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Shinboners

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Shinboners

  1. I looked at a copy I found at Borders Carlton (Melbourne, Australia), and it certainly is a physically large book. On first impressions, I thought, "Wow! This is amazing." It is a stunning looking production. But browsing through it, I found it to be disappointing, especially at the price. There seemed to be a lot of filler in terms of photographs of Thai street markets, and as for the recipes, many of them looked similar to those that can be found in his (brilliant and essential imho) book, "Thai Food". There was even a chapter on "Chinatown", and the recipes in there are ones that you'll find in many other books. Keep in mind, this is just a first impression from me. I would recommend anyone thinking of buying the book (especially online) should check it out first before committing to a purchase. If the book was in a smaller format and at a cheaper price, then I think it would be better value.
  2. They got 14.5/20, so they were just 0.5 short of getting a hat. Just flicking through the Guide, there were plenty of restaurants that got 14.5/20. I haven't counted them, but it wouldn't surprise me if it numbered over 50.
  3. For a pub meal, try the Standard Hotel or Griffs Wine Pub in Fitzroy, or the Grace Darling Hotel or Union Club Hotel in Collingwood. btw, Griffs Wine Pub has a half price deal on Wednesdays. Over in Richmond, the London Tavern is pretty good.
  4. I've heard quite a few good things about Gills. Thanks for that report. I'm really keen to give it a try.
  5. For those who are interested, here are the country restaurants that got 2 chefs hats. Lake House (Daylesford), Merrjig Inn (Port Fairy), Royal Mail Hotel (Dunkeld), Simone's Restaurant (Bright), and Stefano's (Mildura). Merrjig Inn won the country restaurant of the year. About 40 restaurants got 1 chefs hat, so the answer is no. But you're in Melbourne, so just get a copy of last Tuesday's Epicure or buy the Good Food Guide.
  6. 3 hats: Jacques Reymond, Vue de Monde 2 hats: Attica, Cafe di Stasio, Circa The Prince, Cutler and Co.,, Donovans, Ezards, Flower Drum, Grossi Florentino, Matteo's, MoMo, MoVida, Pearl, The Press Club, Rockpool Bar And Grill, Taxi Dining Room, and Verge. I won't go through the one hat places. A few question marks for me. I thought Libertine was very unlucky to not get a chefs hat and I'm astonished that Oyster Little Bourke lost their hat. There's more than a few people I know who have questioned how Verge got 2 hats, let alone any. I reckon Cutler And Co. must have been stupidly close to getting 3 hats (I'm not sure if any restaurant has received 3 hats in their first year....Ondine maybe?). I'm not surprised that The European lost a hat. It's interesting that Coda and MoMo have both received hats, even though neither have been open for more than six months. Maybe their food is very good (I haven't eaten at either), but I suspect that the reputations of the chefs got them over the line.
  7. Watch the prices go up in the next six to twelve months.
  8. Congratulations to Jacques Reymond for winning Restaurant of the Year. It's a Melbourne institution. Also, massive applause to Andrew McConnell for winning chef of the year and best new restaurant. I remember first eating his food back in his days of Diningroom 211. I honestly believe that if we worked in Europe or the United States, he'd be regarded as a cooking superstar. Unless something extraordinary happens, I reckon Cutler And Co. will win restaurant of the year next year and pick up 3 chefs hats. Funnily enough, the winner of the Young Chef Of The Year, Nicolas Poelaert, has his restaurant (Embrasse) on the site of McConnell's previous restaurant. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2009/08/...1570661254.html Restaurant of the Year: Jacques Reymond Chef of the Year: Andrew McConnell, Cumulus Inc and Cutler & Co The Age Young Chef of the Year: Nicolas Poelaert, Embrasse Best New Restaurant: Cutler & Co Country Restaurant of the Year: Merrijig (Port Fairy) Best New Country Restaurant: Provenance (Beechworth) Donlevy Fitzpatrick Award: MoVida Next Door Wine List of the Year: Taxi Dining Room Country Wine List of the Year: Royal Main Hotel (Dunkeld) Best Short Wine List: Gills Diner Wine Service Award: Lincoln Riley, Taxi Dining Room Service Excellence Award: Chris Young, Jacques Reymond Professional Excellence Award: Maurice Terzini, Arnaldo Terzini Dish of the Year: Veiled quail at MoMo Three-Hat Restaurants: Jacques Reymond, Vue de Monde
  9. My twitter source got it slightly wrong. Cutler And Co. won best new restaurant.
  10. My twitter source got it slightly wrong. Cutler And Co. won best new restaurant. Jacques Reymond was restaurant of the year.
  11. According to a report on twitter, Cutler And Co. has won the Age Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year, and Andrew McConnell has won Chef of the Year. Congratulations and well done.
  12. It's hard enough getting a table at Culter And Co., but it's going to be almost impossible now. According to a report on twitter, Cutler And Co. has won the Age Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year and Andrew McConnell has won chef of the year. Both a thoroughly deserved.
  13. I love "Salads - The New Main Course" by Peter Gordon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salads-Main-Course...51334160&sr=8-1
  14. Another vote for Cutler And Co. I'd say that's the essential place to visit. Apart from the high end restaurants, to really get a feel for Melbourne food, you would consider doing the following: * Have a bratwurst from the Bratwurst Shop at the Queen Victoria Market * A bowl of pho from Richmond, Springvale, or Footscray * Pizza from a place like D.O.C., Cafe Bedda or the like * Breakfast in one of the cafes in Melbourne laneways * Coffee at one of the top qualify cafes in town * Nonna-style Italian at somewhere like Tiamo, Pelligrini's or the Waiters Restaurant * Queueing up for a table at Cicciolina's in St.Kilda * Hamburger at Greasy Joes in St.Kilda * Roast duck/pork at Pacific Seafood BBQ House in Richmond * Late night drinks in a bar hidden down a laneway The Royal Mail is about a three to four hour drive outside of Melbourne.
  15. When you finally tire of Sydney, come down to Melbourne. Cutler And Co., Attica, Oyster Little Bourke, Vue de Monde, Mo Vida, etc. There is plenty here to keep you occupied for a very long time.
  16. I can't help thinking these are basic cooking textbooks, without the personality, or individual style that you would expect from a chefs cookbook. I suspect the "The Cooks Companion" is on most serious cooks bookshelf, alongside the UK classic "Leith's Techniques Bible". The Cooks Companion, seems to be an international standard with any serious cookery bookshop in the UK stocking it. ← I'm with Phil here. I don't think you'd need to get all 7 (or 9 including all of Fulton's). If you get the Stephanie Alexander book, you've got a lifetime's worth of recipes right there. But if you get the whole lot, you're going to end up with a whole of lot of books with essentially similar recipes. Whatever book(s) you choose, it comes down to your own preferences on how you want recipes presented. I'm perfectly comfortable with books without pictures, so the Alexander one is fine. Others will hanker for food they grew up with, so Fulton might be the go. There is a huge number of people who love to have pictures of the final dishes, so the AWW and Marie Clare books are perfect for them.
  17. I cooked two dishes from Perry's "Balance And Harmony" yesterday. They were the braised chicken, tofu, and glass noodle hot pot and chinese sausage steamed in rice. Both turned out brilliantly. I love Perry's recipes because they work so well.
  18. Thank you for posting those reports Dian. I especially enjoyed the one about Becasse. The only time I've enjoyed Justin North's food was when he did a guest stint at Interlude, and his dishes were outstanding. Hopefully I'll get the chance to eat at his restaurant one day.
  19. The Becasse and Botanical cookbooks are the same. I think the Pignolet one is the most home cooking friendly. The Ezards and Lake House cookbooks have many recipes that can be done with a little bit of planning by a competent cook.
  20. I love the Tetsuya's one, and many of the recipes aren't as complicated as you'd imagine. For Australian restaurants, I think Justin North's "Becasse" is outstanding. For top end restaurant cookbooks, there's The Botanical (Paul Wilson), Lake House(Alla Wolf-Tasker), French (Damien Pignolet), and Ezards (Tegue Ezard). I think these books are just that little bit better than the Bathers Pavillion one.
  21. Yeah, it's a pretty cookbook. Nice to look at and all that, but I haven't cooked from it. $19 is a great price, but if you didn't buy it, I don't think you'd be missing out on too much. It's not a bad book, but I just think there are other restaurant cookbooks that are better.
  22. Good luck in trying to find a copy of the Est Est Est cookbook that won't cost you a fortune (as AnnaN has posted). It took me about six or seven years of searching before I found a copy that didn't cost a fortune.
  23. We went to Cutler And Co. last night, and the food was fabulous. In terms of the dishes, we had pretty much the same things as Amarantha and Sheol had, the only difference is that I had a main that featured roasted and slow cooked duck, but no rabbit terrine or lamb. The food was magnificent and the service was friendly, fun, and professional. The only downside were the noise levels in the restaurant. For food this good, I'd rather a quieter environment. It got to the stage where my better half and I couldn't hear each other speak.
  24. It's in the Peoples' Republic of North Melbourne. There's another thread on this board about Libertine, and their website is www.libertinedining.com.au Myself and some friends went there last year for their suckling pig dinner - it was magnificent.
  25. I should also mention that I took La Luna. An excellent dinner in a very family friendly restaurant. Next week, it's Cutler And Co. I should have also mentioned the two t-bones I cooked, and the curry using beef ribs.
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