Friday 1 October 2010

Beers and snacks at Little Press

Little Press & Cellar
72 Flinders Street, Melbourne (map)
9677 9677
website


Mythos

This evening I had drinks and nibbles at Little Press & Cellar with the charming J prior to going along to ACMI to see a screening of La Haine with DJ Dexter remixing the film score live (which was AWESOME). I hadn't been to The Press Club since its refurb and J had never been, so it seemed like a good idea (even if George Calombaris does reportedly hate food bloggers).

Little Press

To the casual observer, Little Press looks very similar to its previous incarnation as The Press Club bar, only now they've got their own kitchen (separate from The Press Club restaurant) and a nice little private dining room bunker. We sat above ground and ordered several Greek lagers from the very capable staff.

Action shot of J pouring a Mythos (I should've turned the bottle so the label was facing the camera!).

Action shot

Neither of us was particularly ravenous (as we'd had lunch at Kinfolk earlier that day), so we just got two snacks to share. One was the taramosalata with hot chips ($13.50) - as at Hellenic Republic, the taramosalata is made with white fish roe, not pink, and has a wonderfully smooth, subtle flavour. Dipping the hot chips into it was ace.

Taramosalata

We also shared a plate of octopus ($13.50), simply prepared with olive oil and lemon juice. Because the simplest things in life are often the best.

Octopus

If we'd been hungrier, I would've suggested we get the wagyu bresaola with pickled mushrooms and organic egg... and maybe the dessert with vanilla ice cream, peanut praline and salt caramel. Like sorrel, macarons, parfait and slow cooked eggs, salted caramel is EVERYWHERE these days. Not that I'm complaining.

Oh, and what a treat it was to see La Haine up on the big screen! So many brilliant scenes. Nice work on the remixed soundtrack Dexter!

DJ Dexter La Haine

8 comments:

My restaurants Melbourne said...

nice review of this place, the octopus looks lovely. and i love the way the chips were served.

Gem said...

Meh, no one likes George anyway. Other bloggy half thinks he eats like a convict, hahaha. One of the folks I was at dinner with last night did a fab impersonation of him.

The octopus and the bresaola sounds lovely, and I was so saying the same thing about salted caramel last night!

Good to see you got some sort of beery action before La Haine ;)

OohLookBel said...

I just tried to book the Press Club for 2.5 week's time and it's full! But the booking lady suggested Little Press, and given the look of those chips and octopus, I think that's where we'll go. Thanks!

gammagum said...

Love little press (and LOVE LOVE LOVE Kinfolk - some of the best coffee in Melbourne)

I think George and his flock of restaurants get a bad wrap, given his popularity and the common practice of tall poppy syndrome in Australian culture. But this place is ace, the food is usually always spot on, the staff are wonderful and he’s done amazing stuff for the industry & dining in general.

Too bad if they don’t like food bloggers! Most staff in the industry don’t like bloggers, and they will just have to deal with it! Move with the times people!

Great article. Cant wait to get back there again and have some more delicious food! mmmm

Ashley said...

Oh, I love the presentation of those chips! The little wire basket/fryer is so adorable! I still have not yet made it to any of George's joints, although they are on my list. Can't wait to try this place out. :)

Anonymous said...

i wonder if the fryer basket was used to actually fry the chips... probably not i suppose. =P

msihua said...

Hmmm.. did you get any negativity with taking the pictures at Little Press? I can't make myself go to the Press club, Maha or Hellenic because of the "anti" photo /blogging rule... *sigh*

Unknown said...

Hey - if you'd like to see a doco on the DJ Dexter night follow this link - its only just been released!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPtzEuAbNhY&feature=player_embedded#!

Cheers