I was somewhat deterred by my mum constantly telling me it was an ‘all day job’, but when I had a day free & was in the baking mood I thought I’d give it a whirl… turns out mum was drastically over exaggerating – it took far less time than what I found it took me to bake a batch of piparkukas only days before!

So – on with the process… my mum didn’t have a recipe & my aunt who has all of our Latvian recipe’s was overseas at the time I decided to bake so mum suggested that I use the one for ‘piroshki’ in my much treasured Margaret Fulton cookbook.

It looked pretty straight forward – and would have been a whole lot easier had I actually made sure I had all the ingredients before I started *read mad run to the store to get more eggs mid-way through combining the ingredients* – oops…

The first step was to make the dough, which aside from the abovementioned mistake, was so super easy – combine ingredients & let it rest!  As it’s a super fluffy bread consistency you’re looking for you don’t really want to work the dough at all.

The dough!

While the dough was resting, I got down to cooking my speck, pepper & onion mix – and can I just say that the house was smelling AMAZING at this stage

I cooked down the onions & speck on quite a low heat so it took quite some time, which was good because by the time the mixture had cooled the dough was ready for piragi making!

The speck & onion mix

Margaret suggested to roll the dough in rounds, but I remember my Vastmum always used to make kind of long shapes (which we also experienced in Latvia), so I gave this a go. Unfortunately, as it had been perhaps close to 20 years since I last made these, I’d forgotten how to join the seam of the bun & had it running kind of down the side with the end result being a whole lot of split buns when they baked… thankfully I kinda got the hang of it by the end, ensuring the seam was on the bottom of the bun, so we had at least a couple of perfectly formed parcels of deliciousness

The finished product

Split or not split though, I was super happy, as to me, the flavour was just how I remembered them. Vatsmum must have been a good teacher

Now that I know the whole process only takes a couple of hours, I’ll most definitely be making these again in the near future – look out waist line!!!

We had a booking for a cold Winter Wednesday night so the minimalist garden area was looking extra sparse, but I’m sure it’s a beautiful area in the warmer months.

Dining midweek also allowed us the option of ordering from the a la carte menu or the 14 course tasting menu at $160pp (now I believe it’s expanded to a whopping 17 courses!!!). The tasting menu looked fantastic so having worked up a serious appetite after a huge day of playing tourist we decided this was the way to go

Thankfully each dish was a perfectly sized small portion (so I actually made it to the end of the evening without feeling like I was about to explode), beautifully presented on what appeared to be bespoke crockery – clearly a great deal of consideration was placed into the design elements of this ultra cool restaurant.

As with our other posts of tasting menus, I’ll let the pictures do the talking when it comes to the following 14 delicious dishes, so enjoy!

Course 1: Thousand-year-old quail egg, homemade tofu, chrysanthemum, black moss

First course

Quail egg close up!

Course 2: Oyster, cabbage, pork belly, fermented pepper

Course 3: Sea urchin, celery, almond, dark chocolate

Course 4: Sake lees, foie gras, mountain yam, yuzu

Course 5: Eel, feuille de brick, cremem fraiche, lime, caramelized anchovy, peanut, lily bulb, salt & pepper squid

The speckled looking dish on the left was the most unique take on salt & pepper squid that Donny & I have had so far – it was made into a prawn cracker of sorts & was totally moreish! Our waitress told us the staff love snacking on these & I can understand why

Course 6: Abalone grenobloise

Course 7: First of the spring vegetables, dashi, parmesan

Course 8: Monkfish liver torchon, turnip, apple, brioche

This was the only dish of the night that didn’t really float my boat. I’m not quite sure why as texturally there was nothing wrong with it & really, I couldn’t pick any flavour that wasn’t agreeing with me – maybe it was the mental image of the rather ugly monk fish that I couldn’t shake? Either way, once the accompaniments ran out, so did my enthusiasm for finishing my plate! Donny had no such problems though

(PS – looking at this picture now, I can’t help but see a striking similarity with the foie gras course Donny enjoyed only a few days before at Lee’s former haunt The French Laundry!)

Course 9: Lobster porridge with flavors of green curry

For this course we did have a choice between the above dish & a risotto with shaved French black truffle ($30 supplement), but the lobster dish sounded far more exciting so we both decided this was the way to go. The green curry flavours were very fresh & quite subtle so as to not overpower the beautiful lobster – YUM!

Course 10: “shark’s fin” soup, dungeness crab, Jinhua ham, black truffle custard

A mock shark’s fin soup was by far our favourite dish of the night. The flavours were in perfect balance & the delicate softer-than-soft truffle custard at the bottom of the bowl was to die for! We ate this dish at deliberately slow pace, savouring each mouthful with huge grins on our faces

Course 11: Beef braised in pear, endive, date, watercress

Course 12: Rhubarb, cucumber, white sesame

Course 13: Banana ice cream, burnt acorn, ginger

Course 14: Chocolate, coffee, tea

Peppermint tea

Chocolates!!!

In some kind of weird freaky coincidence, it turned out that our waitress (a Napa local) was sitting next to us during our Sunday brunch at Ad Hoc earlier that week! We’d been talking about our holiday and eating adventures with her and word must have spread around that we’d also dined at The French Laundry… As we were leaving and the maitre de was giving us our coats he asked us which restaurant we liked better – no pressure or anything

We said at the time that we couldn’t decide as they were both different, and with a year now behind us, I stand by this statement.

At both restaurants the service was perfect and the food faultless. The French laundry is a smaller, more formal restaurant with jackets required (which we don’t mind as it kind of adds to the sense of occasion), while Benu has a younger feel – the no jacket requirement matches the minimalist setting I think…

If you prefer more traditional French flavours then maybe The French Laundry would be more your thing, but if you like Asian influenced food then Benu – but if you like both, I really fail to see how you could choose between the two!!!

After managing to score a table quite easily (at 12:30pm on a Sunday it was pretty quiet), we were quickly presented with the menus (there’s no trolleys here – it’s freshly cooked to order, just like Monday – Saturday lunch at David’s), and given some tips on how much food we should order to begin with (for 2 people, they recommended 8 dishes to start).

I thought that sounded about right (Ritsy has turned me into a yum-cha fiend of sorts) so we ordered, and within about 10 minutes our first dishes arrived. Note that as I write this post, referring back to the menu on the website and my receipt, I have found that there is a surcharge of sorts added to Sunday lunch service – surcharges on weekends and public holidays are illegal in Melbourne, but not if the menus are printed with the actual price for the day.

First up was a very small dish of “Cucumbers with smashed garlic and ginger” – probably about half a cucumber’s worth – for $5 ($1 more than on days other than Sunday). Luckily they were good, because the serving size was super stingy. About a minute later, my green tea arrived (“Jade Sword”, $5.50). This was also on the expensive side, considering there was only one teacup’s worth of tea in the cute little glass teapot.

The “Crispy Guangxi pork slider” was next ($9, $1 more than the weekday menu) – it was quite flavoursome, and it was hard to separate this dish from the “White cut chicken steamed bun with salted chilli and steamed pickles” ($8, $1 more than the weekday menu). I’d love to have an unlimited supply of both these buns and a 6-pack of Lager!

The “Crisp pork belly and smoked tofu salad” ($9, $2 more than the weekday menu) was probably the most disappointing dish of the day. The flavours were great, but it was hard to divide the 5mm thin and 1 inch square slice of the smoked tofu between the 5 or so slices of pork.

The “Eggplant braised with red peppers, tofu and mushrooms” ($9, a whopping $3 more than the weekday menu) was probably one of our favourite dishes of the day. The eggplant was beautifully cooked, almost caramelised, the peppers, tofu and mushrooms sandwiched between two slices of eggplant.

We were also in love with the King Prawn wontons with aged black vinegar dressing ($11, $2 more than the weekday menu) – 3 soft, intensely prawn flavoured treats that were swimming in the aforementioned black vinegar dressing and some blistered chillis.

Last up for the day was the Hunan style egg noodles with smoked bacon and chilli ($8, $2 more than the weekday menu) – we were lucky we ordered these as they managed to add some sustenance to our lunch – we probably got about 100g or so of the spicy, mee goreng-like noodles with little bacon pieces on top.

In summary, we both loved the food at Spice Temple’s yum cha – but were disappointed by the too-small serving sizes – even more so now that we realise we paid an extra $12 to dine on such a quiet Sunday. But then again, maybe that’s why it was quiet.

We went to dinner with no intention of ordering any form of tasting menu as our stomachs (and wallet!) had undergone a fair workout over the last couple of days with visits to The French Laundry, Ad Hoc, Bottega, and countless wineries, but quickly found ourselves being persuaded otherwise as we relaxed into the evening with a pre-dinner cocktail and rather morish appetiser, ‘pillow on a pillow’ – a miniature puff of cheese, topped with a delicate flower, presented on a pillow. I’m sure this comes out before you’ve made a decision regarding the menu as the whimsy in this dish had our interest piqued, making the justification for the $195pp tasting menu (consisting of canapés, first bites, 8 courses and last bites) quite simple!

Chefs tasting menu ordered, it wasn’t long before the ‘first bites’ of the night arrived – crunchy baby vegetables (left) and pork fritters with powdered sour cream (right). The vegetable dish reminded us of the starter we enjoyed at Loam in the way the kitchen allows the beauty of impeccably fresh produce to speak for itself.

Fresh baby vegetables & pork fritters

We were also treated with a second ‘first bite’ but unfortunately time has eroded my memory of this dish & I cannot for the life of me remember what it was – but here’s the picture anyway… perhaps somebody who has also dined here might be able to identify it?

Mystery first bite!

Dinner proper began with probably the most interesting interpretation of Foie Gras we’ve experienced. It was soy cured and served with winter pea, ‘ocean flavours’ and steamed brioche.

Soy Cured Foie Gras

We then moved on to course 2 - Meadowood Garden “Potage” with toasted grains, matsutake & whipped bacon fat. This was quite a delicate dish and I suppose not a typical ‘potage’ but delicious in its own right – and seriously… what doesn’t taste better with the addition of whipped bacon fat?!

Garden "Potage"

The third course allowed us to enjoy some of our favourite crustacean – langoustine! This dish was served in rice paper, winter vegetables & a fish sauce… YUM!

Langoustine!!!

Course number four progressed onto the heavier protein of the night – I do believe it was a perfectly cooked plate of goat with tasty little vegetables!

The meal then took a somewhat disappointing turn with me not particularly enjoying course 5, and Donny disliking course 6.

The fifth course was sweetbreads with black truffle, parsnip and black trumpet mushroom.  Perhaps if you’re a fan of sweetbreads you’d appreciate how they were made to be the star of the dish, but if you’re like me, and could really take them or leave them, you might find that there isn’t enough of the other elements on the plate to make it wholly enjoyable. Thankfully, Donny didn’t mind eating what I couldn’t

Sweetbreads "black and white"

The sixth course, ‘Curds and Whey’ was Donny’s least favourite. He thought it tasted like ‘day spa’, which I suspect was thanks to the addition of Bergamot (it also had buckwheat & sel gris). I didn’t mind it so was able to repay Donny the favour and finish his dish. Like it or hate it, this was certainly different to the run-of-the-mill cheese course you’re often presented with in any case!

Curds & Whey

Course 7 was a palate cleanser of Howell Mountain Ash Berry Compote, Meadowood garden borage & bitter chards. I suppose a lot of effort went into this, but personally I wouldn’t usually call a palate cleanser like this a course. Then again… you do get a number of small tastes at the start of the night which more than make up for this

Palate Cleanser

The final official course of the evening steered things back on track with the scrumptious ‘impressions of coffee’. Being coffee fiends, we both enjoyed the different textures of coffee flavour on our plates.

Impressions of Coffee

Feeling rather full, ‘last bites’ for the evening were a struggle to get through, but we took our time savouring each of the different textures and flavours to leave the moss looking rather bare!

Last Bites

Aside from the two dishes that we felt didn’t hit the mark, we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner at The Restaurant at Meadowood. I’m not sure how current renovations to the restaurant will affect the experience but I’d love to go back and find out!

The large, rustic looking restaurant was pumping when we arrived and we’d already been clued up by a girl at one of the nearby wineries, who recommended her favourite dish to start of ‘polenta under glass’, so our appetites where whet for a good evening ahead!

As we’d brunched at Ad Hoc earlier that day (which you can read about here), we decided the sensible thing to do was to only order two courses, and enjoy an alcohol free evening. To my delight, the sparkling mineral water was free flowing so I enjoyed countless refills of my fancy copper cup by the highly attentive staff

We started the evening with the recommended dish of polenta ($12), and the crudo of kingfish ($12) which was served on a giant salt block – which not only looked impressive, but seasoned the delicate slices of fish the longer they remained on the block (you could purchase these blocks from the adjoining retail store NapaStyle). Both dishes were packed full of flavour and highly enjoyable. I can see why the polenta is a favourite, especially on a cold winters evening!

Polenta Under Glass, caramelized mushrooms & balsamic game sauce

Pesce Crudo market fresh raw selection from the sea

For our pasta course, Donny opted for the Pappardelle Bolognese ($18), while I went for the Raviolo with burnt butter and sage, egg yolk and black winter truffle ($22). Both dishes were well balanced and delicious, but I would have to say that my giant raviolo with perfectly cooked oozy egg was the stand out of the night

Donny's Bolognese

Ritsy's Raviolo

Feeling seriously full, we settled our very reasonable bill and waddled back across the road to our room for the night. We were incredibly impressed with Bottega and would highly recommend it if you’re after some authentic Italian food

When you google The French Laundry, perfection is a word that is synonymous with the numerous reviews that appear, and after our experience at this restaurant I cannot think of a better word to describe the few hours we were lucky enough to have at 6640 Washington Street.

Not only is the service polished and the quality & presentation of each dish impeccable, but each minute detail in the appearance of the restaurant has been thought about – from the wooden pegs that adorn your beautifully pressed napkin, to the prints on the softly glowing lights.

It was also no surprise, after reading through Thomas Keller’s book Ad Hoc At Home that we had three very different salts on our table at one stage! (For those who haven’t read a Keller cook book, he is incredibly particular about the type of salt that should be used for different dishes).

Selection of Salts

The restaurant serves a set menu so we only had a couple of very simple decisions to make – between the tasting of vegetables or the ‘regular’ chef’s tasting, and unlike some tasting menus we actually had a choice of two dishes for 4 of the 9 courses! Opting for the chef’s tasting menu, our next decision was quite simple as we decided to order one of everything and share the differing plates

Our wine choices were also quite simple as we left ourselves in the hands of our wonderful Sommelier, so after a glass of Champagne with our scrumptious appetiser, we started out with a French Chablis and moved onto a local red.

The perfect start to our evening

I’ll let our pictures do the talking for the most part in the following, only saying this… unlike many other of our restaurant experiences there was no low point, nothing that didn’t quite make the mark and as a result, I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite dish as everything was well, perfect!

Course 1: Oysters and Pearls

"Sabayon" of Pearl Tapioca with Beau Soleil Oysters and White Sturgeon Caviar

Course 2: Sorrel Veloute & Moulard Duck ‘foie gras au torchon’

Sorrel Veloute, French Laundry Garden Beets, Young Fennel and d'Avignon Radishes

Moulard Duck "Foie Gras Au Torchon" Pickled Asian Pear Relish, Celery, Piedmont Hazelnut, Parsnip Puree, Black Winter Truffle and Vanilla-Scented Sauternes Reduction

We took our time eating this decadently rich dish and were surprised when our waiter came and replaced the accompanying brioche to ensure what we were eating was still beautifully warm and fresh!

Course 3: Sauteed Fillet of Atlantic Black Bass & Grilled Florida Coast Pompano

Sauteed Fillet of Atlantic Black Bass, Manila Clams, Artichokes, Melted Green Garlic, Olives, and Preserved Meyer Lemon Butter

Grilled Florida Coast Pompano, Compressed Belgian Endive, Cilantro and Winter Citrus "Vierge"

Course 4: Georges Bank Sea Scallop “Poelee”

With Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Salsify, Brussels Sprouts and Brown Butter "Gastrique"

Course 5: Devil’s Gulch Ranch Rabbit Sirloin & “Tete De Cochon”

Devil's Gulch Ranch Rabbit Sirloin, Sunchokes, Scallion Salad, Pine Nuts and Fig-Chocolate Sauce

"Tete de Cochon", Onion Marmalade, English Walnuts, Dandelion Greens and Hen Egg Emulsion

Course 6: Elysian Fields Farm Lamb Rib-eye

With Quinoa, Cucumber, Sweet Peppers, Yogurt and Za'atar "Jus"

Course 7: “Comte Reserve”

With San Marzano Tomato Compote, Pole Beans, "Panisse" and "Fines Herbes Ravigote"

Course 8: Marshall Farm’s Wildflower Honey Sorbet

With Chilled Hibiscus-Pink Peppercorn "Consomme", Poached Rhubarb and Basil Seeds

It wasn’t long after this course that we experienced our next surprise of the night – a mini birthday cake for Donny, which must have been as a result of our more than wonderful waiter, who obviously gleaned the information from our conversation about what brought us to the USA, and The French Laundry. We haven’t experienced many restaurants in Australia that give you anything when you’re dining on your actual birthday, let alone nearly a month later!

Happy Birthday Donny!

Course 9: “Coeur de Guanaja Mousse au Chocolat” and “Delice aux Pistaches”

"Coeur de Guanaja Mousee au Chocolat" - Mascapone Cream, Chocolate Financier, Sour Michigan Cherries and Almond Milk "Sphere"

"Delice Aux Pistaches" with Shiso Gelee, Lemongrass "Cremeux" and Granny Smith Apple Sorbet

It was almost like this menu was tailored to Donny and myself as I typically prefer a lighter fruity dessert while Donny is a chocolate fiend!

Mignardises

How are we going to fit these in?!

It mustn’t be unusual for patrons to be feeling full to the brim by this stage as we were asked if we’d like to have our final tastes of the night packaged up to take with us, which we   gladly accepted. It wasn’t long before we were presented with a crisp white bag full of our chocolates in a beautiful box, and the other treats (including a bonus bag of shortbread!) packaged and tied with ribbons adorned with the peg insignia of the restaurant.

The French Laundy is indeed an amazing experience, one which we both hope to be able to enjoy again in the future.

Typically when dining at a restaurant for the first time we opt for the degustation or equivalent to maximise our dining experience, but given we had two weeks of extreme eating ahead of us we thought that we should start our holiday being slightly sensible. OK – who am I kidding… our decision not to go the tasting menu in this instance was due to the fact that you couldn’t get the much talked about langoustine 5 ways!

It wasn’t long after we were seated that our table was adorned with all manner of breads, spreads and appetisers, including a refreshing apple sorbet palate cleanser (out of shot) which we were able to enjoy while sipping our cucumber champagne cocktails. It was definitely a great way to ease into the evening

More than your average bread & butter to start

With our table cleared we waited in anticipation for what turned out to be a langoustine feast! At $58 it was by no means cheap for an appetiser, but when you consider the amount of food you get and all the work that’s required for the 5 separate dishes you walk away feeling like you received the bargain of a lifetime!

A table full of langoustine!

Each preparation was obviously carefully considered to show off the different flavours of the beautiful sweet meat – from the delicate raw taste to the intensely rich seafood flavours enjoyed in a jelly made from a langoustine stock reduction. We were not only directed to eat in a progression from right to left around the table, but also to take a sip of sake between each plate.

I found it difficult to pick a favourite, but given the mousse was the kind of dish where you close your eyes on every mouthful to savour each spoon I suppose this was the stand out. Needless to say, we took our time eating each of the amazing tastes!

Mousse preparation - our favourite by a whisker!

Our main courses, while delicious and perfectly cooked were somewhat overshadowed by the langoustine and I think if we had of known how large the servings were going to be, we may have opted to perhaps just have another apetiser rather than the large rich dishes that we’d ordered. Not only did you get a large plate of the main protein, but an accompanying side plate!

Donny had the Duck, which came with a shredded duck salad, and I had fish with morels and an artichoke side which balanced out the rich flavours of the morels and the sauce perfectly.

Donny's duck

Accompanying duck salad

Perfectly cooked fish

Artichoke side to accompany the fish

Feeling incredibly full, we opted for lighter desserts (and didn’t even consider the 5 dish dessert tasting!) – me a dessert take on a mojito & Donny a yuzu parfait which were the perfect refreshing end to the meal.

Dessert mojito

Yuzu parfait

I was feeling like I was about to burst after the addition of petit fours to the mix and it soon became clear to me why they have beautiful plush bench seats in the lifts back to our hotel room for the night!

If you have an empty stomach and some time to kill in Vegas, we’d highly recommend a visit to Twist… we’ll be going back, that’s for sure

We arrived at 7:30pm on a Saturday night for an 8pm start to the 5 course degustation ($95 each) – the only dining option on a Friday and Saturday night, and were quickly seated in the beautiful, cosy dining room. Our table (whose white linen tablecloth I would ruin later in the night) was decorated with a beautiful flower arrangement in a vase.

Flowers at the Table

After some delicious house baked bread was placed on our table, we received the wine list, and were greeted by the exuberant Timothy Sawyer, who assumes the role of restaurant manager / wine guy extraordinaire. He offered some wonderful per-course wine matches, alongside some interesting insight into the production of these specific vintages, without giving away what would be our menu for the night. He bounded around each table with the same level of enthusiasm, and really looks like he enjoys what he and Gary Cooper have created at Bella Vedere.

Now, Gary Cooper – the executive chef – is a name that will sound familiar to anyone who has been interested in the Melbourne food scene over the past 15 years. He is probably best known for being the chef that founded another wonderful Yarra Valley restaurant – Eleanor’s at Chateau Yering.

Back in the day, his name struck fear into my mind, along with many other fellow chef-school apprentices – admittedly, this was not helped by the fact that one of our fellow chefs-in-training was his apprentice, and used to tell us some horrific stories!!!

Perhaps his Gordon Ramsay-esque reputation was due to the pressure of running a 3-hatted restaurant, which also won The Age Good Food Guide’s “Best New Country Restaurant”, as throughout the night he appeared to be the polar opposite of what I had heard about him.

During the “what’s for dinner tonight” announcement – where all the chefs and waitstaff line up in front of the diners, announcing in turn what each course is, where the produce came from (some arrives from their own organic kitchen garden), Gary glows with excitement when telling us about the leg of lamb that they have been injecting with mandarin juice for the past 3 days, which will feature as the main course of our meal tonight.

We ordered a couple of sparkling wine cocktails to get the night underway ($14), and soon after finishing those, our first matched wine arrived – a local Pimpernel Vineyard Chardonnay ($15).

The first dish of the night followed – a plate of porcini risotto was placed in front of us, while a few chefs walked around the tables with giant bamboo skewers of local quail that had been cooked over a brazier. The quail (still with all it’s bones) was amazingly tender, and we ditched the knife and fork quite early on in order to get all that succulent flesh off the small quail bones. The risotto was cooked perfectly and would have made for a successful entree on it’s own.

Local Quail with Porcini Risotto

The next course was the Calamari on Squid Ink Angel Hair Pasta, which was coated with a fantastic sofrito, and was an absolute triumph. The calamari was exquisitely tender, and the sofrito was a perfect match for a glass of imported Vouvray ($15).

Sofrito coated Calamari on Squid Ink Angel Hair Pasta

The last of the savoury courses for the night followed – the aforementioned Roast Lamb marinated (and injected with) mandarin juice for 3 days, and served with some good old fashioned Pommes Puree and Collard Greens.

The lamb was unbelievable!!! It really didn’t look like much on the plate, but the flavour of the mandarin was an absolute masterstroke. It was matched with a glass of Pimpernel Vineyard Pinot Noir ($15).

Mandarin Infused Roasted Lamb, Pommes Puree, Collard Greens

Feeling way too full (of alcohol), we decided that we’d only take one of the matched wines for the cheese course – a glass of Shiraz ($14). I can’t remember what type of cheese it was (I blame the wine!!!), but it was good, and the fennel salad that was served alongside it was crisp and refreshing.

The Cheese Course

The final treat for the night was a rich, dense chocolate pudding, flecked with sea salt and a dash of olive oil to bring out a bit of extra chocolatey goodness. We were offered a matched sweet red wine from Italy, but as I had just spilled half of my glass of Shiraz on the table, we declined. They very generously poured a free taster for both of us anyway, and it was a surprisingly good match for all that chocolate.

Chocolate Pudding

While Ritsy pondered whether or not she could leave her rather drunk husband in the hills for the night in order to get a good nights sleep, she had a cup of tea ($4), after which we grabbed the bill and made our way back home.

You can really tell that Gary and Tim love what they have achieved over the last 8 or so years at Bella Vedere. We love what they have created too, and will definitely be back the next time we are down that way. That is, of course, unless I have been blacklisted for my red wine “oopsie”!!!

Now, it may seem odd for somebody to get excited about a inner-city cafe that pumps out little more than sandwiches all day long – and I would agree, if the sandwiches were of the usual ham / lettuce / tomato variety. What you get at EARL is, effectively, a well conceived “restaurant quality” (their words not mine) meal in between two slices of bread.

The fancy-fillings-inside-a-sandwich idea in itself is not new – Tom Colicchio, one of America’s most notable chef’s, established his ‘wichcraft chain in the USA way back in 2003 – but that doesn’t mean it’s not a welcome addition to the Melbourne lunching scene.

As far as the sandwiches themselves go, EARL Canteen unfortunately suffers from the same sort of problems that restaurants sometimes have. Irregularly placed ingredients in my “Duck Confit” sandwich ($16) meant that the first 3/4 of the ciabatta-based dish felt like it was missing something – which turned out to be the Onion Jam and the Caramelised Figs, which were hiding away underneath the radicchio up the other end of the roll.

Still, I think it needed some kind of sauce – perhaps a small amount of duck gravy – as the sandwich, as a whole, was quite dry (Ritsy disagrees, and thinks I’m just obsessed with duck gravy!!!). And that’s not to say that it’s the bread’s fault either – baked fresh from the wonderful bakers at Dench Bakers, the ciabatta was fantastic – a highlight of the sandwich, in fact – and it shows a lot of thought has gone into the sandwich crafting process.

Confit duck, caramelised figs, walnuts, onion jam, radicchio, watercress, ciabatta

Ritsy had the “REAL Steak Sandwich” ($13.50), which came with a seriously big steak knife! The meat was super juicy, but as a whole, the sandwich could have done with some more of the balsamic baby onions.

Grilled grass-fed steak, rocket & parmesan salad, balsamic baby onions, dijon mustard, focaccia

After we finished our sandwiches, we went to the counter to pay our bill, and caught a glimpse of some delicious looking Macarons in the salad / sweets display cabinet. There were about 8 different flavours, but we couldn’t go past adding two of the Salted Caramel Macarons ($2.50 each) to our bill. I’d love to know who supplies them to EARL, as they were absolutely delicious!!

With 10 different sandwiches, a few salads, and some tasty treats on offer, you’re sure to find something to your liking at EARL. Best to arrive early if you want to nab yourself a (shared) table, otherwise, their takeaway service looked like it was reasonably quick. It’s currently open from 7.30am – 5pm Monday to Friday.

It’s located on Chapel Street, South Yarra, next to the funky Olsen hotel, and across the road from the new Vogue shopping center / apartment complex. Among the fabulous looking cake displays, it also houses the semi-open kitchen where you can see Ian Burch and Darren Purchese (and their helpers) showing off their sweet-making techniques from the early hours of the morning through to the late hours of the evening.

I first visited B&P Sweet Studio back when it was a pop-up studio on Flinders Street in March this year, and was thoroughly impressed with just how beautiful and thoughtful the cakes and other sweet treats they were making looked. Given that both Ian Burch and Darren Purchese are veteran pastry chefs – Ian was most recently stationed at No 35 (incidentally, we hated the desserts we had there – sorry Ian!!), while Darren has recently been working at The Press Club – the quality is not surprising.

Ritsy’s birthday provided the perfect excuse to spend $48 on a cake – yes this may sound expensive for a cake, but an ordinary cake this is not. With a selection of four different cakes to choose from, there was one in particular that seemed to be made from all of Ritsy’s favourite things – the Raspberry, Champagne, Lychee, and White Chocolate cake.

Raspberry, Champagne, Lychee, White Chocolate

It included layers, toppings, sprays, and garnishes such as Champagne Jelly, Raspberry Champagne Mousse, Hibiscus Champagne Jam, Yoghurt and White Chocolate Sponge, Exaggerated Raspberry Cream, Choc Coated Puffed Wheat, and their signature White Chocolate Velvet Spray. It was, and still is, far and away the best cake Ritsy and I have ever eaten!

Intricate Layers, Fantastic Texture!!!

We finally got around to visiting the lovely staff at the fully fledged B&P Sweet Studio on the weekend, and couldn’t resist buying a couple of tasty treats! To make things difficult, it’s not all about cakes at B&P Sweet Studio – they also have things like Salted Caramel and Hazelnut Spreads, Chocolate Gold Ingots, Edible Birthday Cards, and Honeycomb!

I couldn’t go past the Caramelised White Chocolate, Banana, Macadamia, Passionfruit cake ($9) – it was fantastic, and so rich that Ritsy could not finish the half I shared with her! The list of components were Caramelised White Chocolate & Vanilla Mousse, Crunchy Macadamia Meringue, Caramelised Banana Cream, Passionfruit Jelly, and Caramelised White Chocolate Velvet Spray. It, like the Raspberry, Champagne, Lychee & White Chocolate cake, had a great texture and five or six different layers inside the cake.

Caramelised White Chocolate, Banana, Macadamia, Passionfruit

Ritsy chose the free standing Coconut, Passionfruit, Ginger, Mint ($9), which consisted of Coconut Mousse, Passionfruit Curd, Coconut Caviar, Passionfruit Jelly, Salted Oat & Ginger Crumble, White Chocolate Mint Wafer, Ginger Macaroon, and Brilliant White Chocolate Spray. Again, this was an awesome dessert treat, but the one comment we both had was that there wasn’t quite enough coconut flavour in the mousse.

Coconut, Passionfruit, Ginger, Mint

Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio is well worth a visit. It’s located at 647 Chapel Street, South Yarra. They are currently open from 10.00am to 6.30pm Tuesday – Sunday.