An Excellent Degustation at Restaurant Atelier (Glebe)

I start this post by saying how lucky I am to have so many friends (who are part of my extended family) who want to celebrate my birthday with me. My birthday celebrations typically extend past a month as I usually catch up with my various friends over the weekends. The same applies this year.

Recently my very dear friend CW organised a dinner to celebrate my birthday. It was to be at Restaurant Atelier in Glebe. I had not been there before and I can honestly say I was really looking forward to it. Especially after seeing the pictures posted by Miss Piggy on IG and her extremely positive comments on the food.

It was degustation night and we opted for the 10 courses. Why not?!? Aren't we here to enjoy the food, and the company? CHW decided to enjoy his meal with the matching wines too. I think he thoroughly enjoyed the matching wines so much that he was falling asleep towards the end of his meal! :-)

The fun started with:

The Atelier specialty - the 'Atelier' hen egg. There was kombu, foie gras and ocean trout roe with the 'egg'. What a burst of flavours!

Asparagus, Buffalo Mozarella, Apple and Celery. The shaved apple had a nice bite and the basil leaves made the dish interesting rather than pedestrian. And I have a weakness for buffalo mozzarella, I must admit.

Hiramasa Kingfish, Zucchini Blossom, Confit Hen's Yolk, Buddha's Hand and a Light Shiitake Dashi. There was also tapioca pearls and salted seaweed thrown into the mix. The dish had such a clean taste. It was light and fresh. The saltiness of the seaweed lifted the flavour of the kingfish.

14 Hour-Cooked Pork Jowl with Charred Calamari, Parsley Root, Korean Soy and Dragon Sauce. This was so good! The calamari was beautifully charred and utterly tender. I could have had a plate of this all on its own. And combined with the pork!!! Wow! The pork was tender, full of flavour with a delicious crackling to boot! Amaze balls!!!!!!

Parson's Nose, Heirloom Turnips, Asparagus, Pickled Carrots, Ice Plant and Smoked Eel Dashi. It was an interesting dish but it was the second least favourite dish for me. There was a strange texture to the parson's nose which didn't sit well with me. Plus I am not normally inclined to eating that part of a fowl.

Seared Yellow Fin Tuna, Burnt Aubergine with Baby Organic Choi Sum. On top of that it was drizzled with kimchi butter. This was another dish with very clean flavours. Loved the tuna.

Roasted Burrawong Duckling with Baby Turnips, Winter Squash, Romanesco and Soy Sauce. This was my second favourite dish of the night. There were so many flavours going on and yet the duck was the star of the dish. I also fell in love with the baby turnips. They were so cute!

Snow White Goat Cheddar 'Single'. This was a modern interpretation of a Kraft Cheese Single. It was topped with grated goat's cheese and served with a sprig of spring onion.  I wondered why on earth would this dish be served with spring onion. But I got it! The spring onion's flavour offset the strong goat's cheese flavour in a very pleasant way. However I didn't take to it because of my lack of fondness for goat's cheese. But it was clever cooking I must say!

Mitsuba Jelly, Kalamansi Sorbet, with Peanut and Coriander. This was the first of the sweets and what a big bang!!!! The sorbet was full of the Kalamansi flavour and certainly woke all of us up! I loved it! It was very refreshing. More please!!!

And we ended the night with:

Chocolate Ganache Soufflé, Yoghurt Sorbet, Pepperberry Milkshake. What a way to end this feast of a meal! The soufflé was spot on and the concept of pouring the sorbet and, if you want, the milkshake into the soufflé was sublime!! I also thought it was a brilliant idea to have the straw for the milkshake be made of chocolate. As I drank the milkshake I had flavours of chocolate (from the straw) and peppermint hit me! What more can I say? Brilliant dessert!

And to top it off, I met Chef Darren Templeman. What a nice man and a humble one at that.

A lingering memory of all the dishes I had from this night is this - not only were the dishes full of flavour and beautifully plated. Every time a dish was served, the aromas floated up and I wanted to breathe in the delicious smells even before taking a single bite of each dish.

What a memorable night and thank you to CW for suggesting Restaurant Atelier. It was a great idea and a great night!!



Restaurant Atelier
22 Glebe Point Road
Glebe
NSW 2037
Website: www.restaurantatelier.com.au


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