Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons

Dining Date: October 2008

2009 Rating: 66th

2009 Star rating: 1

Chefs: Robert Marchetti, Sara-Jane Quadara & Matthew Gilroy

Location: Riverside at Crown, Southbank Vic

Website: www.idrb.com

Being of Italian heritage, going to an Italian restaurant is not highly rated in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Italian food, but I'd much rather try something different, so when we recently visited Giuseppe Arnaldo and Son's at Crown, I had my apprehensions.

Looking at the place from the outside didn't give much away as to what was beyond the doors. We entered through the doors within the Crown complex, there is a long bar running from the door all the way along until you reach the maitre d's post. There is more than one dining area, each dimily lit, but each with its own colourful tiling, on the walls there were customers reviews written on green, red and white cards, a not so subtle way  to remind you of the colours of the Italian flag. One of the reviews seemed to just jump off the wall at me, even before we had taken a seat. It read "That was disgusting, it was YUCK!", just what you want to read before you've even SEEN a menu.

Who needs wall paper?

***

We were taken towards the very end of the restaurant to a small room that had 4 tables, it made for a very cosy dining experience, until the table beside us filled with very loud customers, at a couple of points the waiters didn't seem to be very attentive. The waiters were dressed in long white lab coats and I coudnt help but feel like I was still at work in the lab. 

We decided to only order mains with a bottle of red. It was getting pretty late and I dont think I could stomach a full 3 course meal. There was one thing that I did notice about the menu, which definitely made it stand out from any other run of the mill Italian restaurant, each dish had a bit of a quirky twist to it - like including some organ or served in a particular way, it made choosing a dish very difficult. Once we ordered the menu doubled as a place matt.

Menus/place matts

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I ordered the Risotto “Milanese” with Saffron, Pork Sausage and Bone Marrow. Bone marrow is not an ingredient you would typically see mixed into a risotto, but I have a small soft spot for the gooey stuff. The risotto was perfectly cooked, the sausage and saffron added a sweetness to the dish and the marrow made it rich and silky. I truly enjoyed it.

Risotto “Milanese”

***

Daz ordered “La Tagliata” - 250 grams Char-grilled Hereford /Angus Rib Eye Sliced, Rocket, Green Peppercorns, Chilli, Spring Onions (Thanks the GA&S website!). The meat was extremely flavoursome and juicy despite that it was cut into small portions. 

La Tagliata

***

Our other guest ordered the Spaghetti “Arrabbiata” with Crab, Tomato, Chilli, Baked in a Paper Bag. The pasted tasted pretty good, but the novelty of it appearing at the table in a paper bag out shone the dish itself. It seriously lacked the chilli power to call it "Arrabbiata", maybe it was angry because it was trapped in a paper bag.

Spaghetti Arrabbiata

***

Overall, Giuseppe Arnaldo and Sons was good. The food was appetising and interesting enough to warrant a second visit, however the service was seriously lacking. I'm looking forward to finding a recipe from these guys and executing it, it will interesting adding their twists to the dishes. 

I'm tagged, but I don't have kooties...I swear!

I've noticed around the place that lots of people have been playing tag. I secretly wished someone would let me play with them, just like the old days in the school yard, but I thought I was too new to join in. The great team at Hoglet K let me play and now I'm tagged!

So I'm supposed to divulge 6 random facts about myself and then tag others to do the same.....so here goes.

Six random things about Me!

1. Up until 3 years ago I had NO nicknames, now I have several, Maz, Mazzie, Mazzarati and my favourite....MoMo

2. I'm addicted to Iron chef, and can't wait for the day when WATER is the theme ingredient

3. I once lined up at Krispy Kreme for 1 hour and 45 minutes, granted I got cool badges, paper hats and loads of free donuts, but I think that was a little excessive

4. I've seen Ross Noble at the Melbourne comedy Festival for the last 5 years straight, and I'm still confused for 70% of his show

5. After years of procrastinating, I'm finally going to learn how to salsa dance!

6. Our little kitty Romeo was left on my mum's door step in a plastic bag........and we adopted him.

Now for the Tagged!

I've only been blogging for a couple of months, and haven't quite set up a network yet. I've been secretly reading other peoples blogs and gaining inspiration from them, so I thought that I would tag some of them and hence my secret is now out in the open. In all cases I think they are great blogs!

1. The impressive duo at Where's the Beef?, who manage to find vegetarian options at every place they eat.

2. Inspiring recipes at Nourish Me

3. The mysterious super hero at The Caked Crusader, will her identity ever be revealed?

4. Edible photography at butter sugar flour

5. A fellow Maria cooking up a storm at Maria's Food Fix

6. The long established bread and honey blog "a weblog by two girls who really, really, really love food"

Rules of tagging

1. Link to the person who tagged you

2. Post the rules on the blog

3. Write 6 random things about yourself

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post

5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Romeo has gone green and upgraded to paper

Christmas Pudding Icecream Cake

For anyone who is interested, Daz is doing better and is on the road to recovery.

Now, back to something important! Since Christmas is only 16 days away (only 16 days left and then I can be bad!) I thought I would do a twist on the traditional christmas pudding. Typically on Christmas day its pretty hot here in Australia, and eating a steaming hot pudding is not the most appetising thing after a heavy meal. What better way to top the day off than with ice cream!!

With this cake there are heaps of variations. After making this particular cake I thought how yummy it would be if I included some broken up christmas pudding in the mix, or some crushed short bread biscuits, you can even use a different combination of fruit depending on your taste...your only limited by your imagination. The trick with making this cake taste really good is by using ingrients of good quality. The cake will keep in the freezer for quite a while, however make sure to keep it tightly covered so crystals dont form.

So the recipe:

Makes 1 large cake to serve 8-12 people

Prep 15 minutes

Freezing 6 hours

INGREDIENTS:

200gm sliced almonds (toasted)

200 gm glace cherries (cut in half)

200gm sultanans

200gm raisains

brandy (good quality or other prefered liquor)

800mL cream, whipped

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 family block (250gm) of dark chocolate

METHOD:

1. You need to start this recipe well in advance. Combine almonds, cherries, sultanans and raisains in a medium sized bowl. Cover fruit with brandy. You may use as little or as much as you want, the more you use the boozier the cake. Set aside and soak overnight.

2. Use a spring form cake tin (20-22cm) that you KNOW is leak proof. Line the inside of the tin with glad wrap. Make sure to let the glad wrap hang over the sides, this makes getting the cake out much easier. Place in the freezer to cool.

3. Fold sweetened condensed milk into whipped cream.* Once two ingredients are just combined, divide into two separate bowls. To one of the mixtures add shifted cocoa powder and fold until combined.

4. Drain Brandy soaked fruit and add half into the plain mixture and half into the chocolate mixture. Fold until combined.

5. Place chocolate mixture in refrigerator. Add Plain mixture to cooled cake tin and smooth top with a spatula. Return to freezer. Allow to cool for 1-1.30 hours. Then add chocolate mixture and smooth top with a spatula. Cover the top with glad wrap, making sure that the glad wrap makes contact with the surface of the mixture. This prevents icicles from forming. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

6. For decoration around edge of cake**, melt chocolate and spread onto baking paper forming a thin film roughly 1-3mm thick. Once cooled, break into jaggered pieces. Invert frozen cake onto a cooled plate. Smooth surface of cake with a warmed knife making sure to pay particular attention to the edges. Arrange chocolate pieces around edges of the cake and return to freezer covered with glad wrap. Cut cake with a warm knife and serve by saying MERRY CHRISTMAS!

*Instead of making your own icecream, you can substitute 1 litre good quality vanilla ice cream, softened

**Instead of using chocolate pieces, you can cover the entire cake with a chocolate ganache. I've done this one before and it's REALLY yummi!

I'm going to have to make another one before christmas, I've already eaten the one I made a week ago! 

People are like eggs.....

....they break when you throw them against something.

I'll be taking a miniature break for a little while. Daz recently had a motorbike accident and he'll be out of action for a little while. Once things settle down, I'll be back to bloggin 'bout food!

Thanks everyone for coming by, and please keep hitting that refresh button.

MoVida

Dining Date: November 2008

2009 Rating: 63th

2009 Star rating: 1

Chef: Frank Camorra

Location: 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Website: www.movida.com.au

Being a Melbourne local is a little bit spoiling when it comes to good food. We have ample options to pick from, not only in number, but also in diversity. MoVida has been a corner stone of great Spanish cooking for some time, and once I had read their entry in Gourmet Traveller, I just HAD to eat there.

I had heard that getting a table at MoVida was a little bit difficult, so when I called to make a reservation I was expecting some advance planning. Even with having this piece of information, I was still surprised to learn that the earliest I could get a table was 8 weeks from my first call. Of course, I did not hesitate, if I procrastinated about it I probably would have had to wait a whole month longer, and I was already hungry!!

Having this very long build up could have resulted in two outcomes, I could build such hype and anticipation around it that I would be deeply disappointed at the end or all my expectations would be fulfilled. I am glad to report the latter scenario was true.

Image from MoVida website

Daz and I got ourselves ready for the night. From time to time we like to make ourselves look presentable, not always the norm, but I was very glad we did in the end. Even though the atmosphere at MoVida is very laid back and informal, on this particular night it was Derby day. And it being spring carnival in Melbourne, there were scary high heels and feather fascinators everywhere! It was an added bonus though, it was highly entertaining to see all the pretty ladies in beautiful dresses, walking down the street very drunk and shoeless. Sorry, I correct myself they did have shoes, they were just not on their feet. Classy.

Anyway, back to MoVida. We were seated at a table towards the middle next to a wall, with a view of the bar and obscured view of the kitchen. As soon as I sat down I noticed something horribly wrong. My chair was wonky!! This must have been the most unlevel chair in all of Melbourne. I begun to stress and worry, how could I enjoy my meal if I was going to be sea sick. With much complain and whining Daz finally convinced me to say something to the waiter. It was only at the very second I had mentioned the problem to the waiter did I realize that the floor was a brick paved surface, and a slight shuffle to the left completely fixed the problem. Can anyone say drama queen?? We ordered some drinks and the embarrassment was behind us.

We ordered Sangria to have with our meal, it came in a lovely ceramic jug. It was spicy and sweet without being too overpowering. A great way to wash down the tapas dishes. Unfortunately we didn’t take photos of all the dishes we had. But I do have a list of the ones we tried.

Tapas:
Croqueta - Fried silky croquette flavoured with leek and mahon cheese
Pimiento de piquillo con ajoarriero - Piquillo pepper filled with salt cod and potato
Vieira, jamon y espuma - Half shell scallop oven baked with jamon and potato foam
Costilla con sobrasada - Roasted lamb cutlet encased in a Catalan pork & paprika pate
Cigarillo - Baby leek wrapped in Brik pastry served with a chicken liver parfait
San Jacobo de Cordonice - Hunter Valley quail, partial boned, crumbed, and filled with jamon and mahon cheese

Racion:

Cecina - Air cured wagyu beef thinly sliced with a truffle foam and poached egg
Mejillones en gazpachuelo - Mussels steamed and served in a warmwhite gazpacho sauce

Dessert:
Flan con pestinos - Creme caramel served with spiced sherry pastries
Ganache caliente con turron - Hot chocolate ganache pudding with vanilla bean ice-cream and nougat

I'll only talk about two of the dishes, as they were all sublime and there would not be enough words to discribe them all with justice.

The cigarillo was a great tapas dish. When they say baby leek, this was a real BABY leek. It was tiny, it must have only just sprouted out of the ground before they harvested it for this dish, and thank goodness they did! Wrapped in the crispy pastry it was wonderful to dip into the rich parfait. My mouth is watering just remembering the taste. Before having this dish, Daz was not a real fan of anything with liver in it, not to say the least anything pate like. Since that experience I can safely say he will eat anything that is pate-esque. It amazing to see an event or in the case and taste experience that can change someone’s opinion so dramatically. We loved this dish so much we had to order another before our dessert came out!

Air cured waygu with a truffle foam and poached egg

***

For a racion dish, Daz ordered the air cured waygu. I'm not the biggest fan of waygu. I can understand why some people are and I do agree that it is a unique flavour, but I'm not MAD for it. Daz on the other hand is a crazy fanatic. The whole reason he ordered it was because 1. it had waygu in it, and secondly because it had truffles in it. There's only one thing that beats waygu and that’s truffles, but that’s a whole other story. But boy was I glad he ordered it.

The waygu was thinly sliced almost like a prosciutto, but 1000 times more tasty. The egg was slightly cooked, so that once you burst it the creamy filling of the egg poured all over the meat. Once you picked up a slice of the meat you could drench it in a healthy covering of egg and a dollop of foam. The warm egg and oily meat worked wonders together. I almost find it impossible to describe. Other than to tell you to make a booking now and save your stomach over the next two months for this delight.

Front door of MoVida on Hosier Lane

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On the way out of MoVida, I thought it would be a good idea to take a photo of the outside. That’s when I noticed the mural of the 'pimping cat'. If you look at the cat closely, he's wearing a red top hat, has a walking stick and a very long colourful coat on. I must say, he looks ultra cool and I can't help to wonder if his "girls" are just around the corner.

The End of Interlude

The owner of Interlude, Robin Wickens, has decided to close his Fitzroy restaurant after 4 years of service. They plan on opening a new restaurant in the CBD and think it only best to invest their time and efforts into that venture.

At the moment, Interlude stands at position 40 in the top 100. I did not get a chance to eat at this establishment before it closed its doors on 25th October 2008 and I am deeply disappointed. Interlude has been highly recommended by people who have dined there, and has been a high performer for sometime. Robin Wickens has been compared to some of the molecular gastromy greats, I feel like I've been deprived of something special. My aim is to experience ALL 100 restaurants, I didn't think my task would be made easier by candidates disappearing into thin air.

All in all, I look forward to Robin Wickens' new venture and anticipate its entry into the list, even though I missed out on Interlude.

Results - Nicoise Salad

For my first attempt at preparing a nicoise salad, I was pretty impressed. Hopefully I respected the recipe and the results show.

Nicoise Salad

***

To start with, and this might be a bit silly, but the recipe called for kipfler potatoes. For those who are unaware of what kipfler potatoes look like, there is an image below. They are smallish slim potatoes with a waxy texture. Combined in this recipe they add a unique texture to contrast the crisp beans and tender fish, I used King fish.

The humble Kipfler potato

***

Shannon Bennett's recipe is superb. Great mix of crunch and soft, salt and acid, it was very pleasurable on the taste buds. My presentation is something I will pickup from the start, and can definately be improved. I arranged the croutons underneath the fish, but I think I should have arranged the potatoes ontop of the croutons, so that when I sat the fish on this bed it would have stuck out a bit more prominantly. In its current state it looked a little washed out by all the things around and ontop of it. I could have then arranged the beans a little more tightly and made the fish the star of the plate.

The view from the top

***

Other than that critism, I really dont have anything else to add. The fish went very well with the saltyness of the capers and olives. And even though my egg was overcooked the richness of the egg was well matched with the lightness of the fish. When I try this recipe again, I will definately make those changes to the presentation. But overall it is a perfect meal to have on a summers night.