Bob's your uncle at Tio's Cerveceria

The new wave of tequila across Sydney bars is thankfully wiping out the dreaded memories from my younger days; replacing them with fun, education and good, if not better, times.

From the school of Shady Pines Saloon, Tio's is the latest kid on the block in Surry Hills, though technically it's called a Cerveceria or brewery/beer house.

Inside Tio's Cerveceria, Foster Street, Surry Hills

Located on a quiet Surry Hills street just down from Bar H, Tio's is making noise for all the right reasons. The casual vibe is like a friend's oversized backyard with fairy lights strung up throughout.  The back end of the bar is appropriately dark while some natural light sneaks in the two front windows.

Most seats are communal style, with rows of school-reminiscent benches on both sides of a table that would probably seat four or five on each side (though it's near impossible to get in or out in heels and a skirt).

Tio's back bar

The long bar is fitted out like a wooden house or shed, with comfy bar seats giving drinkers prime view of the back bar, dotted with ornamental owls and dogs amid the bottles. The owls with eyes that light up are particularly distracting.

With no beers on display, it's easier to pick from the house specials menu of cocktail and refrescos; handwritten and printed on the back of kitschy postcards that fit right into the theme. Only margaritas and Tommy's Margarita are listed beneath cocktails.

El Roberto Especial

The longer list of refrescos are mixed drinks featuring Espolon Tequila Blanco at $10 a pop, built in glass mugs with an interesting array of mixers and topped off with plenty of ice.

My first pick is the evocative El Roberto Especial with tequila (of course), a mystical three herb elixir, freshly pulverised Granny Smith apple juice, lime and thick slice of cucumber for garnish.

My first sip through the sneakily thick red straw is mostly tequila (note: mix drinks first), though the drink eventually becomes quite refreshing if not a little sweet.

Complimentary popcorn and Bloody Maria

The Bloody Maria is a play on a classic tomato juice cocktail, with tequila replacing vodka. With unidentified 'spices' and cucumber and curly parsley garnishes, this savoury drink will please any Bloody Mary drinker or indeed, tomato lover.

After sitting down with our first round drinks to the benches, we were hand-delivered a bulging brown paper bag of spiced popcorn, as if these guys knew they were serving a popcorn fiend (actually, complimentary popcorn is for all).

Freshly popped in an old-school popcorn machine and perfectly seasoned, Tio's has quickly weasled its way into my heart via its drinking snacks, beating out Shady Pines' peanuts and The Baxter Inn's pretzels.

Paloma

I untangled myself out of the bench seating when seats at the bar became free, for a better view of the bartenders serving up beer cans rimmed with lime and salt.

Referring back to the refrescos menu, I have the girly pink Paloma, featuring tequila and a homemade pink grapefruit soda. There was an underlying bitterness to the drink courtesy of the citrus soda and even with a splash of sugar syrup.

Coffee with condensed milk

Most unusual of the mixed drinks, on paper, is undoubtedly the Cafe con Leche. Order it to watch the bartender fill a glass with Nescafe Blend 43 and steaming hot water. He'll then pour sweetened condensed milk from the can in a thick, gluggy dollop. But it doesn't quite stop there, Vietnamese cà phê đá coffee style.

Cafe con Leche

Tequila and ice are added then stirred thoroughly for an iced coffee of sorts. And I'm not sure if I'm pleased or a little disappointed to report that there is very little tequila taste. In fact, I'm sure I could get away with this as a replacement for my morning coffee, if only Tio's opened that early in the day.

Tio's street neon sign

Tio's is great fun and easy. The mixed drinks are served in larger vessels than at a normal bar, which makes drinks pacing a little easier for all, I think.

Ordering is a simple affair, snacks are taken care of and there's plenty of space and seating. All you need is a few people open to the idea of enjoying tequila and Bob's your uncle - at Tio's.

The Devonshire Friday prix fixe on my mind

I'd love more four-day work weeks, if only to get through the prix fixe lunch menus that seem only prevalent in Surry Hills (though I know Matt Kemp has always done them). A full three courses at bargain prices, like $35 at The Devonshire, is such good value I'm not entirely sure how the restaurants do it.

Bread rolls with whipped butter at The Devonshire, Devonshire Street, Surry Hills

I found myself in the middle part of Devonshire Street in Surry Hills one early Friday lunch, with a few other tables on the prix fixe menu as well. The long dining room was a little quiet and lacking genuine atmosphere, and could probably benefit from nudging up the volume on the music.

Gorgeous white bread rolls made their way to the table shortly after ordering; pointy specimens that were out-of-the-oven hot. But the best part about this bread, aside from the fantastic crust, was the whipped butter its served with - one with salt flakes and the other blended with honey.

With the airy butter melting on contact with the hot bread, dribbling butter was the look I was sporting - without complaint. There's no choice of dishes with The Devonshire's prix fixe menu, but it's hard to argue given the prices, even with a glass of French varietal that was dry and chardonnay-like.

Chicken liver parfait, fennel chutney and brioche

The day's prix fixe entreé was that increasingly ubiquitous liver parfait (probably noted as I'm not the hugest fan of pate and all things liver). Two imperfect quenelles of the pinkest chicken liver parfait was a stark introduction to the kitchen of Jeremy Bentley.

Topped with a crumble of roasted hazelnuts for a necessary textural contrast, the parfait was served with toasted brioche and an almost candied fennel chutney. There was, as ever, not enough bread to eat all the livery spread so towards the end it was more like parfait with brioche crumbs and fennel.

Pan fried skate wing, anchovy, mussels and celeriac

The main of the day was an interesting melange of seafood, featuring golden pan fried skate wing that came apart at its lined flesh. While the fish was a little dry for tastes, the accompaniments were such fun that they made up for it plus some.

The three crumbed mussels were unexpectedly sweet, adding some needed depth to the skate as the herb sauce didn't seem to have much impact, nor the dabs of celeriac puree.

However, the battered anchovy sure did; crazily crunchy in its deep gold and impressively airy batter, its saltiness and fishy oiliness were actually just the missing ingredients.

Broken fig tart, port and orange ice cream

Reading the menu, I thought the dessert was a tart of broken figs, but in fact it was the tart that was broken, or severely deconstructed. Featuring both fresh and candied dried figs, the 'tart' aspect of crisp, flaky pastry and the biscuit-y crumble were perfect for attempting to mop up the subtle port and orange ice cream.

By the time we'd finished lunch there was a fairly full dining room; most chowing down on chicken liver parfait and pan fried skate wing. The value of the prix fixe menu is unbeatable, and with weekly changing menus at a number of restaurants, I've got my next Friday off on my mind already.

Food styling with Kate Gibbs and Philly

I was losing the battle against an 'early' Saturday morning, drizzly grey skies and weekend public transport. But I was on my way to a food styling and photography session at Concrete Blonde in Kings Cross with Kate Gibbs; daughter of Suzanne Gibbs, granddaughter of Margaret Fulton, journalist, author, blogger and ambassador for Kraft Philidelphia. So I persisted, despite the downright weird Saturday morning loiterers around Kings Cross station.

Kate Gibbs (front) and Suzanne Gibbs (back) for Philly food styling and photography
session at Concrete Blonde, Bayswater Road, Kings Cross

In the session Kate, assisted in the kitchen by mother and 'sous chef' Suzanne Gibbs, was going to demonstrate three recipes and provide us with some tips and tricks on how to plate up dishes to entertain guests, as well as tips on food styling and photography.

Kate's collection of food styling props

After a perfect macchiato (thanks Concrete Blonde), I was ready to go and a little amused as I've never really played with styling props before, though I have tried to nicely plate up a couple of dishes in my kitchen (perhaps twice in my entire cooking life).

Seared tuna loin

For the first of the recipes, a tuna nicoise crostini, Kate started by searing a flawless piece of yellow fin tuna loin, simply seasoned on the surface with salt, pepper and olive oil. About 10 seconds on each side in a hot pan ensures that the centre remains pink and raw, which goes towards looks and texture.

Tuna nicoise crostini

The crostini are fairly straightforward to construct: rub a garlic clove on thin, toasted slices of baguette. Slather on some spreadable cream cheese and top with diced olives and a squeeze of lemon (the acid of the lemon directly on the tuna would start to cook it).

Tuna nicoise crostini made with Philidelphia Spreadable Cream Cheese

Then, lay on a nice thick slice of the seared tuna and garnish with chopped chives and perhaps a drizzle of olive oil. Something so simple to put together almost shouldn't be allowed to taste so good - but it does.

Back light - how I detest thee

This was by far my favourite thing I had to eat all day - the explosion of flavours was just awe-inspiring. First, the soft, raw tuna backed up by the crunchy toast. And then acidity from the lemon juice followed by the big punch of the salty olives, all soothed by the creamy cheese.

Tuna nicoise crostini with Philidelphia Spreadable Cream Cheese

I honestly can't wait to make this at home for some very, verylucky dinner guests. In this shot above, it shows the tuna slice almost falling apart as Kate had cut across the grain of the flesh - as should be done with all meat for greater tenderness, and flavour too.

Tuna nicoise crostini as appetisers

From the number of shots of the tuna nicoise crostini, one might be able to tell that we played around a fair bit before eating them.

Lighting (artificial, then natural, from front and back), plating, angles - I'm not sure my dinner party guests would have the same patience to go through all that, but I'm a firm believer of "practice makes perfect". And I also believe that photography and styling are very subjective matters.

Boiled, peeled and chopped beetroot

I've recently discovered a love for beetroot, mostly in salads. Fresh baby beetroots, usually with an acidic dressing, are the most gorgeous things as long as you don't drop them on white clothing.

Here, Suzanne has boiled them in their skins (with a dash of white vinegar to stop them colour bleeding out; salt does the opposite) and skinned them, which is apparently very easy to do post boiling.

Kate was next demonstrating a baby beetroot salad with broad beans, walnuts and Philly cream cheese, which reads like a list of my favourite salad ingredients.

Baby beetroot salad with broad beans, walnuts and Philly cream cheese

Kate talked about preparing food the way you would like to eat it; for example, would you want a tiny dice of beetroot or thick chunks that you can cut into? I must admit I'd never thought about that before, but can think back to Greek salads topped with whole tiles of feta cheese - and now I wonder what the point is.

For the salad, along with the thick sticks of beetroot, Kate added peeled broad beans, crumbled whole walnuts and pinched nubbins of cream cheese from the block, rather than cut it into cubes. And indeed, with the cream cheese being quite rich compared to the other salad ingredients, I thought the smaller the piece of cheese the better.

Mussels with speck and cream

For the final recipe - mussels with speck and cream - Kate thoroughly cooked onion, garlic and bay leaf before adding diced speck (bacon for me at home), browning them all well before adding liquids which would essentially stop the browning process.

Using supremely fresh South Australian mussels (the open ones would close up if you pressed on them!), the molluscs went into the pot of onion and speck with a healthy helping of white wine and at the very end, Philidelphia's Cream for Cooking, which I'd never actually seen before.

My serve of hiding-from-me mussels with speck and cream

The smell from the pot of mussels was quite seriously making a few mouths water, although the pesky mussels were one of the more difficult things to photograph (they're dark, don't reveal their insides all that well, fall awkwardly on the plate, and so on).

Mussels with speck and cream and Philidelphia Cream for Cooking

Fresh parsley helped on the styling front, as did a a magazine-esque setting with bread and a glass of wine. The looks were catching up with the aromas and starting to look good enough to eat.

Lunch is served (at Concrete Blonde, food cooked by Kate Gibbs)

Lunch was looking pretty darn good, but there was always time for more photos, more styling - and wine, of course. In a matter of a few hours and three recipes, I'd picked up a number of tips for the kitchen and food styling - a significantly more productive Saturday morning than usual.

Many thanks to the gorgeous Kate Gibbs and Suzanne Gibbs for their time and patience in the Concrete Blonde kitchens, and thanks to Peta and Louise too for the fun, filling and fruitful session.

P.S. With the Philly sample pack, I've attempted a few recipes from the Simply Heaven volume 2 cookbook by Philidelphia (somewhat following the recipes - sorry Kate), though clearly need better lighting and props in the home kitchen.

Ham and vegetable crostata
(I halved the recipe for a smaller pie and used whatever vegies I had in the fridge at
the time. And I accidentally broke the pastry so egg leaked out the bottom of the
crostata. Looked rather average but tasted delicious!)

Cherry berry cake
(Without cherries nor blueberries; replaced with dried cranberries and diced dried
mango as this was all I had in the pantry. A very moist, yet crumbly, cake in which
the cream cheese is not noticeable. Would most likely be improved with fresh berries.)

Food, booze and shoes attended the session with Kate Gibbs and received a Philidelphia sample pack plus cookbook courtesy of Kraft Philidelphia, with thanks to Liquid Ideas.