Interview with Peter Manifis of InContro Restaurant & Mentor chef for WA Signature Dish Competition
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, European, Events, Featured, Perth, Restaurants, Seafood, WA Signature Dish
Prior to travelling up to the North West corner of Australia for the WA Signature Dish Gascoyne regional final, I wanted to touch base with the region’s designated chef Peter Manifis. Peter will be judging the four finalists in a cook off in order to select the winning dish that will represent the Gascoyne for the finale. He will then spend time closely with the regional winner mentoring and training them to give them the best chance at winning the competition.
Peter is the part owner and Executive chef for InContro, one of the fine dining local restaurants in my area. The restaurant is located on the South Perth Esplanade and overlooks the Swan River facing towards the Perth City skyline. It makes such a romantic spot for an evening meal offering uninterrupted views of the city lights twinkling away on the water. The Boy and I have celebrated many special occasions at InContro so I was excited when I found out that I was to be working with Peter. Upon meeting him I was inspired to see someone even more enthusiastic and energetic than I am. Those of you who have met me will know that this is really quite an achievement!
Louis Roederer NV Brut ($22) & Mocktail (strawberry, pomegranate, lime & soda)
Whilst I understand that Chefs are often very busy people, I was grateful he took time out to have a chat with me and share some of his insights into our city’s food industry. We visited the restaurant on a sunny afternoon so we could kick back and enjoy an InContro seafood feast, something that they are very well known for here in Perth. Here’s what Peter had to say to me……
Gluten free bread baked in the pizza oven with Shaw River buffalo pecorino, roma tomato, basil (GF)
Peter, you are obviously a very passionate foodie, when and how did this love affair with food start?
It all started with my grandparents owning fruit and vegetable shops in Perth when I was very young, food has always been in my blood. Moving on to my parents having fish and chip shops, a fish factory, processing plant and selling fish in my early years from age 2 – 15. I have grown up very involved in the food industry. Then of course I got my apprenticeship at the Loose Box.
Gluten Free zucchini & blue cheese arancini with toffee walnuts and endive (GF)
You underwent your chef’s training at the highly acclaimed Loose Box under the guidance of Chef Alain Farbregues who is recognised as one of our city’s best French chefs. How has working with Alain influenced your career today?
Working with Alain has had a great influence on my work and career. It has given me discipline, a good work ethic and enhanced my passion for food. Working under Alain gave me all round knowledge of the basics of the European style of cooking this then gives the grounds for everything else to follow. This is priceless.
Gluten free zucchini & blue cheese arancini with toffee walnuts & endive (GF)
Tuna Carpaccio with fennel, radish, garlic, chilli and witlof (GF)
Over the past few years we have seen Western Australia grow into a State of avid foodies with an abundance of fantastic new venues opening and food festivals being held all over the State. What excites you about the food scene here in Western Australia?
The food scene here in Western Australia is fantastic and I was part of it before it started to get so fancy. It excites me to know that I stayed here in WA to help be a small part of what is such an amazing food industry we have today.
Pan seared Esperance scallop with pesto, Yarra Valley feta, chargrilled eggplant and tomato (GF)
Pan seared Esperance scallop with pesto, Yarra Valley feta, chargrilled eggplant and tomato (GF)
Your restaurant In Contro in South Perth has the reputation for being one of Perth’s top seafood restaurants with much of your produce sourced from our State’s North West. What are you favourite ingredients from the Gascoyne region and what makes it so special?
My favourite ingredients are, Shark Bay wild prawns and Plantation vegetables. I am so passionate about this as I get to see the love people put into this produce and this reflects in what we get delivered to the restaurant. This is really special for me.
Franklin Bay oysters with lentils and orange tomato salsa (GF)
WA’s Signature Dish is an exciting competition hosted by Buy West Eat Best over the next few months. This competition is open to amateur cooks who love food and cooking but are not professional chefs. The aim is to find the ultimate recipe that puts our State on the plate. You have been chosen to be the mentor chef for the Gascoyne region’s finalist. What is your best advice for the four contestants attending the regional cook off held in Carnarvon next Monday?
My advice is this, Regional produce! Use as much of it as you can and just keep it as simple as possible, let the produce speak for itself.
North West Scampi with garlic butter, pilaf rice and tomato salsa (GF)
Mandurah prawns with iceberg lettuce, avocado, tomato and marie rose sauce (GF)
I hear you will be starring on the chef line up for this winter’s Truffle Kerfuffle Festival. I am a total truffle addict and have already booked up our weekend to be full of trufflicious indulgence. How will you be involved with this exciting event?
I am also a massive truffle fan and always get involved with anything truffle. I am one of four chefs who will have truffle potato stand. We are cooking two major dinners for over 200 guests cooking a selection of canapés and protein and celebrating the produce with truffle.
North West Scampi & Mandurah prawns (GF)
Finally, I have dined in your restaurant many times over the years and always found your staff to be very helpful with respect to my gluten intolerance. Do you have any family members with food allergies or intolerances?
None of my family members have any allergies or intolerances, however, I do have staff members and customers who do. I also find that as I work on the restaurant floor as well as the kitchen I understand and appreciate people’s requirements and feel they deserve food which is just as varied and exciting as for people who can eat everything. This is why I try to be innovative and always create new and exciting dishes to accommodate everyone.
Pannacotta with honey comb & popping candy, house made sorbets (quince & sparkling wine, raspberry & beetroot, orange) (GF)
InContro, South Perth
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, European, Perth, Restaurants
I have very fond memories of my last time at Matilda Bay Restaurant with two of my favourite people in my life; the Boy and my dearest Mum. It was Christmas Day lunch some years ago and it remains one of our most relaxing and stress-free Christmas’s to date. So when the Boy invited me to join him there on a business dinner recently I didn’t have to hesitate in my response!
Being so food obsessed is proving to be my Achilles heel by hindering my success in achieving the svelte bride body that I want. I have a bad habit of over eating and seem to enjoy the feeling of being insanely full. My solution is simply to focus on eating less for the last six months in the lead up to the big day. This night out was to be the last night of uninhibited eating before the frustrations of restriction begun so I wanted to go out with a bang.
You can only imagine my disappointment when a few hours before we were to all meet for dinner, the Boy was informed by email that the invitation didn’t extend to partners. Knowing how much I was looking forward to the evening and presuming the refusal was due to a strict budget, the Boy explained that we were not expecting a free meal and I was more than happy to pay my own way. Unfortunately this wasn’t good enough for the agency and after receiving a fairly patronising reply the Boy’s blood started to boil.
Even on a stormy night….Perth skyline is so beautiful
Not wanting to disappoint his food obsessed wife-to-be, he softened the blow of the bad news to me by offering to still take me out somewhere nice. We toyed with the idea of getting a table right next to the one I got booted off at Matilda Bay purely for entertainment value. However after briefly thinking about this further we figured that probably wouldn’t gone down so well! After a few unsuccessful calls to some favourite venues, he managed to secure us a reservation at InContro in South Perth. We even managed to get a table with city and river views. (My apologies in advance for the photos…even Gordon didn’t cope in such low level lighting!)
Tempting but once I started on the Billecart nothing else would do!
InContro offers a style of dining they call “piccolo dining” which is a bit like a Mediterranean version of tapas. They create small dishes for the entire table to share and it is brought to the table in a tiered rack reminding me of years gone by where I shared High Tea with my Dad and stepmum at Brown’s Hotel in London. After discussing my allergies with our waitress, she offered for the chef to select appropriate dishes to make up a two courses of a piccolo experience. Not being in the mood for anything specific, the Boy and I both smiled at each other and chose to go ahead with her recommendation. I love surprises!
Moroccan spiced cauliflower and Dorper lamb
Each course contained three carefully selected and quite interesting dishes using lots of fresh seasonal local produce. The succulent frenched Dorper lamb cutlets were topped with Moroccan spiced cauliflower. The sweet tasting cumin paired harmoniously with the tender lamb leaving me wishing we had more.
Scallop with pea puree and prosciutto
Our seared scallops were plump with a crisp browned surface and a nearly creamy centre of amazingness. On a bed of pea puree and topped with crispy shreds of prosciutto these little morsels were nearly as moreish as the cutlets. I was pretty excited about what else was to come.
Lobster salad
Our third entrée was simply described as a lobster salad. A fairly decent serve of decadent lobster sat innocently hidden underneath a handful of shredded greens. Further hiding below the lobster was bite sized chunks of thoroughly dressed avocado, tomato and fresh herbs. Although this dish wasn’t much to look at, each mouthful was bursting with flavour.
Sticky Black Angus short rib – sorry about the blur!
The sticky Black Angus short rib was the “to die for” dish of the evening. Unfortunately my photos didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked them to due to the beef sitting at the top of the three levelled tier. Not being a very tall person I really struggled to steady my camera. Of course my lack of hand stability that had nothing to do with the three glasses of Billecart I had drunk previously. Not at all.
Gone!
The meat didn’t just fall off the bone it slivered off and dissolved in the mouth like cotton candy. The marinade was thick, sticky and subtly sweet and neither of us could help ourselves as we scraped the remaining sauce off the board with our forks, trying to savour its flavour for as long as possible.
Linley Valley Pork belly, vanilla pear, pomegranate
In my excitement of this final night of excess I had not bothered to go through the nitty gritty of my fructose malabsorption with our waitress. I had purely just requested no gluten or no onion. Thus I did have to sift through our pork dish to avoid the little cubes of pear. The pork belly had just the right balance of fat, meat and crackling and didn’t leave any unpleasant porkiness taste in my mouth. The crackling gave a satisfyingly loud crunch as I bit into it.
Shaved fennel, pear, candied walnut
The salad to accompany our mains dishes contained shaved fennel, pear and candied walnut. Again I had to dodge the pear (my own fault) which was easy enough to do. The salad was light and refreshing on the palate after the two heavier meat dishes.
Trio of ice creams
For dessert the Boy ordered his ice cream as per usual; as you may already know it is fairly uncommon for him to ever order anything else for dessert. I settled for the only gluten free dessert option which was the polenta cake with butterscotch ice cream. It was moist and didn’t crumble apart but the butterscotch ice cream was a little sickly sweet for my liking.
Polenta cake with butterscotch ice cream
InContro is a great local option if we feel like a night out with a bit more class than casual. We have dined here on several occasions over the years and have never been disappointed with either the food or service and they take good diligence in catering to those with allergies. Of course we will be back.
InContro 79 South Perth Esplanade, South Perth 6151 | (08) 9474 5566 | www.incontro.com.au Price: $$$$ (Piccolo $9-16/dish, Entrees $22-28, Mains $35-48) Food: 4.5/5 (sticky beef ribs were out of this world) Service: 4/5 (attentive, efficient despite a full house) Ambience: 5/5 (views of Perth city skyline, how can it get better?) Drinks: 4/5 (great wine list but I confess I stuck to my Billecart all night!) Total: 17.5/20
Mundaring Truffle Festival 2012
Posted by | Categories: Degustation/Fine dining, Desserts, Events, Featured, Perth
Weekend work is part and parcel to many people’s careers including mine and unfortunately this sometimes does result in being unable to attend weekend festivals and other events. The Mundaring Truffle Festival has been one of those missed events for me for several years running so when I realised this time round I had the Sunday rostered off, I jumped at the opportunity to book us tickets. I also bought us entry into one of the ticketed events called “The Truffle and the Riesling”.
Unlike last year where I heard the weather was absolutely atrocious resulting in much of the Festival becoming flooded, this year we couldn’t have asked for anything better. With the sun shining gloriously in a clear blue sky the morning chill dissipated quickly under the warming rays of sunshine. It feels like we are nearly into Spring!
Rochelle Adonis Truffingtons
Our first stop was at Rochelle Adonis’s stall where Rochelle herself informed me that on the previous day they had completely run out of their “truffingtons”; a richly truffle flavoured lamington. She had rushed back to the studio that night to make more which of course also sold out very quickly. Unfortunately for me they were not gluten free so although I arrived early enough to buy some I did not get to try any for myself. For my review of Rochelle Adonis’s High tea click here. 
For our ticketed event Chef Dan Sharp from Greenpool Restaurant at Forest Hill Vineyard showed us how to cook up a couple of mouth-watering trufflicious dishes. The first dish was a macadamia, herb and truffle crusted Albany Dhu fish served with Endeavour prawn crushed potatoes. I had advised the event manager of my gluten free requirement in advance and was assured that the menu was fully gluten free. Unfortunately it turned out that I was misinformed and the dish that we were served had panko crumbs on the fish. One of my friends kindly alerted the presenters whereupon the chef offered to make me a gluten free piece of fish himself.
Macadamia, herb and truffle crusted Albany Dhu fish with Endeavour Prawns crushed potatoes
However in all the distraction of cooking to a crowd, my fish never came and I was served a double quantity of the side dish sans fish. The Boy informed me that the fish was flaky, soft and very enjoyable. The side dish of crushed prawns and potato was divine and we were lucky enough to receive a copy of the recipe. The second dish was dill and truffle buttered Denmark Marron served with a shaved fennel, mustard leaf, hazelnut and truffle salad. What a shame we didn’t get to taste this one, it smelt so good from the audience! 
Great Southern Truffles
Heading back into the Festival grounds with a strong appetite for more truffles, we were in for a feast of mammoth proportions! Starting at the Great Southern Truffles stall we started off with purchasing some pungent truffle oil, truffle salt and truffle mustard for those who couldn’t attend to enjoy at home. It was too hard to pick just one!
Oak Valley Truffles Braised Harvey Beef Rib with Horseradish cream
The Oak Valley Truffles stall was serving tender soft braised Harvey Beef ribs with horse radish cream and shaved truffle. These ribs were dripping juicy and richly flavoured. A definitely highlight of the day. We also bought some truffle butter which we had with our dinner later that night.
Loose Box: Duck pate with truffle
The Loose Box tent was a popular one, with most sample dishes priced at a reasonable $5. Between the four of us we shared one of each: the duck pate, some truffled brie and a truffled apple galette.
Loose Box: Truffled brie
Loose Box: Apple galette
The eating frenzy did not stop there. We moved onto the Linley Valley Pork stall where the boys from Mondo’s and In Contro were cooking up a storm. Aromas of their pork cassoulet wafted across the festival and made it impossible to not want to buy a few tasting plates.
Making the cassoulet @ The Linley Valley Pork tent
Pork cassoulet with polenta and shaved truffle (gluten free)
The servers were well informed on gluten free options and guided my choice to the cassoulet….which to be honest my sense of smell had already convinced me was the best option. I had to be a little careful negotiating the onion contained within it but regardless it was hearty and warming.
Linley Valley Pork cutlets
Linley Valley Pork sausage wrap with truffle and onions
The Boy and my other friends all tried the pork sausage wrap. The meat was very juicy yet not too fatty and the subtle flavour of truffle brought this simple street food to the next level!
Spanish donuts with Persian fairy floss (not gluten free)
With the taste of Oak Valley Truffle’s amazing beef ribs still hovering on my palate, I stopped to grab more ribs to share from El Asador. Unfortunately these ribs just didn’t compare and were very sinewy and chewy. We were actually unable to eat some at they were too tough and needed a good steak knife to be cut up with.
El Asador Beef ribs with BBQ herb and salt slow cooked served with a drizzle of chimichurri
Jean Pierre Sancho macarons
At this point, my taste buds were craving something a bit sweet and seeing Jean Pierre Sancho I dashed over to grab everyone a macaron. Now JPS doesn’t exactly do the BEST macarons, but they aren’t too bad either. They have all the right elements of flavour; they just never seem to get the textures right as I find the outside always lacks that crisp shell. Perhaps it is hard to get them fresh enough to events like this. 
Jean Pierre Sancho macarons
Turban Chopsticks – locally produced gluten free meals. I purchased a couple, stay tuned for more.
Pork Jumplings with truffle
We had nearly done our dash when I saw the Jumplings stall and after hearing such excellent feedback from all the Urban Lovacore customers on Twitter I convinced my friends to buy some. I enquired to the chef that was busy cooking and preparing the Jumplings if he had any desire to cater for the gluten free market. To my surprise this was already a work in progress for him and he was currently looking into trialling recipes to perfect a gluten free pastry! I wait with baited breath!
Filled to the brim with truffliciousness we escaped the crowds and headed to the Mundaring Weir Hotel. Gathered in the setting sun on the steps in front of their amphitheatre; it was so relaxing to relax back and digest all the gourmet delights over a bottle of wine with friends. We were joined by someone’s adorable Golden Retriever who was happy enough to stay with us provided he got a bit of a cuddle. After a couple of hours and several drinks later, hunger started to hit us once again and the Boy went into the cafe organise us some light nibbles. To my complete disappointment I was informed that there was nothing at all that they could serve me gluten free. After further questioning they reluctantly agreed to make me a garden salad without the dressing. I guess I will think twice before returning here as I do like to enjoy food with my wine just like anyone else! 
The Mundaring Truffle Festival is held every year in Mundaring in July. For more details join their mailing list at www.mundaringtrufflefestival.com
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