Minutes of the Posh Dinner Society

Metropolis Eating House - 13 April 11

2011-11-03T17:49:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Hugh, Peter, Gerry, Gaby, Barry

Peter was back in town for the submission of his thesis - well done Peter - and it was a nice opportunity for the inaugural members of the posh dinner society to catch up.

Again, it's been too long since the meal to remember what we ate. I think that there was a variety of oysters that the people-who-like-them ate. It's a strange venue - it was an old ballroom and it is now quite cavernous as a dining venue.

The Courthouse - 12 Feburary 11

2011-11-03T17:36:00.003+11:00

Zoe, Liz & Gaby

I've left it too long to remember what we had at The Courthouse in North Melbourne. We all enjoyed the meal though, apart from the very strong eau de vie at the end of the meal.

The Commoner - Sunday 12 September 2010

2010-10-26T22:20:00.003+11:00

Zoe, Liz and Gaby

It has been a long time since a three member meeting of the PDS but with Liz's return to Australia we had a great opportunity. It ended up being a great night at The Commoner with all of us agreeing that it's now one of our top 5 dinners.

When I saw a Negroni on the cocktail list I couldn't go past it. It contains three of my favourite alcohols - gin, campari and vermouth - and I'd never had it before. Whilst the first hit is all alcohol everything after is just great. After the cocktail I joined Zoe and Liz with the Dao tempranillo. A great choice by Zoe.

On Sunday nights The Commoner is menu free and for $55 for food we were (overfed) extremely well. The following mouthful size morsels of yum came out and we enjoyed all immensely.

Spiced fish with paprika on crostini
Radishes with hummus
Babaganoush
Roast pumpkin with caramelised onions, yogurt and coriander
Bread and crostini with cumin sesame seeds and oil
Boiled eggs with olives and salted cod

The next dish, of semolina gnocchi with jerusalem artichokes and walnuts was possibly my favourite dish of the night. In fact I think we all enjoyed it - the gnocchi was so creamy. Other plates brought at the same time were mushroom croquettes with cauliflower puree and sSnapper with harissa.

This was about when we were feeling full but we found room for the simple but delicious cut steak with caramelised onion and horseradish cream. The hand cut chips and simple green salad with it were just right.

Finally the meal finished with a vanilla cream tart with poached quinces and walnut praline and some peppermint tea.

A great night, so great in fact that I plan to go back for my birthday dinner. It was a lovely way to end a weekend - just relaxing with friends while fabulous food was brought to us. There was a freedom that came with a meal with no menu that was so good that I don't that I'd go back on any other night than a Sunday.

Cutler and Co - 7 May 2010

2010-05-09T21:08:00.002+10:00

Zoe and Gaby

We've agreed not to post about the last official Posh Dinner Society meeting in November last year. It was at Cecconi's and we felt that it just didn't qualify - partially due to the poor service and underwhelming food, and partially that we had a cast of thousands (really only 8 people: Zoe, Hugh, Gaby, Barry, Liz, Peter, Gerry, and Peter's friend from SF).

So, it's been a while and Zoe and I, the only members in Australia agreed to hold a small, but quorate, meeting at the intended venue of the last catch-up: Cutler and Co.

It was a good move to go for dinner - even with just the two of us (in fact, maybe better for it!).

We started with fabulous drinks (Aperol and blood orange juice for me and Campari and pink grapefruit for Zoe) - with the mixers served in beakers which was a bit of a flash back for both of us. Then we moved on to a carrot salad (cooked, raw and pickled) and confit ocean trout. Yum.

Mains of roast suckling pig - not a whole one - and pheasant. The pheasant was a first for both of us. The breast meat was not particularly flavoursome though the quince helped, but the crumbed leg meat (recreated as a drumstick) was richer and tender. The pig came with a lovely barley risotto.

I went for the deliciously desserty ice-cream sandwich with salted caramel. Somewhat uncharacteristically Zoe chose a dessert over the cheese, and was rewarded with the best dish of the evening: steamed quince and suet gingerbread with chestnut icecream. It was just delicious - not too sweet, but the richness of the quince and the warmth of the ginger was just delicious. It was an inspiration for the winter puddings to come over the next few months.

We thought of you Liz and Peter, and hope that you get the chance to have a meeting of the US chapter of the Posh Dinner Society. You should definitely come to Cutler and Co when you're next back at in Melbourne.

Claypots

2009-10-09T09:23:00.002+11:00

I had a flashback a couple of days ago to our expedition to Claypots on Gertrude St in Fitzroy for chilli crab. I couldn't even remember what year we'd gone and was going to suggest 2007 when Peter unearthed the email arranging the dinner.
...
It was 20 December 2005!

Given that it was so long ago I really can't remember much at all. Anyone care to shed some light on the experience?

Esposito - 25 April 09

2009-04-26T17:59:00.005+10:00

Zoe, Hugh, Liz & Gaby

It was Zoe's birthday this week and to celebrate a posh dinner was declared. There were a number of places that we tried to book and were unfortunately booked out but we will keep them on our shortlist for future outings (Movida, Hellenic Republic and Cutler & Co).

Esposito was a first for Hugh and Liz but for Zoe and I it was something that we'd done before - sort of. Esposito was previously Toofey's - the location of the inaugural posh dinner society meeting. The focus is still seafood and the setting is very similar. We all enjoyed our meals (vegetarian gyoza, cured salmon, quail, baked whole fish, seafood linguine, john dory fillets) but Zoe and I were reminiscing for the bygone days. We all agreed though that the taster of seafood and herbs, and the sides (orange and fennel salad and gratin of spinach and onion) were great.

Whilst Zoe and I felt that the level of service was poor, particularly in comparison with Toofey's which set the benchmark for us, Zoe felt that the desserts were possibly better. We shared a fabulous cheese plate, a pear and custard tart with blood orange sorbet, and a date and frangipane tart with vanilla icecream. Yum!

Rumi - 19 March 09

2009-04-26T17:41:00.002+10:00

Peter, Emily, Zoe, Hugh, Simon & Gaby

Peter was back in Australia with his partner Emily. When organising the dinner I asked Peter if there was anywhere that he was interested in going to or any cuisines that he was missing. His response included lebanese and as I'm going through something of a middle eastern phase at the moment I was pretty happy and went ahead and booked for us at Rumi.

Peter, Emily and I were joined by Simon, Zoe and Hugh and we had a lovely meal with highlights that included panfried cauliflower, eggplant, lamb and mamoul (a beautiful date shortbread).

Tea Rooms at Yarck - 7 December 08

2009-01-03T23:41:00.006+11:00

Liz, Zoe, Hugh & Gaby

When planning for our end of year PDS meeting we consulted the constitution - The Age Good Food Guide. In our browsing we started looking at the country restaurants and thought that instead of a Posh Dinner meeting we could have an Extravagant Lunch instead. Well, we did and it was amazing. The two hour drive up to the Tea Rooms at Yarck was absolutely completely worth it.

While we could have ordered a la carte we instead went with the Chef's suggestion of antipasto, pasta, a slow cooked dish, and dessert but put a special request in for the slow cooked baby goat as it sounded so interesting. The food just kept coming and coming and was amazing. I'd been thinking that our first meal together at Toofeys was the best but I think that the Tea Rooms at Yarck have surpassed all the other meals that we've eaten. The whole thing got us reminiscing and we started to list the various meals that we've had over time and this blog was created from that list.

Below is the complete list of what we ate over the 3.5 hours that we were there.

Taster - we each had a piece

asparagus tart

Antipasto - we shared the following dishes which were served with bread

Tuna carpaccio with celeriac
Crumbed sardines
Calamari salad
Mussels with parsley and garlic breadcrumbs
Roasted peppers
Broccoli with onions and capers
Eggplant parmagiana

Pasta (we ended up with two pasta courses each!)

Single ravioli filled with broad beans, goat fetta and peccorino, with butter and borage flowers
Duck and mushroom fettucine

Slow cooked dish - shared
(By this stage we were really looking for something fresh to counter all the beautifully rich food that we had been enjoying up to that point and, with brilliant timing, a green salad was delivered.)

Slow cooked baby goat (kid!) with carrot, fennel and celery
Roast rosemary potatoes

Dessert - shared over coffee

Passionfruit icecream
Vanilla and chocolate meringues
Tiramisu
Strawberries
Chocolate and hazelnut torte
Creme caramel
Almond biscotti
Panforte and ...
even more meringue.

It was just amazing!

Gingerboy - 16 August 08

2009-01-03T23:26:00.002+11:00

Peter, Liz, Zoe & Gaby

After much scheduling and rescheduling Liz, Zoe and I fixed on August 16 for dinner at Gingerboy - a place that we'd be discussing going to for some time. Only a few days before the dinner Peter emailed to say that he had to come back to Australia for visa reasons. It was brilliant timing to reconvene the original members of the PDS.

The most memorable thing we ate were the Son in Law eggs which are very soft boiled eggs (the yolk was completely runny) that were then deep fried and meant to be eaten whole. It was actually quite daunting to put a whole egg in your mouth and Liz took a bite and we understood why it's best to try and eat the whole egg at once. :)

The desserts were all interesting - green tea pannacotta - but I think my favourite thing was the corn cakes. Just so yum!

100 Mile Cafe - 6 March 08

2009-01-03T23:23:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter, Gerry & Gaby

We managed to eat at 100 Mile Cafe this time but Liz couldn't make it. We did hear about Gerry's recent visit to the US with a quite crazy woman though. 100 Mile Cafe has since closed down.

100 Mile Cafe (sort of) - 13 December 07

2009-01-03T23:13:00.002+11:00

Liz, Zoe & Gaby

We planned an end of year Posh Dinner Society meeting at the 100 Mile Cafe (all food sourced within 100 miles of the restaurant) and while we made it to the restaurant the restaurant didn't quite deliver. Unfortunately there was a problem with the gas in the whole of Melbourne Central so the restaurant could only cook food from the wood fired oven. We ended up eating at Tomodachi for Japanese.

The Rose Hotel - 18 August 07

2009-01-03T23:07:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter, Liz, Gaby & ...
Simon, Gerry, & ? & ?

I'm not sure that we're not missing one of our meetings since November 06 ... anyway we convened again when Peter came back to Australia in August 07. As with any short trip back there were lots of people for him to catch up with so the Posh Dinner Society decided to hold an open meeting and we had a few extras join us.

Zoe and I made sure that we got the red mullet again and it was still the best fish there.

Pearl - 21 November 06

2009-01-03T22:57:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

Peter was back in Australia for a visit and our next Posh Dinner Society meeting was held in Richmond at Pearl.

Apart from recognising a few familiar faces from our time at the Student Union we had a great night! Peter (?) had a DIY duck curry and I had a caramelised asian fish. It was plated upright like it was still swimming. We also had the novelty of eating coconut ice - and old favourite from primary school fetes - for dessert.

Toofeys - 18 July 06

2009-01-03T22:44:00.004+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

In late July/August Peter departed for San Francisco and before he left we had one last hurrah. We went back to Toofey's where it all began the year before.

From memory I had a fillet of some description with the most beautiful beurre blanc. The sides at Toofey's were great (particularly the mushrooms and the green beans). I think that we finished of our dinner with a fabulously light and airy blueberry souffle.

The Rose Hotel - June 06

2009-01-03T22:38:00.002+11:00

Peter, Zoe, Gaby & Liz

The Posh Dinner Society welcomed a new member, Liz, with our journey to Port Melbourne for a fabulously modern take on delicious greek food at The Rose Hotel in Bay St.

The moussaka was unrecognisable but absolutely delicious and who can go past saganaki but Zoe and I are in agreement though that the red mullet was just the best.

Choi's - April 06

2009-01-03T22:29:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

Peter and I were astonished when Zoe told us that she'd never eaten Peking Duck. We felt that for her birthday that we should remedy that with a trip to one of Melbourne's premier providers of Peking Duck, Choi's in Hawthorn.

The plans were made, the date set - then her colleagues beat us to the punch introducing her to peking duck in the week before we were scheduled to go. That didn't stop us going ahead and enjoying ourselves none the less.

On this rainy night we continued the asian theme after dinner when we met up with some of Zoe's friends at the bar Manchuria.

Madame Sousou - November/December 05

2009-01-03T22:23:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

Madame Sousou is in Fitzroy, on Brunswick St, and is mainly French. It is my birthday in November and our dinner was partly for this and partly as a pre-Christmas / end-of-year celebration.

I don't have strong memories of the food here (eaten two years ago) except for cool tomato jellies.

Mecca Bah - August 05

2009-01-03T22:15:00.002+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

Our second Posh Dinner adventure was to the plate sharing deliciousness of Mecca Bah. We think that we went in August but it may have been later.

I hadn't eaten much middle eastern food prior to this - except for kebabs - and Mecca Bah really shows how interesting and varied it can be. I'm now the proud owner of Greg Malouf's two most recent cook/travel/coffee table books - Saha and Turquoise. I love Turquoise in particular after I spent a short time travelling in Turkey eating fabulous food.

Toofeys - June 05

2009-01-03T21:58:00.005+11:00

Zoe, Peter & Gaby

The Posh Dinner Society began after Zoe mentioned that she'd been to Toofey's for lunch with her grandma and mum for her birthday. Peter and I were just a little bit jealous and we all agreed to go there for our next special occasion which we agreed would be Peter's birthday in June.

Toofey's is now closed and has been replaced by Esposito, which we are yet to try out. It was consistently revieweed as one of the best seafood restaurants in Melbourne and after eating the spaghetti marinara I can attest to that.

As our first posh dinner adventure together it was fantastic and for a long time I wondered whether we would ever surpass it but I think that we have finally - Tea Rooms at Yarck in December 08.