Shop 300, 116-132 Maroubra Road, Maroubra NSW 2035
https://www.kitchenbyjamie.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kitchenbyjamie/
https://www.instagram.com/kitchenbyjamie/
Modern touch of French & Brit
It's good to see the talented Chef Jamie Dyball has opened his own restaurant which is a plus for the Maroubra locals. I first experienced Jamie's food when he invited me to his home as part of Eat With. He then popped up at Alfred Hotel before Kitchen by Jamie. This was a quick visit to check out the venue and have some dessert with the kids after I spotted he was doing Apple Tarte Tatin ($12). Nice flavours with a cognac whipped cream which time was against me as it melted fast. The kids had Fudge Ice Cream with toffee sauce ($4). Miss 3 year old loved it but Miss 6 year old had her heart set on something less fancy like vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. The Chef's Sunday Roast is the one to look out for with all the trimmings including a rocky road brownie dessert for $29. I also spy all burgers for Friday lunch are $12 with fries.
MCA, 149 George Street, The Rocks, NSW 2000
http://grazemca.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/grazemca.com.au
https://instagram.com/graze_mca/
Bouillabaisse Lovers Club
I've enjoyed this bouillabaisse a few times now since 2015 and its continued to be my favourite one in Sydney, especially when combined with the lovely view of the Sydney Opera House when no cruise ships are in dock. This time around is a lovely meetup with @suzziethefoodie @see.taste.do @nora.geee @itd_be_rude_not_to and visiting @hungryempire. Chef Simon Fox of Culinary Edge has kindly surprise gifted our lunch. GRAZE Bouillabaisse for two, served Provencal Style-Market fish, blue swimmer crab, black mussels, vongole, split king prawn, split “Moreton Bay” bug, roasted chili aioli & chargrilled garlic bread ($90) has a generous amount of seafood and when combined with the chargrilled garlic bread to mop up the sauce is enough to be a feast for 2 people or when enjoyed with some entrees and dessert I think would quite easily suit 3-4 people to share.
A glass of Andrew Thomas 2017 Semillon, Hunter Valley ($17) goes done well with the seafood. My happy place has been always oysters and the Sydney Rock Oysters from Merimbula with cucumber, eschallots, alto merlot vinegar ($4.5 each) have a nice amount of flavoursome brine retained which I suspect are shucked to order. The micro herbs look nice but I always prefer without and vary the natural with just a light squeeze of lemon. Chilli & Salt Fried Baby Calamari, Pickled melon, baby cucs & chipotle aioli ($22) is tasty and tender with a nice smokey flavour in the chipotle aioli. Great addition of pickled melon and cucumber on the side to refresh the palate and becomes a new Simon Favourite. For the salad lover in me I enjoyed the Ice Berg, Dill & Chardonnay Vinaigrette, Pear & walnut ($12) with a good amount of yummy flavoured dressing and highlights of dill working well. Love a good wedge salad and this one helps to cleanse the palate from the richly flavoured bouillabaisse. A blue cheese ranch dressing option would be great as well but wouldn't be so innocent. Looking forward to the next meetup of the Bouillabaisse Lovers Club.
Shop 34, 2-4 Defries Avenue, Zetland NSW 2017
https://www.luciopizzeria.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/luciopizzeria/
Mondays are for Pizza & Wine
The last time I visited Lucio Pizzeria was just over 9 years ago at the Darlinghurst restaurant. Great to see they're still going strong and have expanded. A lazy dinner outing with the kids is good timing with the $25 Pizza & Wine Monday deal which pretty much means we get a glass of wine for free #winning. Orange and apple juice ($4.50) for the young kids served in takeaway cups to guard against clumsy spills. We enjoyed our Salumi - tomato, mozzarella, mild salami, ham, sausage ($25) and Capricciosa - tomato, mozzarella, mushroom, ham, artichoke, olives ($24) both with a lovely light base with bubbly edges. Tasty toppings with rustic presentation. I would have preferred a more spicy salami on the salumi pizza but the mild salami kept it suitable for the kids. For some extra chilli kick be sure to ask for a bottle of chilli oil although I reckon they could take it up a notch of what I tried. Happy choices were made for the wine of Merlot DOC Friuli Grave 2016 ($10) and Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC Costantini Line 2011 ($11). The yummy Nutella Pizza ($14) was brought out with compliments of Chef Lucio. Not quite sure how he knew I was there as he wasn't in the kitchen that night but perhaps he was checking the Dimmi bookings — sneaky. The extra calories went down well for dessert which I thought we were going to avoid that night hehe.
