Fresh back from a day of cherry picking (yes, I did that) in a beautiful part of the country called Young. I felt three things: happy, refreshed and stupidly full (pick one, eat one right?!). No matter that it was a balmy 35 degrees outside and a bucketful of cherries seemed to get heavier by the second. Armed with sunscreen and an iron will, no cherry tree would get the better of me and an hour and a half later, I think we were rewarded handsomely.
Today I thought I'd share with you a little clip I stumbled upon. It's produced by The Field Institute, the foodie group who publish Field Guides to Local Produce as well as the Locavore Edition. Now, in collaboration with Palate magazine they're branching out with The Farm. This is an exciting project launching in Byron Bay in the new year. Owner Will Cotterill and Mark LaBrooy (the latter a chef from Three Blue Ducks) are working together to open a farm shop and restaurant, taking the very best from what's grown on the acreage. With a tinkering soundtrack by Eleven Magpies and images of pristine farm land - it's enough to make you want to pack up and go.
A quick glance on their website and you can see that their vision is rather an ambitious one - a restaurant for close to 100, macadamia and avocado orchards, hundreds of chickens, a piggery, apiaries and a cheese processing plant are just the beginning. For those looking for a tree change, The Farm is a great place to start and draw inspiration. Following in the steps of Rohan Anderson (Whole Larder Love), Rodney Dunn (The Agrarian Kitchen) and Matthew Evans (Gourmet Farmer) The Farm is championing local produce and all its perks. Now we have something to experience for ourselves, and right on our doorstep. Cheers to that.
Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!
xGourmand
Here we are, I've thawed this post from the archives (read: lazy bones)! Three Blue Ducks is lauded as one of Sydney's finest cafés and I can understand why. Opening back in 2011 (the dark ages by today's standards) it is now a treasured part of Bronte and a must-visit. When descriptors like 'honest' are used for food it does make me cringe (can food somehow be deceptive then?) but I'm happy to make allowances for this suburban gem. This is a little café on Bronte's main strip that is definitely making waves.
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| As soon as this cookbook was announced I bought myself a copy, bringing a bit of the TBD philosophy into the home kitchen. The back stories are a fun read and the recipes delicious! Credit: Three Blue Ducks |
I had been looking forward to FINALLY trying this place out for an age. Masterchef 3 also bolstered their popularity where the team delivered some fabulous food and beautiful plating, I suppose working in Tetsuya's is a good start (!). Three Blue Ducks is the product of a collaboration between 5 mates (so Five Blue Ducks, really) including chefs Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy. Sam Reid-Boquist is front of house, barista Chris Sorrell and Jeff Bennett put together the wine and craft beer list.
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| The distinctive graffitied interior, which was largely done by the Ducks themselves. Pretty good handiwork I must say. The café is spread over two shopfronts with an adjoining portico Credit: The Australian |
One thing that appeals about Three Blue Ducks is it's accessibility. You have laid in front of you what could be restaurant quality food in a place where you could clearly wear flip-flops. TBD was constructed with not only a food philosophy in mind but an entire lifestyle (involving lots of sun and surf). It's no secret that the boys love to surf, so a beachside café starts to make a whole lot of sense. What's more, they also have an urban garden in which they grow a lot of their fresh produce and keep chickens in the "Chook Mahal" along with a bee hive. Not too shabby!
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| Eel, green tea and kombi. Perched atop daikon. I confess, I am a total sucker for eel, especially Japanese style Unagi-Don...AAAAh. The eel portion was rather on the meagre side here but the combination of flavours was intriguing but harmonious all the same |
The menu is divided into small, big plates and sweets. Make of it what you will, you have free reign over the menu - have as many (!) or as few (boo) as you like. In the early days they did a dinner degustation where you chose your courses (up to 4), each costing $17. I for one never thought I'd write café and degustation in the same sentence but there you have it. The menu is literally your oyster (they're also on the the menu). It was a pretty sweet deal at the time; they must have cottoned on to how labour intensive degustation-anything is.
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| Calamari and smoked corn. By golly miss molly. This dish is a CRACKER. A smudge of corn purée (not enough) with perfectly fresh & tender squid laced with corn kernels. It is so light and delicious I could easily have had bowls of the stuff! |
During daylight hours the coffee machine is busy whirring away but at night it takes on a different hat. It becomes the casual restaurant serving restaurant-quality food and that's the truth. The formative years in fine dining establishments have clearly shaped the food at TBD. The technique certainly shows and speaks for itself. As you'll see, plating is elevated to an art form (watch out Quay! Only joking). You almost forget you're in Sydney suburbia. They prefer the big plate, food on the side approachThis is classy, well thought out food without any of the fuss. Versatility is key here; being able to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner is surely an asset.
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| Mushrooms and grains: a generous pile of shredded mushrooms on grains cooked al dente? Err what's not to love? |
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| Black cake, fried egg, apples and beets (left) and mussels, clams and lemongrass (right). The black pud, delicately hidden by the egg was so smooth and goes perfectly with apple (weirdly). The raw onions were not really my cup of tea |
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| Wagyu, bone marrow and kale. Of all the dishes, this was perhaps on the plainer side flavour-wise but the cooking of the wagyu was faultless |
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| Duck, rhubarb and licorice. Just. Wow. The duck breast was super tender, like unbelievably so. I could not get over that...dying to know their secret! |
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| Orange, chocolate parfait and ganache. A tried and tested combination that totally works |
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| Lemon, meringue and celery. The star dessert, by a mile. This looked stunning when it was presented. The skewed plating is almost a trademark, maximising the effect. The plating would probably have taken ages!! |
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| This dessert was a big highlight for me, one of the best desserts I've had in a while. It is a take on a lemon meringue pie (deconstructed) with a dash of candied celery. The latter sounds bizarre but it did add a refreshing crunch to the dish. Curd? Tick! Meringue? Tick. With candied zest and lemon jelly, it was an intricate piece of handiwork |
Expect the unexpected, that's what I took away from TBD. As I'm sure many Bronte locals do, you could easily drop-in several times a week. Finding excuses: the morning coffee run, brunch on a Saturday, the can't-be-bothered-to-cook night... is just too easy. Unsurprisingly, the Ducks have done so well that they've opened another café in Falls Creek which opens to during ski/snowboard season (another fortuitous venture? I think not). There's also another Inner Sydney café planned for Bondi Beach which is one to watch out for. Exciting times ahead for the Three Blue Ducks and their loyal fans.
Thanks for reading!
xGourmand
7 apprentice chefs + one Sydney rooftop restaurant make for a one off extravaganza! It was a chance I couldn't pass up really... An opportunity to try out the food from some of Sydney's youngest talent in our top kitchens. Marque, Momofuku Seiobo, est. and several others are the training grounds of these young guns. Not too shabby. This was the final event, the top 7 whittled down from 2 initial heats. It was a full house on this balmy Monday night at Uccello restaurant, part of the Ivy complex.
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| The restaurant interior, punctuated with yellow. The (paddle) pool makes for a Hamptons vs. Miami vibe Source: Harry Howard Fine Furniture |
Given the opportunity to play food critic, we would try each of the dishes on the night and vote for our favourite(s). The lucky winner would win a trip to Singapore, certainly a bit of a food hub in South East Asia. The stakes were high!
You could feel the anticipation in the air and nervous energy coming from the kitchen. Our table was pretty much smack bang in front of the kitchen for prime viewing of plating. Huzzah. Myffy Rigby, Time Out Sydney's Food & Drink Editor was the night's MC. Apple Thief cider in hand, we were ready to kick off!
Here were some of the culinary highlights:
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| Sashimi kingfish with avocado mousse, pickled beetroot and rainbow chard. This dish had been prepared will in advance so the fish had pretty much come down to room temperature (eep). The colour and flavours of this dish were tops. Dish by Beau Conduit, a tattoo sleeved apprentice who could only have come from Three Blue Ducks! |
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| Oliver Hua of est.'s grilled quail breast. Accompanied by caramelised plum, toasted almonds, sourdough crumb and eschalot vinaigrette. He had all the right ideas but...the execution was a bit off. My quail was on the overcooked side (i know it was a big ask for 100+ covers of the same dish) + the crumb was swimming in oil. |
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| Australian Sunday roast, Italian style(y) by Stuart Webb of Black by ezard @ the Star. The little medallions of chicken in this dish were cooked well and the Spanish onions were lovely and sweet. On the flipside the pumpkin seed tuile was a touch sweet and the gnocchi a very strange texture (almost squeaky?!). No starchy pillowyness (lol) here. Shame |
Sweetie, darling
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| Seeing green. Ashleigh Jack's (Establishment Pastry) Mint Pash (left) and Lemon Tart by Lauren Eldridge (Marque) (right). Ashleigh's mint dessert was my favourite dessert for sure, the level of complexity was definitely up there. Her aim was to create a dish inspired by a Mint Aero bar. I think she did a really good job. The lemon tart, without any lemon in it. Yeah...huh? The tart was created with lemon verbena and used spinach for colouring. The texture of the tart filling was quite smooth enough for me (nit-picking again!). On top was a clear sugar tuile. I question the quinelle of cream, I wish it was a yoghurt sorbet or ice cream of some description |
Some of the dishes were a bit off the mark, many looked pretty as a picture but flavour-wise, didn't live up to expectation. I don't want to be a hard ass but some didn't quite work. But that's okay because I know it isn't easy.
The votes were in and the winners announced on the night. The winning dish was by John Javier of Momofuku Seiobo (Chang's Sydney outpost, a 3 hatted restaurant in its first year of opening). Can I just say, it was completely fabulous. A stand out.
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| Well done, kid. The roasted squid, eggs and butter. This was only the 2nd dish to come out but it totally stuck with me. The butter emulsion, lain out on top was slightly disconcerting (yikes...butter?!) but the dish wasn't made too rich by it. The tendrils of squid were so delicate and tender, like chewy noodles. The seaweed and broth were a nice medium for the squid but could have done with a bit more seasoning, maybe miso? I'll stop complaining now. Twas amazeballs |
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| The man of the hour! John Javier of Momofuku Seiobo: I think the big boss (David Chang) should be proud Source: Time Out Sydney |
I had a really good time, playing food critic is lots of fun! Seven courses down I was really feeling it, but still smiling! John was a deserved winner and I'm glad everyone else voted the same way. What was really great to see was everyone helping each other out in the kitchen, it was a real team effort. Sydney's food scene certainly has a bright future ahead.
Thanks for reading + Happy Easter!
xGourmand
