Author: maireaddoyle

Il Bacaro

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>168 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
www.ilbacaro.com.au

Our friend Ida recommended this place to us, and Ida is serious about her Italian heritage and her Italian food.

Tucked away down Little Collins Street, it is easy to wander past this unprepossessing restaurant with noticing it. No outside tables (the pathway is far too narrow), no bright lights, just a serious-looking 1920s-style window frontage with discreet blinds hiding the joys within.

Inside, the place is all dark wood panelling, crisp white linen and flattering lighting. The high bar dominates the centre of the tiny space, but only a few bar stools hold some waiting diners. This is a place to sit side by side in corners, whispering, gossiping, perhaps having an affair…

It is also a place to impress. The waiters are polished professionals, almost always Italian or of Italian extraction, describing each dish on and off the menu with love and care and never needing to refer to notes. They will recommend a wine to go with your food, by the glass or bottle. They will hover discreetly waiting for your hand to reach for a half-empty water glass or bread basket, then swoop in with more. They can tell somehow if it is a special occasion or if there is simply somebody special at the table. Orlando’s 15-year-old god-daughter was fussed over charmingly when we took her there.

The food is good. Classic Italian standards vie with regional specials, often involving game. Last time I visited, my dining companion chose a pasta dish with a rabbit ragu which was sensational. My starter – a carpaccio of wagyu beef – was sublime. There is usually plenty of seafood too.

For a special occasion for two, or for a Tuesday evening gossip session with a small group of friends, this is one of my first choices in Melbourne.

Sosta Cucina

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>Errol Street, North Melbourne
www.sosta.com.au

This new North Melbourne place has become a serious regular haunt for me and my workmates. A friendly North Italian joint, they take their regional cooking very seriously here.

The menu is not encyclopaedic, but it is augmented by a slew of specials every night. I have two favourite dishes which I struggle to escape from ordering time and time again. The first is spaghetti with blue swimmer crab meat, olive oil, garlic, parsley, golden breadcrumbs and freshly grated bottarga. It never looks much on the plate, but the flavours are so rich I always struggle to finish it. The waiter tells me that the breadcrumbs (salty, garlicky goodness) are a south Italian way of adding flavour to a dish when money is tight and cheese is expensive.

The second dish I love is a fairly simple pappardelle dish with slow-cooked lamb ragu and pecorino. Perfect for a chilly winter’s night, it goes well with a nice big glass of chianti.

The wine list is pretty good – plenty of Italians by the glass as well as the bottle.

The owner told me the other night when we went in seeking a quiet table for two, that he couldn’t accommodate us as they were having one of their new regional feasts. Every month they will have a bookings-only evening celebrating the food of a particular region of Italy with a special menu. Sounds like a good way to fill a restaurant on a Wednesday night, but I guarantee those heading down to Sosta will add this great place to their list of favourites.

>Baba House

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>Errol Street, North Melbourne

This little Malaysian place is a bit of a Cheap Eats regular. Local to my office, I have walked and rode past it almost every day for a year and a half, and finally ate there with friends on our way to a comedy night in the Comic’s Lounge next door.

The furnishings are simple but welcoming, service is friendly and quick, and the food is wonderful. Serving sizes seem big – it is not often I struggle to finish my dinner, especially such a good beef rendang. Peter’s fried fish was a hit, although as a starter too small to taste more than a morsel. I will return just to have this all to myself.

Tazio

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>66 Flinders Lane Melbourne
www.tazio.com.au

Ericka’s birthday took us to Tazio, a quirky new pizzeria. Split-level and windowless except for the large front door, it shouldn’t work but it does.

And the pizza is exceptional. Only the very best ingredients are used. They come in one size. And I could have eaten three.

My particular favourite (we chose and shared about four) was the Treviso – crushed oven-dried tomatoes, fetta cheese, caramelised onion and basil. The flavours were over-the-top strong and fused wonderfully.

Nonna’s pork and veal meatballs were a small dish, but sensational. The spice semolina calamari was perfectly cooked and served with a rocket and endive salad. And even the eggplant lasagne (not my favourite vegetable) was edible (others thought more highly of this).

With plenty of wines – local and Italian – by the glass, it is sure to become one of my favourites.

>WBW #50 – The Great Outdoors

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>Russ Beebe from Winehiker Witiculture asked:

Imagine you and your significant wineau walking in the cool woods of Autumn. An
amber glow lights your path, golden leaves fall around you, and as you walk,
you’re working up a sizable hunger for that post-hike picnic you’ve got planned.
Not to mention that sizable thirst! Which wine will you pour in the Great
Outdoors?

So what are my thoughts on this wine blogging question?

Well, I have lived in Australia for the past three years. Having lived in Ireland and the UK most of my life, the novelty of living slap-bang in the centre of a major wine-growing region has not worn off yet.

To my west I have Shadowfax winery not 30km away, my sister’s local wintery and one of my favourites. Further west into the Grampians we have amazing full-bodied reds. East to the Yarra Valley gives us plenty of pinot noir and excellent sparkling wines – Domaine Chandon has a winery there. Up in the King Valley and Rutherglen the reds are wonderful but the tokays and muscats are breathtaking. North-west of home brings me to Heathcote, one of my favourite areas for picking up reds of great quality.

Closer to home, about an hour’s drive away are the Macedon Ranges. A beautiful ridge of mountain overlooks the city. Walking trails criss-cross the landscape, or you can head a little further over to Daylesford, the heart of spa country, for a more lazy sort of weekend.

Hanging Rock is an extinct volcanic outcrop made famous by the movie “Picnic at Hanging Rock” back in the eighties. It’s a good place for a Sunday afternoon yomp in summer or winter. You’ll see plenty of wallabies hopping around, and the cockatoos are cheeky but entertaining.

Nearby, Hanging Rock winery is small and welcoming. John Ellis and his wife run a tight ship, with their grown-up son and daughter also playing key roles in the business. A good day out would be to park at Hanging Rock, climb to the top and take in the views, then stroll down the Lancefield-Woodend Road to the Hanging Rock winery on Jim Road. It’s only about forty-five minutes at a comfortable pace.

There, the wines to be tasted abound, but reserve a place for their 2005 Heathcote Shiraz. I have a magnum of the stuff which I could use for my wine hike, which I won at Hanging Rock Winery’s 2008 winter luncheon.

It is coming into spring here in Australia, so our picnic would be a more hopeful springtime event. Our wine would be accompanied by plenty of local produce – olives, salamis, fresh local bread, and eaten under a flawless blue sky with plenty of sunscreen to protect against our hole in the ozone layer.

We could use the barbecues at Hanging Rock to cook a few Bullboar sausages, a rare recipe handed down from Swiss-Italian immigrants who live nearby. They don’t make them on the Swiss-Italian border anymore, so Australia is the keeping place for this ancient tradition.

However, they recommend not to open this huge wine for at least five if not more years… what to do?

The Cambrian Rise 2005 Heathcote Shiraz is not a bad second choice. Drinking well now, and about a third of the price of the Heathcote Shiraz, it is worth opening two or more and sharing with friends. And that is what I shall do.

>Wine Blogging Wednesday #49

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>Dhonig of 2 Days Per Bottle hosted Wine Blogging Wednesday #49. He chose a politically-themed topic for September’s tasting: A toast to the end of the Bush Era:

“What will you drink to toast the end of the Bush era? Will it be something to honor the 43rd President, or are you just looking forward to 44? Will it be something from Texas, which Bush calls home, or Connecticut, where he was really raised? Maybe a nice French champagne, a bit of a poke in his eye? Or do you prefer Italian prosecco, since they supported the “War on Terror”? Whatever it is, get ready to lift a glass and toast the end of an era that America will never forget.”

I missed the deadline for posting, but here were some of the suggestions from Melbourne and further afield:

Sam wrote:
What shall I toast the demise of dubbya with? That’s easy. The same wine I toasted the downfall of John Winston Howard with. A wine of commensurable quality for these scumbags: Cat’s Piss Reserve, matured for a couple of days in Footscray rotted fence wood and left to decant for a couple of weeks in a VB tinny! Anyone thirsty?
But what if McCain gets in?…
On a serious note I would toast it with a lovely Pinot Noir of Mornington or Tassie persuasion. Nothing takes my mind off politics like a good wine….

Mena wrote:
I would love to be able to celebrate Obama’s success with a bottle of pinot NOIR from African-American winemakers Esterlina Vineyards in California.

John wrote:
Something French and vinegary for the downfall of the 43rd.
Something sweet and cosmopolitan for the Obama victory, perhaps a late harvest job.
Arsenic for a McPalin victory.

Eileen wrote:
I think we have to go for an Australian wine and it has to be Shiraz for the middle eastern link.
How about Bush Bike Shiraz from WA? We could rename it ‘Bush, on your Bike’ Shiraz for the day!

Annette wrote (the only serious response!):
Craggy Range single vineyard from Gimblett Gravels vineyard in Hawkes Bay NZ. It is called Te Kahu and is from 2005 – what a wine – 78.8% merlot and 21.2% cabernet sauvignon – mmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!

I am still thinking about my final response: my shortlist for the Demise of the 43rd includes:

  • Regardless of who wins, to bid farewell to Dubya, perhaps Touch O’ Coffin Chardonnay or Supreme Afterlife Shiraz from Little Morgue Winery on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Australia’s quirkiest winery has a sense of humour: this one-time morgue has been transformed into one of the most unique cellar doors in the country, with its original Gothic chapel serving as a wine tasting room and art gallery. You can even dine at the Cadavery Cafe!
  • Anything from Giant Steps winery in Healesville, if the USA takes the giant step we want them to and elects Obama… their sister winery is called Innocent Bystander (motto: “It wasn’t me” which is probably what Bush will insist for years to come)
  • If we are waiting on a knife-edge for the Supreme Court to give us a result (again), we can say a prayer and sip on a Last Ditch viognier from d’Arenberg in McLaren Vale.
  • And if the worst happens and McCain-Palin get in, it has to be Wirra Wirra’s The Angelus cabernet sauvignon (because God help us) .