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Almond Bar’s Middle Eastern secrets
I have traditional Middle Eastern mezze in my fridge, courtesy of Almond Bar, pre-prepared and ready to be popped in the oven and on to a hot grill plate and consumed possibly with a home-made mint...
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Labancz patisserie, a French treat
When you see and hear a tousled haired, strong French accented baker in the kitchen from the front counter of Labancz Patisserie — with shelves crammed with bread, pies, and pastries around him — you...
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Cooking for one: a culinary conundrum
I’m flying solo this week. My other half is off doing something blokey with the boys and it’s caused quite a culinary conundrum. What to cook? I don’t usually have a problem planning the menu for the...
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A weekend in Monaco with Alain Ducasse
What do you get when one of the world’s contemporary culinary masters, Alain Ducasse, summons around 240 international chefs – with around 300 Michelin stars between them – to his restaurant Le Louis...
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Australian chefs convene in Monaco for Alain Ducasse bash
“It’s like getting an invitation from the president or the Pope: you just don’t say, ‘no’ .” That’s how David Chang, chef and founder of the Momofuku restaurant empire, including Momofuku Seiobo in...
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Spelling it out: the sensory language of seafood
Wine lovers wax lyrical about citrus notes, chocolaty mouthfeel, oaky taste, and mellow aromas in their glass; coffee conioisseurs use terminology such as ashy, caramel, earthy, and nutty to describe...
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Afternoon tea at London’s Athenaeum Hotel: don’t mind if i do
A hotel that doesn’t charge for items taken from the mini bar (excluding alcohol), and stocks a superb range of chocolate and chips, is a good sign. A hotel that stocks an ample supply of Ben &...
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Can’t take the kid out of the kitchen
Licking uncooked cake batter from the beaters of a hand mixer was an evocative moment. There i was, standing in a kitchen badly in need of renovation in a recently purchased home, licking pre-baked...
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Why playing hard to get works for David Chang
It’s funny how much you suddenly want something, when it’s out of reach. So it was when I decided to make a reservation at Momofuku Seiobo — the Sydney branch of New York hot-shot David Chang’s...
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Notes from the inner sanctum of Momofuku Seiobo
Who would think of burning watermelon rind, then blitzing it into a blackened emulsion with grapeseed oil to serve topped with a hillock of paper-thin slices of raw radish, jewels of grilled...
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An impromptu market tour with Tetsuya in Monaco
What do you get if you put Tetsuya Wakuda, one of Australia’s finest chefs, at a market stall in Monaco piled high with fresh mushrooms? Answer: the culinary incarnation of a kid in a candy shop. So it...
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Is barbecuing really cooking?
Is barbecuing really cooking? The question was asked of me by a French dining companion during a recent a hedonistic weekend in Monaco. I had mentioned the humble barbecue in response to his earlier...
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Question of the week – Are food trucks encouraging bad eating habits?
Food trucks are all the rage. Far trendier than tacky Chico roll vendors and hotdog vans, they roll up to kerbsides, parks and other patches of grass, sling open a side window and serve hungry punters...
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Tetsuya’s Waku Ghin debuts in list of top restaurants in Asia
Tetsuya Wakuda has proven what many Australians have known for a long time: he’s one of the best chefs in the Asia region. Tetsuya’s Waku Ghinin Singapore debuted as the second best restaurant in Asia...
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The Miele Guide 2013′s top 20 restaurants in Asia
Robuchon au Dome, Macau, China Waku Ghin, Singapore L’Atelier HK, China Iggy’s, Singapore Mozaic, Bali, Indonesia Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul, Seoul, Korea Caprice, Hong Kong, China Amber, Hong Kong, China...
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Are food trucks encouraging bad eating habits? The verdict
In response to The Food Sage’s Question of the Week: ‘Are food trucks encouraging bad eating habits?’ the consensus is ‘no’, as long as we’re tucking into these gourmet tidbits in moderation and...
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Question of the week: Would you still tip if you knew restaurateurs, rather...
You’ve had a lovely meal at a restaurant. Everything went swimmingly: the food was fabulous, the ambience spot-on, the waiter/ess was courteous, knowledgeable, efficient, and endearing. So you leave a...
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Tipping point: why I won’t tip restaurant staff in future
I thought i had a flawless, and frankly quite generous, tipping policy. I tip 10 per cent of the bill — often more — if the food and service has been good, I tip less if the dining experience was …...
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Question of the week: Is boutique bread worth the dough?
The humble loaf of bread has been transformed into a luxury item. On one shelf sits the fluffy, processed, white-sliced bread that costs a couple of dollars, on the other shelf sits its boutique...
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