Steak

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Frederic – Cremorne – Saturday 10 February 2024 – Dinner

It’s down the street. Back in the day I was here at least once a week for coffee and a croissant. The pandemic had its impact, but the strength of the team behind Frederic ensured the quality would be retained.

There is no good reason why I haven’t dedicated the time to review Frederic. Having eaten here multiple times, with Catherine, several others, and even by myself, I have always been impressed. Tonight we are here for a Saturday evening, and can have a lengthy experience.

We start out the front with a champagne. On weeknights there is a great special from 4-6pm. The street overlooks a car park along the railway tracks near Richmond station, and the back of the Precinct pub, but it is still cute, and tonight is a beautiful evening. When there’s big events there can be a great atmosphere on the pavement here.

Once seated we start strategising on the menu. As usual Catherine needs to pay extra attention to the gluten-free options. More and more it is becoming a positive reason for choosing one restaurant over another, but with good restaurants normally catering well to coeliacs and gluten-intolerant people, it is rarely a reason to not try a venue.

We skip the snacks, but choose an entree, main, and dessert. After some confusion about the vitello tonnato, which I really enjoyed, Catherine chose the burrata, which popped with freshness and brightness. Although not a textural clash, the delicious Chapoutier Marsanne 2019 is probably a better choice with the burrata, heirloom tomatoes, and peach. I was glad I tried it though. Catherine’s Petit Chablis by La Manufacture in Burgundy, was just as Petit Chablis should be, and its freshness matched her burrata nicely.

French bistro screams mains to me, and I’m happy enough to start here much of the time. The porterhouse cut by Vic Southern Ranges is grass fed, and beautifully medium rare, with shoestring fries, mustard, and chimichurri. While I’d probably prefer some béarnaise, there’s nothing else I would change about this dish, and it isn’t far above a decent quality pub steak price wise. The Maison Cassange et Vitailles Grenache Shiraz Cinsaut from Languedoc is a terrific red that matches the steak well.

Catherine’s baked rockling fillet is delightfully presented, scattered mussels generously adorn the splash of green around the yellow vadouvan curry sauce. I get the pleasure of a couple of tries and it is right up to my steak, and not without merit to suggest sharing the two on another occasion.

The menu caters to Catherine’s intolerance perfectly, and I must admit, I had not stopped to think that a soufflé’s base ingredients do not include any gluten. Today’s passionfruit version is perfectly executed, with the classic fluffiness that makes you feel like you could eat two!

Frederic is a comfortable place to relax over several courses. The quality of the food, and its plating, is the primary reason I keep coming back. It is hard to say it is suburban, but it is part of our suburb, and while the normal menus prices are not every day reasonable, there are plenty of specials during the week to capture regulars. Over the years it has certainly captured us plenty of times.

Frederic
https://frederic.com.au
9-11 Cremorne Street, Cremorne
M-F lunch + dinner; Saturday dinner
hello@frederic.com.au
(03) 9089 7224

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Gage & Tollner – Brooklyn, NY, USA – Sunday 25 September 2022 – Dinner

There are meals that you can vividly remember. Even though we eat out a fair amount, there are always a handful of meals each year that occupy a precious space in the memory bank, mostly for positive reasons. The space is precious because I have a terrible memory for certain things, names and faces come to mind, and yet I can still recall subtle aspects of certain dishes, and the conversation with the sommelier, at some restaurants.

I mention memory, because that is exactly what I’m going on (plus some photos) for this review. Life has got in the way of my writing, and life is dominated by our little boy. I prioritise the best meals we have each year to feature, and this was not just a brilliant meal, but an all around convivial experience, shared with friends we only have an opportunity to see every few years.

Gage & Tollner is on the edge of Downtown and Brooklyn Heights, and has a fascinating history in the area, with a Victorian era dining room that is simply beautiful. There is a richness of atmosphere as we arrive, with the restaurant already quite full, and the bar at capacity. We are led to our wooden booth to settle in to a meal that would last over four very enjoyable hours.

Enter Caroline and Wyatt who have lived in the area for a couple of decades. They’ve organised dinner tonight, knowing the penchant we have for great restaurants, and have that sense of pride that comes with having an excellent restaurant in your neighbourhood. With a massive menu we are lucky to be guided by their earlier experiences, and there certainly is a diversity in the selections.

Our waitperson takes the extensive order of a selection of oysters, rib eye steak, prawn cocktail, devils on horseback, crispy mushrooms, grilled tuna, brussel sprouts, hashbrown, mushroom risotto, fried chicken, tatter tots, house rolls, Caesar salad, creamed spinach, and a Barolo to top it off! Cocktails to start too, of course.

Described as an oyster and steak house, but certainly much more, you expect the oysters to be high quality. The diversity in the selection is excellent, and I’ve never had such distinctive but seriously brilliant oysters before. Often in an Australian context I would be having several from the same place, but here they have not given up anything for the wider variety, with four different oysters to try. It’s a hell of a start.

Having enjoyed the prawns, devils, and other early courses, some glorious bread shared the spotlight in the form of the famous Parker House Rolls. After quite a break (helpful from a digestive perspective but perhaps a little protracted), we were on to the main events.

Starting with the rib eye, the steak and oyster game is definitely in the big league. The garlic rub is both effective and adds to the presentation. It’s perfectly cooked as you’d expect, and the potato hash is the perfect partner. The tuna is a surprise, the fish steak fillet paired with a delicious pepper and corn salad.

It is time to use the dessert compartment that we try to keep free for these types of feasts. Knowing the serving sizes have been generous this evening, we elect to all share the bomb Alaska which is growing in its fame here. Sure enough it is sensational, and the best one I’ve ever eaten, including a few goes at Stokehouse’s (Melbourne) which is a superb contender.

As it approaches midnight, we have had a wonderful meal and catch up with friends who we only see sparingly. It’s hard to imagine a better venue for such a reunion. It’s also hard to imagine Gage & Tollner not once again being known as an institution of Brooklyn dining.

Gage & Tollner
https://www.gageandtollner.com/
372 Fulton St, Brooklyn, New York
+1347-689-3677

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L’Hotel Gitan – Windsor – Wednesday 22 March 2017 – Lunch

The difference of opinions when it comes to restaurants, and each particular experience, can be incredible. It dawned on me that my first experience at L’Hotel Gitan was not characteristic of this good looking venue. So, a couple of years ago I didn’t share my thoughts, but I am now.

Whereas my first experience was in a large group, upstairs in the private room, this time was downstairs where it’s at. I often discount group experiences because the most usual setting is a table of two to four people. While today we have seven for a group leaving lunch, the restaurant is not even half full, so there’s no pressure on the chefs or floorstaff.

The first thing noticed by the table was that the L’Hotel version of Gitan is a bit fancier than the Bistro version. It is a stylish room, that feels adequately French. The banquettes are comfortable, and the semi-private booth looks very cool indeed.

We are here to relax and see off a good friend and colleague. Three courses are a must. Personally I find the menu a bit finicky with a lot of choices, and a touch of confusion between sharing or not. In the end a few of us decide to share some entrees, but we all have our own main.

My shared entrees are the crispy duck, lamb skewer, and king prawn. The latter is perfectly cooked, with a crisp quick fried tempura style batter. The lamb skewer is tiny, and definitely not packed with enough flavour or richness, to compensate. The crispy duck is a curious dish too, not because you expect more for the spend, but there is a questionable amount of duck.

For my main I selected a scotch fillet steak, and I was happy with the product. It was medium-rare, and most mouthfuls were good. Across from me, B2 had ordered exactly the same steak, cooked the same way, but it was not as good. Seems I was the lucky one today! The bearnaise was well prepared, and the chips great too. For around $40 though you might expect a bit more impact.

The chocolate millefeuille was a big way to finish. Presented in style by the pastry chefs, this take on a millefeuille is generous and rich, exactly what you want at the end of a French meal. The use of a biscuit base, over the traditional lighter pastry, is probably the only fault, because the pastry is normally there to provide some balance.

I can see reasons why locals would like the comfortable and warm setting, but there was little to rave about. Some tweaks are needed to take L’Hotel Gitan to the next level. On the whole, this was a pleasant lunch, with nice food, and good service.

L'Hotel Gitan Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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The Station Hotel – Footscray – Saturday 18 February 2017 – Dinner

Steak is complicated. People love it; people think it is easy to cook, and often believe they do it better than most restaurants. I’m not sure if that’s true, but it is true that many people believe it.

Culturally we think we have steak down pat. Chuck it on the barbie, flip it once, and Bob’s your uncle. But really, it is just like chicken, in that it is often well over cooked, as opposed to well cooked. It is supposed to be easy, but I think that is more perception than reality.

The reality is we are familiar with steak and it is forgiving to the majority of us who are not overly fussy. We quite happily pay $15 at the pub, knowing that the product being served is less than ideal. But funnily enough, we are used to average steak. We are used to buying it, cooking it, eating it, and serving it.

How many times have you said “it wasn’t the best steak I’ve ever had, but it’s fine”. This is why there is such disparity in the quality and price of this dish across restaurants in Australia. The Station Hotel in Footscray has been towards the top of the steak game for many years. Tonight I’m paying around $35 for porterhouse steak with confidence.

My steak is simply presented and perfectly medium rare as I ordered. You cannot expect and you certainly don’t get the same for $15 at most pubs, on a consistent basis. The bearnaise sauce, another sign of technical excellence, not often in the repertoire of your average home cook, is easily my favourite accompaniment for any steak.

Is it value? Not every single time. But experiences like this make me wonder why I don’t get to places like The Station Hotel more often.

Station Hotel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Mildura Brewery – Mildura – Wednesday 29 July 2015 – Dinner

IMG_3997_2The area around the Grand Hotel Mildura is a feast of culinary options. Wanting something a little more casual, we opted for the Mildura Brewery which is housed in what was previously the Astor Theatre.

It is hard to think how the conversion of the theatre into a brewery could have been done better. Many of the hallmarks of the theatre are not only present, but accentuated, and even the backdrop of the beer vats deserves a standing ovation for any beer drinker.

Having tried their Astor Ale and IPA this evening, I can vouch for the quality of these brews, the Astor in particular delicate but flavoursome, a beer that has some complexity without taking away from the ability to have a few. The IPA is bold as you would expect, a robust option that fits the bill of many red meat dishes.
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Catherine’s Mildura Brewery cider is one of the better ciders I’ve tried, but I must admit I am not a big cider drinker. The crispness of the apples in the region are definitely reflected in the cider though.

On a Wednesday night in a country town, we thought we might get away with strolling in without a reservation. We were wrong; restaurant and bar are packed and we have to wait about thirty minutes for a table which was a good chance to enjoy the lounge area at the front. From the initial welcome of the maitre’d to leaving the restaurant, the service was excellent. Warm, knowledgeable, and attentive.
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Choosing between the dishes is difficult with a combination of pub classics, homemade Italian (the influence of Stefano di Pieri always present), and French bistro, all in good measure. Catherine chose the homemade lasagne, while I decided on the scotch fillet. Perfectly cooked to my medium rare instruction, the scotch fillet is big on flavour, and comes from one of the locals, Naz Tassone. The char in particular is delicious. The mash is great, but the vegetables are tremendous.

Catherine’s lasagne is excellent too. Homemade pasta sheets separated by a generous and rich ragu, with the béchamel sauce and cheese all delivering on flavour. Even the side salad, featuring simple fresh ingredients jazzed up with a bit of radicchio, is great and you get to dress it yourself Italian style with Stefano’s olive oil and balsamic.

I am a huge fan of brewery dining. There is something special about it in Australia particularly. We love a beer and have an infatuation with the brewing process and the equipment so it makes sense we like to eat in the same place. Places like Little Creatures, and Bootleg Brewery, are close to my heart but I think I’ve just found one that offers even more on the food front.

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