Author: culinaldi

Café Gaia, South Yarra

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

Having lived in South Yarra for two years, I thought I knew of and had visited every café in the immediate area. Yet when I went looking for a place to have breakfast along Toorak Road, by happenstance I discovered nestled barely twenty metres back from the busy street corner, a lush green canopy of trees which had been protecting one of the suburb’s best kept culinary secrets from my line of sight.

Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Cafe Gaia, South Yarra

The café has a unique charm and ambience that reminded me of a small wooden cabin or cubby house with a covered verandah, large open windows and quiet cosy nooks to hide yourself away from the busyness of the world close by.

Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Cafe Gaia, South Yarra

The morning was unseasonably warm allowing me to retreat outside on the deck and enjoy the serenity. Although the café is extremely popular (it appears that I must be the only person in the area who wasn’t aware of its existence), the service is readily attentive and quick to ensure that your coffee order is taken and on its way. The all-day brunch menu is not overly exhaustive with only several signature dishes to focus your attention. The dish that immediately caught my eye, and to be fair probably because it was the only sweet option on the menu, was the exotic sounding Dr Marty’s Crumpets with citrus curd, aerated rhubarb mascarpone, toasted macadamia and sesame.

Dr Marty's Crumpets with citrus curd, aerated rhubarb mascarpone, toasted macadamia and sesame - Cafe Gaia, South Yarra
Dr Marty’s Crumpets with citrus curd, aerated rhubarb mascarpone, toasted macadamia and sesame – Cafe Gaia, South Yarra

If I could describe autumn on a plate, this dish would be it. The spectacular arrangement of colours, flavours and textures on the matt black plate was beautiful to behold and resembled my favourite season. My eyes were immediately drawn to the dollops of lemon curd perfectly curated on the plate and the pillows of whipped mascarpone placed beneath the crumpets.

The crumpets were deliciously moist and dense – enough to absorb all the elements on the plate. Whilst the poached rhubarb was sharp on the palate, the strawberries in comparison were sweet to taste and balanced the tart flavour of the lemon curd. The hero of the dish was the rhubarb mascarpone with the consistency of a dessert mousse and therefore a rare treat for breakfast.

Working my way through breakfast, there were morsels of macadamia and pistachio nuts and a smattering of sesame seeds interspersed beneath the crumpets to provide another textural element to the mix.

I love finding hidden treasures, especially ones with outstanding food and service and thankfully Café Gaia is no longer obscured from my view.

Cafe Gaia on Urbanspoon

Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

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I am fairly skeptical when it comes to those websites that peddle daily deals that are usually too good to be true, so when a friend of mine mentioned that she had recently taken a cooking class through Living Social, I subscribed more out of curiosity rather than intent. A couple of weeks later, hands-on duck cooking classes were offered at an unbelievable price and when I realised that it was provided by Luv-a-Duck, I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the discounted offer to participate in the Duck and Pinot Masterclass.

Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

The long awaited day finally arrived and I excitedly arrived early at the Luv-a-Duck retail showroom in Port Melbourne, and meandered around the refrigerated stands selling the extensive range of duck produce, and associated gourmet sauces and condiments. Class participants receive a 10 per cent discount for items purchased on the evening, so I mentally started to prepare a shopping list of things to buy after the class. The chef’s table had been laid out in anticipation and the kitchen stations were ready for action.

Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

The night began in the small classroom area with Wendy, our instructor for the evening, giving a brief overview of the history of the Luv-a-Duck company and the format of the masterclass. We were also introduced to Steve from PinotNow who was supplying the matched pinot wines for the evening. As there were five courses to be prepared and served throughout the night, the class needed to divide into teams of two and proceed into the kitchen, where packages of whole duck and sharp knives were waiting for us.

Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

Wendy demonstrated the process for preparing and cooking a perfect roast duck before moving on to show us how to dissect the duck into smaller portions and extract the duck breasts and marylands for some of the evening’s recipes. Then it was our turn to pick up the knives and get to work on breaking down the duck, which wasn’t always as easy and effortless as Wendy made it appear but fun nonetheless. I tried to imagine myself doing this at home and could only conjure an image of me sailing into my local Foodworks to pick up a couple of pre-packaged duck breasts!

Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

The next task was to volunteer for a course to prepare so I partnered up with a couple of guys to make the Duck and Portobello Mushroom Pie. While Fazil started on preparing the marinade for the duck breasts, Jesper and I set about preparing the shortcrust pastry made with duck fat for the pies. The pastry was extremely easy to make and duck fat seemed to make the pastry soft and malleable. After rolling out the pastry we lined a dozen small ceramic dishes and strangely enough, while it was somewhat labour-intensive, I could readily imagine doing this at home or for a dinner party.

Smoked Duck with Lentil and Pear Salad – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Smoked Duck with Lentil and Pear Salad – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
2008 Grey Sands Pinot Noir, Tasmania – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Smoked Duck with Lentil and Pear Salad – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

Once finishing the first preparation stage to our recipes, the first entrée course of Smoked Duck with Lentil and Pear Salad was ready to be served. Steve had matched this first course with a 2008 Grey Sands Pinot Noir from Glengarry, Tasmania. With a 92 point rating from James Halliday in the 2011 Australian Wine Companion, this wine was now showing signs of age in the colour and has probably reached its peak. It had a very elegant nose with subtle black cherry aromas and a short finish on the palate. The soft acidity and fine tannins were a good match with the smoked flavour in the dish. This course was exceptional and I started to secretly wish that I had prepared this course so that I could replicate it at home. The lentils were softly cooked in duck stock and the caramelised pears were a wonderful addition to the dish and balanced out the ripe fruit flavours in the wine.

Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

Wendy got the teams back into the kitchen to keep preparing our courses. As the pastry cases were chilling out in the fridge, our little band of three started to prepare the filling for pies. It was fun working together and pretending to be sous chefs so that one person could cook the mixture on the stove while we scrambled about chopping the remaining ingredients and throwing everything into the pot. Somehow we just got our pies filled and into the oven before we were called back to the dining table for the next course.

Sticky Marmalade Duck Breast with Duck Fat Roast Potatoes – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Sticky Marmalade Duck Breast – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
2011 Stoller Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, Oregon – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Sticky Marmalade Duck Breast with Duck Fat Roast Potatoes – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

It was another case of food envy as a plate of Sticky Marmalade Duck Breast with Duck Fat Roast Potatoes was set before me. This dish had been matched with 2011 Stoller Dundee Hills Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon USA. In the WSET 2 course I had studied about premium wines from Oregon but I hadn’t actually tasted one, until now that is. This wine had distinctive floral characteristics and I could smell and taste violets, lilac and cherries but also on the palate the spicy elements of this wine started to evolve. With a white pepper finish, the wine had traces of cinnamon, cloves or Chinese five spice which helped to bring out the Asian flavours in the duck. Beautifully cooked and prepared, the duck breast had been roasted and basted in citrus, ginger, soy and sesame seeds so the wine Steve had selected was quite a good match. This dish is definitely on my must-do list!

Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies with Braised Baby Cos & Speck – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Baby Cos & Speck – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
2010 Domaine Jean-Marc Millot “Aux Faulques” 2010, Bourgogne – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Duck & Portobello Mushroom Pies – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

With the pies nicely warming in the oven, the last task for the course I was helping to prepare was cooking the Braised Baby Cos and Speck accompaniment. So easy to prepare and yet incredibly delicious, I had never thought to wilt baby cos quarters in a mixture of speck, rosemary, currants, verjuice and vino cotto in a frypan. This dish was matched with a 2010 Domaine Jean-Marc Millot “Aux Faulques” Pinot Noir from Cote de Nuits, France. The wine was elegant in style and its taste resembled a fine, classic burgundy. Although I’m generally not a fan of mushrooms, the mini duck pies were superb and a good choice for a cold Autumn evening.

Duck Leg Tagine with Chermoula and Jewelled Cous Cous – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
2011 Pisa Range Estate “Run 245” Pinot Noir, Central Otago – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

With my course of the way, I could relax as the next team served the Duck Leg Tagine with Chermoula and Jewelled Cous Cous. This dish had been paired with the 2011 Pisa Range Estate “Run 245” Pinot Noir and as soon as I caught the beautiful bouquet on this wine, I reached for the order form. This wine was award 4 stars or 93 points by Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine (September 2013) and is finely crafted with distinctive red berry characters and suitable for cellaring. The duck tagine was an array of rich colours and flavours and the spices in the Chermoula paste complemented the wine.

Raspberry Souffle with Rose Petal Cream – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne
Raspberry Souffle with Rose Petal Cream – Duck and Pinot Masterclass – Luv-a-Duck, Port Melbourne

While we were all full and just about ready to head home after a long day, the first team had whipped up a delicious Hot Raspberry Souffle with Rose Petal Cream for dessert. Extremely light and sweet to taste, this was a perfect end to an incredibly fun evening. The only job left to do was to exit through the gift shop with my duck and Pinot purchases ready to take home. Apart from recreating my duck dishes at home, my new hobby is monitoring the daily internet deals for the next Luv-a-Duck special as it was $50 extremely well spent.

Pastuso, Melbourne

~ culinaldi ~ 3 Comments

Over the last few months, I’ve had the privilege to get to know a fellow colleague from the United States, who has been working in Melbourne on a short-term secondment. Throughout the course of a recent long lunch at San Telmo, I learned that Naseer hadn’t had the opportunity to discover some of Melbourne’s new and exciting restaurants. With only a few days left before he was heading off home to Houston I thought we could both try something new and experience San Telmo’s sister restaurant, Pastuso.

Located in AC/DC Lane, Naseer and I arrived promptly at 7pm and were seated at a table for two near the open kitchen. The restaurant has an eclectic feel with one wall covered in vibrant neon colours and the remainder of the dining space finished with gold edging, marble topped tables, dark wooden furniture and panelling, industrial lights, concrete pylons and geometric tiles. With such an open space, the ambient noise level escalated considerably as more diners arrived.

Pastuso, Melbourne
Pastuso, Melbourne
Pastuso, Melbourne

After a very quick look at the menu, we decided to be adventurous and try the “Feed Me” chefs selection option for $59 per person. Naseer doesn’t drink alcohol but I thought I would complement the South American cuisine with the only Malbec available by the glass of from the famed Mendoza region. Being from the US, Naseer was looking for something familiar in the form of French fries, so we ordered some Yucas or Cassava Chips as an additional side dish.

Naseer K at Pastuso, Melbourne
Pastuso, Melbourne

Literally as soon as our order was taken, three starter dishes and the chips arrived simultaneously and engulfed our small table for two. The dishes were beautifully presented and looked delicious, but I couldn’t be certain whether it was the noise factor or one of our server’s extremely fast explanation of the dishes, however I had no idea of what had been deposited in front of us without looking back over the menu after the meal.

Ceviche Peruano – New Zealand Snapper with Caramelised Sweet Potato, Cancha, Leche De Tigre – Pastuso, Melbourne
El Choro Chalaco – Port Phillip Black Mussel, Chalaca Salsa served on a Seaweed Crisp – Pastuso, Melbourne
Beef Skewers – Pastuso, Melbourne
Yucas – Cassava Chips – Pastuso, Melbourne

The El Choro Chalaco (Port Phillip Black Mussel, Chalaca Salsa served on a Seaweed Crisp) was delicious with a mix of textures and flavours, particularly with the fresh salsa being a standout on the palate. The next dish was the Ceviche Peruano (New Zealand Snapper with Caramelised Sweet Potato, Cancha, Leche De Tigre) was exceptional and tasted divine although Naseer wasn’t excited by cured fish which left a little bit more for me to enjoy. The beef skewers which was served in haste and a mumbled explanation, were relatively tasty but not all that memorable. Ironically the Cassava Chips which we ordered in addition to the Feed Me menu, was a standout in terms of flavor, texture and quantity and I couldn’t stop myself from devouring them. Mmmm … the ultimate comfort food!

Naseer and I made short work of the entrée dishes expecting a flurry of new plates to arrive momentarily, however after thirty minutes had lapsed without seeing our waitress, we were then left wondering whether was that all there was. As if by magic, she then miraculously appeared and cleared our plates for the next course.

Pierna De Cordero – Slow Cooked Lamb Leg with Seco Sauce and Peruvian Rice – Pastuso, Melbourne
Pierna De Cordero – Slow Cooked Lamb Leg with Seco Sauce – Pastuso, Melbourne

The main course for the evening was the Pierna De Cordero (Slow Cooked Lamb Leg with Seco Sauce and Peruvian Rice) which I was secretly quite pleased about as it was the one dish on the menu that had caught my attention, and because I hoping to persuade Naseer on the virtues of beautiful, slow-cooked Australian lamb.

Served with the rusticity that accompanies Peruvian cuisine, the lamb had been cooked in a Cilindro Peruano (Peruvian Smoking Chamber) so it had a distinct but not obtrusive smoked flavor. The accompanying Seco sauce is made from coriander and beer, and was quite thick in texture and rather plentiful. I rather enjoyed this dish but I suspect that Naseer probably tolerated it on my behalf.

Tres Leches – Traditional Latin American Sponge Cake soaked in three kinds of milk, served with Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream – Pastuso, Melbourne
Un Clasico De Mazamorra Y Arroz Con Leche – Peruvian Style Rice Pudding, Purple Corn Gel, Poached Pineapple and Apples – Pastuso, Melbourne

Our evening seemed to gather a bit of momentum and the third and final course arrived not long thereafter. We were treated to two desserts to share – Tres Leches (Traditional Latin American Sponge Cake soaked in three kinds of milk, served with Roasted Pineapple Ice Cream) and Un Clasico De Mazamorra Y Arroz Con Leche (Peruvian Style Rice Pudding, Purple Corn Gel, Poached Pineapple and Apples).

I gravitated to the sponge cake first and then immediately wished that I hadn’t. The outsides of the cake had been grilled in an effort to caramelise the exterior layer which unfortunately hadn’t worked as it ultimately left me with a sharp burnt or charred mouthfeel, something akin to a campfire. The parts of the cake that hadn’t touched the grill were moist and mild in taste but the saving grace was the roasted pineapple ice cream to soften the blow.

The rice pudding was delicious and silky smooth in texture and taste. It was served with a large piece of meringue that needed to be crushed up and served on top of the pudding but I enjoyed each element separately.

Our allotted two hours seemed to fly by after an intermittent start and the Feed Me menu certainly left me completely full and saved me from making hard decisions about what to order. I was excited that I got to experience somewhere new to eat with a friend who also enjoyed a memorable food adventure in Melbourne, however it was a little unfortunate that Pastuso didn’t quite live up to the hype.

Pastuso on Urbanspoon