Italian bistro Lupino opens on Little Collins Street

Lupino
41 Little Collins Street, Melbourne (map)
9639 0333
Open lunch and dinner, 7 days

Look for the little neon wolf!


Lupino, the new bistro and bar from Becco alums Richard Lodge and chef Marco Lori, opened on Wednesday. It's located at the top end of Little Collins Street in the site formerly occupied by the Champagne Lounge, next door to Bar Lourinhã. Lupino means 'little wolf' in Italian, so it's only fitting that a neon wolf cub's head marks the venue entrance.


The interior is trattoria-casual: lots of orange tiles, wicker-backed chairs, an open kitchen and nary a starched tablecloth in sight. The menu is pretty short and snappy, including bar snacks and antipasti, half a dozen pasta dishes and a few more substantial secondi. They also have a wonderfully minimalist pizza menu (Margarita or Prosciutto or Garlic & Rosemary or Anchovy), which warmed my "pizza: less is more" heart.


When I dropped in for lunch on Thursday with my Sydney friend J, he ordered the veal tortelloni with fresh tomato, bocconcini, basil and brodo ($22). I had an excellent risotto of rabbit, porcini, pancetta and green olives ($24). A glass each of Devil Bend Creek Pinot Noir sealed the deal.


J loves apple and pastry, so ordering the apple strudel ($14) was a given. He loved it. My eye was caught by the promise of bomboloni with imported Italian Nutella ($14, and yes, the difference in taste for the imported stuff is noticeable). HOLY HELL they were epic, both in terms of size and the generous slatherings of Nutella. They tasted damn authentic though, like the ones I used to buy when I lived over in Italy. The scoop of slightly sharp yoghurt ice cream was a nice touch. But play it smart and share this dessert with another person.

Or if you're feeling brave (and don't need to go back to the office afterwards), order the Scroppino - lemon gelato and Prosecco with a shot of vodka.


The windows looking out over Ridgway Place, offering glimpses of the Melbourne Club's tropical Secret garden.


This corner of the CBD just gets better and better: as well as Lourinhã you've got Danny and Siany at Liaison (happily, now a regular coffee haunt of mine since I started my new job), Mamasita, and - coming soon - San Telmo. San Telmo is the Argentinian restaurant that Jason McConnell (from The Aviary, and cousin of Andrew and Matt) is going to open in Meyers Place, once the fancy-pants custom-made grill manages to make its way over here on a boat from South America. Quietly hoping San Telmo will be Melbourne's Porteño!

Bushranger brunch! Gypsey & Musquito in Bridge Rd, Richmond

Gypsey & Musquito
382 Bridge Road, Richmond (map)
9939 9314
website
Breakfast and lunch, 7 days

'One of the more notorious bushrangers was an Aborigine from New South Wales called Musquito who had been employed as a stockman and later as a black tracker. In this latter role he had been instrumental in the capture of many bushrangers. In 1823 Musquito was transported to Van Diemen's Land for the murder of his wife, an event which was not a crime under Aboriginal law. He subsequently escaped and became a bushranger. With the aid of another Aboriginal named Black Jack he led a gang of Tasmanian Aborigines in raids against white settlers and storekeepers for about two years. He was responsible for at least two murders, including that of a storekeeper named William Holyoak at Grindstone on 15 November 1823.'

'Musquito made a friend of another bushranger, known as Gypsey. Gypsey's real name was George Shirley, the son of a wealthy English family. Distressed at the death of his bride giving birth to their daughter, Shirley had taken to bushranging. When Gypsey was captured and killed after he had opened fire on some troops, Musquito vowed to avenge his death. Musquito marked Gypsey's grave with a rough-hewn stone carved with the words 'Gypsey My Friend'. Musquito continued to deliver money to Gypsey's daughter Georgina until Musquito was captured in 1824 by another local Aborigine. When the death sentence was passed, Musquito replied: 'Hanging no bloody good for blackfellow …. Very good for whitefellow, he used to it'. Musquito was hanged in Hobart in 1825 alongside Black Jack.'

Sources: here and here.

Gypsey & Musquito may have been dead for 185 years, but their names live on thanks to a new cafe on Bridge Road, Richmond: a street where for every brunch hit (eg Bosisto's, RHCL) there are several misses. Gypsey & Musquito, however, is definitely a hit in my book. The fitout is cosy and homely, especially the upstairs dining room which features colonial furniture and lots of natural light.

In keeping with the name and upstairs decor, cafe owners Kirrily Stewart and Anna Ingle have given the menu a very Australian flavour, with almost all of the dishes including a native Australian ingredient. Forget about those awful 1990s tourist restaurants serving dodgy quandong pannacotta - here, the use of native ingredients is much savvier and the effect is far more organic and pleasant.


When I went there a few weekends ago with my gentleman friend, I braved the "breakkie skillet" ($16): a wee, cast-iron pan crammed with crispy bacon, tomato, field mushrooms, torn pieces of toast (that went slightly soggy from the juices of the other ingredients, like in a panzanella) and native riberry confit, topped with a crocodile sausage and a poached egg. Loved those tart little riberries! He had the potato and herb hash with crispy free range bacon, poached eggs and a luridly yellow lemon myrtle hollandaise ($14), and reported back favourably. The coffee (Five Senses on a Synesso) was also good, and if I'd still been hungry I'd've accompanied it with a moist-looking quince tea cake or lamington.


Oh, and there's free wifi, too. Add it to the list!

Brunswick brunch at the lovely Miss Marmalade

Miss Marmalade
126 Union Street, Brunswick (map)
9388 8202
website


A few weeks ago I met my two best friends, b-f-K and Schatzi, for brunch up in Brunswick. We were accompanied by the latter's husband and two year old son, and selected Miss Marmalade as our destination on the basis of Schatzi's description of it as cute, cosy and child-friendly.


The coffee is Five Senses (on a Synesso machine, natch) and the all day breakfast menu is joined by a light lunch menu from midday. We're also talking single origin teas, La Madre bread and Green eggs.

We managed to score the prized corner booth in the window, which afforded us a good view of the busy cafe interior. Love the tram scroll on the wall!


Both Schatzi and I ordered the huevos rancheros ($14.50): rather than traditional corn tortillas, there were two sweet corn fritters topped with a fried egg, roast tomato salsa, guacamole and a side serve of sweet hots. My kind of brunch dish: the corn fritters were not at all doughy (as can often be the case), and those pickles were mouth-wateringly good.


Schatzi's husband ordered the eggs benny, which came with leg ham off the bone, homemade corn bread and a formidable-looking brick of hash browns ($15.90). B-f-K went with the Jacks cheddar on sourdough with vine-ripened tomatoes, rosemary and bacon ($12.90). Both reported back favourably on their dishes.


The back room at Miss Marmalade is kitted out with toys and children's furniture, making it a great place to bring groups of kids. Parents' groups, take note! It's not something I've had to really be conscious of in the past, but given that Schatzi has just had another baby (yay!), can anyone recommend other child-friendly - but good - brunch destinations?

Union Dining opens on Swan Street Richmond just as I leave the suburb, dammit

Union Dining
272 Swan Street, Richmond (map)
9428 2988
website
Dinner Tuesdays-Saturdays (bar open from 5pm), lunch Fridays-Saturdays

It's only been a few weeks since I moved house and left my beloved 3121 postcode (hence the delay in writing blog posts), but one of the things about Richmond that I'll miss most — apart from my house, Der Raum, the Dimmeys clocktower, the Cherry Tree, Picture Search Video and the dilapidated Cremorne Gardens mural — is also one of the newest additions to the suburb.


Union Dining opened in early May, the baby of business partners Nicky Reimer (most recently cheffing at Melbourne Wine Room) and Adam Cash (you may remember him as the bespectacled restaurant manager taking excellent care of you at Cutler & Co). The food is provincial European with strong Northern Italian influences, the fitout is relaxed bistro, the service is warm and professional. It's located on Swan Street, east of the Dirty Swan and that string of Greek restaurants (the Union Dining site itself used to be a large Greek restaurant), and is exactly the kind of smart, classy restaurant that the culinarily-patchy area has needed.


On my first visit with Melbourne J, we ordered the porchetta tonnato with rocket ($17.50), a great porcine twist on the usual poached veal, and the terrine de maison ($16), which from memory was pork & pickled tongue and came with wonderfully agrodolce pickled Dutch carrots. Tick and tick.


Another UD appetiser I love is the one I had on my visit with Sydney J, the bresaola with slow roasted eggplant relish ($16).


Sydney J went retro, ordering the humungous "prawns on the grill" with roast garlic and saffron butter ($15). As messy and date-inappropriate as they are delicious. The only starter I wasn't wild about was the steak tartare ($19), which is done in the Piedmont style with horseradish and lashings of pecorino, parsley and celery. Much milder in style than the usual affair with raw egg, onions, capers and seasoning.


While Melbourne J worked his way through an eye fillet I was rapt by my main course: soft soft soft white polenta with juicy chargrilled quail and oh-so-rich pine mushrooms ($20/$29).


At my urging, Sydney J ordered the abbacchio of goat with braised peppers and Manzanilla olives ($33), a dish of Nicky's that I'd loved when I had it a few months earlier at the MFWF Long Lunch held by Sommeliers Australia. It's understandably something of a signature dish for Union Dining, and the meat falls apart upon the slightest nudge from your fork. While he had the goat I enjoyed the pappardelle with rabbit ragu, green olives and ricotta saltata ($19/$26), a fine dish that made me horribly homesick for Northern Italy. Fingers crossed I can get back there to visit family next year.


Melbourne J, ever the Melbourne Gastronome hand model, pictured with a platter of Ossau Iraty and mustard fruits ($12). In addition to cheeses, Union Dining offers a selection of ice cream/sorbet coupes and desserts (if I'd ordered dessert I totally would've dived headfirst into the pot roasted quince with almonds and anglaise).


I also wanted to mention that Union Dining is going to be the venue for the next [TOYS] Collective Melbourne dinner event. Its title (Issue #6: Stars & Stripes) is appropriate given the date on which it's being held (4th of July). The dinner will feature chefs Nicky Riemer (Union Dining), Aaron Turner (Loam), John Paul Twomey (Cutler & Co), Daniel Wilson (Huxtable), Yen Yee & Bernard Chu (Luxbite) and Andrea Riess (Chez Dre), plus 'Trink Tank' (Der Raum's new, experimental arm). A few tickets ($160 per head plus booking fee) are still available: more info can be found here and here.

I really loved the last TOYS event I went to at Embrasse: read all about it here.

Starlight Five Chefs Gala Dinner 2011 Melbourne

Last week I was invited along by the Starlight Children's Foundation to attend the media launch for their major fundraising event of the year, the Starlight Five Chefs Gala Dinner at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. It's a fundraiser I'm very happy to write about because I think it's an excellent event for an excellent cause: just about everything (including food, wine, staff, venue and auction items) is donated by some of the best names in the business, and the Starlight Children's Foundation doesn't receive any government funding for any of its core programs.

Each of the five chefs spoke to us afterwards, sharing stories about their visits to the Starlight Express Rooms the foundation has in paediatric hospitals around the country (in the photo below, Shane Delia was telling us about the teenage girl who repeatedly kicked his arse playing Super Mario on Wii).

The menu on the night (Thursday 16 June at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne) will be the same as we had at the media launch: I've included photos and descriptions below. Tickets to the event are $350 each: if you're interested in raising money for the cause and attending, further details and tickets can be found by clicking here and here.


The course I was most eagerly anticipating was the first one, prepared by Dan Hunter (the head chef from a little place in Dunkeld that you may have heard of, called the Royal Mail Hotel). The degustation at the Royal Mail was my favourite meal of 2009, after all.

And boy, the dish did NOT disappoint: Jerusalem artichoke, roasted and stuffed with triple cream cheese, on hazelnut and thyme (served with the Dal Zotto NV Sparkling). The Jerusalem artichoke had been soaked for three hours in a calcium oxide (quicklime!) brine, which had the effect once roasted of forming a crust on the outside and turning the inside of the vegetable to the most amazing purée that has to be tasted to be believed. OH MY.


Shane Delia from Maha and just-opened St Katherine's was responsible for the second course (which I also loved). Sous vide butter poached salmon (which had been rubbed in salt and cardamom, then honey) with vanilla-flecked fazolia, toasted cous cous, fennel seeds and almonds. The rich dish was matched with the 2010 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Chardonnay.


Next course was from MoVida (one of Frank Camorra's chefs was standing in for him as he was in Spain). "Mont y mar", aka MoVida's delicious Catalan interpretation of a surf 'n turf. Baby calamari filled with a braised pork neck and pork belly farce then roasted, served with steamed mussels and slow cooked chickpeas. Matched with a bloody lovely pinot noir, the 2008 from Yabby Lake Vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula.


Jason Camillo, the head chef at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, served the next course: corned Wagyu eye of rump served with a creamed onion soubise (which had a zing of horseradish) and roasted baby beets, carrots and pearl onions. A hearty dish matched with Best's Great West Bin No 1 Shiraz 2009.


The final course was by Melbourne's Willy Wonka-esque dessert maestri, Burch & Purchese, and had many of my fellow diners moaning in pleasure. It was made from yoghurt sponge, pineapple jelly infused with Vietnamese mint, homemade pineapple jam, dried spiced pineapple, Heilala vanilla yoghurt crunchies made with maltodextrine & freeze dried yoghurt powder. A great combination of textures and flavours, and matched with a Campbells Rutherglen Tokay.

If you haven't already visited the Burchese & Purchese Sweet Studio on Chapel Street South Yarra, GET DOWN THERE. I visited this afternoon and bought an obscenely good miniature cake made from caramelised white chocolate & vanilla mousse, crunchy macadamia meringue, caramelised banana cream, passionfruit jelly, caramelised white chocolate velvet spray and caramelised milk solids.


Once again, if you'd like to attend the Starlight Five Chefs Gala Dinner on the 16th of June, details are here.

Melbourne restaurants open on Monday nights

UPDATED 29/08/11: more than doubled the length of the list from 52 restaurants to 107!


I've been meaning to write this post for over a year, but was prompted to do so today when my lovely friend H was racking her brains on Twitter trying to think of a nice restaurant where she could have a birthday dinner next Monday. Given that so many restaurants are closed on Monday nights (the traditional hospo night off), finding somwhere good to eat can prove a challenge.

So I thought I'd dedicate this post to listing Melbourne restaurants that are open for dinner on Mondays - and I'll do my best to keep the post updated. I've done a quick sweep of restaurants I can think of to get the list started, but if you can think of any other places in Melbourne to include (or if you know that one of the places listed is no longer open on Monday nights) please leave a comment letting me know and I'll update the list.


Albert Park Hotel (Albert Park)
Anada (Fitzroy)
The Atlantic (Southbank)
Bacash (South Yarra)
Bar Idda (Brunswick East)
Bar Lourinha (CBD)
Becco (CBD)
Benito's (CBD)
Birdman Eating (Fitzroy)
Bisto Guillaume (Southbank)
Bistro Thierry (Prahran)
Bistro Vue (CBD)
Bottega (CBD)
Cafe Di Stasio (St Kilda)
Chester White (Hawthorn)
Chin Chin (CBD)
Chin Chin's at Koto Moon (Carlton North)
China Red (CBD)
Chinese Jin Dumpling House (Kew)
Chocolate Buddha (CBD)
Cicciolina (St Kilda)
Circa, the Prince (St Kilda)
City Wine Shop (CBD)
Coda (CBD)
Collins Quarter (CBD)
Comme Kitchen (CBD)
Cookie (CBD)
The Court House (North Melbourne)
The Crimean (North Melbourne)
Crystal Jade (CBD)
Cumulus Inc (CBD)
Da Noi (South Yarra)
Dainty Sichuan (South Yarra)
De Los Santos (Fitzroy)
The Deanery (CBD)
DOC (Carlton)
Donovans (St Kilda)
Esposito at Toofey's (Carlton)
The European (CBD)
Ezard (CBD)
Flower Drum (CBD)
France-Soir (South Yarra)
Gami (CBD)
Gerald's Bar (Carlton North)
Gill's Diner (CBD)
Gingerboy (CBD)
Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons (Southbank)
The Graham (Port Melbourne)
The Grand (Burnley)
Grossi Florentino (CBD)
Hako (CBD)
Hare and Grace (CBD)
Hellenic Republic (Brunswick East)
HuTong Dumpling Bar (CBD)
HuTong Dumpling (Prahran)
Il Bacaro (CBD)
Ilona Staller (Balaclava)
The Italian (CBD)
Izakaya Den (CBD)
Josie Bones (Collingwood)
Kenzan Japanese (CBD)
Kumo Izakaya (Brunswick East)
Ladro (Fitzroy)
Ladro (Prahran)
Laksa King (Flemington)
Lamaro's (South Melbourne)
Longrain (CBD)
Maedaya (Richmond)
Maha (CBD)
Mama Ganoush (Windsor)
Mamasita (CBD)
Matteo's (Fitzroy North)
Maze (Southbank)
Merchant (CBD)
Mezzo Bar & Grill (CBD)
Middle Park Hotel (Middle Park)
MoVida (CBD)
MoVida Aqui (CBD)
Newmarket (St Kilda)
Nobu (Southbank)
North Fitzroy Star (Fitzroy North)
Omah's Malaysian (Hawthorn)
Omah's Malaysian (Port Melbourne)
The Palace by Luke Mangan (South Melbourne)
Pearl (Richmond)
Philhellene Provincial Greek Cuisine (Moonee Ponds)
PM24 (CBD)
The Point (Albert Park)
The Press Club (CBD) / Little Press (CBD)
Rice Queen (Fitzroy)
Rockpool (Southbank)
Rosa's Kitchen (Williamstown)
St Katherine's (Kew)
Saint Peter's (CBD)
Sarti (CBD)
Senoritas (CBD)
Shakahari (Carlton)
Sho Noodle Bar (Southbank)
Shoya (CBD)
Spice Temple (Southbank)
Station Hotel (Footscray)
Stokehouse (St Kilda)
Taxi Dining Room (CBD)
Thai Nee Cafe (Brunswick)
Verge (CBD)
Vue de Monde (CBD)
Yu-U (CBD)

So which ones have I missed? In particular, which cheap eats have I missed?


Oh, and for those who didn't see me note it on Twitter/Facebook, I thought I'd just mention in passing that Monday was the four year anniversary of the start of Melbourne Gastronome. Thanks to all for reading!

I'll leave it to my Nonno (pictured here celebrating his 90th birthday on the weekend) to blow out the candles... :)