March into Merivale Part 1
March Into Merivale has come to an end and what a great run it has had! from the launch party which was open to one and all and to the finale Chefs of Merivale Gala Dinner. a giant thanks to Melissa for the invite for a behind the scenes tour of the dinner! i was introduced to Melissa by a friend from high school Amit (HIHI!) at a mates engagement party over the weekend. lol apparently noods’ footy friends lurk my blog haha (HI JAMES HI SEAN!) it is a very small world indeed. and so a, group, of, food, bloggers rocked up to the Ivy with giant cameras at hand. with happy smiles we were led up the stairs and into the kitchen where the canapes were being made
a giant pot of tomatoes compels you! we wandered around the kitchen trying to keep out of the way of the chefs prepping the canapes and golly they were oh so quiet! none of the madness or screams i remember from a certain pancake restaurant… and then suddenly my new favourite sentence was heard: “plate me up some canapes for the foodbloggers!” heh awesome. we havent received any official names or ingredients of the canapes and so an email debate was had and helen and shez declared winners in memory and descriptions =P
Nobiyuki Ura, Sushi E
Tuna tartare topped with finely diced tomatoes and a sprig of chervil served on lavosh crackers. helen, shez and i are watching in awe at the attention to detail and with his head bent low with concentration a perfect cylinder of tuna is created and with a smile he holds out the canape. please dont break please dont break i chanted as i nibbled the edges of the cracker before reaching the tartare and it was indeed sublime and chef ura glances at us just as we break into smiles and he grins back
Richard Johnson
Quail saltimboca- quail breast and sage leaf wrapped in prosciutto served with a spicy tomato relish. howard has ‘forgotten’ his camera and pawns off the photo-taking to qing while chatting to richard about Tottenham lol i still have issues with tottenham after they killed my tipping bah
Lobster with fresh fig, julienned apple and micro leaves. i like food in spoons! neat and easy to eat. i also like lobster and never would have guessed it could taste so awesome with apple!
Tuna topped with scallop and tobiko flying fish roe doused with a ponzu dressing. i loved loved LOVED this. super fresh with the pop of the roe made this so very moreish
Akira Urata, Teppanyaki
Salt and pepper calamari topped with deep-fried lotus root chips served in butter lettuce cups. the lettuce cup held my precious deepfried calamari which was so tender
woohoo im sneaking in a shot of me eating heh stay tuned for part 2 the merivale gala dinner!
