Signorelli Gastronomia: Genuine Italian in Pyrmont

Finding restaurants for large group dining in Sydney is hard enough but add the limitations of budget and Pyrmont – and it's a whole next level.

Luckily for me, taking a punt on the literally hidden gem of Signorelli Gastronomia in the Accenture/Google building on Pyrmont Wharf paid off way more than the nearby casino could ever, despite the latter's ability to draw in the masses, including the fine dining and post lock-out crowds.

Shelves at Signorelli Gastronomia, Pirrama Road, Pyrmont

Owned and run by the group behind functions venue Doltone House, the entrance of Signorelli Gastronomia is like a hidden, back door, mouse hole into the corporate building, with a dark hallway revealing a cornucopia of Italian gastronomic delights: a warmly-lit open kitchen, shelves filled with pasta and Italian groceries, and dining tables in and around the wine cellar, cool room and other food-centric spaces.

Crispy skin snapper, caponata, sultanas and parsley puree

For large groups there are two set menus available, each with 2- or 3-course options – we went for the Long Table menu with its shared main and dessert platters, which make group dining a breeze, particularly when there are no or limited dietary requirements.

We started on great, big platters of snapper fillets, elevated from the table to a mouthwatering eye-level. Paired with a soft, sweet caponata medley of vegetables and a sprightly sauce of parsley puree, the crisp skin and perfectly cooked flesh of the snapper were utterly delightful and as satisfying as fish dishes come.

Braised beef cheek, polenta ‘Mugna’ button mushrooms and lardons

Alongside the snapper were hearty serves of tenderly braised beef cheek atop polenta with a rich mushroom sauce. As lovely and comforting as it was, it didn't feel like a spring-appropriate dish especially on a humidly warm night out.

Roasted potatoes

Sides included gorgeously crisp roasted chat potatoes with plenty of salt and rosemary, and a rocket and pear salad with walnut, parmesan cheese shavings and balsamic vinegar reduction as a dressing.

Rocket, pear, walnut and balsamic reduction

Butternut squash risott, leeks foam and confit lemons

Last to come out, pretty much after the other two mains were done which was unfortunate for the vegetarian, was the creamy pumpkin risotto that was beautifully rich in hue, texture and flavour. Sweet, creamy and with a bit of bite, it was about one of the most perfect risottos I've had around town.

Amaretto and Montenegro semifreddo

The Long Table menu's dessert offerings cater for both sweet and savoury preferences with a house Italian cheese selection and a platter of semifreddo wedges. The latter was like a particularly rich ice cream, with a subtle nuttiness that accentuated the velvety but saccharine dessert.

The cheese plate was initially served without crackers, which was interesting, though I couldn't quite reach the full selection of cheeses across the long table; probably for the better since I went pretty hard on mains earlier anyway.

Signorelli Gastronomia is a real deal, genuine Italian restaurant in an area that sometimes lacks authenticity and warmth. Fantastic for groups (and apologies to the couple near us who would have had to endure endless girly photos) and family dining, it strives for simplicity done well, and genuinely achieves its goal.

Australia’s Longest Reserve Table by Jacob’s Creek

Being such the multicultural country, Australia and its people are rich with stories of provenance; whether you’ve come from a different country, state, town or even suburb to Sydney.

In celebration of Sydney’s rich cultural provenance story, Jacob’s Creek and celebrity chef Pete Evans are hosting Australia’s Longest Reserve Table on Saturday, 27 July 2013 featuring a long table of hundreds of guests – and you can be a part of it.

The lunch will take place in front of the Welcome Wall at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Pyrmont, which stands in honour of all those who have migrated from countries around the world to Australia. Sydney guests are invited to prepare and bring a dish that represents their culture and to share their provenance story with hundreds of other food and wine lovers.

Celebrity Chef Pete Evans and Jacob's Creek winemaker Steve Clarkson
(Image courtesy of Open Haus)

Ambassador for Jacob’s Creek Reserve – a premium range of Jacob’s Creek from Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley and Coonawarra in South Australia – Pete Evans, said, "Australians love cooking and sharing their food with friends and family. The great thing about the dishes which we prepare is that they are often influenced by where we’re from and our cultural heritage. Every dish tells a story about the person who has prepared it."

Louis Cheng from Jacob’s Creek Reserve said, "Provenance defines who you are and where you come from and, similarly our Reserve wines convey the characteristics from the regions where they are grown – being from Barossa, Adelaide Hills and Coonawarra."

"We look forward to sharing our wine and our story at Australia’s Longest Reserve Table, as well as hearing from hundreds of others about how their heritage and culture have influenced their passion for food and wine."

Win a place for you and a friend at Australia’s Longest Reserve Table on Saturday, 27 July 2013!

Jacob’s Creek is giving three Food, Booze and Shoes readers the chance to win a place at Australia’s Longest Reserve Table with a friend. Lunch and matching wine (Jacob’s Creek Reserve, of course) will be provided by Jacob’s Creek.

Jacob’s Creek Reserve Table 
Where: Welcome Wall, Wharf 7, 58 Pirrama Road, Pyrmont
When: Saturday 27 July 2013, 12:00pm – 3:00pm

For your chance to win email foodboozeshoes@gmail.com with your full name and a contact phone number, and tell us in 25 words or less your favourite family dish and the story or history behind it.

Entries must be received by 10.00pm (AEST) on Tuesday, 24 July 2013. Three winners will be announced on Wednesday morning, 25 July 2013 and will be contacted with invites to the event. Note contact phone numbers will only be used for the purpose of contacting winners.

If you don’t win, you can still try for a place at Australia’s Longest Reserve Table and have the opportunity to share your provenance by bringing your favourite family dish to the event. Jacob’s Creek will provide the entrée, salads, desserts and Reserve wines from its South Australia wine regions to complement every dish. Entries are open here now until 25 July 2013.

Jacob’s Creek is one of Australia’s leading wine brands, offering quality contemporary Australian wine styles. The brand was first launched in 1976 and is named after a creek that runs through the renowned Barossa Valley wine region in South Australia.

Jacob’s Creek is made by Orlando Wines which was founded by Johann Gramp after he planted his first vines on the banks of Jacob’s Creek in 1847 and thus began a tradition of winemaking over 165 years ago.

Going nuts over Australian macadamias

I've learnt a few new things recently:
a) it is indeed possible to misplace a big chunky DSLR camera;
b) it's quite fun out in rainy weather when you’re prepared for it;
c) raw sorrel has an amazing citrus flavour;
d) the macadamia nut is the only nut that is native to Australia; and
e) the new season of Australian macadamia nuts are currently being harvested and dried for our eating pleasure.

Australian macadamia nuts - in shell and kernels
(Image courtesy of Australian Macadamia Society)

Australian macadamia growers, predominantly in subtropical northern New South Wales and Queensland, are anticipating a yield of 39,000 tonnes of macadamia nut in-the-shell in this year’s harvest, which will translate to 11,500 tonnes of luxurious macadamia nut kernels, of which 35% remains in the domestic market.

Colin Fassnidge, Australian Macadamia Society's Lynne Ziehlke and Australian Macadamias
ambassador Eamon Sullivan at Sydney Seafood School, Sydney Fish Markets, Pyrmont

This nugget of agricultural information was imparted at a recent Sydney Seafood School experience, courtesy of the Australian Macadamia Society which represents growers and the broader industry.

Olympic swimmer, and Perth café and restaurant owner, Eamon Sullivan, is an ambassador for Australian Macadamias and was on hand with restaurant chef and owner, and My Kitchen Rules judge, Colin Fassnidge, for a bloggers "maca nut" cooking challenge.

Sullivan and Fassnidge demonstrating macadamia recipes

While I’ve enjoyed many a macadamia nut, mostly roasted and salted, I've never really cooked with the nuts – until now.

On the menu for the challenge were a winter-appropriate Jerusalem artichoke and macadamia soup by Fassnidge and a not-nearly-as-healthy-as-it-sounds macadamia granola by Sullivan.

Sullivan and Fassnidge

Sydney Seafood School is such an excellent venue for classes, starting with the demonstration kitchen where both Fassnidge and Sullivan cooked, entertained and educated the small class.

Fassnidge plating up his soup

Sullivan's macadamia nut granola out of the oven

While there was wine and banter on hand, one did need to pay some attention as we'd be recreating the dishes shortly after.

It didn't take long for the demo kitchen to fill with hearty smells of onion, Jerusalem artichoke and creaminess of Fassnidge's soup nor Sullivan's caramelly, sweet, nutty granola.

Australian Macadamias aprons

In the Sydney Seafood School kitchens, it was action at all stations from the word go. Fassnidge and Sullivan did the rounds, proffering helpful advice and tips that I wouldn't mind in my kitchen every time I cook.

Macadamia and Jerusalem artichoke soup

I found chef Fassnidge's general seasoning tip – salt, pepper and, intriguingly, lemon in everything – particularly interesting and one that I'll be trying in the home kitchen.

We garnished his creamy, white soup of blitzed macadamia nuts and Jerusalem artichokes with more macadamias, raw sorrel shreds and picked crab flesh; the latter presumably to suit the Sydney Seafood School charter.

It was by far the best soup I've had any hand in making with the unique flavour of the root vegetable enhanced by the presence of creamed, rich macadamia nuts. The sorrel was a crowning glory, lifting the soup with its fresh citrus flavour.

Macadamia nut granola mixture uncooked

Meanwhile, Sullivan's macadamia granola was admittedly not something the elite athlete would eat too often. His recipe incorporates 300g of sugar, a combined 300mls of honey and golden syrup and almost 300mls combined of oil and butter.

The rolled oats and dessicated coconut give the granola a definite 'Anzac biscuit' taste and feel. But given the oil and sugar content of the granola, I'd recommend it as a now-and-then dessert treat with yoghurt or ice cream rather than an everyday breakfast item.

Macadamia nut granola out of the oven

The speed in which my granola was caramelising – or let's be honest in my case, burning – in the oven had me a little thrown, so too it's seemingly not-solid state while cooking. It firmed up as it cooled on the tray out of the oven and was loudly crunchy when completely cooled.

Fassnidge and Sullivan tasting and judging dishes

With both soup and granola completed in under an hour in teams of two, I was pretty happy with my efforts and the end result of dinner and dessert (burnt granola bits aside), even if they weren't winners of the night's challenge.

Sydney Seafood School dining room light features

We dined on our efforts in the Sydney Seafood School's gorgeous dining room after a fun and educational kitchen session.

Following the class, inspired and equipped with a hamper of "maca nuts" and other macadamia products, thus far at home I've made a macadamia choc chunk cookie based on a mashing of a couple of recipes and will be trying out Sullivan's decadent macadamia chocolate brownie recipe soon.

My macadamia and salted chocolate chunk cookies

Buying and storage hints (from the Australian Macadamia Society):
When buying macadamias, look for ones that are plump, crunchy and light-coloured.

To help maintain their quality, correct storage is vital. Once opened, keep macadamias in an airtight container, refrigerate and use within two months, remembering to return nuts to room temperature before eating.

The Australian Macadamia Society was founded with the objectives of promoting and coordinating all aspects of the Australian macadamia industry, to encourage free exchange of ideas and information, and to foster goodwill among members. See their Facebook page for macadamia recipes and ideas.

Food, booze and shoes participated in the Australian Macadamias Food Blogger Challenge with thanks to the Australian Macadamia Society and Crossman Communications.

So long, Sydney Monorail Farewell Tour

Sydney’s 25-year-old monorail – which snakes through the CBD, Darling Harbour, Pyrmont and Chinatown – is making its final rounds of the city on Sunday, 30 June 2013.

Sydney Monorail (Image courtesy of MTS Holding Company)

I went on the monorail once as a kid, awed and excited at travelling up so high above the streets and people. I’ve used it a couple times in more recent years as a shortcut to Pyrmont and just for the pure novelty factor.

Now, as the State Government’s monorail removal project looms, there’s just over two weeks left to create your own Sydney monorail memories.

Sydney Monorail - last journey on 28 June 2013

If you’re after a monorail experience more The Amazing Race than The Simpsons, the Monorail Farewell Tour is just the thing: part urban exploration, part scavenger hunt and part food and drink tour.

Starting tomorrow night and organised by walking tour group Two Feet & a Heartbeat and Sydney Urban Adventures (the local city tour arm of Intrepid), the Monorail Farewell Tour is a great group or team event opportunity to ride the monorail a few last times while completing challenges and trivia around the key attractions along the monorail route.

Sydney Monorail day pass

Armed with a monorail day pass, game card and select drinks and discount vouchers, the Monorail Farewell Tour is designed as an adventure for teams of ideally 3-5 people.

Landmarks like Kimber Lane to be discovered

From a CBD starting place, points are earned by visiting Sydney attractions, restaurants and bars, and other landmarks; Instagramming team photos; answering trivia questions and more around the seven stops of the monorail route.

Find gems like Dixon Wine Bar on the tour!

The challenge should span about two-and-a-half hours with a secret finishing location which is only revealed during one of the attraction stops on the route (no guarantees Phil Keoghan will be there though).

There are prizes to be won and announced at the final location, where hash-tagged Instagrammed photos will also be judged.

There’s also self-guided option for the non-competitive sorts among us, where you can explore the monorail route and attractions in your own time.

So long, farewell Sydney Monorail (Image courtesy of MTS Holding Company)

Monorail Farewell Tours will run from 6-9pm every night from Wednesday, 12 June 2013 through to Thursday, 28 June 2013. Tour tickets range from $30-45. See the website for more information and booking.

Food, booze and shoes previewed the Monorail Farewell Tour as a guest, with thanks to DEC Public Relations.

Burnbrae Wines lunch for Pyrmont Festival

Even though there's now a chill in the air, Sydney is ablaze with outdoor festivals: among two of them, Vivid Sydney which starts on Friday and Pyrmont Festival of Wine, Food and Art, which kicked off last weekend beneath glorious blue skies.

Celebrating wine, food and art from Pyrmont and the Mudgee region, the festival runs through to this weekend too with wine and food matched meals, and art and photography exhibitions.

The view from Ripples Sydney Wharf, Pirrama Road, Pyrmont

Last Saturday I was treated to a sunny waterside lunch at Ripples Sydney Wharf with Mudgee’s Burnbrae Wines matched to a three-course lunch featuring John Susman’s Kinkawooka mussels and Pepe Saya’s cultured butter.

With Burnbrae offering wine tastings ahead of the meal, I could taste two whites, a rose and three reds before electing what to have with my lunch. I rather liked being tasked with matching my own wine and food, though with the delicious drops on offer, it would have been hard to go wrong.

Burnbrae Wines tasting at Ripples Sydney Wharf

Burnbrae's 2012 Pinot Gris was a people-pleaser - much richer in colour than your normal pinot gris with subtle pear characteristics. Meanwhile, their lightly French-oaked 2011 Chardonnay was one that would turn anyone into a 'cardonnay' drinker - perfectly balanced with minimal acidity or oakiness.

The 2012 Rose was aromatic with notes of strawberry and boiled lollies, and almost tasted the part too. Burnbrae's 2011 Shiraz Viognier was just how I like a shiraz, big and fruity while the 4% Viognier content is meant to give the wine intense colour and length of flavour.

Burnbrae’s famed 2008 Clive Gale is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot - the latter grape of which I'm not too familiar with although it was a distinctly chalky cabernet merlot on the palate.

Bread rolls and Pepe Saya cultured butter

After wine tastings with Trine Gay, general manager of Burnbrae Wines, we happily tore into warm bread rolls and foil-wrapped pats of Pepe Saya cultured butter.

I remember the first fantastical time I tried this wondrous churned butter and it was every bit as good this time, best served as an even butter to bread ratio.

Crispy tempura prawns with lemon & parsley mayonnaise

There was a seafood bias in the selection of three entreés, which was more than fair given the waterside setting.

The tail-on tempura prawns were indeed crisply battered as advertised, with five fresh, springy specimens to mop up the creamy and sprightly lemon and parsley mayonnaise. We successfully matched the Burnbrae 2011 Chardonnay to this summery option.

Custom Kinkawooka mussels pot and Pepe Saya cultured butter

There was no way I was going past the Kinkawooka mussels entreé, served in a custom branded pot and lid designed for shell discards with Pepe Saya butter and toast on the side.

In what's been a very successful partnership between John Susman (for South Australia's Kinkawooka) and Pierre Issa (Tempe's own Pepe Saya), the two brands together are becoming a signature for mussel dishes in Australia.

Kinkawooka mussels in white wine & cream finished with Pepe Saya butter & crusty bread

The kitchen at Ripples Sydney Wharf had the plump molluscs just cooked with cream, white wine and parsley - the mussels themselves tender perfection in the light, very-drinkable sauce while heavily buttered toast was an ideal mop for all the juices alongside a glass of the Burnbrae 2012 Pinot Gris.

The kitchen pass

Pan seared snapper with steamed Kinkawooka mussels, leek & herb
spaghettini and Pepe Saya butter

Kinkawooka and Pepa Saya also featured in a main offering of pan seared snapper - a generous, pink skin-on portion of the firm fish balanced on a tangle of leek and herb spaghettini which was al dente and pleasingly green in flavour.

The steamed mussels added needed flavour to the subtle sauce of white wine and butter while the Burnbrae 2012 Rose was an interesting wine match.

Char-grilled scotch fillet with potato & horseradish dauphinoise,
roasted truss cherry tomato & red wine jus

It was steak and the Burnbrae 2011 Shiraz Viognier for my main meal, with the wine's big fruitiness pairing well with the tender, full-flavoured medium-rare scotch fillet, doused with rich red wine jus and less interesting vegetable sides.

Warm bread & Pepe Saya butter pudding with vanilla ice cream

Remnants of the sweet Burnbrae Rose matched nicely with desserts: an artfully neat bread and Pepe Saya butter pudding that had great flavours but a little on the dry side, helped along with vanilla ice cream sitting on a gingery biscuit crumble trail.

Apple crumble cheesecake with apple jelly

I hoed into my individual portion jelly-like apple crumble cheesecake, topped with an ingenious apple jelly and biscuit crumble on both the top and bottom.

Basking in the autumn sun after lunch, Burnbrae (with my 'raffle girl' assistance) also drew a prize for a stay at the winery’s colonial-style cottage; five minutes out of Mudgee township and  five kilometres along Hill End Road.

Unfortunately, I didn't draw my own name out of there but it seems I've drawn the autumn/winter festival spirit out of me.

This Saturday 25 May's Mudgee wine lunch at Ripples Sydney Wharf, as part of Pyrmont Festival, features produce from Pastabilities and wines from Robert Stein. More details here.

Food, booze and shoes attended the Burnbrae Wines lunch as a guest, with thanks to RF Media.

Osteria Balla: Rustic food in a futuristic setting

I’ve rounded out my dining experiences at The Star, with a meal at Stefano Manifredi’s Osteria Balla; a new take on the classic osteria cuisine of Milan – where chef Manifredi hails from.

Neighbour to Black by Ezard, Balla is positioned at the new front of the casino facing Pyrmont Bay. It feels quite apt to pass by an iced display of fresh seafood in the open kitchen when entering the buzzing and interestingly-spaced dining area.

Inside Osteria Balla, The Star, Pyrmont

The interiors feel decidedly mod, influenced by the futuristic artworks of Giacomo Balla and helped along with the iPad wine menu, both aspects which fit the dining mandate rather well.

There are plenty of wines by the glass to please the early week drinker and I had fun scrolling through the red wine styles.

Sydney rock oysters

Seated overlooking the bay view, we’d decided to go with a range of starters and entrées to share. The Sydney rock oysters, shucked to order, were incredibly salty with their briney seawater but lightened with squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

Slow cooked octopus with potato and Tuscan olive oil

It seemed a strange combination – octopus and potato – but it actually appears to be quite a normal Italian salad combination.

The circles of sliced octopus tentacles were impossibly tender after their slow cooking treatment and will convert any octopus disliker. The rest of the well-seasoned salad supported and enhanced the octopus experience rather than standing out on its own.

Veal terrine salad

The beefy hit of the veal terrine cubes in the salad should have been expected but it was really an unusual twist to see veal in this form rather than the much more common pork. The rich beefiness contrasted nicely with the tartly-dressed celery and tomato of the inspired salad.

Prosciutto di Pino and Salamino Balla served with Balla grissini

I still find it hard to go past salumi selections, especially when you walk past a cabinet of hanging cured meats around the outside of the restaurant.

Balla has an impressive range of salumi, which is entirely appropriate for eating on their own with a drinking partner, including some in-house cured goodies and some from Pino’s Dolce Vita.

The ribbons of Prosciutto di Pino had us in raptures over the flavours, silky texture and balanced fattiness, while the thickly cut Salamino Balla had some great chunky bite to it.

Strozzapreti with prawns, broccolini and chilli

The pasta at Balla is all made in-house and daily so it was a joy to see one of my favourites – strozzapreti – on the pasta section of the menu.

This buckwheat version isn’t quite as silky in texture as a normal pasta, but was paired with a dreamy, bisque-like sauce and scattered with chopped prawns and bright green stems of broccolini.

Wood-grilled whole fish of the day (snapper) with salsa verde and salsa salmoriglio

One glance at the main menu of meat and seafood shows that Balla’s woodfired grill is put to good use. Utilising 100 year-old seasoned ironbark, the kitchen produces a range of grilled fish, crustaceans, poultry and meat that is hard to resist.

One of the fish of the day options (two fishes of the day this evening) was snapper that I’ve so recently learnt to cook and enjoy.

This smallish, whole grilled snapper is well-sized for one, and served simply with lemon and two dishes of classic Italian green herb sauce: salsa verde and salsa salmoriglio. I had trouble differentiating the two, although one had more of a spicier bite than the other.

wood-grilled whole spatchcock with garlic and chili, grilled radicchio

The whole spatchcock was a more substantial plate with the succulent butterflied bird dressed in garlic and chilli, served alongside bitter grilled radicchio leaves. There was something very rustic about the combination of flavours and ripping into the spatchcock properly – with fingers.

Baked slippery jack mushroom

A special of the day on the sides menu (quite necessary with the grilled protein only mains) were slippery jack mushrooms, baked with wine and herbs in paper. The two large mushrooms were almost meaty, in a silky smooth fashion, and were altogether deliciously stunning.

Dessert tasting platter

I had every intention to skip desserts after quite the large and varied meal, although I quickly changed my mind when offered all of the desserts – makes no sense, but who can resist a dessert tasting platter when it looks so good.

I skipped the profiterole with pistachio gelato, though I hear the pastel green-hued gelato within was pretty spectacular. The Amadei chocolate crunch showcased some of the world’s best chocolate in a mousse-y slice form.

Dessert tasting platter

The passionfruit gelato was exemplary and the perfect refresher while the crème brulee was my favourite – a petite serve of the smoothest, creamiest vanilla bean speckled custard with a cracking toffee top and biscotti to boot.

There was every temptation to just curl up on the banquette for a nap after the rather huge feast we'd indulged in; one that was completely unlike any Italian dining experience I've had in Sydney or indeed Italy. With its rustic tastes and mod interiors, Balla might just be in a class of its own.