Top of the pops 2004

[Shinboners]

Okay, every month on the 17th, my partner...er, fiancee....and I go out to dinner to celebrate our monthly anniversary. Add to that her birthday, and we try 13 restaurants every year. Here's my ranking from best to, well, not worst, but least best.

1. Vue de Monde - just a perfect night of eating and atmosphere.

2. Grossi Florentino - read my report in another thread

3. France Soir - very good food, lovely atmosphere, my fiancee said that it does feel like Paris.

4. Interlude - memorable dishes, service is a touch bit too formal for me.

5. Bottega - simple food superbly presented.

6. Pearl - a touch bit too pricey, but the quality can't be questioned.

7. Moreton's Brasserie - we went there twice. It's almost like a comfort restaurant for us. Warm and welcoming, the food is solid.

8. Abla's - we went for the fixed menu and the feast was memorable.

9. Tea House on Bourke - I'm Chinese, and so, we went for dishes that my parents would have cooked. It was all very well executed.

10. Public House - plenty of small dishes, maybe a bit too small. Service was good though.

11. La Luna Bistro - good food, great value, very friendly.

12. Pireaus Blues - I'm not a huge fan of Greek food, but the seafood platter was fantastic.

13. Toofey's - this place was a long way behind Pireaus Blues. The food was very good, but the memory of the night was marred by some very bad service. The staff just weren't friendly, they took an almost snobbish attitude towards myself and my partner. It's a shame because the first time I went to Toofey's (a few years ago), the service was excellent.

I also buy a ridiculous number of cookbooks during the year, so here's my top 10.

1. Les Halles Cookbook (Anthony Bourdain) - if you read it, you'll understand why.

2. Nose To Tail Eating (reissue) (Fergus Henderson) - for those little gems you find in his writing

3. My Vue (Shannon Bennett) - uncompromising in his approach

4. The Cook's Companion (Stephanie Alexander) - an essential reference

5. Bouchon (Thomas Keller) - gastroporn at its finest

6. Something Italian (Maurizio Terzini) - simple, effective, great story

7. Modern Italian Food (Stefano delPieri) - love his essays

8. Casa Moro (Sam and Sam Clark) - just getting into it, but so far, it's every bit as good as their first book.

9. On Food And Cooking (reissue) (Harold McGee) - a great reference, lovely to dip into

10. Spirit House (Brierty and Fear) - Thai food made simple.

[PCL]

Great idea this list.

I'll post one later, but thought in the meantime to get the ball rolling, I'd pass the preliminary remark that VdM could very well be the disappointment of the year for this punter, and given there's only a week and a half left in the year, the wooden spoon is pretty secure.

[Shinboners]

I was just watching the Today show and Luke Mangan had his top 5 cookbooks of 2004.

They were:

1. The Cook's Companion - Stephanie Alexander

2. Modern Italian Food - Stefano de Pieri

3. Grossi Florentino - Guy Grossi

4. My Vue - Shannon Bennett

5. Jamie's Dinners - Jamie Oliver

[PCL]

Restaurants, in no particular order...

France-Soir

Pure South

The Wine Shop

The European

Claypots, St Kilda

Piazza Navona

Ladro's

Supper Inn (ALWAYS!!!)

Tea House on Bourke (YEAH!!!)

Izakaya Chuji

Books, didn't buy many this year, but have referred to Larousse a hell of a lot.

Can't believe Jamie Oliver made it on a list.

[Dim Sim]

Can't believe Jamie Oliver made it on a list.

←

I believe they are good pals

[Shinboners]

I'll defend Jamie by saying that his shows and cookbooks have encouraged plenty of people to learn how to cook for themselves. That can't be a bad thing. Whilst I don't own any of his cookbooks, I did learn plenty of tricks and ideas from watching him on television.

However, I don't think his book should be in the top 5.