Continental quest! Review.

I have some favourite continental stores where I buy things I don't need - tasty things!

Forza Continental is a low key building on Holbrooks Rd, which is full of freshly baked bread, smallgoods, cheese and everything that is pickled, preserved and imported.
I used to study at a now demolished uni campus across the road and a few slices of provolone, coppa, lepinja and a cold chinotto was all cheaper than the unibar lunch - Brilliant!

Gaganis Bros. is the giant of Adelaide wholesale food importers, they have absolutely everything you need. From wine making to rare liqueurs, frozen pastries, aisles of fetta cheese and of course the cheapest charcoal in town - BBQ bargains everywhere! I love this place, just try and avoid the coin counting Nonna's, they take for ever at the check out.

Omega Foods is the smaller version of Gaganis, but it prides itself on a superb deli section with an amazing olive and cheese section, beans pulses and herbs also feature prominently. Go there to learn...

Imma & Mario's Mercato is the new age of continental store, it has a modern look with a glossy fit out. It is a very good layout with the deli section in the middle and the cafe section to one side, I wonder up and down the aisle's wondering if I will ever be rich enough to afford all of it! It is all very well presented and still reasonably priced - make the trek up Lower North East Rd. and you will be impressed and very jealous that the northerners have it so good!

Thebarton Foodland IGA is possibly the best supermarket for continental goods in general, I don't think they would have ever sold out of sliced white 'nothing' bread. The loaves are crusty and the tinned tomato's are dirt cheap, and sometimes the sultry deli girls laugh at one of your jokes. They are like mermaids with their siren's song drawing you to the sharp rocks of the smallgoods deli! You leave confused.... with so much more produce than you thought you asked for.

Barilla Continental Store is a little continental store compared to the bigger wholesalers mentioned above, but what these guys have is passion. During the last heat wave that sat on Adelaide like a school yard bully I travelled regularly to Grange Beach for a dip. On my return journey I would slip in for a canoli and some fresh coffee, every time I was greeted with happy gusto! My enquiries about my out of order home espresso machine were treated as though my own child was near death. New seals were selected and my espresso maker is purring. Oh yeah and they do pasta.

Search the map on the right hand side for the specific locations of these gems!
Giles

The Royal treatment, Review.

Sunday morning breakfast is once again in the forefront of my mind, after a lovely Saturday evening dining with friends at Concubine on Gouger st.
Our locality in the inner northern suburbs gives us with regular choices, and the Royal Oak Hotel is consistently near the top of that list with good reason. Their kitchen has always maintained high standards, and the bar is solid. The menu changes not so regularly but what they do - they do well. I remember as an intrepid teenager having kangaroo fillet and being amazed how good it tasted, surprising because kangaroo was a new inclusion to most city menus, but few had mastered the technique of not ruining it completely! Combined with some superb wines available in the bottle shop it makes for a great pub restaurant let alone pub. The breakfast menu has all the regular suspects, large and small standard cholesterol kick, as well as a great eggs Benedict with fresh hollandaise. I was saddened to find out the mini can of baked beans has been removed from the large brekky, public liability, sub prime crisis or some hogwash was blamed... A newspaper, a nicely brewed coffee, a comfy booth at the window was required and delivered, perhaps a berocca would of also been useful. I have fond memories of knocking off pints at that bar as though they were spoonfuls, having finished working pans in a kitchen up the street it was a haven of noise and intensity that you could sink into. Hangovers change and time eats up the past and now I am up early on a Sunday morning looking through the world news section, passing comment on the up coming U.S. election and am reminded of a funny joke.......it was funny then - not now!

Giles

Pub-logic, review.

A pub has some very basic rules to follow to ensure the very core of its hospitality requirements are met...
-Beer on tap.
-The Schnitzel will be the benchmark of the whole menu.
-Atmosphere, any at all is good.
After that it is open for interpretation as to what makes a pub work.
When a pub can tick all three boxes and still have pokies and a TAB in the front bar, you know there is some decent hospitality taking place. As is the case with many country pubs, their hearts in the right place and they have to work hard to survive. On the other end of the scale is the pub with everything in its favour and absolutely nothing going for it. My most recent example of this is The Archer Hotel O'Connell St. North Adelaide. It has a great location, a new fit out and buckets of potential. Sadly it rates on par with the now atrocious Oxford Hotel, which eight years ago had itself on the right track. It is now over run with pokies in a once beautiful and well awarded dining room. The Archer Hotel does not even have some good form to regret on, they have been out of form from the beginning. Sadly it seems they were mislead by a consultant who had been to the eccentric Royal Oak and the confusing Bombay Bicycle club and could not make up their mind. So eventually made a poorer hybrid cousin of the two. So no atmosphere here, it only ticks one of my boxes - beer (just). The other boxes need attending immediately! So I turn my focus to the food at the risk of sounding like one G. Ramsey: It is all about your f$%#ing standards, you cannot let them slip. I was informed by the bar staff it was an exceptional evening for the Archer Hotel, the patrons likened to ants and staff like stunned mullets. If their standards on an exceptionally busy night were high then they have only to deal with their minor issues. But it decends into a fracas...
Waiting at the bar I hear "Chef says they are out of chicken for the warm chicken salad!" and I immediately imagine 19 year old third year apprentice Nathaniel sucking back one more pipe in the car park and then crumbing chicken schnitzels in a purple blur to make service deadline. Oblivious to the fact he is out of tenderloin for the salad - he needed some of the breast!!! Nathaniel giggles: Ha he he he hi hi hi hi, breast......
ORDER IN! The docket is torn from the printer and the two copies are seperated, our paranoid chef shifts out of reverse....
Two steak sangas "sweet", Two beef snitties 1 gravy 1 mush extra pepper, two squid salads "shit!!", two fish. He has failed to keep on top of his stock - he almost sold out of squid at lunch? I surmise it is a sunny day, a few white wines and the squid or chicken salad: the rinse set are like clock work in Adelaide! At this stage I should mention that I am hyper critical of most venues, but not openly toward the staff, my inner critique is of the scale. I had the steak sanga, and thankful for the choice.
I understand the staffs pressures and foibles. Weed in between a split shift is never a good idea, and pressure can make you do silly things. To not have some crucial elements of a very simplistic menu is sheer stupidity. There is a Foodland over the road!! Obviously they could not be arsed walking over the road, so in that case honesty is a good policy if it can buy you a way out.... "Sorry to inform you sir that there is but one serve of squid left for the evening can we offer you the special?" No, Nathaniel makes another poor decision: 'I think I will split the single serve (of hideous pre-cut, seasoned and freezer bag squid) and load up the salad to compensate'. This poor hack work does not fool anyone, and results in an embarrassed manager, disappointed patrons and spiteful blogger. Nathaniel never passed SYSTEM D 101.
The Schnitzel box yet to be ticked: The schnitzels were cooked in old oil, looked burnt and tasted like crap. Deep fryers rarely get a chance to cool down in busy kitchens, but changing and cleaning the oil is essential. Dark brown deep fried food is the hallmark of a lazy kitchen.
Honesty on a menu can gain a lot of respect if you deliver what you intended to. If the poor standard is going to continue then rewrite the menu - drop the price so your patrons know what they are in for. You might even exceed their lowered expectations one day!
Tick the boxes and then get to work restoring our faith in a pub.

Giles

Getting on the green...

Do you grow your own?

Do you buy the really expensive outdoor stuff?

Do you choke on the additive laden, super charged, hydroponic monsters?

Here in Australia we have always been blessed with the finest quality greenery.

Is it our vibrant multicultural society?

Is it the post war times that forced people to do some pretty crazy things in their backyard, just to turn a dollar?!

I have sampled some amazing home grown produce over the years, so many good times! Good times!

It all started when I was young....

The largest homegrown tomato I ever saw was over 500gm and looked like it should have been in hand cuffs. Million dollar peaches from the side yard that were so sweet and juicy that would put James in rehab, and have Roald Dahl taken in for questioning. My first ever crop of broad beans were twice my own height, I thought this green thumb thing was a cinch!! Avocados from a neighbours Hass tree always brings back memories of the perfect prawn cocktail. My grandfather used to slice fresh green beans with a small knife so sharp you could shave with it, you only had to wave the beans over some hot water to cook. Fresh passion fruit off the vine - oh my golly gosh - ZING!! Feijoa trees with its funky fruit, I'd put a spoon in my school bag so could pinch some from the house down the street on the corner and eat them on the way. Pomegranate from the Scottish couple that lived opposite our neighbour, they smoked inside and I hated their tiny lounge room. Homemade cumquat marmalade. You know your alive when you chomp on some fresh horseradish recently peeled and pulled from under the apple tree - Hello Nose (cross eyed)!!

More recently I have experienced the joys of home grown olives and Italian tomatoes from the lovely Tony and Toni next door in the burbs. Fresh herbs left at the door step - who knows who from. My mother in laws Asian herbs - kaffir, basil, lemongrass - and shes German! My mothers resurgent asparagus patch that never ceases to surprise! Kipfler potatoes - wax is good!

Coriander will always remind me of running through a dense coriander seed crop my father had irrigated with an old rolling irrigator, which could quite easily kill small boys or so I thought.

Some less memorable moments was the coddling moth infestation in the grannies - it was devastation, casualties everywhere! Why our mother thought that choko was a vegetable young children would enjoy perplexed me and my two elder siblings. Under instruction I helped them dig a hole and bury all the produce on the tree, just to make sure there would be no resurrections we crushed them into the dirt as we went. She could not possibly serve us fresh dirt and choko? Could she?! The flavour of choko is not to far from dirt, but at least dirt has texture.

All of these experiences have made me a pain in the ass to go shopping with...

Giles

My spring Carnival, review.

Public holiday, a few days of annual leave, perfect Spring weather and a wedding wedged in for good measure makes for a massive week of revelry and relaxation. Of course I seek out the unique food experience to enjoy with friends, especially the friends I have not seen in a while.

The lane ways of Melbourne always provide a new experience for a decent coffee and some perfectly poached or scrambled eggs, I always seem to gravitate to the similar sorts of venues - dirty ones with milk crates stacked up nearby. Maybe I don't give myself much hope of enjoying the flash cafe experience, terrazzo, wicker and starched aprons appeal to me but the perceived snobbery of such places always puts me off even if there is none to be seen. Maybe I feel under dressed - I mean one suit is enough for a wedding but one more for the cafe is a little too much. Sneak around the stores and see if you can grab a bargain, and line up lunch - Where to go? On the phone to find where the cheap / cheerful noodle joint is, and superbly positioned around the corner from the death trap hotel. Vietnamese Pho` is a new phenomenon for me and is taking hold of my taste buds and probably will not release its hold till my passport has the stamp of approval. Beef Pho` is aromatic yet spicy, sour yet sweet - All bases covered and satisfaction guaranteed... I could walk through China town in Melbourne and press my face against every shop window to see which ones have the bums on seats and the look of love on the faces of punters but I weigh a recommendation like the price of Gold! So when my number one sister says... 'the one on Russell St. with the chicken and beef head on the sign' we lock in like a seagull on a hot chip!

Wedding - hors d'oeuvre roaming around the moment the bride sighs with relief is an absolute stroke of genius. Hearing "Would you like a G & T sir?" after seeing the choice of lager was just another tick for the decision makers! I was rollicking along after a few hours and combine that with a superb choice for dinner and some swing to spice up the bunions. I cannot speak highly enough of good choices at such functions - Booze, Food, and Music are all crucial to weddings and I have been lucky enough to have been to some beauties. I have also been involved in some shockers, like the one where I served at a buffet and could not count the parachute clad couples on one hand. Parachute seems a silly choice of material when choosing to smoke ciggies like a steam train let alone at a wedding!! - the fire hazard seems a large risk, but whose worried when the Holidays are flowing!

What to do on a morning after? You have two choices: Push through your pain and deal with your issues in your own way, Or.....? I do not believe in the other.... Jump on a tram and consume your body weight in Colombian coffee. I plan to take full toll of my freedom in the big smoke. St. Ari is a small cafe that many South Mebournites would know and most likely feel ho hum about. Mind you it would be their attitude to winning the tatts lotto, '14 million dollars? Yeah I s'pos I could buy a few things...' I, however was intrigued by the genetic background of every casual employee of the coffee roaster come cafe. They all seemed so exotic, Brazilian or Asian I could not put my finger on any of them. Same could be said of the menu which was clearly lunch or breaky - no middle ground. When I saw the mini patisserie cabinet inside I knew my choices were clear, more coffee, fresh apricot danish, individual carrot cake, coconut and berry tart. Never under estimate the absorbent quality of pastries - Yesterdays booze has met its match!!

Having been requested to organise a venue for dinner on Friday evening, I am instantly tightening my shortlist and cursing those tempting venues who don't take reservations. What is the reasoning behind this? Is it to deter the un-willing? Well it deterred us, we could not take a chance with a party of 8... I booked us into a consistent performer with the traditional Italian hospitality to boot, also a chance to sight some underworld players! Rambling back past the bank of the Yarra I slip past the completely inconspicuous Crown Casino, darting in and out so as to not pick up an addiction. I quickly perused the Rockpool, Brahimi and Nobu menu's with some interest but none interested me more than the Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons menu. Having been denied a reservation I thought I would get a feel for the tiled venue over a beer and rather enjoyable chat with one of the jacketed bar staff. A3 sized menu packed full of delightful dishes well within the reach of the common food lover, as though someone told them that they can charge what they like at the base of the Crown Casino cos' everyone else does - but this is what they like to charge.

I slip down Collins St. to see if I can save the life of a suicidal investment banker, but sadly they are struggling to put their plastic office chairs through the toughened glass of their elevated cages. Maybe I will be able to see them binge on my way to a post wedding function at the docklands, one poor fellow walks into one of two doors which is clearly locked - his accomplices re-direct him to the open door and his rampant blood pressure eases momentarily. Like a disoriented pigeon who sees a bath in a shop window- Bang!

A sort of stroke of luck, two of our dinnr booking have decided on another engagement which improves our willingness to hit the banks of the Yarra, and wait for a table at Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons.

Knowing our chances are slim for an immediate table, we slack jaw into the brilliantly finished interior of Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons. We make our presence felt and are happy to enjoy a drink in waiting, 45minutes miraculously becomes 15 and we are directed to a table well positioned at the rear of the cave level lighted venue.

Our waiter seems more like a caricature of a waiter than the real thing, his enthusiasm is somewhat infectious or un settling. Either way he is certainly sure of himself, presuming that we will have a selection of small dishes for entre`. We correct one of his selections as it was the exact copy of one of our post wedding hors d'oeuvre, obviously a popular choice around the platter pushers of Melbourne. I know what I want to eat but what to drink with it seems to be the tougher choice. My recently married male imbiber is also asking tough questions - and the answer becomes easier when the delightfully cautious females of our party opt for a pleasant chilled Sangiovese poured from a font on a marble wall. The venue is sectioned by certain work areas, clearly defined by the stainless racks and stacks of bread piled in, I get an impromptu lesson on the Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons method of their bread plate. The manager jokingly chastises his minion for making a wedge out of a crusty loaf, and I begin to gather the feeling that this unique playful confidence with which the staff operate lends itself to a wonderful atmosphere. I am starting to really envy the Melbournites with this at their tram door!

A hugely satisfying imported Barbera is poured and swilled as the entre's are cleaned up. Oil is sopped up and re poured from bottles set into our tight tables, cafe style with a bit more refinement than a stack of milk crates. It is unpretentious and it is tiled, showing that the two can be found together in harmony. My meal is simple in its concept and even simpler in its presentation, a stuffed pigs trotter. And that was exactly what I got - oh yes and a cheek of lemon... Don't revolt with disgust, the only thing that would give it away would be the sight of it. It tasted like a thick velvet cannelloni stuffed with a loose sausage meat with the aroma of prosciutto, some spices and herbs. Extremely satisfying and well executed. I was keen to try the other choices around our table: Spaghetti with spicy nap sauce and crab steamed in paper, A ragu like soup with black eyed beans, Meatballs, Fresh bean and carrot salad, Roast spuds with garlic and rosemary, mix of olives and lentils with sausages. All had '...such intensity!' to quote former Indian test cricketer Ravi Shastri, his words were ringing through my head after his stirring preview to the first test in Bangalore.

Candy stores and kids, mine was a delightful evening - I am confident that everyone also enjoyed their experience - Mine however was a discovery of an unpretentious, slick and happy venue that I will return to.

Now would someone show me the way to the nearest Gelateria!

Giles

Phat Breakfast, review.

Saturday morning breaky on the main vein Sydney Rd. Enjoying the
sights and sounds of the city at Tom Phat and blogging on the run!
Giles

Its all Greek to me, review.

With the sunshine on your shoulders and the street at your feet the city has a refreshed feel after winter. The smell of vine leaves and some pan fried sheep's milk cheese is the best way to shake the chill out of your bones, Eros Cafe on Rundle St. City can reinvigorate the weariest summer lover on a shiny spring day! I absolutely love nestling around a lopsided table positioned in a perfect alfresco spot, a voyeurs delight to see the people strutting behind their brand labelled goggles.

From The Scullery

Order a Bekro plate, it has a selection of Greek treats, like fetta, dolmathes, spanakopita, marinated vegetable, pickled octopus and tzatziki of course! It is big and enough to fill you up, and not quite enough to finish a bottle of generic lager - perhaps a zingy rose` is a better choice? I love Greek food and it shows, my BBQ's almost always include variations on the Greek theme. Adelaide is blessed with so many great restaurants offering superb Mediterranean delights. When on site remember to spot the boulevardier's in their credit crunching jeans and patent T's and the Tour de anywheres' in their caffeine infused Lycra business suits. We leave our street side vantage almost forgetting to pay, that is how contented I am but I do want to return to this place so we choose the almost maxed account to put another delicious meal on.

FOOD SNOB AWAY!!

Footnote:
Sadly their are many average venues where the experience is less than satisfactory. Why do venues prosper that offer sub-standard imitations? When the method/ingredients are so easy why do so many get it sooooo wrong? If it is a budget your battling then you may be forgiven for thinking the $8.90 carbonara is a reasonable option. Sinister things lie beneath the surface of chain cafes offering cheap, fast, cafe food. Down the road the small cafe struggles to keep up with the juggernaut eating up their clientele and monopolising the urban sprawl. That urban sprawl does not know how much the juggernaut is making a week, or how well the juggernaut owners' new Porsche 4WD handles the shopping complex car park. And if another toothy waitress/actress tells me that the carbonara is 'sooo creamy' I am going to be sick!!!

Giles

Love a rub!

There is nothing quite like a rub to get the juices flowing, I mean who doesn't enjoy a nice little massage. A rub can release a lot of tension especially when teamed with a little aroma and maybe some spice. You are sure to notch up some points with a good rub, anyone on the receiving end will "ooh" & "ahh" as your good work comes to fruition. Some people pussy foot around the rub but I like to go deep and hard! Hit to tough spots and work it into a smooth consistency, it will give the best results - especially with aromas and of coarse a little spice!!
I tend to rub all over, everything gets a little attention. You can sometimes bring a rub to life with the addition of some oils and natural juices!! A little oil here and a bit of juice there, and the one rub can get different results. The softer flesh needs delicate approach, where as tougher stuff requires a bit of manipulation - perhaps some natural juice with higher acidic content.

My new rub:
An easy one to prepare, and is great for any meat to be cooked in a direct heat situation i.e. BBQ, Grill, Roast.
Ingredients quantities are at your discretion... a good tip is to test a little of each ingredient for its intensity and adjust its amount to get a balance.
Salt
Pepper
Fennel Seeds
Cayenne Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Work into a consistent mix in your mortar & pestle.

I BBQ steaks and veggies with this rub, toss the veg in a bit of lemon juice after the sizzle. The meat is cooked with a little dry rub which gets a different flavour to the veg. Rub a dub dub!!

Giles