Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2017 i Gourmet Traveller

AUSTRALIA DAY BARBECUE Sumac and coriander lamb cutlets with green hummus (PICTURED; RECIPE P37) Blackened corn with avocado and Aleppo pepper (RECIPE P95) Papaya and young coconut salad with lime-rum coconut granita (RECIPE P104) Nothing says “ridgy-didge” more than the foods of the Mediterranean, South America and South East Asia coming together at a barbie. Take the same approach with the drinks: tinnies of English-style IPA; juicy young red wine made from Spanish grenache; half-bottles of sweet German-style riesling. SIMPLE LIGHT SUMMER LUNCH Santorini salad (RECIPE P37) Flathead and sauce gribiche (RECIPE P111) Strawberry, elderflower and brioche summer puddings (PICTURED; RECIPE P122) The Santorini salad immediately suggests Greek – and Greek-style – wine matches. Serve a good dry assyrtiko from Santorini (a Hunter sémillon is a good local alternative) and…

Sean Moran makes the living look easy. His Bondi Beach restaurant, Sean’s, opened 23 years ago with a commitment to produce-driven plates and home-style cooking and, with that core mission intact, it remains packed every weekend at lunch and dinner to this day. The only thing Sean’s wants for, really, is more of it. And now, after a 15-year hiatus between morning services, it has reopened for weekend breakfasts. The carte comprises just five or six simple dishes (“simple but done well”, says Moran) and, in typical Sean’s fashion, it will change week to week with the produce in the market. “I want it to feel simple and be done our way,” Moran says. That translates to the likes of house-made crumpets with blueberry compote, cultured cream and honey, and…

SYDNEY Full Circle, a team of former Vini staffers, won fans with celebrated Sydney pop-ups The Eat In in Chippendale, and Alfio’s in Leichhardt. Now they’ve opened Wilmer for the summer on the site formerly known as Wilbur’s Place in Potts Point. Wilmer sees Daniel Johnston cooking alongside former Alfio’s chef Harry Levy. In the past Full Circle has been all about set menus and BYO, but Wilmer is an à la carte affair, complete with table wine from Adelaide Hills winemakers Manon. The menu changes regularly: artichokes alla giudìa or gnocchi with peas and walnut one day, mulloway with shellfish butter the next. On the sweet side, desserts lean to the refreshing likes of roasted peaches with zabaglione, a simple almond tart, or a slice of chilled watermelon. JAKARTA…

1 Marc Newson Triton whisky glass with blue base, $9, from Top3 by Design. 2 Melamine small bowls in Mint, $9.95 each, from Domayne. 3 Melamine tumbler in White, $5.95, from Domayne. 4 Kinto Tria plastic 20cm plate, $14, and wine glass in Blue-Green, $14, from Top3 by Design. 5 Acrylic highball glasses in Recycled Green, $7.50 each, from West Elm. 6 Govino plastic decanter, $16.50, from The Bay Tree. 7 Oval Octopus platter, $57.50, from The Bay Tree. 8 Wire mesh trivet, $9, from The Lost and Found Department. 9 Wooden 24-piece cutlery set, $21.50, from The Bay Tree. 10 Grey marbled enamel 26cm plate, $19.95, from The Bay Tree. 11 Enamel cups and saucers with blue rim, $6.25 each, from The Bay Tree. 12 Strahl Vivaldi polycarbonate ice…

1 Chorizo and asparagus salad with chimichurri 2 Sichuan chicken salad with chilled noodles and cucumber 3 Grilled prawns with tamarind, coconut rice and watermelon 4 Rainbow trout with almonds, bacon and green beans 5 Zucchini, ricotta and feta quesadillas 6 Santorini salad 7 Sumac and coriander lamb cutlets with green hummus 8 Blueberry and lemon yoghurt fool 1 Chorizo and asparagus salad with chimichurri Serves 4 4 fresh chorizo, halved lengthways Olive oil, for drizzling 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed 2 thick slices sourdough 1 garlic clove, halved 100 gm piquillo peppers or char-grilled red capsicum, torn (see note) 1/4 small Spanish onion, thinly sliced 1 cup (loosely packed) rocket 1/4 cup (loosely packed) oregano Chimichurri 1/2 cup (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup (loosely packed) coriander, coarsely…

We all require a few basic needs to make us happy. I consider these to be a job, a home and Radiohead’s 1997 album, OK Computer – without any one of them life would quickly become hollow. The same can be said about the garden. There are some needs so basic that without them the garden begins to feel empty. And I’m not talking about sun, soil and water, which are of course givens, but rather a vegetable-patch staple: rocket. Perhaps it’s my Italian heritage, but a vegetable patch without rocket is just not a vegetable patch. Rocket is the evergreen, ever-ready leaf that grows any time of the year in almost all regions of our country. The most challenging thing about this perennial performer is that it can be…

Globe trotting Charlie Carrington was bitten by the firebug at Sydney’s Firedoor and now has a wood-fired oven and grill at his South Yarra venture, Atlas Dining, where he shifts the entire cuisine every four months. He opened with Vietnamese, will switch to Israeli in January and will follow that with Korean. Ambitious? Sure, but If the Vietnamese menu is anything to go by, he’s up to the challenge. Atlas Dining, 133 Commercial Rd, South Yarra, (03) 9826 2621 Pull up a chair The crew from South Yarra’s Thirty Eight Chairs has snapped up the old Paragon café site in Rathdowne Street. Classic café design moves – timber floors, marble bar, dark wood panelling – team up with a classic Italian menu, including breakfasts where piadine (with wild greens) and…

It’s been a rollercoaster year in Sydney. But the highs have significantly outweighed the lows. Despite the closing or rebranding of some big players (Marque, Rockpool, Guillaume) and the startlingly short lifespans of some ballyhooed arrivals (Silvereye, The Resident), the past six months alone have seen a record number of openings of note. Among these are expansions from groups or would-be groups (Merivale and Solotel among them), and many are part of large new dining precincts (most notably Barangaroo in the western CBD, and the Harold Park Tramsheds in the city’s inner west), but there’s also a sprinkling of owner-operators making waves (hello, Saint Peter), plus a clutch of promising pop-ups. Here’s our take on the best of the latest. THE ESSENTIALS SAINT PETER 362 Oxford St, Paddington, (02) 8937…

Stacks of fun Get the grill on, split the buns – the tastiest fillings make these burgers and snacks the best things since sliced bread. Sea change At Pontoon, the new bar and grill in St Kilda’s reborn Stokehouse Precinct, Lance Cameron’s Mediterranean-flavoured menus make for breezy seaside dining. Going troppo It wouldn’t be summer without tropical fruit. Bring out the best of the season in savoury and sweet salads. Go fish Serious seafood lovers will find their bible in the Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook. Berried treasure Nothing says summer like sweet, ruby strawberries. Curtis Stone makes the most of the season’s signature fruit with these fetching desserts.…

Sweet potato, green banana and crab and coriander-jalapeño dressing This Caribbean-flavoured salad is summer in a bowl. The green banana may seem an unusual addition, but works really well in the mix. Chopped cooked prawn meat, meanwhile, works beautifully in place of the crab. Prep time 20 mins, cook 12 mins Serves 4 1 small purple sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced 1 tbsp lime juice, or to taste, plus lime halves to serve 1 tbsp grapeseed oil 200 gm crabmeat 2 green bananas, thinly sliced ¼ small red cabbage, thinly sliced 2 radishes, thinly sliced 1 avocado, coarsely chopped Freshly grated mature coconut, to serve Coriander-jalapeño dressing 1 cup coarsely chopped coriander 1 salad onion (white part and a little of the green part only), finely chopped Juice of…

“I first came across Harry’s Berries at Hollywood Farmers’ Market, just down the road from my house in Los Angeles,” says Curtis Stone. “I remember taking home a few punnets of raspberries and strawberries and serving them very simply with yoghurt for my family for breakfast – they couldn’t believe the berries’ bursting flavour and vibrancy.” A family-owned business started by Harry Iwamoto in 1967 and continued by his daughter, Molly, and son-in-law Rick Gean (with their adult children involved in the business now, too), Harry’s Berries cultivates non-commercial specialty varieties of strawberry, among other fruit and vegetables, using organic methods. Particularly prized are the Gaviota and Seascape varieties, which are full of flavour and juiciness but too delicate to withstand shipping to anywhere but the local area. They’re pretty…

The ocean floor is 16 metres below us but it’s as clearly visible as if I were standing in shallows. As we cruise south from the Isle of Pines, the transparent waters reveal coral bommies of such distinct shapes and topographies they remind me of a world map – a submarine Mercator projection. Out here the blue infinity of sky and sea is broken only by waves cresting on a starboard reef and, dead ahead, a squiggle of bone-white sand crowned with a topknot of tropical greenery. Paradise found. Nokanhui Atoll is a fantasy island lapped by liquid turquoise. To reach it we must navigate a very narrow, very shallow gullet of sea – a delicate operation that skipper Gilles Watelot manages with practised ease. Being inside this lagoon of…

GETTING THERE  Emirates operates 11 daily flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide to Dubai, connecting to a daily flight to Venice (emirates.com/ au). From Venice, it’s a two-to three-hour drive to the Istrian border, or, from late April to early October, take a Venezia Lines ferry to Istrian ports such as Poreč, Rovinj and Pula. STAY  Hotel Adriatic Historic boutique hotel overlooking the marina in Rovinj’s Old Town. Rooms from $130. Riva Pino Budicin 16, Rovinj, maistra.com Hotel Monte Mulini Contemporary 113-room hotel with its own beach. Rooms from $192. Antonia Smareglia 3, Rovinj, maistra.com Hotel Lone Design-forward stunner with excellent spa and restaurants. Rooms from $160. Luje Adamovića 31, Rovinj, maistra.com Kamene Priče Bohemian hideaway in historic Bale. Rooms from $88. Castel 57, Bale, kameneprice.com Hotel Kaštel…

In a first-time collaboration with luxury tour specialist APT, Gourmet Traveller hosts a river cruise through south-western France. Food and style director Emma Knowles gets on board. There’s an air of excitement dockside as we wait to board APT’s AmaDolce. Some 80-plus guests have converged for a two-week luxury river cruise, hosted for the first time by Gourmet Traveller, through two of France’s most fêted food and wine regions, Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley. In Bordeaux, the cruise follows the Dordogne, Garonne and Gironde rivers for seven days of eating, drinking and exploring, but first we settle in to our spacious quarters with floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open to allow the outside in, then enjoy drinks in the lounge. A warm welcome from cruise director Andrew Masters includes further details…

HEAD TO HEATHROW Cathay Pacific opened its new first- and business-class lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 last month. Designed by Studioilse, the London powerhouse led by Ilse Crawford, it’s a third bigger than its predecessor. cathaypacific.com LOUNGE LIZARDS Following the opening of its new international lounge in Brisbane late last year, Qantas has turned its attention to domestic lounges in the state capital. A new business lounge and revamped Qantas Club will open in March, both designed by Sydney firm Woods Bagot, which designed the carrier’s Singapore, Canberra and Perth business lounges. In the international terminal, Qantas’s light-filled, split-level lounge by design firm Geyer is based on the sleek design of its lounges in Hong Kong and Singapore. In Brisbane, however, there are inset rugs in colours and textures “reminiscent…

SOUTHERN VENTURES There are adventures on land and sea for travellers on Seabourn Encore during its début season in Australasian waters. The popular Ventures expedition program by luxury cruise line Seabourn offers guests the chance to hike and explore remote waterways and islands, including Victoria’s Phillip Island, the mangrove systems in northern Australia, and New Zealand’s Fjordland and Stewart Island, in Zodiac inflatable boats and sea kayaks. seabourn.com CELEBRITY FACELIFT An outdoor cinema, cabanas and a Tiffany & Co store are fresh new features of Celebrity Solstice’s $11 million makeover. The Celebrity Cruises ship, which home-ports in Sydney until April, also has a new art gallery and a sushi restaurant, where Asian-inspired cocktails and premium sakes are followed by sushi with wasabi grated tableside. The cinema features a schedule of…

There’s no time like summer to dance in the streets, especially when it’s Sydney Festival (7-29 January). Listen to opera in the park, jump into an ocean of white balls at Barangaroo, or take part in a range of free events across the city. If watching the world’s best tennis players dance across courts is more your thing, head to Melbourne for the Australian Open (16-29 January). Or, in Utah, make a beeline for the Sundance Film Festival (19-29 January), with 200 films showing in Park City. Some of the most famed representations of love are showing at the Art Gallery of NSW’s Nude: Art from the Tate collection (until 5 February). Home to some of the nation’s best winemakers, the Adelaide Hills hosts a weekend of good food and…

GETTING AROUND The two towns comprising Los Cabos – rowdy Cabo San Lucas to the south and quieter San José del Cabo to the east – are 33 kilometres apart and connected by one road. Both are worth visiting, but taxis are expensive; hire a car for exploration. DAYTRIPPING An hour’s drive north of Cabo San Lucas is the creative hub of Todos Santos. Set up as a mission in the early 18th century, it now attracts surfers, artists and yogis, who come for the Asian-fusion restaurants, organic cafés, cooking schools and annual film festival. GETTING THERE Qantas, Delta and Virgin Australia fly direct to Los Angeles from select Australian cities. Los Cabos is a two-and-a-half-hour flight from LA with American, United or Alaska Airlines.…

FOOD Super bowls Upgrade your grain-bowl game from practical to spectacular with these elegant twists and inventive additions. In the raw Turn off the stove and turn up the flavour with no-cook soups, salads, snacks and dips. The Midas touch Bursting with flavour, turmeric brings goodness and more than a dash of colour to all it touches. Sweet feats No gluten? No problem. We break out the cacao, semolina and nuts for power-flourless desserts. Kimchi masterclass Learn the secrets of this most versatile of pickles from Momofuku chef David Chang. CRUISING SPECIAL Normandy landings To travel to Normandy along the Seine is to take it by stealth, writes Larissa Dubecki, who ventures forth in search of châteaux and Calvados. Go west The rivers of America’s north-west are the arteries of…

MEASURES & EQUIPMENT * All cup and spoon measures are level and based on Australian metric measures. * Eggs have an average weight of 59gm unless otherwise specified. * Fruit and vegetables are washed, peeled and medium-sized unless otherwise specified. * Oven temperatures are for conventional ovens and need to be adjusted for fan-forced ovens. * Pans are medium-sized and heavy-based; cake tins are stainless steel, unless otherwise specified. COOKING TIPS * When seasoning food to taste, we use sea salt and freshly ground pepper unless otherwise specified. * To blanch an ingredient, cook it briefly in boiling water, then drain it. To refresh it, plunge it in plenty of iced water (this stops the cooking process), then drain it. * We recommend using free-range eggs, chicken and pork. We…

Coconut sundae with pineapple caramel and macadamia nuts For an even easier sundae, pick up the coconut ice-cream from your favourite gelateria. Prep time 20 mins, cook 20 mins (plus infusing, chilling, freezing) Makes 6 2 bananas, halved and cut into wedges Toasted coconut flakes and coarsely chopped salted roasted macadamia nuts, to serve Dutch waffles, halved, to serve (see note) Coconut ice-cream 1 litre (4 cups) milk 190 gm desiccated coconut 500 ml (2 cups) pouring cream 8 egg yolks 190 gm caster sugar Pineapple caramel 200 gm caster sugar 440 gm pineapple (about ¼), peeled, thinly sliced and cut into thin wedges 3 tsp cornflour mixed with 3 tsp cold water 1 For coconut ice-cream, place milk, coconut and 375ml of the cream in a saucepan and bring…

Gelato master John Crowl has been lifting the world’s gelato game since 2011. WHO John Crowl’s passion for gelato began almost 25 years ago – long before he opened the Cow and the Moon dessert bar with his family in Sydney’s Enmore in 2011. “I picked up the skills while working in a Milanese gelateria and have continued to visit Italy every year since,” he says. Now, six years on, with four national awards and a world title under its belt, the gelateria is a major drawcard for the inner west. “We still get lines, especially after dinner,” says Crowl. “We recently renovated our space to make it more comfortable for people to sit and really enjoy our gelato.” WHAT There are 25 flavours made on site by a team…

Want to expand your gin-drinking horizons over summer? Sweetwater’s Basil Smash takes the classic Gin Sour and freshens it up with the addition of, yes, fresh basil. “The sweetness comes from the basil rather than the sugar and it merges everything together,” says Sweetwater bar manager Matteo Scarano. The drink was originally created by Jörg Meyer at Le Lion in Hamburg, but has found plenty of friends Down Under. “It’s a really well-balanced drink that’s perfect for summer.” Sweetwater’s version is made with common basil, but other herbs – cinnamon basil and pineapple sage in particular – can also be used to winning effect. Sweetwater Rooftop Bar, level 6, 1 Silas St, East Fremantle, WA, (08) 9387 0888. MAX VEENHUYZEN > Shake 45ml The West Winds The Sabre gin, 30ml…

Over the past 12 years Pilu at Freshwater has produced consistently great Sardinian fare and more than a few talented chefs. It’s a restaurant that celebrates tradition yet its alumni include the boundary-pushing likes of Matteo Zamboni of Zambo and Acme’s Mitch Orr. It also has sweeping beach views and a cellar crammed with wonders, making it the perfect place to spend a balmy evening, glass of vermentino in hand. We’ll be doing just that at this month’s reader dinner when owner-chef Giovanni Pilu and head chef Jason Saxby present a four-course menu with matched wines, exploring Sardinia in new ways and old, wrought from local produce. “Our philosophy is produce-driven,” says Pilu. “I’m a big fan of cooking and eating what is growing at the time, like I did…

DIY furikake Makes about ⅔ cup Dry-roast 50gm (⅓ cup) sesame seeds in a frying pan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and browned (1-2 minutes; see cook’s notes p177). Transfer to a bowl, stir in 2 tsp sea salt and stand to cool. Thinly slice 2 nori sheets (it’s easiest to do this with kitchen scissors), add to sesame mixture along with 2½ tbsp bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and a pinch of caster sugar if you like a touch of sweetness. Toss to combine and store in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Furikake butter Makes 250gm Beat 250gm unsalted butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes), add 2½ tbsp furikake and 2 tsp rice vinegar and beat to combine. Refrigerate in an…

Over my years of gardening, I’ve seeded some enduring ideas, such as “water your garden and things will grow”, or “plant a seed now”, and “harvesting is in everyone’s best interest”. People often react to the last piece of advice as if it were a sarcastic joke. “Yeah, right,” they say. “So the more I pick, the more I eat?” Well, I’m not joking. Here’s why. THE PROBLEM Whether it’s a sentimental attachment to the plants or people never taking me seriously, there seems to be an endemic problem with infrequent harvesting of edible plants. Allowing your plants’ bounty to become fully loaded before picking causes them to become stressed, which slows or even stops production. THE SOLUTION Pick, and pick frequently. That doesn’t mean hacking down a seedling or…

“Trying to slice the stuff as the jelly melted and went everywhere while trying to defend myself on air was an edifying experience.” You can keep your Caprese salads and prawn cocktails, your ice-cream and barbecues. The dish which, for me, best expresses summer on a plate is jellied tripe. And, as it happens, this is the one dish that will convince everyone to eat tripe. It’s strange, I know – the very name usually sends people running – but taming it in jelly and serving it with a salad of chicory dressed with Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, capers and parsley seems to do the trick. Yes, when it’s hot, my feeling is that nothing is finer than a beautiful terrine. The trick here is, of course,…

If you’re going to eat seafood anywhere in the country, Sydney’s the place to do it. Oysters at the co-op down the south coast? Love ’em. Crabbing up north? A great way to spend a day. The weirdness that is scallop pies in Tassie? The joy of South Australian whiting? Beautiful things all. But if you want it all in one place and cooked as well as it can be, Sydney is where you want to be. It’s where most of the best of the catch gets sent, wherever it’s caught. It lands in better nick, and between the locals being demanding and the chefs having had plenty of practice, the way it’s cooked here is, on average, that bit better than the rest of the country. But where in…

 “Innovation” was the catchword of the day when leading chefs and restaurateurs – some new pioneers, others veteran trailblazers – met to discuss what defines the restaurant scene today. Over lunch at chef-restaurateur Mike McEnearney’s No. 1 Bent Street in Sydney, they described the restaurant world in Australia in 2017 as a challenging space but also one full of opportunity. “There’s a lot of really great people in the industry , and I think that feeling is contagious. We’re sharing ideas, and that rubs off on the attitude of the diners.” One challenge faced by all is the shortage of skilled staff across the board, but there was plenty on the plus side. Today’s diner is well informed, they agreed, and has high expectations when it comes…

Gourmet Traveller teamed with the up American Express Centurion program to host a dinner at The Bridge Room in Sydney recently, celebrating the magazine’s inaugural Power List. American Express Centurion cardholders mingled with personalities from GT’s Power List, including Neil Perry of Rockpool, Kylie Kwong of Billy Kwong, Dan Hong of Mr Wong, and Sarah Doyle of Porteño and Bodega at the event, held as part of its epic 50th-birthday celebrations, joining host chef Ross Lusted for a night of food, wine and conversation. The Bridge Room provided an elegant backdrop as dinner kicked off with a striking spring salad of purple asparagus, broad beans, green almonds and Meyer lemon purée ahead of redclaw Queensland yabbies with tamarind, chilli, palm hearts and cashew-nut butter. Lusted used the kitchen’s robata…

Fish burger with minty pea mayo and charred lettuce Taking our cue from the classic British combo of fish and chips with mushy peas, we’ve made a summer-friendly minty pea mayo to team with trevalla. Prep time 20 mins, cook 10 mins Makes 4 4 skinless fillets blue-eye trevalla (about 130gm each) 2 baby cos hearts, halved Olive oil, for drizzling Finely grated rind of ½ lemon, plus 1 extra lemon, halved, to serve 4 soft wholemeal buns, halved Mint leaves, to serve Minty pea mayo 300 gm frozen peas, defrosted 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 2 spring onions, thinly sliced Finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon 100 gm mayonnaise 1 For minty pea mayo, pulse peas, garlic, spring onion and rind in a food processor until chopped,…

Have you ever wanted to know how to shuck abalone? Clean a cooked bug? Make the perfect kingfish escabeche? The Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook is here to show you how. It’s an in-depth look into the world of seafood, with details on more than 60 species and over 130 recipes. Designed to fill a hole in the country’s knowledge of catching and cooking underwater animals, it’s doing for seafood what Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion did for home cooking. Among its authors are two of the most respected authorities on seafood in Australia. Consultant and marketer John Susman, GT’s go-to seafood expert, has spent more than 30 years working across every aspect of the fish business, “from catcher to cook and everything in between”, while his old friend Stephen…

Bali s new wave The restaurant and hotel scene on Australia’s favourite holiday island has never been more exciting and Australian chefs are leading the charge. Fantasy islands An impossibly blue lagoon, idyllic tropical isles, brilliant aquatic life – a leisurely sailing trip in New Caledonia is the stuff dreams are made of. Istrian odyssey You want medieval splendour, a dramatic coastline and Italianate food all in one place? Prepare to fall in love with Croatia’s Istria. Secrets of Yorke Legendary surf, old-school pubs, oysters for days and cracking Cornish pasties – South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula is full of surprises.…

Not all New Caledonia’s best assets are found at sea. Save at least a couple of days to discover the laid-back French vibe of Nouméa. Grab a coffee at Barista Café, opened by a Frenchman inspired by a love of Melbourne’s coffee culture (3 rue Anatole France; facebook.com/baristacafenoumea), then head to a remarkable museum on the Tina Peninsula. The Tjibaou Cultural Centre was built to honour Kanak culture after the 1988 peace agreement between France and territorial politicians including pro-independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou. Designed by star Italian architect Renzo Piano, its sculptural form marries traditional timber hut-building aesthetics with steel-and-glass modernism. The structure and its collections are stunning, but book a guided tour that also takes in the Chemin Kanak with its displays tracing the lifeblood of Melanesian culture from…

Two surfers in their 50s stand sentinel over Chinaman’s Beach. A morning swell gives a bottle-green yawn and spills lazily into a curl of noise and power. The surfers murmur approvingly. Since there’s no one else around, we start chatting. Turns out they’re locals, and I ask if they can recommend any great restaurants on Yorke Peninsula. For a moment they look at me like I’ve asked them to recommend a great opera. Then a light goes on: “Y’tried one of George’s curries?” The other laughs. “Y’gotta try one of George’s curries! He does home deliveries, only he’s the Curry Nazi. Remember that Seinfeld episode? Well, if the surf’s pumping” – he mimes a phone being slammed down – “no curry for you!” “He’s always out on the middle of…

JO HORGAN Founder and co-CEO, Mecca Brands Where do you travel regularly for work? “We have hugely important relationships with the brands that Mecca carries exclusively, and many of those are based in the US, the UK and Europe. I visit a handful of countries two to three times a year. In the past year I’ve worked in New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Japan and Korea.” How often are you away? “I’II do six to eight international trips a year on average. We have 70-plus stores in Australia and New Zealand, so I’m usually on an interstate flight once a month to visit our Mecca Cosmetica and Mecca Maxima stores while being on the lookout for new sites (stay tuned, Tasmania).” Suitcase of choice? “Rimowa.” Pre-flight…

1 Bottega Veneta silk scarf, $552, from Matches Fashion. 2 Tiffany & Co Elsa Peretti “Starfish” earrings in 18-carat gold, $1,900. 3 Pippa Holt embroidered caftan, $916, from Net-a-Porter. 4 Chanel “Hobo” canvas and sequin handbag, $4,750. 5 Louis Vuitton “Hortensia” cat-eye sunglasses, $775. 6 Benoît Missolin “Ubud” straw hat, $500, from Matches Fashion. 7 Country Road “Avoca” oversized beach towel, $99.95. 8 Gül Hürgel dress, $1,100, from Pam Pam. 9 Zimmermann “Oleander” bikini, $260. 10 Eres Les Essentiels “Asia” swimsuit, $418, from Net-a-Porter. 11 Chloé “Kelby” leather sandals, $675, from Parlour X. 12 Jurlique Sun Specialist SPF40 High Protection Cream, $50, from David Jones. 13 Chantecaille Lip Screen SPF15, $55, from Mecca. Stockists p176.…

Adairs 1300 783 005, adairs.com.au Batch Ceramics batchceramics.com.au The Bay Tree (02) 9328 1101, thebaytree.com.au Beans and Jazz beansandjazz.com.au Bed Bath N’ Table bedbathntable.com.au Bison Australia (02) 6257 7255, bisonhome.com Bunnings Warehouse bunnings.com.au Città cittadesign.com Claypool claypool.com.au David Jones 1800 354 663, davidjones.com.au Domayne domayneonline.com.au Freedom 1300 135 588, freedom.com.au Great Dane greatdanefurniture.com Hale Mercantile Co halemercantileco.com Inartisan inartisan.com KitchenAid 1800 990 990, kitchenaid.com.au Lightly (03) 9348 9520, lightly.com.au Little White Dish littlewhitedish.com.au The Lost and Found Department thelostandfounddepartment.com.au Mud Australia (02) 9569 8181, mudaustralia.com Peter’s of Kensington (02) 9662 1099, petersofkensington.com.au Riedel (02) 9966 0033, riedelglass.com.au Sheldon & Hammond sheldonandhammond.com.au Simon Johnson 1800 655 522, simonjohnson.com.au The Society Inc (02) 9331 1592, thesocietyinc.com.au Studio Enti studioenti.com.au Suite One Studio suiteonestudio.com Thonet 1800 800 777, thonet.com.au Top3 by Design 1300…

Dear Adrian, This is going to make you squirm, but now is as good a time as any to say it: I want to thank you for your many kindnesses over the years we’ve worked together. It’s a pretty distant remove, this – a 15-minute talk once a month down a satellite link from the other side of the world – but I feel like I’ve gotten to know you over these 12 years and it’s been a pleasure. Taking copy down the phone is something I could’ve readily handed over to a junior, but to have done that would’ve been to have missed out on this curious friendship, and plenty more besides. Taking your words and committing them to the page has sometimes given me a contact high, an…

Sydney ceramicist Tara Burke is a big fan of wabi-sabi. “That term is pretty in vogue at the moment,” she says, “but it is a big influence for me.” Burke’s high-fired stoneware and porcelain pieces are distinctive. Her pasta bowls, off-kilter pots and cups, and tiny vases for single-stemmed flowers are earthy and raw; often the outsides are left unglazed, with indents from busy fingers left as her maker’s mark. And while Burke’s colour palette is fairly neutral, personality abounds thanks to unexpected touches of gold, a penchant for peculiar proportions and details like small circular handles resembling ears. The majority of your pieces are hand-formed, Tara. Why the decision to step away from the wheel? I didn’t really find my groove until I started hand-building. You get much more…

What are the eats at Bellota all about, Danielle? It’s pretty classic bistro-style food. The restaurant is attached to the Prince Wine Store, one of the biggest importers of European and Californian fine wines in Australia, so it’s definitely about food-and-wine matching. We serve a fairly simple seasonal produce-driven menu, and we have a charcuterie cabinet stocked with artisanal salumi and cheese. Is there a standout dish on the menu at the moment? The grilled octopus and longaniza oscura, made by La Boqueria, a Sydney artisanal Spanish charcutería. The longaniza is a sausage made with pork and squid ink; it’s black and sweet and delicious. We serve it thinly sliced with kipfler potatoes, pickled Spanish chillies called guindillas, and a little pounded fennel and parsley dressing. It’s one of my…

THE RESIDENT Charcoal-grilled skirt steak with parsley salad SPIRIT HOUSE Prawn stir-fry with green peppercorns and krachai MELA INDIAN Lamb seekh kebabs XO Pandan panna cotta with gula melaka syrup and sesame tuiles “How does The Resident make skirt steak with parsley salad taste so good? Would you get the recipe?” Lavender Stokes, Earlwood, NSW Charcoal-grilled skirt steak with parsley salad Pablo Tordesillas recommends the inside cut of skirt for its flavour. When he was cooking at The Resident, Tordesillas served the steak with an onion sauce made by gently steaming onions for 24 hours to make a stock (this can be done in a stainless steel bowl set over water simmering in a saucepan), then puréeing and reducing it to a jus consistency. Here instead we’ve used a meat…

What is it? Furikake could be considered the salt and pepper of Japan. It’s a seasoning that contains – at its most basic – roasted sesame seeds, nori and bonito flakes, along with salt and sugar. It can also contain egg, shiso, wasabi, powdered miso, freeze-dried salmon, cod roe, and, somewhat controversially, MSG. “Furikake” means to sprinkle, which is exactly what you do with this flavour-packed seasoning: on steamed rice, noodles, fried chicken, vegetables or tofu, even on fries – anything that will benefit from a flavour boost. Why do we care? Umami has been a chefs’ buzzword for the past several years, and furikake is the ultimate umami-bomb. It’s a staple on the tables of Japanese restaurants everywhere, and we’ve spotted it on menus at the likes of Melbourne’s…

Just about every culture has some kind of skewered meat cooked over charcoal, from Japanese yakitori to Portuguese espetadas – pretty much anyone who had meat, fire and a stick gave it a go. In Turkey, where we call them kebaps, there are more than a hundred versions, from the familiar doner kebap (often misrepresented here in Australia) and the Adana kebap to lesser-known types using chicken, livers, sweetbreads, and small fish. Every city has its own version, but Adana in the south and nearby Gaziantep each claim to be the capital of kebaps. I don’t side with either rival – I love both cities and visit them frequently – so the recipe here uses Adana-style meat in a Gaziantep-style dish. In Gaziantep, the ali nazik kebap, refined over centuries,…

Is there a go-to dish at Ricky & Pinky? It’s a legitimate query, given that this riff on a Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant is part of the same stable responsible for such cult Melbourne menu items as Supernormal’s lobster roll, Cumulus Inc’s tuna tartare and the char-grilled ox tongue at Marion. Short answer: there are several contenders. The clearest candidate is the garlic bread with seaweed butter. It’s stupidly tasty, a salty-sweet umami bomb – a house-baked Asian milk bun (brioche-like, but not as buttery) oozing melting butter mixed with seaweed paste, lemon juice and garlic. Arrive hungry and wash one of those down with a beer and the world will feel like a better place. But then what of the quail? It’s marinated in a mixture of soy, ginger…

Aria’s new tune Aria warbles from something of a new songsheet, having emerged from an extensive renovation with a shiny new fit-out from designer of the moment George Livissianis and with a new chef heading the kitchen. Matt Moran’s name is still over the door, of course, but stepping up to do the day-to-day (which now includes the exciting lobster French toast with caviar; pictured) is sous Jason Staudt. Aria, 1 Macquarie St, Sydney, (02) 9240 2255 Upping your Dukes Who’s winning the coffee balance of trade between Sydney and Melbourne? The appearance of South by Dukes, a large lobby café from Flinders Lane’s Dukes Coffee Roasters is the latest salvo in the battle. Its well-liked filter, Kono, drip, Aeropress and espresso “offerings” are complemented by fancy takes on granola…

PONTOON LUNCH + NAN’S FRY BREAD WITH HUMMUS + GRILLED SARDINES AND HARISSA + CHARRED LETTUCE WITH PEDRO XIMÉNEZ AND VALDEÓN CHEESE + SWEET POTATO WITH GOAT’S CURD, SEEDS AND GRAINS + BLACKENED CORN WITH AVOCADO AND ALEPPO PEPPER + BABY SNAPPER WITH CHERMOULA + RASPBERRY JELLY, CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA ICE-CREAM Nan’s fry bread with hummus “This fry bread is inspired by my great-grandma who used to make it for me as a kid,” says Lance Cameron. “It’s a delicious soft bread dough that she fried in loads of butter, which she would serve to us drizzled with golden syrup. I like to sprinkle the breads with cumin seeds, brush them with garlic oil, and serve them with smoked fish pâté, rémoulade, chutney and dill pickles.” Prep time 30 mins,…

“Ever since opening Maude, I’ve sourced my strawberries from Harry’s – to make the best dishes, you’ve got to start with the best local produce.” Dark chocolate and strawberry tart “No need to turn the oven on for this lush dessert,” says Curtis Stone. “The chocolate crumb crust is filled with a silky chocolate custard and topped with strawberries, then all you need to do is chill.” Prep time 30 mins, cook 10 mins (plus chilling) Serves 8 350 ml milk 2 tsp vanilla extract 5 egg yolks 30 gm cornflour 100 gm caster sugar 15 gm unsalted butter, diced 220 gm dark chocolate (60% cocoa solids), finely chopped Olive oil spray, for greasing 2 tsp coconut oil 210 gm chocolate wafer biscuits (about 35) 750 gm (about…

“I’ve been to Bali, too” the shirts used to say. Today it might as well be “My other restaurant is in Bali”. Australian restaurateurs are turning out on the island in force – not for the quick buck, but for the long haul. “I love Bali, but especially now that the restaurant and entertainment scene is becoming increasingly sophisticated,” says Maurice Terzini, who opened his first overseas venture in the Balinese hotspot of Petitenget in November. The force behind Bondi’s Icebergs Dining Room & Bar and Da Orazio Pizza & Porchetta and The Dolphin in Surry Hills is the latest in a conga line of Australian chefs and restaurateurs dreaming big in Bali. Frank Camorra opened MoVida Bali last year, Melbourne chef Geoff Lindsay opened Saigon Street in 2015, and…

Rovinj is one of those places that reward early risers. At dawn, with the sleepless, the jetlagged and the morning-shift waiters, I love to wander to the Ribarnica Pescheria, the fish market by the city’s harbour, and watch grizzled fishermen discuss business over a caffè corretto (“corrected” with eye-watering local grappa) at Taverna da Baston, the kind of dimly lit old-timers’ bar that feels smoky even though no one smokes inside any more. In the square outside skinny cats are beginning their shifts, too, prowling between trestle tables, ingratiating themselves with stallholders, who gossip as they stack wild asparagus and plums, onions and bouquets of herbs around old-fashioned brass scales. Sometimes I’ll take a steep path to the peak of the Stari Grad, the medieval-era Old Town, where I’ll usually…

GETTING THERE From Adelaide, the turn-off to Yorke Peninsula is 100 kilometres north, at Port Wakefield. EAT & DRINK  The Dalrymple Hotel at Stansbury does cones of fish and chips, and serves locally sourced food in the dining room. St Vincent St, Stansbury, (08) 8852 4202 The salty old Port Victoria Hotel serves meals on a deck made from recycled jetty timber. Main St, Port Victoria, (08) 8834 2069 Minlaton Chocolaterie Open Mon-Sat. 38 Main St, Minlaton, (08) 8853 2935, minlatonchocolaterie.com The Cornish Kitchen is open six days, closed Sundays. 10/12 Ellen St, Moonta, (08) 8825 3030 Also in Moonta, the Coffee Barn and Gelateria serves excellent traditional gelati. Warren St, Moonta, (08) 8825 2315 Barley Stacks Wines cellar door is open daily. Minlaton Rd, Maitland, (08) 8834 1258,…

MOSCOW DECLAN DONNELLAN Theatre director When I first went to Moscow more than 30 years ago, it was called “the Big Village”. Now Pushkinskaya Square lights up like Las Vegas. My local canteen is Moloko, a downtown café open 24/7 in a former Soviet dairy shop. For the sinful, it serves especially penitent food during Orthodox Lent. It’s fun to see people discussing business deals and leg waxing over plates of buckwheat and cabbage. A common hazard in Moscow restaurants is deafening music and multiple TV screens showing continuous catwalk scenes – so boring you start to hallucinate. CDL, by contrast, is a quiet spot in a beautiful mansion that serves great traditional Russian food. One half is trendy and redesigned, the other is for members only…

Nespresso On 22 January Nespresso launches the Selection Vintage Grand Cru, from the Colombian Highlands and aged for three years. Priced $9.30 for a sleeve of 10 from Nespresso boutiques, 1800 623 033, or nespresso.com. Hisense Stylish and adaptable, the Hisense 701L French Door fridge includes an integrated ice and water dispenser, plus a customisable drawer that converts to an extra fridge or freezer – perfect for entertaining. hisense.com.au Waterthins Planning a party? Whatever the occasion and your style of entertaining, Waterthins three-cheese twists are the perfect addition, whether partnered with dips and salsa, or just on their own. waterthins.com.au Vintec The compact size and elegant black-glass doors of the Vintec V20 Noir Wine Cabinet and Beverage Centre are perfectly suited to modern apartment living, or as a sophisticated addition…