It was a cracker of a night in Melbourne last evening for the Rockpool Group. The AGE handed out the toques and awards and we were proud as punch to be there and to feel such a great part of this vibrant city and it’s healthy restaurant and bar scene.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne took home two hats last night, and Spice Temple one in it’s first year – along with, and instilling much pride along the way, Wine List of the Year. A special shout out at this point to our sommelier David Lawler for putting together a stunning list of exactly 100 wines to suit the great food that the Spice kitchen delivers. Brilliance.

Another proud moment was delivered when Neil received Le Cordon Bleu Professional Excellence Award - unexpected and hugely appreciated.

A pat on the back and a huge thank you to all our guys in Melbourne at Bar & Grill, Spice Temple and The Waiting Room for such great work throughout the year, and thanks to The AGE for your great acknowledgement of the work we do.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne 17/20

“From the very first interaction with staff – on the phone or near the oyster shucker and aged-meat shrine by the entrance tunnel – diners are beamed a confident promise that they’ll have a good time. Overwhelmingly, the pact is made good…”

Spice Temple Melbourne 15/20

“Melbourne hasn’t seen Chinese done like this before. We’re not only talking about Neil Perry’s dark, moody and seriously sexy clubhouse that looks something like a Shanghai speakeasy, but as Spice Temple shows, Chinese is a cuisine of regions far removed from the sameness of Cantonese…unquestionably the most exciting Chinese in town.”

The Waiting Room

“…a glamorous space where Spanish-influenced bar food, expertly crafted drinks and brilliant service are more than a match for  the plush, glittering decor.”

Neil Perry

“Perpetually in motion, he epitomises the successful modern chef…critic Leo Schofield has said of Perry, a butcher’s son and youngest of seven children:  He has a work ethic few chefs have.”

Chargrilled Baby Octopus with Olives and Hand-Pounded Pesto

Serves 4

—

½ small clove garlic
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
½ bunch basil, leaves only
20g raw pine nuts
1 tbsp finely grated parmesan
40ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
Juice of ¼ lemon
1/3 cup Ligurian olives, pitted
12 cherry tomatoes, quartered
500g baby octopus
100g mixed salad leaves, washed

—

Pound the garlic and ½ tsp salt to a paste with a mortar and pestle. Add the basil and continue to pound until the basil breaks down and a thick paste is formed. Add the pine nuts and work them in well so the paste has a creamy texture.

Add the parmesan, 40ml olive oil and lemon juice. Season with more salt, if required. Add pepper. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and add the olive and cherry tomatoes.

Chargrill the octopus over a high heat for 5 minutes or until it gets good colour and char marks. You want that nice barbecue flavour. Cut the octopus into bite-size pieces. Add it to the pesto mix and combine well.

To serve, place a small pile of salad leaves on each plate with some octopus mix on top. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

This recipe appeared in the Good Weekend, 27th August 2011

This is a beautiful salad that has been on the menu at Spice Temple Sydney since it opened. As always, it relies heavily on the quality of your ingedients so make sure you buy the freshest prawns and vegetables. It makes a great starter to a shared meal…

Tingling Prawns

Serves 2 to 4 as part of a shared banquet

Ingredients
300g cooked king prawns, peeled
3 long green chillies, seeds removed and finely diced
1/4 small knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 bunch coriander, leaves picked and stems chopped roughly
Roasted and ground Sichuan pepper
Pinch sea salt
2t caster sugar
20ml rice wine vinegar
90ml spring onion oil (see below)
3 long green shallots, cut into 5cm batons

Spring Onion Oil
200ml vegetable oil
Small handful of long green onion tops, roughly chopped

Method
To make the spring onion oil, combine the vegetable oil and long green shallot tops in a pot and place onto the stove. Heat slowly until the oil reaches 80°C, using a meat thermometer to test. Remove from the heat and blend the oil in a blender until well combined. Strain through muslin or a fine strainer. Shallot oil will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Cut the prawns lengthways in half and set aside in a bowl.

In a mortar, pound the green chilli, ginger, coriander stems, a pinch of Sichuan pepper, sea salt and sugar to a paste with a pestle. Add the vinegar and shallot oil to form a dressing.

Add the coriander leaves and shallot stems to the prawns and pour over the dressing. Mix well, transfer to a plate and sprinkle over another pinch of Sichuan pepper.

Printable Recipe

Whilst we’re waiting on the pro photos to come back from our man Ted Sealey, we thought we’d give you a little tease of the awesome dinner held at Rockpool Sydney last night… Enjoy our amateur hipstamatic shots!! Full blog story coming next week.

The Rockpool bread, lovingly made in-house.

The $1,200 bottle of Shao Xing wine, used for the drunken pigeon… classy bottle, huh?

The Chefs in action in the Rockpool test kitchen upstairs.

Truffle congee, bamboo pith, preserved eggs and truffle ketchup.

Truffled potatoes.

Drunken pigeon, abalone, potato salad…. drool…

Rich man’s brioche – the best I’ve ever tasted.

Brioche, truffled fried egg, Jamon Iberico, Reggiano, shaved truffles, truffle butter. Enough said.  

Truffled chicken, wrapped in a lotus leaf, encased in a salt crust.

Who is that masked chef?

The finished dish – the afore mentioned truffled chicken breast, thigh with truffle mousse, truffled celeriac, truffle and banyuls vinaigrette.

Stay tuned for the complete wrap-up!

Time for another Thursday photo journey.. Seems like only last week that we were anticipating the opening of Rockpool Bar & Grill in Perth – that was actually 8 months ago now! Time really does fly… Here are some of our favourite photos from the transformation – a look back at some of the before, during and after shots.

RB&G Perth was formerly The Emporium Food Court at Burswood, and as you’ll see it has gone through quite the change. From this:

To this…

The entrance hallway before…

And after…

Kitchen exhaust ready to be installed..

Kitchen almost finished…

So shiny, it almost seems a shame to use it

To finish off, just a few of the great food shots taken by Earl Carter…

A week and a half after the City 2 Surf and we’ve recovered enough to be able to write about it! Two Sunday’s ago 32 of us from the Rockpool Group lined up at the corner of William and College Streets, and we’re proud to say that all 32 of us made it to Bondi – alive! Most importantly for all of us, along the way we raised a massive $206,262.00 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation – which will go to help 34 terminally ill children get their wish, and give their families a wonderful memory of their child or sibling that they can hold for the rest of their life, when their loved one is gone. That right there is about as good a cause as we could ever dream of.

So, as we lined up at the start line, the early morning drizzle starting to subside, you could feel a certain sense of competitiveness amongst some of the Rockpool runners. For some of us, there was more to this run than just finishing - there was pride at stake here. (I know what you’re thinking – chefs, competitive? Crazy right?!) And no one in our team has a more competitive streak than our fearless leader, Neil himself. Well, Chef didn’t finish first in our group, but he sure gave it a damn good crack finishing with a respectable 1.32.34 – not bad for someone who’s battled the super flu and spent more time flying across the country in the last 2 months than most of us do in a lifetime. The line honours went to Rockpool Sydney Chef Matt Stevenson, with a lightning quick 55.36, closely followed by fellow Rockpool Sydney Chef James Parry with a 57.28. Obviously these guys aren’t getting worked hard enough…

The boss gives us a wave on the way up heartbreak hill

At the finish line we were all treated to the luxury of the Starlight Marquee – Iggy’s bread rolls, sausages from Vic’s Meats, Coleslaw from Fratelli Fresh, all washed down with some Lord Nelson Brewery Three Sheets Pale Ale, Ross Hill Wines Rose and water and energy drinks supplied by Vittoria. Of course the beer and wine proved a little more popular than the water – a mistake that I personally regretted later on that afternoon. Seems like beer doesn’t replace your electrolytes like Gatorade after all. Must remember that one for next year…

Spice Temple hostess Kate Hemingway and Spice Temple manager Baci Moore enjoying the run waaaay too much!

We all swapped our war stories – which muscles hurt the most, who couldn’t feel their legs anymore, how each of us fared on heartbreak hill. Little did we know that the real pain would be felt the next day – you have never heard more people whinging and whining in one place than the Rockpool office last Monday. It just seemed like there were so many more stairs to climb than normal…

What many people probably don’t appreciate is how great the crowds are that line the run. Whether they’re cheering you on as you run into the Kings Cross tunnel, handing out drinks at the many drink stations along the race, offering you home-made biscuits up on Military Rd, or smurfing it up at Rose Bay, they make the run so much more special.

B&G Hostess JP, Group Admin Manager Lauren Treweek and B&G Hostess Dani Cheika

So we have to give big thanks to Vittoria, Vic’s Meats, Iggy’s Bread, Fratelli Fresh, The Lord Nelson Brewery, Ross Hill Wines, New Balance for our shoes and shirts, Edgewear for printing them for us, and Skins for making us look like pros even if we didn’t necessarily run like them. Even bigger thanks to the staff who helped assemble the marquee at 5am Sunday morning and break it down at the end. And a huge thanks to Neil’s PA, Sarah Swan, for the monumental task of organising 32 runners from across the group, getting us registered, suited up, at the start line together and organising every last detail at our marquee… no small feat.

But most of all we reserve our biggest and warmest thank you to everyone who donated to Starlight – you have made the lives of some seriously ill kids and their families a little bit brighter. And for that we’re all winners.

These are some of our favourite shots from the marquee, some of us looking a bit worse for wear than others!! Bring on C2S 2012!

JP and Neil – a well deserved drink for the big guy

Dani and B&G Restaurant Manager Tom Sykes

Rockpool Sydney Head Chef Phil Wood, Neil and the holder of a yet-to-be-named perpetual trophy, Matt Stevenson

Rockpool Accounts/Payroll Manager Sue Cunningham with Neil’s PA Sarah Swan

B&G General Manager Jeremy Courmadias, Spice Temple Head Chef Andy Evans and myself

Some of the young tykes – Karoline Binkhorst and Damian Flanagan, B&G pastry, Mat Shannon, Spice Temple, and Joe Cheika, barman B&G.

Quite possibly the best sourdough bread rolls by Iggy’s Bread of the World in Bronte

Tom manning the Webber Q with B&G Sous Chef Ben Sitton providing what looks like both technical and emotional support

Sharing the war stories.. I’m willing to bet that this conversation involved heartbreak hill…

Bar Boulud is located at the bottom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge. It is one of the many fine restaurants run by Daniel Boulud as he spreads his empire throughout the world. His famous 3 star, Daniel, resides in New York City and is a fantastic restaurant. His satellite restaurants are great places, with good quality cooking and are just plain fun to be at.

During our recent holiday in Europe, Sam and I stopped in after a hard morning’s shopping and found it to be a wonderful oasis to spend a couple of hours, drinking and eating to our heart’s content.

The look and feel of the place is modern brassiere, and for me the best place to sit was up at the bar near the kitchen. Here we got to eat lunch whilst watching service and all the fantastic food coming off the pass…  ahhh, a chef’s dream…

They have a really smart wine by-the-glass program and an overall wine list that is bound to satisfy. We opted to go by-the-glass and got stuck into a couple of glasses of white burgundy, before moving on to a Rhone-style red produced in the US and promoted by a group of wine makers known as the ‘Rhone Rangers’. Love the name!

We kicked off with a terrific charcuterie plate and some delicious bread, then moved on to an octopus salad and some really delicious boudin blanc and boudin noir.

Then on to the main game – the famous burger. It went down a treat with the Rhone-style red.

Sam and I were feeling full but we couldn’t resist a rich chocolate tart to finish, and we were very pleased we succumbed. It was everything the waiter had promised and more.

A quick espresso to finish and we left to hit the shops again. We love London, and despite the events of the past couple of weeks it will always be a must visit for us. And with the dollar the way it is right now there is certainly a lot more to love!!!!

Crispy Blue-Eye Marinated in Red Bean Curd

Serves 2, or 4 as part of a shared banquet

—

350g blue-eye fillet, cut into bite-size pieces
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
½ cup tapioca flour
Mixed lettuce leaves, lemon wedges and steamed rice, to serve
Marinade
2 tbsp fermented red bean curd, mashed
1 tbsp store-bought bean curd marinade (available from Asian grocers)
2 tbsp shao xing wine
½ tsp five-spice powder
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

—

To make the marinade, mix together the bean curd, bean curd marinade, shaoxing wine, five-spice powder and garlic.

Add the blue eye to the marinade and toss until well coated, then leave for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer until smoking (about 180°C). Remove the blue-eye from the marinade and dust with tapioca flour, shaking off any excess.

Deep fry the fish in batches until golden brown, then remove from the wok and drain on paper towels.

Serve on a bed of mixed lettuce leaves, with lemon wedges on the side, and a bowl of steamed rice if desired.

This recipe appeared in the Good Weekend, 20th August 2011

So what makes a good quality burger?? Well, start with the best quality ingredients and you’re halfway there. This is a slightly housewife-d version of our famous RB&G Wagyu Burger, and is a great reason to bring the barbecue out of hibernation this weekend. The key here is definitely try to source the best ingredients – you may not find wagyu mince at your local butcher, so buy the best they have. Likewise, you’re better off buying your burger buns from a bakery and your bacon and Gruyere from a deli. If you can’t find Tomato and Chilli Relish, then you could just substitute a good quality tomato jam or sauce… A little bit of effort at the beginning will go a long way at the end….

The Rockpool Bar & Grill Wagyu Burger

Serves 4

1kg Wagyu mince, or the best quality you can buy from the butcher
4 rashers quality bacon
4 good quality burger buns
4 slices Gruyere cheese
Tomato and Chilli relish, store bought
Sliced pickles, store bought
4 cos leaves
1 vine-ripened tomato

Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Place the mince in a large bowl and using your hand work the mince until it becomes sticky (you could also use a food processor or mixer). This will help to bind the meat.
Press the mince into four even patties and set aside.
Heat a barbecue or grill until very hot. Season the patties with sea salt and a drizzle of oil and grill on both sides until medium-rare. Top with the Gruyere cheese and allow to rest in a warm place.
Grill the bacon until crisp and set aside. Toast the bun until golden.
To assemble, place the cooked patties on the burger bun bottoms. Top with the tomato and chilli relish, pickles and place the bun on top. Serve with the cos leaf and sliced tomato

Place on bun, top with relish and pickles and serve with cos and sliced tomato, season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

It’s Thursday afternoon, you’ve made it past hump-day and it’s all downhill to the weekend from here. So we thought we’d serve you up a little photo journey to give your brain a rest.

Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of hosting the Ultimate Dinner at Rockpool Bar & Grill with some of the world’s greatest Chefs – Thomas Keller from The French Laundry, Heston Blumenthal from The Fat Duck, Andoni Aduriz from Mugaritz and Guillaume Brahimi from Guillaume at Bennelong. Along with Phil Wood (Head Chef Rockpool), Catherine Adams (Head Pastry Chef Rockpool Group) and Neil himself, it was quite an impressive line-up.

Here are some of our favourite photos from the event… Prepare to switch off your brain and let your eyes do the work!

Floor staff briefing - a crucial part of any restaurant service that the diners never get to see…

Andoni Aduriz (left) with his chef (and translator) Oswaldo Oliva. It’s of crucial importance that the floor team know the description of the dish, it’s components, any ingredients that may cause allergies…

Pouring the bubbly for the guests arrival… 2002 Dom Pérignon, a fine way to start any evening!

A little time before service allows for some mingling..

Three kitchen masters – Neil with Peter Gilmore (Quay, left) and Thomas Keller (right).

The chefs in the Mezzanine Dining Room plating Heston’s dish, “Sound of the Sea”.

This is where the ‘sound’ came from – iPods inserted into the shells so the diners could listen to the sea whilst they ate, for a more sensory experience.

Action in the kitchen..

Behind the pass, Rockpool Bar & Grill Sous Chef Angel Fernandez (left) and Head Chef Khan Danis (right) ensured a smooth kitchen service…

Crab and Caviar Sandwiches – Guillaume Brahimi, Guillaume at Bennelong

Vegetable Carpaccio Accompanied by a Sweet & Sour Dressing, D.D Idiazabal Cheese Shavings and Vegetable – Andoni Aduriz, Mugaritz 

“Sound of the Sea” - Heston Blumenthal, The Fat Duck

Rich and Noble Lobster Congee, Star Anise Scented Peanuts, Chinese Fried Bread and Chilli Oil – Phil Wood, Rockpool

Duck Breast, Swiss Chard, Glazed Turnips, Pickled Blueberries and Hazelnut – Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

Wood Fire Grilled David Blackmore Wagyu Brisket, Oxtail Ravioli, Bitter Greens with Oxtail Sauce – Neil Perry

Vanilla Bavarois with Tomato and Raspberry Confit, Raspberry Sorbet - Catherine Adams, Rockpool Bar & Grill

After the desserts had been served, there was time to relax and join the guests…

Hard to pass up the chance to get a signature when you’re in the presence of a superstar!

Dinner over, job well done, and straight to the bar for some well deserved beers!! Looking forward to Ultimate Dinner 2012!