Like Alice in Wonderland, I often feel lost and in a strange world whenever I step foot in the city Westfield. In order for me to find a shop or restaurant, I need clear instructions on how to get there and I follow the trail of breadcrumbs or shops and hopefully arrive at my destination. So when the call was made to me to confirm my reservation, a very polite voice added some instructions on how to get there easily.
This evening I’m catching up with friends Liss and Corrie for dinner at Cara & Co, a designer concept store that also has a restaurant attached to it. Started by Russian born Australian Rosalia Alpert, the first boutique was a Cara & Co in Moscow and this is the second store. Next year, there will be a Cara & Co in Beijing. The shop itself is filled with covetable designer items with a “no logo fashion only” policy and if there’s something that excites me, it’s the ability to shop and eat at the same time. The merchandise in the store is 70% exclusive to Australia and about 95% of items are exclusive to Sydney. Oh and who is the Cara from the name? Cara is the name of Rosalia’s Airedale terrier, whom she says “I doubt she had any sense of fashion.”
Belgium chef Dave De Belder from the Flemish Primitives Group creates the menu and his team from overseas that have been brought over here executes it. The dishes that are turned out are explained in the menu by ingredient only and are extraordinarily pretty, as you would expect for a designer concept store. Televisions on the wall show fashion runway parades and this Saturday evening has the restaurant at about a third to a half capacity.
Amuse bouche
We start with an amuse bouche. It is a squirt of tuna mousse, quite firm in texture like a cheesecake, with a slightly sweet curry sauce, nitrogen lime and a pumpkin crisp.
Chicken oyster $25
Curious about a chicken oyster, at first we thought it was a chicken dish paired with oysters. However the chicken oyster is a little piece of meat that is lodged to the side just near the thigh of the chicken. There are two per chicken and they are little soft, dark meat treasures. This is a version where they’re blanketed in layers. First the pan fried chicken oysters are glazed in a Belgian beer sauce with an oxtail jus base, a layer fluffy potato foam, then there are whole toasted hazelnuts and chopped hazelnuts, foie gras and coffee and pickled cucumber. It was good although I did find that it had such strong flavours that I wasn’t sure what each element was and each mouthful yielded several strong flavours in one. The chicken oysters, and I think there were 5-6 of these little morsels were soft and delicious.
Beef tartare $24
I adore beef tartare and always order it if I see it on a menu. The finely chopped Rangers Valley grass fed beef was topped with a layer of Avruga caviar, a 20 degree quail egg yolk that was creamy and thick. It is bordered by crunchy sourdough crisps and a sweet pea puree, chive mayonnaise and a chive oil was added at the table to bring together the savoury elements. And if you’ve ever wondered how you could make beef tartare better, it really is by adding caviar to it as the saltiness is a natural partner.
Wagyu rump $44
I tried some of Liss’s Ranger’s Valley grass fed grilled wagyu rump, which was served with small nuggets of wagyu bacon from the rump cap, eggplant and miso puree, carrot puree, baby Thai eggplant and anchovy foam. The miso gave an almost livery flavour to the succulent wagyu.
Rock flathead $38
I also snuck a bit of Corrie’s long line caught rock flathead which comes as two long fillet strips of fish with cauliflower foam with peanut butter, tiny sous vide cauliflower florets, silver coloured peanuts (yes dahlinks, it’s fashion!), crunchy quinoa and a lovely gherkin sauce that was an unexpectedly good match.
Dark chocolate cake $23
We all had dessert on the radar and Liss and Corrie both chose the dark chocolate cake which had a light, moussey texture combined with a rich dark chocolate flavour. It’s hard to describe, it doesn’t taste like a dark chocolate mousse, it tastes like a rich, dark chocolate fondant but has a mousse texture. It is paired with five different treatments of raspberries from coulis, yoghurt, fresh, nitrogen and gel discs. There is also a light as air coconut marshmallow and a scoop of ginger and lime sorbet with tiny pieces of freeze dried raspberry on top.
Rhubarb $21
My choice was the rhubarb dessert that consisted of a tangy but sweet rhubarb compote with a raspberry jus set in a disc. It was accompanied with a light green white chocolate and basil cream stripe, tiny light raspberry “macarons”, a white chocolate and yuzu ice cream, limoncello yogurt and a hint of tangy yuzu fruit to lift it. It’s a tangy dessert whilst the dark chocolate cake is more for sweet tooths.
Tonka bean madeleines
And last as we get our bill are the tonka bean madeleines which come out warm and aromatic. The texture is slightly different from other madeleines-they’re slightly stickier with almost a crunch to the edges but the warm baked texture is hard to resist. Warmed in our tummies, we’re out just in time to catch “Jeff Who Lives At Home” which is part of the Sydney Film Festival.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer to buy things that are “exclusive” to a shop or is this not an issue for you? And do you prefer to shop in boutiques or shopping centres? And do you eat out when you shop?
Cara & Co
188 Pitt St Shop 4001 Level 4 Westfield Sydney, Sydney, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9226 9988
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37 Comments | Add your own
I think those are some of the most visually appealing dishes I have ever seen. So pretty. I am not a great fan of ‘exclusive’ because in my mind it’s a bit of elitist carry on on. I prefer unique and artistic (when I can get it)to exclusive. That’s why I love homemade
The dark chocolate cake dessert looks so pretty! I think I would get confused on what to pick up out first – all too pretty to eat!
It seems so unusual to have a restaurant attached to a boutique- unless its selling produce or cookware
I definitely think the beef tatare looked beautiful- very glamorous, and the rhubarb is my pick for dessert as well.
I like to buy things that are quirky. I don’t mind if they’re not one offs as long as I can put my spin on them.
Wow, what beautiful food – almost too lovely to eat. Exclusivity doesn’t bother me, and I usually only eat out with friends.
I find designer stores very intimidating. I always feel like people are staring at me as if I shouldn’t be in there.
I have decided that there are few things that are truly worth the price these stores are asking. I’m all for wonderful design and am willing to pay a little extra for somebody’s work and efforts, but there comes a point when shelling out thousands of dollars for a garment is bordering on insane.
What an elegant place to eat (and shop). I’ve never been a label wearer. I suppose it’s my wacky belief that they should pay to advertise and not expect their customers to do it.
I’ll never be a trend setter but I do love classic, well made things no matter where they come from.
I suppose that lets me out of the trendy club.
I work so close to this place and always go in and drool over the beautiful items they sell. I have always wondered about the curious restaurant up the back and after reading your post, I am very keen to try it out!
Wow seems like there’s more and more restaurants opening at Westfield niceeee so jealous I wish there were so many nice restaurants in the Westfield near me
I do like buying things that are exclusive because I don’t like having the same things as everyone else
I have to go to this restaurant on the basis of name alone!
Westfield at Chatswood always has me totally confused. I never know where I am. That oyster chicken dish looks delicious and those little ‘oysters’ are my favourite part of the chicken. And the rhubarb dessert looks stunning xx
Oh snap! Loved loved loved my meal at Cara&Co – can’t wait to revisit (with time alotted for shopping this time!)
Hi Lorraine, what a great post, that Beef tartare is superb! Actually, yes, I do love to explore what’s exclusive for the place, and always ask for one. Maybe I’ll even buy it…:)
those dishes are stunning. I don’t know if I could actually eat them because I wouldn’t want to destroy them.
I really love what Cara & Co have done. It’s simply amazing!
These dishes are truly stunning! Love the setup for the beef tartare, which happens to be a huge favourite of mine also. I guess the marriage of boutique and restaurant depends on the balance of quality and interest of both items on sale and food. Here it seems to work? I very much divide shopping and eating and by far prefer ’boutiques’ to shopping malls. That does NOT mean famous labels: it means being able to buy special items not available everywhere!
Your dinner looked amazing! I like to explore stores but the exclusive tag doesn’t appeal to me, for instance I don’t buy branded clothing ever, there’s just no need for it especially generic items. Specialised food stores and markets are a lot more fun to hang out in.
Wow, that is some pretty food!
The food looks absolutely superb my friend – each dish is so artful!
Cheers
CCU
Those little madelines tucked up in the napkin are so cute!
Of course I like to eat out when I shop. You need sustenance for shopping.
I must admit, I used to not know what chicken oysters were either, I used to think they were more along the line of rocky mountain oysters (ewwww….).
But then I watched Amelie and it all made sense. Now it’s definitely my favourite part of the chicken.
I heard about this place for quite a few times and make me want to try it so much.. Definitely in my lists!!!
Wow the food presentation here is really pretty, I especially like the look of the beef tartare.
Dont get the “cheffy” use of foam on dishes…. It just looks like spit to me and is complete turn-off!
Ooh, that wagyu rump looks like my idea of heaven! I love the cute little madeleines too, all tucked in under a blanket
You know Lorraine I really feel like visiting Australia soon.. Through ur blog I think I have seen the most awesome food and places.. I want to know see in real.. On Day..
B/W everything on the menu looks fabulous!! how can I ever choose what to eat!!
Ah I’ve been wanting to visit here for a while but have found so few photos/reviews online! These dishes are like abstract paintings on a plate, amazing. So thank you for sharing!
I went earlier this yr for dad’s birthday in Feb but found that a lot of the dishes were a miss for us
love the presentation but we were a bit disappointed with the food.. didn’t even stay for dessert. Might need to go again and give them another go
Oooh, everything looks just GORGEOUS!
Heading off to Sydney this weekend and my mistake was visiting this blog for now I have another restaurant I want to add to my list of ‘must-visit’ places
The beef tartare looks so exquisite presented like that!
This does all look very beautiful. But too good to eat? Never
Madeleines would be the perfect petite 4s! The Wagyu looks so good as well!
What an interesting amuse bouche! Thanks for sharing
Oh my! Indulging in fashion and eating at the same time? YES PLEASE. I love your updates on all the awesome things in Sydney!
I like to browse at exclusive shops but mostly can’t afford the price tags. I too, adore steak tartare and always order it if it is on the menu (we tend to choose restaurants that do have it on the menu!). I haven’t tried it with the caviar, but it sounds absolutely wonderful. I had a delightful tartare at Bestellen in Toronto on Satuday night. Chef Rob Rossi (Top Chef Canada, 2011 runner up) deep fries a soft boiled quails egg and the yolk is still totally runny. I can’t even imagine how to execute it! But it is absolutely delicious and very different.
OMG that beef tartare dish is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen! They sure put a lot of effort into it.
I’ve never had caviar on top of my beef tartares but now you’ve made me very curious…
Stunning dishes, but I confess that some of it appeals greatly (the gherkin sauce–love the idea–beautiful tartare too) and some looks like it is trying too hard. I think maybe it is just me. Great writing, though.
I always like to eat out, whatever I am doing
Aaah, such a lovely night and fabulous food! We don’t do that often enough <3 I have recommended Cara and Co to many since we dined there – will be going back for sure! xxx
Going through your food photos is like looking at Iron Chef creations on TV. Unbelievable.I wouldn’t even know what to order and how to describe them if I ever stepped in one of these designer places. The max I have been close to designer creations is Vegas, where some of the most exquisite food is created at outlandish prices (like a $5000 burger).
LOved the post!
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