Restaurant Review: Pope Joan

Birthday breakfast. I had no other place in mind but the infamous Pope Joan. On the Bruns
wick end of Nicolson Street this quirky suburban café is where I wanted to have my 1st meal to celebrate my quarter century.

Owned by Ben Foster and Matt Wilkinson, the menu is full of interesting combinations like Souffled nettle, sorrel & Meredith Feta Omelette and the Asparagus salad with Witlof, Smoked Yoghurt and Mimosa Eggs.

But what caught my eye was the beautifully plated heavier option featured in this month’s Gourmet Traveler the Crumbed coddled egg, anchovy & black pudding salad.

The café is on the main road next to the steel mill kinda place, but looks like an ordinary nothing special building a old school dinner with a 70’s retro feel, what catches the eye is the marble topped milk creates and through the side entrance a lush green garden full of herbs and edible flowers.

I started with a great coffee as I read through the menu and was wow-d by just how intrusting this place really is; it gave me the feeling like I was having lunch at a friend’s grandma’s place on a Sunday afternoon with the sun shining on my back and classic Nat King Cole track playing softly overhead.

Having decided on the Black pudding Salad and the Ploughmen’s Lunch, I ordered a mandarin juice as well as a Pineapple and Orange.

As soon as it arrived I couldn’t help but to crack the egg and watch as the yolk slowly ozzed over the salad, soaking it with fatty goodness. The black pudding was rich and meaty yet remaining perfectly moist and full of flavor. Texture and flavor well balanced and I was hooked, I want this EVERYDAY!

The Ploughmen’s Lunch was pretty much a picnic on a plate. A bit of pickled vegetables, some pineapple chutney, good bread, few slices of ham off the bone, quality cheddar and a small Waldorf salad. Everything you could ask for in a breakfast. Nothing to heavy just a nice mixture of condiments to get you started.

The staff here is laid back, very friendly and know their stuff. Not intrusive at all which is always good for a breakfast place. I think I might come back tomorrow and bring some more people so they can enjoy and share in this little suburban secret.

Restaurant Review: MoMo

At the basement of the recently refurbished grand Hyatt on Collins Street hides an intimate Middle Eastern palace, known as MoMo.

Entering from street level into a small elevator which simple states the restaurant name, one would wonder what to except from a restaurant on the basement level with no views, but the elegantly designed dining room is lit by rows of crawling crystal with accents on details such as elegantly polished artifacts and big sultan style sofa like booths.

This is a restaurant which is definite fine dining feel with all dishes of the special family style menus silver served at table side, the staff are all very professional maybe even on the borderline of uptight. The opposite of what restaurants are demonstrating these days with the more casual feel to good food.

We opted for the Arabesque menu since the last time I was here on Valentine’s Day the Moorish menu almost killed me including the massive platter of desserts at the end.
To start they gave a platter raw vegtables sprinkled with black chilli salt and a small bowl of fluffy dis shaped bread offred with oilive oil and pommegranate molasse.

For Entree:

Golden spiced calamari, cod-haloumy fritters, soused eggplant and pimento’s with verjuice Prawns in olive brioche crumbs with Turkish-style shredded celeriac and feta salad

The spiced calamari was soft and tender with cute marbles of cod-haloumy that tasted a lot like Takoyaki. The light Middle Eastern flavors on the calamari were complimented by the soused eggplant and pimento which gave textural contrast in what would have been a one noted dish.

The Prawn entrée was wonderful the prawns fried in olive brioche was perfectly cooked and the hint of olives was just there enough not to kill the sweetness of the juicy prawn. The Turkish style celeriac tasted like a traditional remoulade which would have been boring without the gamey feta.
For Mains:
Bowen Farm barramundi with sesame kataifi, Egyptian-style broad bean and cumin stew
with a side of Red oak leaf salad and raw cauliflower with Turkish apple vinegar dressing
The barra was soft, silky and very moist with the skin just crispy a very delicately cooked fish with a hearty stew. The side made this a very light start to the 1st main. The raw cauliflower went beautifully with the crispness of the leaves and dressing.

Grilled lamb loin marinated in yoghurt, green chili and mint on sujuk sausage-giant couscous stew.
Side of Maouf’s tabbouleh with hazelnuts

Lamb was a little of the tough side, though still cooked with amazing technique the couscous stew was absolutely delicious I wish I had more. the side was very refrshing with a traditinal tabbouleh with addition of everyones favorite nut.

Finally Desserts, I waited all night for these as they were the highlights on my last visit. A dessert platter each and a plate of wild sorbet with seasonal fruits are delivered to the table and at this point you know if you weren’t full by the end of the main this will definitely finish you off.

Green apple and Turkish delight soufflé with apple butterscotch sauce
Leatherwood honey and pinenut ice cream, blood orange-hibiscus jelly and saffron meringue
Rich chocolate and cardamom tart with chocolate-Turkish coffee cream
Momo is a must go, a real fine dinning experience here. If you’re not fussed about the way the menu is set out and looking for that special place for a special occasion I highly recommend this. Food is always exceptional and layout just screams class. Though prices are probably a little steep it’s well worth the visit just for the desserts.

Day 211 - 212: Imminate floods of both kinds..

While some come back from annual leave others are taking the last few weeks before the busy season really kicks in off. Another kitchen change up is coming up soon. I see more experiments with new dishes every day, changes to salads and the best selling item at the moment the Barramundi.

The week nights are beginning to pick up again now and it’s 3 more weeks till I’ve been at Donovans for a year now.
There are new people coming in and out for trials all the times, just guess we’re looking for the right person. Prepping after service is becoming more and more frequent just to get ahead of the day after. Won’t be long now till the funky lists are packed with Christmas parties day and night.



Main Course and Barbie boys. Fondling the Lup Cheung (Kaffir Lime, and Pork Belly Sausage)

 Birthday weekend for me this week only doing 2 days, 3 off and another split on the sunday. I heard its raining too.

School Day 28 : Mr. Asian Tortelli.

Farinaceous continued. Missed out on making fettuccine last week whilst I participated as a helper in the Parmalat challenge so this week, I was happy that I got to show off some of my pasta skills I learnt whilst at Donovans.

The recipe we received was for a goats cheese and onion jam filling for the ravioli, many opted for more meaty options of whatever they could find in the fridges.

I decided to do colored pasta of smoked paprika and ginger with a filling of tomato basil lemon grass with goat’s cheese. I had no idea wether this would actually work or I’d make myself sick. I cooked one and found it a little bland, probably because I forgot to season my filling.

So a quick look in the fridges I came back with some garlic mayo lemons dill and potatoes.



Beautifully Streaky Lines of Smoked Paprika and Ginger.



Tomato, Basil, Lemongrass and Goasts Cheese.

Lemon Aioli, Patatas Bravas and Fresh Dill.

End result: Smoked Paprika and Ginger Tortelli filled with Tomato, Basil and Lemongrass scented Goat Cheese. On Lemon Aioli with Patatas Bravas and Fresh Dill.



Day 206 -210: Bourguignon-ing For a Holiday

Another big week flies past, with the new head chef implanting more menu changes, lighting up the menu with some classics and some fresh specials to match the beautiful summer weather we’ve been having.

I had 3 splits this week with the big wine function on Thursday to crazy booked out weekends with big numbers straight through. Days are getting bigger with more staff stationed on staff meals have to feed army’s. On top of all this we have a new 1st year apprentice who was as fresh as I was when I began around this time last year.

I found out I don’t deal that well with heat and stress at the same time, loosing concentration very quickly and getting flustered and focusing so much I can’t communicate properly. I guess it’s things I just have to work on.

New dishes on:

(Left - Right)

Crusted rack of lamb with Nicoise vegetables, creamy mash and a light lamb jus.

Our pork platter with prosciutto-wrapped fillet, crisp pork belly, cotechino and homemade chipolata with lentils and a spring salad

Deep-braised beef with pearl onions, mushrooms, crispy pancetta and creamy mash

Handmade ravioli filled with Moreton Bay bug and prawns served with vongole and a warm tomato vinaigrette

Melting milk chocolate cake with soft centre, caramelised banana and banana praline ice cream.

School 27: Parmalat 3rd Year Final Round of Sofitel Culinary Acadamy.

I walked in not knowing what to expect from the finalist of this comp. All I hoped for was not to get yelled at by the guy/girl I was helping out.

6 of us walked in at 4PM were introduced to our partners and off we went. I was paired with a 3rd year named Petros Dellids working at Maha in South Melbourne, he is of Greek heritage and has been working in the Pressclub Group for a while and has had experience in all their restaurants.
His menu consisted of

Entrée: Twice Cooked Octopus, Black Olive Sponge, Roasted Lemon Puree, Poached Egg and Chorizo Dressing.
Mains: Pan Fried Barramundi, Onion Tart, Garlic Custard, Bone Marrow Jus and Broadbean and Samphire Salad.
Dessert: Textures Of Chocolate: Aerated, Moose, Sponge with Salt and Vinegar Tuile, Milk Sorbet and Rasperry Pearls.

The assigned first year apprentices helped prep for the 2 hours finishing jobs and getting walked through the competitor’s vision.
During the “service” We helped plate 10 plates for judges and guests.

As we were so busy I didn’t have time to take photos of any other dishes except for the dessert of my 3rd year. It was a fun day and I learnt a lot of new techniques and ingredients. We were all debriefed once everything was over by all the judges who were amazed by the level of food achieved. Leaving us with a quote saying that culture has changed so much that back in the 50’s people “Ate to Live and now they Live to Eat”

Congratulations Petros on 3rd! Thanks for all you taught me today, hope you have a bright  future in the culinary world.

Day 205: Broken Nails and Cookbooks

Sunday split back from a rainy miserable weekend filled with rain which was only good for sleeping and maybe a bit of shopping. Decided I’d take a holiday next year and use up some of my annual leave. Soak up some sun in Thailand and Malaysia, see what’s happening in the food overseas.

Sunday wasn’t too bad got to take a decent break and did some prep for main course. Had another little accident where I took off a bit of my nail and skin whilst I was slicing beetrroots for the carrot and beet terrine on the big meat slicer. nothing to serious though.

I dropped off at seven11 on the way home and pickled up those condensed cookbooks, which is always good to have just because they have some decent recipes and it’s a good idea to gather and keep these little tidbits when the chance arrives.

 

Day 201 - 204: Changes...

It been a interesting week, since the official announcement of the promotion of our 2 new head chefs, there’s been a heightened amount of resume’s coming in recently, I’ve been told usually this at this time most restaurants are looking to keep staff and settle in for the busy summer months.

Menu changes have already begun with the minor tweaks in some dishes and others completely changing altogether. Larder has the addition of a new caprese salad with micro basil and buffalo mozzarella, Front section, tweaked the warm asparagus salad with fried duck egg and truffle vinaigrette and a crab risotto.

School Day 26: Farinaceous

A super humid Monday, I woke up with my ankle where my burn was feeling like it was on fire.. again, it had begun to swell but for no reason, no sign of infection or irritation at all.

I limped my way up the hill to school where, we were told our first aid class next Monday would be postponed. We then made our way down to the kitchen to start our eggs and farinaceous class.

We made fresh gnocci and traditional omelets and a wild mushroom risotto.

I was also asked to come in and be a helper for the 3rd year Parmalat competition on Wednesday next week. No idea what my role will be though I guess I shall help prep and do what they tell me, sounds fun.

Restaurant Review: Ladro (Prahran)

Ladro of Gertrude street in Fitzroy has recently opened a much roomier version of the much loved pizzeria in the back streets of Chapel Street in Prahran.
The new Ladro looks very similar to the original in Fitzroy, same lighting and same white washed walls and black furniture, the only difference is the space is a lot more roomy, with a lovely alfresco dinning area surrounded by lovely olive trees.

The menu is similar and the specials are a bit riskier, but it has all the typical favorites. The woodfire roast was a Spatchcock which sounded divine, but I opted for the linguini carbonara just because I haven’t had a decent one in a while. My girlfriend went for the rich lamb ragu with orecchiette and for entrée we both had the special which was, a crumbed and fried chicken drumstick served on a leek puree.

Service was great, though there have been rumors that service was terrible. Though we did run into one major issue the chicken which my girlfriend got was still raw inside. Though this in many places is an unforgivable sin, the problem was taken care of swiftly and a new one was on the table within minutes.

For Dessert we had the Honey Panna-cotta with Flourless orange cake was a beautiful texture and much better than the one at Circa.

But this the new better than the old? Well yes and no. though the food and service was acceptable, the incident involving the raw chicken was the deal breaker for me.

Day 200: A New Era... And Sad Goodbyes...

On the 200th day the kitchen was rocked by big news. After 14 years Head Chef Robert Castellani, has stepped down to give the reigns of the kitchen over two the two Sous Chefs who have been with him for the last 10 years. Brining in a era of change, to whom some may argue for the better.

The announcement came as a huge shock, nobody saw it coming. He was a great mentor and father figure to many of us in the kitchen. I personally will be very sad to see him go. He taught me so much in the short time I was there.

He explained after 14 years and 24 chefs hats from The Age Good Food Guide, he felt he had given all he could for Donovans and he wanted to re-ignite the passion and be inspired, by travelling and seeing the world.

In coming months, Donovans will slowly but surely move into a more modern trend of cuisine, reflecting youth of the two new Head Chef’s, hopefully brining Donovans into a new era of modern Mediterranean Comfort food.

Day 197 - 199: Spring Specials

My foot is healing nicely, it my 2nd week back now and the skin is on its way back, hoping that there will be no scars.

This week was pretty relaxing. Everyone was back from holidays and for once we didn’t feel short of staff.

The days were quiet and nights surprisingly had a nice 100ish per night.

We had 2 specials on Wednesday night just as a bit of a change from our usual menu. We had beautiful pan fried whole flounder with lemon butter sauce and croutons, also a classic beef tartare as an entrée.

The special meant we all got a chance to clean flounders in a big Masterclass lined up like a production line. The dishes were a success selling out in the first hour of service.

School Day 25: EARL OF SANDWICH..

The Sandwich. Some might think this is a un-neccesary module but, like heirloom breeds of vegetables and fruit, if not taught this family favorite might die out one day lost in the world of new age and gourmet foods.

Though only a small part of the course, the test was still important, after all sandwiches have their place in history.
The test bassicly consisted of making a open sandwich, the first sandwich ever made “the bookmaker”, the pinwheel sandwich and the many different cuts of canapé sandwiches and my personal favorite the overly indulgent croque-monsieur..

Day 194 - 196: Back from the burn....

Ah back to work! I hopped for another quiet weekend since the replay of the grand final was on but my wish only ½ came true.

On my first day back one of my fellow larder chefs came in to give me a hand since I still was limping around, having freshly popped my blister. Its bandaged up now but, the shoe is very tight because of the wrappings so it rubs and causes pain when I move across large areas.

The 45 booked on Saturday arvo allowed us to play around coming up with a modern salad and a new spin on one of our beef dishes.

Sunday was a beautiful day, spring is truly here! I guess things will slowly pick up again now that its getting close to November.