Nathan from The Green Shed

“You’ll never leave the Green Shed hungry” owner Nathan says proudly. Along with his partner Megan they run The Green Shed, formerly printery built in 1891. Nathan’s father was a butcher and his uncle was a baker “and somewhere there’s a candlestick maker” he quips. Nathan was a chef for over 20 years and his partner Megan a chef for 12 years. On his right arm is a tattoo of a EKG print. Why an EKG print? He had a black armband tattooed on his arm when his grandfather passed away but says “it looks kind of stupid” so he tattooed an addition to it to make it look like an EKG.

We start with a Sonnenberg Rose 08 which is a wine that is made especially for The Green Shed to  suit their food. The menu crosses several continents and countries. There is India, Greece, Thailand and Japan. I admit that I have to suppress an inner worry. Usually when menus features so many countries cuisine they can suffer from a jack of all trades, master of none syndrome but I keep my reservations to myself. What is promising is that they use plenty of local produce such as Corowa pork, Beechworth apples, figs, lemons, chestnuts, home grown herbs and wild picked pine forest mushrooms.

Tempura Zucchini fritters filled with Thai prawn mousse and ginger mayonnaise $17

I needn’t have worried. Once I try the first dish I am relieved as it is delicious. The local zucchini flowers are from Oxley and have a lemon flavour are filled with minced prawn meat with ginger and Thai flavourings and fresh coriander. It sits in a generous swirl of ginger mayonnaise which is subtle on the ginger and the zucchini flowers are crisp with a moreish texture.

Crisp quail with watermelon curry, fresh mint and crumbed labneh $18

I just had to order this dish as I have never seen a watermelon curry before so I was intrigued. The quail is juicy with dark meat and tender with a light dusting of Indian spices including cumin. The watermelon cubes, fresh mint and crumbed labneh (yogurt cheese) balls are such a fantastic complement to the quail and curry sauce. It is much like mango works well with chicken curries and fruit such as lychee works well in duck curries and suddenly watermelon curry doesn’t sound anywhere near as peculiar as it did before.

Steamed marinated eye fillet with smoked tofu, wakame, bean curd  and miso tea $35

This is their tribute to a steak. Nathan tells us upfront that the beef is a local Angus cross but isn’t “one of those fancy or designer meat” but the key is in the way that it is cooked. This is very unique with a steamed, marinated eye fillet sitting in a strong miso tea broth poured from a teapot. The miso tea broth is rich and salty and the eye fillet is juicy and tender giving the very succulent meat little resistance to the knife and a real sweetness to it. The firm smoked tofu is very lightly smoked (in fact I don’t taste much smoke) and there are also pieces of wakame seaweed and yuba (bean curd roll). I can imagine a steak die hard ordering this, protesting and then eating it happily it all and ordering another once tasting a mouthful.

Roast duck and orange festive pie with spiced beetroot jam and pomegranate glaze $35

Taking a pithivier form, the duck is soft and similar to a duck confit and it is highlighted with orange and sits on a sweet star anise rich beetroot jam with streaks of sticky pomegranate glaze. The pie is best when combined with the beetroot but it really needs the moistness and sweetness from the beetroot.

Moroccan lamb and olive tagine, preserved lemon chilli couscous and a date and tamarind chutney $34

Presented in a pretty decorative tagine, the lamb is soft and tomatoey and served with a preserved lemon chilli couscous and the meat so tender and soft. It is accompanied by a sweetly rich date and tamarind chutney which is good enough to eat by itself by the spoonful!

“Banana Sunday” Crumbed  banana custard mille feuille with peanut brittle, toasted coconut ice cream and bitter chocolate sauce $14

Do we have time for dessert? Always! This is nothing like what we thought it would be like. It’s a banana custard that has been created by pulverising dried banana chips (and you can really taste the distinctive dried banana chips) and creating a custard with it. It is then crumbed and deep fried, like a deep fried ice cream and it is so gooey and gorgeous we can’t resist. It is served with a pounded toasted coconut ice cream scoop and a streak of dark chocolate sauce.

Gina and I are standing in front of the 1860 original timber slab hut and we smile to each other as we both adore rustic luxury. 1860 where we are staying tonight is an original timber slab cottage. The horizontal timber slab construction sat in Emerald a town 60 kms from Melbourne. Now it stands in Beechworth having been painstakingly rebuilt piece by piece by 1860′s current owners Matt Pfahlert and Gina Bladon.

The original structure was made of hand hewn wood from local Mountain Ash (Eucalypt) trees. Built in 1860 by a German man it was built entirely by hand using tools such as a broad axe, falling and trimming axe, crosscut saw, paling knife, maul and wedges. They bought the property from friend Bronwyn Raynor and rebuilt it using reclaimed materials. Jarrah floorboards are from an old Army training barrack, the mantel piece is an old railway sleeper and the fireplace plinth are the window sills from an old Beechworth pub. The floors, ceilings, bench tops, walls, roof and verandah are made from reclaimed timber and materials to minimise their impact on the environment.

Facing the kitchen

The Blacksmith bellows table and check out the timber slab walls!

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I am lucky enough to be given a lot of restaurant recommendations which I am very thankful for and I usually listen to them or at least research them more comprehensively by computer. I was recommended Nourishing Quarter by a journalist that I travelled with. She also told everyone that she couldn’t tell the difference between any of the wines or honeys that we had tasted which I met with a little surprise.

I then researched Nourishing Quarter and found some very good reviews for it. I was wrong of course to judge and realised that I had briefly become what I really didn’t ever want to be, a food snob judging other’s palates. The rave reviews convinced me that I needed to try it and I decided to ask Mr NQN’s family along. After all they are a mix of vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters so we would get a) a firm appreciation for what the food was like from both an omnivore and vegetarian perspective and b) have a meal that didn’t involve a bit of a kerfuffle about eggs, dairy and meat in dishes.

When I rang to book a table (and Dear Readers do book on a Friday or Saturday night as we saw people politely turned away) they were sweet and friendly and asked whether anyone had any allergies and enquired as to how we had heard about them. Nourishing Quarter is on Cleveland Street and sits diagonally opposite meat lover heaven Porteno and has been open for five months now. An enquiry about whether taking photos are ok is met with a welcoming smile and an “Of course!”. The room itself is unusual. Imagine Eastern philosophy crossed with Mother England and shabby chic. In the window sits a figure of handbag toting, waving Queen Elizabeth II, teapots and a book on Australian history. Then on another display lies a bronze Buddha and a shabby chic cake stand.

Tables are set with mismatched vintage plates and there is a display stand of health food cookbooks on one wall.  And did I mention that the menu is a mix of South American and Asian? Wheat and dairy free items are marked and there is another portion of the menu that says “wholesome” or “first encounter” but they explain that they are working on the menu and not to worry about that.

Mr NQN and I are starving and it’s way past our dinner time. The Elliotts are late. As usual. Mr NQN grabs his mother’s phone and naughtily texts his brother and sister “Where the hell are you?” which brings cries of protest from his never swearing, I-love-everyone hippie mum. Still it does the trick and brother and sister and husband turn up puffing moments later. Mr NQN’s sister Amaya says pouting “I knew it wasn’t you mum!”

Three sisters combination rice paper rolls $13.50

As there were six of us, we ordered two lots of the mixed rice paper rolls. There are three different fillings to the rice paper rolls, one which goes with a nuoc cham sauce and two that go with a peanut and carrot sauce. Now the descriptions for each of these rolls is comprehensive. I try the Bi Rolls which have marinated Crème de Tofu Strips interwoven with royal quinoa grains and sweet kumera noodles, Omega-3 chia Seeds, crispy julienne pickled carrots and Vietnamese mustard mint (rao Rram), and cucumber wrapped in Vietnamese rice paper, served with “nuoc cham” sauce. Out of the three, and they were all pretty good I have to say, this was my absolute favourite. The rolls are freshly made, so much so that we think they might even be made to order with the rice paper texture and have a good mix of flavours.

The second type of roll is the Latasia Nourishing Roll with South American royal quinoa grains, Omega-3 chia Seeds, light stir-fried crispy julienned vegetables, Textured Vegetable Protein (tofu based), rolled in Vietnamese rice paper, served with NQ special Peanut & Bean Dipping Sauce. The third roll, the sweet angel wraps have another jumble of ingredients and are served with NQ special Peanut & Bean Dipping Sauce but I still pine for the Bi rolls. The peanut and bean sauce for these second two rolls is similar to a hoi sin sauce.

Sacred Khot 6 for $15 (should be 7 for $15)

These little rice cakes are one of my favourite Vietnamese items and an always order item. Here they use quinoa and amaranth flour together with the rice flour, and top it with a mung bean mix, spring onions. It sits on a single lettuce leaf with fresh herbs and their “nuoc cham” sauce. Just a note, as there were six of us they asked us if we wanted six pieces instead of seven which we said yes to but we still paid the regular price for 7-I’d imagine that was a mistake though as they have made sure that we have had six of everything.

Pretty Dumplings $15

The Pretty Dumplings are Asian dumplings filled with Royal quinoa grains,  diced tofu, chopped vegetables and served alongside some fresh watercress with the NQ dumpling sauce poured over it. The dumplings are good and the slightly sweet sauce is filled with lemongrass and other wonderful Asian flavours-so much so that Laporello scoops up the sauce and we wish we had some more rice paper rolls to mop it up with.

Passage to India (via Saigon from the Min Dynasty) $23 large

This is an enormous dish and a two parter. The curry is sweet, slightly creamy and mild with Indian spiced aromatics and is filled with vegetables (sweetest pumpkin, chickpeas, peas and amaranth) and soft, spongey tofu strips which even the meat loving Laporello swoons over. It comes with a plate of quinoa ama-noa grains and a lovely sweet dressed green leaf and sliced fruit salad.

Spicy lemongrass in textured tofu with seasonal vegetables $23 large

I overhear the owner telling another table that the tofu that they have here is different from supermarket tofu and they buy theirs from a Vietnamese store. The tofu is packed full of flavour as is the crunchy stir fried salad. We agree that if all vegetarian food was this full of flavour then perhaps people would eat more of it. And it is nice that they included six pieces of the Ama-noa grains so that we could all have some (usually three pieces).

Quinoa noodle salad $23 large

The salad is made up of a quinoa amaranth with a mung bean glass noodles flavoured with Vietnamese mint, coriander, live sprouts and an abundance of toasted sesame seeds which give it a nutty flavour. The dressing is made up of sesame oil, lime and chilli which give it a zesty punch and the piece de resistance? The crinkly tofu strips which takes like chicken or duck!

Raspberry and lemon cheesecake $5.50

We were quite pleasantly full but you know me, I can’t resist dessert. They buy in the desserts here and there are two cakes on offer so we choose the raspberry and lemon cheesecake. The cheesecake has a crushed almond crust and the filling is very smooth and silky and doesn’t have a cloying texture that stays on the tongue. It is flavoured with raspberries and we can taste coconut too although the lemon isn’t very apparent. It is so good that we order a slice of the other cake.

Apple cake $5.50

This slice is full of apple chunks and has a slightly unusual texture, like an eggless cake. I’m not quite as smitten with this as I am with the cheesecake which I could eat another entire piece of.

And apart from the surprise of Laporello loving tofu as an entity, the bill is a nice surprise-less than $25 per person!

So tell me Dear Reader, when you go out to dinner, are you always the first to arrive? Or the last?

Nourishing Quarter

315 Cleveland Street, Redfern NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8399 0888
Open: Lunch Thursday-Sunday 11:30-2:30pm
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5:30-9:30/10pm
Closed Mondays

http://bnourished.com.au/

Hands up who loves food deliveries! Hands up who loves deliveries of really fresh organic fruit and vegetables! Me too! Ecofy Organics (www.ecofy.com.au) is a business that specialises in fresh organic fruit and vegetables as well as other items like organic juice, baby products, groceries, cleaning products and even cottons and bedding!

Now I know what you might say. Organic is expensive and looks like it fell off the back of a truck and was then run over. Not so. The produce I received looked exactly like conventional produce. I received a sample of the $31.50 box and it contained the following certified organic produce:

• 1 x baby cos lettuce
• 1 x bag of mushrooms
• 1/2 pineapple
• 1x bunch grapes
• bunch of coriander
• bunch of green beans
• head of broccoli
• 3 onions
• 2 corn cobs
• 4 potatoes
• 4 bananas
• 3 carrots
• 2 zucchini
• 3 yellow nectarines
• 2 yellow peaches
• 2 white nectarines
• Plus some extras not usually included in the box but you can order separately including an additional Sonoma sourdough bread loaf, Organic India Tulsi Pomegranate Green tea and some live sunflower sprouts. I felt so Bree Van Der Kamp with these on my windowsill! I simply snipped them and popped them in salads.

With Ecofy, you can specify which items that you want or not. Sometimes we want to cook with something specific or sometimes you just love to eat an item. Also as you may know, certain fruit and vegetables have higher pesticide rates than others (e.g. apples and potatoes are particularly high) and some people choose to just switch to buying those items as organic – with Ecofy you can just order what you need. The key is to have fresh, organic produce and no wastage.

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