Flying Fish: Wine Selectors Marriage of Food & Wine Event, Pyrmont (6 Sept 2011)

19-21 Pirrama Road, Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont NSW 2009
http://www.flyingfish.com.au

Real wine, producers & regions

“There's a great wine for every occasion — it's all about epxloring, finding what you like and what suit the event. There's nothing worng with having an affordable bottle of Shiraz with your sausages on a Monday night”

Thanks to Carla Carafa from Keep Left PR for inviting me as a guest to this Wine Selectors event. It was an educational dinner where I discovered that even though there's over 3000 registered wineries in Australia probably half the volume of wine is bought from only 8 mega wine companies. Which apparently means the majority of the smaller wineries are never discovered by the general wine consumer that only visits places like Coles and Woolworths. I also learnt the supermarket giants actually own places like Dan Murphys, Cellarmasters, Vintage Cellars, 1st Choice Liquor Superstore and BWS which I always thought were independent — so sneaky. There's only a small number of independent wine cellars in Australia that help to sell a wider choice of wines to the consumer. I've noticed the Wine Selectors stands at airports and always thought they were just selling marked up wines to tourists that you could get cheaper in your local bottle shop but I know understand they're helping to sell wines from some of the smaller producers which you wouldn’t find in most liquor shops. They tell me their pricing guarantee matches what it would cost to buy directly from the winery so that's good to know as I hate paying more than I have to.

A selection of wines were matched with the Flying Fish dinner menu. Out of all the wines sampled the 2009 Coriole Vineyards Sangiovese Shiraz certainly had some ‘presence’ as it was described. The tiny Cornet of ocean trout tartare with chive crème fraiche ($5 each) was enjoyable and the Freshly shucked Sydney rock oyster with soy and ginger ($5 each) was pretty good but seemed to be missing a fair bit of its fresh brine I was hoping for. A nicely presented Roasted blue eye trevalla ($48) looked great and I really enjoyed the flavours of white anchovy & herb vinaigrette topping. For the hot chip fans the Flying fish hand cut chips with chili salt ($12) are definitely worth trying. Fair amount of noticeable spice but perhaps could have been a little more crunchier for my liking. Cabot cloth bound cheddar ($15, Individual portion 40 grams) seems to be popular these days in restaurants which had the right amount of bite. I really enjoyed the Delice de Bourgogne from France — more please. My Affogato with Frangelico ($19) comes at a steep price but worth it for a special occasion. Look out for the Ginger and cardamon chocolate petit four which was my favourite of the selection offered.

Check out Noodlies for some video footage of Chris Barnes explaining the wine selection

Other visits to Flying Fish:

• 2 Sept 2011 - Wine Selector Marriage of Food & Wine Event

• 2 March 2011 - #summermenu Tweetup and Blogging Event

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Greater access to wines from different regions, Water views and glimpses, Nice decor, Interesting and well-presented dishes, Quality ingredients, Professional service, Private dining sections available

CONS: Expensive, Restaurant located a bit off the beaten track with limited free street parking for only limited time, I still don't like the toilet setup

WORTH TRYING: Cornet of ocean trout tartare, Hand cut chips, Affogato with Frangelico, Dishes that tickle your fancy, Delice de Bourgogne cheese, The Ginger and cardamon chocolate petit four

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Acqua Panna mineral water, Prosecco di Valdobbiano Sorelle Bronca; 2005 Chrismont Riesling

2010 Dandelelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling; 2010 Riposte by Tim Knappstein No 1 Pinot Noir

2008 Tarrawarra Estate Reserve Pinot Noir; 2009 Coriole Vineyards Sangiovese Shiraz

Girls and boys bomboniere

Cornet of ocean trout tartare with chive crème fraiche ($5 each)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Freshly shucked Sydney rock oyster with soy and ginger ($5 each) — missing a bit of the brine I was hoping for

Toasted brioche with duck rilletes and foie gras mousse ($5 each)

Garlic butter, plain butter with bread

Roasted blue eye trevalla with textures of potato, white anchovy & herb vinaigrette ($48) — nice condiment flavours

Flying fish offers a complimentary green leaf salad with main courses

Dutton park duck breast & confit leg pastilla with buckwheat, quince & pan juices ($47) — tender meat, nice flavours

Flying fish hand cut chips with chili salt ($12) — nice amount of spice although could be a little more crunchier for my liking

WORTH TRYING :-)

Cabot cloth bound cheddar, cow’s milk, Vermont, USA; Delice de Bourgogne, Burgundy, France ($15, Individual portion 40 grams)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Affogato with Frangelico ($19)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Petit fours — Mandarin and guava jelly, Passionfruit meringue really nice

Ginger and cardamon chocolate

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Small camera, big camera

Chris Barnes explaining Wine Selectors

Open kitchen

Seating and bar upstairs, Goodie bag of wine, Selector magazine and Lindt caramel chocolate

Looking through the wooden decor

Table setting and wall feature

Nice little lantern lights

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Taste of Sydney 2011: Restaurant dishes and free tastings guide, Sydney (10 Mar 2011)

Brazilian Fields, Centennial Park, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.tasteofsydney.com.au

A tasting of Sydney restaurants

Thanks to Ashley Gatte from Stellar* for organising a VIP invitation for me to attend the Taste of Sydney Opening Night including a bloggers preview at 4.45 pm to visit Victor Churchill for some cured meat tastings, Sensology to learn how to make a piña colada and the kitchen tour of Restaurant Balzac plus access to the nicely air conditioned HSBC VIP Lounge where I had a refreshing PIMMS cocktail minus the usual cucumber and some oysters with Vietnamese dressing. It was a busy night of eating for me and I managed to sample 23 (plus 2 other dishes over friday and saturday totally 25) out of the 42 restaurants dishes on offer from the 14 restaurant stands — the majority of them were generously provided to me by the chefs which saved me a fortune in aid of my eating research purposes, thank you so much. Revisiting on friday I also tried the 3 noticeably alcoholic yet refreshing tasting cocktails made to order from Otto Bar along with the Scallops dish from Etch and on saturday I tried the tasty salmon and potato cakes from Bird Cow Fish. Since I didn’t get try all the dishes I can only make recommendations on the selection I sampled but some of the other dishes looked very appetising and if given half a chance I would have happily tried them all.

A Tavola & Omerta’s Potato gnocchi with slow cooked lamb ragu ($12) had nice flavours but for dessert the Ricotta fritters with berries and honey ($8) stole my heart. Chef Miguel Maestre now has Apertif and still churning out large amounts of Paella ($12) with passion on those enormous pans. Freshly cooked up Churros con Chocolate ($8) are worthy of a try. The four Oysters with Vietnamese dressing ($10) from Assiette & District Dining are pretty good value and I’m sure the Spicy Free Range Lilydale Chicken ($10) will be a crowd pleaser although I wish the coleslaw had a more flavoursome dressing. Berowra Waters Inn are doing their popular Chilled Vichyssoise, Oyster Beignets, Salmon Roe ($10) which will set you back $30 in the actual restaurant so it’s a great opportunity to try them. Although I wasn’t a fan of the Fromart Raw Milk Alpage Cheese ($10) which was way too strong on the nose for my liking. The dishes from Bilson's & Number One Wine Bar looked pretty simple in comparison to other restaurant dishes. I enjoyed the flavours in the Apple Tarte Tatin ($10) although it didn’t really have that slightly caramelised crunchy base as hoped and the Merguez with Spiced Cous-Cous & Harissa ($12) was more dense than fluffy in density.

Chef Alex Herbert from Bird Cow Fish was very busy in the kitchen with an abundance of people waiting for their dish orders. The Regal King Salmon & potato fishcakes ($10) caught my eye which I thankfully tried on my revisit on saturday — definitely worth having. I liked the look of the Hiramasa kingfish roasted in jerky & nigella seeds ($12) from Danks Street Depot & Cotton Duck and the cheeky Jared Ingersoll apparently has really good nuts to go with his own branded Cotton Duck Ale. There was no sign of Justin North at Etch & Charlie & Co but his Chips with truffle and parmesan still seem to be drawing the crowds. An easy dish to share without cutlery is the tasty looking Black pepper and curry leaf prawn skewers ($10) from Flying Fish which is freshly cooked to order and bursting with nice flavours. For chocolate lovers you might like Four in Hand’s Dark Chocolate Snickers ($8) although there seemed to be an unfortunate missing ingredient of peanuts to add crunch and flavour as expected. The 12 Hour Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pea and Feta Salad ($12) looked really good and perhaps worthy of a try. My Kitchen Rules judge Manu Feildel is in fine form at L'etoile posing for photos with fans. He’s dish samples are displayed on the counter as a helpful guide for customers which I think all restaurants should adopt. I was hoping he’d be doing more interesting dishes like a mini bouillabaisse, duck confit or crème brûlée but perhaps next year.

Rich enjoyable flavours are to be found in the Dark chocolate and coffee 'Barbajada' with almond crumble ($10) from Ormeggio at the Spit and even though the Acquarello Risotto of beetroot and gorgonzola ($10) looks quite unappealing it promises rich flavours to those who dare. Otto Ristorante wins the trifecta for good looking dishes and the generous serve of Stracci with smoked veal ragout ($10) delivers on taste as well. Paper plates and plastic cutlery don’t to justice to the nicely presented Regal King salmon carpaccio with orange segments ($10) and the Amedei Milk chocolate mousse ($8) is one of my favourite desserts of the festival. Chef Matt Kemp from Restaurant Balzac is one of the first stands you’ll come across as you enter the grounds on the left. For the meat lover at heart you can’t go past the ample sized Crisp Wagyu Beef with Wild Mushroom and Truffle Foam ($12) rich in flavours and his Seared Regal King Salmon ($10) is simply cooked to allow the salmon flavours to stand out in the dish as it should.

If you’re feeling a bit short on cash after paying for your entry ticket ($25 online, $30 at the door) then there’s some excellent complimentary canapés to be found at the City Tattersalls Club stand where the energetic and friendly staff will welcome you with great enthusiasm — these guys get my best customer service award closely followed by the effervescent and charismatic Chef Miguel Maestre from Aperitif. Also check out the New Zealand stand for free tasting samples of Whitestone cheeses, Regal smoked salmon and Omega Seafood mussels and clams. There’s plenty of other stands providing free tastings including a coffee appreciation session by Nespresso for a caffeine kick to the heart and The Australian Gourmet Traveller Taste Kitchen is providing free live cooking demonstrations by the restaurant chefs of their signature dishes. Free demonstrations by Executive Chef Vincent Gadan of Patisse are also to be found at the De Dietrich Appliances stand and for only $6 you can book yourself into the Jaguar Gourmet Traveller WINE Theatre where you’ll get to sample some wines plus learn a thing or two about them.

Session dates and times:

Session 1: Thursday 10 March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Session 2: Friday 11 March: Noon - 4 pm
Session 3: Friday 11 March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Session 4: Saturday 12 March: Noon - 4 pm
Session 5: Saturday 12 March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Session 6: Sunday 13 March: Noon - 5 pm

Other visits to Taste of Sydney:
March 2012 / March 2011 / March 2010

Other blog reviews of Taste of Sydney 2011:

• Penguin Says Feed Me!

• Chocolatesuze

• Fooderati

• Tasted by Two

• Chic Traveller

• The Empty Fridge

• Gastronomous Anonymous

• I Dream in Chocolate

• Eye Eat

• Aficionado

• I'm Hungry Too

• OOh, LOOk...

• pigged-out

• Insatiable Munchies

• Gourmantic

• Honey and Soy Food Adventures

• Food, booze and shoes

• Sugarpuffi

• Opinion Whining & Dining

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: A taste test of Sydney's top quality restaurants, Meet the chefs in person, Lots of free taste samplings to be found, Free parking available inside the park gates but fills up quickly

CONS: Can end up being quite expensive if you want to try a lot of dishes, Weather permitting, Time limit per session, Can get crowded at times when a restaurant stand is popular, No seating around the restaurant stands, Fake grass tables could be cleared of empty dishes more quickly, High heels don't work too well walking in the grass for the ladies

MUST TRY: Checking out all the dishes and meeting the chefs

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WALKTHROUGH HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

RESTAURANT DISHES

A Tavola & Omerta

Dish 1 Mussels steamed with chilli, white wine, tomato and parsley ($10) [sampled]

Dish 2 Potato gnocchi with slow cooked lamb ragu ($12) [sampled]

Dish 3 Ricotta fritters with berries and honey ($8) [sampled]

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chef Eugenio Malale and Me

Apertif

Dish 1 Regal King Salmon Curado with Chilli and Star Anise ($10) [sampled]

Dish 2 Paella a la Maestre ($12) [sampled]

Dish 3 Churros con Chocolate ($8) [sampled]

Aperitif Chef Miguel Maestre and Me

Book signing duties

Assiette & District Dining

Dish 1 Oysters with Vietnamese dressing, crispy shallots & coriander ($10) [sampled] — Quite good value for 4 oysters

Dish 2 Spicy Free Range Lilydale Chicken with Lime Aioli and Coleslaw ($10) [sampled] – pretty much the same as I enjoyed at District Dining

Dish 3 Crispy Pork Belly, Cashew Nut Caramel, Watermelon & Mint ($12) [sampled]

Chef Warren Turnbull and Me

Berowra Waters Inn

Dish 1 Chilled Vichyssoise, Oyster Beignets, Salmon Roe ($10) [sampled] — Very good value considering it would cost $30 in the restaurant and it's essentially the same thing

Dish 2 Slow Cooked Fillet Of Ocean Trout, 'French Onion Soup' Puree, Peppered Oxtail 'Croustillant' ($12) [sampled] – sadly the fish was a bit undercooked but the overall flavours were good

Dish 3 Fromart Raw Milk Alpage Cheese, Sauvignon Blanc Poached Apple, Beetroot Oil ($10) [sampled] – the cheese was a bit too strong on the nose for my palate

Chef Dietmar Sawyere and Me

Bilson's & Number One Wine Bar

Dish 1 Chicken Liver Parfait with Brioche and Mesclun Salad ($8)

Dish 2 Merguez with Spiced Cous-Cous & Harissa ($12) [sampled] – a bit on the uninspiring side

Dish 3 Apple Tarte Tatin with Calvados Creme Anglaise ($10) [sampled]

Tony Bilson and Me

Bird Cow Fish

Dish 1 Regal King Salmon & potato fishcakes with tartare sauce; fresh lemon ($10) [sampled sat]

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Dish 2 Boned and rolled roasted chicken stuffed with mushroom duxelle; pommes puree ($12) — looked pretty good and possibly worth trying

Dish 3 Tiramisu roulade with caramel sauce ($8)

Chef Alex Herbert and Me

Chef Alex Herbert book

Danks Street Depot & Cotton Duck

Dish 1 Stone fruit roasted with home cured pancetta, verjuice & chilli (vegetarian option is served with grana pandano instead of pancetta) ($10)

Dish 2 Hiramasa kingfish roasted in jerky & nigella seeds with heirloom tomatoes & basil ($12) — looked pretty good and maybe worth trying

Dish 3 Chocolate and rhubarb tart with rhubarb cream, chocolate mint and tonka bean ($10)

Cotton Duck Ale with Danks Street Depot's really good nuts ($10 or $8 with a dish)

Chef Jared Ingersoll and Me

Etch & Charlie & Co

Dish 1 Seared scallops with cauliflower bhaji and curry ($10) [sampled fri] – quite nice in flavours

Dish 2 Organic grass fed wagyu burger ($10) – was a pretty small looking burger and you'll get more at Plan B

Chips with truffle and parmesan ($6) – if you miss out you can always try at Westfield Sydney Charlie & Co

Dish 3 Caramel date tart, Earl Grey syrup and vanilla Chantilly ($10)

Flying Fish

Dish 1 Black pepper and curry leaf prawn skewers with lime and fresh coconut ($10) [sampled]

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Dish 2 Seared Petuna ocean trout with a white curry sauce, jasmine rice and raw vegetable sambal ($12) – looked pretty good and maybe worth trying

Dish 3 The Wattalapam – Sri Lankan crème caramel with palm treacle and roast cashews ($10) – sounds really interesting

Chef Peter Kuruvita from Flying Fish and Me

Four in Hand

Dish 1 Confit Pork Belly, Squid, Chorizo and Chickpea ($10) [sampled]

Dish 2 12 Hour Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pea and Feta Salad ($12) – looked really good and maybe worth trying

Dish 3 Dark Chocolate Snickers ($8) – nice flavours but needed a peanut factor to make it more like a Snickers, perhaps chopped caramelised peanuts sprinkled on top

Chef Colin Fassnidge and Me

Busy kitchen keeping up with demand

L'etoile

Dish 1 French country style pate with sourdough bread ($10)

Dish 2 Slow cooked shoulder of lamb with smoked potato puree and jus ($12)

Dish 3 Raspberry bavarrois ($8)

Chef Manu Feildel and Me

Ormeggio at the Spit

Dish 1 Beef battuta with eshalots, crispy amaranth and mustard figs ($10)

Dish 2 Acquarello Risotto of beetroot and gorgonzola ($10) [sampled] – doesn't look that appealing but had rich bold flavours

Dish 3 Dark chocolate and coffee 'Barbajada' with almond crumble ($10)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chef Alessandro Pavoni and Me

Otto Ristorante

Dish 1 Stracci with smoked veal ragout, eschallot puree, bresaola and parmesan ($10) – quite a decent sized portion

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Dish 2 Regal King salmon carpaccio with orange segments, citrus and chardonnay vinegar dressing, shaved fennel, salmon roe, baby herbs and crispy salmon skin ($10) – looked really good but sadly was a bit hard to eat and appreciate with the paper plate and plastic cutlery

Dish 3 Amedei Milk chocolate mousse with salted caramel and fresh berries ($8) – the salted caramel really made this dish a winner

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chef Richard Ptacnik and Me

Otto Bar

Dish 1 Aperol Spritzer: Aperol, prosecco toped with soda ($10)

Dish 2 Campari Passion: Campari, passionfruit and orange juice ($10)

Dish 3 Otto mule: Vodka, ginger beer, mint, limes ($10)

Live music

Bartenders

Restaurant Balzac

Dish 1 Crisp Wagyu Beef with Wild Mushroom and Truffle Foam ($12) — definitely for the meat lover and a decent sized portion

WORTH TRYING :-)

Dish 2 Saddle of Suckling Pig with Baby Garden Peas ($12)

Dish 3 Seared Regal King Salmon with a Salad of Pomegranate, Mint and Feta ($10) – looked good and simply cooked to appreciate the salmon flavour

WORTH TRYING :-)

Chef Matt Kemp from Restaurant Balzac and Me

BLOGGERS PREVIEW

Ashley Gatte from Stellar welcoming bloggers on their preview tour

Victor Churchill stand: Darren O'Rourke slicing with the Berkel which is worth a cool $70K — I want one for Christmas

Victor Churchill stand: David Blackmore Wagyu Bresaola 9+ Marble Score tasting sample – this just melts in your mouth

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Victor Churchill stand: Tartufo with black truffle tasting sample (around $60 per kg) – nice flavours

Victor Churchill stand: Biltong tasting sample

Victor Churchill stand: Crème brûlée ($8) [sampled] – Tried on saturday, sorry about the mobile phone picture

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Victor Churchill Goodie Sample bag

Sensology stand entrance

Sensology cocktail mixing instruments

Sensology cocktail instructor and Shez from One Bite More

Sensology Pina Colada made with Barcade 30 ml, Coconut Water 30 ml, Pineapple Juice 30 ml, shaken with ice ($10)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Sensology Goodie Sample Bag

Food bloggers visit Chef Matt Kemp in the Restaurant Balzac kitchen

FREE TASTINGS

City Tattersalls Club stand

City Tattersalls Club competition: Win a dinner for 2 valued at $200

City Tattersalls Club complimentary samples menu

City Tattersalls Club Sangria, Mocha Martini (Free)

City Tattersalls Club Prawn Arancini with Roasted Sweet Bell Pepper Aioli (Free)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

City Tattersalls Club Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon Dough Nuts with White Chocolate or Sour Cherry (Free)

City Tattersalls Club Hrous Spiced Lamb Kebab with Coriander and Mint Yoghurt (Free)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

City Tattersalls Club Mini Lemon and Lime Meringue Tarts (Free)

Rochester Ginger and Dark Ginger — For lovers of great tasting ginger

Gourmet Traveller Taste Kitchen demonstrations

Barilla stand — Oops technical power problem but great place to see a cook off and taste samples

Nespresso stand — You get to make and try 3 coffees

Johnnie Walker stand

Chef Alex Herbert at the Australian Gourmet Travellers Chef's Table

Jaguar Gourmet Traveller WINE Theatre

Be Enlightened stand — Simon's Award for the Most Out of Place Product at a Food Festival

HSBC VIP LOUNGE

Seating outside

Air conditioned inside

Wines on offer

Oysters with Vietnamese dressing

PIMMS and lemonade — very refreshing

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Professional photographers at Sensology Cocktail session

FESTIVAL

Lots of dishes being consumed although quicker cleanups may be required

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