Food Safari Night at Brookfield Plaza

I've been very much into revolving dinners. It allows me to try multiple restaurants at once and allows me to decide whether I want to go back there or not. Win win. The latest one involved a much needed catch up with a girlfriend of mine on a lovely Saturday night having a food safari / revolving dinner involving a couple of places in the Brookfield Plaza area. 

Nothing says "it's the weekend" like the a couple of cocktails and canapes! 

Dark, sexy, classy, and oh-so-elegant Bar Lafayette was the place to start off our night. Secrets and gossip can be whispered and shared amongst their many hidden corners, we sunk yourself into the leather seats and admire their gorgeous staircase centerpiece that can take us to anywhere (or nowhere?). They serve cocktails and spirits for those with serious palates (and so delicious!).   If Tiffany's was a place where Audrey had her breakfast, then LaFayette would have been her local bar where she caught up with her girls for some drinks (and where her bartenders knew her favourite drinks!)

Andre (one of the owners) welcomed and ushered us in and found us a lovely knook to start off the night. Before long we were greeted and served by a gorgeous bartender (I have rudely forgotten his name). He was so lovely, friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and was able to recommend me a few cocktails to my liking (something on the citrus side, refreshing and light). He recommended me The Green Lady, with Hendrick's Gin and cointreau served up with hints of lime, fresh mint and a slice of cucumber with a dash of sugar I absolutely loved it. It was delicious, fresh and a great way to start the night. M got herself a Lafayette Collins (another winner in my books!).

 

Our drinks were accompanied by our entrees for the night.

Garlic and Chilli Prawns with lime salad and this beautiful coconutty sauce (which I wished was just a tad bit more creamy - personal preference) was lovely to eat. Beautifully cooked and marinated garlic prawns balanced the sweetness of the coconut sauce well.

 

Chilli and Garlic Prawns

The seafood dish was paired with the wagyu beef skewers which was tender juicy enclosed in a beautiful sticky marinade. Couldn't have enough of it. 

Wagyu beef skewers

They also have a rather lovely mixed charcuterie with quality cured meats, pickles, bread, lavosh and a yummy cheese board. After the food, it was round two of the drinks, which saw me have the Adam and Eve, which unfortunately had tequila in it, and as I have consumed too many a tequila sunrises and sunsets in my youth the hint of tequila was a little too strong for me, although M rather liked it. 

I have to applaud and give Bar Lafayette my love. The decor inside is warm and friendly, very practical and uses the very limited space they have to great affect. But really the thing that stands out the most about Lafayette is the staffs attentiveness, friendly and welcoming nature, which is something that is lacking in many of Perth's precinct. It's also great that they have lovely cocktails (with people who make them with love) and a pretty decent small bar menu.

After indulging our selves in yummy cocktails and seeing as we already moved our reservation for our main course to a later time (thanks to too much gossip and comfy seatings), at around 8pm we finally strutted a few buildings down to The Trustee Bar and Bistro. I have been popping into here for my dessert treat instead of eating at the restaurant I am at, simply because their desserts is just divine. But I have yet to actually have a meal here (crazy right?), so on this occasion M and I made it a mission to have our mains here (and possibly dessert again if we could fit it in). 

We entered below the street level entrance and found a very very busy loud Trustee. Lucky for us we were seated upstairs in the quieter bar area and had the whole bench to ourselves. I love the exposed wine library. The rolling ladder always reminds me of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, except instead of books it's wine (either one is fabulous!). I also love the huge fan turned into chandelier. The whole set up makes me think of 1920s, Great Gatsby meets modern times.

 

We were looked after by this lovely young waiter from Roma who was just absolutely sweet with a cute accent and was courteous and friendly. In fact, I don't think I have had bad service at Trustee at all. Props to that.

We opted for one main dish to share between the two of us (really we could have shared this with two other girls!.. or with our other halves..), the chateaubriand for two, which was just amazing dish consisting of 600g of medium-rare, tenderloin, accompanied by sautéed bourguignon mushrooms, beautiful pear and walnut salad, refreshing small serve of celeraic salad (to cleanse the palate no doubt!), fat chips, bernaise and some fried bread-like thing. Of course all of this had to be paired with a glass of red. Seeing as one of us had to drive we decided against a bottle and their extensive list of wines had our heads spinning.

I'm not a huge fan of bone marrow, mainly because I barely have it in my diet, M loved it though. The fat chips were crispy and in small quantity as to not divert your stomach from the meat. The tenderloin was pink, tender, juicy and well rested. The bearnaise wasn't necessary as the meat was juicy enough, but it was delicious and rich. The bourguignon mushrooms were so lovely with a beautiful smokey scent and flavour with small chunks of smoked ham buried amongst them like hidden treasure. The pear salad and the celeriac salad were crisp and fresh and helped balanced out the meal (and somewhat palate cleansing).

Ready to tackle the meal

Wearing: Lover, YSL Arty, Seed Blazer (on chair), Mimco bag

The dish was huge. I barely finished my share. M fared better. Pity we so much of salads and mushrooms behind because they were lovely accompaniments. After consuming it, and having some what of a meat coma, we decided it could comfortably serve two very hungry people with large appetites or could fill bf and me/her and her bf, but if it was all four of us, we may have to order something else as we all seem to have a good appetite.

You can imagine after this we didn't have room for dessert. Instead we sat there talking about all things grown-up. ARGH going to be on the wrong side of the 20s this year is so depressing. But that in itself is another post. But hey, nothing is more romantic than dining over candlelight and whinging about how close we are to our 10 year high school reunion with your bff.

Until then, any ideas where can we go next for our revolving dinner and food safari?

Throw me ideas peoples! or better yet email me @::: sprinklingofspice@gmail.com

Perth Night Food Safari

I've been so sick for the last week or so, and it was just this week that I have recovered from my flu (second time this year - yes I had the flu shot - I have it every year - but the flu season this year has been so bad and I just happened to be so unlucky - so much for not being sick for ages!), so alas, do forgive me for the lack of updates.

Lucky for me my body recovered (and in time too!) to make it to a blogger event. I feel very
privileged to have been invited to a Perth food safari night by the Publican group's executive chef (and one of Perth's leading ladies that first injected life into Perth's food scene a few years ago), Telina Menzies. So which venues are part of the Publican group Perth? Well, the first was The George, then along came The Bryneleigh, the sleek Aviary and the baby to the group, the revamped and ever sexy Wolf Lane bar. On this particular night, we explored the 3 venues in Perth city, located within walking distance of each other, The George restaurant, the Aviary (The Bird Cage Restaurant) and Wolf Lane.

Course: Antipasto
Directions: Take a walk down... St. George's Terrace
Discover: THE GEORGE...

It was a clear skied chilly night and bf and I were lucky enough to see the light show being tested out on St. George's Tce across the beautiful heritage listed buildings as part of the Perth's Winter Festival before walking briskly to start our food safari at the George. We were introduced to Telina Menzies and mingled with other Perth bloggers.

With a glass of Moet champagne in my hand I was at ease at the lovely venue that is the George. With a flux fire place, the antler chandelier, leather seatings and open bar what is there not to love?

We were also given an antipasto dish consisting of Turkish bread with a homemade dip (which I'm not sure what it was, but has some nuts in it, as bf couldn't have it) and evoo and balsamic. The dip was rather nice and warm Turkish bread is always lovely.

Bf wasn't able to have the Turkish bread, but the staff were rather helpful and went out of their way to make a Guinness beef party pie. He felt rather bad about it. But I must say though the pie was mighty fine with a little bit of sweetness, which matched the citrus tang of the dipping sauce that came with it.

Before long, Telina introduced herself to the group and explained to us about what the food safari would be about "Walking off the food that is going to consumed.. exploring the food and the surroundings of Perth that some people may not be privvy to". And with that you can also journey long with me..

Course: Entree

Directions: Exit from the George head east towards King street where you will turn left before heading right into Wolf Lane exit through the Eight Hundred Arcade (between Wolf Lane Bar and Cheeky Sparrow) until you reach Murray street then head east to the corner of William street and look up..

Discover: THE AVIARY - The Birdcage Restaurant

There are big things happening at the 140 William building where the Aviary is located, so the front of the place is close off. So we took the steps located near the Transperth info desk to make our way up to the Birdcage restaurant. 

Known mainly for its rooftop bar, the Aviary, also hosts some pretty cool local musicians on certain nights of the week. The Birdcage restaurant on the other hand is cozy, relaxed and has an understated charm about the place. 

We grabbed our name badges and mingled while snacking on prawn crackers flavoured with szechuan salt (which made it have this nice salty, extremely slight chilli flavour to it) and having a glass of Cloudy Bay Sparkling Pelorus (slightly dry for my palate though). BTW, you can't really beat prawn crackers, they are like frites for the Chinese.

Telina then had a quick chat to us about her experiences in the culinary world. She started off in the UK working under various different restaurants before finding that the English food lacked a bit of creativity and wasn't really what she wanted, so she started doing catering, which allowed her to put a bit of herself into the food, before moving back to WA and opening up the George.

 Bf questioned her on what her favourite foods were, and she said she enjoyed Asian flavours and foods and loved fushion dishes, so a lot of her food and dishes with infused with Asian flavours, like chilli, lemongrass etc. (which may explain a lot about the Aviary's menu).

The head chef of the Aviary and Menzie's "Rock" also gave up a bit of his time to come out and speak to us a bit out his inspirations and the food at the Aviary. "The dishes at the Aviary is meant for sharing and it's a place to relax and unwind." He is also inspire by Asian flavours and this is very evident in his food at the Aviary Birdcage; with lots of spices and Asian dishes.

When our dishes came out we were treated to chilli salted cuttlefish (which I couldn't have), chicken and chive dumpling and 5-spiced lamb cutlet with chilli caramel. The chicken and chive dumpling was juicy and the wonton was perfectly cooked. It was probably one of the best dumplings I've had in a while. The 5-spiced lamb cutlet was cooked medium and was nice and pink on the inside. The spices gave it that nice nod to the east and made it a little something special. Bf said the cuttlefish was nice, wasn't chewy or rubbery but he wished it was more crunchy (?? - no idea didn't eat it so can't comment).

Chilli salted cuttlefish, chicken and chive dumpling and 5-spiced lamb cutlet

After our entree we headed down the steps of the Aviary and headed towards...

Course: Mains
Directions: Head south on William street before turning west at St. George's terrace.. take in the sites of the growing face of Perth city before reaching your destination that is..
Destination: THE GEORGE

The George, is one of my favourite places in Perth. It had amazing high teas on Sundays (trust me they are good - one of my birthdays was high tea at the George and I haven't forgotten how nice it was - it's different to the others but in a good way), great mains on the weeknights and for a limited time they have been doing beef and pork chops Tuesday nights (with beer and cider). It is one of the first places to open up on St. George's terrace to try and liven up the place, and although there are now a few places to chose from, the George remains a place to go to for quality food and drinks at reasonable prices. It is also Telina Menzie's baby. Probably because it is the first.

The George's interior is sleek, sophisticated, a nod to elegance of the 50s (but with a modern twist). With high ceilings, a standout antler chandelier, a courtyard out at the back for your private functions (did you know about that?) and of course the bar centre stage.

We settled into the long table setting and looked at the menu as Telina Menzies explained our courses for the night. Wines were then poured, our orders taken - we had a choice of either the braised beef short ribs, sous vide fillet with celeriac forest mushrooms and Manjimup truffles or the vegetarian friendly cauliflower custard, shaved Manjimup truffles with smoked baby onions. The bread was served - different types of bread with creamy butter, evoo with balsamic. 

There were also many salads (which I loved, and wish I ate more off!), winter greens pan-fried which had asparagus and broccolini, almonds and butter pecorino, and there was endive shaved fennel, citrus segments (grapefruit and orange) and shallots and salad leaves with radish. 

The endive shaved fennel with the citrus segments and shallots 

This was one salad that was the perfect palate cleanser to the mains. The bitterness of the fennel was offset by the tangy and sweet of the orange and the grapefruit. I was surprised I loved it so much. Something to think about when I make salads at home!

Asparagus and broccolini 

You really can't go wrong with a good in-season asparagus and broccolini - two of my favourite vegetables on a plate together.

Salad leaves with radish

Simple, cleansing and with lots of pepper it's the healthy and simplest way to make a salad

Before we had our mains, Telina Menzies, explained to us each of the components of the dish, where the produce was sourced from, a little bit about the technique used to make it and the inspiration behind it all. It's a pity I didn't take a recording of it, because it was really interesting to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scene work that goes into making the dishes that comes out.

Bf and I both had the beef fillet, which was just beautiful. The braised beef was so tender that as soon as it was placed in your mouth it practically melted. Slowed-cooked to perfection. The beef fillet was that of the Angus beef cooked to nice and pink-ness. The mushroom sauces, the celeriac cream was delicious and complimented the whole dish (and I think is the highlight of the whole plate!). Having slices of truffles added to the earthy, rich flavours.

Braised beef short ribs, sous vide fillet with celeriac forest mushrooms and Manjimup truffles

The vegetarian option - I didn't get to try it, but those that had it commented on how in cauliflower can taste so amazing. I can tell you it looks very pretty on the plate.

Cauliflower custard, shaved Manjimup truffles with smoked baby onions

After our mains and lots of chatter we made our way to our last destination.. before that we looked through the alley ways at the back of The George but really you should take this route.

Course: Dessert

Directions: Walk east towards King street, take a left onto King street until you reach Wolf Lane where you will turn until you reach..

Destination: WOLF LANE

Wolf Lane bar has changed so much since the Publican group has taken over. The artwork that surrounds the exterior of the place is amazing very Hans Anderson and Fairytale inspired,  think Alice, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White. The interior is no different. Amazing murals of art crafted by one of the Wolf Lane bartenders. I wished I had time to take all the photos of the amazing art, but alas it means you must go and check it out. From the once boring black walls, open ceiling to floor doors and pretty uninteresting empty space, the Wolf Lane has transformed to one with vintage comfy couches, art-filled walls, live music and a air of cozy, warm, chilled place with amazing drinks being served by Ricardo and his team. Why don't you go and say hi to him?

^This guy can sing! Music soothes my soul.. wasn't bad to look at either ^_^

It is here that we were treated to a dessert cocktail (all the more appropriate). A frozen chocolate martini (which unfortunately bf couldn't have due it some of the creamy cocktails having hazelnuts). So he got himself a rum based citrus drink, which was so delicious, I preferred it over my chocolate martini. Nonetheless, the chocolate maritni was like drinking a chocolate milkshake but deadly.

 Ricardo (the head bartender) making our drinks

- He's Scottish and also had a quick chat to us

Ricardo explained that the Wolf Lane is a place to time-out have a drink, have a chat with the bartenders about what you want in your drink or choice form the menu because at the end of it all, they are there to serve us and to ensure as to have a good time.

To top off such a good nice we were given boxes of cupcakes to take away. Chocolate mud cake. 

I had so much fun walking around and exploring the city and its venues. It's one of the reasons why I love the city, there are so many places for you to explore and you can do a safari food and drinks night if you really want to. 

It was such a pleasure to met executive chef Telina Menzies and her team at The George, The Aviary and Wolf Lane (along with her marketing team!). I thought it was really something special having her accompany us to each of the destination. It was such an honour to have been invited. My man and I had so much fun. Pity it was a school night, otherwise we would have stayed on at the Wolf Lane sitting on of their couches and listening to the guy sing. 

with Telina Menzie

I'm now so inspired to do something like this with my friends! I'm already thinking of ideas, after all there are so many new bars and restaurants that recently opened up and I can't wait to explore them! I hope you are inspired too to explore this wonderful little city of ours!

Photos taken by me with my Chiro (Nikon D90)

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