February 2012

OUT & ABOUT

Dining and drinking this February

WORDS ROBERTA MUIR

FLYING COOKS

Australian produce has long been popular overseas — but now we're exporting our talented chefs as well

SHANNON BINNIE AT SALT IN SINGAPORE

Why did you decide to open overseas?
I've always loved Asian cities — I opened Salt Tokyo for Luke (Mangan) in 2006 and then last year Salt grill in Singapore.

What sort of food are you cooking?
Mainly Modern Australian using great Aussie beef and seafood combined with local fruit and veg.

What's the best thing about this overseas venture?
Having a 200-seat restaurant that's full for lunch and dinner every day — it keeps us very busy.

Lvls 55 & 56 ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, Singapore, tel: +65 6592 5118

BENJAMIN CROSS AT KU DE TA IN BALI

Why did you decide to open overseas?
I initially came on a temporary posting but fell in love with Bali and so decided to stay.

What sort of inspirations do you draw from the new location?
Almost all of the seafood we use is from Indonesia and 95% of our fruit and vegetables are sourced locally.

What exciting new produce have you discovered?
We're using fresh ginger flower which has an amazing flavour and smell, also fern tips picked from the local forests.

Jalan Kayu Aya No. 9 Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia, tel: +62 (361) 73 6969

DAVID THOMPSON AT NAHM IN BANGKOK

What sort of food are you cooking?
Nahm's menu is based on the traditional dishes cooked in Thai homes. But I'm increasingly being drawn to Thai street food.

What exciting new produce have you discovered?
Fruits and vegetables, fish and fermented products that I was unable to find in the UK or Australia; wild herbs that aren't found anywhere else add a depth and dimension to dishes.

What's the best thing about this overseas venture?
I'd been messing around with Thai food for so many years that it feels like coming home.

Metropolitan Hotel, 27 South Sathorn Rd, Tungmahamek, Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand, tel: +66 (2) 625 3333

CLASSIC TOM YUM

From David Thompson
Bring 200ml chicken stock and a good pinch of salt to the boil. Add a good pinch of deep-fried garlic and 12 blue mussels and simmer for a few minutes until mussels open. In a serving bowl mix 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 bruised small scud chillies and a good handful of coriander leaves. Pour the simmering soup into the serving bowl. Check the seasoning: it should taste salty, hot, sour and nutty from the deep-fried garlic; mix in a little more lime juice or fish sauce if needed.

A ROSÉ BY ANY OTHER NAME

Australian rosés are undergoing a revolution — becoming paler, drier and very sophisticated

1 TBR Duffy 2011 Moscato
Made from red muscat à petits grains, this pale pink, slightly sparkling, slightly sweet Moscato is a perfect brunch wine at just 6.5% alcohol — light and refreshing.

2 Port Phillip Estate 2011 Salasso Rosé
A seductive salmon-pink colour, delicate aromas of Fuji apple and just-ripe strawberry, and a fresh, dry, savoury palate with creamy red apple flavours and a minerally finish.

3 Shelmerdine Pinot Noir Rosé 2011
This pale pink rosé made from pinot noir has a slight orange hue, hints of French oak vanilla on the nose and delicate fruit flavours.

4 Dominique Portet Rosé 2011
This pale pink blend of merlot, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon from the Yarra Valley and Pyrenees is dry and savoury with great fruit intensity and a delicious aroma of red berries.

5 Charles Melton Méthode Champenoise Brut Pêche 2011
For something a bit punchier, there's this lovely hot pink sparkler with crisp toffee-apple, strawberries, cranberries and pink grapefruit aromas, and slightly sweet rich red fruit flavours, finishing crisp and dry.

6 Logan Hannah Rosé 2011
Peter made this wine for his wife Hannah to drink on their wedding day (a perfect Valentine's Day tipple). It's the palest pink with a lifted aroma of mixed berry compote, nuts, orange and spice, and flavours of cherry, cranberry and pear.

7 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Small Pot Rosé 2011
Made from carignan, grenache and mourvèdre with pears and strawberries on the nose, and citrus and bitter cherries on the palate. Gentle tannins and a touch of sweetness, before it finishes with a complex hint of bitterness.

BLACK BEAUTY
Something new for the growing ranks of cider fans: Bulmers Blackcurrant Cider. This alcoholic apple cider blended with fermented blackcurrants is pale purplish-red, smells of blackcurrants, and tastes fruity, refreshing and crisp.

SMELL THE FRESH BREW

Good coffee starts our mornings, fuels our days and ends the best dinners — and now there are more places and ways than ever before to enjoy this magic brew

TOBY'S ESTATE IN SINGAPORE
For Toby's Estate founder Toby Smith, it's been a long 13-year journey from roasting in his mother's Woolloomooloo (Sydney) garage to his first overseas outlet in a restored warehouse on Singapore's picturesque Robertson Quay. Travelling and expat Aussies looking for their favourite brew, and locals switched on to the difference a boutique coffee experience makes, love seeing the green beans being roasted in-store in the giant steel roaster... and if the aroma alone doesn't draw you in, there's also locally baked pastries and free WiFi.

8 Rodyk St #01-03/04, Singapore, tel: +65 6636 7629

PLANTATION IN MELBOURNE
These days, coffee is about more than just great espresso — and cold-drip is the term on the coffee cognoscenti's lips. Melbourne brewer Plantation uses different brewing methods including drop-by-drop percolation that takes up to eight hours. For iced coffee, cold drip is the way to go, giving a smoother, more complex and delicious result than adding ice cubes to a hot cup of coffee. It's also great for extracting coffee flavour to use in cocktails. Drink in, or grab a take-away bottle of cold-drip to whip up your own coffee creations at home. 60ml AU$5, 250ml AU$16.

Shop 253, 300 La Trobe St, Melbourne, tel: +61 (3) 9999 9999

THE COFFEE WAREHOUSE IN SYDNEY
More than just a café, The Coffee Warehouse is a coffee destination. Managing director Nick Di Stefano says it's a testament to the 30 years' experience of his father, master roaster Giuseppe Di Stefano: "It's a celebration of my father's passion for great coffee, which he wants to share with our customers, to educate and excite them." Customers can don a lab coat and take a journey through the AU$1.5 million coffee roasting facility exploring the process from bean to cup, combine beans from all over the world to develop their own coffee blend, or attend weekly coffee tutorials. There's also a pizzeria, restaurant, gelataria and delicatessen.

17-35 Parramatta Rd, Homebush, tel: +61 (2) 9764 8822

IT'S ONLY FAIR
República is Australia's only 100% Fairtrade coffee company. It's also 100% organic, 100% carbon neutral and 100% Australian-owned. But founder & director, Jacqueline Arias, doesn't expect you to buy it for moral reasons alone: "Taste is paramount to us," she says, "so we hand-select the very highest quality coffee beans from around the world. We know it's the taste and the quality that ensures coffee drinkers will buy República." República coffees and drinking chocolate are available nationally at Coles and Woolworths and onboard Jetstar flights.