duke bistro - darlinghurst

duke bistro is a trailblazer of the “dude food” revolution in sydney. dude food is drink-friendly, meaty fare which has evolved out of – and yet far beyond – classic american dishes. it’s a ‘f&$k you’ to the health food movement (because healthy food just ain’t cool) and a fist pound to booze, grease and everything else that mum would never let you eat on weekdays. duke bistro delivers all of this with extra indulgence, making it one of the coolest, most-beloved by yours truly, and an altogether dudacious venue in sydney. 

duke’s ‘hood is darlinghurst, where it chills out above the flinders inn, a pub frequented by eastern suburb hipsters, sporadically tatooed djs, their teeny-bopper groupies and other more made-up babes. you’ve been there too, don’t deny it. and if you thought the flinders was hip, then duke bistro is royally so. the dining space stretches across one side of the inn, with a small bar tucked into the corner. dimmed light bulbs shrouded by red lamp shades hang low over the simple tables, flooding the space with a sultry crimson light. it’s sexy, new, refined and exactly where you want to come with a group of 8 twenty-somethings for a grown up piss up.

trying to secure coolness points by expressing our individuality, each member of our party orders a different cocktail. we can hear the bartenders grinding their teeth as they pour, shake and squeeze each drink, but that doesn’t stop us enjoying the evocatively-named in front of the fire ($18) - rittenhouse rye, herring cherry and cynar and tunneling tijuana ($19) - silver tequila, cointreau, watermelon, jalapeno pepper and agave.

by far the most raved-about duke dish (both by critics and at our table) is the radishes ($15/24).  i was first introduced to this dish late one trashy night out (duke is open till 3am on weekends – booyah!). i was sceptical at first as to how radishes could possibly satiate my booze-fuelled hunger. one mouthful later, i was sold. the fuschia-bright radishes are served submerged in a bowl of luscious dashi-infused, melted butter. the dish is helped by a serving of warmed rolls from victoire bakery in rozelle - perfect for dipping, scooping and otherwise conveying that butter to your mouth as quickly as possible.

if you find that you have left over bread, the soft egg, sweet corn and corn chips is an ideal choice ($12). the soft egg is swimming in a pool of delicious sweet corn. on the side is a bowl of corn kernels (not for eating - noted), which serve as the structural base for the ultra-book-thin corn chips. we break the egg into the sweet corn, and stir it all into a thick cream-coloured dipping sauce which we slather onto the corn chips. tantalising. comforting. dude!

soft egg, sweet corn and corn chips ($15/24)

 i manage to talk the table into ordering the parsnips ($12). i'm keen to see how the kitchen dude-ifies such a decidedly uncool ingredient. the parsnip is thickly shaved and strewn on the plate with radicchio and witlof leaves, and walnuts scattered over the top. but the good stuff is at the bottom. a gooey sauce made from ground chicory and dandelion. it evokes hints of coffee and lends the dish’s flavour profile a pick-me-up.

parsnips, chicory, walnut ($12)

lamb shoulder ($26) is simply presented – a hunk of meat on a plate - allowing the taste and texture of the dish to do the talking. admittedly, the lamb is not cooked as mouth-wateringly as at 4fourteen, but it’s still fall-off-the-bone tender and altogether delicious. the dried olive and rosemary powdered over the top of the lamb are subtly complementary along with the thick, mild goats milk sauce not so generously smeared plate-side. 

smoked pigs tails ($20) is a radicalised take on traditional bier food from deutschland. the meat of the pigs tails is minced and moulded into a phallic cylinder, wrapped in an actual pigs tail (awesome!) and sitting on sauerkraut and pickled onions. it looks like, well, a pig's tail! the flavours are assaulting and delicious, squealing out on my tongue. it has the table oinking about it all night. 

smoked pigs tail, sauerkraut, white beer, mustard ($20)

the final main is the char siu pork neck ($22). char siu is one of the dishes which i insist is impossible to recreate (well) unless you work in haymarket. however, here duke serve up their own (successful) spin on the chinese street food classic. the hefty hunks of pork neck are crisped on the outside (as with traditional char siu), though this cut of meat retains its natural colouring rather than the usual tainting of fluorescent red (though the inside is a perfect rosy pink). it’s served with a brilliantly hued garlic shoot puree and fresh gai lan with garlic shoots and black sesame dressing. 

for dessert the waitress talks us out of our original choices and into milk, milk, milk ($12). if you didn't guess, this dish is milky: dulche de leche caramel, milk panna cotta, meringue and milk crumble. it's an interesting play on textures but in the end everything just tastes like, well... milk.

milk, milk, milk ($12)

 the only dessert of our choosing that survived the waitress’s chopping block is the chestnut mousse, roasted chocolate and whiskey ($12). the rarity of chestnuts on sydney menus is discussed at length and we’re keen to see the way they’re presented here. shaved chestnuts dot the plate around a luscious chestnut mousse. it’s an interesting plate, though i think my palate may need to be exposed to the unique chestnut texture a little more before i fully come around to this one.

  

montenegro ($9)

 the waitress’s second recommendation, and our final dish, is donuts, lemon curd and cream ($12). our server is overly excited to present our donuts in a vintage arnotts biscuit tin. a cute touch. a mason jar full of cream and curd accompanies the tin. we're instructed to "dig deep" to get to the curd on the bottom. the donuts are like soft pillows whose casing has been freshly laundered – crisp and comforting. as i bite through the crunchy covering, the insides dissipate almost instantaneously, like a fleeting dream. the sensation sends giggles around the table. the curd is a god-send in its own right and there are many sticky fingers that are dipped and dipped again.

donuts, lemon curd and cream ($12)

 duke bistro certainly impressed us with its dude-ification of a diverse range of ingredients and classic dishes. every dish was new-age, gut-sticking and totally rad. i tip my flat-brimmed cap to you, illustrious duke! your dude food was just the shtick for this chick!


duke bistro
p: 9332 3180
65 flinders street, darlinghurst
http://www.dukebistro.com.au/

4fourteen - surry hills

 my friends and i have ritualised a post-exams visit to the four in hand. to celebrate our hard-earned freedom we tuck into a juicy lamb rack or succulent pork belly. chef colin fassnidge and his team know how to cook a piece of meat! these skills are replicated in the treatment of other proteins, sides and deserts. the four's seemingly simple british and irish dishes taste great and look beautiful. needless to say my infatuation with fassnidge’s cooking meant i was beyond excited to visit his newest venture: 4fourteen.

a booking was made, three weeks in advance. for a gen-y blogger, addicted to snap chats and 140 character tweets, these three weeks stretched into an eternity. hours were spent drooling over 4fourteen's menu, the reviews of my contemporaries and intagrammed photos of fassnidge’s food.

with tummies rumbling and butterflies fluttering, we arrived at the doorstep of 4fourteen- up the road from the cricketer’s arms pub - fitzroy st, surry hills. the place is enormous with soaring ceilings and a central bar encircled by tables sized to fit a mix of large booze-inclined groups, smaller dining parties and courting couples. there are miles of space between each table, giving diners a fabricated buffer from the hustle and bustle of the restaurant. bar stools line two sides of the wide-open kitchen, but we don’t need to snag one in order to spy fassnidge expediting dishes and otherwise commanding culinary respect.

the division of the menu by proteins instead of portion sizes had us scratching our heads. but before we could ask for an explanation, our waitress descended to relieve us of ignorance – the dishes are designed to share, price is an indication of size and they’ll let us know if we’ve ordered too much… unlikely! also pleasing is that some wines are served by the carafe. perfect for a table wanting to try a few different wines, but not willing to sacrifice tomorrow’s productive early hours.

the dining room is near capacity but this does not delay our food. within five minutes an entrée-sized portion of pigs’ ear (soon arrives heralded by smiles all round. the thumb-sized pieces of pigs’ ear are crumbed in a bready batter and deep fried golden brown. they sit on a creamy bed of celeriac remoulade (this time with mayo, capers, mustard, cornichons and parsley). the ears are slightly meaty and the crumb subtly spiced, but it’s a bit hard to hear the ears’ pigginess through the insulating wall of crumb.

pigs ear with celeraic remoulade

miso smoked salmon with lemon curd and fennel bread ($12) is a stunning display. the shaved cucumber artfully sculpted above and around the brilliant pink prism of salmon, top-and-tailed by wafers of fennel bread. the fish is cooked evenly though the miso flavour is subtle, if not absent, and overall, the dish leaves my mouth dissatisfied (yes. i know. that’s what she said…) 

miso smoked salmon with lemon curd and fennel bread

the picture-perfect plating of the salmon is not replicated with the roast spanish mackerel ($28). however this dish is at least two rungs up in terms of taste. the chunks of crisp eel are a flavour bomb and team up nicely with the sweet mackerel and luscious beetroot jus in which the fishies swim. 

the highlight, in our table’s unanimous opinion, is the lamb breast ($24). surprise, surprise fassnidge's team excel in cooking this fine young cut and serve it with accompaniments - sweet eggplant, sorrel, salty white anchovies and and glorious red peppers - that come together singing, without overwhelming the lamb’s own textural lullaby. we choose a side of orange and ginger carrots, cumin and yoghurt ($9). the carrot chunks are thick and tender and a touch of borrowed yoghurt with the lamb and eggplant is heavenly. 

lamb breast with eggplant, sorrel, white anchovies and red peppers

orange and ginger carrots, cumin and yoghurt

suckling pig with cauliflower, sage and spinach ($32) is also a tasty dish, though is perhaps outshone by the lamb. there is a lone piece of chicharrón (puffed-up deep fried pork rinds – think prawn crackers, but piggier) that i quickly shotgun. maybe some extra puffed pork to share next time? the other diners are not left entirely wanting, however, as  the kitchen has gratuitously porked-out four fat slices of pig!

bickering over dessert choices ends in a compromise with one white chocolate sandwich ($14) and one serving of donuts and apple ($16). we’re rewarded with a cute serving of donuts and a jar of fluorescent green sour apple jelly. the donut-flubber combo is a tug-o’-war between sweet and tart, and finds more success as a topic of discussion than classic english pudd’. on the other hand the white chocolate sandwich is an easy win. a smooth creamy slab of white chocolate ice-cream, nestled between thin sheets of crisp caramel and served on a board. love it.

donuts and apple

the team behind 4fourteen have certainly swung hard, but have they hit a home-run?  fassnidge has definitely proven once again why he's the guy known for cooking meat and cooking it right. 4fourteen is mature in many respects – décor, meats, wine list - whilst in other areas it’s still experiencing teething problems. this is to be expected given that its first steps were barely a month ago. i've all hopes that 4fourteen will by running in no time and i can't wait to return to try some of their star dishes such as the irish breakfast ($22). in the meantime, as long as  fassnidge keeps instagramming pix of his #sundayroasts, i’ll keep salivating. 


4fourteen
72a fitzroy street, surry hills
p: 9331 5399
http://www.4fourteen.com.au/

vini - surry hills

i think it’s time to brush up on my Italian food lore. true, we aussies love our spag bol, garlic bread and pizza al bbq sauce. but did you know that italy’s regional cuisine is diverse and nuanced? even our knowledge of the basics seems to have been perverted… as terry durack recently pointed out in a sydney morning herald good living review - most of us are unaware that tagliatelle is in fact traditional pasta served with ragu bolognaise. this historical hiccup is embarrassing enough (especially given the huge Italian community in sydney), but if any further incentive was needed, italiano is also the theme of this year's crave food festival (starting in june), so we'd better get cracking! 

what better way to start then by attending vini's educational and exemplary italian regional dinners. every tuesday night vini serves up 4 courses from a selected Italian region for $50. At $26 extra the wine flight (3 glasses) is a must. the experience is one that sensuously transports us - this week - to the region of puglia, the heel of italy’s boot. 

we squeeze through the tight, darkly lit space to our table, already laid with a rustic paper bag of taralli – southern Italian boiled-then-baked crisp breads, ubiquitous in puglia. they are crunchy, salty and dangerously addictive. next to the taralli is a small bowl of warm olives marinating in oil and chili. we are told that puglia claims to produce 80% of italy's olive oil. whether that's true or just italian male bravado is neither here nor there – italy seems to be a place where self-aggrandising superlatives are common place. and if that means more delicious olives, then that’s just fine! 

the puglian journey continues with a traditional peasant dish of fava e cicoria - fava bean puree with wilted wild greens. the puree is creamy and contrasts with the bitterness of the chicory strewn across the mush. i love the rustic authenticity of the dish. 

fava e cicoria

 next comes ceci e baccala - a bowl of fried chickpeas, with spinach and salt cod sauce. my dining partner spent six months in portugal where they have a different baccala (in Portuguese: bacalhau) recipe for everyday of the year. he developed a strong aversion to the ingredient. this dish subverts his prior impression of the pungent fish, with the salty fish puree complementing the tender, starchy chickpeas. 

to accompany our next dish of mussels in passata, is a monologue by chef andrew cibej! he seems awkward and quirky, but begins to paint a lyrical picture of puglia: its hills covered in blankets of silver olive groves; fishermen hauling in their daily catch; tables covered in irresistible puglian dishes. this is a region he is clearly passionate about, and this zeal shines through in the cooking. 

cavatelle, cime di rape, ricotta salata is a fine exhibition of how italians produce amazing cuisine by combining three or four simple ingredients. the cavatelle (one-inch bites of pasta curled into rough cylinders) is hand-made – the chef tells us each piece is curled around the handle of a butter knife. the pasta is chewy and salty and contrasts with the creamy scatterings of homemade ricotta and barlotti beans – it’s an embarrassing reminder of how often i overcook my own pasta! the sauce is simply the starchy stock used to cook the beans and a slick of olive oil. for me, this dish is an absolute standout, and a perfect encapsulation of puglia.  to drink we are served a fiona, sourced from campania just next to puglia. the wine has a nice weight to it, with gorgeous floral aromas. a harmonious table-mate to the pasta.

cavatelle, cime di rape, ricotta salata

the secondi (main) is capretto (goat) with polpette (meatballs) and patate (… figure it out). the goat leg and shoulder is succulent and tender, swimming in a meat juices underneath the bready lamb polpette. olive-oily roasted broccoli accompanies, though i prefer to eat it separately.  

broccoli arrosto (left) & capretto, polpette, patate 

to finish, three cheeses and caratellate. the cheeses – soft goat’s curd, mild pecorino, aged pecorino - are matched with seasonal fruit – pear, fennel, persimmon and grapes. the cheeses tend towards milder flavours, a contrast to the strong, pungent cheeses from the north of italy. the waitress brings us a glass of desert wine - torcolato soarda. it proves an excellent choice, the complex and fruity tones syncing with fruit plae. the cartellate are twisted, deep-fried pastries, snowed-under with icing sugar and dripping in sweet, thick red wine sauce. simple but decadent.

if you want to learn about Italy, then go there. failing that, vini will take you halfway; in mind, taste and smell. the vini team are committed to bringing you an authentic and enlightening experience. one which far surpasses the restricted sensations provided by tv's food safari or your local’s chicken parma.  

this concludes today’s lesson.


vini
118 devonshire street, surry hills
p: 9698 5131
http://www.vini.com.au/