Farm to table

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Coogee Common – Coogee, WA – Friday 19 April 2024 – Lunch

Very rarely do I go out to a restaurant without knowing the first thing about it. In this case, Catherine had long ago aimed to dine here, and I went in blind but confident. If there is anyone who can be trusted to find a great meal, it is my wife.

We arrive on the non-beach side of Cockburn Road, greeted by a beautiful heritage building, along with my Mum, Sher, Sue, and Heinz, who are all well dressed for a fancy meal. I had little idea, but catching up with my family in Perth is always exciting, and they do tend to dress well!

What I now know is Coogee Common has a garden surrounding the restaurant that provides much of what is utilised by the kitchen. There is certainly a bountiful array of fresh produce, and it is beautifully appointed in the creations of the chefs. 

Seated at a large circular table with a terrific vantage point on the corner windows inside, we are beginning at 11.30am and for a moment have much of the restaurant to ourselves (but not for long). There’s plenty of room for the dishes we are about to share, and there’s plenty of time to catch up before we even think to order.

The wine list has the diversity you’d expect at a fine dining establishment, along with some delicous cocktails, and mocktails. Catherine really enjoyed her Spring Fling, and my first glass of wine, a Slate Farm Fiano from Clare Valley, shows vibrancy. My other taste is of the Montague Chardonnay from closer by in Margaret River. For me this is a lesser known producer, highlighting the intelligent building of the wine list with sensible points of difference.

It was tough to narrow down the food options, but with Catherine and Heinz’s help I eventually ordered for the table. I’d start with the highlights, but it was difficult to call out one or two dishes, as the quality across the board was outstanding. Perhaps the surprises are best to mention? The most exceptional dish in my mind was the beetroot salad. Not only superbly roasted (and pickled) by the kitchen, but fresh from the garden, the red beets in particular were some of the best you could hope for.

Almost on a par was the spice roasted carrots, which for me is often a vegetable hard to top. Earlier, gluten-free crispbread and a “garden dip”, along with prawn skewers, and pastrami, for the table, was all superb. The surprise was how delicious the jalapenos and other pickled vegetables tasted on the pastrami plate.

For the larger dishes we had a couple of fillets of snapper go around the table, and besides being perfectly cooked, the skin also remained crisp. I enjoyed the accompaniments, especially the addition of pine nuts and fennel, but Catherine did mention the skoralia (potato and garlic puree) was too strong for her. Lastly, the medium-rare steak was again showing the quality of the kitchen. Not a single mouthful was left, and we had enjoyed a lot of food. There may have been a battle to finish the seaweed and leek left on the plate, which is unique.

Throughout, service had been good, although I didn’t have a seat with a view to the floorstaff, so sometimes was searching for a wine. In comparison with other restaurants during our 12 days in Perth, and Rottnest, this was definitely far above the baseline on service.

For dessert we ended up getting a few, and none of us were disappointed, including Sydney with his chocolate ice cream. In fact, we were very pleased, with Mum even trying the vegan chocolate mousse and prickly pear sorbet and loving it, which is unusual because she rarely has dessert. As I earlier mentioned, fennel is one of my favourite ingredients, so the fennel ice cream grabbed me. Served with a white chocolate draped combination of ricotta and quince, this was a fine end to a terrific meal. Catherine’s pumpkin creme brûlée also tasted as good as it looked.

Garden to table dining is not new, but being so close to the city is novel. It’s exciting to see the risk that Coogee Common has taken, re-establishing a heritage property and planting an entire garden in 2018. Now it is paying dividends with the quality of the outcome. We’d love to be back here on our next visit to Perth.

Coogee Common
https://coogeecommon.com.au
371 Cockburn Road, Coogee
Monday to Saturday 11.30am to late
Phone: 0451 830 371
Email: info@coogeecommon.com.au

du Fermier – Trentham, Victoria – Friday 1 September 2023 – Lunch
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du Fermier – Trentham, Victoria – Friday 1 September 2023 – Lunch

Comfort is an expectation of many diners. At du Fermier, comfort is taken to a different level. From the entry into instant fiery warmth, into every other element, and the eventual goodbye.

There are some restaurants that purposely have an edge, extending the diner to experience new ingredients, new combinations, new technology, or new means. Some of these restaurants can be so expensive that people feel like they do not fit in. If you want to be taken care of, by people who really love what they are doing, who only want you to have the nicest time, then you might find what you are looking for at Annie Smithers’ long time Trentham restaurant.

When Annie brings out the first course, exhibiting three kinds of heirloom beetroot, with feta, rocket, and balsamic, it is like you are dining at her home. It’s a moment. We haven’t been to an Annie Smithers’ restaurant since Kyneton back in 2010 (unless we count NGV, which she has a venue), and there is no reason other than circumstance, as it was a great meal 13 years ago. We naturally tell her how glad we are to be back.

The floorstaff are outstanding. Not in a showy way. In a way that often great service reveals itself. One indication of great service is not noticing it, or rather not noticing any shortcomings. Great service is often looking forward to the next interaction with the staff, as we did on this occasion, and knowing that while they are enormously hospitable and friendly, they do take their roles seriously.

Our next course arrives and it is exciting because we are viewing the combination of duck eggs, pecorino, and black truffle done immaculately in two different ways. Catherine’s gluten-free option is a duck egg omelette that I am lucky enough to try a couple of times, generously topped with shaved local black truffle. Only a couple of times in my life have I tasted such simple omelette perfection. My dish is fresh duck egg pasta, topped with the same pecorino, and black truffle. It is equally demonstrating how delicious food can be. It is a course that we may request in the future it is so memorable.

The wines by the glass are restrained, but of high quality. We have started earlier with Champagne by A.Margaine, which is from Villers-Margery equidistant between Reims and Epernay, heading east. We’re finding a lot of restaurants want to have a Champagne by the glass, but not from one of the well known Houses, and each time we find something we would be happy to have more available to us in our own homes. The Maison Lapelus 2020 Roussanne, funnily enough from the region we are in (Macedon Ranges), is by an originally French winemaker. It is sensational, with all the texture and mouthfeel you expect from this variety, some aging complexity with French oak, and plenty of soft stone fruit.

Now I’m choosing between the Pinot Noir and the Syrah, and when it accidentally slipped that duck was the next course, I couldn’t help but honour the cliche with the Domaine des Vercheres Bourgogne 2021. This Pinot has some depth and earthiness which I like, and pairs nicely with the very generously proportioned main dish for us to share. Roasted duck breast, and confit duck leg, are served with duck fat potatoes, and roasted carrots, with a light jus, in what is a beautifully prepared dish of pure comfort. This is Annie’s cooking on a share plate, and it is delightful.

As is often the case with tasting menus, it is hard for Catherine and I to not notice the desserts going out earlier as we head toward our final, and one of our favourite courses. My dessert is the Paris Brest, which is always a hit when the pastry is properly executed. Judging by the empty plates going back to the kitchen, it was never any doubt that this was a very good quality Paris Brest. Catherine gets to try the hazelnut creme, and some chocolate mousse, with the hazelnut praline, as her dessert course, and it is still good, but the pastry is the winner for the texture (and the fat content!)

From the warmth of the greeting, to the prized corner bench seat, to the comfort of Annie’s farm to table dishes, du Fermier (“of the farmer”) is everything you could want from a dining experience. The drive to Trentham is not excessive for a day trip like we did, and the town is charming, with plenty of accommodation options, in a great part of Victoria. Annie Smithers and her team have delivered a destination restaurant that exudes care in every facet of the dining experience.

du Fermier
https://anniesmithers.com.au/du-fermier
Lunch – Friday to Monday
42 High Street Trentham Victoria
Phone 03 5424 1634
Bookings – https://anniesmithers.com.au/du-fermier

Note – since our experience and after I finished writing, I’ve realised that one of our waitstaff was restaurant manager, Bronwyn Kabboord, who won a service excellence award from the Good Food Guide and was mentioned as the “dining equivalent of a big hug”. Based on our experience this is well deserved!