Flavours of Brazil (and the World Cup) at Bridge Street Garage

Posted by Hendy

With the World Cup action in Brazil in full swing at the moment, Sydney CBD bar and bistro Bridge Street Garage recently partnered with importer, distributor and wholesaler Brazilian Style Imports for a timely "Flavours of Brazil" one-off dinner.

With its Latin American twist, Bridge Street Garage is led by Argentine-born chef, Oscar Gorosito, who produces a menu of traditional and fusion Latin American dishes. Brazilian Style Imports supplies Bridge Street Garage with a range of ingredients and equipment; from its tapioca flour and cachaça (Brazilian white spirit) to its double-decker parrilla traditional Brazilian barbeque grill.

Caipirinha with Velho Barreiro Cachaça at Bridge Street Garage, Bridge Street, Sydney

The night kicked off with the classic caipirinha (pronounced kai-pur-een-ya) cocktail - perhaps Brazil's most well-known cocktail.

Made with cachaça - the sugarcane-based white spirit that Brazil is renowned for - fresh lime, sugar and served with lots of crushed ice, the refreshing caipirinha has much in common with a mojito, minus the mint and with a sweeter overtone.

Guarana Antarctica soft drink

For a non-alcoholic beverage we were introduced to Guarana Antarctica, a soft drink made from the guarana plant, with sweet apple and cider notes.

Speaking to one of the founders of Brazilian Style Imports, he explained how Guarana Antarctica used to be the dominant soft drink in Brazil before Coca-Cola entered the Brazilian soft drink market. Now, Guarana Antarctica shares the overall soft drink market with its global competitor.

Tapioca cheese bread with Argentinian chimichurri sauce

To complement the kick-off drinks, a plate of tapioca cheese bread was served. The little bread rolls are made using Brazilian tapioca flour and are commonly seen bouncing around churrasco restaurants in Sydney.

With a crisp crust on the outside and a stretchy cheese filling within, the cheese bread was a highly addictive snack that would go well with a nice cold beer.

Chef Gorosito explained that the traditional chimichurri served with the bread is made using paprika, giving it its red colouring rather than the green one I'm more accustomed to seeing.

Casquinha de Siri - sauteed crab meat served on a salad of pomegranate, orange and rocket

Our next starter was the Casquinha de Siri; a traditional Brazilian dish of sauteed crab meat, coconut milk, tomatoes, capsicum and oil from the seed fruit of a special type of dende plant grown in the Northern regions of Brazil.

All the ingredients were pan fried together and topped with a parmesan cheese and bread crumb, then served on a scallop shell atop a salad of pomegranate, orange and rocket. With punchy ingredients like the parmesan and coconut milk, this dish smelt great and had a texture similar to that of finely shredded coconut.

Our starters were paired with the light and refreshing Miolo Pinot Grigio Riesling from the Campanha region in South Brazil.

Açaí berry smoothie with Velho Barreiro Cachaça

I was amazed at the decadent and luscious açaí berry smoothie which arrived to the table next - not the kind of smoothie that you would have at breakfast or before a game though.

With a mix of Velho Barreiro Cachaça through the fresh cream and berry-topped smoothie, it sure packed a punch though it was quite heavy to have with dinner and perhaps more appropriate for a hot summer's day.

Double decker traditional parrilla grills 

Sneaking a peek into the Bridge Street Garage kitchen we could see the traditional parrilla grills used in the kitchen for meats and even burger patties for the Bridge Street Garage burgers. Traditional throughout South America, the parrilla use natural wood charcoal to slowly cook the meat on the grill.

The double-decker version installed in Bridge Street Garage's kitchen is custom made and imported by Brazilian Style Imports specifically for the restaurant. The use of the parrilla allows the meat to take on a beautifully fragrant smokiness from the wood charcoal and results in a succulent and tenderly-cooked meat.

Core ingredients

Chef Gorosito also brought out a plate showcasing some of exciting ingredients that he was using that night for the Brazilian feast. The standout item on the plate was probably the chocolate, used to make a mole sauce in the next dish.

Grilled chicken with spicy mole, rice, Brazilian black beans

The next two protein dishes were designed to showcase the simplicity of using the parrilla. The grilled chicken breast from the parilla was served with the spicy mole sauce, white rice and Brazilian black beans; matched to a red Miolo Tannat wine also from Brazil's Campanha region.

The chicken was marinated well and grilled to a moist, tender state with a crusty, charred surface. While a bit of acidity over the chicken would have worked well, the chocolate in the mole was quite subtle and made for a good dipping sauce for the chicken.

New York grass-fed striploin steak with chips, onion rings and coleslaw salad

The good-looking striploin steak grilled on the parrilla was served complete with hand-cut chips, beer-battered onion rings and a coleslaw salad.

The steak was on the rare side and was a bit tough for my liking though it was seasoned and rested well. Meanwhile, the onion rings made great add-on with the crunchy, golden potato chips.

The making of the strawberry caipirinha

A feature session of the night was the making of the strawberry caipirinha at the restaurant's front bar. The strawberry caipirinha is a twist on the original classic with a strawberry and sugar compote made by the kitchen specially for the cocktail.

The making of of the strawberry caipirinha: measuring the Velho Barreiro Cachaça

The rocks glass is sugar rimmed to give it the sweetness on the start. Lime wedges are then muddled with the strawberry compote, before adding the Velho Barreiro Cachaca and plenty of shaved ice.

Line of strawberry caipirinhas

Brownie with Velho Barreiro Cachaça-infused rhubarb ice cream, chilli guava jam and pacoquinha

To finish off the night, there was a chocolate brownie served with a unique-tasting Velho Barreiro Cachaça-infused rhubarb ice cream. Along with a spicy chilli guava jam with heat that fizzled away with the rhubarb ice cream, there was a very sweet, possibly unnecessary pacoquinha peanut crumble scattered around the plate.

The "Flavours of Brazil" dinner was a great opportunity to learn about Brazilian cuisine, drinks and ingredients - and let's not forget, the celebration of the World Cup in Brazil. For any at-home, weekend World Cup viewing sessions, see the classic caipirinha recipe below, courtesy of Brazilian Style Imports.
 

Strawberry caipirinha

Classic Caipirinha
Ingredients
50mL Velho Barreiro Cachaça
1/2 a lime, sliced in 4 wedges
2 teaspoons of superfine sugar (can vary to taste)
Ice cubes

Preparation
1. Put the cut lime into the serving glass and add sugar.
2. Crush the lime and sugar together with a muddler in order to extract juice & essential oils from the skin of the lime.
3. Fill the glass with ice cubes.
4. Pour the Cachaça all the way to the top of the glass.
5. Pour the contents of the glass into the shaker, shake well & pour it back into the serving glass. Alternatively if you don't have a shaker you can use crushed ice instead of ice cubes - in this case you just need to stir it well.

6. Enjoy - in moderation.

Food, Booze & Shoes attended the "Flavours of Brazil" dinner at Bridge Street Garage as a guest, with thanks to Stellar PR.

Bridge St Garage: Driving the diner trend

The push for mid-range dining options in Sydney CBD continues with the recent opening of Bridge St Garage Bar and Diner opposite the ASX building, a few doors down from Café Sopra and soon-to-open Rockpool.

Bridge St Garage Bar & Diner, Bridge Street, Sydney

The space was previously a car garage and the theme is carried through the restaurant with retro gusto: car parts, wrench door handles, oil drum cocktail tables, leather upholstered seats. There's no doubt the expensive, garage-inspired, industrial fitout is unique in this part of town.

The front bar

Pitched as a Latin American twist on American diner classics, chef Oscar Gorosito runs a small kitchen for quite a large venue, filled to the brim with suits – of both the pants and skirt variety – during lunch and post work hours.

It's interesting to see the front bar filled with an older corporate crowd earlier in the evening, with the eager-eyed younger crowd filling the restaurant from 7.30pm onwards, presumably after doing the post 5pm hard yards.

O.M.G. Bloody Mary

The O.M.G Bloody Mary is a great place to start, and you'll understand its Gen Y name when the cocktail arrives.

Like a starter within itself, there's more garnish than the Tabasco-spiked vodka and tomato juice drink, including a whole hard-boiled egg; an array of skewered fruits and vegetables, pickled and fresh; and a long sprig of rosemary.

Fresh Harvey Wallbanger Martini

My choice from the short house cocktail menu is more your typical shaken cocktail in a dainty coupe glass, featuring Absolute Elyx vodka, Licor 43, fresh lemon and orange juices, and "burnt orange". Pretty as it is, it's a bit on the sugary-sweet side for my tastes.

The cocktail list actually features a lot of whiskey-based drinks, clearly targeting the predominantly male drinking crowd.

Provoleta - Argentinean-style grilled provolone with chimichurri and herbed sourdough 

While the menu skits across various American diner favourites, there's a notable South American accent but also a modern Australian one.

There are plenty of items on the starters menu to tempt diners as well as drinkers in the bar. We started with provoleta Argentinian-style grilled provolone cheese which came gooey, melted and oily in a miniature cast iron pot.

Not quite the fondue style dish as probably intended, the tangy chimichurri sauce atop the melted curds was the saving grace to the cheese that quickly hardened when cooled, though it at least maintained a pleasing stretchiness.

Buffalo wings

Bridge St Garage's take on buffalo wings was certainly not classic diner style but perhaps a healthier version than the deep fried and hot sauce-smothered version one would normally expect.

Chicken mid wings and drumettes arrived in a light BBQ sauce, with soft, smooth skin as if the wings were poached or boiled rather than fried. It was served a little uninspiringly with a pool of sauce on a white plate, with carrot and celery sticks and a potent blue cheese sauce on the side.

Moa St Josephs

Bridge St Garage boasts a great selection of beers with a few new names to the boutique and craft beers offered around town. The Moa beer range from Marlborough in New Zealand (yes, they produce things other than sauvignon blanc and pinot noir) come in fantastic little cork-topped bottles, popping like little bottles of champagne.

The Moa St Josephs is a Belgian style ale at a whopping 9.5% alcohol volume, with lightly fruity notes beneath lots of hops and malt, and was surprisingly easy to drink.

Coopers Celebration Ale

The Coopers Celebration Ale was one of the most unique and special beers I've tasted in a while. Intriguingly spicy, mid-weight and richly coloured, it's not a beer you'd drink all night long, but it was certainly well matched to hearty food.

Sticky pork ribs

On the mains menu the sticky pork ribs came highly recommended by the waitstaff, served as a pile with a small, token garden salad on a wooden board.

Slow-roasted for 4.5 hours then grilled with BBQ sauce, the mound of pork ribs was tender but taste-wise, probably not going to compete with the likes of Hurricane's. However, they're probably some of the only ribs you can get in the CBD proper.

Rocket and lobster salad

Fearing American diner food overload, I opted for the tempting rocket and lobster salad as a main dish. There was a nice gathering of fresh, white lobster flesh atop the mound of rocket leaves, dressed with a tangy mustard oil.

Rocket and lobster salad

There was also cooked fennel and pear slices mixed into the rocket stack, with thin croutons and a poached egg on the side – which I had with the bacon from the corn bread side, turning it into a bit of a breakfast dish.

Corn bread

There's not a lot of corn bread in Sydney so it was a must-order for us. Surprisingly, it came with a salsa-like sauce and crisp rashers of bacon and unfortunately, the latter was the best part of the dish, with the puck of corn bread rather dry and crumbly.

Mississippi-style green beans

The side dish of Mississippi-style beans was also highly recommended and rightly so. I've rarely experienced green beans that are both tasty and (sort of) healthy: pan-fried with bacon and onion, and drizzled in a vinegar sauce that really lifted the often boring vegetable.

Trio of ice cream

I was tempted into a trio of ice cream and sorbet for dessert, although it turned out there were no sorbets available that evening. Nonetheless, my choices of passionfruit, rhubarb and tongue-tingling chilli chocolate ice creams were all excellent with the syrupy and fruity rhubarb being the favourite.

Creme caramel with white dog moonshine

The appropriately petite creme caramel dessert was a wobbly and creamy rendition, drizzled with a rich whiskey-infused caramel sauce and whipped cream.

Bridge St Garage isn't your standard diner, nor is it your standard Sydney CBD restaurant. I've heard good things about the burger options generally, I'm glad that there's a drive to get more mid-range dining options in the CBD.

Food, booze and shoes dined at Bridge Street Garage Bar & Diner as a guest, with thanks to NAC Media Group.