Zumbo’s Bedroom Bookshelf
So the story goes, I was in Adriano Zumbo’s bedroom so I took a snap of his bookshelf but more on that later. And what was I doing at his house? Getting a preview of his new collection: 40 Days and Nights in Paris (due out May 23rd) for my birthday! For a food blogger, this is as close to the best birthday gift you could ever get. “You’re the first to see the whole collection” he says “even the guys in the kitchen have only seen two of them” and I suppress an internal squeal. Oh yes, birthdays are a good thing indeed.
Kitchen bookshelf
Zumbo recently returned from two months in the City of Lights which included attending the Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie (World Pastry Cup) and working at Pierre Herme, hence the collection’s name, and he came home eager to get back into his own kitchen and get started on his new collection. Speaking of his kitchen, the minute I walk through the door, I know I’m in the home of a chef. It’s a huge, gorgeously spacious kitchen with a massive island and one of those heavy duty restaurant kitchen faucets. I spy a bookshelf full of cookbooks (including Nigella’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess”) and when I ask if I can take a photo of them, he says “Let me show you the real bookshelf”. This is the one he spoke about in his interview with me which is in his bedroom. It’s packed with some amazing cookbooks of the professional calibre from the Libarie Gourmande in Paris.
Zumbo’s home kitchen
As for the cakes, let me present a preview of them without any further ado. As the cakes remain unnamed at this stage, if you’d like to suggest some names for them, please leave a comment as Adriano will be checking this page. Who knows, he might get inspiration from your suggestions! He said that he loved reading the comments from all of you in his interview so get your thinking caps on and name away! 
Cake #1
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May 13, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
At the risk of quoting Austin Powers in Goldmember, when I see the smiling face of the man at Pho Bac Hai Duong, the first thing that one notices is, aside from his smile, is the mole on his face and the good 2-3 inches of hair growing from it. In Vietnam, it is said to be unlucky to trim the hair from a mole and having hairy mole is said to be good luck – indeed the longer the hair, the luckier you are. And with a full restaurant every night, perhaps he is.
The famous Pho Tai
The Pho is where we are feeling lucky, and the broth is said to be amongst the best in Sydney with the flavour deep reaching with a dizzying array of spices and herbs with star anise featuring prominently. Tonight we’re dining with The Second Wife, Gravy Beard, Tess, Naomi and Francesca. And the most popular vote is for their signature dish, Pho Tai – the raw beef noodle soup. The menu is full of the usual delicious Vietnamese offerings like Crispy Pancakes, Bun and Pho but there are also offerings like a Sea Snail Noodle Soup (I so wanted to order this but I chickened out going for something more familiar and recommended to me). Surprisingly, there’s also an offering for Pho with Free Range Chicken for $10.
Milk and Soda with egg yolk $3.50
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May 6, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
If I ever were in a position to give a restaurant an award for Best Name it would have to be Posh Spice in Newtown. For I am speaking about a restaurant, not the emaciated fashionista ex Spice Girl perched on increasingly vertiginous shoes who only has a fleeting familiarity with actual food.
The entrance to Posh Spice advertises Bollywood Dancing on Friday and Saturday nights and the colourful fuchsia walls and staircase lead to a very nicely outfitted restaurant – one that is adorned with plasma screens playing Bollywood videos, wooden carvings and all things chicly Indian.
The other Posh Spice. She wasn’t there by the way.
Cameron, my husband and I are dining using the Eatability two for one main discount (now finished but keep an eye out for it should it appear again) where feeding two famished men fresh from sailing all day is paramount. We order four mains-the three restaurant specialties, as well as the Spinach & Cheese Naan and the Peshwari Naan and a selection of sides for $6.50 (Katchumber: chopped tomato and onion salad; mango chutney and Raita: cucumber and yogurt).
Aishwarya Rai mocktail $6.50
Given the intriguing names in the cocktail menu like Sex in Mumbai, Slumdog Margarita and Sachin Ballbanger, I start with the Aishwarya Rai, a ginger ale and grenadine mocktail. My husband and Cameron go for the Salty Lassis ($4 each). They’re similar to the Ayran drinks and not too bad although my husband admits he prefers Mango Lassis.
Complimentary appetisers
Our complimentary appetisers are made of deep fried bread, spread with three types of cheese (a mint cheese and two others), battered and deep friend.
Gosht Mirch Ka Salan: Lamb $19
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April 28, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
For anyone inclined to grab some delicious Turkish food at The Sultan’s Table, let this review serve as a warning to avoid the fate that has plagued many visiting, including us, of being turned away without a reservation on a Saturday night. Looking like a takeaway joint from the outside, it is deceptively large with tables to dine in towards the back and a loyal and numerous clientele that already know the score. If you want to eat here on a Friday or Saturday night, it’s a good idea to book ahead by a few days.
This Saturday night we are in possession of a reservation. And a good thing too, for even as we’re dining early at 6pm, we watch a steady stream of people being turned away. For those of you that do find yourselves in the same situation, there are tables outside where you can eat your takeaway but of course it’s not quite the same.
Prices for dine in are mostly $1-2 more than for takeaway except for the plates of dips which are double the price. We presume this is to discourage people from ordering a plate of dips and sitting there for an hour. We start off with a plate of the colourful dips with Turkish bread and then order an eggplant fritter, the Sultans Kebab, Iskender Kebab, Guvec and a Kusabilli Pide all topped off with a baklava.
Service it has to be said is very charming and friendly. It seems the gruffer types are behind the counter dealing with the takeaway customers (and even then they aren’t that gruff it should be said) and the friendly ones are taking care of the restaurant. We muse that they probably split themselves up beforehand and said “Ok you like people, you deal with them, I don’t so I’ll just cook and do takeaway orders.”
Mixed dips (medium) $14 with Turkish bread $3 Clockwise from top left: carrot dip, jajik, spinach, babaganoush, chili, hummous, beetroot and spinach dip with eggplant in the centre.
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April 20, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
Trust me when I tell you that I am not a satanist. Nor that I am judging being a satanist, but as I am queasy at the sight of blood a future as a Satanist is not in my cards, nor is being a doctor (aversion to bodily fluids also cancels this out). But when my blogging buddy Christie and I drive past the Goat Meat restaurant on our way to the Harry’s Bar event, we squeal with excitement. A Goat Meat restaurant you say? Yes. One with drawings of goats frolicking outside? Yes. And just like that we cancel our dinner plans elsewhere and make a last minute decision to go Goat Meat.
In the restaurant there is another large table of people mid-meal. We ask to see the menu-just in case-just in case of what I am not sure. We are intrigued by the offerings so we sit down and ask the waitress for her recommendations. We’re not well versed in goat meat, both of us only having it in curries, so she recommends the grilled goat meat and the raw goat meat (stay with me, hold onto my hand, it’s not as scary as it sounds). There’s a page of more traditional (and non goat-ey) dishes and a page of the more bovine kind. The waitress asks us if it is our first time here and indeed it is and she smiles and says proudly that this is the only Goat Meat restaurant in Australia.
Salted Lemon juice and Salted Plum drink $3 each
We order some drinks, a Salted Lemon drink and a Salted Plum drink. We’re not sure what to expect but they’re actually quite delicious albeit quite salty. I don’t find them as thirst quenching as I’d like though but they are very flavoursome.
Grilled Goat Meat with rice vermicelli $18
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March 3, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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