Ah, December. A time when credit cards start to smoke and warp
from friction, when the offer of complimentary giftwrapping calls
out like a siren song. It's also a time when critics' end-of-year
lists start to pop up, a seasonal treat to be savoured just like
the first of the cherries, or pointed reminders from the HR
department about appropriate behaviour at Christmas parties.
We are not immune to the appeal of such discussions. Our review
team clocked a record number of meals and miles over the past year,
and fortunately quite a few of them were worth writing home
about.
You'll find our state editors' individual top 10s in full on our
website; here now, in no particular order, is a national top 10
we've gleaned from those lists. The cream of the cream, if you
will. This is our call for seconds - we invite you to dig in, and
then hop onto Twitter or Facebook, smoke
signal or carrier pigeon, and share your own favourites of 2012
with us in turn.
1 Andalucia, Quay
If only everyone came back from a trip away with a "what
I did on my holidays" essay as evocative as this one. It doesn't
hurt, of course, that Peter Gilmore's paean to one of the
highlights of his mid-year sabbatical is written in roast-almond
ice-cream, almond crumb, orange and bergamot marmalade (pictured
left). This, the nation's restaurant of the year, has many
contenders for the list on its menu (I'm looking at you, pretty
poached chicken, scallop, noodle, eggplant, wasabi flower thing),
but this newest dessert just can't be denied. Quay,
upper level, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, NSW, (02) 9251
5600 Pat Nourse
2 Summer cassoulet, Albert St Food & Wine
The number of reasons to celebrate the return of summer
increased by at least one this year thanks to Philippa Sibley's
seasonal reworking of the traditional French cassoulet. In its
classic form, cassoulet couldn't be less summery, but Sibley bases
her hot-weather version on sweet, nicely acidic tomatoes to which
she adds a confit chicken leg, a perky chicken boudin blanc, fresh
green, yellow and borlotti beans, some white haricot beans and
soft, sweet Vichy carrots. Toasted brioche crumbs add great texture
to the list of fine attributes of this dish, one that truly
understands the difference between hearty and hefty. Albert St Food
& Wine, 382 Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Vic, (03) 8354
6600 Michael Harden
3 Roast pigeon, The Stackings
Its accompaniments change - one day onions and mustard
leaf, another time sweet roast carrot and crisp saltbush, and a
third time walnut purée and beetroot - but in essence this dish is
a celebration of the unadorned bird. Its breeder, from Broadmarsh
near Hobart, produces in tiny numbers, and the birds grace only a
very few restaurant tables (Lebrina is another). In David Moyle's
hands the bird's breast, served separately, is rare, rich and
juicy. The leg, with each claw on each toe still immaculately
intact (a sign of expert handling), is crisp-skinned and its
slightly gamy meat succulent. The Stackings, 3435 Channel Hwy,
Woodbridge, Tas, (03) 6267 4088 Sue Dyson & Roger
McShane
4 Onion ice-cream, Loam
I like onions. I like ice-cream. But it took a trip to
Loam, on the beauteous Bellarine, to convince me that I like them
on the same plate at the same time. As the same thing, in fact.
Proving that the kitchen's most familiar ingredient can, if handled
with wit, have as much impact on a tasting menu as the more
challenging-sounding likes of duck tongues, sea blight and
freeze-dried olive oil, this dessert, accessorised deftly with
honeycomb and a quinoa crisp, is a quiet riot. Loam, 650 Andersons
Rd, Drysdale, Vic, (03) 5251 1101 Pat Nourse
5 Crumbed fish, bacon and chilli burger, The Fish
Shop
The standout for me is a dish of simple aspirations: The
Fish Shop's fish burger. Jeremy Strode was up for the challenge
when he spread his apron over to the kitchen of the former Lotus
site - but how could a measly fish burger hope to compete with the
near cult-like status of Dan Hong's beefy cheeseburger? A soft
white bun, a meaty piece of crisp crumbed fillet (sometimes
mulloway, sometimes barramundi depending on availability), cos
lettuce, Schulz smoked bacon, Japanese mayo, Sriracha sauce and a
good whack of jalapeños is the answer. Add a side of potato
scallops, a James Squire Sundowner and you have the definition of
cult burger meal in the making. Just don't tell Dan Hong. The Fish
Shop, 22 Challis Ave, Potts Point, NSW, (02) 9326 9000
Anthea Loucas
6 Campari, orange, curds and whey, Esquire
Like many of Esquire's plates, this flavour-bomb of a
dessert with its zingy, bitter Campari crystals and sherbet and
quirky curds-and-whey ice-cream is sharp yet whimsical and
beautifully balanced - a wake-up call to the palate. A quenelle of
tangy orange sorbet (made from juiced skins and orange pith) adds
extra bite, contrasting smartly with the almost savoury ice-cream,
which chef-owner Ryan Squires describes as a "fresh cheese sorbet".
Deliciously wobbly orange jelly and freeze-dried mandarin segments
tap further into the childhood nostalgia theme. Esquire, 145 Eagle
St, Brisbane, Qld, (07) 3220 2123 Fiona Donnelly
7 Casarecci with chicken dumplings, Pei Modern
It's impressive how this ostensibly rustic peasant dish -
semi-rolled hard durum wheat pasta served with dumplings made from
chicken offal (gizzards, hearts and livers) - comes across as being
so voluptuous, even luxurious. Perhaps it's the silkiness of the
sauce - made from slowly cooking the house-made pasta like risotto
in a mix of chicken broth, olive oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano and,
finally, with the juicy little dumplings themselves. Or maybe it's
the cheese and nutmeg flavours that add depth and weight to
proceedings. Specifics aside, it's a cracker of a combination, a
comfort-food marvel that immediately becomes lodged on the crave
list. Pei
Modern, Collins Pl, 45 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic, (03) 9654
8545 Michael Harden
8 King George Whiting marinato, Lalla Rookh
The customer is always right. And if guests at this slick
new inner-city tavern want a tasty, lunch-hour-friendly meal, Joel
Valvasori-Pereza is going to give it to 'em. Consider the bar
indelibly raised for chicken schnitzels and steak sangers in Perth.
But Valvasori-Pereza's talents run deeper than ace counter meals,
his knack for flavour matchmaking best admired in this winning dish
of dazzlingly fresh King George whiting briefly bathed in lemon,
fennel and olive oil. Served on a bed of sweet, thumbnail-sized
broad beans and fennel trimmings - shaved bulb, pollen, fronds -
it's a rousing endorsement for our man's "La Cucina Westraliana".
Lalla
Rookh, lower ground, 77 St Georges Tce, Perth, WA, (08) 9325
7077 Max Veenhuyzen
9 Congee, ham and yolk, Momofuku Seiobo
How do you describe Momofuku Seiobo in a word? I vote
"Australian". Sure, that freewheeling Momofuku attitude to food
(and music) remains in full effect, but it's the way native
ingredients are effortlessly, deliciously and respectfully
incorporated into dinner that struck me most. Warrigal greens.
Striped trumpeter. Bruny Island Cheese Co's ridiculously good C2
raw-milk cheese. Local heroes all of them. But don't think for a
minute the kitchen has turned its back on its Asian roots. While
this gruel-like mass of boiled rice rings true with conventional
congee wisdom, the similarities end there. Bolstered with scraps of
jamón serrano, a film of preserved egg yolk and savoury kombu
doughnuts in an Earl Grey broth, it's a comfort food makeover done
very, very right. Momofuku Seiobo, The Star, 80 Pyrmont St,
Pyrmont, NSW, (02) 9777 9000 Max Veenhuyzen
10 Porcini, brodo and egg, Vincenzo's Cucina Vera
Vincenzo LaMontagna found out about the very first tiny
crop of porcini mushrooms that sprouted in the Adelaide Hills last
year and snaffled a few for his restaurant guests, to an
overwhelming response. This March, LaMontagna laid hands on some
more, and so diners who arrived for his unscripted nightly
dégustation menu got to enjoy these intensely flavoured porcini
only a few hours after they were picked. LaMontagna wanted to let
the earthy flavours of these potent mushrooms do all the talking,
so he simply allowed them to drink up some concentrated chicken
stock, complemented by the contrasting soft ooze of a slow-poached
egg. Luscious and intense, the flavours lingered as long and true
as a fine Barolo. Vincenzo's Cucina Vera, 77 Unley Rd,
Parkside, SA, (08) 8271 1000 David Sly
