July 2005

Ramsay starts food fight with Leno

by Ed

Hell’s Kitchen host and TV chef Gordon Ramsay started a food fight with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. According to the Daily Star in London he was making pasta when he blew flour into Leno’s face. Leno retaliated with an egg. This entry say’s it was funnier than hell.

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Supper: goat or monkey

by Ed

I had a excellent supper at Il Bacaro in Little Collins St, I told my mother. I could smell the southern oceans in the freshly shucked Tasmanian oysters. And the goat fell off the bone it was…”What do you mean goat,” she interjected. “Are you sure it wasn’t kid? Goat is very tough and stringy. [...]

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Feed the 10,160. Or eat at Vue de Monde

by Ed

Melbourne restaurant critic John Lethlean writing in the August edition of G–rmet Traveller dissects the reincarnation of Shannon Bennett’s Vue de Monde – moved from ‘tup north in Carlton to Normamby Chambers in the city’s CBD. Lethlean writes: “I’m happy to go on the record as never having been much of a fan of Bennett’s [...]

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Fat ugly men (and women) wanted for sexy ads

by Ed

Unattractive, middle-aged and balding. That is the kind of hunk that should be appearing in ads, according to a report in the Australian today.The Advertising Standards Authority in Britain has found itself advising the owners of a cheap, popular sparking white wine Lambrini what images should be in its ads. For the uninitiated, this is [...]

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Zesty wine with Zesty sorrel

by Ed

We were lucky enough to receive a bottle of Shaw Smith sauvignon blanc 2005 from the Adelaide Hills this week. It’s not organic and does use sulphides, which usually have an effect on us. But in this zesty, critusy wine you wouldn’t notice. At $25 it isn’t cheap but worth it to side step some [...]

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Allergy free wine found

by Ed

Why do some wines give people an itchy face or a headache? We’re not talking about glugging a couple of bottles – more like a couple of glasses. The Australian Wine Research Institute reckons that headaches are only caused by people drinking too much. Or allergies are caused by alternative types of finings – such [...]

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Top restaurant critics

by Ed

This is what London’s Independent says of former Elwood boy Terry Durack who has apparently managed to slim down from 18 stone: The jovial former Sydney Morning Herald critic is incisive, insightful and magisterial…Cruellest review: “The braised turbot was like eating takeaway kedgeree into which your partner’s takeaway Thai has leaked” (Petrus, Knightsbridge).

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Bloody big beer ad

by Ed

Sometimes, just sometimes advertising can be better than the product, which in this case is Carlton Draught by ad agency George Patterson. Check out Big Ad, a homage to the much parodied and brilliant British Airway’s Face ad from the late 1980s created by Saatchi & Saatchi in London. I’ll watch the ad, enjoy the [...]

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Vegetable bodies unite

by Ed

Australian produce marketing bodies are uniting to create a clearer labelling system so Aussies can be sure they are buying Aussie food, reports the advertising trade magazine B&T (As Ad News alumni I feel bad about plugging the competition). B&T says that peak representative bodies coming together include AUSVEG, Australian Pork Limited, Australian Prawn Farmers [...]

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Wine industry disaster: glut and famine

by Ed

The Vinography blog notes that wine growers in Italy are having a tough time because of a locust plague, as reported in The Independent in London. Australian growers are also having a tough time for the opposite reason: they have too many grapes. The Australian reports that despite a healthy vintage this season, the wine [...]

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Where’s the Grange?

by Ed

Answering Q&A’s in the London Observer, wine critic Tim Atkin lists what he believes to be the greatest wines in the world. In his book Margaux, Lafite and Latour (Warning: annoying muzak) are still up there. Locally he reckons Giaconda, Charles Melton, Cullen, Grosset and Henschke. In NZ, Neudorf, Ata Rangi and Kumeu River. So [...]

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Asahi, the only way

by Ed

Usually for something special I’d walk up Flinders Lane, duck right just before the Flinders Lane Gallery and into the basement known as Yu-u. I did last night but the best thing I had all night was a large glass of Asahi on tap – the only way to drink it. Oh, okay, the sashumi [...]

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Full moon in Tiger country

by Ed

It’s a short drive over the Yarra from Prahran to Tiger country of Richmond. But it’s a long wait for breakfast at Pearl Restaurant & Bar (631-633 Church St Richmond +61 3 9421 459921) “One hour’s wait for a table,” I’d been told on the phone over an hour before. Now on this wintry day [...]

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How to cook…English style

by Ed

Which method is best to poach an egg – The Delia or the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall whirlpool? Rob Manuel at B3TA road tests several eggs. He also found a video of this electrifying sausage sizzle.