grain of salt.

district dining

don’t you hate it when you exchange gifts with someone, and what they give you is ten times better than what you gave them? you know, like when you give your friend a box of chocolates for christmas and they buy you an actual present that wasn’t from the service station on the way to the party? me too.

i have a friend called alex. not only is she beautiful and funny, but she’s very thoughtful. annoying, i know. well, as fate would have it, alex and i share a birthday. on the most recent double birthday we had a great time celebrating together. little was i to know that alex was going to get me a cracker of a gift: dinner for two at district dining. suddenly her new navy beach bag wasn’t looking so impressive…

district dining is chef warren turnbull’s new (well, september ‘10) restaurant, discreetly located above the central hotel in surry hills. turnbull, known for his two-hatted restaurant assiette (also in surry hills), says his plans for district were about wanting “to create something where i wanted to go and eat all the time.” not only has turnbull achieved this simple goal, he has created a place where many more diners want to eat too. district dining offers a highly enjoyable dining experience, one that is refreshingly comfortable, unpretentious and, yes, is great. value. shocking, i know.

our meal begins with district’s very impressive tasting plate. starting with (from top) smoked eel pate w/cucumber & green onion flatbread, salted yoghurt w/ beetroots, sumac & basil, veal tongue w/ pickled turnip, salsa verde & almonds, and finishing with crispy quail eggs w/ tarragon mayonnaise & white anchovies. each component was equally strong, and worked together to create one tasty wooden platter. the veal tongue may have been the most tender meat i’ve ever eaten, and the crispy quail eggs were as crunchy on the outside as they were warm and runny on the inside. however, most impressive has to be the ultra cute district dining-branded tin which housed the pate. very clever.

next up was ricotta gnocchi w/ smoked tomatoes, olives & caponata. fresh, summery and comforting. the caponata (hidden underneath the gnocchi) was sensational.

as the sun set, and my camera became solarly confused, we were presented with the ras el hanout lamb rump w/ pumpkin hummus & honey feta. the lamb was coated with an unbelievably flavourful spice rub, and was cooked to perfection. at this point i wonder where turnbull gets his wooden boards from… i want them.

after a quick glance over at the specials board, and an even quicker disregard of common sense, i asked our lovely waiter if we could get some of the “caramelised garlic bread” that sounded so delicious. i was promptly warned that the bread was “very generous” in size. “we’re tough” i said, before naively getting excited for my impending bread delivery. of course, we couldn’t finish it, and may have ruptured something in the process of trying, but it. was. yum!

by this point, i was fairly full but managed to keep it together for the sake of our desserts: both of which were excellent. first up was the buttermilk pannacotta w/ spiced peaches & mint, looking oh so rustic in it’s own jar. it’s no mean feat for a pannacotta to be refreshing, but somehow district did it.

finally, the dish i had been most excited for all night. turnbull’s fancy eaton mess: strawberries, raspberries, meringue & vanilla cream, with sorbet. this dessert is nothing short of special, and i highly recommend you eat some immediately, if not sooner.

for all us sydney-siders who long for better and more diverse dining venues in that price bracket between harry’s cafe de wheels and est. (large as it may be, it’s sparse), district is the place to be. (two) hats off to warren turnbull and team for a brilliant restaurant! many thanks too, to my darling friend alex for the dinner.

now, what do i get her next year?

degustation- marque restaurant

if, by some culinary miracle, mark best is reading this, then mark: i’m sorry.

you see, i recently paid a visit to marque restaurant in sydney’s surry hills, and with the naive enthusiasm of a new food blogger, planned to document the meal in all its finery. unfortunately, upon taking my seat, my camera decided not to work.

now, if you’ve been reading this blog, or if you’re a tourist and have had your photo taken by me, you’ll know that i’m already not the best photographer. add to that one busted camera and you get the following disappointing collection of images.

not willing to let such an insane food experience go undocumented, i persevered with the dreadful photographic capabilities of my iphone. the results are much like the film transformers 2: blurry, confusing and nowhere near as good as it could have been.

“so why are you posting them then?” i hear you ask. well, firstly, calm down, ok? no need to be so hasty. secondly, our dining experience at marque was nothing short of magnificent, and i simply had to share it.

as it was a special occasion, our party was greeted with a beautiful glass of champagne on arrival. we were informed that the chef had added a complimentary additional course to the degustation for our enjoyment- a simply stunning curried marron dish that turned out to be my favourite stop on the marque culinary journey.

chef best is not afraid of bold flavours, and it was a refreshing treat to sample a menu that was positively bursting with new and unusual tastes. the ultra-tender roast muscovy duck, in particular, is accompanied by a highly smoky steamed eggplant which is not for the faint of heart.

similarly, the exciting combination of chocolate mousse, eucalyptus and coconut in the major dessert component of the degustation was a surprising yet familiar taste. oh, and the ‘mousse’, by the way, was freeze-dried. something which can only be described as a textural masterpiece. from the almond jelly, to the morel mushrooms, the smoked goats curd, and the beetroot puree, every flavour was clean, distinct and powerful.

to the entire team at marque who made this night so special for us: thank you. to anyone who happens to be reading this: i hope my amateurish auteurism doesn’t put you off trying this incredible establishment.

check out my much-maligned pics below: