Bourdain put it best in his Les Halles cookbook. He pointed out that Americans (and this applies to Australians as well) used to eat like champs - kidneys, livers, brains, the full range of offal. But as the prime cuts of meat got cheaper and more affordable for more people, less of them had to eat offal, so it fell by the wayside. Also, a generation of mums saying, "but it's good for you" and cooking all texture and flavour out of offal didn't help.
Balzac - Sydney
in Australia & New Zealand: Dining
Posted
Next time you're in Melbourne, go to Moretons' Brasserie and/or Libertine. I think you'll enjoy them as much as you loved the old Balzac.