Category Archives: Bar & Grill Melbourne

As another year wraps up and we’re all saying ‘I can’t believe this year has gone so quickly’, we thought we would give you a quick recap of the best bits from our blog… 

January 

Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth Opens

The year kicked off with the opening of our newest restaurant, Bar & Grill Perth at Burswood. Who would have known back then that RB&G Perth would be awarded 17.5/20, 2 Chef’s hats, Restaurant of the Year and Winelist of the Year in the WA Good Food Awards 8 months down the track… well, if you ask Neil he will probably tell you that he thought it was a lock.

February

Rockpool Floodlight Dinner

Straight off the bat for February was our Floodlight Dinner to raise money for the devastating Queensland floods. A combined effort between Phil and The Four in Hand’s Colin Fassnidge, it was a truly great evening.

Rose Bay Flood Relief Dinner

Later on in February was the epic Rose Bay Flood Relief Dinner – 5 restaurants set up along the Rose Bay promenade to serve 1000 guests. Over $850,000 was raised for the QLD flood victims – an amazing effort. And really – could you ever ask for a better table than that?

March

The Ultimate Dinner

It doesn’t get much better than this – Neil Perry, Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry), Andoni Aduriz (Mugaritz), Guillaume Brahimi (Bennelong), Phil Wood (Rockpool) and Catherine Adams (Rockpool) cooking you dinner. Well, maybe if they’re raising money for charity as well… This year’s Ultimate Dinner was the best yet, with over $280,000 raised for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

April

Ultimate Food!

 

Armed with our professional photos, we took an in-depth look at the Ultimate Dinner – the Chefs, the action, and most importantly the food… 

May

Noma, Copenhagen

Whilst we were nose to the grindstone here at Rockpool, Neil was off on his Northern Hemishpere holiday. He kindly sent us photos of all the nice places he was eating at, just to remind us that he was indeed “working” whilst away… Noma, in particular, looked amazing. Probably why they’re rated the best restaurant in the world..

Rockpool 1989 – 2011

We love nostalgia here at Rockpool. That’s quite lucky, because we’ve got plenty of it! When we came across some old photos, we didn’t hesitate at putting together a little photographic journey into the past.. I still can’t believe that this is the upstairs dining room Rockpool!

Burger Wars!

Organised by Time Out Sydney Magazine, Burger Wars pitted 6 of Sydney’s best burgers against one another… Pickle, or no pickle? Sesame seed bun, or no sesame seed bun? Whose burger would reign supreme, and which Chef would be crowned the burger master???

Saturday Afternoon at the Borough Markets

 
 

On what appeared to be the best summer’s day in London history (what? Blue sky?), Neil spent the afternoon casually wandering the amazing borough markets.. By all accounts, this is one of the best markets in the world. And after seeing this, we believe it.

The River Cafe, London

Neil’s gastronomic tour of London continued with a trip to the iconic River Cafe. This food made us all drool over our keyboards..

June

The Best Feedback Letter… Ever!

Yeah, so no photo for this one, but I guarantee that you will not read a better feedback letter in your lifetime! If only they were all like this…

Making Butter by Hand - Rockpool Sydney

Butter. It comes from the dairy section at your supermarket, right? Ever wondered how hard it would be  to make it yourself? Read on….

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

 

 

Neil popped in to Heston’s newest restaurant in London, where he’s been turning long-forgotten recipes into modern day classics. Love the Meat Fruit c.1500.

Buvette, West Village, New York

Across the Atlantic and on to NY, Buvette is one of the cutest restaurants we’ve seen – and the food looks pretty damn good as well! Neil was given the tip by US Chef magastar Mario Batali, who joined he and Sam for lunch.

Making Bread by Hand – Rockpool Sydney

When the kids down at Rockpool decided that they would start making their own sourdough in-house, we had to get down there and blog it. Making bread is a true labour of love… If you’ve ever wanted to know the effort that goes into making your own sourdough, take a look right here.

July

Eataly, New York

After returning from his holiday research trip, Neil handed over the rest of his snaps which included his trip to Eataly – 20,000 square feet of Italian gastronomic goodness in the heart of NY. The photos don’t do it justice – the place is huuuge.

The Sorrentine Peninsula, Italy

As if we weren’t feeling a bit left out of the whole “eating our way around the globe” thing yet, B&G Head Chef and Pastry Chef Khan and Catherine sent us snaps of their Italian holiday. The first edition sees them travelling through the Sorrentine Peninsula, a place of incredible beauty and delicious food… 

Naples, Italy

 

Part 2 of Khan and Catherine’s journey was up the coast to Naples, and then on to the outskirts of Rome to the Osteria di San Cesario, and the kitchen of the legendary Anna Dente.

Rome, Italy

 

The final installment of Khan and Catherine’s journey, where it’s all about pizza and gelato. If that’s not heaven then I don’t want to go!

August

Rockpool Menu Circa 1996

 

Remember I told you we love nostalgia? When we found an old menu in the attic at Rockpool it brought a tear to our eyes, and not just from all the dust we also uncovered in the process. Stacked with Rockpool classics, the prices are practically bargain basement for a 3 hat restaurant nowadays..

Rockpool’s City 2 Surf Wrap Up

Ah, yes, Team Rockpool’s finest hour – well, actually only a couple of us managed to crack the hour mark, but we all tried our hardest and in the process raised a whopping $206,262.00 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Apart from raising money for our favourite cause, it was a pretty fun day after we got to the finish line. Bring on 2012!

Rockpool Truffle Dinner Teaser

 

 

So when Neil and Phil decided to go all out and serve more truffles that we’ve ever seen to just 15 lucky diners, we pulled out our iPhones and got snapping. With the pro photos ‘being developed’, we gave you a little tease… who was that masked chef?

September

Rockpool Sydney Winter Truffle Dinner

  

With pro photos in hand, we could really delve into what was without a doubt the most extravagant dinner we’ve ever seen. 1.5kg of Tasmanian truffles for just 15 lucky diners… the smell in the kitchen was intoxicating!

Truffle Hunting in the Southern Highlands

You’re probably think that chef’s are obsessed with truffles, right? Correct! Whilst some of us were punishing ourselves by running to Bondi (all in the name of charity), some lucky staff from B&G Sydney took a trip to the Southern Highlands for a spot of truffle hunting..

Spice Temple Melbourne Hunan Dinner

The first of the Spice Temple Melbourne Regional dinners was the Hunan dinner – and it was a great success. Rather than the usual spectrum of cuisines at ST, Neil focused in on the Hunan Provence – think spicy hot, home-style cuisine without the Sichuan numbing.

October

Spice Temple Melbourne Imperial Dinner

 

Spicy T’s second regional dinner was the Imperial Dinner – dishes from between 221 BC and 1911 AD. With colourful names such as ‘Playful Dragon and Phoenix’, ‘The Most Delicious Dish under Heaven’  and ‘First Ranking Official Pork’, the question we had was would these dishes stand the test of time?

November

Victor Churchill, Woollahra

  

  

We took a look at one of our favourite shops of all time – Victor Churchill, where meat is taken to a whole new level. Vegetarians be warned – clicking through may turn you back into an omnivore..

per se, New York

Another stop on Neil’s culinary tour was at per se, one of the worlds greatest restaurants. These guys are at the pointy end of fine dining, and the food looks incredible.

Next, Chicago

 

 

The final post about Neil’s 2011 trip was from Next, the new restaurant by Grant Achatz of Alinea fame. What these guys to is pretty unique – they choose a theme (at the time Neil visited it was ‘Paris 1906′, an homage to Auguste Escoffier), cook the same menu for 3 months (they refer to it as a ‘season’), and then go back to the drawing board and come up with a brand new theme. We loved their Next Opening video… oh, and you buy a ticket as if you were going to the theatre – so if you don’t turn up, you miss out and pay in full…

December

Rockpool Pop-Up Lunch – “Cafe 1989″

 

Rockpool swung its doors open for lunch for the first time in almost 3 years with a $75 3-course menu inspired by the food of Chez Panisse. Prawns, suckling pig, cherries.. can’t go wrong!

Eating out in Hong Kong pt1 

Part 1 of Neil’s Hong Kong blog was all about yum cha and Chinese barbecue – two of our favourite subjects. Throw in a five star hotel and we’re hooked!

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All this plus recipes galore, Qantas stories, awards, Neil barbecuing a Kiwi in the name of national pride, photo shoots, more travel stories, random videos, a new book, a few give-aways, a master class or two… it’s been a big year for the Rockpool blog! Looking forward to 2012, bigger and better, and we’ve got some veeery big news to break just around the corner.. Stay tuned!!

We think of this as the perfect summer side – crisp, delicious and minimal preparation! Currently on the menu at all our Bar & Grill’s, this photo was taken for us by Earl Carter down at B&G Melbourne. Worth a look for your Xmas lunch/dinner we think…

Shredded Cabbage and Parmesan Salad

¼ Savoy cabbage
½ bunch flat leaf parsley
120ml extra virgin olive oil
40ml good quality red wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
50g freshly grated parmesan

Finely shred the cabbage using a knife or a Japanese slicer and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Cut the parsley into fine shreds and add to the cabbage in a bowl.

In a bowl whisk together the extra virgin olive oil and vinegar and add to the cabbage. Add just enough dressing to moisten the salad, not to drown it. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving plate.

Scatter the grated parmesan over the top and serve.

The last of our recipe teasers from Neil’s new book, Rockpool Bar & Grill… Enjoy!

“This is the classic combination of prunes and Armagnac combined with another classic, crème brûlée, which makes it that little bit more indulgent.” Catherine

Armagnac prunes
12 pitted prunes
500 ml freshly brewed hot black tea
250 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
80 g Armagnac

Place the prunes and tea in a bowl, cover with aluminium foil and set aside for 1 hour to infuse. Strain and discard the liquid.

Combine the sugar, vanilla extract, citrus zest, juice and 250g of water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Add the prunes, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until the prunes are tender. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool in the liquid.

Strain the prunes, discarding the liquid. Place the prunes in a container, add the Armagnac, cover and set aside for at least 2 hours before using. You can store them in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Vanilla Crème Brûlée
450 g pouring (single) cream (35 % fat content)
½ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 quantity Armagnac prunes
20 g Armagnac 
5 egg yolks   
70g castor sugar

Place the cream and vanilla bean seeds in a saucepan over medium heat and heat until hot. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 1 hour to infuse.

Preheat a non fan-forced oven to 160°C. Coarsely chop the prunes and divide between 4 x shallow 250ml capacity ramekins. Press the prunes into the bases to help stop them floating up in the custard, Divide the Armagnac between the ramekins. Line a deep roasting tray with a folded tea towel and place the ramekins on top.

Reheat the cream over medium heat until hot. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale, then gradually add the warm milk, while whisking continuously. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Try and get as many vanilla seeds as possible into the custard. Set aside for 5 minutes. Skim any foam from the surface, then pour the custard evenly between the ramekins.

Fill the tray with enough hot water to come two-thirds of the way up the side of the ramekins. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and pierce with a few holes to release the steam. Carefully, trying not to splash the water into the ramekins, place the tray in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until set. To test if they’re ready, gently shake a remekin; the custard should have a uniform jelly-like wobble. If the custards are not set, continue to bake until set. Remove from the oven, uncover and allow to cool slightly in the water bath. When cool enough to handle, remove the ramekins from the water bath and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

To Serve
50g caster sugar

Sprinkle each vanilla crème brûlée with one-quarter of the sugar, then wipe the edges to remove any excess sugar. Use a kitchen blowtorch or place the ramekins under a preheated hot grill, and caramelise the sugar, but do not burn. You’re aiming for a nice amber brown not black, which will make it bitter. Refrigerate for 5 minutes before serving. This will help the caramel set and crisp up.

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Neil Perry (Murdoch Books)

A little while back we told you about the Rockpool Group In-House Cocktail Competition – where we pit the creativity of our company’s bartenders against each other for the thirst-quenching benefit of our worthy customers.

The competition is the brainchild of Will Oxenham, TWR Bar Managerm, mixologist and overall creative-type himself. Will devised this month’s theme: “A Spring Punch, featuring Appleton V/X Rum”, and laid down the following ground rules for our participants:

For Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and The Waiting Room:

A classically-styled, cleansing Rum Punch, inspired by Spring in Australia, designed for post wood fire grill indulgence, post Spring Race Meet refreshment, or just about any typical sunny pre-Summer afternoon in any corner of Australia.

And for Spice Temple Sydney and Melbourne:

A versatile, cleansing Rum Punch, inspired by Spice Temple’s cuisine, designed for Spring refreshment, and to cool the palate, either pre or post dinner, or even between dishes.

Well, after many hours behind the bar, our talented mixologists have come up with the following cocktails – all of which are available in their respective bars RIGHT NOW!

Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney

 Created by Josh Cochran – the “El Alacran”: Appleton VX, Marie Brizzard Apry, Orgeat, lemon and orange juice, and pineapple soda with cubed ice in a highball.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne

 

Created by Ben Hines - the “Blood Orange Zombie”  – Following that age old recipe ”one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak”: Appleton VX, Flor de Cana, Ron Zacapa, lemon, lime, and blood orange… shaken over ice, topped with a scoop of blood orange sorbet.

Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth

 

Created by David Nguyen-Luu – the “Rockpool Society Punch” - Based on the “Charleton St. Society Punch” from Charles H. Baker: Appleton VX, Hennessy VSOP cognac, Silver Needle white tea, fresh watermelon, pineapple juice and topped up with sparkling wine…

The Waiting Room

Created by Mitchel Bidner: Appleton VX, St Germaine, lemon, orange, grapefruit, sparkling wine and mint to garnish.

Spice Temple Sydney

Created by Ruaridh MacDonald and Adam Fitzgerald – the “South Eastern Seas” - a Rum Punch-style drink, dry and fruity with the seasonal blood orange: Appleton VX, Grand Manier, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, blood orange juice and bitters, Thai basil and cava, served with ice in a Riedel ‘O’ Series Riesling glass.

Spice Temple Melbourne

Created by Kim Scott and Imogen Clements – the “Scorpio”: Appleton VX, Luxardo Maraschino, Kaffir lime, vanilla, lime juice and watermelon soda, strained over ice into a Riedel ‘O’ Series Cab Merlot glass.

Neil is currently traversing the country sampling the competition entries (as I said before, it’s a hard job but I guess someone has to do it). So what are you waiting for? Get in there, sample their cocktails and tell us what you think!

Our second recipe from Neil’s new book, Rockpool Bar & Grill. Enjoy!

The Rockpool Bar & Grill menu reads: “Man first roasted birds over fire; I see no reason why it still isn’t the best method today”. The wood-fired rotisserie is one of the cornerstones of the restaurant. I love watching the chicken as it turns slowly over the embers, glowing red with heat, turning the skin golden and imparting a wonderful smokiness. Two things are really important for the success of this dish. First, you must get a really terrific free-range or organic chicken and, second, don’t overcook it. 

If you’re using a gas barbecue, you can simulate the smokiness by using soaked wood chips. And, very important, don’t close the barbecue lid! The bird needs to cook without too fierce a heat. I find that closing the lid makes it happen all too quickly for the delicate nature of the bird’s flesh. And remember to rest it. We serve the chicken with Tuscan bread and tomato salad in summer, with white beans through winter, and peas and broad beans at other times of the year.

Serves 4

2 x 1.5kg free-range or organic chickens
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
60ml extra virgin olive, plus extra for rubbing
4 x 3cm thick slices sourdough bread, crusts on
1 garlic clove
400g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Aioli, to serve

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Prepare the rotisserie. Remove the wing tips and trim the excess fat from the chickens. Season the chickens liberally with salt and rub with some olive oil. Thread the chickens onto the rotisserie and cook for 35-40 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove from the rotisserie and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.

Meanwhile, heat a chargrill pan to high and toast the bread on each side until crisp. Rub both sides with the garlic clove. Cut the bread into 2cm cubes and toss with the tomato, parsley, olive oil and vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, cut the chicken into desired pieces and serve with the bread salad and aioli on the side.

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Neil Perry (Murdoch Books)

Congratulations go to our competition winners Vernica Sison, Pasquale Demaria and Mark Bennett!! You each have a signed copy of ‘Rockpool Bar & Grill’ heading your way.

Thanks for everyone who took the time to enter, there were some seriously good entries that Neil had trouble separating. The book is available in stores now, or signed copies are available from our restaurants.

Looking forward to our next competition!

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“Tales from the restaurant and from his producers intersperse Neil’s collection of 150 recipes that bring his restaurant into your home. His advice on handling seafood, how to cook the perfect steak, how to build a wood-fired barbecue, plus his signature condiments, side dishes and desserts, make this an indispensable and inspirational kitchen companion.”

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With Neil’s new book set to be released on the 1st October, we’re offering you a chance to win 1 of 3 copies of the Rockpool Bar & Grill Book – made out to you and personally signed by Neil himself. So what do you need to do to get your hands on one of the first copies hot off the press??

We’ve dreamed up a little scenario – you have a reservation for four people booked at Rockpool Bar & Grill – but who are you going to bring with you? Tell us in our blog comments below who are the three guests you’re going to invite to have dinner with you – they can be anyone you like…  

Entries close  on Friday 30th September at 12 midday AEST, Neil will be choosing the winners and we will announce them via the blog at 2pm Friday. 

Get your thinking caps on, and may the best 3 tables win!! 

Our first recipe preview from Neil’s new book, due out on the 1st October. Enjoy!

We think of this as a bit of a signature dish because it uses our wonderful wood fired grill which is right at the heart of the restaurant. Each vegetable is grilled to a tender texture with a smokiness from the fire that is truly amazing. Seasoned with Forum red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and teamed with creamy goat’s curd, this is a really memorable salad. You can achieve a pretty good result a home barbecue. The vegetables are also nice roasted.

Serves 4 

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200ml extra virgin olive oil
2 zucchini
1 leek, white part only, washed
1 red capsicum
½ eggplant, cut into 4 wedges
4 spring onions, white part only
12 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ tablespoons Forum cabernet sauvignon vinegar
20 black Ligurian olives, pitted
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
100g fresh goat’s curd
Juice of 1 lemon
Baby basil leaves, for garnishing

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Preheat a barbecue grill plate to high. Place all of the vegetables in a large tray, drizzle over 80ml of the olive oil to coat the vegetables and season to taste with salt and pepper. Chargrill the vegetables, except the tomatoes, until tender. Increase the heat to high, blister the skins of the tomatoes, then remove from the grill.

Remove the skins and seeds of the capsicum, the skins of the tomatoes and the outer layers of the spring onions and leek. Cut all of the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl.

Dress the vegetables with the red wine vinegar, 100ml of the olive oil and season to taste. Place on a baking tray and reheat under a medium grill.

Combine the olives, balsamic vinegar and remaining oil and season to taste. Arrange the hot vegetables on plates, top with the olive salad, then a quenelle of goat’s curd. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice and garnish with a few basil leaves.

Rockpool Bar & Grill, Neil Perry (Murdoch Books)

Everyone likes a bit of healthy competition – especially when you’re the person who gets to reap the benefits.  That’s why we’re excited to tell you about the new Rockpool Group In-House Cocktail Competition – 6 bars pitted against each other to create the most delicous and imaginative cocktail.

The idea is the brainchild of Will Oxenham, Bar Manager at TWR Melbourne:

“As part of our bars’ aiming to be at the cutting edge of Australia’s bar culture, and to drive our respective venue’s cocktail programs forward, I’m pleased to announce the Rockpool Group’s Monthly In-House Cocktail Promotion. So much is known about Rockpool’s amazingly fresh food and exemplary floor service, it is now time to establish a level of consistency and presentation in our bars.”

So how will this work?? Well, there will essentially be two competitions running in conjunction with each other – one between The Waiting Room, Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney, Melbourne and Perth; and the other being between the two Spice Temples in Sydney and Melbourne.

At the midpoint of each month, each venue will be given the following month’s competition criteria. The teams from each of the bars will then have about 15 days to come up with their respective drink. On the first of the month, all drink recipes will be submitted, with detailed descriptions of their ingredients and how they’re made. The respective bar managers from around the group will then score each drink based solely on how they present on paper, and how well they will be suited to all of the bars in the Group.

During the month, the only man capable of being in each venue – Neil himself – will taste each of the bar’s drinks (tough job that one) and also score them.

All the scores will be tallied together and at the end of the month the winning cocktail will be announced via our blog as “The Rockpool Cocktail of the Month”. The drink will then be listed on every bar’s cocktail lists, stating who created the drink, and where they work.

So, the real winners here are you! Towards the end of October we’ll announce the first  winners and you’ll be able to come in and try them. Already feeling thirsty!

  

 

 

 

What’s more exciting than Neil’s new cookbook? How about watching Neil prepare recipes from the book on an e-book?! Murdoch books are releasing 5 e-books to go with the new Rockpool Bar & Grill Book, with stacks of recipes and additional video.

Neil’s new book is due out next month, and having thumbed through the pages I’ll admit that it’s pretty damn good. (I must disclose now that I do work for the Rockpool Group, so I may be a bit biased.) The book is a celebration not only of great food, but also the people who help to make the restaurants great on a daily basis. Ever the champion of the supplier, Neil details the stories of those who have helped to make the B&G’s successful – from the wine collection of his business partner David Doyle, to David Blackmore and his full-blood wagyu, to the staff who keep the wheels turning.

Enjoy the teaser!