A local taste at Brixton Lounge and Dining

Posted by Jan

Glebe Point Road is one of Sydney's eat streets where you can pretty much find whatever you happen to fancy. As a local, I love how it's a blend of long-time favourites and new, up-and-coming trends. A relatively new addition is Brixton Lounge and Dining with its a modern Australian and British approach to neighbourhood dining.

Brixton Iced Tea from Brixton Lounge & Dining, Glebe Point Road, Glebe

Having walked past a few times when they opened, I was pretty curious to try out the new kid on the block, which does breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. I recently attended a special spring menu degustation by invitation, in association with Burge and Rathbone Fine Wines.

After a hard day I was pretty happy to be ushered to a comfy armchair and served a Brixton Iced Tea - possibly the most delicious cocktail on Glebe Point Road. I loved the mix of organic basil & rose tea, peach schnapps, vodka & strawberry.

Salt and pepper eggplant

We had a couple of nibbles while waiting for our dining companions to arrive. I like fried things so was naturally biased towards liking the salt and pepper eggplant. 

I think these could be the new french fries. I liked the crunchy outside that was just salty enough before giving in to the lovely, sweet softness of eggplant. 

Gruyere balls with homemade tomato relish

The gruyere balls were a revelation for me: crunchy on the outside and oozy with melted cheese on the inside. 

The homemade tomato relish was delicious and my dining companions liked it with the cheese balls, but for me, nothing could distract me from oozy, cheesy yumminess. I even tried to surreptitiously eat more than my share. 

House-cured salmon, crème fraîche with pickled fennel

The first entree taster of the 6-course degustation was a fresh-tasting and tender sliver of house-cured salmon. The dab of crème fraîche and pickled fennel added just a touch of tartness to contrast the sweetness of the fish. 

The bread was a tasty rye (I think from Sonoma just down the street) but I refrained from eating too much as I knew there was more to come. I enjoyed the accompanying glass of crisp Yarrabank Sparkling Cuvee Brut from the Yarra Valley. 

Warm bacon, asparagus & haloumi salad

The next dish was a warm salad of bacon, asparagus and perfectly grilled chunks of haloumi, served with a honey mustard dressing.

This fabulous salad could just be a whole main course and would be great for a summer's day when you want something lighter but substantial. 

Signature salmon spring roll

Brixton's signature salmon spring roll was pleasingly crisp on the outside with the salmon cooked just right within. The homemade chilli jam was gently spicy and added pizazz to the spring roll and presentation. 

A light and refreshing Happs chenin blanc from the Margaret River was paired with the salad and salmon.

Tomato & ricotta tortellini with black olive butter

The next two rounds showcased the perennial Italian favourites of pasta and risotto and how these dishes should be cooked just so.

I could smell the butter sauce the moment the tomato and ricotta tortellini landed on the table. The light pasta filling was perfectly complemented by the salty black olive and rich melted butter. 

Pea & goat cheese risotto

The pea and goat cheese risotto was cooked exactly how I like it: pleasingly al dente with a tiny hint of crunch. There was also mint stirred through the rice that added freshness to the dish, which I could have eaten a main size of without problem. 

A delicious marsanne/viognier/roussanne blend from Yering Station was matched with the pasta and risotto.

Pan roasted NSW lamb, pistachio crust with cauliflower puree

As a seasonal menu, the perennial spring favourite of lamb was bound to appear. The pistachio-crusted lamb was quickly seared for a crunchy exterior before being pan-roasted to a perfect medium-rare. The lamb was tender and juicy; gently complemented by the cauliflower puree and crunchy carrots. 

Another Yering Station wine was well chosen to pair with the lamb. I like the full-bodied fruity flavours of the 'Village' shiraz viognier. 

Mixed berry ravioli with Galliano & passionfruit anglaise

I am not much of cake-type desserts person so was pretty pleased to see a yellow and maroon plate of mixed berry ravioli with a passionfruit anglais sauce. 

It is an interesting approach to incorporating seasonal berries; however, I felt that the passionfruit flavours overwhelmed the Galliano liqueur in the sauce. 

My favourite seat in the house for people watching

In a street of many food choices, Brixton Lounge and Dining fills a niche created by the ever increasing cost of real estate and cramped eateries on Glebe Point Road.

It is a rare luxury these days to have such a large, un-crowded space for a slow unwind after a long day or just a casual weekend catch-up with friends - and you could have a taste of it too.

Giveaway - cancelled (11 Nov 2014)

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Brixton Lounge & Dining as a guest.

I Dream of Pork - thanks to Bishop Sessa

I've been dreaming of pork since a themed dinner at Bishop Sessa in Surry Hills earlier this year.

And not just any pork - I'm dreaming of wonderfully innovative porcine creations like smoked bacon aioli and sweet pork fat fudge that came from chef Paul Cooper's kitchen in the underrated neighbourhood restaurant.

Pork terrine at the 'I Dream of Pork' dinner at Bishop Sessa, Crown Street, Surry Hills

Located down the somewhat grungier southern end of Crown Street where Tabou restaurant formerly was for years, Bishop Sessa inexplicably flies under the radar.

Chef Cooper promotes a genuine head-to-tail philosophy, best evidenced in the restaurant's special degustation dinners held regularly throughout the year - like the 'I Dream of Pork' dinner I attended - in addition to its usual degustation offering.

Upstairs dining room

Restaurateur Erez Gordon plays the perfect host and sommelier who really shines during these dinners, selecting unusual drops to match with Cooper's exciting food and serving them generously during degustations. I've heard that at some dinners he'll even match two wines per course.

This neighbourhood-style generosity extends to the food - before we even looked at our first sip of booze at the pork-themed dinner we were presented with some of the best chicharrón pork rinds in town - light, airy, and all crunch - and then a chunky slice of excellent pork terrine on a bread crisp.

For the I Dream of Pork dinners the restaurant had sourced a rare breed black pig from John Corduke's farm in the south west of NSW - presenting the beast head to tail in a number of wondrous dishes and tastily cute add-ons.

Honey bread with smoked bacon aioli

Our appetisers were matched with the exotically dry Delgado Zuleta La Goya Manzanilla Sherry prior to the second mind-blowing moment of the evening - before the meal had even started proper.

Served with house-baked honeyed brown bread and butter was a small jar of aioli in a novel, on-theme flavour of smoked bacon. Almost everyone bypassed the butter for the ridiculously good aioli which was thoroughly smoky with the true flavours of salty, fatty bacon.

It was quite something, to start the night with a revelation like the smoked bacon aioli and indeed, there were requests throughout the room to bottle and sell the divine spread.

Salad of pork leg 'bacon', pine needle mayonnaise, wild flora

We progressed to our first course of a salad: of the best sort featuring pork leg bacon in both a cooked cured form and in crisp, browned nubbins. The pink bacon was delightfully ham-like, pairing well with the caramelised eschallot, soft parsnip and green-tinted pine needle mayonnaise while the crisp bacon was as good as it gets.

Our bacon salad was matched with the Bella Ridge Estate Trebbiano 2013 from Swan Valley, WA which was ideal to cut through the saltiness of the meat.

Corned pork jowl, jerusalem artichoke reduction, chestnuts, pickled pine mushrooms

I just couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the corned pork jowl - one of my favourite cuts of the pig post Italy and discovering guanciale. 

The salted hunk of pork cheek was finished in the pan for a golden top to its deliciously fatty and soft flesh, and was paired thoughtfully with a segment of pickled pine mushroom and a chestnut puree.

Matched with Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay 2013 from Margaret River, this was my favourite dish of the night (perhaps aside from the aioli).

House made pig's head black pudding, fermented cabbage, caramelised apple puree, pig trotter jus

Leg and cheek covered, we moved on to the pig's blood, head and trotter - both made into black pudding that featured a centre circle of pig's head meat.

While I have no issue with the fabulous, all-sorts type of meat from the pig's head, blood isn't really my thing although the rich, crumbly slab was one of the more refined and reserved versions of black pudding I've had.

The sauerkraut-like cabbage and apple puree were ideal for refreshing relief from the rich pudding and jus, as was the matched Opawa Pinot Noir 2011 from Marlborough, New Zealand.

Poached pork loin, red wine braised carrots, spatzle, quince, green peppercorns 

We were already getting seriously full by the time the last savoury dish arrived:  a thick slice of poached pork loin and a square of crackling topped pork belly, served with wintry red wine braised carrots and spatzle.

While both cuts of pork were beautifully prepared, it was almost a little unfair to put anything up against pork belly with crunchy crackling. The heavier Vina Tobia Seleccion Tempranillo 2009 from Rioja, Spain rounded off the savoury courses and propelled us to sweets - of the porky variety.

White chocolate and banana pork fat fudge, cinnamon toast, macadamia nuts

I wasn't sure I could handle the thought of white chocolate and banana flavoured fudge - made with pork fat. Turns out I could and it was luxuriously rich and creamy as anticipated.

Served atop a cakey version of cinnamon toast with creme anglaise, whole roasted macadamia nuts and a cracker that tasted like it was cooked in pork fat, it was a decadent dessert that ticked the pork box.

It was served with warmed glasses of Maxwell Spiced Mead from McLaren Vale, South Australia which is just about my favourite boozy discovery of the year. A honey wine, it exudes cinnamon, cloves and the spice warmth you associate with winter and mulled wine and was a beyond-perfect match for the pork fat fudge dessert.

Bacon doughnuts

But wait, there was more. There was one last porky surprise from the kitchen - petit fours, if you will, featuring bacon. Not in any way your typical doughnut, it was an almost fudgey chocolate cake 'dough' component with a white icing glaze in contrast to the lovely saltiness of the crisp bacon on top. I'm not sure if the doughnut glaze had any pork fat content but at this point, I didn't really want to know.

I certainly felt like a piggy rolling out of Bishop Sessa that night, but also one that was somewhat enlightened on the whole head-to-tail philosophy. As a neighbourhood restuarant, Bishop Sessa is doing some seriously spectacular things, especially in the pork department where the food is smart, considered and completely dream-worthy.

Food, Booze & Shoes attended the 'I Dream of Pork' dinner at Bishop Sessa as a guest, with thanks to Savannah PR.

Sunday lunching at Alpha Restaurant

If you've ever walked through the Sydney CBD on the weekend, you'd notice it's pretty dead outside of Pitt Street shopping mall. I always wonder what tourists think of our empty city centre; and how uneconomic non-office city rent must be.

Further in CBD south Alpha Restaurant is going against the grain and actually making the most of weekend crowds, introducing a Sunday lunch service to its all-week trading earlier this year.

Dining tables at Alpha Restaurant, Castlereagh Street, Sydney

It's been a funny year for modern Greek restaurants: while there have been a few casualties and gyros are trying to become the next big thing, Alpha appears to be going gangbusters with the corporate crowd through the week, and large families and groups around that, both drawn in by head chef Peter Conistis' generous menu of traditional and modern shared Greek dishes.

The stunning, bright, contemporary fitout helps, presenting both a traditional and modern Greece, as do the high ceilings of the ground floor Hellenic Club building and the fresh, modern approach to Greek cuisine in a part of town that doesn't have many higher-end restaurants.

Bar and seating

Having sat at the marble-topped bar for ouzo on a previous occasion, I was excited to be trying 'Yia Yia's' tasting menu to share among the table, with a few extras thrown in for good measure (denoted in the caption with an *).

Pita bread with taramosalata (back) and melitzanosalata (right, centre)

We started with some of my all-time favourites in Greek food: warm triangles of soft, fluffy pita bread with a taramosalata white cod roe dip and a chunky melitzanosalata smoked eggplant dip.

The pale taramosalata was the winner of the two with well balanced acidity against the creamy flavour of the roe, while the soft dice of eggplant in the melitzanosalata could have been smokier for my liking.

Baked kalamata olives

A large serving of kalamata olives joined the starters, baked warm with an array of spices enlivening the saltiness of the olives.

Sesame leaf dolmades*

A classic Greek dish of dolmades was next, featuring an almond and herb rice wrapped in sesame leaves rather than the more common vine leaves.

As un-photogenic as dolmades can be, Alpha ups the presentation stakes by serving the leaf-wrapped rolls in a pool of foamy preserved lemon avgolemono sauce, garnished with micro herbs.

Falafel with chickpea hommous*

I was impressed by the perfectly smooth and golden surfaces of the falafel, hiding hot and well-seasoned innards of crumbly ground chickpeas.

While they're more commonly known as Middle Eastern fare, Alpha's piping hot falafels were too tasty for argument along with the chickpea hommous with tahini sesame paste and plenty of garlic.

Haloumi saganaki, ouzo, lemon, oregano

There was a collective murmur of appreciation when the frying pan full of haloumi was put down on the table. The slices of pan fried cheese were joined by sweet grape tomatoes, lemon juice, oregano and lots of olive oil.

Any ouzo addition must have cooked down as I couldn't really taste it in the salty, trademark squeaky cheese that's some of the best in town and simply gorgeous with lemon and ripe tomatoes.

Octopus twice-cooked, spinach, white beans, red wine vinaigrette*

While octopus isn't one of my favourite seafood types, the grilled offering at Alpha may have me converted. The twice-cooked tentacles were impossibly tender, finished on a grill for colour, flavour and a touch of char crispness.

Eaten with a squeeze of lemon and soft white beans which added richness, the octopus was an absolute star dish of the lunch, even if it's not what I know as traditionally Greek.

Moussaka of eggplant, seared scallops, taramosalata*

Chef Conistis' moussaka of eggplant is something of a legend - developed as a dish in 1993 and enduring time and appearances at all of his earlier restaurants since, the eggplant tower is a stunning to look at and devour.

Two thick rounds of slow roasted eggplant sandwich taramosalata and plump scallops grilled to perfection. Topped with diced and herbed tomatoes and garnished with salmon roe pearls, it combines soft and creamy textures with perfect specimens of seafood in an absolute explosion of flavour.

I, and most at the table with me, would happily eat this as a main meal at Alpha and call it a day. Legend status maintained.

Spanakopita - spinach pie, leeks, fetta, dill

I adore most savoury pastry varieties and so was pretty chuffed to see the spanakopita spinach pie, served whole at the table.

Cut spanakopita

The delicate, golden filo pastry held a finely chopped filling of spinach, leek, fetta cheese and lots of dill; the latter which added a new and refreshing flavour to a classic vegetarian filling.

Horiatiki salad - tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, red onions, olives, fetta

As the food continued to roll in, I was glad to see a vibrant salad join the offerings. Greek salad can be found at almost every salad and sandwich shop these days, but Alpha's version was worlds away in quality.

The kitchen has clearly gone to the trouble to source the very best quality vegetables to differentiate their Horiatiki salad from the masses: perfectly ripe and flavoursome tomatoes, sweet-as red capsicum strips and then, a smartphone-sized hunk of salty fetta cheese to break over it all.

Greek spiced slow roasted lamb shoulder, roast potatoes, tzatziki

The salad was served as more of a side to the piece de resistance: a slow-roasted whole lamb shoulder with aromas of oregano and rosemary, amid other Greek spices. The lamb roast was served with roasted kipfler potatoes and my favourite condiment of tzatziki mint, garlic and cucumber yoghurt dip/sauce.

Roasted lamb shoulder being served

The lamb was ridiculously tender, falling off the bone with a mere push, and seasoned beautifully and relatively exotically with an array of spices. Traditional Sunday roasts may well have a new Greek home in Alpha.

Loukamades - Greek doughnuts, spiced honey syrup, candied walnut ice cream

The long lunch was rounded off with a shared dessert of loukamades Greek doughnut balls. Even as a non-fan of doughnuts generally, these two-to-three bite-sized balls had a lovely chewiness within their golden fried surfaces, although it was the rich candied walnut ice cream that did it for me.

Light features at Alpha

It was such a nice feeling to sit back and admire the gorgeous fittings at Alpha post meal, and perhaps escape to a Mediterranean-inspired food coma.

The restaurant offers generous food that you want to dig in to with friends and family, and a unique and classy ambience (despite the occasional fire engine departure, sirens and all). For a beautiful and thoroughly satisfying Sunday lunch in the city, Alpha has to be one of the best, if not only, choices in town.

Food, Booze & Shoes dined at Alpha Restaurant as a guest, with thanks to Wasamedia.

Tetsuya's: A degustation to remember

The name Tetsuya's is still spoken with reverence in Sydney and probably always will be. There's not really any other restaurant experience like world-renowned chef Tetsuya Wakuda's Japanese-meets-French degustation-only lunches and dinners.

My first ever visit to the Sydney institution earlier this year for a surprise birthday celebration was everything I expected and more.

From the moment you enter the tranquil restaurant, modelled like a traditional Japanese home off a driveway on Kent Street south of the city, Tetsuya's whisks diners off on an hours-long gastronomic journey filled with sensual delights.

Bread and truffle and ricotta butter at Tetsuya's, Kent Street, Sydney

We put in an order for cocktails while alternating looks through the drinks menu and the Japanese zen garden outside, debating the merits of matching wines. Without food menus provided in the first instance, booze selection is more a case of budget and taste preferences, rather than your own food matching. We ended up with the matching wines.

We started with a bread and a pot of Tetsuya's trademark truffle butter, whipped with ricotta cheese to a light and creamy consistency. It's about the most luxurious thing you could spread on bread, with the earthy flavour of the black truffle coming through strongly beneath the rich and creamy dairy components.

Cocktails

The cocktails took a while to arrive and so basically collided with the first of the matching wines - not the first time I've had this happen in hatted restaurants.

In any case I barely remember the sweet apple cocktail or the blood orange one. It also makes me wonder why fine dining restaurants don't just keep to classic cocktails.

Pacific oysters with rice wine vinegar and ginger

We opted in to the extra course of Pacific oysters to start. Served as two per diner, the plump oysters dressed generously with rice wine vinaigrette, ginger and chives were a divine precursor to the luxurious meal.

Excitement got the better of me when the amuse bouche of arrived: a tea cup's worth of chawanmushi-style savoury custard flavoured with soy cream and mirin, topped with avruga caviar. I got to the bottom of it, savouring every small spoonful, before I realised that I'd forgotten to take a photo.

With beautifully rounded and umami-rich flavours and the most delicate texture of the steamed custard against the pops of salty caviar, it truly was a blissful and memorable start to the degustation. A thoroughly Japanese one too, matched with the seriously drinkable Tamano Hikari Tokusen junmai ginjo sake from Kyoto.

Carpaccio of leatherjacket with nori and citrus soy

The modern artistic presentation of the first course was somewhat surprising, offering uncommonly raw leatherjacket in carpaccio fashion.

The loose rolls of the white fish were fresh and firm, mostly flavoured by a very well-balanced nori seaweed and citrus soy sauce while pickled onion pieces added zing and crunch. The impossibly thinly cut radish was a stunning feat of knifework, adding mainly to the plate's presentation.

The leatherjacket was matched with the 2009 Tunkakililla Vineyard Riesling from Oregon, USA.

Marinated scampi with walnut oil and egg

The raw seafood theme continued with the marinated scampi dish; the tails of many of the delicious crustacean forming a generous tower topped with crème fraîche.

The scampi tails were marinated quite simply in the walnut oil dressing, allowing the scampi's sea-sweet creaminess to shine while a gooey egg yolk at the bottom of a soft seaweed nest added a velvety texture.

This was matched with the buttery 2011 Pierro Chardonnay made especially for Tetsuya's from the Margaret River in Western Australia.

Confit of Petuna ocean trout with a salad of celery, witlof, apple and unpasteurised ocean trout roe

I couldn't contain my excitement when Tetsuya's long-time signature dish landed in front of me: the perfectly presented confit of Petuna ocean trout. The beautiful dish deserves every bit of fawning and glory it receives, and it was easily my favourite course of the degustation.

The soft cooked ocean trout is coated in a salty crust of chives and kombu seaweed, which contrasts exceptionally with the sweet, tart, slightly bitter salad of celery, witlof and Granny Smith apple matchsticks.

The ocean trout roe on the side seemed a purely luxurious addition, making every mouthful - best with a bit of everything - more special and fantastical.

The ocean trout was, interestingly, served with a green leafy salad on the side and was matched with a light 2012 Journey Wines Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley, Victoria.

Roasted Moreton Bay bug with braised oxtail

We moved on to warm dishes, still with seafood components. Before this meal I hadn't realised that the Tetsuya's degustation would be so seafood-heavy, although I certainly had no issue with that.

One of my favourite shellfish, the roasted Moreton Bay bug, featured in the next course; free from its shell in large pieces that you rarely see. Given the simplicity of the roasted crustacean, the significantly heartier, oily flavours of the stew-like braised oxtail beneath it tended to overpower the delicate bug meat.

Tea smoked quail breast with parsnip and calamari

There was more surf-and-turf action with the tea-smoked quail breast; a delicately flavoured, medium-rare cooked breast alongside raw, shaved squid.

The latter outshone the poultry with its velvety mouthfeel and uniqueness, while the soft parsnip chip added what I call a quirky root vegetable flavour to the dish.

At this point I was having the 2012 Kellybrook Cabernet blend, also from the Yarra Valley.

Grass-fed fillet of beef with soy braised tendon and wasabi leaf

Our final savoury course featured a trio of beef: a round cut fillet, soy braised beef tendon and gorgeous blob of bone marrow.

Thoroughly cooked, the beef fillet had some surprisingly chewy parts but was nonetheless a great base for the rich feature additions of gelatinous tendons and fatty marrow, while the raw wasabi leaves brought much needed freshness and spiciness.

White peaches with almond milk ice cream

There was an appropriate pause before dessert was served, now more than a couple hours into the meal.

The first dessert featured white peach segments poached in champagne and crumbly bits of meringue, topped with a subtle almond milk ice cream. Served with the 2011 Georg Breuer Auslese Riesling, it was mild on the overall sweetness but was a nice, fruity lead into the second dessert, which also doubled as a birthday cake for one.

Tetsuya's chocolate cake

It's surprising that this dessert doesn't have the profile of some other chocolate desserts around town as it was sensational.

While the non-birthday version showed off the mirror chocolate glaze, rather than an over-the-top amount of gold leaf and a candle, it was the rich, multi-layered, all-chocolate affair inside the coating that was mind-blowing. Mousse, cake, crisp and creamy bits - this chocolate cake had it all.

Adding to the sense of indulgence was the final matched wine: an almost syrupy 1983 Toro Albalá Gran Reserva Pedro Ximenez.

Petit fours

We finished with petit fours - a strawberry macaron and dark chocolate truffle - and tea and coffee, and ended up being one of the last tables to finish; not that that seemed to trouble anyone.

Garden views

Service throughout the night was impeccable and at the height of professionalism, as was expected. Rather than having one section waiter look after a number of tables, we were served by a number of waiters during the course of the degustation - all extremely knowledgeable and supplemented by a couple of sommeliers.

The fact that there was a large, rowdy group dining in one corner of the room meant the evening's ambience was, perhaps unusually, convivial; particularly when chef Wakuda himself came out to meet and greet with select tables.

While the meal itself was punctuated with a couple of clear highlights - in particular the amuse, signature confit of ocean trout and Tetsuya's chocolate cake - some of the other dishes faded into the overall experience which was certainly one to remember.