Sunday 16 August 2009

Friday, continued

Following the CSIRO morning (we’re still on Friday), it was time to set off on a drive round the countryside to check on how business and industry are going in the current economic climate.

As I was out and about, and passing by, I popped into Peppermint Bay to see Paul Foreman in his brand new role of Exec Chef there. His menu sounds absolutely fabulous, and I can’t wait to eat there. He is only in the first week of settling in, and it will take a good month for the new kitchen brigade to feel their feet, so I won’t eat there till they’re all comfortable with the new regime and menu, but look forward very much to it.

Next place to visit was Grandvewe, where I had heard that they had a new restaurant operating, named It’s All About Ewe!! Well, it’s true. There is indeed a new restaurant happening there, and I wish them luck as they have big shoes to fill after Luke Burgess set the precedent there with Pecora.

They are a family operation, with mum as Head Chef, daughter as apprentice chef, and other family working the business as required. They have relocated specifically from Queensland to run the restaurant at Grandvewe, and do the cheese and wine tastings as well. They will see how trade looks before committing to it but will possibly open on Fri and Sat nights as well as all days.

Late lunch at RVL was next on the agenda, and after a gossip in the kitchen with Steve, and ordering some pasta for lunch, I spied Matthew Evans and partner eating, so joined them for a chat. They told me about a new sushi place in Geeveston, which apparently is doing extremely well so it’s also now on Rita’s list to check out soon.

Yum Cha’d again at Me Wah today (fabulous!), and have a date with Fee Hoskin tonight for another Thermomix cooking class. Rita has not yet bought one, but I’m sure you can tell that she’s close to it! Nellie is producing some fabulous food now with her TM, with the latest being the purchase of organic wheat at Eumarrah, then grinding it into flour with the TM and making her own goodies such as pizza bases, cakes etc from her own freshly milled flour! You can’t get it much fresher and healthier (no additives) than that, surely? She also made herself up a beautiful dry roasted dukkah mix in the TM which she and Mr Nellie sprinkled over their poached eggs yesterday morning. It’s those little extras which TM does so effortlessly that impress me about this little wonder machine.

It's about time I got myself one I think!

Posted on by Rita
20 comments

20 comments:

sir grumpy said...

Rita, you can buy a whole pizza with toppings by ringing your local pizza shop. They even heat it for you. Saves all the work and two grand on another bench-space-clutterer-upper.
Save your dough for eating out, so we can read about it.

Rita said...

Ah, Sir G - what ever am I going to do with you?

Tassiegal said...

Rita, were you at the 11am or the 1pm seating at Me Wah? We were at the 11am. Big table of 7 near the kitchen.

Rita said...

Hi TG - we were at the 11.00, and seated on the other side of the room from you. As we were so busy pigging out on beautiful food, I didn't really scan the room, so didn't notice specific tables. I was overjoyed they were so busy, as I want people to keep going there for Yum Cha so it keeps being financially viable for them and they keep doing it. I LOVE Yum Cha.

Tassiegal said...

Makes two of us! I have a slight addiction to those noodle wrap things with the prawns and beef in. They are lovely!
We had a couple of Yum Ca virgins with us, and they left saying they really enjoyed it and want to do it again.

Victor said...

Rita - we were there on Sat for Yum-Cha, but it was pretty quiet. Only 4 tables! We were really surprised. We walked in about 12:15pm no booking. Only us two. Then there was a table of another 2, a family table of 5 and another table of 2. Very glad to hear that Sun YC was busier.

Rita said...

That's great that you went along Victor - but I note you specifically didn't comment on the food!!!?? Any reason for that omission? (Hope I haven't put you on the spot there!)

Tassiegal said...

Victor - might also have been that you got right between the two sittings...one at 11 and one at 1. So those who had eaten their full may have already buggered off, and you only saw the stragglers. I know when we left around 12:30 on Sunday there was only about 4 tables left.

Rita said...

TG - we were one of those 4 tables left at 12.30 - being the pigs we are! We left at 1.00 as the new entrants were arriving! As I don't wear a watch I didn't realise we were cutting it so fine and overlapping with the next sitting.

Victor said...

Oh, no. Rita, it is not like that. We still enjoy their YC. But not what we remembered when they first started. I guess I am missing the noise and rude waiters that come with eating in Sydney Chinatown. :-)

TG - we left about 1:20pm. No new customers walked in except a couple that arrived at 1pm.

I hope I am wrong about their Sat YC business.

Anonymous said...

had yum cha on sunday very good but couldn't stop drinking water for the next 2 days too much msg which is a shame for a place like that and before you go off i talked to a waiter there and he admits that they add it to there food

Anonymous said...

Last time I was there I was disappointed they didnt have the trolleys.. they seem to cook it to order now, and there is not as much range as when they first opened.

Did you order off the menu or were there trolleys?

Also think the quality of yum cha has gone downhill since they first opened sadly. As happens often with restaurants...

ut si said...

Buy it Rita...you know you want to!
x

Rita said...

Anon 9.29 - I wasn't affected by any desire to drink water after YC at Me Wah on Sunday. Not that I disbelieve that was your experience but having eaten what was presumably the same batch of food, none of my party experienced any after-effects such as that from the meal. I have no problem with msg anyway, so whether it was used or not doesn't bother me, but I wouldn't go off about it, don't worry!
Anon 3.33 - we just took what we fancied from the trolleys, so, yes, they had the trolleys on Sunday. After being there for about an hour, and waiting for a few favourites to come round, we eventually ended up asking if they were likely to come out. They were subsequently bought out specifically to our table, so I don't know if that counts as ordering off the menu, but we all left more than satisfied (except for one of us who spat it over the conversation content and left! Let's not go there!), and feeling that the food and service was top notch as ever.
Ut Si - I'm close! See you on 31st. x

Tassiegal said...

Rita - it must of been the air on Sunday! We had two of our number leave suddenly as well!!! (however theirs was a family emergency not a temper tanty).

Anonymous said...

so you say TG or maybe they grew fatigued waiting for one of your alleged posts?

Marian Hazel said...

Hi Rita,
As regular beer & burger patrons(over summer) we went down to PB for the Friday night special for the first time in 6 months with new chef.
After ordering 2 X beef cheek with bacon and mushroom on ciabatta with chips and upgrade the beer from Cascade to something drinkable, we sat down to look over the bay.
Unfortunately we had to listen to a loud & rude customer complain bitterly about the new "burger" that it had a awful undertaste (not sure what that meant) and that she and her husband would never come back!
Wondering what we were in for - our burgers arrived, they were fantastic, I can only assume she didn't know what flavour is? The beef cheek was very tasty, almost like eating beef bourguignon in a bun. The french fries were perfectly cooked too. My husband couldn't help himself, when the waitress came to collect our empty bottles, he said "I just wanted to tell say about the burgers (she looked nervous at this point), they're fantastic!" The disgruntled patron just scowled! We will have to try the real menu soon.
Also went to Me Wah for Father's Day yum cha- the piglets that we are, managed to put away 13 dishes. We love it, such delightful treats...

Anonymous said...

Hazel our experience was at PB sadly the opposite of yours. I found the food while tasty, extremely small portions & ridiculously expensive for the size of the meals.

Marian Hazel said...

I thought it was fair enough for the $8 they charged, $10 if you upgraded the beer?

Anonymous said...

We went during the day Hazel & tried other meals. But have tried those cheek chibattas on a Friday. We prefer a real burger tho, but they are tasty but its a bit weird to eat, like you say a stew in toasted bread, nice but not a burger.