Sydney Food Diary

Bayswater Brasserie

For a restaurant that has been around for 22 years, Bayswater Brasserie is surprisingly fresh - delivering solid food in a warm, welcoming room.

A starter of chanterelles and lentils was a bit light on the 'shrooms and could have been more cohesive. Pork belly (above) however was melting tender and sat perfectly with the freshness of an herb salad and the rabbit and wild mushroom pie is the stuff drooly dreams are made of.

Rating: 13/20

Bayswater Brasserie - 32 Bayswater Road Kings Cross, NSW 2011 Tel: (02) 9357-2177

Pizza perfecto

So we finally got ourselves into some Hugo's Bar Pizza (without lining up for like 2 hrs, I might add) thanks to the Australian Gourmet Traveller readers dinner.

The menu was a mini-tasting menu which included an antipasti plate, a pasta and a pizza and a dessert with wine to match (and would've been a steal at $65pp even without a copy of the magazine thrown in).

The food (via chef John Pye) was mostly good although it seemed like the kitchen must've had some major drama with the pasta course (we were topped up on wine while we waited for a clumpy rag pasta with ocean trout, capers and tomato). However, the peppered yellowfin tuna, fennel and blood orange salad and fresh figs with buffalo mozzarella basil and an apple balsamic on the antipasti as well as the promise of pizza made it fairly easy to get through.

Now, as for the pizza - it's great (and we wanted to not be impressed)...super-duper topping combinations and perfectly done.

We devoured the pork belly with sweet and sour onions, buffalo mozzerella and raddicchio and powered through the puttanesca, chomped every bit of potato, white anchovy, rosemary and ricotta and savoured the gorgonzola, tomato, basil, sliced pancetta, rocket and fresh fig....

...but there were a handful of others that were almost as tempting. (carpaccio of Hiramasa kingfish with artichoke puree, zucchini and bottarga pizza anyone?)

Hugo's Bar Pizza 19 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross 9332 1227 Open Seven days, 5pm-2am

Long weekend

How much are we looking forward to the long weekend?

If it wasn't obvious from our less than prolific posting of late we are way busy and in desparate need of a break. We'll be off in Adelaide, enjoying dinner at the Grange and the lie dream of the wine scene.

If you'll be in lovely little Sydney you may want to check out "fromage du monde" the 2004 international cheese awards presented by Porsche and jones the grocer. Details are here (pdf)....

...or you can get busy trying to scrounge up tickets to the Young Chefs' Dinner at Icebergs. (We've still got our fingers crossed that we'll get on our clients' table)

Vege-mit-arian

I'm not known for my sensitivity to vegetarians but this simple grilled tofu was simply scumptious.

Tofu : firm
Glaze: soy, honey, ginger, chilli
Salad: mint, coriander, basil
Dressing: mirin, miso, ginger, sesame seeds
Utensils: turner, tongs, fork, knife

Summer Seafood School

The Sydney Seafood School summer sessions are up and include some interesting classes including a multi-class stopover by David Thompson and a class with the most est-cellent Peter Doyle.

I know you might think that they are for tourists, but if you haven't done one of these great classes you really are missing out on a good time and some good food. We also find that most of the dishes from the classes we have done are user-friendly enough to both reproduce and expand on.

Incidentally, we are doing a class tonight with Peter Kuruvita from Flying Fish.

Bitton Gourmet

Few places can beat Bitton Gourmet for a sunny days' brunch (and hangover recovery).

Slurp great coffee, nosh Bitton's famous Morrocan chicken sandwich or a deliciously heavy Spanish omlette stuffed with chorizo (above) and take away any supplies you might need for later.

Bitton Gourmet Cafe is open Tues-Fri 7am-5pm Sat-Sun 8am-3pm at 37a Copeland St Alexandria.

Fishface

Before Fishface even had it's refit last year, it felt as though we must've passed it a hundred times in a taxi - each time remarking "we've got to remember to go there sometime." (oddly,more than a few other people we know have been having the same issue)

Intentions aside, it wasn't until recently that we broke out of that looping glich of continuity and Fishface's time finally came.

The menu sets up their mission: "It's all about fish (fresh) how it's caught (line) how it's killed (ikijime) how it's stored (0-1 C) and (finally) how it's cooked (passion) or eaten raw (yum)"

With the mission in mind and having heard about the attention that Steven Hodges (ex-Pier dontchaknow) puts into seafood selection, we couldn't resist moving in on some oysters... after which scallops (roe, thankfully still on) starred with bacon and pea in a strong starter. A main of (sashimi grade) tuna behaved just as it should but was upstaged by steamed fish in a light coconut curry broth which was nothing short of incredible.**

We certainly won't be passing Fishface by again.

Rating: 14/20

Fishface is at 132 Darlinghurst Road in Darlinghurst

**An aside about this dish: We love curry and we love fish. We especially love the Sri Lankan curried snapper at Flying Fish. But I digress, the afformentioned Fishface dish is really something special in the world of curry, fish and curried fish - the touch of the coconut curry broth is so subtle that even steamed fish is able to articulate it's flavour creating a very harmonious and exceptional fusion.

...

Cheese please

It makes us so sad when we have to throw away cheese so we have compiled a few tips to reduce the possibility.

Tips for keeping cheese:

* Buy only what you need for the week. (easier said than done)

* Buy cheese fresh from a slab as sliced cheese dries out faster (you also know better what you are getting if you buy this way)

* Don't expose cheese to too much light. Ultra-violet light destroys important ingredients such as vitamins and milk fat. Over-exposed may result in wretchingly bad tasting cheese.

* Ideal storage conditions are high atmospheric humidity (95 %) and a temperature of around +10 C. (Too much cold, like too much heat is not good for cheese and ruins the taste and quality. also never freeze cheese, what are ya crazee?)

* Remember that cheese needs to breathe so don't seal it completely. Wrap it in parchment or wax paper and not (for the love of God) in plastic wrap. (better yet follow the simple instructions below to make your own cheese storage)

Making your own cheese storage (from the Food Shopper's Guide to Sydney)

Get a new sealed plastic container, a piece of cotton or linen (think: dishtowel) and a sushi mat (cut to fit the container). Simply moisten the cloth, place the sushi mat on top, the cheese on the mat and bob's your uncle. Keep the container sealed in your fridge's vegetable drawer. Check the cloth to keep it moist and chuck it out when it starts to discolour.

Let's roll, err roll.

The Barn

We found ourselves in the large depot/resto space of the Barn in Rozelle quite by chance and on a short stop in search of supplies...

...But lured by the soothing hum of espresso machine and warm sweet smells, we decide to stay awhile and were pleasantly surprised by our excellent food. (that's fajita)

The depot too contains some interesting treats, bulk olive oils on tap and even a few surprises.

The Barn Café & Grocery is at 731 Darling St, Rozelle (right beside Herbie's)

Hugo's Bar Pizza

If you've been on "walkabout" (or as they say in Canada, "walkaboot") for the last few months then it's entirely possible that you may not have heard about Hugo's Pizza Bar.

SMH writes it up and describes it thusly:
Crowd: Fashionable
Vibe: The place to be
Highs: The pizza
Lows: The wait for a table

I've highlighted the only bit that appeals to us - we keep hearing how great the pizza is (ok we also keep hearing that it's a massive pain to get a table).

So to that end we've opted to make our trip there for a Gourmet Traveller reader event where we are assured of both a table and some pizza. We'll report back shortly.

Hugo's Bar Pizza 19 BAYSWATER ROAD, KINGS CROSS TEL: 9332 1227 Open Seven days, 5pm-2am