Grazing at Gundaroo - duck and pinot degustation

No much has endeared me to my first winter in Canberra, but one of the highlights has definitely been spending a cold Friday evening sitting by a toasty fire dining on a six-course duck and pinot degustation.

This delicious event is held annually at Grazing Restaurant in Gundaroo, a small town about 40 minutes out of Canberra, as part of the annual Fireside Festival. This cozy restaurant is situated in the historic Royal Hotel - low doorways lead into the multi-roomed dining space, where the wooden floorboards are lined with huge, faded rugs, vibrant art lines painted brick walls and in the middle room, a fireplace roars away.

We're greeted with a glass of the 2009 Domaine Rogha Crois Saignee Pinot Rose, which is fruity and deeply coloured  as roses go.

The first course is cute duck broth, chestnut and cognac 'cappuccino', served in an espresso glass. Together with a toasted liver parfait sandwich quarter it's warm and cosy and rib-stickingly rich.

Wine match: 2009 Bouchard Pere & Fils Bourgogne Reserve Pinot Noir - light and dry

Next, chunks of duck and ham hock form a rustic terrine. Deep-fried onion balls perched on dollops of crème fraiche are dotted round the plate, along with orange segments, watercress and a thick dollop of pinot reduction. 

Wine match: 2011 Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers 'Avance' Pinot Noir

In dish three, ultra-tender sous vide duck breast is decadently combined with black and white boudin (blood and scallop sausage, respectively), along with quinoa - which is perhaps only there because quinoa is everywhere - cauliflower purée and an intense mulled-wine pinot reduction.

Wine match: 2010 Petit Clos Pinot Noir

Next, a perfect short, fat, and deliciously juicy duck-neck and garlic sausage comes with tangy, shredded, picked prunes and sweet, smoky apple.

Wine match: 2009 Chalkers Crossing Pinot Noir

A roulade of duck, Swiss brown mushrooms and chicken mousse is as intense as it sounds, never mind the local Terra Preta truffle and buttery potato purée it's served with. The miss on this dish is the 'bitter' chocolate sauce, which is not really that bitter and too sweet for a this seriously savoury dish.

Wine match: 2010 Maddens Rise Pinot Noir - wow, delicious but super heavy, is this really a pinot?

Dessert is the only real let-down of the night. The Cocoa tortellini is cold and rubbery and serving vanilla custard in a block seems to defeat the point. The highlight is a crisp pinot sorbet, which works a treat with honeycomb and pistachio crumbs.

Wine match: 2010 Lerida Estate Botrytis Pinot Gris

Apart from solidifying my love of all things duck, the main thing I took away from the night was the expansive range that is pinot noir. Not a wine buff myself, my experience with the drop has been all about gentle and subtle flavours, but each course brought yet a deeper, darker version. It's an event I'll be eagerly awaiting next year.

Grazing Restaurant
Cork Street Gundaroo NSW 2620
(02) 6236 8777

Versatile, Nicholls

You're certainly not likely to stumble upon Versatile. In fact, even with the aid of the address and a GPS, it can be a little tough to find. It's located in the quaint, though poorly lit and almost eerily quiet Federation Square in Nicholls, and the lack of a street number or street-side signage are added challenges to hunting down this new fine diner.

Versatile is situated back from the street, on the second level of an elegant homestead-style building that doubles as a function centre. The expansive wooden verandah would make for glorious alfresco dining in summer, but with the temperature in the low single digits, we're gladly sitting inside tonight. Inside comprises one large, open space, but the generously spaced tables and thoughtful lighting help create intimacy. The fit-out is modern, though tastefully so, with an intriguing slate-fronted faux fireplace, a matching slate-fronted bar and crisp white furnishings.

The $60 three-course deal is hard to go past. The entrée course is probably the least impressive of the three. It's possibly my fault for choosing a 'de-constructed' pie. The dish comes in three entirely separated parts. The first is a rabbit and mushroom braise, comprising tender meat and a satisfyingly thick sauce, with a deep, rich, though rather salty flavour. Then there's a jug containing a pungent spiced wine reduction, but there's far too much of it in proportion to the rest of the meal. I'm not even sure what to do with a single stick of dry, cold puff pastry. I settle on using it us a dipping stick, as un-fine-dining as that is. A dish like this highlights why the humble pie has stood the test of time, just the way it is. It's not about just about the filling and it's not just about the pastry - it's about that something extra that comes from the perfect union of the two, and to de-construct it is to miss the point.

Brandy and her braised deconstructed rabbit and mushroom pie with a spiced wine reduction

Next, roasted root vegetables and crumbled goat's cheese enclosed in pastry form a rustic winter tart. The pastry is lovely and buttery, and is golden and flaky round the sides, but the base is a little doughy and could have used a few more minutes in the oven. The goat's cheese with these these hearty vegetables is a tried and true match, though the surrounding drizzle of beetroot reduction is oddly sweet. The dressed rocket leaves cut through it all with an acidic kick, though they're piled on a little thick.

Roasted root vegetable tart, goat's cheese, beetroot reduction

From the mains comes the dish of the night - a thick, proscuitto-wrapped beef fillet, charred to a succulent medium rare and sitting atop a mound of  ultra-smooth sweet-potato mash. The onion jam dolloped on top is caramelised to sticky/smoky/sweet perfection, and super-crisp shoestring leek 'fries' add a salty crunch. It's all melded together with a rich red wine jus.

Lost River beef fillet wrapped in prosciutto, sweet potato mash, onion jam, red wine jus, crispy leek fried

Risotto-filled cabbaged parcels is a thoughtful concept for a vegetarian main. The downside is the cabbage, which is a slightly undercooked and layered too thickly, but the risotto is creamy with an al dente bite. The parcels are swathed in a pool of sweet, zesty pumpkin and coriander purée.

Red cabbage parcel stuffed with aromatic vegetable risotto, butternut pumpkin and coriander puree

We enjoy the mains with sides of snappy, steamed broccolini and and a caulifower gratin.

Steamed broccolini; cauliflower gratin

The meal ends on a sweet note. A lovely vanilla-bean brulee is served with some soft, intensely flavoured cinnamon and rum baked apple, and a stick of buttery pistachio shortbread.

Vanilla-bean puree, rum and cinnamon baked apple, pistachio shortbread But every sweettooth's wildest fantasy has come to life in the form of a deliciously dense, fudgey triple chocolate brownie, swimming in a silky honey anglais. A  clever spoon-shaped wafer perched on top holds a scoop of smooth, refreshing macadamia ice-cream. It's utterly indulgent and utterly delicious.

Triple choc brownie, honey anglais, macadamia ice-cream

Versatile is unpretentious fine dining, serving colourful, rustic dishes based on seasonal produce that make you want to dig right in. There's room for a little fine tuning, and there might be a dish here and there (ahem, reconstructed pie) that's a little contrived, but all up, it's a really good find. And a bit more street lighting and on-road signage would make it easier to do just that.

Versatile

O'Hanlon Place, Nicholls, ACT, 2913

Ph: 6230 9333

Digress, Civic

The concept of 'fusion' food makes me a little nervous at the best of times and it's hard to conjure up two cuisines less likely to 'fuse' successfully than those of India and Italy. So it was a sense of morbid curiosity and foreboding that I descended the carpeted stairs into the underground dining room of 'Digress', an Indian/Italian-fusion restaurant and tapas/cocktail bar in Civic.

The website boasts that the Indian-Italian concept is "something never before Australia wide" which will  produce "unimaginable flavours" and will "take you in a new direction". Hmmm, so I guess it could go either way. 
In a weird way, I kind of like the stone lions and glass chilli chandelier that greet you at the entrance, but the rest of the decor doesn't do a lot to ease the mind. 

Downstairs, the purple neon lights from the adjoining tapas/cocktail bar flicker through into the also purple-themed restaurant, where fake flowers and a TV playing Bollywood movies grace the walls. Still, we can't helped be taken by the warm greeting at the door, and the charm and genuine enthusiasm of the floor staff doesn't waiver all night.
The menu offers dishes with varying degrees of fusion - some, like aloo tikki and garlic naan, are straight Indian, while others, like penne arrabbiatta, would be at home on any Italian restaurant menu. But it's the third type - the true fusion dishes - that we're here (we think, for Canberra standards, rather courageously) to try.

So on that note, we start with paneer and mozzarella fritters, which are served with a jalapeño aioli. Shaped like logs and crumbed, they're more like croquettes than fritters. Their flavour is mild, and I can't detect the roasted cumin or coriander mentioned on the menu, so the spicy aioli provides a welcome and hefty kick. The filling has a pleasantly smooth, oozing texture - more mozzarella than paneer - though the crusts could be a little more crunchy and golden.

Paneer and mozzarella croquettes

Next comes sun-dried tomato naan, which is soft and pillowy, but the tomatoes seem to be there more for the sake of adding something different than improving it, and I can't help thinking that India got it right long ago with the garlic version.

Sun-dried tomato naan

Our first main is a Digress speciality - tandoori chicken penne. Tandoori chicken has been re-invented as an ultra-creamy pasta sauce, with chicken pieces, shallots and capsicum strips. It has a rich, but balanced flavour, however it's ladled a little too heavily onto the pasta, which can't soak it up properly and is left drowning. I guess - trying to be open-minded - there's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of an Indian-style sauce on pasta, but I can't help thinking it would have been better served on plain old rice.

Tandoori chicken penne

Finally, there's the Khadai paneer pizza, which sees a traditional Indian dish de-constructed as a pizza topping - a brightly coloured combination of paprika-coated paneer, capsicum, onion, tomato and coriander. The base is good - thin and crisp with the right amount of give, and the topping is enjoyable enough, though despite what the colour of the paneer suggests, it doesn't taste particularly 'Indian'. I'd eat it again, but I wouldn't seek it out.

Khadai paneer pizza

It's easy to be cynical of a concept like Digress, and for full disclosure, I was leading the charge. I tried it because we need restaurants which are willing to try new things (who, other than Roy Choi, would have thought Korean tacos would be a winner). However, the point of fusion cooking is to take the best elements of different cuisines and create something that's even better than the sum of its parts, and with that in mind, Indian/Italian-fusion has a way to go.


Digress
11 Akuna Street, Canberra City, 2601
Ph: (02) 6248 6952

Grill'd Manuka

Nearing the end of Vegetarian June (a month of self-imposed vegetarianism), I was excited to discover that the new branch of burger chain Grill'd in Manuka offered not one, but three vegetarian burger options.

It makes sense - Grill'd is the brainchild of Simon Crowe, who was challenged to start a 'healthy' burger shop after complaining one too many times to his mates that he couldn't find a burger that didn't make him feel heavy and bloated. This shop has since morphed into a significantly sized franchise, with outlets throughout Victoria, NSW, QLD, Canberra and WA.

Despite the backing of this success, it takes a brave soul to open a burger shop within 15 minutes walk of the iconic Brodburger - the former caravan-housed burger joint that continues to draw crazy queues at its new location at Kingston Glassworks.

The fitout of this latest incarnation of Grill'd is all 'industrial chic', and while it feels a tad contrived with its semi-exposed brick walls, black, piped ceilings and mood lighting, it has a comfortable, buzzy vibe.

For all burgers you can choose your bun - either panini, 'traditional', (a light wholemeal roll with sesame seeds) or gluten free. The first of the vegie burgers we try is the Garden Goodess on a traditional bun - a vegie pattie with beetroot, tasty cheese, avocado, salad (lettuce, tomato and onion), relish and a herby mayonnaise. I don't mind the ceoncept of a wholemeal bun, and this one is nice and squishy, though a little dry. Despite its declared 'premium quality' the veggie pattie is pretty bland, and needs the herby mayo to pep it up. There's no obvious sign of the relish, but they've been generous with the salad and it all tastes very healthy and fresh, though I can't help thinking it needs something a little juicy to gel it all together.

'Garden Goddess' with those amazing herby chips and herby mayo

The 'field of dreams' is probably the better bet - a grilled field mushroom with roasted capsicum, cheese, pesto, salad and the herby mayonnaise. The mushroom juices meld together with the pesto and mayo to keep it moist, while the panini roll is the right amount of crusty.

'Field of dreams' with chips and tomato relish

Perhaps the biggest drawcard is the chips - flat, fat fingers of soft potato with a crispy, salty, ultra-herby crust. We try two dipping sauces - the herby mayo, which gets a little rich after a while, and a super sweet, chunky tomato relish.

Technically, I can see reasons why Grill'd Manuka should give ol' Brodburger a run for its money - the fact that you don't need to queue to order, that you'll be waiting a fraction of the time for your burger, and that you won't need to hustle for a seat are just the first that spring to mind. But as I bit into my Garden Goddess, I can't help but compare it to that perfect specimen of a vegie burger - that bulging chargrilled-vegie and haloumi delight the Brodburger crew would serving up to the waiting masses as we speak.

Grill'd is easy, friendly and will make for a fun night out, and I'll be back - mainly for the chips - but also to try the extensive range of non-vegie burgers on offer after Vegetarian June draws to a close (every burger deserves a fair chance, after all). To be fair, if it were located elsewhere, the burgers could well be the best in town, but in Canberra's inner south,  they'll have to settle for second best.

Grill'd
40 Franklin Street, Manuka
Ph: 6239 6111

Vegetarian June

After reading a few books that pretty graphically depict the treatment of animals raised for our steaks and pork chops (Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food and The Omnivores Dilemma, and Jonathan Saffron Foer's Eating Animals), coupled with incidents such as the Indonesian live animal export saga and the closure of a NSW abattoir over mistreatment of animals, I decided it probably wouldn't kill me to put my love of all things meat aside for a month and have a crack at vegetarianism. Bring on an event of my own making, 'Vegetarian June'.

So for the last 20 days I've been living the life of a vegetarian. Not a vegan - I wasn't quite ready to give up on cheese - and for the purposes of full disclosure, parmesan cheese (which technically should be out anyway because it often contains animal-based rennet) has been on my menu, mainly due to a previously arranged booking at the glorious Italian & Sons, which I wasn't about to let go to waste. But other than that I've been pretty good, down to the nitty gritty of avoiding meat-based stocks and fish sauce.

Well, from the perspective of a committed omnivore, it turns out Vegetarian June really hasn't been that bad. In fact, compared with Feb Fast (the month without alcohol I did earlier this year) it's been a breeze. It's forced me into trying things on restaurant menus I wouldn't have otherwise, often to be pleasantly surprised (Silo's green bean, tomato and pecorino rolls spring to mind), and through forcing me to make vegetables and non-meat proteins (tofu, lentils, beans etc) the focus of my meals, I've developed a new-found respect for them and become far more adept at cooking with them.

The other reason it's been so easy, and even delightful, is a man named Yotam Ottolenghi, a UK-based chef who also writes a very popular column for The Guardian.

Ottolenghi is not a vegetarian himself, and when he was approached to write a vegetarian cookbook he was hesitant, which is probably why his cookbook Plenty is the best vegetarian cookbook I've come across - by far. He created vegetarian recipes from the point of view of an omnivore, so they're completely satisfying and bring out the 'meatiness' of the veges features in each recipe.

Here are the first two recipes I tried from it (edited slightly where I thought, from my experience as an amateur cook, a bit of clarity might help):

Surprise Tartin

Serves 4 as a light meal (though managed it between 2 with no difficulty!)

200g cherry tomatoes
2 tbs olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
500g baby (chat) potatoes (skin on)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
40g white sugar
10g butter
3 oregano sprigs, leaves picked and torn
150g hard goat's cheese
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees Celsius. Halve tomatoes and place, skin-side down, on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with some olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to dry for 45 mins.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 Celsius. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add potatoes and cook for 25-30 mins. Drain and cool. Trim a bit at the top and bottom of each potato, then cut into 1.5-2cm discs.

Heat 2 tbs oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add onions and a pinch of salt, then cook, stirring regularly, for 10 mins (I needed to keep mine in for around 5 mins longer) or until soft and golden brown.

Brush a 22cm cake pan with oil, then line base with baking paper. Place sugar and butter in a small pan over high heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until you get a semi-dark caramel. Working quickly, pour the caramel into the cake pan and tilt to spread evenly over the base. Scatter oregano over the caramel.

Lay potato slices closely together, cut side down, over the base of the pan. Gently press onions and tomatoes into the gaps, then season with salt and pepper. Spread cheese slices evenly over potatoes. Roll the pastry thinly, then cut out a disc 3cm larger in diameter than the cake pan. Lay the disc over the tart filling and gently tuck the edges down and around the potatoes inside the pan. (At this stage you can chill the tart for up to 24 hours).

Bake the tart for 25 mins, then reduce temperature to 180 Celsius and continue baking for 15 mins (cover with foil if over-browning - I needed to) or until pastry is cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside for 2 mins only. Hold an inverted plate firmly on top of the pan, then carefully but quickly turn them over together. Lift off the pan and baking paper. Serve tart hot or warm.

Beetroot, yoghurt and preserved lemon relish

When I read the combination of ingredients all together, it sounded a bit random, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised - one for serious beetroot lovers.

Serves 4 as a side

900g beetroots (I found one bunch weighed around 650g, so I used just one bunch and substituted 300g green beans, topped and tailed, then steamed for 8 minutes, for the remainder. The beans were in season and it seemed like a good way to add a few greens)
1 small bunch dill, chopped
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
160g Greek yoghurt

Relish
2 yellow capsicums (I could only get red - they worked fine)
60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
1½ tsp coriander seeds
400g can chopped tomatoes (with juices)
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 tsp sugar
3 tbs chopped preserved lemon skin (from around 3 wedges)
2 tbs each chopped parsley and coriander leaves

Preheat oven to 200 Celsius. Separate the beetroot bulbs from the stems and leaves. Wrap bulbs in foil, place on a baking tray and cook for 1 hr or until soft in the centre when pierced with a skewer or knife. (Note - the original recipe says to boil the bulbs in a saucepan for 1-2 hrs, but I prefer baking them as it keeps in the all the nutrients). Cool, then cut into wedges.

Meanwhile, make the relish. First roast the capsicums (two methods proposed):

Ottolenghi's method: Preheat the grill to high. Use a small knife to cut around the stalks of the peppers. Carefully pull out the stalks with the seeds and discard. Place the peppers on a grill pan lined with foil and grill for up to 30 mins, or until they are cooked inside but black on the outside, turning them over once during the cooking. Fold the edges of the foil over the peppers to enclose them completely, then leave to cool down. Peel them and cut them into strips.

My short-cut method: Preheat grill to high. Cut the capsicums into quarters. Using a knife, remove and discard seeds and stalks. Place capsicums, skin-side up, under the grill and grill for 5-10 mins until skin is blackened. Remove and place in a plastic bag. Leave to cool completely, then peel and cut into strips.

Place oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add coriander seeds and fry for 30 secs. Add tomatoes, garlic and sugar, season with salt and pepper, then simmer for 15 mins. Add preserved lemon and continue simmering for 10 mins. Remove from heat, then stir in the herbs and capsicum strips. Allow to cool completely.

When ready to serve, place beetroot, beans (if using), relish, dill, onion in a serving bowl and season with salt and pepper. Stir well. Add yoghurt and swirl through gently (don't stir too much so you get a white and red marbled effect rather than uniform pink).

Brodburger - update on the Glassworks move

An update on the Brodburger move to Canberra Glassworks - the opening date has been pushed back, but word is that the new incarnation of Canberra's favourite burger joint should be up and running by early March (though I couldn't get a specific date). Sigh.... it won't be a moment too soon.

Kingston Hotel

Having moved to Canberra, I've come to realise that Sydneysiders really take their local pub (or if you’ve had the good fortune to live in Surry Hills, your local seven pubs) for granted. Canberra, for all its merits (like being able to buy booze in supermarkets and random corner shops) is not exactly known for its thrivin’ pub culture. Feeling steak–and-chips deprived, I set out to discover what would be the closest thing to my ‘local’, which turns out to be the rough-and-ready Kingston Hotel.

The ‘Kingo’ is a spacious, no-frills affair, incorporating two restaurants, three internal drinking/dining areas, a function room, a large back courtyard and a very well-stocked drive-in bottleshop, The Thirsty Camel, at the front. It has an ultra-casual vibe and, given its fairly well-to-do surrounds, can get surprisingly rowdy (think wolf whistles to passers by) on weekend nights.

Inside the pub’s front restaurant, the cook-it-yourself Kingston Steakhouse, burly men hover round a big barbecue plate flipping everything from rumps and rib-eyes to salmon cutlets and sausages. If, like me, cooking your own food at a restaurant isn’t really your thing, there’s also a selection of pizzas and pastas cooked by the kitchen.

But on our two visits we’ve bypassed the somewhat smoky steakhouse and headed out back to Maddie’s, where the menu reads like a blueprint for the typical Aussie pub – steaks, schnitzels, burgers, pastas, fish and chips, and of course, good old chicken parmi. There’s also a few vegetarian options, such as chargrilled vegetable skewers with chips, a vegie burger and a pumpkin, parmesan and pine nut salad.

But back to the meat. A 300g porterhouse steak arrives on what would most accurately be described as a serving platter, laden down with chips and a garden salad. It’s nicely charred and only a touch over the requested medium-rare, though the accompanying mushroom sauce is tepid with a strangely sweet flavour. The chips are crisp and straight-from-the-fryer hot, while the salad is decent enough and plays its role in putting something green on your plate.

A knife stabbed dramatically through the Kingo Steak burger proves to have functional as well as aesthetic qualities, keeping the towering mass – which includes a generous slab of porterhouse steak, bacon, egg, cheese, pineapple, beetroot, tomato and lettuce – all intact for the trip to the table. If you’re going to make a burger your namesake, then make it one to be proud of, and this is – the ingredients melding together nicely in crusty ciabatta bun and served with a chunky tomato relish.

On another visit, an Indian-style vegie burger proves less impressive. The zucchini patty is spongy and overloaded with cumin, and a topping of melted cheese makes for a strange clash of flavours. It’s loaded up on a garlicy yoghurt-smeared bun with lettuce and tomato.

Next the Caesar salad – something I hold as a benchmark for pub food judgement. In case you were wondering, this miraculous dish was invented by a resourceful Italian chef who, short of supplies, threw together a seemingly hodge-podge combination of ingredients and tossed it all together in dramatic fashion right at the table – a finishing touch which ensured the lettuce stayed crisp and was just lightly coated in the sharp Worcestershire-laced dressing. This history makes Kingston’s deconstructed, pre-tossed chicken version all the more annoying. It appears to be less for appearances sake than for kitchen practicality – so the lettuce, bacon, parmesan and dressing can be mixed together in advance and chicken, egg and croutons cooked and added to order. Predictably, the lettuce has started to wilt in the dressing, which is mild and lacks that Worcestershire-bite. Perhaps the annoyance of having to construct the salad myself has made me harsher than I should be on the poor Kingo Caesar. On the upside, the poached egg is a nice touch, and the chicken – though a little pasty in appearance – is tender.

All up, the Kingo is no gastro pub and it’s unlikely to be walking away with a chef’s hat anytime soon, but then that’s not really the point. The point is functionality, which it does with aplomb, dishing up generous, carb-heavy serves that are perfectly fit for purpose – lining your stomach for the ales to follow.

The Kingston Hotel

73 Canberra Ave, Griffith, 2603

Ph: (02) 6295 0123