New Brisbane restaurant sealed with a kiss
Brisbane’s new hotel delivers French flavours while carnivores should make a detour to Inglewood, Victoria.
Hot in the city
Bisou Bisou, Brisbane
I shamefully admit that despite my surname, I’ve never been one for French food. But until recently I’d never been to Bisou Bisou, the new brasserie-style restaurant inside Brisbane’s Hotel X, the new five-star kid on the block in Fortitude Valley. Head chef Anthony Donaldson (ex Blackbird Bar & Grill) has been recruited by the Ghanem Group to inject French flair to its latest venture, which blends authentic Parisian fare with the casualness of down-under dining. The dimly lit room has art deco flourishes, floral-patterned lounges, faux-marble tables, white-washed brick and a red velvet stools at the aperitivo bar.
It’s Monday the night of my visit and the place is packed. Donaldson has the evening off, but his understudies keep up the pace, sending out entrees such as scallops and leek on brioche, cured king salmon, steak tartare with tete de moine and escargot with bone marrow on toast. Good hospitality staff are hard to find these days, maybe because they’re all working here. My waiter engages me in a potentially mortifying game of “guess the wine” with each dish (only 200 or so to choose from). “I think it’s French,” I proffer, correctly surmising that a French waiter in a French restaurant will choose wine from Bordeaux rather than Barossa to go with my seafood bouillabaisse. The rotisserie menu includes a classic roast chicken and an 800g rib eye, but I go for a main of duck breast with caramelised witlof, and a side of aligot (potato and cheese puree), finishing with Mont Blanc mousse and white coffee ice cream, beautifully complemented with the bitterness and crunch of roasted chestnuts. It could be time to honour thy name and become a French cuisine convert. Kiss kiss.
RICKY FRENCH
Cool in the country
The Fat Butcher, Inglewood, Victoria
Good things take time, and that’s the philosophy of a speciality butcher on the fringe of Victoria’s Mallee who’s purveying to a knowing and growing clientele. Inglewood Aged Beef, named for its small home town 45km northwest of Bendigo, was established by butcher James Clee, who knew beef dry-aged for many weeks imparted a rich flavour. When his pork and lamb supplier Murphy’s Creek Pork acquired the business, changing it to The Fat Butcher, they hung onto the Inglewood Aged Beef brand known by discerning chefs and home cooks alike.
Deb Hancock, from Murphy’s Creek Pork, a seventh-generation producer in the region, says the art of dry-ageing is to hang the meat for as long as possible, allowing the natural juices to be absorbed. Whereas most retail beef is hung for only 10 or so days, Hancock’s hangs at least three weeks and sometimes up to six, and the difference is obvious; the meat is darker. “Once it goes like that, you can eat it with a spoon,” she says. Other meats at The Fat Butcher are distinctive, too. Its lamb is nearly pure-bred Merino, which is not normally an eating sheep. “The meat is a bit darker and I think it’s a bit sweeter,” says Hancock. Her pork is 100 per cent grain-fed and, explains this butcher who minces meat not words, “when you cook our pork, it doesn’t smell like the pig farm in the kitchen. It’s light and sweet. A lot of pork is imported and it’s garbage.” Because of the quality, the bestsellers are eye fillet and rib eye, and they also move a lot of lamb, pumpkin and feta sausages. And beware, the cabana has a kick.
JEREMY BOURKE
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