Vodka High Tea at Food Society

Posted by Kath

Nestled in the back streets of Darlinghurst, quirky, old world charm is the backdrop for what is probably one of the most laid-back and unique high tea experiences around town: the vodka high tea at Food Society.

Table setting at Food Society, Riley Street, Darlinghurst

Food Society is known for its unique eastern European offerings as well as being the original masters behind the Cuban themed food offerings at The Lobo Plantation. Head chef Fernando Sanchez ventures into the land of the high tea set on Saturdays, with an almost complete twist on tradition and plenty of flair.

An exciting arrangement of savoury and sweet canapés are matched with premium single origin teas, bubbles and/or vodka-based iced tea cocktails.

Watermelon Caipiroska (front) and  Spiced Apple Pie (back)

To kick off the high tea with a cheeky, boozy twist, we ordered a round of Food Society's signature vodka and tea infused cocktails. A perfect match for a summer's day was the Watermelon Caipiroska with a watermelon black tea, fresh lime and house infused melon vodka, finished with novel and refreshing watermelon ice cubes.

The Spiced Apple Pie cocktail was fuelled by house infused spiced apple juice, cinnamon, star anise, lemon zest and dangerously delicious Zubrowka bison grass vodka, served with crushed ice and a green apple garnish.

Goat's cheese tartlet

The allure of tiny pastries on pretty vintage tiered stands never fails to elicit an inner squeal of excitement from me, and the offerings at Food Society were definitely squeal-worthy.

The top layer of savoury canapés featured a delicate miniature tart of goat's cheese, pine nuts and mint; baked within a buttery shortcrust pastry shell and topped with a fine dice of caramelised fennel and parsnip, which added sweet notes to the creamy quiche.

Duck vol au vent

Next on the menu was an oh-so-retro vol au vent which, on first bite, overwhelmed the senses with a hit of white truffle. Divine with the flaky pastry and chanterelle mushrooms, the truffle flavour matched well with the soft confit duck, finished with a light chestnut cream - so much deliciousness in one little puff pastry case.

Salmon pastrami on truffle salt toast (left) and mini beef pie (right)

The second tier kept the flavours coming with my favourite offering of the day: smoky green tea smoked salmon pastrami atop a small crisp bread vessel of truffle salt toast, paired with pure chamomile flower jelly, celeriac cream and shiso leaves - unique and delicious at any angle.

To finish was a relatively substantial mini beef pie with a house made relish that was just as moreish as the other tiny offerings of the day.

Classic cucumber sandwich (top) and "The best chicken sandwich" 

On another tiered stand high tea tradition ruled with a selection of crustless finger sandwiches, beginning with a traditional cucumber sandwich of shaved cucumber ribbons, chervil cream cheese and pink peppercorns, topped with an added, luxurious surprise of salmon caviar.

Providing a more filling end to the savoury course was "The best chicken sandwich". Sandwiched between buttery, charred brioche slices were flakes of smoky Lilydale chicken with its classic herb partner - tarragon - as well as nasturtium flowers, all held together with a creamy duck egg hollandaise. Best chicken sandwich? Pretty close.

Tea set

At this point a spot of tea was more than welcome to provide some respite between courses. An impressive array of teas is available for selection, including a wide range of single origin tea leaves.

Berry macaron, sweet tea trifle, alfajores and dark chocolate truffle

The selection of sweets was brought forth on a beautifully arranged share platter, without a scone in sight. I started with a berry macaron that was lovely and light, bursting with berry flavour, while the dark chocolate truffle was all you'd want it to be with oozy chocolate inside and hints of lavender and earl grey tea.

The sweet tea trifle presented in a small glass jar was a nice transition from the darker, richer treats - and an exotic one at that. With a light custard of pomegranate and acai berry, a vodka-cured rhubarb jelly, vanilla sponge and sweet pickled Australian hibiscus flowers, the very modern trifle was finished with a salad of pomegranate and acai pearls.

Last of the small bites was the dulce de leche filled shortbread alfajores which had me wishing I could buy these by the box. Light buttery shortbread gave way to creamy dulce de leche that wasn't too sweet but bordering on the perfect, dreamy side of burnt caramel.

Czech style honey cake

What looked like the piece de resistance, lovingly surrounded by pretty white flowers, was the Czech style spiced honey cake. Unexpectedly soft, this delightful cake was crumbly and moist, laced with salted caramel cream and topped with some of the best honeycomb I've had, house made too, and finished with slices of sweet caramelised pears.

For a thoroughly delicious high tea experience that's not the same-old, Food Society provides a beautiful location and experience with a proper twist and all the quirk and flair you'd expect from an eastern European establishment - and with vodka, of course.

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Food Society as a guest, with thanks to The Buzz Group.

Dive in to Yurippi at The Cliff Dive

Remember last time you were on an underwater dance floor of a Papuan dancehall and you were peckish? It was probably at Darlinghurst nightclub The Cliff Dive which is now embracing the earlier evening crowd with a food offering in light of the recent lockout laws, introducing a street food concept that's as colourful and quirky as its fish-adorned dance floor.

Underwater themed dance floor at The Cliff Dive, Oxford Square, Darlinghurst

Called Yurippi at The Cliff Dive, it offers a short selection of grilled skewers throughout the evening till late, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights – The Cliff Dive's big nights where punters give the underwater dance floor a steamy workout.

Statue at downstairs entry

The Cliff Dive owners Alex Dowd, Jeremy Blackmore and Russell Martin (the former two who also own Surry Hills tequila and beer barn Tio's Cerveceria) had been looking for a way to improve and expand on The Cliff Dive's late night trade and perhaps pushed along with the new laws, recruited a former high school buddy to up the existing food offering.

The main bar

Yurippi chef 'Honky' threw in his full-time mechanical engineering career to focus on his Crows Nest market stall every third Saturday of the month and his new kitchen digs behind The Cliff Dive bar.

Inspired by his time in Japan visiting yakitori stalls, he's cooking up skewers with a twist to suit the island theme and rum-oriented back bar.

Yurippi kitchen window

With a bit of consultation help from chef friends at Longrain, the menu of five skewers takes cues from Thailand, Malaysia and other south east Asian regions to form an eclectic collection of sweet, sour and spicy flavours, with each skewer treated to its very own sauce.

Yurippi skewers

The Hungry Honky set basically offers the entire menu on a small board: all five skewers plus excellently tart, crunchy house-pickled vegetables and a firm-grained pandan coconut rice served in a bamboo basket.

The lemongrass chicken with peanut satay sauce was an easy favourite, as too the silken chilli tamarind tofu with som tum sauce. 

A whole baby octopus confit-ed in chilli oil and ginger makes for more an adventurous-looking skewer, while the wild ginger beef with caramelised sweet soy and the turmeric lemongrass pork with sweet tamarind sauce round out the offerings.

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club cocktail

The new tiki-influenced cocktail list by bartender Michael 'MC' Chiem (ex Bulletin Place, Sokyo, Black) goes a little further than just Hawaiian resorts, tropical juices and tiki mugs – not to say that there's not plenty of the latter two.

Rooted in the traditions of Trader Vic and original man of tiki bars and drinks, Don the Beachcomber, the cocktail menu is almost exclusively tiki-influenced and is all hand-drawn pictorial fun.

We start with the pretty-as-a-picture Royal Bermuda Yacht Club cocktail, served up with Bacardi 8, Cointreau, lime juice and a house-made falernum syrup that MC calls their "master stock" that goes into many of their signature, tropical-themed drinks.

La Florida cocktail

Next, the Jungle Bird which I'm reliably informed is Malaysia's national cocktail, created at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton Hotel's Aviary Bar in 1978.

A shaken mix of spiced rum, Campari, pineapple and lime juices, the refreshing, cinnamon-scented cocktail is served in half the woven, bamboo basket that Thai sticky rice is generally served in.

Don the Beachbomber's Zombie cocktail

The falernum also appears in the classic Don the Beachcomber's Zombie which is served in a green Easter Island statue-inspired tiki mug lidded with a cinnamon-scented orange slice.

With a mix of Bacardi and Appleton rums, Pernod liqueur and house-made grenadine with notes of cinnamon and star anise, the citrusy concoction really sets the tiki mood and isn't as boozy as some other Zombie's I've had.

Piña colada cocktail served in a pineapple

Last, but by no means least, was the classic Piña Colada served in a hollowed out pineapple with its core intact. With Bacardi 151 rum, coconut, Chinese five spice and a touch of salt to bring out the sweetness of the pineapple, the limited numbers of hollow pineapples per night make this a must-have.

Second bar

Open from 6pm Wednesdays to Saturdays, Yurippi offers a tasty precursor to the usual music and dancing at The Cliff Dive which kicks off at about 11pm and opens till late – just make sure you dive in before you get locked out at 1.30am.

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at The Cliff Dive as a guest.

Malabar: A trip to southern India

Nothing beats a warming, spicy curry in the depths of winter and with the cool temperatures of the last couple of weeks, curries have been high on the list of winter cravings. So we were more than happy to battle a freezing, windy Sunday night for a short trip to the south of India via Malabar restaurant in Darlinghurst.

Producing regional Indian cuisine from Malabar in the south of the Indian subcontinent, chef and owner Mohammed Sali and his team have been in the Victoria Street space for an impressive 11 years. Later this year, they're planning a move up the road to bigger premises - judging by the full house and continuous flow of takeaway orders, it's not a bad idea.

Prawn dosai from Malabar, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

Despite the cold outside, we couldn't resist a couple of mango lassis that were sweet with a vividly-coloured mango addition to the yoghurt drink.

We had one of the restaurant's specialty dosai as a shared entrée, as many tables appeared to be doing, opting for the prawn filling in the thin, crisp crepe of fermented rice and lentil batter.

Inside of prawn dosai 

Served with a creamy, nutty sauce and a spiced curry-like sauce on the side, the dosai encased firm pieces of king prawn in a sweet and tangy sauce, full of spices, flavouring the accompanying tomato and capsicum. My first dosai experience and I do say, I'll be having more of these in future.

Chicken Dhansak

We shared two mains including the day's special of chicken Dhansak, cooked with red lentils, Kashmiri chilli and ginger, finished with strained yoghurt. A mild level of heat, there were surprisingly clean spice flavours in the tangy sauce, with the chilli ante increased with the addition of pickled chillies.

It was also my first experience of Indian style pickles which are made for mixing in with curries and other mains and rice in very small quantities per mouthful - definitely not for eating on their own.

Beef Kerala

The beef Kerala was more curry as I know it, with fresh coconut milk, ginger and potatoes in a mild sauce. The super-tender beef delighted in the creamy sauce, as did the steamed rice and naan bread we had with the mains.

Chilli cheese naan

While garlic naan is my usual order with Indian curries, the chilli cheese offering at Malabar got my interest this time.

Not particularly heavy-handed on the chilli, the cheese is all stretchy, gooey goodness to start but is less interesting when it no longer oozes. Garlic naan still reigns supreme in my books.

Mango kulfi

Three out of four dessert options are kulfi so we went with the odds. A frozen dairy dessert much like ice cream but more dense, we opted for the mango flavour which was the same vivid colour of our previous lassi and just as addictively sweet and creamy.

It was an utterly delightful, heart- and feet-warming dinner on a packed Sunday night with chef-owner Sali doing the rounds on the floor. A spontaneous curry dinner and short trip to south India has been the best remedy for winter so far.

goCatch a progressive dinner at A Tavola

Posted by Jan 

Dinner at two fine Italian establishments in one night - this was the proposition for a progressive dinner at the new Bondi Beach outpost of A Tavola as well as the original Darlinghurst restaurant.

I've always regarded A Tavola as a great Italian experience and its new Bondi Beach restaurant is of a similar ilk, with more of a seafood focus as appropriate for its beachside location.

Dining room at A Tavola, Hall Street, Bondi Beach 

The Bondi Beach dining room is a large open space with a bar to one side and long communal tables. The room hints of the original feel of the Darlinghurst dining room incorporated with the chic casualness of a beachside neighbourhood restaurant.

The plan was to stay in Bondi Beach for drinks and nibbles, like the Italian tradition of aperitivo, before goCatch-ing to the Darlinghurst restaurant for mains and dessert.

Aperol Spritz

We started with the classic Aperol spritz, which reminded me of walking along the streets of Italy in the evening when the bars start prepping for the after work aperitivo crowds.

Probably Italy's favourite cocktail, the spritz is a refreshing citrusy, slightly bitter drink, with a relatively low alcohol content from a combination of Aperol, prosecco and soda water, plus a classic olive garnish.

Arancini

Aperitivo is usually accompanied by small snacks and I was delighted to see that some of the Italian classics were served. I love fried food especially when it is high in proteins like meat and cheese.

The golden-hued, crunchy-surfaced arancini balls were filled with a mix of olives, minced pork and veal, and pecorino cheese before being crumbed and fried to become some of the tastiest, meatiest arancini ever.

Calamari fritti

It is only fitting that a restaurant located near a world famous beach does seafood well. The fried calamari served at A Tavola was better than some I found at many of the snack bars in Italy; crunchy, salty and divine with just a squeeze of lemon.

Anchovies, Tomato

The final snack that we had before moving to Darlinghurst was the most interesting and could be called fish and chips - A Tavola style.

I really like anchovies and I think they are such an under-rated fish. The anchovies served that evening packed a lot of flavour and were complemented well by the fresh tomato and fried polenta base.

The goCatch app

The plan was to use taxi booking app goCatch to travel from A Tavola's Bondi Beach restaurant to the Darlinghurst one.

I have to confess to being a very regular user of the goCatch app. I love how you can just book a taxi from where you are and be able to track the taxi that accepted the booking. It was to my great delight that I could show some of my fellow diners how easy it is nowadays to find a taxi, literally, a few taps away.

Front dining room, A Tavola, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

When we arrived at A Tavola Darlinghurst, I stopped to admire the huge marble table in the front dining room where the pasta is made fresh every day. The envious home cook in me even started plotting "The Great Marble Table Heist" for a couple of fanciful minutes.

Maltagliati con borlotti e seppie

On our second leg of dinner chef and owner Eugenio Maiale served up a dish of maltagliati diamond shaped pasta with borlotti beans, cuttlefish, white wine and cavolo nero.

A lighter pasta dish made with simple ingredients, it was a great alternative to some of the ever-popular, heavier meat and cheese based pasta dishes.

Triangoli con ripieno di zucca

I prefer pasta dishes that don't require a lot of sauce, so the house made triangoli triangle-shaped ravioli with pumpkin, mustard fruit, burnt butter sauce and sage was ideal; a great example of traditional flavours that always work well together.

The addition of amaretti crumbs brought a touch of sweetness and crunch to the dish along with the fragrantly crisp sage leaves.

Pappardelle con ragu di manzo

It was not my first time eating the pappardelle with ragu at A Tavola and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be my last. This perennial favourite is exactly why I am rather picky about ragu when I dine out.

A good ragu is slowly cooked with a flavoursome, dark sauce. The beef was rich, tender and falling apart with a hint of sweetness in the background. We liked it so much another serving was required.

Cremino al cioccolato

For dessert, we had A Tavola's signature cremino al cioccolato which might as well be called "heaven in a cup". I've had it twice now and invariably, the entire table swoons after a single taste.

Whoever came up with the idea of combining chocolate with hazelnut, salted caramel gelato, torched Italian meringue and amaretti biscuits deserves a medal.

Dinner at two fabulous Italian eateries and the easiest of taxi rides in between. From the beach to the inner city, A Tavola has got it covered with simple Italian cuisine of the highest quality and freshest pasta - and there's no catches to it.

Food, Booze & Shoes attended the A Tavola progressive dinner as a guest, with thanks to Wasamedia.

Stanley Street Merchants: crowdfunded and open

Earlier this year more than $280,000 was raised to open Stanley Street Merchants through restaurant and bar crowdfunding platform, Icon Park.

For first season winners, the prize is three months' tenancy in a Darlinghurst restaurant space, with funding, fitout and marketing support.

Bar at Stanley Street Merchants, Stanley Street, Darlinghurst

Stanley Street Merchants opened its doors on Monday this week, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner in its brand spanking new Stanley Street home.

A three-part venue, the focus is currently on the ground floor restaurant which features chef Matt Stone's (Greenhouse, Perth and Silo by Joost, Melbourne) modern approach to locally sourced ingredients.

Street restaurant view

The fitout has a mod-rustic feel with the feature of the brick-walled space being the open kitchen, where chef Stone leads a small team in creating a well-balanced menu of smalls and bigs, for sharing or course-style dining.

Ground floor seating

Having supported their initial Icon Park campaign, I was collecting my crowdfund reward from Stanley Street Merchants - two drinks and a chef's tasting plate - as well as taking the opportunity to try out the broader menu from what had to be the busiest venue mid-week on the rather quiet Darlinghurst street.

Aperol Spritz (front) and Manhattan (back, left)

We started with an Aperol Spritz, garnished with a very traditional olive, and a classic Manhattan from bartender Bobby Carey (ex Shady Pines Saloon) while watching the workings of a very new restaurant.

While the kitchen and bar activity was pretty slick, some of the waitstaff proved fairly green, though as much is to be expected from a three-day-old operation.

Icon Park reward: Tasting platter for two

The tasting plate, or plank more accurately, comprised four items found on the smalls menu, starting with (from the right) fried spiced cauliflower florets. The soft, nutty flavour of the vegetable was accentuated with a unique and appetising spice mix, which also seemed to be flavouring the jar of almond and macadamia nuts.

Crisy crickets, Aussie 7 spice

I'm not sure if it was the same 'Aussie 7 spice' (as opposed to Chinese five spice) on the serve of crispy crickets. While I've come across deep fried crickets before, this was my first, slightly weary taste of them.

With a hefty amount of seasoning post a deep fry, I suppose anything would taste decent. The crickets were passable, with a texture much like cooked prawn shells and not too much flavour of their own. Like prawn shells, watch for the sharp bits (legs or antennae) that can dig in the mouth.

Fermented vegetables

Last was the fermented vegetables, served on a metal jar lid. The soft pieces of cabbage and carrot tasted of a light vinegar pickle and would make for a refreshing snack with a beer.

Chicken, corn, jerusalem artichoke

We moved on to a selection of the big plates, which are plated as generous individual serves; certainly some of the largest I've seen for a while sub-$30.

The roasted chicken portion was served on a creamy corn puree and dressed with jerusalem artichoke chips, what seemed like kernel-less popcorn and a shock of deliciously deep fried corn silk - that usually annoying 'hair' between the husk and cob of fresh corn.

It was a clever use of corn in a classic pairing with chicken, for an overall homely, satisfying and flavour-packed feed.

Yellow eye mullet, roe, cos, nasturtium

The fish main was a pretty sight of vibrant green blobs and three thin but well-cooked fillets of yellow eye mullet.

The beautifully fresh fish was a joy to eat with the uniquely sweet nasturtium puree, and well supported by the grilled cos lettuce, which was filled luxuriously with a seasoned mix of orange roe pearls and chives.

The ease in which innovation and locally sourced and foraged ingredients came together so harmoniously on this dish is a credit to chef Stone and his kitchen team.

Mash potato, wattle seed (front) and mixed leaves, herbs, salad (back)

We added a side of creamy-but-not-overly-so mashed potato which was sprinkled with a powdered wattle seed, adding an unexpected sweet earthiness, while the dressed green leaves comprised mostly iceberg lettuce and rocket.

Poached quince, macadamia, wattle seed, buttermilk ice cream

We also had the pleasure of dessert, with several tantalising options available. The cool night-appropriate poached quince was divine in presentation and taste. Softly spiced and cooked, the fruit was paired with lightly tart buttermilk ice cream and a rich macadamia nut puree that I could eat by the bowl full.

With pretty flowers and unidentified crumbles, this was a fine dessert fit for a hatted restaurant.

Charcoal roasted marshmallow, ryeberries, flowers and ants

It's only now that I realise that there were ants in my marshmallow dessert. I guess I was distracted by the prettiness of the freeze dried raspberries and citrus, rose petals and lavender flowers; or the very tart, brown ryeberries, or indeed, the sticky, gooey square of roasted marshmallow.

There was a particularly bitter aspect to one of the toppings, which I had blamed on the lavender although now, perhaps the non-discernible ants were at fault.

Street view

While I'd expected queues out the door during their first week, Stanley Street Merchants' rather quiet opening may slipped under a few radars although it seems there is still work to be done on the upper levels.

In any case, the restaurant and bar are in full swing and should become a neighbourhood favourite in quick time for its great menu that's genuinely centred on local produce. Pop in to Stanley Street Merchants over the next three months to see the crowdfunding dream live.