Pei Modern takes over at Four Seasons Hotel Sydney

In a growing sign that restaurant empires are the only way to go chef/restaurateur Mark Best, of globally-acclaimed Marque and the more casual Pei Modern in Melbourne, has brought the latter restaurant brand to Sydney, replacing the still relatively new The Woods just beyond the Four Seasons Hotel's front lobby.

Woodfired sourdough bread and butter from Pei Modern at Four Seasons Hotel, George Street, Sydney

I'm not one for politics of any sort, so I'll say that the restaurant's current look and feel is a bit slicker than previously, and leave it at that. The huge wood-fired oven remains in the kitchen and so wood-roasted dishes also continue to dominate the menu, starting with wood-fired sourdough bread.

Pei Modern dining room

While Pei Modern Sydney will be headed up by Pei Modern Melbourne chef Matt Germanchis, it was nice to see chef Best at the kitchen's pass during the restaurant's first week, in which I'm told it was very well received by Sydney locals.

Domaine de la Tour du Bon Bandol

In typical fine dining and/or top-end hotel style, it's always a great option and educational process to leave the wine to the experts.

For a sizeable group sharing a large proportion of the entire menu, the sommelier did well in pouring the Domaine de la Tour du Bon Bandol white wine, which matched exceptionally to a broad range of starters.

Clyde River rock oysters

Pei Modern's menu is split into a number of cutesy titled sections (one includes the term "go Cray-Cray" - seriously), but basically snacks and appetisers, salads and vegetable sides, larger dishes, meaty mains, and desserts and cheeses.

There's no better place to start than with "Some raw"; namely the simply stunning specimens of Sydney rock oysters from the Clyde River on the NSW south coast. These Sydney rocks were just outstanding; so fresh, creamy and packed with flavour.

I couldn't comment on the vinaigrette as a few drops of lemon were all I needed for oyster heaven before I started to worry that there was no way the rest of the meal could reach the heights of the oysters.

Culatello 'King of prosciutto'

Seeing my favourite salumi land on the table was reassuring though, with the culatello cured pork leg (literally translating from Italian as "little bum") served with pickled pear slices.

The culatello was thoroughly satisfying in both texture and flavour. Cut thin, but not too thin, with a slight edge of fat and some marbling, it had a real creamy, melt-in-the mouth characteristic and none of the stringiness you sometimes get with normal prosciutto. Personally, I didn't need the pickled pear although it made for a unique partner to the dish.

Anchovy, parmesan shortbread

We continued on raw snacks with a fairly intense combination of a salty Ortiz anchovy fillet on a crumbly parmesan shortbread with a dab of parmesan custard.

There was something quite striking about the simple presentation of the anchovies as a snack, and then palate-wise too with the major hit of salt from the anchovy which I found a little overwhelming with its cheesy accompaniments.

Beef tartare, local sea urchin, horseradish on toast

The last snack was the beef tartare with baby capers on toast, finished with crème fraîche, a casual draping of local sea urchin and grated horseradish.

I adored the velvety texture of the well seasoned raw beef which was piled generously onto the toast thin, though I'm still yet to appreciate sea urchin and its rather alkaline-y flavour.

Young dandelion, blood orange, bronze fennel

We moved on to the 'clean & green' section of the menu with an interesting salad of dandelion greens, which was definitely a first for me.

Crisp and slightly bitter, the dandelion leaves were paired with sweet blood orange slices and segments and topped with bronze fennel fronds in a very modern, very Australian and very sustainable dish.

La Luna goat cheese custard with asparagus

There was much more interest in the roasted asparagus dish which featured a blob of the most sensation custard made from La Luna goat's cheese. With the gorgeously charred asparagus spears dipped into or drizzled with the cheese custard, this may well be the one of the most impressive vegetarian dishes of the year.

Burrata, Romanesco, egg yolk jam

That full honour would probably go to the dish of burrata, sourced locally from Italian cheese masters Paesanella.

The stretchy, cream-filled cheese was an utter delight and anything but subtle, made only prettier and more desirable with its playmates of green Romanesco broccoli and a vibrant egg yolk with jam-like consistency.

Salt cod croquettes

The TV snack-worthy crumbed, potato gem-like croquettes were more traditional than I had expected and not at all oily, with hot, fluffy salt cod and potato innards and a golden outer, served with aioli.

Tiger prawns and slow cooked pineapple

Still on the snacky, appetiser menu, the large butterflied and roasted tiger prawns came dressed with a vadouvan spice blend which was enhanced by the small dice of sweetly and slow-cooked pineapple in an unexpected pairing.

Ricotta dumplings, kale, hazelnuts

The 'bigger bites' menu is designed to be a more substantial main or shared amongst the table, and the ricotta dumplings were pure comfort.

The large, soft pillows of gnocchi were paired prettily with kale leaves and a browned butter sauce, and contrasted nicely with the delicious crumble of roasted hazelnuts.

Whole Holmbrae chicken with yams

The whole Holmbrae chicken is a feat of kitchen technique. Not satisfied with a simple roast, the chickens are brined, steamed and smoked before being roasted in the wood-fired oven for beautifully crisp, golden skin and ridiculously tender flesh; pink bones to boot.

Salmon tail cooked on the bone, samphire and rouille

The most gorgeous main/shared dish had to be the salmon tail which is roasted on the bone in it's full skin and tail-on glory. The fatty flesh was cooked to flaking perfection and was simply divine with the sea-salty samphire, roasted tomatoes and traditional rouille sauce.

Milly Hill lamb shoulder cooked in chamomile

Sydney's favourite cut of lamb also makes an appearance on the menu, with the slow cooked Milly Hill lamb shoulder cooked and dressed in chamomile. The lamb shoulder wasn't quite falling off the bone, but the tender slices of self-sliced meat with the pan juices was as homely a dinner as could be.

Throw in some hand-cut sebago potato triple-cooked chips and it's a party for at least four diners to share.

Tamarillo, vanilla ice cream

We somehow made room for dessert, at least shared among the table. I loved the look of the roasted tamarillo dessert which featured the uncommon fruit with house-made vanilla ice cream. The softly roasted, tart fruit made for a lovely contrast with the creamy ice cream.

Spiced doughnuts, blood orange, whey butterscotch

I'm not one for doughnuts but I couldn't resist the cute, squat spiced ones filled with blood orange curd - just about as sophisticated a doughnut can get, served with a whey butterscotch sauce.

Meringue, white chocolate ganache, blueberries

The eye-opener was the brown sugar meringue served with a spectacular, thick, gooey ganache of caramelised white chocolate. All the sweetness was cut by fresh blueberries and lime zest, and even as a non-sweettooth, I was enamoured.

Duck egg sauternes custard and crostoli

We headed into classic Mark Best territory with the sauternes custard, served in a cropped egg shell with crostoli designed for dipping into the egg, soldiers style.

The duck egg custard was pure faultless luxury with the toffee-sweet sauternes, and satisfying enough on its own without the fried pasta strips.

Chocolate tart, eucalyptus cream

And it just kept going with Pei Modern's take on a chocolate tart, not so much deconstructed but reimagined. The biscuit base topped with chocolate ganache and tempered chocolate shards was a beautiful composition alongside a pool of rich salted caramel and eucalyptus-scented thick cream.

Cheese selection with quince paste and crackers

There was strong interest in the cheese selection of Holy Goat Brigid’s Well goat's cheese, the Pyengana 20-month clothbound cheddar and my absolute favourite of the lot, the Benison Blue from Gippsland, Victoria.

With quince paste, jam and some fabulous crackers, this was a classic cheese board promoting the very best of Australian cheeses.

Feeling like we'd eaten half the restaurant's menu, the clear highlights were the starting Sydney rock oysters, the burrata, the roasted salmon tail and the cheese selection. But with coverage over both standard hotel fare (read: steak and chips) and line-pushing modern Australian cuisine, Pei Modern is a key pillar of Best's restaurant empire that looks to dominate both casual and hotel dining in Sydney.

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Pei Modern as a guest.

Tanqueray Bar Hop for Good Food Month: Grain Bar, Gilt Lounge, Grasshopper Bar & The Roosevelt

Despite the name, Good Food Month isn't all about the food. Bar Hop, this year presented by Tanqueray, sees Sydney bars match a Tanqueray gin cocktail with a bar snack, for pre or post dinner snacking or as the name suggests, bar hopping your way around town.

Good Food Month Bar Hop presented by Tanqueray, at select Sydney bars, 1-31 October 2014

With 49 participating venues, you're not short on options for bar hopping, especially in the Sydney CBD, Pyrmont, Surry Hills or Bondi areas.

Rolling into the meat of Good Food Month, bar hopping was high on my agenda last Thursday night with an especially-arranged Bar Hop courtesy of Tanqueray.

Tanqueray Bar Hop transport courtesy of Prestige Chauffeurs

It was rather nice to be picked up from work by a pristine chauffeured car from Prestige Chauffeurs - a family-run business based in the Northern Beaches.

The evening's plan was to hit up four bars around town for their Tanqueray Bar Hop offerings, all very responsibly with thanks to Prestige Chauffeurs picking us up and dropping us at each bar. If that's not bar hopping in style, I don't know what is.

Grain Bar at Four Seasons Hotel, George Street, Sydney

We kicked off the Bar Hop at Grain Bar adjoining the Four Seasons Hotel (in which Sydney's own Pei Modern by Mark Best is opening on 15 October 2014).

Packed to the gills with the after-work crowd, it was a nice and sweet start to the night with the Violette Royale cocktail featuring Tanqueray gin and Creme Yvette liqueur of violet petals and berries, topped with sparkling wine.

Violette Royale cocktail with Hiramasa kingfish with limoncello mayonnaise from Grain Bar 

The girly pink cocktail was matched with a canapé of raw Hiramasa kingfish delicately coiled on a spoon with with limoncello mayonnaise inside.

There's not really any elegant way of eating small morsels from a soup spoon, and so scoffed in one mouthful it was; the creamy mayonnaise being a highlight flavour.

Tanqueray gin martini (left) and Bramble 2.0 from Grain Bar

We managed to squeeze in a cheeky extra round of drinks, including a gin martini (Tanqueray, of course) and Grain's take on the classic Bramble, reinterpreted as a sweet fizz cocktail with great blackberry undertones with the gin.

But nothing beats a good martini to start a night of drinks and food, especially when there's fat green olives in the mix.

Freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters fron Grain Bar

We self matched a little food, being unable to resist the thought of freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters, which are a bargain $1.50 each on Thursday and Friday evenings at Grain (from 5-9pm). Salty with brine and served with lemon and red wine vinaigrette, we demolished these beauties in moments.

Prestige Chauffeurs pick up for next bar on Bar Hop

With our Prestige Chauffeurs car ready and waiting outside for us, it was all a bit posh leaving a five-star hotel after drinks and hopping into a chauffeured car - to head to another bar. I could get used to this.

French 75 cocktail at Gilt Lounge, QT Sydney, Market Street, Sydney

We were dropped off right in front of our next venue, QT Sydney, which boasts three separate bars within the boutique hotel. This evening, Gilt Lounge was our target so it was up the elevator (which customises its song choice based on how many people are in it!), past the quirky lobby, upstairs past Gowings Bar & Grill to the luxe lounge space.

Gilt Lounge's Bar Hop offering is the classic French 75 champagne cocktail, featuring Tanqueray gin, lemon and sugar, topped with sparkling wine and finished with a lemon twist. It's a great, relatively light cocktail that's totally food and canapé-friendly.

French 75 cocktail and snapper ceviche spoon from Gilt Lounge

Gilt's cocktail is paired with their snapper ceviche spoon featuring the fresh diced raw fish dressed with lime juice, super-finely diced red capsicum, baby coriander and shallots on a base of avocado puree - the acidity matching well with the cocktail's light tartness.

Water and spiced peanuts at Grasshopper Bar, Temperance Lane, Sydney

Next we stopped in at seminal laneway small bar Grasshopper Bar, which has recently added outdoor seating and a Chinese-inspired food menu.

As one of the first bars to use jars as glassware, they're forgiven for the water glasses and thanked for the super moreish, salty and spiced peanuts which I felt I ate by the handful.

Golden Axe cocktail

Grasshopper's Bar Hop offering was the Golden Axe cocktail of Tanqueray gin and Amaretto - my least favourite liqueur (for the "almond" flavour) - shaken with passionfruit and fresh apple juice. Thankfully, for me, most of the amaretto flavour was hidden beneath the passionfruit, while it did give the cocktail a nice weight.

Golden Axe cocktail and crispy pastry, duck breast

The sweet cocktail was paired with Grasshopper's fresh take on Peking duck pancakes featuring a beautifully cooked slice of duck breast presented on crispy pastry with cucumber, pickled vegetables and a sweet brown sauce.

The concept was great and the flavours fantastically modernised, but structurally the crispy pastry had nothing on traditional pancakes; basically disintegrating on first bite and necessitating the need to either shove it all in in the one mouthful or let it fall to bits on the wooden board.

Cocktail shaker collection at The Roosevelt, Orwell Street Potts Point

Back in to our chauffeured car we made the jolly drive to Potts Point and The Roosevelt Bar & Diner, which at this late-ish time of the night was full with a combination of couples and noisy groups at the end of their drinking nights.

The Roosevelt's gorgeously-presented Bar Hop cocktail and canapé came as one, the salmon gravlax sitting on a concave glass dish balanced atop the vintage glasses.

East Side Peach cocktail and salmon gravlax from The Roosevelt

The East Side Peach cocktail was probably my favourite and the least sweet cocktail of the Bar Hop drinks. With Tanqueray gin and a beautiful array of fruit and aromatics, namely ginger poached peaches, pink grapefruit, honey, lime and bruised mint, the cocktail was a star on its own.

It was served with house-cured Tasmanian salmon gravlax (we were hitting all the raw fish canapés it seems) with a tiny bit of roast kipfler potato and beetroot in a pretty, artful composition that didn't last long.

Bar Hop completed, it was a comfortable and safe ride home thanks to Prestige Chauffeurs, who have a fantastic service and certainly made bar hopping in heels much easier. The Good Food Month Bar Hop is a great way to discover Tanqueray gin cocktails in Sydney bars, both new and old, near and far (especially if you've got a chauffeur).

Food, Booze and Shoes participated in the Bar Hop presented by Tanqueray with thanks to Leo Burnett Sydney. Special thanks to Sean and Prestige Chauffeurs.

Disclaimer: Food, Booze & Shoes is acquainted with staff at Gilt Lounge and The Speakeasy Group.

  

  

Go with the Grain Bar, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney

I wouldn't have thought that one of the most exciting and talked-about new Sydney bars at the moment would be a hotel bar. But Grain Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel isn't your average hotel bar.

Hotel lobby entrance to Grain Bar, Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, George Street

In all of four weeks or so, Grain Bar has been wowing Sydney-siders with its unique bar snacks and stunning interiors, redefining the benchmark for hotel bars and indeed, bars in general.

Grain bar and interiors

Let's start with the gorgeously spacious, multi-wood-toned room full of arty design quirks and feature walls. Or the floating back spirits bar, or unparalleled bar food menu by Bar H's Hamish Ingham as consulting chef.

Complimentary nuts

We started with nuts while perusing the drinks options: the Australian-centric wine list with an added, uncommon Japanese wine; the classic, fruity and very tempting cocktails; or the very local yet very international beer list catering to Sydney local, Japanese, Canadian, American or Mexican beer drinkers.

The bar by day

Seating choices include a perch at the bar on comfy stools, or facing George Street for people watching, or any of the cosy corners or small tables dotted around the luxurious space.

Double straining cocktail

There's nothing like proper cocktails on a weekend afternoon and the Grain bar staff are out to impress, as if the spirits bar didn't already do that.

Quaker cocktail

The Quaker cocktail is a deep red concoction shaken with fresh raspberries, and both brandy and rye whiskey. Lemon juice and sugar soften the alcoholic punch, making it more manageable for those new to brandy.

The Governor Golden Ale by The Rocks Brewery

Grain Bar stocks two beers from nearby The Rocks Brewery (literally up the road at Harts Pub). The Governor Golden Ale is a slightly cloudy mid-weight beer that's lightly fruity and a good start to the weekend.

The Grain Lager - especially brewed for Grain Bar - is a lighter and paler refreshing beer and would be my preference on a hot day.

Red claw yabbies

There are many great starting spots on the bar menu, but make sure to say hello to the red claw yabbies at some point.

These relaxed looking crustaceans lay cooked and whole across a plate with a neat pile of pink salt flakes, lemon and burnett leaf dotted zingy yoghurt.

Red claw yabbies with burnett yoghurt

It was snacking with absolute ease and decadence as the tail meat was removed and ready to pop into the mouth, and both claws already cracked.

While a squeeze of lemon and a few flakes of salt were all that was really needed, the yoghurt dipping sauce gave the yabbies a sense of refinement and completeness.

Our lardo on toast, black and white garlic, spring pollen

Top contender for prettiest dish of the year has to be the petal-strewn house-cured lardo (pork back fat). This "spring pollen" didn't get my hayfever going, thankfully, but was a colourful addition to an otherwise monochrome dish.

The toasted Sonoma miche loaf was divine, while the garlic and melt-on-the-tongue sheets of opaque fat are made for each other, if unexpectedly.

Old man's fried salt bush

There's a lot of buzz around Grain's battered and fried salt bush dish, which is an intriguing alternative to fried potato as a bar snack.

A native Australian plant, the salt bush is fried with the stem in a ridiculously tasty and salty batter (more beer, please), with the leaves picked off for eating.

Served with aioli, the fried salt bush seems to have quickly become a signature dish, but one that also appears at Bar H in a slightly different guise.

Grain Burger and fries - pulled beef short rib, radish, onions and sorrel

The Grain Burger is a tall, wet and juicy one; another signature item. Featuring a meat filling of saucy pulled beef short rib, the towering burger comes with fries on the side, but I'd also recommend extra napkins.

With much admiration for the pickled radish slices, thick cheddar cheese slice and wealth of health in the salad, I'm not sure the Grain Burger suits slow, delicate eaters like me who probably have to resort to the burger crime of cutlery.

Special mention goes to the stunning range of crockery on which the dishes are served: asymmetrical yet natural, and strongly desired for my kitchen cabinets.

Media Soiree

I'd been alerted to the opening of Grain Bar a few weeks back by, among other channels, a media gathering in the bar's second week.

Pink Lady cocktail

The evening view onto George and Alfred Streets is somewhat magnetic, especially with a well-balanced cocktail in hand and a warm breeze through the front windows, watching the rat race go by home.

The applejack and sloe gin Pink Lady is a pretty fizz with pomegranate syrup lending the pink hue.

Potato crackling

The potato crackling, another crunchy and salty bar snack, has a starchiness that reveals its origins, but a look and crunch closer to pork crackling.

Steamed brioche and smoked trout roe

The unexpected standout offering from the gathering was the steamed brioche rounds with smoked trout roe. Stunning in presentation, the soft steamed bun was nice and light, but the bright orange roe packed so much more punch than its elegant array indicated.

Every bite was an explosion of salty, smoky, fish egg goodness, all smoothed over and kept together with creme fraiche.

Clair de Lune oysters by Steve Feletti

It's hard to fault freshly shucked oysters and the Clair de Lunes are exquisite with or without lemon.

Wild kingfish tartare, pickled beetroots and seaweed crackers

The kingfish tartare, served on the cracker as a canapé on this occasion was a mouthful of freshness, tartness and crunch. It's certainly one of the more interesting, innovative fish tartare variations around.

Herbed ricotta, new season broad beans, charred flatbread

A cheese course like no other, the house-made herbed ricotta is served in a bowl broad beans and other greens, and farro (or pearl barley - I always confuse the two). The whey ricotta is out-of-this-world amazing; full of creamy flavour and enlightening herbaceousness.

The wedge of charred flatbread suffices as an eating tool but a spoon certainly would help the fresh, green flavours along.

Ice bar by night

Mini pavlova with muntrie berry

Desserts probably aren't found on too many bar menus around town, but at Grain there's a variety including a mini pavlova - that Australian or New Zealand classic - which regularly changes toppings.

The sweet stewed muntrie berries with rosemary flowers was a not-too-sweet delight.

Chef Joshua Niland

Young chef Joshua Niland heads up the Grain kitchen under Ingham's consulting chef role. His enthusiasm around the menu, with almost everything made in-house, is exciting and certainly made me smile.

Niland will also head up the kitchen at the new Four Seasons Hotel restaurant (formerly Kable's), which is currently undergoing refurbishment to be ready in November.

The 'back' bar

Consulting chef Hamish Ingham and Rebecca Lines at the media soiree

The newly named venue, The Woods, will also have chef Ingham consulting on the menu, and if it's anything like Grain, it's going to be a stunner.

See more images from the media soiree on my Facebook page.

Food, booze and shoes dined and attended the media soiree at Grain Bar as a guest, with thanks to RF Media and Four Seasons Hotel Sydney.