Molto bene: Osteria Vista at Stefano Lubiana Wines

 

Not far from our house, heading towards the Bridgewater Bridge is a turnoff up a dirt road. You wouldn't know it unless you looked for it. Today we were looking for it as we had a lunch booked at the recently opened Osteria Vista located at Stefano Lubiana Winery.
I had been following their opening on social media and was very keen to try one of their set lunches. Joined by my beautiful friend Dee, we were overdue for a gossip and had arranged a ride so we could partake in matching wines.

We are greeted by our lovely waitress, Sarah, and sat at a table with a spectacular view over the Derwent.

It just feels so very Italy here. I am transported back to Tuscany and the aesthetics and mood just screams Buongiorno!

We are brought the set menu as well as the matching wines listing and it all sounds delightful.

To begin, we are brought a bubbling glass of Brut Rose which is a delightful start to the meal, It is beautiful and fresh, dry and slightly fruity.

To accompany this is our first course which consists of  Focaccia bread and ricotta, prosciutto and olives, soft cheese with tomatoes and olive oil and arancini balls.

Firstly, I have to say how stunning the olive oil was. I could have drunk it by the glass. Good olive oil is so different to supermarket olive oil, it's not even fair to compare them and I was dunking the beautiful focaccia into it with every mouthful of this smashing first course. The prosciutto (imported from Italy) and olives were a delight and the arancini as good as any you've ever tried. But for me the creamy, soft mozzarella style cheese with the spectacular olive oil and those gorgeous gems of perfectly in-season tomatoes really did it for me.

Next up, served with one of the most memorable Rieslings I've ever tried is our pasta dish. Dee mentions she is taken back by the squid-ink black. I have to admit, it is confronting. I found some interesting quotes on the psychology of colour and food.

“Colour is the single most important (...) sensory cue when it comes to setting people’s expectations regarding the likely taste and flavour of food and drink.”Charles Spence

‘Colour creates a psychological expectation for a certain flavour that is often impossible to dislodge.’

Harris G. in “Colorless food? We blanch.”
The New York Times 2011.https://forty8creates.com/colour-psychology-of-food-drink/

I have had squid ink pasta before, so fortunately I have very positive connotations of black pasta. The first thing we notice is the al-dente nature of the macaroni style pasta, something that I think can be a slight shock as I know I constantly overcook pasta as soft pasta is something I have become accustomed to. However I find the texture to be outstanding once I had gotten used to it. The next thing we notice is the wonderful savoury sausage flavour, it's delicious and an umami dream. The sauce is creamy from the cheese and I found this to just be heavenly. My only qualm was the little stab of fennel I got in one mouthful, but that's only because I have never gotten used to aniseed in savoury cooking, especially when I'm not expecting it.

PORK BELLY! Delicious twinning of wonderful salty pork flesh and porky fat topped with crispy, crunchy crackling. What's not to love? Served here with salsa verde and a wonderful vegetable with the flavour of broccoli in a leafy green. Baby, herbed potatoes and a simple green salad of lettuce and cucumber to cut through the heaviness. Something I discovered this season, the first that I have had a successful veg garden, is that lettuce has incredible flavour when freshy picked, it's really quite amazing.

By our last course, we are jovial, flushed rosy with delicious wine and have befriended Sarah who was really quite a spectacular server. Food and atmosphere are not the only things that make a meal memorable, the staff are an integral part and can make or break a meal.The dessert, of zabaglione a custard is served with a dense, moist cake crumble, poached pear and summer berries and the Iced Sauvignon Blanc, a sweet dessert wine is not only a beautiful paring, but is an exceptional wine full stop.As our meal concludes, Sarah invites us to try a wine tasting next door or feel free to wander about the grounds. As I feel we'd had just about the right amount of wine already we take a quick look around the restaurant grounds before being collected to go home.

This was a truly memorable meal and a fantastic addition to Southern Tasmania. I look forward to visiting seasonally to see how the menu changes and to witness such a pleasurable lunch again.

Osteria Vista

Stefano Lubiana Wines
60 Rowbottoms Road, Granton
03 62637457
hello@osteriavista.com.au

Cutty Sark Teneriffe

Six months B and I have been seeing each other and we decided to celebrate this with a lovely dinner.

photo courtesy of dimmi.com.au

In case you weren't aware, I love boats and I love water. Everything nautical really. I can't remember how I stumbled on reviews for Cutty Sark restaurant, but they were sterling. So with the name of a ship, river views, and excellent reviews, we made a booking for Friday night.

We arrive just as the sun is setting and are shown to the best table: in the corner of the restaurant facing the river. The sliding door are open and the wafting breezes are divine on the balmy Brisbane evening. Fairy lights drape from the ceiling and it has a lovely casual but tasteful ambience.

The menu is a Spanish inspired modern Australian affair and offers almost too many excellent options

We peruse the menu while sipping on one of the best red sangias I've ever tried and take in the view.

Cutty Sark offers a 'chefs selection' as well as full a la carte, the chefs selection offers a starter, entree, main and dessert for $79 and seems like great value, however on this particular night did not offer a couple of the things we were really wanting to try.

I order the Crispy Pork Belly ($17) to start, B orders the Croquettes ($12).

My last post I wrote about my love affair with pork belly, and quite often when you love something as much as I love pork belly, expectations can be set too high, which leads to disappointment. Fortunately, Cutty Sark absolutely smashed it out of the park. This was one of the best pork bellies I had ever tried. Perfectly cooked, perfect crackling, perfect accompaniments of pickled cabbage and celeriac puree, I was so impressed, I posted pictures all over social media and have told just about every person who will listen.

B's croquettes were also really really lovely. Texturally they were perfect, so light and fluffy inside and crisp and golden on the outside with such incredible depth of flavour. The pimenton aioli is also really fantastic.

For mains I was tossing up between the market fish, which was Barramundi that night or the eye fillet. I opted for the Barra as it is one of my favourites. B orders the Ricotta and Spinach Gnudi.

My Barramundi comes to the table with cauliflower puree, grilled asparagus, spinach, and citrus vierge. I have found with fish dishes, fish is either incredible or fine. There was nothing wrong with this main, it was fine, it just didn't blow me away. The fish was cooked really nicely with crispy skin and veggies were wonderful. Maybe I was just too blown away with my starter.

B's gnudi, which is like a gnocci/dumpling hybrid, arrives with forest mushroom, blistered tomato, steamed greens, truffled cream, and THIS was a great dish, everything that was served added a really desirable element to the dish and it was lovely to try different things together.

With our mains we order a side of patatas bravas which are served with tomato salsa, pepper dressing and the beautiful pimenton aioli again. These were so addictive. B and I say we'd both me happy with a table or these, croquettes and pork bellies!

I had to steal this pic from Cutty Sark's website as I didn't get a snap, and they deserve to be seen by all!

I think apart from how perfectly cooked and crispy the potatoes are, the tomato cubes really bring an amazing fresh dimension to this dish, the aioli is also just stunning with a smoky, savoury, garlicky loveliness.

Throughout the evening the hostess and waitress are really lovely and easy to get along with, attentive but never in-our-faces.

We had decided earlier in the evening that we'd like dessert, hoping we'd have room, and fortunately, we did.

I have the Kaffir Lime Pannacotta with pineapple salsa, ginger crisp and coconut ice cream, B goes for the Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie which comes with vanilla ice cream, rhubarb and mixed berries, and chocolate sauce. The desserts were outstanding, up there with the incredible starters. My pannacotta is light, refreshing and a beautiful creamy consistency and nice lime tang. The coconut ice cream is divine and everything on the plate worked perfectly.

B's brownies were rich and delicious, his ice cream also was really really good.

I really really enjoyed this restaurant. The food was fine dining in an unpretentious but beautiful setting. Lovely staff and beautiful menu and outlook. Really cannot recommend enough and I look forward to returning.

Cutty Sark Riverside Bar and Restaurant is located at Goldsborough Place on Vernon Terrace. We are 200m away from the Teneriffe City Cat terminal and Route 60 City Glider bus stop.

39 Vernon Terrace, Teneriffe, QLD 4005.

Tel: (07) 3257 2266

email: hello@cuttysark.com.au

The German Club, Woolloongabba

I love the German Club, and not just because I'm half German.

photo courtesy of The German Club

The German Club has been around for decades, and once inside, it feels like it. But I love that. The place offers a literal book of German beers both on tap and bottled. But my favourite part is the food.

photo courtesy of the weekend edition

My father, brother and I decide to celebrate their birthdays with a mid-week lunch.

Currently one of my favourite beers

GC (as I'll call it from here on out to save my letter count), has become very 'cool' lately and without a doubt this must be in part to the excellent meals, both in flavour and value. They are big! Like real big.

Their legendary 1kg Pork Knuckle beats most punters. I tried it once, but being the glutton I am, it just left me in agony for days after.

I start with the Crumbed Camembert Cheese $8.90. I only discovered it recently, but it is the best! It comes served with cranberry sauce and is divine just as it is, however, my brother and I have also discovered if you also order the garlic bread (which is spectacular also) and have them together like a garlicky cheesy pizza, it's just next level.

I've tried quite a few things on the GC menu, but I have to say, my go-to is the Pork Belly. Actually, any Pork Belly is my go-to just in general, but GC does a cracker. On the menu, it comes with fried potatoes, braised sweet red cabbage and sour cherry port sauce ($32), but I like to trade out the potato for spatzle (+$2).

What is a spatzle?

Spätzle (Swabian diminutive plural of Spatz, thus literally "little sparrows", also Spätzli or Chnöpfli in Switzerland or Knöpfle or Hungarian Nokedli, Csipetke or Galuska) are a kind of soft egg noodle found in the cuisines of southern Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Moselle and South Tyrol.

Little sparrow noodles are very popular in the Southern part of Germany where my father's family still live, I think they are great.

As usual, everything on the plate is just perfect, the meat is moist and juicy, the crackling is crackly, the cabbage is in no way bitter and goes perfectly with the fatty meat, and my lovely spatzle are a perfect carby accompaniment. 

There really is only one down side to eating at GC, and that is, they have an incredible dessert menu, but I never have any room for dessert. 

Address: 416 Vulture St, East Brisbane QLD 4169

Phone: (07) 3391 2434

Blackbird Bar and Grill

My new gentleman friend B wanted to take me out for my birthday in early July and suggested Blackbird Bar and Grill on Eagle Street Pier. I had eaten there before and loved it. It also has the most beautiful outlook so it seemed like a perfect birthday date place.

B is also who suggested I should start blogging again, so thank you B for the inspiration.

It was State of Origin decider night in Brisbane, and it was a home game, (Rugby League to those not in the know. Me, I just don't really care), so hair curled, dressed up, fur on, and I make my way to Eagle Street Pier on Brisbane river to meet up with my beau.

We begin the night with a drink overlooking the river, in this case a dry, dirty vodka martini... very dirty. One of the loveliest outlooks from a bar in Brisbane.

Photo courtesy of timeoff.com.au

We make our way inside and are shown to a gorgeous table by the window.

Photo courtesy of blackbirdbrisbane.com.au

A peruse of the menu left us in awe. The first time I dined here, myself and guest shared a selection of entrees and starters. The second time was a work do with a set menu. But blackbird is renowned for is meat selection as well as excellent seafood.

My partner does not eat seafood, but was very happy for me to indulge, so I started with oysters, one of each available. Served with a red wine vinaigrette and lemon, all three were fresh and divine, the smallest being the sweetest and most delicious.

For starter I choose the kingfish carparccio with toasted pinenuts and blood orange, B selects the beetroot and goats cheese royale with crushed broad beans and ash lavosh.

My kingfish was outstanding, fresh and delicious, and the blood orange contrasted beautifully with the earthy savoury of the pinenuts and the sweetness of the fish.

B's royale was not only aesthetically beautiful but a subtle, earthy delight. The royale was almost a savoury panacotta, and when paired with each different element on the plate provided a different flavour pattern. B's only complaint was that he wished he had two of the lavosh.

For mains I really wanted to try the steak, but I couldn't resist the suckling pig roast with black pudding, golden sultanas, caramelized onion and chickpea puree. B opts or the Pan fried potato gnocchi with roasted zucchini, squash, fresh curd, caper and raisin dressing

To drink with our mains, I have another martini and B orders another beer. I love martinis.

My pork is to DIE FOR! Moist and rich and flavourful. The black pudding was incredible and worked so well with the pork, the sultanas and sultana puree provided a beautiful sweetness against all the rich meat. The chickpea puree was quite full on, but the little chickpea "popcorns" atop the puree were excellent and provided a beautiful crunch. We decided against ordering sides, and I don't think we needed them at all.

B loved every bite of his gnocchi. I was very jealous of the tempura zucchini flower!

We decided against dessert, and instead decided to retire back to the balcony bar for a Balvenie 21 y.o. whisky as a digestif.

Once again, Blackbird exceeded expectations. Many thanks to B and to Blackbird.

Riverside Centre, 123 Eagle Street,
Brisbane, Queensland 400

Phone (07) 3229 1200

Email info@blackbirdbrisbane.com.au

Food on a Cruise

They say one thing can be guaranteed when you come off a cruise, and that is that you will put on weight.

I recently boarded a P and O short breaks cruise keen to find out of this is in fact true.

The P and O Pacific Dawn

This was not my first cruise. I cruised with my parents about 6 years ago. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but my focus back then was more on tanning and cocktails than on food. Don't get me wrong, they were important aspects of this trip as well, but I paid closer attention to the food this time around.

My cruise was a 3 night "Lifestyle" cruise, departing Brisbane, bobbing around at sea, then returning to Brisbane.

The first night myself and my first mate C made more of a dint on the bar than we did on the food service, however we did make stop in at the Plantation Restaurant, the 'buffet' if you will.

It was about exactly what I expected from a round the clock buffet, with salads, meats, cheeses, breads, a variety of wet dishes and carvery. Honestly, nothing memorable. The next morning and one other morning we ate at the Plantation for breakfast and again, totally what one would expect from a run-of-the-mill, family-friendly buffet.

photo courtesy of http://www.cruise-australia.net/pacificdawn.htm

For lunch on day 2, myself and C percured about 15 delicious rolls from Plantation and kept the leftovers in our room for snacks.

Dinner for night two, 'cocktail' night on board and we decided to make a reservation at the Waterfront Restaurant, the a-la-carte. On my previous cruise, and most cruises, set dining times are assigned, and that is when everyone is seated and served. P and O have brought in anytime dining, which does offer more choice, but meant we could not get a table until 8:30, so we decided on some pre dinner cocktails in the Mix Bar.

Having done a Martini Masterclass that affternoon, I decided that a Martini would be in order. I started with a Belvedere Martini, and followed with a Grey Goose Dirty Martini.

Needless to say, I love Martinis now.

After the very naff 'portraits' in our formal attire, we make our way to the Waterfront restaurant where we are seated and promptly brought menus.

The menu is vast... very vast. This is not a bad thing, but there really is many, many choices on there.

You can choose basically any and all of what you want.

I hear 'challenge!'

I start with the Crusty Blue Crab Cake, C opts for the Country Style Pork and Juniper Pate

My crab cake was beautifully crisp on the outside and a great ratio of crab, all too often any seafood-based patty can be so predominately potato , but this one was lovely.

C's pate was terrine style, and was tasty enough, however the outside was not cooked well enough and wasn't served with anything to spread it on..

For starter I decided on Pumpkin Ravioli with peccorino and pesto. It was delicious enough, certainly no show stopper, but a good size and cooked well.

We were most excited about our mains. Pork Belly used to be my 'radar' dish, in that, if it was on a menu, I would radar it and it would be a definite for me, however, all too many sub-par bellies put me off, this time though, I thought I'd give it a go. C ordered the ribs.

This photo really doesn't do the dish justice. The pork belly was cooked BEYOND perfectly, with an exceptional ratio of fat to meat. The capsicum gazpacho and Asian greens provided a beautiful tartness/acidity to cut through the fat, it was one of the best pork bellies I have ever had. (And that's a pretty big call.)

C's "ribs" didn't look like ribs, but none the less, was also cooked to the point of not needing a knife. I would have been more than happy with his choice.

Parmesan fries came with my main, we also ordered roasted veg and brussel sprouts with caramalised onion.

There was no room for dessert.

Luke Mangan is one of the many celebrity chefs opening restaurants onboard cruise ships.

I was very keen to get in, so as soon as we embarked, we made our way to reception to make a reservation. We were lucky to get a table, as all the dinners and almost all of the lunch spots had already been booked!

Although food on board is included in the price, some of the restaurants have a surcharge. The Salt Grill had a set $30 surcharge for 3 courses, which is a fraction of what you'd pay in one of his restaurants on land.

http://cometravellingwithus.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/pacific-dawn-feb-4-feb-11-2012.html

Our meal started with white and saltana bread with dukkah and olive oil and balsamic.

I opt for the seared beef carpaccio while C chooses the scallops.

Both of these dishes were absolutely top rate.

By beef was tantalizingly marbled, paper thin, and the Asian inspired garnish was a stunning accompaniment.

C's scallops were fresh, cooked beautifully and were stunning with the mushrooms.

I did wish to order the oysters, but was informed they were not available. In hindsite, as we had been at sea for 3 days already I can understand that they could not possibly have been fresh enough.

For main I had the rare tuna, and C lashed out and ordered the lobster tail.

I contemplated the lobster, but to this day I have never lad lobster that I believed lived up to the 'hype'.

Apart from sashimi and canned, I have never actually eaten tuna before. All I can say is, how ignorant am I?! What an amazing fish. In this case especially!

It was so beautiful. It was seasoned with indian spices and served with raita. I don't think I'll actually ever forget this meal, also there was ALOT of it.

I really can't believe how 'meaty' it was. I was amazed by the texture as well.

Eat Tuna!

C mentioned that one of his tails was a little dry, but said the rest was beautifully cooked. I did try it, and can say again, lobster just doesn't live up to the hype that surrounds it. Tasty- yes, extraordinary- no.

We ordered sides of truffled mash, which was incredible. A salad of rocket, pear, blue cheese and candied walnuts, which was a game changer as far as salads go! And zuccini with bacon and parmesan, which was okay.

Sauces of chipoltle aioli and burnt nut butter.

 The licorice parfait, as ordered by C was recommended, and he loved it. I did not enjoy it at all. The colour, texture and flavour all put me off. All I could think of was refrigerated face mask.

However, the creme brulee... CRACK, gasp, delicious. A perfect brulee, served with incredible biscotti.


So did I come back more rounded then when I got on the boat... slightly.

The utter decadence rather than the amounts had to do with that. Combined of course with a fairly constant input of cocktails, whisky and beer.

All back to normal now.

To sum up. The Pacific Dawn is a 3 star ship. I think the overall experience you get on board is a high 3 star, there are some amazing parts and some utterly nose-scrunchable parts. But it is a great value, enjoyable and relaxing escape, with some very tasty food to enjoy along the way...

Oh, and cocktails.