As you all know Tom and I just returned from a 3 week holiday to Australia. Tom has also been telling me for weeks that I need to start blogging again. My reasoning that I take all the pictures for the blog was not enough. So to start off I will run through what we enjoyed at Attica in Australia.
Tom and I decided prior to leaving that we would do 3 "big dinners". Our definition of big dinner is basically a restaurant that only serves or is known for their tasting menus. Because these restaurants do not run cheap we limited ourselves to 3. First up was Attica, which is located in a suburb of Melbourne. We came to know of Attica after the chef was highlighted in a Bon Appetit article as well as the restaurant being ranked 32 on the List of Top 50 restaurants in the world. The restaurant is located on a street that reminded me of Carytown in Richmond with lots of shops and restaurants around.
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| Front of Attica |
We knew going in that the restaurant is knowing for "foraging" and growing their own vegetables and herbs. I anticipated that the focus on the food rather than decor and I was pleasantly surprised. Inside were dark walls, white table cloths and minimal wall art. It was a small place with only 50 tables and 1 seating a night. We noticed quickly that reservations are 15 mins apart which allows for the staff to keep up with serving and give everyone proper attention. After a cocktail for Tom and glass of champagne for me we started with some amuse bouche.
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| Baby corn in the husk |
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| Cheese curd and local honeycomb |
<--- The chef of the evening came out to serve the raw honeycomb which was amazing.
I had never actually seen baby corn in husk before but thought the presentation was fantastic-->
The mussels and flowers were in a chicken broth it was very refreshing and you can taste the freshness of the flowers.
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| Blue Mussels and Summer flowers |
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| Wallaby Blood Pikelet |
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| Recipe on back for Wallaby Blood Pikelet |
The last amuse bouche was a Wallaby blood Pikelet. This came out and unwrapped in front of us and on the back of the paper was a recipe for the pikelet.
The mystery of the 2 white porcelain feather was solved pretty quickly when the butter and a hazelnut spread came out. They were to be used to spread on your bread. The topping of the hazelnut spread is salt bush (which you can ensure Tom found some to bring home to play with in his cooking).
Now on to the main tastes...First up was spanner crab and begonia. This was lovely and light. Again fresh flowers and herbs make the dish so fresh.
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| Spanner Crab and Begonia |
Next was Salted Red Kangaroo and Bunya Bunya. Bunya Bunya is a pine tree that has edible nuts.
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| Salted Red Kangaroo |
The next two courses are mainstays on their menu. The first is called Minted Potato, Medium Rare. This reads just as you expect. They cook the potato to not be fully cooked so you actually have a bit of "crunchiness" to it. It was fantastic. The second is called 142 days. I should have taken a picture of the waiter building this course for us. They come out with a bowl with huge cabbage leaves and build the dish in front of you. Basically the cabbage is ~142 days old! It is served with an emu ragu.
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| Minted Potato |
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| 142 Days |
The next course was King George Whiting in Paperbark. I took a pic of how it was presented and then when it was open. The best was the waiter reminding us to NOT eat the bark. I commented that I have to assume that someone tried. She confirmed. She said it wouldn't kill you but it was quite chewy :-). Let's just say they liked butter on this dish!!!
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| King George Whiting in Paperbark |
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| Open to reveal the Whiting |
Our last savory course of the meal was Pork, Rotten Corn and Lemon Aspen. The yellow is the Rotten Corn. I can't remember the story about it! Just trust me that it was not rotten tasting in anyway.
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| Pork, Rotten Corn and Lemon Aspen |
Prior to our last three dessert courses we had the opportunity to go out to their small roof top garden (they have a larger space down the road where the chefs go each morning to pick the food for the evenings meal). This smaller garden had a selection of herbs and edible flowers that we had the opportunity to forage for to include with a scoop of ice cream. Sorry no pics of that!
The remaining desserts are pictured below. Egg's were chocolate and were served in small nests to each table. I don't remember the story on The industrious Beet but I do know this was the one dish I was not a huge fan of.
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