Becasse – Pitt Street Westfield

[Broken English]

I was lucky enough to visit a few days ago with a few chef friends from Sydney, so I thought I'd post a detailed review. I suppose I'd better place a disclaimer here; I was a regular at the old premises, and I know the pastry chef and her boyfriend (who is now Chef de Cusine), reasonably well, seeing as we grew up on the same small Island. It has long been a favourite of mine in Sydney, but I've tried to remain objective here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

BECASSE - 14/7/11

After ten or so minutes of gawking at the bakers grafting away through the viewing window of the Becasse Bakery, my dining companions and I checked in and were led through what is almost a forest tunnel to a small, intimate, stunningly decorated dining room, complete with leather-clad oval tables and booth seating.

We were greeted with a complementary glass of champagne by Louise, the long serving Maitre-D from the old premises, and given the menu to peruse. There was never any question though, we were having the nine course with matching wines, we had all foregone lunch in anticipation of the few hours we were about to experience. There was only one request, and that was one of my dining companions requested all white wine matches, and she was assured that would not be a problem.

Onto the canapé, a tiny disc of buttery puff pastry topped with a small quenelle of lemon mascarpone and green olives. At around the same time, the bread arrived, mini loaves of seven-grain sourdough and ethereal brioche, and cheese and bacon bread sticks, with whipped wakame butter and black salt. I didn’t find the grain bread all that exciting, but then again grain bread has never been a favourite of mine, but the brioche and the cheese and bacon bread were superb.

The amuse bouche of smoked scallop, carrot jelly and kolrahbi foam had a very smooth, clean taste, the very slightly set jelly, the delicately smoky flavour and sweetness of the scallops and a gentle spice from the kolrahbi foam all combined to produce a flavoursome and vibrant combination. If there was one criticism, it was that the scallop flavour could have been slightly stronger, but that’s being very picky.

The ‘Bespoke winter vegetable garden’ may well be the perfect vegetarian dish; the texture of the crushed nuts and the smoothness of pea mousseline played off each other well, and the assortment of baby winter vegetables ‘planted’ in the nut crumble was a great visual aspect. The olive cracker topping the dish (made in the same way as a prawn cracker, we were told) was a great textural component, subtly adding a slight olive flavour that didn’t overpower any of the other elements. Dehydrated goats curd completed the dish, as though an early morning frost had settled. Its presentation was aided significantly by what I can only refer to as a glass bowl of sorts, in actual fact, it was more like someone had turned a shallow vase upside down and made an indentation for the food to sit in.

The next course of ‘Marinated yellowfin tuna, confit octopus, mandarin and white radish’ also came with a soy marinated abalone ham and oyster jelly. This dish took me straight to Japan, flavour-wise, which is something I’d never previously imagined I’d say about a dish at Becasse. The white radish was quite subtle, which allowed the flavours of the other ingredients to stand up and speak for themselves. The small pools of mandarin puree added a lovely citrus note that went well with the oyster jelly and the tuna in particular. The dish was finished with what I think was powdered tea, we forgot to ask.

A piece of confit Petuna ocean trout came topped with a gel of Vietnamese dressing, sitting atop prawn carpaccio, pomegranate and ocean trout roe, with dots of coconut mousse. Again, this dish shows just how much Becasse has evolved, from the original French eatery it was, to the modern Australian influence that has become a bigger part of its identity. I felt the prawn carpaccio was slightly overpowered in this dish by the much richer ocean trout, and much of the delicate flavour was lost unless you ate the components separately. The roe and pomegranate provided welcome bursts of flavour, and the coconut mousse cleansed the rich fish from the palate so as the fat didn’t linger too long on the tongue.

Blue eye Trevalla, cooked sous vide in wasabi leaf, was accompanied by cuttlefish, a grilled oyster, Asian greens and a cucumber wasabi jus. The almost raw texture of the cuttlefish playing against the richness of the oyster, briefly sealed on the coal-fired Japanese grill, which was brought together perfectly by the warm cucumber and wasabi jus. Cucumber normally wouldn’t be my first choice to be served warm as a jus gently spiked with wasabi, but I could easily have had a bowl of that all by itself. I will say though, that while the fish was perfectly cooked, it really was a little superfluous, added seemingly for bulk more than anything, as it was outshone by the other elements.

Now on to my dish of the night, and certainly the best presented. Atop a warm slab of stone sat ‘Forgotten vegetables, smoked pork jowl, yabby tails and aromas of cedar’. Among the forgotten vegetables were sweet potato in both puree and regular form, swede, purple potatoes and turnip. The rich pork jowl and meaty yabbies were spectacular partners in crime, and the cedar smoke coming from the smoking wood ‘wafer’ added an extra sensory dimension which enhanced the smoky aspect of the dish, and allowed the flavour of smoke to come through, but not the lingering taste.

Might I just say at this point that although I didn’t obtain any documentation on the specific bottles, the wine matches were well thought out, and went with the dishes very well. We had one champagne (plus the complimentary one), one Italian white, one Japanese white, two French whites, a few Hungarian and Portugese reds (served from very cool looking decanters), and I can’t remember where the wine we finished with was from. Perhaps that is one flaw, not having the regular wine matches printed on the menu, it would have been helpful.

Glenloth squab breast, obviously cooked sous vide, was accompanied by a confit wing ravioli made with truffle pasta, a rillade of the leg meat, roasted chestnuts, and truffle jus. The classic flavours melded exceptionally well, as they tend to do, the lone exception being that the point of the ravioli was lost to me. It didn’t really add anything, and I don’t think the dish would lose anything if it was removed. The beautiful gaminess of the medium rare breast, the richness of the truffle jus and the crunch and slight sweetness of the chestnuts was utterly beautiful though.

It was at this point in the meal that Louise rushed over to our table and said if we’re quick, we may just catch Justin North before he left for the night (he had been working but we had a late booking and the kitchen had started to die down). Unfortunately, we were too late, he’d just snuck out, and neither Monty or Jaci (head and pastry chefs respectively) were there for the night, so I didn’t get to catch up with them, which was a shame.

Anyway, we did get a complete behind the scenes tour of both the Becasse and Quarter Twenty One kitchens, the Q21 dining room, the cookery school, the private dining room and the retail store, and we got to have a bit of a chat with one of the sous chefs there. The Becasse kitchen is amazing, all induction, with specially heated drawers for resting meats and cooking confit. It is very spacious, particularly for a kitchen that serves only 25 or so people a night, and ideas like having drawers for resting meats saves a considerable amount of space, and means there is absolutely nothing at eye level, so you have a clear vision of everything happening in the kitchen. I would love to book the kitchen table at some stage in the future.

Back to our seats, and a few minutes later we are presented with a bonus course of the truffle and mushroom risotto. Flavour wise, the mushrooms were amazing, but I have long been sceptical of Australian truffles, for me they just don’t seem to have the aroma, although my slight cold this night wasn’t helping matters. Also, the risotto could have done with being emulsified properly, although for me the rice was cooked beautifully.

On to the wagyu shortrib, served with crushed Jerusalem artichokes, porter ale and wagyu jus, and artichoke chips. It was a beautiful course, the buttery taste of the beef was overloading my senses in the best way possible, and the rich, sticky jus and artichokes playing a beautiful supporting role.

One person at our table opted for the other option, the 18hr pork neck with chickweed and nettles, garlic soubise and black pudding jus, I only tried a small part of the pork, which was nice, but I didn’t try any of the other elements, although they looked great and had him saying very positive things.

The wagyu signified the end of the main courses, and we were on to the cheese course, consisting of an unbelievably creamy Holy Goat La Luna, with rosemary burnt butter crumble and sweet pickled rhubarb. Together the cheese and the crumble were incredibly rich, but it was brought back to earth by the slight tartness and the beautiful sweetness of the rhubarb. A beautiful dish.

The pre-dessert was a pineapple jelly, lemon sorbet, coriander jelly and lemongrass ‘air’. I enjoyed it, though it could have done with a little more sweetness, as the lemon sorbet was quite tart.

On to the final course. It’s safe to say that at this point we were starting to lag a little, as it was getting close to 11pm, and we’d had quite a good volume of food. Nevertheless, I chose the lemongrass and lime crème caramel with vanilla yoghurt sorbet and passionfruit crunch. There was a hell of a lot going on there on that plate, but somehow the flavours seemed to come together without one overpowering the other. It was not overly sweet, which is what I love about good desserts, and left the palate feeling refreshed.

My other two companions had the Dark Chocolate Cadeau filled with salted cumin caramel, which they both loved, but I didn't get a chance to have a decent sample of it, so I can't report in any great detail.

We finished with petit fours, and each received a gift from Becasse Bakery to take home, my two friends received some sort of tart (I didn’t get a good look), and I got a brioche, which I devoured shortly before writing this.

So, final thoughts, the new Becasse is a definite step up from what was being done on the old premises in terms of food and the influences and concepts behind them. The service is friendly, charming, incredibly knowledgeable and very attentive. It surpassed any expectations I had held, Justin North and team have truly stepped it up, and I think this place will be a massive success. For my money, it is on par with Marque, and it definitely deserves three hats in the next guide.

[rarerollingobject]

I was lucky enough to visit a few days ago with a few chef friends from Sydney, so I thought I'd post a detailed review.

Great review, thanks for posting..your writing is so evocative, it doesn't even need photos! Love the sound of the jowls, and wagyu shortrib. Mm..might have to get myself to Becasse fairly soon.

[Broken English]

I was lucky enough to visit a few days ago with a few chef friends from Sydney, so I thought I'd post a detailed review.

Great review, thanks for posting..your writing is so evocative, it doesn't even need photos! Love the sound of the jowls, and wagyu shortrib. Mm..might have to get myself to Becasse fairly soon.

No problem, thanks for taking the time to read a ridiculously long review. Food writing is actually something I'd love to pursue at some stage down the track. Chris's restaurant crawl thread has photos from Becasse, if you wanted to see platings.

I'm heading to Quarter Twenty One next Thursday, shortly before I move overseas, so hopefully I'll find the time to write another review, I figure I may as well use this thread for it.

You'd be doing yourself a favour going, though I'm told they're booked pretty solidly for the next few months. If you do manage to go, make sure to post something in here, I'd love to know what you thought.

[nickrey]

Went to Quarter Twenty One for a quick lunch today. Thought I'd post a picture of my main (taken on i-phone, sorry about quality).

Dish was a Fricassee of sweetbreads, yabbies & boudin noir, smoked apple, beetroot & freshwater bisque.

Sweetbreads were served on buttered baby spinach, other greens are asparagus and scallion, cylinders were potatoes that were cooked sous vide I think and then fried on each end.

Presentation was lovely. Each component was well seasoned, perfectly cooked, and complemented all other elements of the dish. I'm going back for more.

[Broken English]

Yeah, I went to Q21 a few days before I left Australia, it was great, although I would say the portions were on the small side. Still, I didn't leave hungry.