Category Archives: Uncategorized

Recipies from Good Weekend if you missed them on Saturday. The bibimbap is fantastic served with a fried egg on top. You can also use chicken thigh fillet instead  of beef. Enjoy!

Bibimbap with beef and onions

Serves 4

300g scotch fillet, cut into thin strips

1 brown onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon kochujang red pepper paste, plus extra

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon soft brown sugar

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

400g jasmine rice, rinsed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 handfuls baby spinach leaves

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Pickled cucumber and carrot

1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled and finely sliced in strips

1 small carrot, cut into fine matchsticks

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon caster sugar

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

To make the pickles, toss the cucumber and carrot with the salt and leave for 30 minutes. Dissolve the sugar in rice vinegar. Drain and rinse the vegetables, squeeze dry and toss in the sweet vinegar. Leave until ready to serve, then drain.

For the bibimbap, combine the beef in a bowl with the onion, soy sauce, kochujang paste, garlic, sugar, sesame oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.

Combine rice and 700ml water in a lidded pot and bring to the boil. Cover tightly reduce to a very low heat and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the heat and rest for five minutes then fluff with a fork.

Heat a wok on high heat with the oil and stir fry beef and its marinade until the beef is cooked through. Add the spinach leaves, and stir until just wilted.

Serve rice in a large bowl, top with the beef and some of the pickles and sprinkle with sesame seeds and extra kochulang or chilli sauce if desired.

Chocolate Mousse with Hazelnut Praline

Serves 4

250g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped

300ml double cream

1½ tablespoons fresh espresso coffee

3 large eggs, separated

½ cup raw, unsalted hazelnuts

½ cup caster sugar

3 tablespoons water

Place chocolate and cream in a stainless steel bowl on top of a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that bowl fits into the saucepan and that it does not touch the water. Stir frequently until the chocolate and cream have melted and combined well. Remove bowl from pan and set aside to cool.

Whisk the coffee and egg yolks into the chocolate mixture until well combined.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form, and using a large spatula, gently fold the whites into chocolate mixture in 3 stages. Spoon mousse into 4 martini glasses, cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or until set.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C and place the hazelnuts on a lined baking tray. Roast hazelnuts for about 8 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and rub in-between a clean tea towel to remove shells. Place roasted nuts onto a lined baking tray.

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil, occasionally brushing the side of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sticking, until syrup is golden in colour. Remove from the heat, allow the bubbles to subside, and then pour the caramel over the nuts and leave to set until hard. Chop the praline once it is hard into small pieces.

To serve, remove glasses from fridge and sprinkle with hazelnut praline.

Times are a’changing within the Rockpool family. In recent months and in fact, years, a few of our treasured long term staff have moved on – some take a break from the industry, others take up fresh challenges and a handful take the leap and launch into their own businesses. That, as they say, is life in the fast lane. The moving on of integral and often executive staff does, however, pave the way for the next generation to step up. The unsung heroes of the kitchen – the sous chefs – some of the hardest working individuals in any restaurant. We are proud to have some unashamedly great talent handling the kitchen reins at the seven restaurants within the Rockpool Group – and thought it was time we introduced them to you properly. In part one of our introductions, we bring you Phil, Ben and Dan.

Phil Wood
Head Chef, Rockpool on George

Described by Neil Perry as one of Australia’s best chefs, Phil Wood, 31, is Head Chef of Rockpool Group mother ship, Rockpool on George.  Heading a team of 15+ chefs at this multi-award winning institution, Phil has learnt his craft working in the kitchens of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry and Tetsuya’s.  In 2007, his skills earned him the celebrated Josephine Pignolet Award, which acknowledges the talent of young chefs and aims to inspire them to greater heights.  A star in the making, Phil’s creativity, leadership and unwavering dedication to quality has made him one of the country’s most exciting chefs and one to watch.  Phil oversaw the return to Rockpool on George’s hatted glory when the restaurant received 3 hats in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide last year, after a long absence.

Culinary heroes?   Thomas Keller, Neil Perry and Tetsuya Wakuda

Best meal ever eaten?   Urasawa, Los Angeles

What inspires you?   All the chefs I work with

What produce are you working with currently that rocks your boat?   Hand dived sea urchin and local abalone

What dish on your menu is your current favourite?   Cuttlefish with Gaian poultry duck prosciutto, ink, crispy chicken skin, carrot leather and furikake

An amazing place you’ve been recently that blew your mind?   Clovelly Beach, Sydney – the best place to swim

What are you looking forward to?   Holidays…

Ben Pollard
Head Chef, Spice Temple Melbourne

32 year old Ben Pollard has been a talented fixture in the kitchens of many Rockpool restaurants since his career commenced in 1997. He started cooking in his hometown of Byron Bay, working for two years with ex-Rockpool Chef Tippy Heng before heading to Rockpool himself where he spent three years as an apprentice. Overseas travel lured Ben to a private resort in the Caribbean where he worked as a Sous Chef for two years with a handful of other ex-Rockpool staff, before moving to NYC to work as a private chef for a year, eventually returning to Sydney and Rockpool on George as Sous Chef.  When Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne opened its doors in late 2006, Ben was appointed Sous Chef, a position he held for the past four years.  Ben jumped kitchens in 2010 to become Spice Temple Melbourne’s inaugural Head Chef.

Culinary heroes?   Thomas Keller, Neil Perry, Fuschia Dunlop, David Thompson

Best meal ever eaten?   Pier was great back in the day, some great desserts by Katrina Kanetani. WD50 in NYC was a big eye opener, awesome

What inspires you?   Beautiful fresh produce, the great stories behind dishes and passionate apprentices!

What produce are you working with currently that rocks your boat?   Organic red jalapenos, fresh bamboo shoots, young ginger

What dish on your menu is your current favourite?   Stir fried prawns with salted duck egg and four chillies brined, dried, fermented and pickled. I love the chillies – they all have such a unique flavour

An amazing place you’ve been recently that blew your mind?   I absolutely love going up to the hills near Lake Eildon, North of Melbourne on my bike…the air is so fresh in the morning up there and seeing the regrowth from the fires from a few years ago is incredible. There are some great little places for lunch too, serving local produce and also some great farmers markets happening

What are you looking forward to?   Weekends with my little boys

Dan Masters
Head Chef, Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth

32 year old Dan Masters started his career in food at the young age of 15, commencing an apprenticeship in Forster on the mid-North coast of NSW. He joined Rockpool’s Bistro Mars in 1998 under the guidance of Neil and after two years left to finish his apprenticeship at Sydney’s Banc.  These were Dan’s formative years where his love of food was consolidated and he made the decision to forge a career in cooking and restaurants. Overseas travel lured Dan to many corners of the globe including the Caribbean, Singapore and London where he spent a year working at the famous Le Gavroche. In 2008, Dan spent 12 months in the kitchen of Thomas Keller’s legendary Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry before returning to Sydney to take up the position of Senior Sous Chef at Rockpool on George. Six months prior to the opening of Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth, Dan moved to sister restaurant, Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney to start training for his role as Head Chef. Dan shares the same food philosophy as Neil Perry in which excellent produce is cooked simply.  He is also passionate about sustainability and hopes the trend to respect and nurture our food supplies continues. Dan is addicted to golf.

Who are your culinary heroes?   Thomas Keller, Neil Perry, Yoshihiro Murata

Best meal ever eaten?   Urusawa, Los Angeles

What inspires you?   Like-minded professionals, beautiful produce and cutting fish

What produce are you working with currently that rocks your boat?   Genoa figs from down south, Yellow Neck clams from Mark Eather, soooooooooooooo sweet

What dish on your menu is your current favourite?   Pulled Jarrahdene pork pie with chipotle sauce

An amazing place you’ve been recently that blew your mind? – Urasawa again

What are you looking forward to?   My daughter gracing this world. (Dan’s first child is due in July)

Still to come…Andy Evans, Corey Costelloe, Brendan Sheldrick and Will Cowan-Lunn…

HAPPY 6 MONTH BIRTHDAY ROSETTA!

“With a distinctly Italian aesthetic and vibe, Rosetta is the place where people will meet to be fed from the heart – just like Italians love to do for their family and friends – whether it be a special celebratory dinner or a leisurely Sunday lunch in the sun,” Neil Perry

The press release last October read…

A sophisticated and elegant Italian ristorante that combines an impressive Iain Halliday-designed dining room with professional and authentic service, and a seasonally driven menu of Neil’s favourite regional recipes from his extensive travels through Italy.

At the heart of Rosetta’s fast-paced kitchen is a wood fired oven and char-grill for creating simple Italian dishes such as suckling pig, roast chicken and wood fired suckling lamb. Pasta is also a major feature of the menu with two dedicated chefs hand-making over 16 different kinds each day, from maccaronara, cavatelli and garganelli to the more traditional fettuccine, pappardelle and gnocchi.

Six months on, and Rosetta has filled us to the brim with joy. She is everything we wanted and more. Serving an average of between 220 and 260 guests per day, time has delivered us some delicious statistics…

The most popular dishes are the ricotta fresco (house-made daily), grigliata mista di mare, agnolotti alla plin, garganelli, pappardelle, agnello, anatra – and the birds and fish of the day.

We are drinking Prosecco, Bellini and Aperol Spritz, the Venetian Cobbler and Negronis. From the whites list we are enjoying a glass of Primosic Ribolla, a Pecorino or Fiano. Reds are Barolo Molino, Graci Nerello and Dolcetto Conterno Fantino. Restaurant Manager Daniele will tell you that to finish,  you should taste a Vin Santo or Marsala wine, also Amaro and why not a Limoncello made in house to help you digest the meal? Why not indeed! When in Rome…

So…she looks good!

Australian Gourmet Traveller said of us in January…” the Italian-ness is consciously theatrical, humorous, designed, even a little artificial, though in a thoroughly attractive way”…”Rosetta is also the most feminine of Perry’s Crown ventures, with ruched curtains, flowers aplenty, light colours and pretty scalloped detailing in the windows that surround the restaurant and the edges of the paper menus in their gelato colours”.

Larissa Dubecki of The AGE  thought “they didn’t make restaurants like this anymore. The sort of restaurant where you might pause on entering to readjust to the expensive gleam of mahogany tiles, the clack of marble floors, the billowy fouff of soft white curtains, the gentle light of chandeliers hanging from ornate recessed domes. Where opera, not Ibiza, provides the soundtrack. Where divorce from the everyday is complete on lowering your grateful bottom onto the banquette’s russet velvet cushions, at a marble-topped table, with a white-jacketed waiter upselling mineral water. Bravissimo!”

Concrete Playground – “Big, bold and warm. Red and whites dominate the interior, with a sleek marble bar to perch at while indulging an aperitif and some pasta. And of course we shouldn’t be surprised by some handsome Italian waiters”…

She sounds good…and she most certainly tastes good – http://www.rosettaristorante.com/food/

AGT wrote…”Being Neil Perry’s version of an Italian restaurant, Rosetta is a place where ingredient quality is non-negotiable, which is perhaps the restaurant’s most authentically Italian face”…”in the open kitchen there’s no messing about with the age-old Italian formula of great ingredients, simply cooked. So if there’s no worthwhile cuttlefish available to toss on the grill that day, then you might have to settle for king prawns or local mussels or little octopus tentacles instead. But, whatever comes your way, it will have smokiness curling around licks of citric tang and perfectly balanced saltiness, and there’ll be no argument with the quality”.

 The Herald Sun – “Neil Perry had a very Australian upbringing. Keep that in mind as you dine at his new Italian ristorante, Rosetta, because Perry – the son of a Sydney butcher – seems to have miraculously absorbed Italy’s taste and style”.

For a sneak peek into just how to make the amazing cassata, have a watch of this…

“There’s no avoiding the Neil Perry stamp here: the big dining space, lengthy menu, dramatic fit-out, immaculately sourced produce, impressive wine list and big prices are all present and accounted for. But there’s nothing formulaic or rehashed about Rosetta and not just because it’s Perry’s first Italian foray. There’s a freshness, an energy and sense of fun that’s partially due to the over-the-top glamour of the décor, but is also centred on the quality and authenticity of the flavours and attention to detail. Rosetta feels both theatrical and true-to-life at the same time”. Australian Gourmet Traveller.

A big Italian style hug to all our wonderful customers and fantastic supporters over the past 6 months. It’s been a terrific journey for us so far and we are so excited about the future. A big shout out too to the committed staff that have taken Rosetta to their hearts. Good times ahead guys and we appreciate your hard work. Bravissimo, indeed!

Rosetta is open for lunch from 12-3pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and dinner from 6pm, seven days.

Bookings can be made by calling 03 8648 1999 or visiting rosettaristorante.com

“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”

ANZAC Day remains, after 88 years, one of Australia’s most respected national days.

We’ve all heard the term ANZAC, we’ve all taken the public holiday afforded us, and in many cases worn the poppy. But what is ANZAC Day really about?

ANZAC is a term that has always been worn with immense pride and still to this day. ANZACs are, literally, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by those forces during World War 1, the now infamous battle at Gallipoli. It is a day when Australians and New Zealanders remember the ultimate sacrifice of our countrymen who have died at war. 60,000 Australian and 18,000 New Zealand soldiers landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. The plan was simple – take the Gallipoli Peninsula and open the Dardanelles to the allied navies who would ultimately capture Constantinople (Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire and an ally of the Germans. The rest, as they say, is history.

The ANZACs landed on the peninsula at dawn and met immediate and overwhelming resistance from the Turkish. Expecting to arrive on shore to a flat beach, they were instead landed incorrectly, steep cliffs before them and enemy fire and shelling constant and unforgiving. Around 20,000 allied soldiers landed on the beach over the next two days, thousands of ANZACs dying in the initial hours and days. The remaining soldiers held out for reinforcements but eventually, after a long 8 months, the stalemate forced their evacuation. Nearly 8000 Australian and over 2700 New Zealand soldiers died in the campaign.

Despite the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, a powerful legacy was left by the soldiers who fought there. The ANZAC legend forms a strong part of the identity of both nations and the bond between them. The legend reminds us of the strength and honour of those before us and ensure we consult clearly on the decisions ahead and reflect on the meaning of war.

Today, both sides of the Tasman recognize April 25th as an occasion of national remembrance. Commemorative services are held across both nations at dawn (the time of the landing at Gallipoli), and later in the day ex-servicemen and women are celebrated as they partake in ANZAC Day marches.

ANZAC biscuits, it has been claimed, were sent to the ANZAC soldiers by their wives, a recipe designed so they would not spoil (note the omission of eggs) and because they travelled well via sea.

ANZAC BISCUITS
Makes 40

125g butter, chopped into small pieces
2 Tablespoons golden syrup
¾ teaspoon bicarb soda
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup plain flour
¾ cup soft brown sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C and line a large (or 2 smaller) baking tray with parchment paper.

Heat the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan, gently over a low heat until the butter melts.

Combine the bicarb soda and 1 Tablespoon of water in a bowl then stir into the butter mix.

Combine the remaining ingredients in bowl. Pour over the warm butter mixture and stir well to combine.

Roll rounded teaspoons of the Anzac mixture into balls.

Place about 4 cm apart on the lined baking trays and flatten slightly with your hand.

Bake 2-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes on the tray then transfer the biscuits to a wire rack until completely cool. Store in an airtight container.

A little while ago Sarah took us through the Tsukiji Fish Markets, today Sarah takes us vicariously through her food travels and the incredible snow Monkeys of Japan….

If there is one way to describe Japanese food – it has to be clean, pure, fresh, delicious! From the insane freshness of the sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market, to the clarity of flavours and great textures of their famous pancakes, okonomiyaki – the Japanese know a little something about balance of flavour and just ‘when’ to stop.

Following our recent visit to the markets and that unforgettable breakfast of fatty tuna belly with warm rice, it was back through the warm subway channels and onto a bullet train, Northbound for Nagano – our stop off to the long powdery slopes of Hakuba. Bullet train is a fantastic way to travel, though not necessarily great for sightseeing. By the time you’ve seen something worth seeing again…long gone! A distant blurry thing!

5 years ago I visited Niseko. The snow was incredible, the food in the village of Hirafu out-of-control-good. It really set the precedent and so of course I had a preconceived notion of how Hakuba was going to be.  In reality, the 2 famous skiing areas are quite different. Niseko is compact and tidy and almost grid-like, easy to get around on foot and the food diverse. Hakuba is almost more dramatic in it’s beauty but vast, in a small way, if that makes sense. Not as easy to get around, eating needs to be planned and you will freak the restaurant owners out if you just turn up in a small group without a booking, so it pays to have done your research and lock a few places in before you go – or at least when you arrive in town. We were a group of 8 and if we missed a spot one night, we invariably got in the next. It’s all pretty easy and as distant as many places feel, there was never much more than a 20 minute walked involved to most restaurants and izakayas. Many of them will actually send a car to pick you up as well, which, when the snow is falling heavily can be quite the temptation. Yes, it’s pretty and romantic, but it’s also about – 20C. Everything in moderation.

The snow was incredible!!! Did anyone want to hear about the snow? Ok – well – amazing, but back to the food…

Many restaurants concentrate on one particular style of Japanese cuisine – it may be sushi, bbq meats and seafoods, okonomikayi, soba, udon, tempura…while others will present a menu full of typical Japanese fare. Here are a few of my picks.

Hakuba 70, ph: 080-5090-5288

A small, relaxed, simple restaurant. Run by an elderly couple – the food is local and tasty. We always started with endamame and they were particularly good here. I indulged in a steaming bowl of katsu don – one of my go-to Japanese dishes wherever I am in the world! Word from my dining companions was the soba rocked!

Kobeya, ph: 0261 72-5382

The place if you want to immerse yourself in the smells of barbecue. We all came away from here satiated, happy and smelling like cooked meat, all for very good reason of course. The glasses of beer in this place were bigger than me, but all the better to wash down thinly sliced Wagyu or plates full of seafood that you cook at the table before you. It was a fun night out. These guys will pick you up…and drop you home…and great gyoza.

Mimasakatei

Relaxed, easy, well known for shabu shabu but we had great big bowls of sushi don and katsu don and huge pitchers of Sapporo beer. Really friendly staff!

Sari Sari, ph: 0261-85-4505

One of my 2 favourite meals in Hakuba. We were bustled upstairs at this tiny and very cute izakaya and seated around a long low Japanese table. Burners were placed before us and here we indulged in chankonabe – the hot pot of the sumo wrestlers! The wrestlers themselves eat this dish in massive quantities as part of a weight-gain diet (great!). Basically, a dashi base – then protein is added – chicken, beef, seafood, vegetables. Totally delicious! We tried to revisit, but too busy! AGH!

Emu, ph: 0261-72-430

Our last night in Hakuba and we concluded well. A tiny local’s place that does incredible okonomiyaki. Happy, bustling (and perhaps a little stressed) staff, food and pitchers of beer colliding from all angles and lots of happy chatter around the long thin room. Some fantastic gyoza to start, pancakes and ramen. All good here, all good!

There were of course a lot of other great food highlights. Who could forget the ‘strawberry milk bread’ and ‘curry donuts’ up the hill – fabulous big steaming cups of syrupy hot chocolate mid-ski that we splashed with a good shot of whisky (keeps you going, trust me!), anything and everything fun that comes out of a vending machine in Japan (including hot chocolate!)…

The other thing not to be missed whenever you are in the alpine regions of Japan, is, of course, the onsens. After a hard days’ work on the slopes, all your knees really want is a good long soak in a natural hot tub, with cold Japanese beer in hand. There is nothing quite like it and an integral part of Winter holidays here.

Fresh air and powder snow, hot chocolate with whisky – followed by a naked soak in a steamy onsen with cold beer – then rice, sushi and okonomiyaki with mates…it all makes for a night of solid dreaming and powers you to do it all again. I will always love Japan for it’s cuisine, it’s natural beauty and the fact that, this time, it provided me with a tick off my bucket list – the incredible snow monkeys. I’ll tell you about them another time.

Bye for now, S

 Neil Perry shares the wisdom gleaned from a personal food hero, American Chef Thomas Keller in his April  2013 column in Qantas’ The Australian Way Magazine…

When I think of the various people who have inspired me, both in terms of the way I cook and the way I live my life, Thomas Keller is high on the list. As one of the most lauded chefs on the planet, Keller presides over two, three-Michelin starred restaurants (The French Laundry in California’s Napa Valley and Per Se in New York) and runs a number of other restaurants and bakeries throughout the US.

His team must comprise more than 1000 people by now, and his influence is phenomenal, with Grant Achatz (Alinea and Next in Chicago), Jonathan Benno (Lincoln, New York) and Corey Lee (Benu in San Francisco) all having trained under Keller. Some of my very best food and service experiences have happened at Keller’s restaurants. Everyone should have “oysters and pearls”, his famous oyster, tapioca and caviar dish, at least once in their lifetime.

The reasons why California-born Keller has so impressed and influenced me aren’t confined to his food – it’s also about the way he conducts himself. To put it simply, Keller wants to leave the restaurant industry a better place than when he started. He speaks often of our responsibility as chefs to the young people who work for us, to set an example worth following. He is a remarkable human being and a great leader. Keller’s attention to detail is unsurpassed, something that is apparent to anyone who dines at The French Laundry or Per Se. It’s an attribute of which I quickly became aware when working with him on the Qantas Platinum One dinner held at Rockpool Bar & Grill in Sydney last year. It’s also on display in his magazine, Finesse, which embodies all the grace and beauty of his restaurants, and his enormously influential cookbooks. He leads the field in terms of restaurant service and  structure, and encourages young cooks to be the best they possibly can be. One of the key lessons to impart to someone who is training to be a chef is the importance of detail. Once, when asked by one of his employees, “Chef, what will I be doing tomorrow?” Keller replied, “What about concentrating on what you are doing today?”

In his Bouchon Bakery cookbook, Keller takes this theme further. He writes: “I get asked by a lot of young chefs just starting out in a kitchen, ‘Hey, Chef, how do I become a great chef?’ This is what I tell them: ‘Make sure your work station is clean and organised at the end

of the night.’ They wait. They look at me and say, ‘And?’ I say, ‘And, translate that into everything you do.’” In one succinct statement, Keller has shown that young person

the path to success – if you look after the simple things and pay attention to detail, the rest will follow.

Too often we talk only about people who have influenced us after they’ve gone, but I think it’s important to publicise outstanding role models for the next generation of chefs here and now. For me, Thomas Keller is the chef’s chef and I look forward to cooking with him again in September at the Ultimate Dinner, proceeds of which go to the Starlight Foundation. I’m not only a better cook for knowing him, I’m also a better person.

 Neil Perry will take you and 9 friends on a culinary experience like no other. He will design an exclusive 8 course Spice Temple menu for you and share the ‘behind-the-scenes’ secrets to his incomparable dishes.

This excusive and once-in-a-lifetime dining event will take place on Monday May 6^th, 2013 from 6.30pm.

Don’t be shy because only 12 prizes are up for grabs and the competition closes on April 26^th. The winner will be drawn on Monday April 29^th at 11am and notified by email.

Vic permit 13/689.

For your chance to win, simply click ‘like’ now on the Crown Facebook page and enter your details between April 2 to 26 2013

http://facebook.crownmelbourne.com.au/windinnerbyneilperry/

Spice Temple Melbourne

Crown Complex

Southbank

“The Classics” lunch menu at Rockpool on George kicked off in March with a fabulous response to the return of some of our oldest and dearest dishes.

In April, we delve further into the archives to bring you another 3 of our signature dishes from Neil’s first ever cookbook, ‘Rockpool’.

Stir fried spanner crab omelette

Crispy pressed duck with mandarin sauce

Passionfruit tart

“The Classics” lunch menu at Rockpool on George
Fridays only
3 set courses
$65 per person

We look forward to seeing you across the pass.

Phone 9252 1888 to make a reservation.

The “World Class” competition, organised and sponsored by Diageo is a global bartender challenge, where selected bartenders create original cocktails and promote them in their venues for a period of 2-3 months (per round), in an effort to raise the bar on cocktail standards worldwide.  What a great idea!

Aussie bartenders entering the competition in 2013 not only fight for the opportunity to represent their country in the worldwide finals against another 46 countries, to be held on a luxury cruise liner sailing down the Riviera over the course of a week (anybody else thinking they’re in the wrong industry suddenly?), but additionally will be competing for a monetary prize of $100,000! What the?! The prize also includes mentoring from industry experts with the idea being the winner puts the money towards opening their own bar. And ultimately we all win!

Rockpool has been involved with this competition for the past 3 years, with Rockpool Bar & Grill Bar Manager, Ryan Gavin, making the top 10 in the country last year. This year, Ryan and Assistant Bar Manager Mischa Bonova have both been selected in the top 100 in the 2^nd round of the comp.

The “World Class” competition is considered the world’s most prestigious bartending competition. With Australian Tim Philips taking out the title in 2012, we’re ready for Australia to make it 2 in a row. Shake, rattle and roll Ryan and Mischa – we are behind you all the way!!!

Bartenders submit their competition entries from mid-August, but you can give the guys drinks a test drive at Hunter Street now – the “Three Blind Vice” and the “Johnstons Revenge”.

We first did this one in Sydney last year. It succeeded, massively. The punters were as happy as punters get and it put a spicy smile on our faces to see our customers get such a kick out of great food delivered with a hint of nostalgia and humour.

Last night, at Spice Temple Melbourne, the team delivered again. Ben Pollard and his talented crew pushed the 80’s boundaries with one customer commenting…” I don’t remember prawn toast being filled with so much fresh prawn and the chicken and sweet corn was the best I have ever tasted”. That’ll do!

Staff were clad in silk, carnations adorned the tables and lanterns were at their ambient best. A highlight of the previous dinner – the rocking 80’s soundtrack specially prepared by the wonderful Anton Monsted was a huge hit.

The lucky diners dined thus…

DINNER BANQUET SPECIAL

 虾片…………….…Prawn Crackers

春卷………………..…….Spring Rolls

炸虾托………………….Prawn Toast

蟹蓉玉米汤…….Crab & Corn Soup

生菜包……………….San Choi Bao

柠檬鸡…………….Lemon Chicken

富贵炒饭………..Deluxe Fried Rice

咕咾肉………….Sweet & Sour Pork

蒙古羊肉……….. Mongolian Lamb

油炸冰淇淋 Deep Fried Ice Cream

There were rumours of guests fighting at the end for the caramel and chocolate sauces in which to smother their deep-fried ice cream.  Fortune cookies rounded it all off perfectly, with some very special messages….

That wasn’t chicken.

Stop procrastinating – start tomorrow!

Ask not what your fortune cookie can do for you, but what you can do for your fortune cookie.

About time I got out of that cookie!

Today may or may not be better than yesterday

Please don’t eat me!!!

Marriage allows you to annoy one special person for the rest of your life.