Time Out Sydney Taste Test: Final winner announced, CBD Bistro, Sydney (22 Mar 2010)

52 King Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.marchintomerivale.com

New chefs in the kitchen

The kitchen was buzzing tonight with young apprentice chefs passionately cooking their own signature dishes for a full house of hungry diners who in turn voted for their favourite dish of the night.

From the start Stephanie Coupland from est. set the bar high with an artfully arranged dish of Sashimi of yellowfin tuna, wasabi sorbet, coriander and shiso pearls which also delivered on taste for me. All the ingredients were well balanced and the bits of finger lime provided a wonderful highlight on the taste buds. Ryka Johnson from Rockpool was next with his vegetarian inspired Pumpkin and celery salad with sweet, salty and sour dressing which was well presented with lots of different textures throughout but I found it just a bit too overly pumpkin in taste. Daniel Sturman from est. created the Grilled white scallops and cuttlefish, apple, witlof, hazelnuts and mache. I had the privilege of trying this recently at est when I visited for the March in Merivale $33 Menu. Scallops were beautifully cooked again but I was hoping the cuttlefish was going to be more tender to the bite and wished cauliflower puree would have somehow made it's way on the plate too. Alex Keen from Ormeggio prepared the Sultana and thyme infused poached rabbit, potato and parsnip puree with marsala reduction — this was a non-judged dish although a bit of a crowd pleaser nevertheless.

Another non-judged dish came next by Zen Jay Ong from Aqua Dining whose Compressed fruit salad, cinnamon sand, raspberry caramel, vanilla creme fraiche and micro basil looking delightful on the glass plate and you could easily smell the wonderful fruits used. I enjoyed the flavours but I'm not a fan of glass plates as they tend to make too much noise with the slightest touch of cutlery. The cinnamon sand was perhaps a bit too sandy tasty for me though. Finally Michael Mu Sung from est. brought out his Chocolate and raspberry cake, white chocolate mousse, almond soil, blueberry sorbet and lemon espuma. Perhaps one of the more substantial sized dishes of the night it certainly delivered on his wish of 'simple flavours made from common ingredients'. I think presentation could be tightened up a bit but it was really hard for me to choose between this one and Stephanie's Sashimi dish as the winner — I think it's a little unfair to judge savoury against sweet dishes.

A big thanks to Frank Roberts from Merivale who invited me along as a guest at this $60/head event. Front of house Maître d' Howard and Chef Simun Dragicevich were great in keeping everything on track both in the dining area and kitchen.

Other visits to Bistro CBD:

• 22 March 2010 - Time Out Sydney Taste Test final

• 28 July 2009 - Tasting Night 15 Years of Dining Excellence

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Reasonable price for 6 well thought out and presented dishes from up and coming chefs

CONS: Books out really quickly

MUST TRY: Keeping an eye on where these young chefs end up

—

Cointreau Blush: Cointreau, Fresh lime, pink grapefruit juice and soda water

Menu

Voting card

Sourdough bread and forks

Stephanie Coupland from est.

Sashimi of yellowfin tuna, wasabi sorbet, coriander and shiso pearls

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Ryka Johnson from Rockpool

Pumpkin and celery salad with sweet, salty and sour dressing

Daniel Sturman from est.

Grilled white scallops and cuttlefish, apple, witlof, hazelnuts, mache

Alex Keen from Ormeggio

Sultana and thyme infused poached rabbit, potato and parsnip puree, marsala reduction

Zen Jay Ong from Aqua Dining

Compressed fruit salad, cinnamon sand, raspberry caramel, vanilla creme fraiche, micro basil

Michael Mu Sung from est.

Chocolate and raspberry cake, white chocolate mousse, almond soil, blueberry sorbet, lemon espuma

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

My votes for the night

Dish A - I voted 1st

Stephanie Coupland from est. Sashimi of yellowfin tuna

Dish B - I voted 4th

Ryka Johnson from Rockpool, Pumpkin and celery salad

Dish C - I voted 3rd

Daniel Sturman from est. Grilled white scallops

Dish D - I voted 2nd

Michael Mu Sung from est. Chocolate and raspberry cake

Chefs receiving gifts and prizes

And the winner is ...

Stephanie Coupland from est.

The Kitchen Pass action

Dining area

Photographers

Daniel Boud getting his just desserts after photographing it

Zen Jay Ong getting in on the food photography behind Daniel Boud

Hobogestapo in action

Chef Simun Dragicevich photographing dishes

Let's cook

Chef Simun Dragicevich cooking scallops

Chit chat

Mark Best from Marque having a chat with Daniel Boud

Sara from Belly Rumbles wins a lucky door prize

Sara from Belly Rumbles and me

Don't forget about the busy dish washer

View Larger Map

March Into Merivale Launch Party 2010: Best Free Food & Drink Event, Sydney (16 Feb 2010)

The Ivy Room, 320 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.marchintomerivale.com

Free party for all!

Congratulations to those of you who actually made it into The Ivy Room for what I think is the best, biggest and most generous 'free' food and drink party of the year — and of course to launch the Merivale $33 lunch and dinner menus at nine of its restaurants. I hope I was able to pre warn some of you about the event in my previous post. An early SMS message from a friend outside at 5.55 pm stating the line was huge confirms it was very well attended — in fact over 3000 online RSVPs were received and I heard the line outside stretched down George Street and around to Hunter Street. A big thanks to Renee and Debbie from Merivale who looked after the food bloggers on arrival attending the launch — they really did a great job giving us access to photograph and sample the food before the 6 pm official opening.

Catering for literally a small army of hungry and thirsty punters is a very daunting task but Merivale seemed to cope exceptionally well. The waitstaff should be commended for distributing the Event Kitchen canapés throughout The Ivy Room. They even got plenty of food to the other side of the room and onto the balcony area and remained calm and professional. The chefs did an incredible job under such pressure and were happy to explain their canapés and menus available at their restaurants. Masterchef judges Matt Preston and George Calombaris were spotted amongst the crowd as well as Justin Hemmes, the owner of Merivale, who casually walked around to check out his popular party launch while looking quite relaxed — thank you for giving me the time to take some photos of you. The Ivy Room was a much better venue and setup for catering to large numbers than the Establishment last year which had too many crowd traffic bottlenecks.

The friendly and energetic head chef David O'Brien of the Event Kitchen did a great job in providing countless trays of extra food to the guests. The Figs with Ricotta were deliciously in season and the tasty Poached Prawns with Poached Lemon Mayonnaise were one of the standouts of the night for me — I could have happily enjoyed a whole tray of them. I'm always very impressed with the presentation of canapés by Peter Doyle from est. The Skewer of Serrano jamon, compressed rock melon and nasturtium is a mini work of art — I think I've discovered my next birthday canapé to try and make. The Grilled rangers valley wagyu flank steak with chimichurri sauce from Mad Cow is one of my favourites — seeing the whole tray of it literally made be drool. I fondly remember the Waygu steak with chimichurri at last years launch. Bistro cbd were freshly shucking Hastings River Oysters which were a great treat. I've come around to enjoying the Wagyu penny burgers with spicy mayonnaise this time — the mayonnaise was really tasty and wagyu mouth-watering. The sushi e Spicy Salmon Roll had a definite spice factor and I loved the cbd bistro Chocolate Indulgence which I think was very similar to the Double Chocolate Brownies I thoroughly enjoyed at their 15 years of Dining Tasting Night Event. The Ocean trout ceviche with Thai flavours from lotus was deliciously fresh and sat on a fantastically light cracker. The playful and fun Skewer of prawn crusted with “Tasty Toobs” was a crowd pleaser as well.

Other March into Merivale Launch Party events:
• 16 Feb 2012 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2012

• 24 Feb 2011 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2011

• 16 March 2010 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2010

• 3 March 2009 - March into Merivale Launch Party 2009

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Free samplings of food and drinks by top chefs, Good service under pressure

CONS: Very popular, very crowded, long lineup, The chefs didn't dress up in their super hero outfits

MUST TRY: Everything as quickly possible — especially the Grilled rangers valley wagyu flank steak with chimichurri sauce

—

Est.

Gingerbread, chicken liver parfait and Tasmanian black currants

Grilled scallop tartare, olive oil, lime juice, washed red onion and pork crackle

Skewer of Serrano jamon, compressed rock melon and nasturtium

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Mad Cow

Heirloom tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil with preserved lemon

Grilled rangers valley wagyu flank steak with chimichurri sauce

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken liver pate on crouton

ucello

Parmesan and prosecco risotto

Beef and porcini lasagne with quattro formaggi

lotus

Pork “Banh Mi” croutons

Skewer of prawn crusted with “Tasty Toobs”

Ocean trout ceviche with Thai flavours

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Bistro cbd

Goats cheese and fig tartlet, balsamic glace

Brandade, cured salmon, gribiche, en croute

Chocolate indulgence

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Freshly shucked Hastings River oysters

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Ash St Cellar

Bouillabaisse with rouille

Sheeps milk labne, beetroot and mustard fruits in a filo tartlet

teppanyaki

Roasted Kurobuta pork, green apple and ginger soy sauce

Wagyu penny burgers with spicy mayonnaise

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Seared Tasmanian salmon, Amazu ponzu and dried miso

Sushi e

Roast Duck: Shallot with Yuzu Kosho sauce

Establishment Roll

Spicy Salmon Roll

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Sushi Choo

Oh no, I must have missed Sushi Choo? Sushi Choo — where are you?

Event kitchen

Event Kitchen waitstaff serving figs with ricotta canapé

Poached prawns with poahed lemon mayonnaise

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Fig with ricotta and caramelised almonds

Braised Wagyu Beef Shin with crushed pea salsa

Head Chef of Event Kitchen is David O'Brien

The Drinks

Pre-opening arrival

5.15 pm: Sitting by the Ivy Pool while chefs are getting ready

5.35 pm: Entering the Ivy Room — I felt a Charlie in the Chocolate Factory moment

The calm before the feasting storm

Official photographer

Chefs prepping

Food bloggers doing their thing

5.55 pm sms message — it's going to be a huge event!

Is that!?

Matt Preston (MasterChef judge and food critic) and me

George Calombaris (MasterChef judge and Chef) and Me

Justin Hemmes and me in the Event Kitchen

Blog fan

Paula my supportive blog reader fan comes to say hi — my new PR!

The Ivy Room

Ivy Pool

After party drinks

View Larger Map