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Mushroom Mania 2014: St Michael 6003, Highgate

Posted by  | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Featured, Perth, Restaurants

There has been much buzz around the recent opening of the new restaurant St Michael 6003 in Highgate.  Scott O’Sullivan from Red Cabbage and Todd Stuart from Petite Mort have paired together to open this suave new joint located in Jackson’s old digs on Beaufort Street. Former Red Cabbage sous chef Adam Sayles has taken the reins to produce something intriguingly refined, modern and creative. This individuality has not gone unnoticed by high-profile foodies with St Michael recently starring in the weekly Hot Plates feature on the Gourmet Traveller website.

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Red Cabbage 2013: Cep macaron, olive parsnip

Last year for the Mushroom Mania campaign, one of my sponsored meals was a mushroom degustation at Red Cabbage and this year I was hopeful that their brand new sister restaurant would be willing to do something similar. I was very appreciative that Chef Adam was happy to come on board and create a couple of mushroom dishes for us to enjoy.

St Michael offers small share plates in addition to a more elaborate seven course tasting menu. After gazing slowly over their menu I turned to the Boy to see what he wanted eat for the evening; did he want to share a few dishes or would he prefer to go the whole hog and order the dego?

Without hesitating he replied “Well, the dego of course!” I love that we are so like-minded with our food obsessions! A match made in heaven <3

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Salt and vinegar crackers (GF)

We started off with the salt and vinegar crackers which had been made so fresh that they still crackled and popped loudly as they sat on our table. Made from pork skin they bubbled on my tongue like prawn crackers creating that deliciously tingling sensation. So much fun.

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Fermented vegetables with house made corn beef and air dried bresaola (GF)

Our starting course consisted of thin slices of house made corn beef prepared using 300 day grain fed Ranger Valley beef flank. The corn beef accompanied some air dried bresaola and fermented vegetables.

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Fermented vegetables with house made corn beef and air dried bresaola (GF)

This dish left a surprisingly light, cleansing feeling on the palate and was an uplifting way to start a degustation. The beef had luscious marbling giving it a melt in the mouth, buttery texture.

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Marron (GF)

Our next dish starred our hero ingredient; the mushroom. Tender soft Manjimup marron pieces were charred lightly and plated like a magical garden with pickled white shimeji mushrooms along with delicately peppery turnips and nasturtium flowers.

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I had just enough time to grab a quick capture of this gorgeous dish before our waiter gently poured a flavoursome shiitake dashi made with mirin and organic gluten free tamari.

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The dashi added a rich layer of unami that harmonised and enhanced the flavours of the marron and mushrooms elegantly. I could feel the nourishing warmth radiating right through me to the tips of my fingers. For a brief moment there was silence across the table as the Boy and I slurped up every last millilitre of the Japanese broth.

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Quail (GF)

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Quail (GF)

The quail breast was pressed between thin slices of Serrano ham and served lightly charred with honey roasted carrots and carrot purée. The quail had a lovely silken velvety texture, I have never eaten quail that delicately tender before.

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Lamb shoulder (GF)

My final main course was the lamb shoulder made using locally sourced WA lamb from Karagullen. This dish also featured our hero ingredient for the evening containing plump, meaty oyster mushrooms nestled in with dollops of goats curd.

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Lamb shoulder (GF)

To top it all off my dish was garnished with generous shavings of fresh Manjimup truffle. Truffle mania dies hard with this girl, and I couldn’t hold back my squeals of delight.

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Cheese course (GF)

The cheese course was served with similar style and flair to those we have enjoyed at Red Cabbage. Forget about your standard cheese platter with wedges of cheese, crackers and quince. This dish was as interesting as its predecessors. Creamy chunks of Cashel blue cheese accompanied some pear sorbet, roast celeriac and white chocolate ganache. The dish was garnished with salted walnuts and cubes of compressed pear.

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Yoghurt sorbet (GF)

Our dessert was simply titled “yoghurt sorbet” and was quite the exquisite surprise, totally addictive and texturally satisfying. Amid the single scoop of lightly tangy sorbet were multiple droplets of fruit and herbs frozen in liquid nitrogen. As soon as each particle hit my mouth they would start to dissolve giving me alternate bursts of vibrant flavour including strawberry, pear, peach, orange, mango, passionfruit, parsley, mint and basil. It was mind-blowing.

This dessert excited me so much that I wasn’t ready for our meal to end but alas we had already eaten out way through our seven courses. I sheepishly asked our waiter if I could possibly have another round of something sweet. Maybe some petit fours to go with my tea?

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Peanut butter, salted caramel and chocolate (GF)

He happily obliged and we were given a bowl of curious asymmetrical blocks of peanut butter, salted caramel and chocolate. They were also frozen in liquid nitrogen and looked like they would be hard to bite into as they were still covered in an icy mist. Looks can be deceiving and with each bite, I discovered the inside of these chunks still remained wondrously soft and velvety.

There is no doubt I will be returning to St Michael as they offer something quite different to their surrounding competitors. They allow diners to enjoy a touch of high end fine dining without having to commit to a whole degustation or experience the formality and pomp.

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This post was sponsored by the Australian Mushroom Growers Association as part of the Mushroom Mania campaign. Chompchomp has been delighted to be part of this campaign for three years running as she is a huge advocate for all things mushroom. She would also like to thank all the team from St Michael for coming on board with creating a mushroom themed degustation.
 
St Michael 6003
483 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | (08) 9328 1177 | Facebook
Price: Small bites $8-18, Mains $15-30, 7 course tasting menu $89

 St Michael 6003 on Urbanspoon

Back to Cantina 663, Mount Lawley

Posted by  | Categories: European, Featured, Italian, Perth, Portuguese, Restaurants

Many of you may know I grew up in Adelaide, the City of Churches.  At the young and impressionable age of seventeen I left my family and friends behind in order to head west to study veterinary science.  Although initially moving to the opposite side of our great continent was not easy, Perth has given me amazing opportunities, plenty of sunshine and most importantly has found me the love of my life.

In my earlier years in Perth I remained in close contact with very few of my school companions. In fact in all honesty, until the creation of Facebook I only stayed in touch with just one school friend; Lenni.  Despite our homes being geographically separated by thousands of kilometres, over the years we have always managed to see each other at least once every twelve months or so.

When we were living in London she detoured to see me from Greece where she had attended a family wedding.  We lived in a poky little bed-sit in South-east London which was  situated upstairs from the 24 hour veterinary hospital in which I worked at.  We only had enough room to fit a single blow up mattress on the floor and by the end of every night it would ensure to deflate itself. Dear Lenni never uttered a complaint. No room for luxury during these times!

Another time she flew over for a whirlwind trip down to Margaret River and Pemberton.  Eager to show off my newly adopted home, I tried to squeeze everything into a tight 3 day schedule. For those who know these areas you will understand what a crazy schedule this was.  We covered a LOT of ground!

Whenever I was visiting Mum in Adelaide, Lenni would always manage to fit me into her hectic on-call schedule for some late night drinks and a bite to eat.  No matter how long between impromptu visits we would always manage to spend the whole time laughing and chattering late into the night. I would often wake up the next day with sore stomach muscles from too much giggling.

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Crisp pork belly, cotechino, potato hash, pickled onions

Fate has a way for bringing good friends together and in recent years Lenni’s career has also brought her to this state of opportunity. Being well overdue to see each other we met up one weeknight at Cantina 663 in Mount Lawley to enjoy some good food, wine and conversation.

I love eating out with someone who really enjoys their food.  It is so much more pleasurable to take the time to savour all the flavours of a meal as opposed to quickly wolfing everything down. Better still, it allows you to analyse and really appreciate what you are devouring. Lenni is a gracefully slow eater and meals with her are always at an extended relaxed pace.  Cantina 663 is perfect for this style of eating as much of their dishes are designed to share.

There was initially much confusion from our waiter upon ordering our food.  At first, he gave me the impression that he was quite familiar with fructose malabsorption and advised me that there was only a couple of small nibbles I could have and nothing on the main menu.  He told me as a replacement the chef was happy to specially make me a risotto for my main instead.  As he walked away from our table I was left feeling a little bewildered as I have previously been able to eat a number of their menu items as much of it is gluten free.  What made things worse was I didn’t feel like a risotto at all yet didn’t want to seem like a complaining ungrateful customer!

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Salumi platter:Chorizo, Prosciutto, Bresaola, kofta and salami

On further questioning I discovered that my waiter had presumed that fructose malabsorption meant I had a fruit allergy and couldn’t eat anything with any fruit at all. As many of the dishes contained citrus or lemon juice he thought that they would all be unsuitable.  After giving him a brief run down on fructose malabsorption, he returned to the kitchen armed with a wealth of information on this frustrating condition and found out that there was indeed a lot more on the menu that I could eat.  What a relief.  I was starting to get a bit worried for a moment there!

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Smoked salmon rillettes, preserved fennel, charred bread

The buttery smooth smoked salmon rillettes had the consistency of creamy pâté and smeared elegantly over the crusty charred bread.  There was no gluten free bread available but when I booked the table a few days prior the waitress kindly advised me in advance and welcomed me to bring my own…which of course I forgot! Paired with crunchy liquoricy preserved fennel and a bottle of Grenache this was perfect dish to kick start our night.

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Port roasted mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella, basil

The sauce for the roasted mushrooms contained onions so the chef served this on the side.  Despite omitting this potentially key ingredient, the earthy mushrooms were still bursting with rich port flavoured juices. Shreds of buffalo mozzarella cut through the acidity of the dish leaving a lingering creaminess on the palate.  A simple dish done well.

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Crisp pork belly, cotechino, potato hash, pickled onions

Lenni had the crisp pork belly with cotechino, potato hash and pickled onions.  Nestled in amongst all these ingredients were finger like slivers of sweet Pink Lady apple.  The crackling was as hard as toffee and snapped satisfyingly in the mouth with an audible crack.  The meat lacked any unpleasant porky after-taste and the fat had emulsified to a custard-like texture. I was lucky enough to try a small sample denuded of any sauce and could see why she finished every morsel on her plate despite being very full!

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Pan fried barramundi, almond with green salad on side

I enjoyed the pan-fried barramundi served with an almond butter sauce laced with baby capers. The fish was normally accompanied with artichokes and asparagus which presumably wasn’t onion free so the chef made me a large garden salad instead. The fish had thin crispy skin yet the flesh remained flaky and delicate requiring minimal effort to reduce into bite size morsels.  The nearly sweet almond sauce made this ordinarily light meal much more satisfying and I was contentedly full by the end.

Fructose malabsorption is by no means an easy intolerance to understand, and to an untrained ear the requirements are complicated and difficult. I was impressed that although our waiter’s initial presumptions regarding my diet were incorrect he put in the effort to understand the facts and find me something I would enjoy. We will most definitely be back again.

More on Cantina 663: Birthday Dinner at Cantina 663, Mount Lawley (March, 2012)

Cantina 663
Astor Arcade, 663 Beaufort Street, Mount Lawley, 6050 | (08) 9370 4883 | www.cantina663.com
 
Price:                     $$$$ ($7-16 share plates/entrees, $25-35 mains)
Food:                    4.5/5 (they really need to consider stocking gluten free bread)
Service:                3.5/5 (bubbly, efficient, but a little confused with my food intolerances)
Ambience:          4/5 (warm and cosy inside on a cold rainy night)
Drinks:                  4/5 (Interesting Portuguese, Spanish & Italian wines. Perfectly matched to the food)
Total:                     16/20
 

 Cantina 663 on Urbanspoon