Rita gets serious

The combination of the US financial crisis, climate change and my reading of various reports this week dealing with the changing social and economic times here in Australia has reinforced for me the absolutely dire need for people to be able to manage themselves and their affairs way better than they have over the past 10-odd years.

To link this with my blog, I feel that the sooner everyone wakes up, smells the coffee and realizes that when push comes to shove, responsibility for oneself must become the way to live, the better. Peter Cundall has been selling the backyard/patio veggie garden concept for 40 years. Margaret Fulton has been providing sage advice on cooking and ingredients for about the same amount of time. Yes, they’re old and probably, in many peoples opinions, way past their use-by date, but the principles they preach have absolute validity (if not, more) just as much today as they did 40 years ago.

The ability to learn how to adapt to your personal circumstances at any given time should be an obligatory subject at school. Life is constantly changing and evolving. Just when all things in our lives seem stable and predictable, something changes, and we need to re-adapt to this new circumstance. It might be a change in job, or an illness or death in the family, or the subtle impact of the gradual progression of a childs life within the family.

There is too much reliance on others for our ‘satisfaction’ in our lives. As a child I learned many skills which I thought at the time were the norm, and which I never expected to use at any time in my life but obviously were thought by my parents as being handy to know. How to clean and use a gun; how to make a fire; how to kill and deal with a dead chook; how to cook/survive with the most basic of ingredients, like flour and water (damper); how to subsist with minimal money.

Since my teens I’ve never touched a gun, and never expect to either, but I would be totally comfortable with shooting a rabbit for my dinner if I needed to. (It would break my heart to do so but in a life/death situation could do it). It would never occur to me that I could also use this aid to actually do harm to a human. For me, it would be the equivalent of a spade, ie a utensil to assist my putting food on the table.

Hence I have always felt totally competent that I could cope with most disasters life might throw at me. But could my kids? Could their kids? Could you?

We need to become more aware of the fact that in order for the world to progress and exist, we need to each take responsibility for our lives and the way we live them. We need to be more gentle on the environment. We need to use less water. We need to give away excess veggie products to friends. We need to help others in our community. We need to listen to the ‘food miles’ debates and think seriously about that. We need to be more in touch with local producers, and use them in preference to mainland products. We need to read labels on food in the shops.

By the way – does anyone have a lemon tree with plenty of spare lemons on it? I need a quantity!

On the twelfth week before Christmas, my true love sent to me....

I heard on the radio yesterday that it's 12 weeks till Christmas. The countdown is obviously now on!

You know how I love this season of good will, with all those exciting plans and preparations for gorgeous food and presents. Bring it on, I say!

A quickie

Popped in to an old favourite, Taste of Asia, the other day for a catch-up lunch with the girls. This little quiet achiever retains its consistency as a provider of cheap but tasty Asian food no matter who is running it so the formula obviously works.

I have added it to the list of cheap and cheerful here on the blog.

Don't forget lunch at Moorilla tomorrow...

Hi Rita,

Just a quick note to remind you about the Long Spanish Lunch at Moorilla. Seven courses for $160 including the best of Spanish produce and dishes matched to some new and interesting wines. The Source Restaurant, 12pm, Sunday the 21st of September.

Cheers, Justin

Justin Harris
Executive Chef
Mobile: 0405 468 554
Moorilla
Tel: 03 6277 9900
Fax: 03 6275 0588
moorilla.com.au

Rita's week, and thank god it's over

It’s been a big few weeks at work since Rita returned from her holiday in Port Douglas, with trips to Melbourne and Canberra, and culminating on Wednesday in a massive undertaking which was the end of many months of intensive preparation and organization on Rita’s behalf.

Rita’s professional life involves working alongside industry and employers, as well as schools and colleges. For many years it has been as obvious as the nose on my face (and many other peoples faces too) that there is a huge discrepancy between what young people learn at school, college and uni, and what the REAL world of work actually expects/wants them to do as part of their employment conditions.

In an attempt to try and do some small thing to address this imbalance, and recognizing that one must educate the educators initially, Rita held an Industry Visit for 60 statewide Education Department teachers and Pathway Planners (an alternative name for Career Advisers) on Wednesday to Bruny Island.

I hired a bus, picked them all up in town at 8.00 am, then we departed to Kettering to catch the 9.30 am Bruny Island ferry. At Kettering I issued them with morning tea bags, advised them to buy a coffee and use the toilet at the Mermaid Café, then we boarded the Mirambeena (ferry) for our journey across the Channel to Roberts Point on Bruny. (BTW - the morning tea bags and lunch boxes were made by the magnificent Karen Goodwin-Roberts. She kicks the proverbial arse when it comes to catering for my special clients tummies in my movable feasts, and has just picked up the new Bahai Centre caterer job!)

For a surprising few Hobart dwellers it was their first time visiting Bruny! Our first destination was Get Shucked oysters, where I had previously visited and spoken to Joe, Daniel and Mark. Joe was away on the day, as he’d previously advised me he would be, but he was confident he was leaving me in most capable hands with Daniel and Mark. What an understatement! Daniel, 20 years old, and having only been working there for about 6 months proved he was head and shoulders above most employees I have seen over my years in the employment and training industry. He took the lead role in jumping up onto a deck to address the crowd, and extremely competently and succinctly explained to all these teachers exactly what his day involves; what processes the oysters have to go through to get to your table; what issues the industry generally faces and what his plans for the future are.

He was plainly the overall winner on the day, as the Feedback Sheets I got the teachers to fill out at the end of the day all mentioned him as being one of the highlights of the trip! And he performed under pressure too, as he had previously attended Woodbridge High, and his teacher at Woodbridge was amongst the teachers on the tour and instantly made himself known to Daniel!

We had an oyster tasting there (pictured above with Daniel handing round the oysters), slurping up oysters that had been languishing comfortably in their oyster beds 20 minutes before we arrived! They were delicious! Daniel took orders from all who wanted to take oysters back to town with them, then opened them over the course of the day and kept them in his fridge for us to collect on the way back to the ferry.

Next stop was Nick Haddow’s Bruny Island Cheese Company, where Emma, Ross and Ian performed brilliantly. We separated the large group into 3 then each of those 3 staff members took a group. Emma did the cheese tastings, and sales to those who wanted to buy; Ian explained the intricacies of cheesemaking in the cheesemaking room, and Ross manned the woodfired oven, gave them a taste of his fresh bread, and spoke about the industry generally.

Nick arrived just before we departed and helped out with the final cheese sales before we left for our next destination which was Island Fudge or Hiba – Michael Carnes beautiful property on the Adventure Bay road.

This was also a fantastic stop. Michael spoke to all in an honest and straightforward way about industry, small business, getting started up, niche markets, achieving greatness, working out of an island such as Bruny, and many other topics, then we had a fudge tasting. Naturally I had to drag them all kicking and screaming out of the Fudge Shop so we could have our allocated one hour lunch break, which we had in style at the private home of my CEO who very kindly allowed us use of this magnificent “shack”. (Little does she realize she now has many new best friends who all want an invitation for a weekend at the “shack” on Bruny!)

Our final venue was Bruny Island Wines, where Bernice and Richard entertained us with factual and humourous explantions of their business and industry. Unfortunately we were a bit pushed for time by then, as I was mindful that we needed to get back to the ferry terminal in time to catch the 4.30 ferry back to Kettering, plus collect the oysters from Get Shucked on the way, so hurried along the wine tastings and hassled them out of there reasonably quickly. I personally could have quite happily spent another hour or two there.

We made it to the ferry and had a lovely late afternoon trip across the Channel to return to the real world.

All present on my trip came away overwhelmed: at the innovative-ness of all 4 totally different businesses; at the amount of opportunities there are if you care to look around; at the way people tackle different issues in order to make a buck.

The over-riding thing that struck me, and everyone else, was the passion all these people put into what they do. It came across loud and clear in their words, and the way they approached life. And I think it goes a long way towards carrying them to their ultimate aim of conducting a successful business.

It was a great day, and achieved what I set out to do – showing the teachers what life in these industries and areas is like, and what the students they teach could go on to if they wanted.

Mediocrity at Mai Ake

Rita has achieved a first. I ate at Mai Ake last Friday night, with the full intention of writing about it the minute I got home. I didn't. I returned there again tonight, to verify my lukewarm opinion from Friday night. Nope. Still the same. For me it's a mediocre Thai restaurant, with not very good service and average food.

I went there frequently years ago, then got out of the habit and hadn't been for about 4 years, and I think it will be that long again before I return, just because there are many other better Thai places round town - like my new favourite Darjoh's or Royal Thai!

Friday night's meal was eaten in the company of 10 others, so we had a mixed entree platter each (which contained one each of the following: curry puff, spring roll, chicken satay and Thai fish cake), then Bec and I shared a Waterfall Salad (or Thai Beef Salad, or Num Tok) and Lemon Prawn Curry. Tonight we shared an entree serving of Thai Fish Cakes ($13 for 4) and Prawn Cakes ($13.50 for 6) as well as BBQ Octopus ($13.50), then mains of Waterfall Salad ($21) and Green Prawn Curry ($24.50).

It was all average. Tonight, without Friday nights huddle of many bodies to warm the atmosphere, I froze, and leapt up at the premature end of my meal so I could race out to the car to defrost, leaving Bec to get them to bag the rest so we could take it home! There's nothing worse than feeling physically uncomfortable when you're eating out - whether it's due to hard chairs, or coldness or hotness (sometimes called heat!).

Anyway - what bugged me was the difference in prices. Friday nights total for all 11 of us was $486. Tonight for just 2 of us, it was $98. What is that about? How come it was so expensive for just 2 of us? Bec was paying so I'm not complaining about having to pay, but it has me beat anyway.

So - Mai Ake - nice surroundings, wooden floors (= very noisy on busy nights; very cold on cold nights), nice floral arrangements round the restaurant, seemed to do a good trade in takeaway food tonight but very average service and food to my way of thinking.

Cafe Mojo - going, going, gone

For sale so quickly?...............

"Mojo Cafe Bar

Newly established in June 2007 this exceptional fully licensed restaurant is perfectly targeted to its market—the sort of suburban coffee house/cocktail bar and eatery that everyone would love to own.

The business enjoys rave reviews and has quickly established itself as a complete modern package for décor, food, wine list and service.

Occupies a prime trading location in Macquarie Street adjacent to the post office and has rear views over Vaucluse Gardens (retirement village for 300 people).

The main area has seating for 40 with a casual lounge section facing the road.

The restaurant opens onto a rear deck through glass sliding doors which has further seating for 18.

Trading 6 days with average sales for $15,500 per week.

Great commercial kitchen, plenty of storage, 2 car parks and a very attractive lease.

Highly recommended by the sole selling agents.

A 14 year lease is available for $325,000 plus stock."

Kettering news

Rita had to go to Kettering to collect some pre-ordered sausages from Lee Christmas at Farm Gate this morning. The obvious thing was to grab a bite to eat at Farm Gate and catch up with what is going on in Lee's world (lots, but I'll devote a post to that later), but secondary was checking out the site of extreme devastation where the old pine trees which previously lined the avenue leading up to the former Oyster Cove Inn, which, as I saw yesterday for the first time, have been chopped down, leaving this site looking as if some gigantic massacre has taken place - see photo above taken from the Channel Highway in front of the servo, looking at the driveway.

Wow! I don't know what is planned for there but rape and pillage are words that immediately spring to mind! I'm not an OTT greenie, but the sight of that freshly denuded driveway was so stark I was gobsmacked.

I can't think of any reason why one would want to do that other than to build something in the area, so assume some building will take place on the grounds. But guys - they were really old trees; they weren't harming anyone, surely? Those Alice in Wonderland-related wood carvings done by Roland Gabatel in the trunks of many of the trees are gone too. I realise I'm probably coming across like some old fogey who always uses the rationale that just because something is old, it therefore has credibility and value. That's definitely not the case.

Oh well, c'est la vie, but I don't have to like it, do I?

Rita chats with Garry and Ian from Rockerfellers

Ian Cox and Garry Dorrington (ex Rockerfellers) were in town recently and Rita took the opportunity to have breakfast at Dukkah and Pigeon Hole with them and reminisce about the good old days! The below will ultimately be added to the Rita's Bite website People page.

Ian and Garry could arguably be called the grandfathers of hospitality in Hobart, along with a few other stalwarts. Garry has been plying his trade (hospitality in Hobart) since late 1972, when he got a job in the new (at that time) Revolving Restaurant in Wrest Point. Prior to that he had been working as a tour guide for the National Trust at Runnymeade in New Town for a few years.

Ian, being a qualified Horticulturist, arrived in Hobart to take up a job with the Clarence Council as Manager of Parks and Reserves, which he did for 3 years.

The period that Wrest Point opened the casino and Revolving Restaurant was a revolutionary time for fine dining in Hobart. If you were around at the time, you’ll remember how strict door staff were enforcing the dress code to get in the doors of WP. Not like today when any riff raff can walk in decked out in trackies and joggers!

In those days, denim was a total no-no, no matter how much it had cost you to buy. American comedian Jerry Lewis was an example of the relentless dress code policing at WP. Lewis was, at the time, the huge billing entertainment name in the Cabaret Room, which, by the way, encompassed a fully formal, white linen, sit-down meal prior to your entertainment. Mr Lewis was having a bit of a wander through the gambling area after his performance one evening, but as he was clothed in denim, albeit Armani which he’d paid more than the doorman’s annual wages for, he was thrown out!

They were just as strict about any male not wearing a tie and jacket. There was initial conjecture that if you didn’t have a suit on you couldn’t get in, but I think that was just gossip. They were horrendously strict though, and even though it was a real pain in the arse, at least everyone actually looked quite smart. Women in long dresses was common attire there. How often do you see that now? I myself am definitely not a formal dress person, but can appreciate others looking their very best in more formal attire.

Following the stint at the Revolving Restaurant, Garry left, along with David Siepen (who was a fellow staff member there) and they worked at Angelos, which was, at various times, Winter Garden, then Angelos, then Silvers Nightclub, then latterly Mona Lisa, in Liverpool Street. The next phase of their lives was to involve their business partnership running some wonderful, historic venues round town.

The groundbreaking 159 Davey (at that address) in 1976, after which followed (in 1978) the equally groundbreaking Beaujangles in Victoria Street. How popular was their Sunday brunch at Beaujangles? We’d never seen such food and so many people going out for brunch!

After Beaujangles came Sweethearts, which initially was sited near where Trafalgar Place now is. When that area was redeveloped, they moved to Bathurst Street, where Siam Gardens now is. Sweethearts was the place for fabulous desserts. Sweethearts existed from about 1979 till 1985.

That then heralded the start of Rockerfellers, originally above Knopwoods, where Syrup now is. They were at that site for 6 years then moved to their last address in the former Gibsons Mills, where Catch now is. They owned Rockerfellers for 19 years in all – an astronomic amount of time for hospitality in Hobart.

During the course of their Rockerfeller ownership, they started a few other ventures up as well – namely Cha Cha’s, on the site of Banjo’s in Elizabeth Street, and Sticky Fingers Ice Cream Parlour. Cha Cha’s rates up there as one of the best restaurant openings I attended because it had previously been another restaurant which was sold on to the boys along with all the alcohol. Naturally the cleaning out of the wine cellar and top shelf occurred at the opening, so there were many people staggering out of that particular restaurant opening very much the worse for wear! It operated for 3 years then closed down.

Sticky Fingers was another landmark venue. The boys established it with the ultimate idea being that it would fund their retirement. However, out of the blue and 3 years into its operation someone made them an offer for the business that was too great for them to refuse, so they sold it. It was a boutique ice cream parlour, with all the adventurous flavours made on the premises. As well as the customers coming onto the premises, every restaurant in town wanted to use their ice cream. They were run off their feet.

The introduction of the Fine Food awards at the Show saw them winning Gold for their beautiful ice cream. Stephanie Alexander also wanted her restaurant in Melbourne to be supplied with their well known Pink Grapefruit Sorbet.

As fast as the ice cream was made, it was eaten, leading to a sign being made for the door to account for the sudden 2 hour closures they were often forced to have: “You’re licking it faster than we can make it”. It was a great money spinner for them.

They also fought for the right to be able to develop the Cornelian Bay Boat House site, and obviously won, ultimately. They retain their interest in the restaurant to this day, and should be justifiably proud of it.

I asked the boys if they could recall any really memorable incidents from their 19 years at Rockerfellers. A few came up.

A dinner guest one evening was Rolf Harris. Rolf used the loo at one stage, and returned telling the boys that the sign on the toilet door was fading a bit, and asking them if they wanted him to touch it up with a texta! Naturally they agreed, so Rolf went to work and produced one of those famous Rolf Harris works of art, with the finished product looking great. The boys were rapt and decided that next day they’d get someone in to glass over the sign and thus preserve it for posterity. Unfortunately their mega-efficient cleaner started her early morning cleaning shift at 5.00 am next morning, and with a lot of hard scrubbing, managed to clean off the “scribblings” someone had done on the toilet door the night before, so she proudly announced to the boys when they arrived later that morning! Bugger!

A few bad nights also came to mind for the boys. One instance was at the old Rockers when one of their chefs was going upstairs with a large stockpot (with no lid) full of liquid toffee. As the pot had a handle missing, he was holding it with a tea towel wrapped round it. (The boys had previously told him to toss out said pan). He slipped on the stairs and managed to tip the whole pot of molten toffee all over himself. The blood-curdling scream of anguish from the chef in the stairwell was what alerted all to the disaster. He received extensive burns and his body immediately stiffened as the shock set in. Staff had to lift him onto the bar to lie in the prone position till medical help arrived. He had to have many skin grafts.

Another busy Friday night, packed to the rafters with customers, they had an American tourist dining alone who managed to drink 2 bottles of red along with a 3 course meal. At the end, looking decidedly green, he stood up to leave, and immediately vomited all over the restaurant, spraying most of the restaurant and customers! The restaurant had to be cleared; meals which were on their way out returned to the kitchen; in-coming customers turned away; everyone present offered free wine, drinks etc in order to placate them, and the whole disgusting mess cleaned up. Vomit had gone everywhere, even in women’s handbags, as people subsequently found out when they later delved into their handbags for wallet or car keys!

The boys say that hospitality in Hobart was kind to them and they loved their time here working in restaurants. They never looked round at what other people were doing, but did their own thing. Their hard and fast rule for success was that the business absolutely ALWAYS came first. The business was their priority at all times. Their whole life revolved round the business, and they were never deflected. They provided a lot of colour and personality to the dining out landscape of Hobart and I, for one, miss their constant presence immensely.

Rita's back, again

So we’ve got a decent list now of cheaper places to eat – but let’s not throw away the baby with the bath water.

The cheap places are all very well and good for those times when you simply can’t be bothered cooking up a storm, but we shouldn’t rely exclusively on these eateries when we have many more restaurants and cafés that put a hell of a lot more effort, time, expertise and money into providing us with the best the region can offer.

So – use the names on the Cheap listing by all means, but don’t rely exclusively on them for your culinary delights and satisfaction.

Sip Cafe

Address:	29 Banksia St, Bicheno
Phone No:	03 6375 1247
Web Site:
Description:	Tasteful cafe food
Comment:	You'll be amazed at the quality in the simple ingredients and fine flavours which shine through. Highly recommended.
Rita Rating:	****

Click links below (added on date shown) to read more . . .

Seaview + Sip Website(added 1-1-2007)

Eating Tassie forum(added 3-1-2007)

Rita Blog Review - Slurping at sunny Sip(added 9-11-2008)

Sunday catch-up

A few assorted bits today.....

Firstly, thanks to the suggestion of P, I have added a sidebar to the blog entitled Cheap eats round $10 in Hobart, and am hoping people will contribute when they find somewhere that not only offers cheap food, but that is of a reasonable standard.

P says:
"What I would like is if we could get together a list of places who do offer the sort of $10 meal we are talking about. And still produce good food. They might just produce it to get people through the door and that is fine.

Rita, it can be cheap and still good and spectacular food. Lets find it!

In the last month I have eaten at Mud, Smolt, Mures upper and lower decks, Drunken Admiral, Ball&Chain, Anatolia and Fish Frenzy but what we all need often is somewhere to go at the drop of a hat when we don't want to go through the process of going and buying a heap of good fresh food then the whole cooking process.

Its pretty easy to get a good meal at a high price but where are all the good, fresh meals that we can eat everyday!

Is that enough of a rant? P"

Well, let's give it a go.

Also I have heard during the week from:
*John and Joan Mahindroo, who are now back from their stint in Greece, and are heading up the floor and kitchen at Catch. As that kitchen is John's old stamping ground from Rockerfellers days, he is totally familiar with it, and comfortable there.
*Subi Mead and Helen Bain at Bicheno who have just started up their new restaurant, sip. I'll hopefully be able to provide more details on that, but going on their track record at Left Bank in Swansea, I have no reason to think that their latest venture will be nothing short of stunning and highly recommended. I intend whipping up to Bicheno as soon as I can to check it out.

Where's Kawasemi?

Look, I know I'm old! I can just about face up to that label. Along with old age come a few unfortunate disabilities, like forgetfulness, dithery-ness, stupidity, an inability to drive competently etc ad infinitum.

It's OK - my kids keep me well in check pointing out those many inconsistencies daily. But I know it's not just me, because I had No 5 child (24 years old) with me the other night when I suggested we grab dinner at Kawasemi - and we couldn't bloody find it!

It's quite simple, I know. It's in Dickensons Arcade. Which was closed off with roller doors at both entrances to Dickensons Arcade, and bolted shut also.

We walked round the building. We tried ALL possible entrances to that whole block! We went round the back and read the sign announcing to the world that Kawasemi was there in the arcade and open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. We tried the (locked) door next to said sign. No way could we reach Kawasemi.

It was 6.00 pm Wednesday night. Now are we really that stupid or what? How the hell do we find the door? I just know there's some really simple way to get in there. Can someone please let me in on the secret?

In the end, hungry and frustrated, we made our way to Sandy Bay and had Bund in Shanghai food.

A new dawning for the Granada?

WTF? I heard an ad on the radio today for a new look Granada which apparently comes complete with:
new owners
new chef
new menu AND
every Monday is now $10 day there!

Yay! Every Monday, all their food costs $10 except for Scotch Fillet, so the ad told me.

OK the rest of you - Granada has upped the ante and thrown down the gauntlet. Let's see what the Hobart dining scene can counter-offer us to tempt us all away from spending every Monday night either at the Granada spending $10, or at Cornelian Bay Boat House with their $30 night!

Follow-up to Dumpling World review

A commenter on Rita's blog, GL, has left the following comment today on my review of Dumpling World from a while back.

I apologise wholeheartedly to poor GL for his shit dumplings. He was going on what I said previously. He went once and was not really impressed but thought he'd give them another try - with the following results.

This is the main reason I rely on you guys to follow up with places I've spoken about here, and if you have a similar experience, come back and tell us, so we know the status quo is intact. If it's crap, you need to come back here as well, and tell us about it. Most of us are reasonable people, and we like to talk amongst ourselves here about these matters. So I thank you GL for the feedback, and that's why I'm making it the subject of my blog today.

"Well, I thought I'd go back and try again. Went for the boiled dumplings due to good review above - and they were crap. Cold in the middle FFS! I asked the guy behind the counter if they are microwaved (you could here it ping and then "Voila!" food appears) and he said yeah. -20/10 I mean how freakin hard is it to cook dumplings when you are called Dumpling World? Hobart deserves sooooo much better than this."

Dumpling World - please try harder!

Mures Lower Deck

Address:	Victoria Dock, Hobart
Phone No:	03 6231 2009
Web Site:
Description:	Seafood
Comment:
Rita Rating:

Click links below (added on date shown) to read more . . .

Mures Fish Centre Website(added 1-1-2007)

Menufeast restaurant guide for Mures Lower Deck(added 2-1-2007)

Mures Lower Deck (Rita Blog)(added 1-9-2008)

Angasi

Address:	64A Main Road, Binalong Bay
Phone No:	03 6376 8222
Web Site:
Description:	Modern Australian
Comment:	An outlying well-reputed restaurant serving breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Rita Rating:	***

Click links below (added on date shown) to read more . . .

Angasi Website(added 1-1-2007)

Menufeast restaurant guide for Angasi(added 2-1-2007)

Anticlimax at Angasi (Rita Blog)(added 1-9-2008)

Bruny Island Cheese news

Nick Haddow at BIC sent me the email below. It is pretty self-explanatory.

"First of I wanted to let you know that we have been granted the first licence in Tasmanian to commercially produce our hard cheese C2 from raw milk. This is hugely exciting!

This only became possible because it’s method of manufacture satisfied existing regulations that allow for this to take place – in that regard it is a unique cheese in Tasmania.

BUT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THE LAWS WHICH PREVENT ALL CHEESEMAKERS FROM MAKING RAW MILK CHEESE!

And I need your help.

Australia is one of the only countries in the world where its cheese makers are denied the right to make unpasteurised milk cheese. This is despite the fact that for several years we have been allowed to import raw milk cheese from Europe. It is vital to the future of artisan cheese makers in Australia that these regulations be changed. Food Standards Australia is currently reviewing these laws and has called for public comment. This is the publics chance to play a role in getting these laws changed!

The strongest push for this needs to come from consumers not the cheese makers (there are actually not that many cheese makers who are wanting this, as most are not in a position to make safe raw milk cheese and therefore do not want a market with a preference for it). Look at Free Range Eggs – it was not the chicken farmers that brought about that change but the consumers.

Later today I will have a button on my home page which will allow people to sign a prepared email and send it to Food Standards Australia. Is this something you could help to promote?"

Of course I told Nick I'd help if I could, so it's over to you people now, as well. Why not go to the BIC website and read through Nick's instructions there, and help him out with this?

The web address is: http://brunyislandcheese.com.au/campaign

Anticlimax at Angasi

You know how it happens in life when people build something or someone up bigtime to you, then when you eventually see/eat/read/meet them, they don’t quite measure up to the big rave reviews you’ve previously heard? Well maybe that’s what happened to us yesterday at Angasi at Binalong Bay (outside St Helens).

Whatever it was, I felt very deflated when we left.

Let me set the scene for you. A lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, albeit a bit breezy. Rita is still firmly entrenched in holiday mode, but starting to dread the big first day back at work looming large on the horizon (this Wednesday). Lunch at Angasi was a definite bonus. We arrive and are initially ignored by the 2 floor staff for about 5 minutes. No eye contact, or verbal acknowledgement of our obeying the chalked sign at the counter instructing us to wait there to be seated. The restaurant has 6 or 7 tables of couples occupied. The ambience is casual and unhurried, as it should be on a Sunday afternoon in the backblocks of St Helens.

Not a good start, but we overlook this infinitesimal hiccup in the greater scheme of things. We’re at the famous Angasi which we’ve read and heard so much about over the past few years: all of it extremely glowing and positive.

We sit down and peruse the menu. It reads well. Lots of interesting-sounding food. In fact so interesting and delicious-sounding that we can’t make up our minds so decide to have a taste of as much as we can, and hang the expense (not that cost came into it one iota anyway, but still….)! It took so long to drive up there (specifically for lunch) so we might as well get maximum enjoyment while we’re there.

We decide on 3 appetisers: Pickled Tasmanian Abalone with lemongrass and chilli jam and sake rice ($7), Scallop ($5) served on top of something which I couldn’t pinpoint and can’t remember how the menu described it, and 4 cooked Oysters (two fried in Panko with Japanese mayo, and two Salt & pepper fried with olive salsa and sour cream - $3 each) all of which sound BEAUTIFUL; 2 entrees (Crispy fried Quail with butter braised potato - $19 - and Crispy Lime Fishcake with coriander salad and sticky citrus syrup - $17); and 2 mains one of which is entitled Bay of Fires Experience ($42) which tops all the other items on the menu for price but sounds fabulous and infers I’ll get to sample a great cross-section of their reputed fine food, and I assume I’ll have been able to taste as much local seafood as I could. The menu description for the Bay of Fires Experience reads, “showcase selection of abalone, scallops, mussels, fish”. The other main was Roasted free range chicken ($28). We thought if we could fit dessert in, we’d try the Assiete plate – a serving of 3 different desserts ($25).

The waiter takes our order and we sit back to relax and enjoy this feast.

The appetizers come out. The oysters in the panko are OK but the ones with the olive salsa are spectacular. The abalone is interesting. We only get 3 thin shavings in this serve but my opinion is that you don’t actually get the true fine taste of abalone with the pickling process, so even though I enjoyed the dish, I think pickling it didn’t actually capture it. The rice accompaniment rocked. The scallop was fine too, but didn’t stand out for me.

Then the entrees – the quail was just quail, nothing different or particularly noteworthy there. Not good, nor bad. Ordinary. The fish cake was most disappointing. I make them frequently and would never put mine up against a chef’s version, but I reckon mine more than hold their own in comparison with Angasi’s.

In the interval between entrees and mains, I had a thought, which I voiced to Jamie at that time. I wondered if the Bay of Fires Experience platter content would duplicate the appetizers we’d already had. We instantly decided that wouldn’t be the case, as surely the waitperson would realise that fact at ordering time, and tell us, so we could order differently. Especially when at the outset we’d commented to said waitperson we were ordering as much as we could from the menu so we could taste a good selection of their food!

Well – you guessed it! Out came the Bay of Fires Selection, duplicating exactly what we’d just had, with the addition of Local black mussels with spiced chorizo and tomato butter sauce, and the cooked oysters we'd previously eaten replaced by a solitary natural oyster. (I'd foregone the natural oyster option with the appetiser selection as I'm more than well acquainted with natural oysters).

I left the fish cake (which obviously was their “fish” contribution to the platter); I ate the (3 shaved slices, as per appetizer) pickled abalone and rice, the (one) scallop, the one oyster and the four mussels (delicious) in the tomato base sauce.

That was it! I was REALLY unhappy, and pissed off that waitperson had not, in fact, recognized the fact that I was duplicating when I ordered, or that the kitchen hadn’t picked it up either.

Luckily, one of the waitstaff looked at the plate as she cleared back, and asked if it was OK. I had to then complain about why I was unhappy. She was a tad defensive, understandably, and excused it with the fact that our waiter had only been there 2 weeks, so didn’t know the menu fully. She apologized for my disappointment, which was nice of her, but if it had been me, I’d have offered the customer some kind of counter offer, in order to try and redeem their experience.

The Assiete dessert was fabulous. They really redeemed themselves with that, but my disappointment was too great by then and it didn’t go anywhere towards making me feel happier about the overall experience.

I am still smarting from the frustration of having been prepared to spend any amount of money in order to eat great food. I spent $166.50 for lunch and had a long drive to boot. Not happy Angasi!

Mures Lower Deck

(Pictured above is NOT Mures Lower Deck, but Finz in Port Douglas. I'm sorry but I can't help myself!)

I received the following comment, and invitation to blog this if I felt it was worthy of opening up the subject for general discussion - so I have!

I won't name our respondant as I'm not sure if he's OK with having his name put to it, so let's call him Anon.

"As a Hobartian I am ashamed that tourists go here expecting the best.
If Fish Frenzy is as I think worth 9.5 out of ten then Mures is worth 2 out of ten.

Why do they not take my advice and send their staff to learn to cook chips. They seem to insist on making large batches of undercooked greasy soggy stuff.

The fish last time (trevalla) was very overcooked and tasted of fish liver oil. Left most of it. Not a cheap eat.

Perhaps they should increase their prices and employ experienced staff not just school kids."

Thanks, Anon, for your email, and these good questions. Does anyone care to add their opinion?

I go to Mures Lower Deck now and then and buy the Mures Marinade cooked fish, but don't bother with the chips. (I also frequent the fresh fish counter, probably weekly, but that isn't what you're talking about here.) Hence I can't really make any kind of contribution to this discussion, much as I'd like to. My only comment is that I love their renovation and the new layout of the downstairs area, and assumed those amendments would make it a great tourist eating place.