Taste It

The morning was cloudy with sprinkles on/off, so I spent a rather quiet AM doing some laundry and relaxing.  However, the afternoon brought about clearer skies.  I returned the bike today, as my week’s rental had expired.  I’ll likely grab another ride for a day or two dependent on the weather. 

I walked over to Centennial Park by early evening to take in the Taste of Sydney, a gourmet food & drink expo.  The festival is a collection of some of Sydney’s gourmet restaurants offering small plates in the $10 range.  There are also a number of wineries and microbrews along with a host of retailers catering to the foodie group from cheese to preserves and stemware to cookware.  In addition, there are various clinics from cooking, wine tasting and mixology one could participate in.

My first stop was at the Taste Kitchen where local chefs were presenting some signature dishes on stage. I arrived just as Colin Fassinidge from Four in Hand  entered the presentation platform.  This pavilion caught my attention as Led Zeppelin was playing.  Colin proceeded to have IV play throughout his demonstration.  

The restaurant specializes in head to tail cooking, the latest trend in the industry.  He brought out about a 3 month old pig dismembering it explaining the use for each cut, then on to preparation and plating dishes.  Some people were a little squeamish, which was humourous to observe.

Having worked up an appetite I made my way over to the Assiette & District Dining booth.  Each locale was serving a selection of 2-3 dishes; I opted for the crispy pork belly, cashew nut caramel, watermelon and mint dish.  Power of suggestion? The first piece I had was a little dry, but the second serving possessed more flavour. The cashew nut caramel did little to enhance the dish. So-so.

Next up I visited Aperitif, a Mediterranean restaurant located here in Kings Cross that doesn’t have a web site, so you’ll have to settle for this profile page. Poor marketing if you ask me.  Anyway, I tried the Regal king salmon curado with chilli and star anise.  The fish was very tasty, but the amount of dill on the crust overpowered the chilli spice. Star anise was relatively innocuous, but the roe topping made up for the indifference including over garnishing with rock salt. 

I had developed a thirst so I grabbed a beverage from Lord Nelson Brewery and tried their Three Sheets Pale Ale, which was almost like a Weiss beer in flavour.  It was quite quenching. There was a cute server too that lured me here.    

The third stop on my food journey was to Bird Cow Fish, where I sampled the boned and roasted Barossa Valley roasted chicken stuffed with mushroom duxelle; and pommes puree.  This was the best dish I tried during the evening and was the most filling.  

I polished off the evening with dessert from Ormeggio at the Spit for a serving of their dark chocolate and coffee ‘Barbjada’ with almond crumble.  It was a delicious not overly rich end to the evening. 

I had a leisurely walk back to the hostel to work off my calorie intake to rest up for my early morning tour departure to the Blue Mountains.