Two Talentless Fools

Focaccia making! To make focaccia I used the Lauke bread mix.

Ingredients and method:
500g flour (1 packet)
4g yeast (it comes in a measured out packet).
330ml of tepid water. I also add 3 x tbspns of olive oil.

Mix the ingredients together into a dough.
Knead in a lightly floured surface for at least 10 minutes. You can use a bread maker for this part- for 6 minutes.
I didn’t use the bread maker and because I am a novice I think another few minutes kneading would probably have been a good idea (ie 12-15 minutes).
Cover the dough with a bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Press or roll out the dough to a thickness of about 2cm.
Place onto an oiled tray. Dust lightly with flour and cover loosely with plastic wrap - apparently this stops a “skin “ forming.
Put in a warm area for 20-30 minutes.
Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Press deep dimples into the dough using your fingers and press herbs and olives (if using) into the top.
Leave for 10 minutes and then put into a 200C oven (fan forced) for 25-30 minutes.

The focaccia is cooked when it is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

I just used rosemary for my version but can’t wait to give olives a go. This was much easier than I thought and I would probably say, given my lack of from scratch bread-making experience, that it is “fool proof”.

Spinach and cheese pies.

This recipe can be found on the Taste website under Spinach and Cheese Pies.
Changes I made were to add a rasher of bacon and roughly chopped fresh spinach (300g). I cooked the bacon, shallots and garlic and then roughly chopped the spinach and added it to the pan and stirred until it was wilted. I followed the recipe from there.

Ingredients and Method:
100g melted butter (or as much as you need)
6 sheets filo pastry
250g frozen chopped spinach thawed
4 lightly Whisked eggs
3 tsps finely grated lemon rind
2 tspns finely chopped dill
3 sliced shallots
300g fresh ricotta
400g crumbled feta

Preheat oven to 180C.
Butter 8 x 150 ml muffin pans (somehow I used 10).
Squeeze out liquid from the spinach and mix everything together.
Cut each filo sheet into 4. And then stack each 4 and cut again so you end up with 48 equal pieces.
Cover with damp tea towel to prevent drying. Brush a square with melted butter and press it into a muffin hole. Do this with 5 more pieces so that each muffin hole has 6 pieces pressed around (rotate as you go to ensure all areas are covered).
Fill with the feta and spinach mix and cook for 25-30 minutes. I found that I needed to loosely cover with foil when the pastry edges above the filling started getting a little brown for the stage of cooking.
Serve with relish/chutney/chilli jam and salad.

Here is the artichoke dip recipe courtesy of a fabulous friend.
She doesn’t add pepper (as per the recipe), but I do.
I make this dip in 2 ramekins - either 1 for each end of the table or one for now and one for another time. The dip is best served warm. Super easy, super delicious.

What: Recipes
When: October 2024
Notes:
3 recipes from the TTF no.2 Sunday evening meal.
The recipes will be posted separately. As we have done previously there is no rating other than “would you cook this again?”.

TTF no. (Sarah)
Comments:
I have only tried the artichoke dip from this selection- delicious!
Would you cook again?: yes indeed.

TTF no.2 (Rhonda)
Comments:
The recipes tried were:
1. Focaccia. This turned out to be far easier than I expected and great to eat. While I will have to try a number of times to see what works best, I think that maybe another few minutes kneading may have made an even better bread.
2. Artichoke dip. A good friend gave me this recipe. Delicious and really easy and quick to make. Best eaten warm with something like the focaccia.
3. Spinach and feta individuals pies. These are cooked in muffin pans and work really well with eg tomato relish (ours was made from Ricks tomatoes and used some of the chilli jam previously featured). I will provide the tomato relish recipe once I am happy with it. I need a few more attempts to get the best relish.
Would you cook these again?:

Focaccia- yes, I am going to have plenty of tries including trying olives and different herbs. Again, much easier than I expected.

Artichoke dip- yes, I have already made it several times and continued the passing on of the recipe.

Spinach and feta individual pies. Yes, I’ll be making this again. Again, easy to make and delish with or without the addition of relish/chutney/chilli jam. Would be great in Summer with a salad.

What: Traffic Observations from TTF

Comments: Any followers please feel free to add any extras in comments.

(In no particular order)

1 Why are indicators an optional extra in BMW cars? Most BMW drivers choose to save the few $’s and not get indicators which is a bit of pain for everyone else on the road driving in vehicles where indicators are required and used.

2 Why are Suzuki swifts the slowest cars on the road?

3 Why are the number of traffic cones inversely proportional to amount of work being done on the road?

4 Why do drivers going at the speed limit or slower slow down even further to go past a speed camera?

5 (TTF no. 2 observation) - Nicklin Way is a 4-6 lane road (2-3 lanes each side) from Caloundra to Mooloolaba with a 70k speed limit. Why do people in the far right lane travel at 55-65ks (and this happens in both directions)? I don’t care that you are going slowly if you just do your pootling along in the left/middle lanes, where slower vehicles should be travelling.

What: Food review
When: July 2024
Style: Christmas in July lunch/dinner
Comments: for about 10 years now a group of friends being 4 couples (including TTF no.2 and Rick) have once to twice a year held a MasterChef challenge. The men do all the cooking; each being responsible for one of the 4 courses served. There is usually a theme. There are no points awarded but overall it just seems to get better and better and has developed into the most delicious dining.

Sarah’s comments: I can’t give a rating because I wasn’t there but I can say based on the photos that I was devo not to be.

Rhonnie
Rating: it would be churlish of me if not to award a 10 (plus I don’t want to get banned!).
Review: The photos tell the story. We had the most sensational wines to accompany the courses.
The starter was green fritters (herbs and veg) with smoked salmon, sour cream and capers.
The entree was a chicken and pork terrine with relish and mango.
The main meal was a baked salmon, with creamy dill sauce and a cranberry tapenade.
The dessert was dried fruit that had been soaked in brandy, Armagnac and spices with vanilla ice-cream.
We even had white Christmas, rum balls and chocolate panne forte for afters.
What a feast! .

What: Restaurant review
Name: Bistro Mosman
Where: 76 Middle Head Road, Mosman Sydney
Style: French Bistro ( well, they have snails and a soufflé on the menu)
When: July 2024

Sarah
Rating: 10
Comments: it’s butter than runs through my veins, rather than blood. So a French spot is the spot for me, and Bistro Mosman does it right!

Rhonnie
Rating: 8.124
Comments: the photos show the story. A terrific varied menu that kept everyone in the group happy. All people in the group said they really enjoyed their meals and the service was extremely good. Attentive without hovering and providing the little extras to make the evening special. Great cocktails too! It has not scored higher because greedy me took the last fish pie available (on the specials list) and it was disappointing (lovely mushroom sauce, but it overpowered the seafood).
The wine was also spot on (thank you Mark). We had a Curly Flat Chardonnay and a Leeuwin Estate Art Series Shiraz.

What: Recipe review
Origin:
Name: creamy garlic mushroom pasta
Style: Italian (vegetarian)
Where: TTF no. 1’s place in Sydney
When: July 2024

Sarah
Rating: 10
Comments: I loved this; Molly loved it. It’s an intergenerational crowd pleaser!

Rhonnie
Rating: 7.453
Comments: yes, I would cook this again. Very simple and tasty.
While this would normally rate say a 6.5 from me; it has scored extra points because TTF no. 3 loved it.
Recipe (double this for 4 substantial portions) plus I have made a few minor tweaks to the original recipe so that it “works” better:
Ingredients:
400g of mushrooms, sliced. I used 200g each of button and Swiss Brown mushrooms.
2tablespoons fresh thyme
Salt, pepper and olive oil to taste/ as required.
250g cream cheese
1 whole bulb of garlic with the top cut off.
200g of baby spinach
1 small onion chopped (optional)
300g pasta (whatever type you want- I used farfalle).
Method:
Drizzle the garlic bulb and onion (if using) with olive oil and roast in a pan in the oven for 15 minutes at 160C fan forced.
Toss the mushrooms and thyme with salt, pepper and olive oil and add to the dish with the onions and garlic. Dot the cream cheese around the top of the mix and return the pan to the oven for 25 minutes.
Cook the pasta.
When the mushrooms and garlic are cooked, remove the garlic bulb from the pan and squeeze out and mash the soft baked garlic. Add back to the pan with the baby spinach and the pasta and mix everything together.
Enjoy!

What: Movie
Name: Under Paris
Where: Netflix
When: June 2024
Genre: Shark Movie

Sarah
Rating: n/a
Comment: went with TTF2’s recommendation and have avoided watching this.

Rhonnie
Rating: 2.1
Comment: I watched this because it generally got OK reviews and I was just interested to see what anyone could still do with this genre. I don’t know what the reviewers had been paid for their OK reviews. The movie is ridiculous. I have given a rating slightly better than Atlas because the actors were better looking ( or at least naturally better looking); the film is set in Paris; and the Mayor of Paris is such a great over the top baddie! Balanced against that is the fact that it is another stupid movie about sharks reeking havoc on humans and the movie has a weird conspiracy theory vibe about making animal rights activists out to be total nut jobs (and wow do they get their come-uppance).
I would not recommend that you watch this movie- even for the laughs.

What: Movie
Name: Furiosa- A Mad Max Saga
Where: Palace Barracks Cinema
Where: May 2024
Genre: post- apocalyptic action movie

Sarah
Rating: presumably, 4/5
Comment: I only managed to watch the first Mad Max movie last year, so I think I’ll probably get to this one circa 2068. Rhonnie’s review suggests I’ll enjoy it when I get a chance to watch it then.

Rhonnie
Rating: 4/5
Comments: Firstly, let me say that I am a fan of the Mad Max Movies and my rating reflects that. If you are not a fan, then don’t bother with this movie as it is very much in the mold of the previous Mad Max movies. This movie is a prequel to Mad Max- Fury Road.
I did have some concerns about Anya Taylor-Joy being the young Furiosa as she is so slight and it is such a physical role. However, I consider that they acknowledged that and the issue is dealt with very well and she was great in the role. I was also impressed with Chris Hemsworth and his over the top bad guy efforts. The set action pieces are as good as Fury Road (and all previous movies) and the movie does lead perfectly into the Fury Road story. A word of caution: like all Mad Max movies there is some graphic violence, so the squeamish should probably not watch this movie.

What: Movie
Where: Netflix
Name:Atlas
When: 28 May 2024
Genre: Sci-Fi/action

Sarah
Rating: 1/5
Comments: truly a turd of a film

Rhonnie
Rating: 2/5
Comments: I am a bit of a sci-fi nerd so it didn’t take a lot of advertising from Netflix to get me to watch this. What a disappointment!
JLo (the heroine) managed to just be embarrassing with her overblown histrionics. Let alone her extraordinary capacity to avoid internal organ or brain damage during about 5 (I lost count) assorted vehicle crashes. And by the way, in the words of Fashion Critical- Do Ya Hair!
Mark Strong (the supportive commander) - you are better than this and you acted like you knew it.
I watched to the end (2 hours of my life I will never get back) and no, it didn’t improve. Give this one a miss.

What: Recipe - Zucchini Roses
Style: Side dish/ starter/entree
Comment: adapted from a Delicious magazine recipe
Rating: Would you cook this again

Recipe:
Ingredients
Flaky pastry - you get 4 roses per sheet of ready rolled pastry so just calculate on the basis of 2 roses per person
1 medium sized zucchini will make 8 roses
Grated cheese - you choose - I usually go for the easy option and get grated perfect bakes from the supermarket
Proscuitto
Chilli sauce or chilli jam (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan forced)
Cut each pastry sheet across into 4 strips
Cut the zucchini into very thin rounds and place along the top of each pastry strip so that the slices overhang the pastry strips and are only about half-way down each strip - 7-8 slices does the trick
Brush with chilli sauce or jam (optional) and sprinkle with salt
Lay a thin strip of prosciutto along the zucchini and cover generously with grated cheese
Fold up the bottom of the pastry strip over the bottom half of the zucchini and then loosely roll up from the end
Put the roll into a greased muffin pan and spread out the top of the zucchini a little so it looks like a flower; if you use your imagination 😊 (you can brush the tops with egg wash also)
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes
Serve immediately.

Sarah
Rating: delicious but kind of a hassle to make. Agree with Rhonnie - get them sorted early; then it’d be really worth it.

Rhonnie
Rating: Yes, this is really worth a try. BUT, it takes quite a while longer than you expect to make these simple little treats. So, I suggest making them earlier and putting the muffin pan in the fridge until they need to be cooked. You may need an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven if you do this. Also, you need to roll them loosely so you don’t get stodgy pastry in the middle of the rose.
.

What: Recipe
Style: Starter/entree
Comment: adapted from a Delicious magazine recipe
Rating: Would you cook this again
Recipe:
Ingredients
2 figs per person (or as many as you want to serve)
Enough Jamon or Proscuitto to wrap each fig
Runny honey
Blue cheese (I used Blue Castello as it is mild and suits the fig )
Fresh thyme
Roughly chopped hazelnuts

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (fan forced)
Cut a cross in the top of each fig and open them out a little. Do not cut through to the bottom.
Wrap each fig in prosciutto or Jamon around so that the top (with the cross) pokes out.
Place on baking paper in tray and bake in the oven for 8 minutes.
Remove the figs from the oven and put a slice of blue cheese in each- pushing down into the cross. I think a 1/2 round of Castello does about 12 figs. Drizzle such fig with honey.
Put in the oven again for 3-5 minutes. You just want the cheese to melt a little.
Take out of the oven and sprinkle with hazelnuts and fresh thyme leaves.
Serve immediately.

Sarah
Rating: Yes - this was amazing! And it’s even better when someone else is making it for you (thanks Rhonnie)

Rhonnie
Rating:Yes, this is a tasty, simple, quick starter. While figs are in season it is really worth a try.

What: Recipe
Style: Pickled cucumber
Where: Maleny QLD
When: February 2024

Notes: I used our neighbours garden grown cucumbers (no idea what sort – just green cucumbers and the skin was not tough so the cucumbers did not need to be peeled).

Rhonnie
Rating: 8.572

Comments: I will definitely be making these again. Second time around I will add more of my chilli jam though as I used it too sparingly this time as I was worried about chilli overload. Very few tweaks required to this recipe.

Recipe: This is a recipe from Cookie & Kate. They used dill which I will use next time. I used oregano this time to see if the pickles were still OK with a replacement herb (TTF No. 1 not being a fan of dill). Luckly the oregano was just fine.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium-to-large cucumber or 2 small cucumbers
½ cup water, at room temperature 1/2 cup rice vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup or sugar (I used maple syrup)
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used my chilli jam)
20 twists of freshly ground black pepper
2 leafy sprigs of fresh dill, roughly chopped (about ¼ cup) (I used oregano – trying with dill next)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed 1 bay leaf
INSTRUCTIONS

Slice the cucumber(s) into thin rounds, about ⅛-inch thick.
In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine the water, vinegar, maple syrup, salt, red pepper flakes (if using) and black pepper. Stir until most of the salt has dissolved into the liquid, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Set aside.
Place the cucumbers into a wide-mouth jar about 3 to 4 inches in diameter, tall enough to offer at least 1 inch of extra space on top.
Top the cucumbers with the dill and garlic. Tuck the bay leaf into the side of the jar. Pour all of the liquid over the cucumbers so they’re fully submerged. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The flavor will continue to develop over the next couple of days. These pickles will keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Delicious on home made olive bread.

What: Recipe
Style: Chilli Jam
Where: Maleny QLD
When: February 2024

Notes: I used our garden grown small chillis and they pack a big punch. Reduce the number of chillis, increase the amount of capsicum and remove more chilli seeds if you want to reduce the heat factor.

Rhonnie
Rating: 7.749
Comments: I will be making this again and have promised a jar to several people. I have marked it down a little because of the heat making it only for the true chilli lovers (although used sparingly it gives dishes a background kick that is really good). And I only took the seeds out of about ½ the chillis which resulted in the big chilli kick.

Recipe: (remember to wear gloves when preparing the chillis). This is from the CSR ginger chilli jam recipe (I have made a few changes).
Ingredients:
1 red capsicum
Lots of chillis – I used 250g of small red hot chillis. I took the seeds out of about ½. Time consuming task which is why I gave up after deseeding half of them.
¼ cup peeled fresh ginger
8 medium garlic cloves
1x400 g can of diced tomatoes
500-750g of raw caster sugar (or caster sugar if you can’t get the raw version). The recipe used 750g sugar which is a lot – I used 500 g.
250g red wine vinegar
30g sea salt
2x bay leaves
2 tsp ground coriander

Method:
Add chopped chillies, ginger, garlic and capsicum to a food processor and process for 8 seconds. Scrape down the sides and process again if you want a finer jam.
Add the chilli mixture and all the other ingredients to a pot and stir well.
Bring to the boil (stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves), skim the surface and remove any “scum”. Reduce the heat and cook until thick and syrupy. This can be anywhere from 25-45 minutes, so watch it pretty carefully.
Remove from heat and allow to cool a little before pouring or spooning into sterilised jars. Because it can be punchy it is best in smaller jars rather than larger containers.
Store in a cool dry place. Or, in a Queensland Summer, probably store in the fridge.

What: Restaurant Review
Name: The Terrace Seafood Restaurant
Style: Seafood
Where: Cairncross Corner, Maleny QLD
When: 7 February 2024
Notes: The restaurant is perched quite high in the Hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast so the views (if the weather is good) are lovely.
The Restaurant is a fair way from anywhere so someone needs to be the designated driver.

Guest
Rating: 10
Comment: Perfectly cooked seafood.

Rhonnie
Rating: 8.216
Comments: We have heard varied reviews from people on the SC about The Terrace, but on the night we went, I was very impressed by our meals.
Sometimes quality can vary but I highly recommend ordering the hot and cold seafood platters. This is a costly option, but what seafood platter isn’t? The quality of the cooking and freshness of the seafood was terrific. In fact, I am happy to say the cold platter had the best bugs and lobster I have had in a very long time. The meal started with seafood chowder which was wonderful! It included dill, a hint of chilli and smoked fish as well as salmon. This was followed by a cold platter of seafood (including the bugs and lobster) and then a hot platter. The fish, scallops and prawns on the hot platter were also delicious. And there wasn’t a pile of hot chips taking up space for no reason. The meal all told was huge so you need to go very hungry if you are going to order the hot and cold platters option.
That sounds like the meal was fantastic- which it was, but the restaurant was marked down for:
- The prawns on the cold platter were not peeled. And before the haters carry on about first world problems; I am not alone in considering peeling prawns to be a smelly, messy pain. That said, Rick was with me and he peeled all the prawns 😊.
- The calamari on the hot platter was really not great.
- The palate cleanser between the cold and hot platter was a lovely touch but it was shaved ice rather than a sorbet, so it was clumpy and lumpy – not a great texture.
And yes, we will be going again, even if it is just for a bowl of that chowder.

What: restaurant review
Name: Petermen
Address: Crow’s Nest, Sydney
Notes: guest review incoming

Sarah: 10/10 honestly a really really great meal. don’t know if I was influenced by being able to get out for the night after months in the trenches with a baby but I had a ball

Guest (Mark):

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Mark has chosen not to use the number system Rhonnie and I have it seems instead using an allegedly superior star system but I believe this to be 5/5 as in top notch)

A fantastic seafood only restaurant serving up interesting & unique dishes. The Charcoal Pipis in Its Juices, Roast Garlic, Chilli & Fino Sherry were full of flavour. The service was spot on & the atmosphere great with an open kitchen creating a lively buzz for the large dining area.

Third generation of talentless fool: ready, willing and (sort of) able 🍼🍼🍼

Thanks to Aunty Angela for the suit 🙏

What: Restaurant review
Style: Italian
Name: Bocca Italian Restaurant. Address: Bokarina QLD 4575
When: 30 September 2023
Notes: As we are having a few issues with TTF reviews because Two are now Three and number Three is not yet on solids, we thought we would enlist the help of a few guests reviewers. Our guest reviewers for this restaurant were 2 discerning friends. The rules are - that they review as if they were Sarah.

Guest review:
Rating:
Guest 1 – 10
Guest 2 - 10

Comments:
Guest 1: While the food was good, I am not quite sure it lived up to the hype surrounding this restaurant. Entrée was Calamari, which was nice to eat. Dinner was the Paccheri ai gamberi and I would have preferred a different pasta to match with the prawns. Desert was the Trifle, which was very rich. Wine was lovely! All in all a good meal, but not the best on the Coast.
Guest 2: Great wine, great atmosphere, great company. The Marinated Octopus was light and flavourful. The Paccheri ai gamberi was delicious although the pasta was a little heavy. The limoncello meringue paired with a macchiato was the perfect end to this Italian feast.

Rhonnie Review:
Rating: 7.421
Comments: I went to this restaurant with very high expectations. Everyone has been raving about it and it has been quite hard to get bookings because it is so popular. We got a mid- week booking for dinner. It was good but I am not going to rave about it as some high end Italian Restaurant. That said, the food was well cooked and we had a very enjoyable evening. If you go expecting a good Italian meal you won’t be disappointed. Service was good and our wine was delicious.
Our meals were (I didn’t get photos of everything – presentation was a little ordinary anyway):
Entrees: Arancini, Artichokes, Calamari, Octopus
Mains:Pici all’arrabiata, Paccheri ai gamberi (I didn’t think the big thick tubes of pasta worked with the prawns)
Desserts: lemon meringue, Tiramisu , Trifle, Panna cotta (not set – Rick seemed to think it was meant to be a runny mess – I was not convinced).

What: food item
What: ginger brûlée tart
Where: Bourke Street Bakery , North Sydney (there are several other locations)
When: 17 June 2023

Sarah
Rating: 11/10
Comments: probably my favourite thing to eat in Sydney.

Rhonnie
Rating: 8.7532
Comments: You need to be a lover of crème brulee and ginger to like these delicious morsels. Who am I kidding - everybody loves a brulee!! Sorry Donkey, they are better than Parfait.
The pastry is a nice short crumbly pastry, the ginger has a zing and the sugar is torched to just before bitter. Expert work. The only reason they didn't make the 9 rating cut is because they are quite teensy.
Definitely worth a try if you are in the neighbourhood. By the way I had a coffee and a bacon and egg role for brekky while I was at this café - also delish. But not in the same league as the effort required for the ginger brulee tart.

What: food item
Name: TINA. This Is Not Alcohol
Producer: Christie and Imogen
When: 17 June 2023

Sarah
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I love this for lots of reasons including but not limited to: it’s delicious. But also because you feel like you’re an adult drinking it/it’s a drink for adults, which is not true three sips into a glass of lemonade or almost any wine substitute or ‘mocktail’ I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a million over the last few years).

Rhonnie
Rating: 9.1462
Comments: The no alcohol drinks are becoming big business. There are lots of reasons - for us on the SC and at our age it relates to staying sober to drive and for health reasons. Generally I have found the drinks to either be sweet or have a residual sweetness after a can or bottle that makes it very difficult for me to drink more than one. You may well say just drink soft drink or water. I either don’t like or don’t want soft drink (that residual sweetness issue again) and I drink water all day so I like the idea of something different but grown up to drink when I go out (and it’s my turn to be alcohol free). TINA (I like the name) ticks the boxes. For me, there is a similar taste to elderflower in this drink- which I really enjoy. It is not a strong or a sweet taste so you can have more than one without regretting your decision to have that second or third one! If you are getting into the low/no alcohol drinks you should give this one a try.

What: Restaurant
Name: Monopole
When: 16 June 2023
Style: Modern Australian – share plates
Where: 20 Curtin Place, Sydney NSW 2000
Web-address: Modern Australian Restaurant & Wine Bar Sydney CBD - Monopole - Bentley Restaurant Group
Wine: Tyrrells Semillon

Sarah
Rating: 10/10
Comments: have never had a bad meal here, and always fab service too. The crumpets are one of the best things getting around.

Rhonnie
Rating: 8.7531
Comments: Another winner. We went to lunch at Monopole on a Friday. The service was excellent even though the restaurant was reasonably busy.
We had share plates as follows:
Yellow fin tuna. Fresh and delicate.
Crumpets with salmon roe. Freshly cooked crumpets with taramasalata topped with salmon roe – tasty.
Wagyu beef pastrami. Excellent – delicious and very tender.
Rump Cap, Sauce Bordelaise. Very full of flavour and tender.
Steamed Murray Cod, baby turnip, nori butter and samphire/pig face (shoreline greens). Beautifully cooked fish and the greens were a surprise highlight.
Orecchiette, yellow squash, olives and ricotta. Well balanced dish.
Green salad and chips (of course)- one cancels the other for a balanced meal 😊

We were too busy yapping and missed photos of some of the courses. You can see from the photos that we did take that the food was very well presented. Well worth a visit.

We (those of us having a drink) had a Tyrrell’s Semillon with our lunch. Perfect for the meal.

A wonderful friend came for Easter Sunday drinks (at the home of TTF Rhonnie) and brought a huge basket of herbs and spices from her garden. I have spread them out in the kitchen bench so you can see the variety. See photo 2 for the list she prepared and printed so I would know what was what. I can’t wait to use them. She is a foodie legend! Thank you !