Melbourne Day 5

Sunday morning we woke to a cool morning that showed promise of sunshine, which was perfect for our planned agenda: a trip southwest of Melbourne to the coast, to visit a few of the towns along the Great Ocean Road, one of the world’s reported most beautiful seaside drives.

As the hotel was packed for brunch, we decided to grab a snack on the way out of town, and our local hostess took us over to a small café and food shop owned by one of Melbourne’s most well known chefs and cookbook authors, Stephanie Alexander. The Richmond Hill Café and Larder is part café, serving great, simple, well prepared food, and part food shop, selling seasonings, condiments, books, and equipment. In addition, the have the most fantastic cheese room that boasts racks and racks of aging cheeses beautifully displayed along with fine wines. I made a note to come back and pick up bread and cheese for lunch one day.

Armed with a few fresh muffins and coffee, we headed out of town on the M1 towards Geelong. The drive south took us about 1oo km down to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. Winding along the coast west from just south of Geelong to Portland, the seaside route hugs the coastline, winding up and down through a series of picturesque little towns and offers a breathtaking view of the ocean which stretches South to Tasmania and beyond to Antarctica.

We were headed about 80 km along the road, and drove through Anglesea, stopped for a photo op at the Big Hill, a rocky bluff that had posed some challenges during the road construction following the first world war. We wound down towards Lorne, stopping briefly as an echidna crossed the road. The small mammal resembles a porcupine, but is more closely related to the platypus as the world’s only other surviving monotreme (a mammal that lays eggs).

Once in Lorne, we stopped for a coffee on the pier, and walked through the local fish shop, and then made our way the last 16 km to Wye River. We pulled up to the Wye River Hotel, and had a delicious pub lunch, starting with some warm olives served with sourdough bread and Moroccan spices to share, and then fish and chips, made with local whiting. We tried the local beer, the Otway ale, and enjoyed the view from the glass walled patio with an amazing view of the sea.

Turning back to the city, we were fortunate to get some pictures of a few sleeping koalas in the gum trees. At Anglesea we pulled up beside the golf course for another set of pictures, as they have had an ongoing problem with kangaroos all over the course. There was a pack of about 20 enjoying the fairway grass, and when a foursome played through, barely raised an eyebrow.

We got back to the city around 6:00 and had plans to go to The Night Cat,
a local club which featured live latin music on Sundays. The concierge informed us that the Spanish Festival was on in Fitzroy that evening as well, so we took a cab the few km to check it out. There were 2 blocks of Johnston Street blocked off, packed with street vendors selling food, drink, and a stage with live music at one end. The Night Cat offered drop in salsa lessons before the band started, so we joined in with the rest of the house, before grabbing a table to enjoy the live band, an 18 piece afro-cuban group called Los Cabrones. The place was packed on a Sunday night, with a crowd of mostly young folks having a great time, and we were treated to some great latin dancers on the floor surrounding the stage.

http://www.rhcl.com.au

http://www.greatoceanrd.org.au

http://www.thenightcat.com.au

Day 2 in Melbourne started with breakfast in the newly renovated hotel restaurant here at the Grand Hyatt. They have gone with a beautiful, open design conveying the feel of a working kitchen, with the chefs working and doing their prep on the stations and service areas around them. Everything was really fresh and well prepared, and because the prep areas are right there, always fully stocked.

After an initial morning meeting, we started to plan our week here, and most importantly where and when we would eat. I had my list of places that I had scouted, and our hosts had a number of additional suggestions in the city and surrounding areas. After a quick visit to one of the culinary schools here, we picked up a business associate at the airport and headed back downtown for a late lunch.

The European, aptly named, is a narrow restaurant nestled beside the historic Princess Theatre, directly across from the Parliament buildings. As you walk through the tall doors, you would swear you were in an old French bistro, small wooden tables and a long bar gracing the dark wood panelling, and chalkboards with the daily specials, and wine selections.

Features included two kinds of local shellfish, a couple of pastas, two daily fish dishes, and a veal scallopine. After perusing the menu and wine list, We ordered some of the featured Coffin Bay oysters to start, which I hear were exceptional, briny, and plump. (due to a reaction years ago, I haven’t eaten oysters in years, but I enjoy hearing about the nuances of them from those who do.) I ordered some of the crispy School Prawns, a small shrimp quickly deep fried and served with a romesco aioli and fresh lemon. They were very fresh and tasty, with a briny sweet finish.

For main courses, a few at the table ordered mushroom risotto, while I had the farfalle alla siciliana, bowtie pasta with ripe tomato, basil, and anchovy with garlic and olive oil. Simple but delicious, with a glass or two of pinot grigio to wash it all down. For dessert, we elected to share two offerings, a parfait with a fig and pecan crust and roasted fruit, and a tiramisu.

Following an afternoon of work, we retired to the hotel, and then regrouped for a beverage before heading out for the evening. I had scoped out the local music scene, and we headed to a small club in West Melbourne called Spenser’s Live to see a quartet of some of Australia’s finest fusion musicians: Brett Garsed, Phil Turcio, Craig Newman, and Gerry Pantzis. They played a fantastic 90 minute set of inspiringly tight, textured, and smooth instrumentals, after which we were famished.

It was creeping onto midnight, so we decided to follow a recommendation I had read about online. Anytime a restaurant is touted as the place the local chefs go after work, you know two things: the food will be good, and reasonably priced. We headed over to Supper Inn in a deluge, the first rain in awhile here, and after scaling a narrow staircase, came into just what I would expect, a busy room full of bodies young and old, and the smells of great Chinese cooking.

We ordered 5 things:

Hot and sour soup, which was packed full of meat, shrimp, and vegetable, crispy skin chicken with special sauce, which was crisp on the outside, moist and tender inside, with a light but very tasty glaze, fried rice with pork and shrimp (enough said), pork spareribs with mandarin sauce, which were crispy with a sweet sticky sauce clinging to them, and shiitake mushrooms and shanghai bok choy, caramelized and so packed with flavour one of my dining companions described them as the best shiitake mushrooms she had ever tasted. I would have to agree, and after a night of several beers, great music, and finally another great meal, we settled in for the night.

http://www.theeuropean.com.au/

http://www.spenserslive.com/

http://www.miettas.com.au/archive/guide2000/supperinn.html