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There was no shortage of eager, adventurous gourmands, who braved the winter cold and gathered at Le Bistro and L'Epicerie for the Seventh Edition of our Melbourne Foodie Experimentations night, on Monday, 26 July.
Jacky, Kobi, and Adrian once again stretched the capacity of our kitchens and excelled themselves in presenting an exciting and diverse menu of eight dishes (including two cleansers). All dishes were prepared especially for this degustation night; none of them have been previously tried on our regular menu.
Yours truly, together with Albert and Jeremy, have gone through our cellars as well as some recent arrivals, and matched the dishes with a selection of French and Australian wines, some of which were, once again, new to the wine list and the restaurant!
It was the seventh Foodie's dinner - but also the last one - for our L'Epicerie chef, Adrian Schubert, who, after two years with the restaurant, is departing for 'greener pastures'. On behalf of the restaurant and all our diners, I would like to thank Adrian for his dedicated (and imaginative!) work at Chez Olivier, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours!
But now, back to the evening!
The Foodie Night began with Terrine au Jarret du Porc, served with cornichons and onion jam on toast. It was matched with Le Vin Gamay du sud de la France, 2008.
It was followed by St Jacques (scallops) in cauliflower puree with bacon crumble, served in a scallop shell on blue rock salt. The accompanying wine was Outlook Hill Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Vic, 2006.
The first cleanser for the night was Soupe de Poix, served in a shot glass.
The first dish of the 'main' section, and the fourth dish of the night, was Fillet de Marlin, served on wild mushroom ragu and topped with an egg poached in red wine. The idea was to let the yolk spill out and let it mix with the sauce and flavours. The dish was matched with Six Foot Six Gold Leaf Pinot Gris, Geelong, Vic, 2008.
This was followed by Crepinette a la Normandie Moderne, served on spiced baked apple and topped with Calvados cream. This exotic concoction was accompanied by a French drop, Faugeres Les Meteores, 2006.
The two preceding dishes were rounded off with a cleanser of Jelee d'Amande Amere, which also 'heralded' the forthcoming succession of sweet delights.
Our first dish for those with a sweet tooth (and our seventh dish for the night) was Apple Sorbet served on a bed of rhubarb and candied fennel. It was matched with Champagne Tatin.
The last dish for the night was the Chef's Surprise, the secret of which was kept right until the last minute. When the dessert was brought out, it was revealed to be chocolate creme peaks with ice cream and super-crunchy honeycomb and nut crumble (and there was a lot of noise as the Foodies were cracking the last one in pieces...). The final matching wine for the night was a delicious drop of Little Fish Botrytis Semillon, Gippsland, Vic, 2004.
The next Foodie Experimentation event will take place in four week's time, on Monday, 30 August, at 6:45pm. Cost: 44pp (plus 31 for matching drinks [optional, but highly recommended]). So, if you enjoyed this evening's degustation event (or got intrigued by it reading this page), don't delay and reserve your places for our next dinner in August!
Click here to join the Foodie Experimentation Group and attend the event @ Le Bistro
Click here to join the Foodie Experimentators Group and attend the event @ L'Epicerie
Please, note that bookings for this event are administered by www.meetup.com and cannot be taken through Chez Olivier. Please, also note that degustation menus are set and cannot be changed on the night. If you have food allergies (or other dietary concerns) please contact the restaurant well in advance to enable the kitchens to accommodate your food preferences.
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