Farewell Brown Dog Cafe....for now.

The Brown Dog Cafe on Goodwood Rd. fast became an institution for many local and not so local residents, the main reason for this is the hard work and talent of Michelle and Callum Campbell picture above with their 18 month year old son Jackman. 'The Dog' as it is affectionately known to many was taken over by the entrepreneurial couple after they had rescued a Novar Gardens snack stop and turned it around in a few hectic months. Before 'The Dog' the Goodwood Rd. site was the dreary Cafe Deco which had once been a quirky hangout, but had lost any steam and just fizzled out. Michelle's simple but enticing menu's brought the masses through the door and with a personality like Callum out front it is no wonder 'The Dog' was a success. Michelle found the right chef's to continue her work after some early staffing issues, and the consistent quality food and beverage was really moving. As they did with Novar Espresso at Novar Gardens they are selling 'The Dog' at the height of its potential and popularity, which is an extremely hard decision to make. But with their integrity at full charge and strike rate of business success at %100 it is surely the right decision. The potential new owner Jason Brooks (ex Strathmore / Citrus) is planning on taking over the reigns, with as little fuss as possible. I am always cautious when a new owner buys a business with an obvious stamp of someone else upon it, and he had better be mighty talented or extremely hardworking to fill the shoes of Michelle and Callum. However do not despair if you are all ready mourning their departure, it is unlikely to be long before the two are back in the industry (perhaps catering, just a hint)
Thank you Michelle and Callum for all the great food, coffee and GOOD TIMES!
Giles

Panacea - Review

In Greek mythology Apollo was pretty much the god of everything and Panacea his granddaughter was the goddess of cures, let’s not delve into her siblings... they’re the ugly ones! Panacea the restaurant has been open for only a few weeks and the god’s are smiling on her. Panacea is not traditional al a carte dining, it offers a Spanish sharing al a carte menu. There are myths of defunct tapas bars and sold out sharing menus lurking in Adelaide’s recent past, can Panacea do as its name prescribes and cure the drought of modern sharing menu eateries? The greeting at Panacea is friendly and relaxed and by decree of the manager is the way it will stay, I feel at ease with their quiet confidence. Hospitality can wear a person down until they can be spread too thin over too much. Confidence could be replaced with complacency or attention to detail can be sold out to the margin of dollars and depleted efforts result in failure. What I see at Panacea is a concept become reality for Andy Curren and Adam Nero who have not short changed the style of Panacea. They have made their way into the CBD from the Hyde Park Cibo Espresso, and have given Dioni Pike (ex Wine Underground / Carrick Hill) Head Chef and ‘alchemist’ duties of this cure all on Halifax St. There is an even distribution of staff right through to the open plan galley kitchen so you can always sight a staff member. The menu was sampled in the manner appropriate to a tapas bar with a plate of Olives and Peppers ($8) that were smooth flavoured and lusciously textured. Closely followed by a medium sized plate titled a ‘Small Plate’ of Rabbit with white bean and Spanish sausage hotpot ($14). This is not surprisingly the most popular dish on the menu as it is the rich, slow roasted game that many would find very appealing, especially with a slice of crusty bread. Octopus Pulpo ala gallega ($17) a piled plate of octopus, could have been terrific but suffers from its reheating and could need more acidity in the coating of sauce. Cous Cous crumbed scallops ($15), were so sweet you could swear they were enhanced, but the light crumb brought the soft scallops balance and suited the tightly textured bean puree it was accompanied with. We made perhaps a false move and ordered pasta from their specials board on the rangehood, but only few would sneer at our diversion from the tapas. The Fettucine, vongole with tarragon and white wine sauce ($16) was a big serve, it had loads of cockles, less wine than tarragon, which made the dish aromatic and a special creaminess that was certainly not weighed down by the dairy. Selections of imbibes were easy to make off of such an eclectic wine list. For a glass divide the bottle price by five. Later I still had some wine to quaff so ordered the lip smacking Vine wrapped sardines ($15). A rich salty sardine nicely tempered by almonds and sultanas and mellowed further with vine leaves, perfect with a fleshy white wine. Panacea was expertly treating our ailments and then there were Churros with chocolate ($11) to be had! The utterly delicious serve of aromatic hot pastry and dark chocolate sauce will keep punters rolling in late well into the winter evenings. I could not get past a Pedro Ximenez Sherry with the small dessert as there would not be Tapas without Sherry! Make plans and book a table at Panacea or just roll in ‘Tapas style’ and claim a spot at the bar because the inner city of Adelaide is doing the same. They are coming back for more as I have because it is totally justified.

Giles

Tea Tree Gully Hotel - Review

Head north of Grand Junction Rd in Adelaide and you run a big risk! The risk of attending a Tavern or a generic franchised cafe! This fate would perhaps render you useless for the remainder of the week until you recover in hospital and your personal possessions are eventually returned to you. I am always pleased to frequent venues with a better reputation than their glossy franchised cousins. The Tea Tree Gully Hotel is a unique venue as it has a monster footprint but provides less of a cafe culture and more of a hotel that knows its place. Seated on timber benches surrounded by the greenery under the cover of a massive atrium; this beer garden is possibly as large as The Edinburgh in Mitcham which takes the cake for gardens of beer. The beer selection is standard Lion Nathan fizzy amber water including their under the radar “Craft” beer James Squire’s. There are so many places to order food it is unlikely that there are actually that many kitchens, but there seems to be a kitchen for the beer garden which is a positive. The food is very standard Hotel ‘grub’ with very little fanfare or fluff – I don’t mind a pub who is not ashamed of who they are. So unashamed are they that there is no salad to fill out your catering porcelain, nifty hey?! So if you wanted rabbit food you would order a Caesar or a Garden thingy. The Steaks are char grilled and have the genuine flavour although need to be rested a further ten minutes before serving. The Schnitzels are good enough for a personally clogged artery or a leap in blood pressure! The ale battered flathead was fresh and crispy batter made it a pleasure, The Seafood basket was crumbed within an inch of its life and looked suspiciously like it came from a packet – avoid this at all cost! The ‘Homemade’ tartare sauce mentioned throughout the menu is clearly not homemade, unless your home is a food processing plant responsible for tonnes of gelatinous muck! The Tea Tree Gully Hotel does have a tendency to get extremely busy however we were treated to a leisurely afternoon in peace which was only broken by the gleeful screams of toddlers. Clearly this venue has a friendly family attitude. With some small changes to The Gully things could really move in a healthy direction, but for the time being they will continue to service the community with deep fried food and char grilled meat. Just remember that you need to order a side salad to feed your fluffy bunny!
Giles

The Wine Underground - Review

The logistics of what to do on New Years Eve can be a real struggle. Party, transport, booze, parking. Could the prospect of vomit and sore feet get you excited about a new years eve?! It used to get me foaming at the mouth, so please roll me over! This year was a little more refined, the choice was made to attend a moderately priced degustation at The Wine Underground, 121 Pirie St. This is not my first choice of venue but many options on NYE were over priced or booked out or both! So you may wonder why this moderately priced option for a unique experience. The truth was because I had suggested it to a colleague as an alternative for ‘Citrus’ on Hutt St. and they were pleasantly surprised. So I thought it only wise to try out the new look Wine Underground after it was damaged by an explosion. I had high hopes for the night’s food as the chefs listed on their website are experienced and are more than capable at impressing on the plate. On arrival I enquired about the presence of a Chef of who I knew well enough to enquire about, but sadly a long haired “ink festooned” chef informed me she no longer worked there. Bugger! Dessert’s potential has just crashed, and when I preview the menu some things have been changed from the email version - Hmmm interesting.

We are greeted over the bar in a Restaurant which seems an interesting way to do business, but it is near impossible to miss the bar as you enter the underground restaurant. We perch on the stools and peruse the well lit scene. No zebras were harmed in the making of the carpet squares but it may have added to the drama if the squares were once a herd on the savannah.
After a sweet glass of Billecart – Salmon we sat and ordered a Vertigo Adelaide Hills Riesling which only really matched the Snapper which was the pick of the night. The smoked potato puree was wonderfully intense but I am not sure if vanilla nage is really necessary. The entre was aesthetically pleasing but when tested really needed to be re ordered onto the fork, I am sure the artistic endeavour of our junior chef is worthy but for the sake of the flavour of the dish remove the candied orange and put it on the dessert and try something not so sweet. The erratic wine list has limited choice by the glass which should be rare in a restaurant that attempts a degustation, perhaps a sommelier would help but good help is hard to find. The Maude New Zealand Pinot Noir was the most boisterous type red on the short glass list of reds. The pinot was well matched to the quail, so much in fact that I ran out half way through the tail of ox! The quail breast was brilliantly cooked and was rich and pungent. The twice cooked leg reminded me of the colonels secrets herbs and spices, so the secrets out! The remainder of the dish despite being interesting texturally didn’t come together to support the quail. Poor little bird never saw it coming. The oxtail received good treatment and the outcome reflected it, although I was suspicious of the peas! The peas! Was I seriously pushing the peas around the plate wondering, pondering, calculating, hypothesizing? How much of a wanker would I seem If I asked if the peas were fresh? Why should I seem? Why should the peas be in question in the first place? I know frozen packet peas. I have served more than my fare share to Hotel punters, and they know they are packet peas. (No questions asked) Is it ok to serve packet peas on a $115 per head degustation dinner? Maybe. Maybe not. Dessert was just average and the young girls and boys at the local “Cold Rock” could give you something similar, but they don’t have Sevenhill Tokay.
When I recommended The Wine Underground to my colleague I was lucky that they enjoyed the experience and appreciated the recommendation. I was foolish to have not been there myself prior, but I am not sure if I would change my recommendation. I am sure though a moderately priced degustation will have some glaring issues that will leave you with unanswered questions.
Giles