Despite all this, thankfully the food lives up to the livery. They have a baby squid dish (my memory’s on the fritz) that is superb.  There’s plenty of seafood and interesting salads. It does get quite a bit hot and spicy but nothing that’s overtly bum burningly hot for the sake of it (apparently my company and I went quite red). All the flavors work and everything has a contemporary touch to make it a bit unique. Heaps of Kim Chi and side dishes are there to spice up the journey as well, though I guess it wouldn’t be Korean without it!

Without question, this is a very original, truly unique cafe cum restaurant casual dining experience. One that definitely is worth the wander down from Chapel St, or at least off the beaten Williams Road track. This place might be a bit too cutesy for the lads, but it’s bona fide A grade date material. And it goes without saying, there will never be another Hebron. I hope this place does really well. They deserve it.

Their 7 course degustation is without doubt the best meal I’ve had in years. Fish was a key feature, with a delightfully rich fish soup and an amazingly flavoursome fried snapper fillet. Oh and oysters from about 5 or so different places across Australia. Pork lovers would no doubt delight in the twice cooked pork belly and black pudding

Even little things like the butter they give you with bread has Japanese wakame seaweed in it that somehow tastes a hair’s breath different to truffle oil. Worth noting too is that apparently this place is run by the former owner of the Botanical in South Yarra. There are subtle design ques to the Botanical in the layout at Half Moon. But this new restaurant is much bigger and has a less frenetic, noisy ambiance compared to the ‘Tan.

While the mains looked to be fairly large proportioned and to the same standard, there’d be no reason to eat a la carte in this place. Degustations should always be this good.

Rose Garden BBQ – Elizabeth St Melbourne. Past all the motorbike shops and just before the Vic Market, you’ll find the ducks hanging in the window and the hordes of mostly people Asian (a good sign let’s face it) queuing outside to get in. Double happiness must have something to do with their $8 spicy chicken ribs. Sublime doesn’t describe this plate of crunchy fried wings and rice drenched in spicy duck and pork dripping. And it’s quick too. Just get yourself there before the 12.30 rush.

Giraffe cafe – Lt Lonsdale St. This super cute cafe run by suitably super cute staff serves amazingly good coffee. With a minimal kitchen, they always seem to pull out some great specials and great quality food from nowhere. Their chilli con carne tortilla for $8 or so simply blows my mind. At night they do a great trade with deserts such as tiramisu too.

Central Club Hotel. Quite possibly the only $10 pot and parma left in Melbourne it’s the epitome of cheap but blissfully cheerful. Opposite the Vic Markets, the publicans have looked after us for years now and they really know something about running a great pub. This is the pot and parma (the holy grail of Melbourne pub culture if you’re not from around here) you lust for when you’ve been out of the country for a while. Great characters and great times and all are welcome, but definitely not a nouveau riche gastro-pub. I hope to god they keep it that way too.

Town Hall Hotel – Errol St, North Melbourne. Littered with proper rock memorabilia from Iggy Pop to the Stones, with a healthy mix of kitsch, heaven would be something like this bar for me. Despite the surrounds their $18 parma sounds like a big ask. But this is a proper chicken parma made of whole chicken breast with no short cuts taken. Oh and there’s optional pineapple for those who like that kind of thing. Not cheap by any stretch but I’ve paid a lot more for a lot less in other places. Parma, and rock, heaven.

Well as far as tapas goes, it’s nothing remarkable. I do agree with Epicure that the charcuterie and cheese boards are kind of cool. Movidas though has real personality in the tapas dishes that Sotano just doesn’t have. Strangely you must have to ask for some phone book wine list. Because on the menu there’s only wine by the glass despite two massive elevated walk in wine fridges over the bar. Those are well worth a guided tour from the somellier. Highly recommended.

All in all after 9pm, the service really, really sucks. The beautiful staff with their very thuper thexy hair styles look busy you’d have more luck getting a drink in a nunnery. By this time, the ‘classic Hilton burger’ is really starting to look like an option over waiting for another round of Sangria and tiny tapas.

If you’re a bright, shiny objects person, this place is new, immersive and very now. Moreover if you think the Docklands is just fantastic then this place is made for you. I am neither and I will be more focused when picking blindly from the Epicure again. In this case they didn’t even wait till the restaurant was built before they reviewed it!

Inside the decor is as arty and minimal as the name suggests. Choose something to eat from the blackboard and park yourself on a bench or table and watch a weekend breakfast slowly morph into a lunchtime beer! Food wise, it’s quick and simple. No big kitchens or even rendered walls to flaw you. Their baked beans are home made and nothing short on sensational. They have a bunch of open toasted sandwiches too. I’ve tried the salmon and dill toasty thing and it was sublime. Coffee is half decent too.

Not completely sure but I don’t think they make fresh juice and they don’t have any wireless internet, which is handy when you get bored of your skull working at home. Minor quibbles in an otherwise awesome place. So if you get bored of Orange and other places, check it out.

We were walking through the thoroughfare trying to find the door, when people started walking out! And there was the door, camoflagued into the wall. A little bit ‘Get Smart’ without talking about the bizarro toilets. It’s beyond pretentious, it really is.

Soon enough, it becomes apparent that this is the sister restaurant of Taxi. So not only have they taken all their ‘learnings’ from Taxi, but all the staff too. We joked that the staff must’ve been working double shifts between the restaurants. A bit of success has spawned a risky little eco friendly offering.

Then there’s the staff, who are expressionless poster children for the Prozac generation. If they smiled it would’ve killed them.

Finally the food. Absolutely fantastic. The wank factor is there in abundance, although when food’s this good, it’s forgivable. For an entree, we have Northern Territory mud crab with spagetti and a pestoey thing of wild thistle. Sounds atrocious, but bloody hell it was good. Narcotic good. Everything is vegetarian or seafood with Italian influences. My main was a Gnocci based dish that was fairly tasty, although incomporable to the entree. French goat’s cheese for desert as well. The perfect end.

The wine list looks virtually identical (to what I can remember) of Taxi’s. Not bad.

This restaurant could very well nearly be a 5 out of 5, if it wasn’t so wanky. This restaurant is a bio diesel Saab convertible with a Greenpeace sticker. Hippy meets yuppie in a trainwreck of khakis, eco sustainable fish and Country Road suits. It’s only barely pallatable. But like any good bottle of wine, it needs time to breathe, so you and it can adjust to each other. Then it comes good.

Fantastic food and it can only get better.

The theory was that if the snow picked up, then we wouldn’t waste money going skiing. But if not, at least we were in town and there was plenty to do. As it turned out, we had a few cold days, but the weather was absolutely beatiful – for spring! Fantastic holidaying weather nonetheless.

Some highlights were staying at the Buckland Resort. These 4 self contained studio apartments have everything from an espresso machine to 3 choices of pillows, LCD TV you name it! It was pretty expensive (approx $200 a night per 3 nights) but exceptionally good value. In many ways, these apartments are better than mine! It’s only about 5km out of Bright town, with some exceptional views. So I really can’t recommend this place highly enough.

Restaurant wise, there are two, two hat highlights. Simones of Bright is brilliant. It’s a converted house so it has great ambience and reflects all the great Italian heritiage of the area. Venison mains (venison is big in these parts!) were quite simply unforgetable and their gnoccino (or just plain gnocci) was without doubt the best i’ll ever taste. Not cheap but reasonable. It’s a feed well worth staying in Bright for.

Next we ate at the Villa Gusto resort. Now this is la dolce vita! This place is a completely private Italian villa resort and they go out of their way to make the experience special. If it’s not the Sangiovese library (about 40 different domestic and Italian varieties available) the four course meals, the villa ambience of cosy open fires and second to none service make it all worth while. If I had to choose between the two, Simones is better, but the Villa is the shiznit for a romantic night.

Cafe wise in Bright there is at least one awesome gourmet cafe with a great selection of local gourmet products and wines to buy, plus friggin’ awesome coffee. Definitely not what you’d expect in these parts, and a great epicurean surprise!

We spent a whole day in Milawa, where seemingly even bird crumbs are gourmet. Everything in this tiny two bit down tastes better than if god cooked it. The mustard shop and cheese factory are brilliant. Just so much to try it’s unbelievable. The Milawa Brown Brothers’ winery has at least 40 red, white and fortified varieites to taste, so be warned! Several of which you can’t get anywhere but the cellar door. So bring an esky!

There are some other wineries worth checking out too. Gapstead has an extensive list for tasting. The Petit Manseng is the best buy here. It’s a wine that would go perfectly with Vietnamese rice paper rolls. The pick of the area would have to be the Politini Sangiovese though. It’s everything you like about a Shiraz, in a Sangiovese! Sangiovese really will be the next black and the King Valley are leading the way.

There is an awful lot of varietals around that are just plain Italian (Marzemino, Barbera, Nebiolo and and obtuse though. Bad Wineries? Well Michelini did nothing for us. Try with caution.

Anyway, the country doesn’t have to be meat and 3 veg. Bright, the King Valley and Milawa have some fantastic food and wine going on and make for a fantastic stay all year around. Snow or no show, give it a crack! I for one can’t wait to go back.

Chinese lovers will be glad to know that there’s plenty of dishes on offer, great for sharing (geez a lazy Suzan on the table would be good!) and the duck crepes for entree are unbelievably good. Other dishes are decent but not stand out. David’s makes a great dinner venue for 4-6 people, particularly given that it’s so close to the Jam Factory.

We were also treated to an Arundel Estate Shiraz from Sunbury which I thank them for, because it was Shiraz find of the century. Wine list overall ain’t so bad, nor is the decorum. Biggest problem here is that service. It just plain sucked.

This place gets 3 out of 5. Give it a miss unless you’re in the area.

Firstly I should be honest though. I think I didn’t learn a huge great deal. You also can’t take your mushrooms home because even though this guy Cameron (who also sells wild mushies at the Queen Victoria Markets) is a bona fide boffin,  the risk of accidentally grabbing something wildly toxic is just too great. Infact only about 5% of the mushrooms sighted were actually edible. You certainly do learn a bit about mushrooms that can kill you though. So in hindsight, you don’t come out of the hunt with a PhD in mushrooms, but it’s fun and interesting enough to make you want to go and cook something.

Don’t bother booking lunch at the T’Gallant restaurant afterwards. Because when you get back to the vineyard, they will fill you up with mushroom pizza, very hot mushroom soup and a glass of Red Hill’s most lush pinot noir. It’s meant to be nibbles, but no one leaves hungry! They say that they will cook up your mushies when you get back. But meh they don’t and they probably wouldn’t have time to inspect and prepare them anyway.

Back at the winery there’s also ample tastings of the wineries soft reds, moscatos, pinot grigios and chardies. Frankly though, they looked very overpriced for cellar door prices.  It all works well though, after all this is Red Hill, the Toorak of the Bay and frankly I don’t think the locals who were settling in for a quiet bottle were phased, judging by the new Porsches, an Aston Martin DB7 and a Bentley Continental coupe that arrived in the car park when we finished the hunt! It’s all very chic!

If you choose to do this thing, it should only be on for autumn and you’ll need to wear your sturdiest shoes and warmest clothes you’re usually too cool to wear. And don’t worry about looking cool, that is until you get to the winery.

N.B. Red Hill is about 70 minutes drive from Melbourne CBD and very close to Arthur’s Seat and Phillip Island etc., so yeah, it’s worth the trip.

Links
Mushrooms in May Flyer
T’Gallant Winery

What to say about Lower House/Upper House? It’s tres chic Melbourne dining for the CBD-ophile. All the typical touches exist, the wine FOLDER (not list) yet cheeky touches like the daily menu served on cardboard cut out of wine boxes. How’s the food? Well good but typically on par. But the wine tasting! Well sir, so long as you’ve come on a Monday night after work, you’re in the right place.

“Ben Knows Wine” is Ben Edwards sharing his knowledge and plonk for those with a keen ear and nose.  Being quite the sommelier (president of the Australian Association thereof in fact), each week you’re assured of tasting something very special. I went tonight (15/05/06) and they featured the Blanck collection of wines from Alsace (pronounced Al-sass) France.

Also in tow was Fred form Blank wines and they featured some fine aromatics: Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Rieslings and a Pinot Blanc. All came with tasting notes and expert winemaker commentary as they gracefully make their way around the tables. It has to be said that the last two aromatics were Grand Cru and Lieux Dits (designations of France’s most prestigious winemaking areas).

If nothing else, the night really taught you about the essence of good aromatic wines. So next time you’re drinking a dinkum Aussie Pinot Gris, or even a French one, you now have a respectable benchmark on which to judge it. Because chances are, you won’t often come across wine as great as what Ben is privy to. Thank god he’s willing to share in the experience.

Suffice it to say, this is for the wine lover interested in the journey and not the destination. Every week apparently, there’s something different and new on offer. Lower House would hold about 70 people for tasting so best to get there at 5.30 when the festivities begin. After your tasting, you can select dinner from the regular menu, or a charcuterie platter, or make your jolly way home. Ben Knows Wine is on indefinitely, but it’s definitely not to be missed.

For more info, have a look at this Fed Square web page.