Eat Street: Sydney’s best dining spots for truffle lovers
There are countless ways to cook with truffles and many restaurants are ready to show-off the delicacy’s versatility with sweet and savoury dishes on their set menus.
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Once you get the taste for them, truffles are impossible to resist. And, while the season is in full swing, Sydney restaurants are showcasing them in all their glory.
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Auvers
The hunt for the elusive winter fungi is on, but rather than burrow through layers of leaves and soil Darling Square has mapped out a Truffle Trail marked with some unconventional treasures such Wingboy’s truffle-topped buffalo wings and mac-n-cheese or IIKO Mazesoba’s truffle karaage fried chicken.
At Auvers, a popular cafe with arrestive architecture and vibrant murals, head chef, Yanto Liu has curated a three-course truffle menu with savoury and sweet French/Asian-inspired dishes. Their signature mushroom risotto makes a grand appearance but with some seasonal modifications such as the truffle-infused cream – a nod to French flavours – and tempura shimeji, crisply battered button-capped mushroom.
It’s the dessert, though, that truly embodies the extravagance of coveted black gold – a truffle custard tart with orange sugar tuille and truffle ice cream dusted, appropriately enough, with gold crystal crumbs.
(Three-course menu with bottomless drinks package. Available for dinner through Sunday, July 31. Minimum two people. $86pp).
– Shop 4/12 Nicolle Walk, Haymarket; auverscafe.com.au
BLACK Bar & Grill
Behind the grill or in the field, BLACK Bar & Grill’s executive chef Dany Karam has an attention to detail and but it’s his fastidiousness that has helped him source the exceptional seafood and premium meats that has led to this chic restaurant’s glowing reputation as one of the best steakhouses in Australia.
His regular visits to suppliers’ farms and production facilities ensures he knows every nuance of the marbled meats that are grilled in the expansive open kitchen. But it’s not just cattle farms, every year, prior to launching his winter menu, Dany spends time at NSW’s truffle farms to witness the harvest.
He admits that he is still enthralled by the remarkable way in which truffles are sourced and the farmers that are dedicated to the practice. Seeing as truffles grow underground and are hidden from the human eye, farmers may know the general location in which they can be found but can only guess as to where to dig for this culinary treasure.
“Truffles can only be harvested with the aid of trained truffle dogs which can detect the strong smell of mature truffles underneath the surface of the ground,” he explains.
“Truffles are a unique ingredient as they are unable to be ‘farmed’; it takes a lot of skill to source this quality fungi. I love working with truffles as they elevate dishes with their unique musky fragrance and mushroom-like earthy flavour.”
Dany has created a truffle menu that starts with an entree of chestnut cream, Jerusalem artichokes, maple bacon, and shaved truffle, followed by a Rangers Valley fillet, crispy veal sweetbread, king brown mushroom, white polenta, and truffle, and for dessert, caramelised white chocolate, pannacotta, pear, and truffled ice Cream. While these dishes are currently available for lunch and dinner seatings, they’ll only be around through August 31.
– The Star, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont; star.com.au
The Fenwick
They’re used to leading the way in the quest for black gold, but fortunately you don’t need a furry friend with a keen nose to find truffles – they are plentiful at The Fenwick, a heritage-listed sandstone building on the East Balmain wharf.
This former tugboat shed, with an unobstructed view that spans from Barangaroo past Luna Park, went underused for 17 years until the Sydney Restaurant Group (SRG) added it to their collection of stellar waterfront venues including Ormeggio, Aqua and Ripples restaurants.
But once SRG’s Executive Chef and The Fenwick’s co-founder Davide Rebeccato opened the two-storey venue as a restaurant and art gallery mid-2019 it sprang to life with breakfast and lunch menus featuring local and seasonal ingredients so when the colder months come around, the timing is right for black truffles.
“Every year, across Sydney Restaurant Group venues, we create a special truffle menu to celebrate winter,” says Rebeccato.
This year The Fenwick (and a number of SRG’s other restaurants) is holding multiple four-course truffle dinners, each one with a different menu featuring a variety of winter warming dishes such as Wagyu beef with mille-feuille potatoes, and grilled lamb loin with chicory and goat’s cheese.
Making appearance, as well are ones inspired by Rebeccato’s Italian upbringing including Risotto, Jerusalem artichoke, chestnuts, black truffle, and veal ossobuco with white polenta, Tuscan cabbage, black truffle. The dinners run $105pp, with matching wines available for an additional $75pp).
– 2-8 Weston St, East Balmain; thefenwick.com.au
Frenchies Bistro and Brewery
Whether it’s a Michelin-starred restaurant or local cafe, there’s one thing that chef Thomas Cauquil and master brewer Vince Soyres, fellow Frenchmen and co-founders of Frenchies Bistro & Bar know for certain is when winter arrives, truffles take centre stage.
“We pride ourselves on developing dishes that showcase the freshest seasonal produce, and our menus change often – usually weekly as a result. This produce-driven approach means we love curating special truffle dinner experiences for diners in the cooler months,” says Thomas.
The menu reads “We believe one of the best ways to enjoy truffle is when it’s paired with simple ingredients, such as Bread, butter, and eggs as they really evoke the unique flavours of the produce”.
This humble combination is featured in their annual six-course truffle degustation dinner.
“Our truffle-infused egg soldier with truffle butter brioche is one of my favourites, and it’s the only dish that has remained on our special Truffle Dinner menus over the years,” says Thomas.
Other highlights of the menu include scallop ravioli with coral emulsion and truffle, and quail two ways with confit potato, truffle, sorrel and pine nuts, clear examples of Thomas’ fine-dining approach to classic bistro fare. (Saturday, July 23 & 30, $180pp).
– The Cannery, 6/61-71 Mentmore Ave, Rosebery; frenchiesbistroandbrewery.com.au
SOUL Dining and SOUL Deli
Morning, noon, and night, Korean restaurant SOUL Dining and its sister venues, SOUL Deli has your truffle fix sorted. Between the two venues, they’ve curated truffle-centric menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks.
“We’re thrilled to finally be able to properly utilise and showcase the magnificent Perigord truffles from Robertson Truffles,” says SOUL Group’s Executive Chef Daero Lee.
Using seasonal produce such as Jujube (a red date), chestnut, apple, and ginseng their offerings showcase their modern take on Korean cuisine. At SOUL Dining you’ll find refined dishes such as truffle wagyu tartare and ‘Garak Guksu’, thick house-made fresh noodles (guksu) in fish broth, topped with fresh sea urchin and truffles.
Their Truffle Tasting Menu is $169pp, but you can also order ala carte.
- SOUL Deli185 Campbell St Surry Hills; SOUL Dining: 204 Devonshire St Surry Hills; souldining.com.au
WHAT’S FRESH
Madame Truffles
For the home cook inspired by the countless truffle menus on offer, pick up some of the freshest fungi for your own culinary concoctions at Madame Truffle’s annual three-month pop-up at Hand-picked Cellars in Chippendale.
Not only can you choose from their weekly harvest of Australian truffles, but they also have plenty of truffle-based items such as truffle honey, truffle butter and even truffle gelato from MaPo in Newtown and truffle macarons from Surry Hills’ Mak Mak Macarons.
Available, Thursday-Sunday, 10am-8pm throughout the truffle season.
– Hand-picked Wines Cellar Door, 50 Kensington St, Chippendale; madametruffles.com.au
Sella Vinoteca
Diners can enjoy an extravagant truffle dinner at Sella Vinoteca for one night only as part of Newmarket Randwick’s Dusk Dining event.
On every Thursday in July, the restaurants at the dining location — including RaRa Ramen and Baccomatto Osteria — offer special dishes on their menus.
On July 28, Sella Vinoteca’s owner and sommelier Fabio Dore and executive chef Marco Masotti are presenting a special five course dinner with truffles featured in every dish, like Duck Au Vin with Potato and Truffle Dauphinoise, and will also include carefully selected wine pairings for $160 per person.
The venue — a Mediterranean wine bar, bistro, restaurant and wine store all in one — sourced its truffles from Manjimup in Western Australia.
Winter warmers to celebrate the season
Everyone is happy to see the sun peeking through the clouds, but winter’s not all bad. Bid farewell to the colder days with one last hurrah of warming fare.
Sniffing out Sydney’s best truffle desserts
Save the best for last. As truffle season comes to a close, be sure to indulge in some sweet treats featuring the annual earthy gem.