Etch: A portrayal of tough times

It’s sad to see yet another restaurateur impacted by what seems like tough times in the hospitality industry. With small and large falling amid continuing new openings, it feels like the changing undercurrent towards casual eating is finding its unfortunate victims.

One of these victims is Justin North’s Etch, which was nestled into the Bridge Street side of the Intercontinental Hotel. A recent voucher meal I had there was superb but was perhaps a bad omen of the times. Here are the memories.

Etch dining room, Bridge Street, Sydney

The Etch dining room had always perplexed me a little: its atypically narrow restaurant space, plush with carpets and banquettes, almost feels like an extension of the Intercontinental Hotel, but the food definitely stands/stood on its own.

The voucher entitled us to a six-course tasting menu, and an option for discounted matching wines, although being a bit early in the week we instead elected from a brief selection of wines by the glass.

Amuse bouche: Sweet corn veloute

Without delay, and even before I’d decided on a glass of pinot noir, the waitress brought over a complimentary amuse bouche – as they do for all diners. The piping hot and creamy sweet corn veloute was just the thing to warm us from the cold evening outside.

Local figs, Woodside goat curd

The first picturesque course featured airy blobs of goat’s curd, paired with adorable fresh figs and drops of lightly scented lavender honey.

The sesame crackers were a dream to munch through with a smidgen of everything in the mouthful. It wasn’t a big-impact dish to start, easing in rather, I thought, and could just have easily have served as dessert.

Crispy Spencer Gulf prawns, avocado, wasabi

A single crumbed and deep fried prawn, split into three sections, comprised the next dish; its presentation somewhat highlighting the lone crustacean.

The mild wasabi dots and avocado could easily be confused on appearance but not in taste in this delicately and slowly eaten dish.

Field mushroom risotto

The cooler seasons were well represented by the field mushroom risotto where chestnut and enoki mushrooms met amid a supremely buttery risotto with rice just on the under-side of done.

The deep fried lotus slice was a beautifying touch to the utterly satisfying risotto, of which I could have easily had another two serves.

Caramelised pork belly, beetroot, pear puree

The more substantial protein dishes started with everybody’s favourite cut – pork belly – in a unique fashion.

The well-coloured and stickily caramelised slice of pork was thin but hit the palate with sweetness and seasoning that was enhanced with the pear puree and a white wine gel of some sort.

The lack of crackling was consoled with the cracker garnish and a well matched beetroot puree.

Aromatic slow braised lamb shoulder, pumpkin, garlic spinach, mint, balsamic

The round of soft lamb could barely hold itself up it was so thoroughly cooked with a cavalcade of spices.

The rather classic accompaniments of mint, pumpkin (in puree form) and spinach were appropriate given the big flavours of the lamb, with the balsamic vinegar sauce penetrating the richness of the fatty meat.

Pre dessert: Chantilly cream, pear jelly with sherbet and poached pears

An unexpected pre dessert tasting plate arrived looking almost too pretty to destroy. It would appear that it was the season for pears – not one of my favourite fruits due to the sometimes grainy textures – but the poached specimen was nothing short of spectacular in texture and flavour.

The triangular jellies of pear covered in sherbet brought momentary childlike fizzy joy, followed by the sophisticated taste of real pear. But despite all the seasonality, my favourite component was the cloud-like Chantilly cream: just sweet and light enough to be a primer to dessert proper.

Lemon parfait, pineapple, coconut salad, coriander

The pretty sight of yellows and whites signalled the lemon parfait, with what has to be the crunchiest-ever mini meringue topper as a garnish. The pastel yellow block of parfait itself was citrusy perfection while the tropical additions of pineapple and fresh coconut shreds erased all memories of the cool weather.

Not that we weren’t satisfied with the six course offering – indeed, with an amuse bouche and pre dessert, it was more like eight gorgeous and very well- choreographed courses – the delivery of a cheese plate to a nearby table was enough to put in an extra order.

The Old Telegraph Road Sapphire Blue cheese was served on slate with tea-smoked pears and more than enough lavosh crackers, which is a sad rarity. The intense smokiness of the pears played interestingly with the fruit’s sweetness, the latter of which is a personal should-have component with blue cheeses.

At the end of the meal I sat thinking that there was really nothing more that I could have wanted: the beautiful, seasonally-focused dishes were presented well and tasted even better than they looked and the service was efficient across the well-timed meal.

It's such a shame to see Etch go but I've got my fingers crossed that North can get through the current tough times.

Last drinks (and lunches)

I'm a little baffled that there's tinsel and Christmas lights about and that the SIFF is over already. But I guess time flies when you're having fun being a glutton. It was almost with a little sadness that I indulged in my last Cocktail of the Month and Let's Do Lunch of the festival. So sad that I might have to go out and console myself with lunch and a cocktail, or something like that.

Rockmelon and pistachio martini from Zeta Bar, Hilton, Sydney

Zeta Bar's cocktail was frothy delight with what I considered an unusual pairing of rockmelon and pistachio. The sweet cocktail of Belvedere vodka and rockmelon (plus other ingredients that the cocktail made me forget) was headed by a distinguished pistachio foam - one I could happily drink/inhale for long periods of time.

Turns out the subdued sweetness of the rockmelon contrasts and matches remarkably well with the noble nut. Zeta's swish bar-people served this up with a super frozen pistachio sorbet, a tiny dish of salted and roasted pistachios and thin pieces of pistacio biscotti - most of which went awkwardly with the cocktail. I certainly see the theme, but it wasn't working for the tastebuds.

Kinkawooka shellfish risotto with vegetables and herbs
from Etch Restaurant, Bridge Street Sydney

I adore the Let's Do Lunch concept, but find it mostly very difficult to work it into the weekday schedule. Long lunches should be part of the normal work day. While I'm at it, I'd also advocate the four-day week; that is, the three-day weekend. I did manage to escape to Etch for lunch on the very last weekday of the festival to have the Let's Do Lunch special of risotto.

Hidden beneath the sea-infused foam (ahh, food trends) was a gathering of the softest, silkiest, smoothest molluscs I've seriously ever tasted - almost like pillows sitting on a sea bed of full-bodied, but not creamy, risotto. The al dente rice was dotted with diced spring vegies, including snow peas and carrot, under the shade of fresh herb sprigs. If the season spring were a carbohydrate dish, this would be it.

And so it's last drinks and a lunch - the stomach says: "Bring on the finale!"