There is one thing I never do when I eat out. It’s dine alone. Call it extreme self consciousness combined with the fact that the best meals to me are the ones shared with friends or in company. My mind automatically thinks that people will stare (and let’s face it they stare enough when the camera comes out) and they may think “Poor girl, she has no friends.” I know it’s silly, after all many people that travel dine solo. But just not me. Until tonight.

Through lack of organisation on my part I find myself in Brisbane one evening without a date. When I walk into The Euro on Mary Street they ask me where I’d like to sit. Apparently solo diners like sitting at the bar but I want somewhere where there is good light. The best light is of course at the table at the very front of the restaurant in the window. Of course!

Euro is the more casual version of the 10 year old restaurant Urbane which is a fine dining affair (complete with a dessert degustation-lust!). Sitting side by side The Euro has an attractive design with a metal door with cut outs of knives, carrots, duck and pretty much anything you might find on their menu there. The design aesthetic goes through to their menus and coasters which feature a genuine Russian matchbox cover.

Jamon, manchego and pea croquettes (2) with green chilli mayonnaise $11

Listed under amuse bouche, this course, usually complimentary, the amuse is an item that you pay for (I think they’d do better listing this under appetiser). These are more substantial than a typical amuse though which often fits in a shot glass and these are more tapas style sizes. I start with the crunchy deep fried golden balls filled with jamon, manchego cheese and green pea which sit on a green chilli mayonnaise. They’re wonderfully crunchy and addictive although I don’t really get much of a chilli kick from the green chilli mayonnaise which would have been lovely.

Veal carpaccio

The veal carpaccio is appealingly pink centred with carrots in several forms: dried carrot and carrot jam and fossilized carrots. What? Fossilized carrots? Yes not carrots dug up from prehistoric times, instead they’re carrots that have been kept in a calcium dioxide solution for 24 hours to have all of their pectin removed. They then add moisture back into the carrots and scrape out the inside and then the outer is deep fried and served to give the dish crunch. The crunch from the bark like fossilized carrots and the thin croutons does add a nice crunch as well as the crumbs and the creamy labne and tender thinly sliced veal.

Hervey Bay Scallops

A gift from the kitchen this is apparently not on the menu which is  a shame as it’s really good. The Hervey Bay scallops are succulent and plump and are topped and tailed with thin slices of granny smith apple and topped with deep fried chicken skin. Don’t get me started on chicken skin, I love the stuff and all three elements work well together and they do need each other to balance the crunchiness, sweetness and tanginess.

Tortellini of pumpkin, with maple braised pumpkin, organic goats curd, candied walnuts, almonds and shaved roasted chestnuts $26

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Rising early is not a natural thing for me. I often wish I was one of those people that only need six hour’s sleep. For me I’m barely functional unless I get eight or nine hours. So when the alarm goes off at 6am I am not a happy person. But when you bribe me out of food with food…well that doth soothe the savage, growling beast within.

I’m tracking backwards a little so please bear with me but before we leave Port Macquarie, we must sustain ourselves with breakfast-not that we need it after the gluttonous feasts as we’ve been well and truly spoilt. Breakfast this morning is downstairs at Milk Bar which is the cafe at the front of the Observatory Hotel. My travelling companion Julie from Gourmet Getaways and I take a seat and be warned it gets furiously busy come 8am on a weekday so we quickly snare a bench at the front. Customers order and pay at the counter and we ask for a recommendation from the staff.  ”Anything with the sourdough bread is good” they say and so we order items that include the sourdough from Hearthfire Rustic Bakery in Bellingen.

Milk bar brekkie with bacon $15

The milk bar brekkie has bacon and two baked eggs with gooey runny centers, basil tomatoes, halved button mushrooms and wilted spinach. As recommended, the toast which is excellent and the whole plate is a nice upmarket take on a big breakfast.

Organic fruit and macadamia sourdough toasted with apricot and vanilla jam $6.50

The toast comes as three pieces of lightly toasted fruit and nut bread with plenty of chunks of macadamia and a thick apricot jam which is light on vanilla and slightly tangy.

French toast with sweet ricotta, marinated figs and maple syrup $12

The French toast has two slices of the bread very lightly dipped in egg. It is then fried and topped with cinnamon scented sweet ricotta, sweet marinated figs, fresh strawberries and maple syrup and the cinnamon ricotta in particular is very moreish. And it is pretty indeed!

Caramel tart $3

Oh my, these little tarts were heaven! I know tarts aren’t you usual breakfast food but when they’re this rich and with a buttery coconut base and thick, silky caramel you just have to make an exception…

Before we go, we take a little peek at the store next door called For Good which is full of Scandinavian goodies and covetable props and then we’re off on our next stop!

Gaian Poultry & Game

Gaian’s client poultry list is impressive, notwithstanding that Gaian Poultry is a family business headed up by two school teachers that still teach. Their free range muscovy and pekin ducks and pigs end up on some rather stellar dining tables including Rockpool Bar & Grill and Berta among others. Started just two years ago by Beth and Lleyton McMillan, the business started because Lleyton loved to eat duck!

They contacted Hudson Meats through the Essential Ingredient and every week Rockpool’s Neil Perry buys half a dozen Muscovy ducks and Berta buy ducks and about two pigs a week (they have Tamworth, Wessex saddleback and black Berkshire pigs) and Bells at Killcare also order from them. The pekin ducks are much quicker to be ready at 8 weeks while the muscovies take 5 months until they are ready.

They follow the Joel Salatin model at detailed in his book “Pastured Poultry Profit$” and followed the principles laid out within. The farm is also sustainable and only uses solar power. The rabbits, and Beth tells us that these are the only animals on the farm that aren’t free range because they don’t actually like to be free ranged, are tended to by their 16 year old son Zane who is paid to tend to them for 1-2 hours a day. He knows all about rabbits and he tells us of their breeding cycle and to never put a male in a female’s cage because “they get really protective of their space and will kill it.” Eeek!

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“Feel free to jump in the water”  Jane says to us as we stare mesmerized at the view from our table at The Janning Tree. Sometimes when you travel and are in a hurry, you look around, realise that there is something special going on where you are and just sit and stay for a while. And that’s what happened to the lovely Julie and I this sunny afternoon at The Jaaning Tree.

Chef Clayton Donovan

Situated right on Nambucca River, Jane, the maitre’d and wife of chef Clayton Donovan tells us that often between service they go for a dip in the river to cool off. And the lifestyle is partly why they have moved back to Nambucca Heads where he grew up because he wants his kids to experience the life that he had growing up.

Orange native bush limes

The water is served with native bush lime which resemble a tiny orange or mandarin but is in fact like a salty lime (perfect for a cocktail!)

Freshly shucked Nambucca River oysters: Asian $16 half dozen and Natural $14 half dozen

Of course we had to try the local Nambucca Heads oysters. The natural oysters are lovely and we use the native wild lime from our drinks to give it a fresh kick. The Asian ones however with pickled and fresh ginger, coriander and wasabi are the pick with a lovely balance of flavours and a delicate hand. The salad in the entree is also a nice complement to the oysters and features violas and nasturtiums from their home garden as well as apple berry flower which is a native fruit that kangaroos like.

Clayton picked some up nearby and he tells us that as kangaroos like it so much, if you find kangaroo tracks then there is a chance that you have an  apple berry tree. The apple berry flower has a texture like a green apple skin but a flavour like celery. While the actual apple berry itself has a flavour like quince and Clayton tells us that it tastes like bubblegum!

Apple berry fruit which is will turn a deep purple colour and sweeten when ripe

Citrus cured crocodile carpaccio $17.50

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