Piedmont Truffle Regional Dinner at Osteria Balla, The Star, Pyrmont (10 July 2012)

The Star, Retail Arcade, 80 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009

http://www.manfredi.com.au/restaurants/2/Balla

Truffling through Italian cuisine

Thanks to Denea Buckingham for inviting me along as her plus one guest to the Piedmont Truffle Regional Dinner at Osteria Balla hosted by Chef Stefano Manfredi. To date my palate has been quite disappointed about the beloved truffle but this 4 course dinner ($120 including sponsored wines) thankfully brought me one step closer to appreciating the flavour that it possesses. Dishes were matched with wines from Piedmont and credit should be given to the sommelier who I thought did a great job with matching the wines to the dishes. To start the light and refreshing 2011 Matteo Correggia Roero Arneis was nicely matched to the White vegetable puree with fontina and black truffle which had great flavour and a definite truffle taste. I thought the dish would have also work very well as an amuse bouche presented in a shot glass with dare I say it maybe even a freshly shucked oyster inside — who knows. Next was a very smooth and buttery 2010 Angelo Gaja Rossj Bass Chardonnay which was well-matched to the creamy Black truffle risotto with good truffle flavour and an al dente bite. Note the 2009 bottle is on the wine list for $210 so it doesn’t come cheap.

Another favourite wine of the night was the 2010 Giuliano Corino Nebbiolo ($89 bottle) with good bouquet and again nicely matched to the Rabbit loin with bread and truffle stuffing, braised lentils, grilled cauliflower. The truffle flavour wasn’t as noticeable in this dish and even though the grilled cauliflower was quite nice I think I would have preferred it as a cauliflower puree mixed with perhaps truffle butter to add some creaminess to the dish. For dessert the 2010 Bera Moscato d'Asti Naturale ($82 bottle) was easy to drink, perhaps too easy, but thankfully low in alcohol. It wasn’t too sweet, had a nice bouquet and the bubbles gave it a very pleasant texture on the palate. Another great match with the Nougat and honey white truffle with hazelnut sauce. No actual truffle in this dessert but flavours were well-balanced and it wasn’t overly rich and surprising fairly easy to eat for its round shape. The restaurant got my tick of approval for their toilets which even though they’re unisex were very well kept and nicely presented plus there’s no awkward obstacles from the table supports so they get a tick from me too. I know I have a weird obsessive passion for these two things but hey each to their own. I noticed Urbanspoon's rating was quite low of 57% liked after 64 people but the menu didn't look overly expensive. A common complaint seems to be the only steak option on the menu is the 800g T-bone to share for $84 which I'd probably agree that it seems to be very limiting for diners.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice décor and atmosphere, Event price kept reasonable due to wines being sponsored, Professional and knowledgeable staff, Well-presented dishes, Open kitchen provides some dining theatre, Quality wines, Quality ingredients

CONS: Located at The Star where you won’t find any free street parking in the area, Perhaps not the cheapest restaurant in town but the decor, quality and ambience seems to justify the price

MUST TRY: Hopefully returning to try other dishes on the menu

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Chef Stefano Manfredi

Table setting

Piedmont Truffle Regional Dinner ($120 per person)

Bread and olive oil

2011 Matteo Correggia Roero Arneis

White vegetable puree with fontina and black truffle

Fontina can get a little elastic

2010 Angelo Gaja Rossj Bass Chardonnay

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Black truffle risotto

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

2010 Giuliano Corino Nebbiolo ($89 bottle)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Rabbit loin with bread and truffle stuffing, braised lentils, grilled cauliflower

2010 Bera Moscato d'Asti Naturale ($82 bottle)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Nougat and honey white truffle with hazelnut sauce
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Black truffles

Speech time

Chef Stefano Manfredi & Denea Buckingham

Denea going in for the dessert kill shot

Riedel glassware

Sparkling glassware

Wine list on iPad

Grappa trolley — looks like some serious fun

Unobstructive table supports get a tick from me

Unisex toilets well presented

This must be 'The Star' — Happy Mardi Gras!

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David Jones Food Hall: Fresh French Truffles $4900/kg, Sydney (24 Dec 2010)

Food Hall, Lower Ground, 65-77 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Rich pickings for Christmas

A recent tweet by Darlinghurst Darling to Simon Thomsen alerted me to Fresh French Truffles available at David Jones Food Hall http://plixi.com/p/64955796 fetching $4900/kg so I was curious to check them out. When you work out the price per gram of $4.90/gram it's about the same price I paid at Sigornelli Gastronomia for shaved Australian truffle. I haven't tried French truffle so if anyone wants to send me a belated Christmas present you know what to get me. It took me a while to work out where they were and then I noticed the cryogenic looking fridge brightly lit up in the middle of the greengrocer service counter. It was a bit hard to read the information flyer on top of the fridge so I'm not exactly sure who the supplier is. They also looked white but I'm suspecting they're perhaps wrapped in something? While scouting around the fruit section I noticed 2 kg boxes of cherries from Koala Country Orchards. They looked very similar to the quality ones I received from Top Juice so I'm pretty sure this is the same supplier. I reckon they'd have to be the best cherries I've seen of the season although they do come with a premium price tag. If you buy them directly online for $55 per 2 kg box they'll be about half price of what you'll get charged at the greengrocer.

Fresh French truffles ($4900/kg)

Box of cherries from Koala Country

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)


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Signorelli Gastronomia: Eat-Drink-Shop-Cook Italian, Pyrmont (13 Aug 2010)

Darling Island Wharf (Opposite Star City)
Ground Floor / Accenture Building / Trouton Place
48 Pirrama Road, Pyrmont NSW 2009
http://www.signorelli.com.au



Food heaven starts here

I first heard about Sigornelli Gastronomia when visiting the Primo Italiano Festival where I picked up one of their flyers. Thankfully after a few months some of my friends organised a dinner catchup there so I was looking forward to checking it out. At night it's a little hard to find for the first time but once you enter it's like an Italian lovers heaven. Large displays of delicious looking products line the shelves and fridges including a 5 kg jar of Nutella as big as my head. Sitting down to dinner we notice the cheese and wine rooms lit up like shrines of devoted love — this place is definitely serious about their food and wine. After ordering our meals we're treated to a delicious appetiser of chaux pastry with fetta and pesto — more please! For entree the Whitebait fritters, salsa di l'ovo, chilli oil ($16.50) is a nice starter I'd happily have again and the Signorelli Gastronomia Antipasto ($22) comes with a selection of 4 different salumi which are all tasty and good quality matched with olives and some cheese. Tonight's special of freshly shaven truffle is available at $4.10 per gram. We try it on the Risotto di fungi, fontina, nettles, Ferron risotto ($16 entree size) which adds $16.40 for 4 grams. The waitress shaves the truffle quite quickly so be ready to say 'when' to stop them. The risotto has a nice mushroom taste but for me the truffle is too subtle and I'd probably have without — I've still yet to appreciate what all the fuss is about with fresh truffle.

My Osso Bucco Milanese ($30) had fall-of-the-bone meat as hoped and nice rich flavours although a good dollop of refreshing gremolata would have been much appreciated. The Roasted Cootamundra lamb rump, stufato di fagioli, gnocchetti ($28) was perfectly cooked and gave me dish envy with its great flavours. Port Lincoln mulloway saltimbocca, cavolo nero, beurre noisette ($34) was served with a decent crisp skin although perhaps could have done with some sauce. Gnocchi, quattro formaggi, sage ($25 main size) was full of rich flavour as expected and a crowd pleaser. The freshly cooked pizza called Umberto's masterpiece ($22) came with pancetta, potato, mozzarella and truffle oil — wonderful flavours that worked so well together. You could easily share this between 2 or as a starter for 4 because it was quite rich. Signorelli Gastronomia Tiramisu ($9.50) was nicely presented with balanced flavours although a bolder use of coffee and liquor would have made it even better for me. Service was helpful and friendly and really made us feel quite welcomed — like an Italian family sitting down at a communal table.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly and professional service, Nice decor and atmosphere, Quality dishes of substantial size, Reasonably priced

CONS: A bit out of the way to get to from the city, Not the easiest place to find free street parking, Wish it was closer to the city or my home

MUST TRY: Everything on the menu especially the Antipasto, Tiramisu and Pizza

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Appetiser chaux pastry with fetta and pesto

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Bread and olive oil

Whitebait fritters, salsa di l'ovo, chilli oil ($16.50)

Signorelli Gastronomia Antipasto - Selection of salumi, olives, parmigana, parmesan ($22)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Risotto di fungi, fontina, nettles, Ferron risotto ($16 entree size)

Fresh truffle shaved $4 per gram with Risotto di fungi, fontina, nettles, Ferron risotto ($16 entree size)

Osso Bucco Milanese ($30)

Roasted Cootamundra lamb rump, stufato di fagioli, gnocchetti ($28)

Port Lincoln mulloway saltimbocca, cavolo nero, beurre noisette ($34)

Gnocchi, quattro formaggi, sage ($25 main size)

Umberto's masterpiece - Pancetta, potato, mozzarella, truffle oil ($22)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Signorelli Gastronomia Tiramisu ($9.50)

2008 Signorelli Rosso Pizzini Shiraz Cabernet Sangiovese King Valley Vic ($26), 2007 Keith Tulloch Merlot Hunter Valley ($45)

Bill $350.40 for 7 people

5 kg nutella jar and Me

Cheese room

Sparkling wine room

Red wine room

Plasma screens above the kitchen show some of the cooking preparation

Inside and outside office foyer seating

Deli and products galore

Industrial sized kitchen

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