Melbourne Day 4

A day in the country

Saturday started with a busy morning on the agenda. Firstly, we wanted to go to the Queen Victoria Market, and then had a trip to the country planned for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. We got up and out nice and early and headed down to Flinders Street to catch one of the City Circle trams, which run for free and do a round trip of the downtown district. After waiting for nearly 45 minutes, we realized that they didn’t start running until 10, so walked back to the hotel and caught a cab to the Queen Vic.

Like many open markets, the Queen Victoria was packed on a Saturday morning. It has been a staple of Melbourne’s shopping for years, and is very nicely organized by types of merchants. First up were the vendors selling clothes, toy, souvenirs, and such items. We took a stroll up and down the long sheds and made a note of a few items to come back for later. (I can’t say what they were, as it will ruin the surprise).

We then headed into the food areas. What an array of vendors. All of the produce is in one covered area, organic separated from conventional. Similar to how the fish mongers at Pike place call out their orders, a few of the produce suppliers were proudly calling out the prices and offerings they had, both very boisterously and in the spirit of friendly competition. The quality of the goods looked great, as it is late spring here, and the first of the early potato varieties were presented, freshly dug from the fields, and there was an abundance of asparagus, spring onions, lettuces, and strawberries.

We crossed into the buildings where they sell the meat and seafood, and once again, all were in their own sections. There had to be 40 butcher shops, which only sell fresh meat, a similar number of seafood merchants, and about half the number of poultry providers. Interestingly, there is a high degree of specialization, as the butchers didn’t sell poultry or cured meats, and vice versa. After taking a few pictures and enjoying the bustle, we went over to the adjoining building where all of the deli products were sold. Here we found all of the cured meats, olives, cheeses, etc. Again, a busy, well displayed and organized place, with everything you could imagine. One of the cheese shops was cutting butter from huge farmhouse slabs, which caught my eye, as well as that of a couple from the UK who were walking past.

Running tight for time, we headed back on the tram with our purchases, and after deciding to take a shortcut, which ran us right into the middle of the Christmas parade, arrived at the hotel 2o minutes behind schedule.

Immediately, we were picked up and headed out for a drive northeast of the city to a country town called Daylesford. The scenery on the way there was very picturesque, as we exited the Melbourne area, which has been starving for rain and made our way into rolling green hills lined with eucalyptus and other gum trees. About an hour and a half from the city, we arrived in Daylesford, the spa centre of the region, where many city folks have weekend and summer homes. Originally built during the gold mining days around the turn of the century, it has now become a weekend holiday town, with spas, natural minerals springs, and a man made lake surrounded by little cottages and homes. Perched on the edge of the lake on a beautiful property sat our lunch destination: the Lake House.

The Lake House is one of those places that exude a personal dedication to a vision. Owned by Allan and Alla Wolf Tasker, the property is 6 acres of lush gardens, with 33 rooms and suites, an award winning waterfront dining room, wine cellar, and day spa. The walls and the custom charger plates feature large festive canvases with kitchen scenes, painted by Allan, and Executive Chef Alla oversees a brigade of capable chefs, lead by chef de cuisine David Green.

Lunch was offered in both a la carte and degustation menus, and we settled on choosing from the former. The menus were beautifully presented, and featured a few pages at the back dedicated to their local purveyors. To begin, I ordered the fresh white asparagus, in a very soft white polenta with parmesan, topped with a freshly poached duck egg. My dining companions had the soup, a carrot velouté with an orange foam, and a brandade croquette with chorizo respectively.

For main courses, I had the duck served in two parts: a sip of consommé and a sliver of seared foie gras to start, followed by the roasted breast. Others at the table had the lamb loin, smoked over pine needles and the tortellini stuffed with fresh goat cheese and served with a zucchini timbale and deep fried zucchini blossom. We all shared some freshly dug and roasted potatoes with garlic and steamed brocollini and baby zucchini.

We passed on dessert, as we had some poking around in the area to do, and headed down to the lake for a look around. After a stroll through the centre of town, we drove a few kilometres to the Lavandula Swiss Lavender Farm, where we had a coffee and some delicious lavender scones with berry compote and cream, as well as a look at the gardens and gift shop.

The drive back to the city took us through a few different small towns, and deposited us downtown fairly full and not wanting a big dinner. We had spied a few tapas places the night before and tried two to no avail, as it was the peak of Saturday night service. We elected to stroll back over to the City Wine Shop next to the European we had dined at a few days earlier, and had a lovely light snack and a glass of shiraz.

The three of us shared a plate of salamis, a bowl of olives and almonds, a nice piece of Delice de Bourgogne, (a triple cream brie), and a house terrine with homemade pickles. All were delicious and hit the spot after a day of roaming.

http://www.qvm.com.au/home.php

http://www.lakehouse.com.au/

http://www.lavandula.com.au/index.php

http://www.citywineshop.net.au/

I will be in Melbourne for the next 10 days on business and seeing as it’s got a great reputation for good food, thought I’d share my dining experiences.

The Central Business District is compact and an interesting mix of old and new architecture. Across the street from my 30+ story hotel are two beautiful old churches, the spires of which I look out onto. I set upon some research before leaving Vancouver and had a list of a few restaurants to check out. The inflight magazine on our flight from Sydney provided a few others and to my great delight, once I searched all the addresses and websites, I had 8 places within a few blocks of the hotel. My first order of business was an evening walk to get my bearings and check out the CBD quickly, and then pop into one of my choices for a solo dinner.

The downtown core is divided into large streets with all of the big buildings you would expect in an urban metropolis, but in addition, there are small streets and lanes between the buildings that provide a very different atmosphere. Tucked into the various “little” streets and “lanes” are all of the small cafés and restaurants you could imagine. There is a great deal of south Asian influence here, and keeping with Australia’s reputation for excellent cooks, the incorporation of classic technique for a vibrant fusion food culture. A stroll to the east took me over to the large park beside the parliament buildings and once I finished weaving in and out of the side streets to scope out the next week’s dinners, I ended up at my first destination, Gingerboy.

Tucked inside an older building and on a side lane, the place was bustling! No room in the dining room, I was told, but could saddle one of the barstools and have my dinner there, or pop upstairs to the brand new cocktail lounge. I decided on the former, as the small open kitchen was right there and my barstool provided a great view of all of the action (probably the only thing I really miss about not being in a small restaurant kitchen every night). I counted 8 cooks working furiously and food flying out at a phenomenal pace. I perused the well chosen wine list and the menu and decided that beer would be suitable for a menu inspired by Singapore’s famous hawker stands. I asked the young lady tending bar for a recommendation for beer to suit the food, and was introduced to “333” from Vietnam.

Looking though the menu, I settled on picking a few small plates, and decided that once I had some reinforcements would have to come back to try some of the larger plates meant to share. First to catch my attention was the signature dish I had read about, “son in law eggs”. I was informed that the kitchen could make a smaller order if I liked, as there were normally 3 on a plate, (an offer I gratefully accepted to allow for more choices), and also decided on the cuttlefish, corn cakes, and wagyu dumplings.

First to arrive were the eggs, crispy from the deep fryer, soft in the centre, perched on a banana leaf with chilli jam and fresh mint, basil, and cilantro. I cracked them open with my chopsticks and the combination of crisp outside, soft poached egg centre and the spicy jam mixed with the sweet fresh herbs was exceptional. Shortly thereafter, my crispy chilli salt cuttlefish arrived, with a fresh lemon wedge and warm sesame oil to accompany. I love fried squid in all of its forms, especially the larger varieties like cuttlefish and the “flying neon squid” we get back home. Simple yet delicious!

The corn cakes were next to appear, a bowl overflowing with crisp fritters made of cornmeal, fresh corn, herbs, and finely diced hot peppers. I nearly burned my tongue in my excitement, but thank goodness for a nearby bottle of the crisp “333” to prevent any damage. The corn cakes were nicely spiced, tender and soft inside, crispy outside, and were particularly useful in sopping up the remaining soft egg and chilli jam from the first dish.

Last, but certainly not least, the Wagyu beef and bamboo shoot dumplings with their cashew soy dipping sauce graced the narrow bar. There were different types of dumplings on the menu, but these had grabbed my eye, along with a supporting endorsement from the bartender. Well seasoned Wagyu beef (the same breed used for the famous Kobe beef) and bamboo shoots were folded into thin gyoza wrappers and steamed and fried in the traditional manner. The texture was very interesting, akin to a great beef tartare, and provided just enough zip to make it interesting without losing the subtleties of such well marbled beef.

I was nicely full from my four plates, but after finishing up and cleansing my palate with the last of the beer, determined I had enough room for dessert. I ordered a latte and the apple and vanilla dumplings with rhubarb soup and coconut sorbet, and was then offered to move upstairs to the lounge to have dessert. Brand new, the upstairs had only opened on the previous Monday and was turning into an extra dining area on busy nights. A few tall tables, a bar with a half dozen stools, and a few cozy low ottomans provided a few seating choices. I sat at the bar and when dessert arrived a few minutes later, was equally as impressed. Thin dumpling wrappers stuffed with an apple and vanilla filling, served warm in a delicious thin rhubarb soup. The soup was actually quite like one my former pastry chef Dawne used to make with panna cotta, and was a nice complement to the warm apples. The coconut sorbet was extremely smooth and flavourful, and the texture leads me to believe they use a pacojet, an innovative machine which basically churns the sorbet fresh each time you serve it.

I’ll have to ask next time, which will certainly come soon, this time with a few others to help work through the very well executed menu. Gingerboy can be found at 27-29 Crossley Street, a few blocks from the Parliament buildings in Melbourne’s CBD.

http://www.gingerboy.com.au