Tag Archives:

I was lucky enough to secure three tickets to the last of the series of the Largesse dinners.  These fabulous degustation evenings have formed a near cult following in Perth and are known to sell out within minutes of going on sale.  So what on Earth is Largesse you ask?

Imagine the Head Chefs from six award-winning restaurants from around Perth donating their talents and time to each create one dish to contribute toward a six course extravaganza. Better still each course is then matched with exquisite wines and most importantly all of the proceeds from the evening go toward a charity of the host chef’s choosing.  This year the charity of choice was The Royal Flying Doctors Service.

The six chefs are Scott O’Sullivan from Red Cabbage Food and Wine, Kiren Mainwaring from Dear Friends, Jason Jujnovich from Divido, Stephen Clarke of Clarkes of North Beach, Todd Stuart from Petite Mort and last but most definitely not least Hadleigh Troy from Restaurant Amusé.

This year the night was hosted at Petit Mort which is located in Shenton Park where the popular Star Anise resided for many years.  The evening had such a buzz of excitement about it and as I gazed around the room I wondered which faces belonged to other fellow Perth bloggers I knew were attending.  I have only been a blogger for about nine months now and have been blown away by the sense of camaraderie and open friendship that exists in this small little community of foodies.  My eyes have only really been opened to this supportive side of blogging since joining Twitter last month. Weirdly despite this short space of time, I feel like I already know these people without even having met them.

We were informed that the first two courses were to be swapped in order because Chef Scott needed some extra time to prepare his dish.  We were told he apparently lost track of time due to watching a UFC final! This got a round of chuckles from the guests.

Our first dish was air dried ham with Swan Valley Yolk, ajo blancho and foraged herbs.  This dish had a number of textural elements which all tied in magically with the fresh gooey yolk.  Ajo blanco is a Spanish soup made with crushed almonds and garlic; it was delicately dolloped around the plate and added in a creamy nutty texture to the crunchy herbs and chewy ham.

Our next dish was house-smoked trout, chilli squid and saffron.  I was dismayed to see my gluten free version had the squid completely omitted.  This meant I only really got half the dish which was quite disappointing considering that with small degustation courses each component is an important element for the overall experience of the dish.  I would have preferred if the chef could have perhaps prepared my version gluten free rather than just leaving the squid off completely. Nevertheless the smoked trout was exquisitely soft and buttery leaving no oily aftertaste on the palate. My dining companions who received the full version of the dish commented that the chilli was not a strong enough feature and was barely noticeable.

The next dish was a pasta dish which is obviously not gluten free so Chef Jason from Divido kindly went to the effort of creating a completely different alternate option for me.  I received braised rabbit with lentils. The rabbit had obviously been nurtured and cared for in the cooking process because I have never had such tender rabbit before; it had the soft texture of high quality smoked ham.  So simple yet so well executed.

The boys had Radicchio Tortellini served with melted Fontina drizzled over it.  I was informed that although you could clearly taste that the tortellini was freshly made, it was slightly undercooked and too firm; there was no slippery oyster textures between the teeth here!

The braised venison shin was my second favourite dish of the evening.  I simply could not fault it whatsoever.  It was accompanied by “Foie gras espuma” where we were told that the chef combined the decadent foie gras with Anglais sauce and piped it out of a canister like whipped cream.  The richly flavoured shin meat simply melted in my mouth and if I wasn’t seated at a communal table I might have been tempted to lick this plate clean.

There was a little interlude in the evening at this point allowing a few fellow foodies Perth Munchkin and Gastromony to pop over to our table to introduce themselves.  It was awesome to finally put some faces to the blogs that I have been following and I look forward to reading their posts on this fabulous night.

The palate cleanser consisted of ginger and beetroot water.  Although this could have been improved by serving at a colder temperature it was definitely uplifting and refreshing.

Pressed duck is a very traditional French dish where the whole entire duck organs and all is partially roasted then put through a special “duck press” to squeeze out the juices which are then used for the sauce.  This duck was richly flavoured but in the aftermath of the delicate venison shin its texture felt a little chewy and dry by comparison. It was accompanied by two types of wild mushrooms: the funnel shaped chanterelle and the strong tasting cepe. These were the perfect accompaniment and gave more depth to the dish with their earthy tones.

The dessert was by far and by large the highlight of the evening for me.  It reaffirmed to me why Restaurant Amusé remains my most revered dining establishment in Perth.  Chef Hadleigh always manages to create food art that is not only visually stunning, but does incredible things to your palate. His dish “chocolate, caramel and sorrel” spanned across a wide range of exquisite textures, temperatures and flavours.  The dish started with crunchy, crisp sorrel meringue that completely dissolved on contact with your tongue, onto cool firm chocolate ice-cream that nearly had the chewy texture of a chocolate truffle, and finally ending of a bed of warmed gooey caramel. To finish off the decadence there were fine shavings of white chocolate crumbs over the top to introduce another layer of alternate texture and flavour.

The last of the Largesse evenings was an experience I’m glad I didn’t miss; a night of talented chefs showcasing their abilities in the name of a worthy charitable cause.  Although I know the Chefs all said this is their last, surely they can start up something new and similar in concept?  The evening has inspired me to visit those restaurants out of the six that I haven’t been to yet and more importantly I want to get back to Amusé for what will be the fourth time! Last time we were we spent nearly six glorious hours overindulging ourselves in a night I will never forget.

Keep up with the latest and Like Me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter!

Red Cabbage Food + Wine

49/15 Labouchere Rd, South Perth 6151 | (08) 9367 5744 | redcabbagefoodandwine.com.au

 

 

Dear Friends

100 Benara Rd, Caversham 6055 | (08) 9279 2815 | www.dearfriends.com.au

 

Divido

170 Scarborough Beach Rd, Mount Hawthorn 6016 | (08) 9443 7373 | www.divido.com.au

 

 

Clarkes of North Beach

97 Flora Terrace, North Beach 6020 | (08) 9246 7621 | www.clarkesofnorthbeach.com.au

 

 

Petite Mort

225 Onslow Rd, Shenton Park 6008 | (08) 9388 0331 | www.petitemort.com.au

 

 

Restaurant Amusé

64 Bronte St, East Perth 6004 | (08) 9325 4900 | www.restaurantamuse.com.au