Black Star Pastry

This place has been on my 'hit list' for some time now. I am so glad to have finally found the opportunity to check it out! I met DD here for coffee and cake one morning and eventually came back in the afternoon (on my way home) to get the very famous Strawberry and watermelon cake. That was eventually my dessert that evening!

Black Star Pastry is such a hip place. It is always full and in peak hours, the queue to order can be quite long. I can see that the queues are not putting anyone off. Everyone is willing to wait patiently. My guess is the regulars know how good this place is!

For my morning tea, I had the Orange cake with Persian fig and quince. Yummy! Moist and truly delicious! On top of that, very pretty to look at. DD had the Frangipane tart. Apparently this is his favourite tart.

Orange cake with persian fig

Frangipane tart

For my evening dessert, I had the mouth watering Strawberry and watermelon cake. I was initially skeptical on how good this cake would taste. But my skepticism was blown out of the window. What a fantastic cake!!!!!! The burst of flavours just made every mouthful so wonderful...can I wax enough lyrical about this?!?!

Strawberry and watermelon cake

The slices of fresh watermelon, pistachio and fragrant rose petals make this cake unique and utterly delicious. It is fresh, light and fragrant. I think I have said enough about this cake. You should try it and see if I am exaggerating about it.

Christopher The is a truly gifted pattisier. Wow! No wonder Black Star Pastry has been rated as one of the Top 10 Pastry Shops in Sydney.



Black Star Pastry
277 Australia Street
Newtown
NSW
Website: www.blackstarpastry.com.au

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Brendan Dewar Patisserie

I visited this patisserie a few weeks ago but did not get a chance to blog about it until now.

Brendan Dewar Patisserie is located in the suburb of St. Ives. I first heard of it in an article from the Good Living sometime last year. Made a mental note to visit it but only had the chance to do so recently.

My friend's son IF had a birthday coming up which we were going to have an immediate family gathering to celebrate it. So I took the opportunity to take a visit and see what creations I could find there.

Visually, the cakes and macarons look so appealing. Beautiful colours which do catch the eye and some interesting combination of flavours in some of the cakes (small and large varieties).

For the birthday cake, I selected a freshly baked Ménage a Trios. It was beautifully decorated with macarons. It was a dark, white and milk chocolate mousse cake with a biscuit Joconde base. Verdict: it was a hit at the dinner for IF. Everyone loved it, including me. When you first start eating the cake, it was light in texture and creamy because of the different chocolates. So you think you can eat quite a bit of it as it was so light! But it is quite misleading because the richness of the chocolate hits you as you finish the portion. It was delicious!

Menage a Trios

Because there were so many other cakes to try, I decided to get a slice of another interesting one for my afternoon tea (very naughty of me I must say!). I chose the Loire which was a Caramel mousse with caramelised pear on a biscuit Joconde base. It had the sweet (from the pear) and salty (from the caramel) combination which was interesting and I found it refreshing to have a dessert different to what I am normally used to.

A slice of Loire

Brendan Dewar Patisserie is located in the St Ives shopping village. It is very popular with the locals. So if you are in the area, I would recommend you visit this delightful patisserie. All cakes are made fresh daily.

Have fun!

Brendan Dewar Patisserie
Shop 119, 66 Mona Vale Road,
St Ives Shopping Village
St Ives
NSW 2075
Website: www.brendandewarpatisserie.com.au


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Lolli Redini

This is yet another post focusing on my recent trip to Orange. This time I will be talking about our dinner at Lolli Redini. It is a one hat restaurant and my friend CW and her family dined here when they were in Orange last year and I heard nothing but positive comments from her family from that occasion.

After my lovely experience at Racine, I had a certain set of expectations coming to Lolli Redini. It is located in the heart of the town and during our visit, the restaurant was in Art mode. This was due to the impending Art exhibition that was to show at the restaurant the day after our dinner. As a matter of fact, that night there was a long table set aside for a group of artists and other related members of the art community who were meeting together in celebration of the upcoming exhibition.

One of the artwork on exhibition

I loved the interior of the restaurant. At the moment, the theme is red. There were red cushions interspersed with the occasional white cushion. As I sat down surrounded by cushions, I almost felt like I was lounging on a sofa at home. Quite an interesting feeling, considering that fact that I am actually sitting in a restaurant.

I was planning on having a dessert tonight as I had previously checked out their menu on their website. But the menu of the night did not include the dessert I wanted to try, i.e. Strawberry Mille Feuille. So I decided to stick to 2 courses, an entree and a main.

For my entree, I had the Squid Ink Tagliarini with Chilli, Tomato passata, fennel, baby mussels, lemon and pangrattato. Verdict: absolutely delicious! Loved the fine texture of the squid ink pasta and the crunchiness of the pangrattato. KY had the Juniper and beetroot cured ocean trout carpaccio and his feedback on the dish was positive.

Squid ink tagliarini

Ocean trout carpaccio

For my main, I had the twice cooked wagyu brisket with Jerusalem artichoke purée, broccolini, glazed heirloom carrots and swedes, rosemary crumbs and brisket sauce. Verdict: yummy beef which was so tender and the heirloom carrots and swedes were perfectly cooked!

AW had the Veal tenderloin roasted in pancetta & sage with pumpkin puree and loads of beans. For a children's size plate, her serving was very generous. Some others had the Slow roasted pork belly, sweet potato puree, caramelised apples and wom bok cabbage. Interesting combination, I thought. Everyone enjoyed their dish.

Wagyu brisket

Slow roasted pork belly

AW's veal tenderloin

AW also ordered a very delicious dessert. I decided to skip dessert as I was feeling so full but I think I did regret my decision a little after the looks of pleasure from the Wan family when they all dipped into the 1 dessert glass! The ice creams of the day were fig and vanilla which were hand churned by the way!!! Apparently they were seriously good!

I am suitably impressed by the quality of the cooking in Orange. Can't wait to come back and enjoy the cuisine.



Lolli Redini
48 Sales Street
Orange
NSW 2800
Website: www.lolliredini.com.au


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Racine at La Colline

Our first night at Orange was spent having a lovely dinner at Racine Restaurant.

This is my first visit to Orange, something I have been looking forward to for a while now. I was looking forward to dining at Racine. Our research and received feedback indicated that this is a fine restaurant to try out.

All I will say is that I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and would dearly love to return. The food was delicious and the service was good too. Considering the fact that we were an hour late (not deliberately though) they were so warm and accommodating to our group.

The restaurant is located in the La Colline vineyard. Because we came for dinner, we could not see the vineyard or do any wine tasting. All of us enjoyed our individual meals, even the two kids. So all in all, it was a very pleasant evening of fine food and fellowship.

We were presented with an amuse bouche to start our meal. It was Pumpkin velouté with crispy sage and cherry vinaigrette. It was light and tangy.

Amuse bouche

I decided to go for the 2 course menu for the price of $65. My entree was Whole pressed duck (deboned) with broccolini, chestnut mushrooms and buttermilk custard. Verdict: the duck was tender, full of flavour and I finished off every scrumptious bit. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was a whole cut of duck meat, as opposed to very well compressed slices of duck meat.

Whole pressed duck

Seared Scallops (CW's entree)

For my main I chose the Twice cooked pork belly with warm piccalilli salad and celeriac purée. I was surprised by how flavourful the pork belly was. I absolutely loved the dish.

The pork belly dish!

So if you are in Orange and want to try out a nice restaurant, please add this one to your list!!



Racine @ La Colline
42 Lake Canobolas Road,
Orange
NSW 2800
Website: www.racinerestaurant.com.au

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Bakehouse on Wentworth

It was the start of a long weekend in Orange and on the way we decided to stop for a short break and take the opportunity to have some lunch. We stopped at Blackheath and had a nice lunch at Bakehouse on Wentworth.

This is my second time here but this is my first occasion as an amateur blogger. So out came my camera taking pictures of the lovely bread, cakes, muffins, pies which are all on offer in the two display cases. Fortunately it was a warm afternoon so we sat outside in a covered area and had a relaxing lunch.

I had the Lamb with rosemary and garlic pie and my friend KY had the Chicken and leek with mushroom pie. I enjoyed my pie, there were chunks of tender lamb meat in the pie. Large mugs of coffee helped us finish off the meal.

I also decided to get some sourdough bread, Portuguese tarts and some muffins and friands for our weekend in Orange. Turns out all we got were delicious too!

Bakehouse on Wentworth
105 Wentworth Street
Blackheath
NSW
Website: www.bakehouseonwentworth.com.au

Note: Other locations are in Leura, Springwood and Glenbrook.



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Chefs Gallery

My friend CW told me about Chefs Gallery sometime last year. She even posted about it on her blog (From Our Home - Chefs Gallery). So when I was in the city recently I decided to stop by Chefs Gallery for lunch with my friend DD.

It is located in a very convenient location (extremely close to Town Hall station). I liked how busy it was and I also thought it was nice to sit down and be able to watch the chefs prepare the dishes. We sat at the counters facing the kitchen and we could see a couple of chefs making the siu mai. I couldn't believe how fast they were doing them. Another chef was preparing some of the noodle dishes. Fascinating!

We ordered the Steamed Dim Sim Sampling Platter. Beautifully presented in a bamboo box and they were delicious. Knowing they were freshly made somehow seems to enhance the flavours of the dim sims. There was 1 prawn dumpling, 1 spicy prawn dumpling, 2 BBQ pork buns, 1 chicken and prawn siu mai, 1 colourful mixed vegetable dumpling and 1 sticky rice dumpling.

Don't they look pretty?

We also ordered a bowl of Prawn and Pork wonton noodles in Shanghainese style spicy sauce. Apologies for the lack of a photo of the noodles. I completely forgot to get one! Duh! I really liked how 'al dente' the noodles were and the wontons were very flavourful and full of meat. The spiciness of the sauce lifted the dish.

Will I return to sample other dishes? Absolutely!

Chefs Gallery
Shop 12 (facing Bathurst Street)
Ground Level Regent Place Shopping Centre
501 George Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Website: www.chefsgallery.com.au

Patisse

Patisse is located in Waterloo on Young Street. After our lunch at Cafe Sopra (see Fratelli Fresh and Cafe Sopra) we walked around Dank Street. I saw Sonoma Bakery which had quite a few patrons. The bread looked delicious.

We browsed the various art galleries, there were some interesting painting and metal works. After all the browsing and walking it was time for our coffee hit and dessert. We went to Patisse and loved looking at all the colourful desserts on display.

Some of the tempting desserts!

What colourful macarons!

Meringues galore - they were for sale too! 

We saw Vincent Gadan, the Executive Chef, walk through the cafe. He does strut like a Frenchman, that's for sure!

So what did we end up having? I chose the Pistachio and rose cake and CM chose the Berry buchette with beetroot brownie. Both were very delicious but it did fill us up quite quickly.

Berry Buchette

Pistachio and rose cake

P/S we bought some macarons home and they were nice too!

Patisse
Shop G01, PYD Building
197 Young Street
Waterloo
NSW 2017
Website: www.patisse.com.au

Fratelli Fresh and Cafe Sopra

Fratelli Fresh has a few outlets in Sydney but the original store is located in Dank Street in the suburb of Waterloo. I have been here many times over the past few years but not since I started this blog.

So I took the opportunity to take some photos when we came here to browse around and have lunch at Cafe Sopra. For those of you who have not been there before, Cafe Sopra is located at the top floor of the Fratelli Fresh store. I have not been to Cafe Sopra since Andy Bunn 'left the building' but I would say the cafe's popularity has not dissipated. We got there at 11.45 am (perfect timing by the way!) and there was hardly anyone at the cafe but 20 mins later, there was a queue.

Cafe Sopra's dining area

We had Field Mushrooms as a side, I had the Spaghettini with crab, chilli and garlic. My friend CM had the Poached chicken salad with pine nuts, green beans and red wine dressing.

Field mushrooms - looks tame but very delicious!

Spaghettini with crab

Poached chicken salad

CM had not been here before so she felt very trendy dining at Cafe Sopra. We enjoyed our lunch tremendously, the pasta was absolutely al dente (which is not always the case in many venues that I have been to) and the field mushrooms were cooked perfectly. I absolutely love those mushrooms. Cafe Sopra does cook them very well indeed. CM was very impressed with the mushrooms and she was very pleased with her chicken salad.

We then browsed around the Fratelli Fresh store and bought a few bits of Italian pasta and tasted some of the aged balsamic vinegar. Love the dried pasta range!

Fratelli Fresh - pasta, balsamic vinegar, olive oils galore!

Fratelli Fresh - fresh vegetables, breads, fresh fruits, Italian cheese galore!

There is a kitchen section that caters for cooking classes. The group classes are free and you can even request for private cooking classes which are chargeable. The classes are taken by the chefs from Cafe Sopra.

We saved a bit of tummy space to have dessert and coffee at another location. See my next post for that instalment!

Fratelli Fresh
7 Dank Street,
Waterloo
NSW 2017
Website: www.fratellifresh.com.au