SWEETFEST 2015 - SYDNEY CBD

Sweetfest 2015

Do you haver a sweet tooth - or two? We do - so we dropped in to Sweetfest 2015 - and we're glad we did. It was understandably busy - cause people love sweet things.

The concept was straight forward. They had stalls there selling their sugary sweet wares, and they had a series of masterclasses from some of the best in the sweet business. Tick and tick!

It was very busy there, both inside at the Masterclasses and outside at the stalls. It was all running so smoothly though. At the stalls, the food was moving quickly so people didn't need to queue, or when they did, not for long at all. It was great food too. 

Inside the masterclasses the crowds were being entertained, educated and impressed by some of the best around. We dropped by the masterclass with Andy Bowden which was being expertly compered by the dynamic Myffy Rigby. The crowd loved it. He was making sort serve desserts - sampled by an impromptu dance-off winner. The big screen up behind them meant everyone in the audience could see what was going on. 

We also had a chat with the next "sweet act", the lively  Alistair Wise who had come all the way from Sweet Envy in North Hobart.

Now we wished we'd been able to stay for his session as we've been to Sweet Envy in North Hobart. We therefore have some sort of connection.

Alistair is a real character - he literally bounces - he's a ball of energy.

His session was "salted caramel, pecan sticky bun and the expanded theory of everything".

In a weird way it summed him up perfectly.

Next to us was a cake made earlier by Katherine Sabbath - adorned with lollypops and dazzling everyone with its bright colours.

It certainly lived up to its name of "Water Coloured lollypop cake".

Katherine was arriving just as we left and this was another missed opportunity for us to hear from a sweet legend.

This was the first year for Sweetfest. It was popular, it had great food available and great demonstrations from some of the best around, all expertly kept together.

We left with plenty of goodies from a number of the tasty stalls there. We'll be back next year!

THE OAKS (MEAT MASTERCLASS) - NEUTRAL BAY, SYDNEY

The Oaks (Meat Masterclass)
118 Military Rd
Neutral Bay, Sydney

We were pleasantly surprised when we attended an educational evening of fine meaty fare dedicated to (you guessed it)  MEAT. The meat company Haverick Meats, situated at Banksmeadow, supplied the meat. The quality of their produce was all A grade. The gorgeous Oaks Hotel at Neutral Bay was the venue for the evening and each course and was matched beautifully with Bremerton Wines. We were lucky to have the lovely Rebecca Willson, who with her sister Lucy Willson, run the family owned Bremerton Winery, with exemplary wines produced in Langhorne Creek South Australia. Rebecca introduced the wines we were about to be served and gave us a brief background on each variety such as grape, ageing, technique, and processes. They were exquisite wines. We both bought some to take home.

Upon arrival we were treated to canapes presented by the owner of The Oaks, Andrew Thomas who was happily greeting guests, plate in hand and a smile on his face. Andrew does not mind getting his hands dirty, he loves to mingle and have a laugh with patrons. A glass of Bremerton “Betty & Lu” Sauvignon Blanc 2014, was also presented. The Canapes consisted of oxtail fingers & smoked mustard aioli (absolutely delicious) and Bresaola with pickles which were also very tasty.

Our starter for our food journey for the night was Lingua Tonnato which looked and tasted spectacular.

It had great colours and flavours including finely shaved tongue, tomatoes and tuna.

It was inventive and a really good dish.

This also went really well with Bremerton Limited Release Malbec 2013.

Our main course was braised beef short rib (which had been slow-cooked for 8 hours), smoked wagyu rump with smoked carrot puree, baby onions, bone marrow, sweetbread jus and gentleman’s relish.

What a great combination!

The meat was extremely tender and very clearly expertly cooked.

We loved the smokey flavours and also the crumbed bone marrow.

This dish was served with simple yet ideal accompaniments of roast potatoes and salad.

It was also paired with a Bremerton “Old Adam” Shiraz 2012.

Dessert was fruit mince pie: biscuits layered with fruit and served with chocolate ice cream and a sugared carrot. This dish had a surprise twist. It was presented as a dessert but was in fact made of meat products, even the ice cream!

Clever Danny Russo and his team worked tirelessly to prepare the innovative dessert to get the balance just right. What a treat.



This course was coupled with Bremerton “Mistelle” Dessert Wine NV (simply divine.)

Throughout the evening we were educated on cuts of meat, how to prepare and cook them and what to do with the more obscure meat cuts and offal. Apart from stretching the culinary senses, it gave carnivorous guests new ways to look at meat. What you can do with meat is – SIMPLY AMAZING!

The evening was tremendous value for money and I would recommend the Meat Masterclass to anyone who likes their meat. It was fun, informative and we met a few fellow meat lovers too.

Those Dames, who are now doing reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of The Oaks. Special thanks to Andrew Thomas for his great hospitality and charm, Danny Russo for his great food, Rebecca and Lucy Willson from Bremerton Winery and of course to Haverick Meats for their delicious cuts. Big thanks also to Amy Wong for the invitation and arranging everything so professionally.

OMNIVORE - SYDNEY

Omnivore
Sydney

How good was Omnivore Sydney - from 2 - 5 October at the Maritime Museum?

If you went you'll know - and you'll be back.

If you didn't then you should have. You missed something quite spectacular.
The worldwide festival of "La jeune cuisine" - young chefs, new ideas. They brought together some of the most talented rising young chefs in Sydney with some amazing guest chefs from overseas as well. They each set out to showcase and share their skills in a series of Masterclasses.

They made it look easy too - and thoroughly inspired their audiences.

The whole day was superbly hosted by the dynamic and entertaining Simon Thomsen who is so well known in food circles.

First up on day 2 of Omnivore Sydney was the charming and entertaining Carla Jones of 4Fourteen in Surry Hills Sydney.

She made an amazing hock, tail, ear, head and blood terrine - all the less popular and unfashionable porky bits.

OMG - we got to try this and it was simply amazing! It's a skill to get the layers so even but we now keen to give this a go ourselves some time.

Second talent of the day was the Josh Niland of Fish Face in Double Bay Sydney - ably assisted by his wife Julie.

His impressive repertoire includes studying at The Fat Duck in Bray under Heston Blumenthal and we heard stories about this experience.

Josh, an exponent of fin to tail cooking, made a lovely dish from whole yellow fin tuna with radicchio and crisp bulgur "crackling".

Then Gita Seaton took the stage - or the kitchen stage! Gita is best known as the talent behind Nouveau Palais in Montreal.

She made hush puppies - a type of corn donut or fritter - which is a classic southern dish.

She served them with a spicy home made ketchup. She then prepared a delicate sake cured kingfish served with kaffir lime on a celery and lime leaf soup.

We then heard from the lively Patrick Friesen from Papi Chulo in Manly in Sydney's north.

Hearing his background and journey was just as entertaining as watching him create. He has a great sense of humour as well!

He made a beautiful dish of lightly fried calamari strips with crispy bacon pieces on a bed of dill sauce with scattered crisp potatoes and microherb garnish.

Then Paul Farag of Four in Hand in Paddington Sydney engrossingly educated us all on how to fillet a yellow belly flounder and how to use it all to minimise wastage. This was another beautiful dish that was served with a delicate sorrel and apple emulsion.

The finale for the day - and in fact the two days of Masterclasses - was Nathan Sasi from Nomad in Surry Hills Sydney. He was charming and entertaining as he made mortadella from scratch - we saw it all from go to whoa! He showcased skills from bygone days with flair!

Again it looked easy - or easyish - and tasted amazing as he kindly took around a tray of this delicious sliced meat. We both agreed though that we'd prefer to just go to Nomad and eat it there!

Omnivore Sydney was so good. Apart from the great Masterclasses we experienced we also had mountains of great food from Coup De Pates which included pastries, macarons, petit fours, cakes and other tasty treats which just kept being replenished. The water from both Badoit and Evian was also continuous! Talk about being spoiled.

We can't wait for Omnivore to come back to Sydney next year!