Put the rest in the doggie bag thanks

A French Chef Is Making Sure Leftovers Don’t Get Left Behind - The New York Times:

The NY Times reports that the French government has recently become involved in l’affaire leftovers. As part of an effort to reduce food waste, since Jan. 1 restaurants have been required by law to send all customers home with le gourmet bag, a rebranded doggie bag, on request.

One of the first high-end restaurants in France to embrace the concept of le doggie bag was Le Coq Rico, a Parisian temple to roast chicken opened by the chef Antoine Westermann in 2012. The restaurant specializes in whole roast birds, and diners are encouraged to experience the chicken in its entirety: from egg to table, from cockscomb to tail feathers.

“A wing is a different flavor from the breast, and the breast is a different flavor from the oysters,” the chef wrote from Paris. “We want each client to be able to enjoy any part of the bird that they prefer.”

The traditional French way of eating embraces moderate portions and clean plates; taking food home was long considered impossibly gauche.

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Cocktails for the day

Summer drinking: Paris rendezvous — FT.com:

"... de Soto’s drinks seem fresh and pure. The Mace cocktail combines beetroot juice, aquavit, orange juice and spices in a manner so deliciously wholesome it could almost be drunk for breakfast; L’Herbe Est Toujours Plus Verte Ailleurs sees the delicate flavours of shochu, grass and white needle tea come together in a little sake cup. The only blot on this otherwise extremely composed menu is a completely deranged sour made with mustard, banana and the French gentian aperitif Suze."



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Big Poppa's

Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Bar/Italian

Restaurant	Big Poppa's
Street address	96 Oxford Street
Suburb	Darlinghurst
State	NSW
Postcode	2010
Phone
Website	https://www.facebook.com/bigpoppasbar/
Style	Italian
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"... Big Poppa's has come out swinging with a mash-up of hip-hop and Italian food. ... Upstairs, it's an Italian trattoria serving late night comfort food"
Reviewer	Myffy Rigby - SMH 13/7/16
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Balcon by Taparino

Sydney NSW 2000 Wine bar/ Spanish

Restaurant	Balcon by Tapavino
Street address	17 Bligh Street
Suburb	Sydney
State	NSW
Postcode	2000
Phone	02 9223 6176
Website	tapavino.com.au/balcon-by-tapavino
Style	Wine bar/Spanish
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"Balcon is about Spanish wine first, and Spanish food second; about relaxing over Rioja, nibbling almonds, not giving a damn about fat, salt and cholesterol, and staying too long over lunch on the vast al fresco balcon to the rear. In other words, it's just as it should be."
Reviewer	Terry Durack - SMH 21/7/16 14.5/20
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Food is, or is not, art? Eating at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

When they designed a restaurant at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, they set out to bring together "a revolving collection of culinary influencers, innovators, and icons to make their contributions accessible for greater public engagement." And according to a review in The New York Times this week they succeeded magnificently.

By avoiding originality, In Situ is the most original new restaurant in the country.
The restaurant opened a month ago inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in a space off the lobby that was built during the museum’s transformative recent expansion. Inside, the chef, Corey Lee, faithfully replicates dishes dreamed up by Sean Brock, Alice Waters and other innovators. None of the recipes are his own.

The Latin phrase “in situ” is used when a work of art is embedded in its original location. This is just what In Situ’s dishes are not. The menu, folded and fastened with a metal museum admissions tag, looks like a guide to a gallery exhibition of works on temporary loan. One side shows a map of the world on a tilted axis — “a dislocation that hints at the shift from a recipe’s origin to its new situation at In Situ,” says a note from Andrea Lenardin Madden, an architect who designed the menu, the table settings, the server’s uniforms and other details.

Neal Benezra, SFMOMA's Director, describes chef Lee as "our curator of food" as he sets out to make In Situ an exhibition restaurant and collaborative project featuring chefs from around the globe.
What a brilliant idea for an art gallery restaurant.
As the NY Times concludes:

One thing In Situ proves, just by existing, is that certain chefs are now cultural figures in a sense that once applied only to practitioners of what used to be called high culture: literature, concert music, avant-garde painting.

A little dash of ginseng in the beef

Never Mind Grass-Fed, How About Elixir-Fed Meats? - The New York Times:

"Forget grass-fed beef and free-range poultry. China’s farmers say they have found the next big health-food craze: cows, pigs and ducks raised on a steady diet of ancient Chinese medicine.

 Practitioners in China have prescribed bitter blends of medicinal plants and herbs for centuries to ward off disease in humans.

Now, farmers are adapting the age-old elixirs — a dash of ginseng here, a speck of licorice there — for use on livestock.

They’re hoping to tap into the growing popularity of traditional medicine and health food in Chinese society.

The results, they promise, are not only delicious but healthy: lean, juicy meats that can protect against colds, arthritis and other illnesses. (The science is less resounding, though one study did find that cows that were fed Chinese medicines performed better in hot weather.)"



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Another gem from "Cut and Paste" - In praise of the long lunch

My admiration for The Australian's "Cut and Paste" keeps growing. This morning's gem (with due acknowledgement to the Financial Review):

A restaurant reviewer's words of the week - an olive bowl designed around the concept of sharing

My restaurant review quote of the week comes from A.A.Gill in London's Sunday Times.
Writing of a visit to the recently opened Switch House, Level 9, Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG:

The menu is one of those lists put together by a committee to include edible cultural signifiers, trendy favourites and politically neutral ingredients. A note at the bottom says that the steak knives are hand-finished in Peckham, which doesn’t make the steak taste different, and that the olive bowl is designed around the concept of sharing. I love a bowl with a concept. The salt cellars reflect the exterior of the building, apparently, with a velvety roughness, and all the staff are paid a London living wage.

Restaurants becoming a less difficult place to work - out with the machismo kitchen culture

From behind the paywall at the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday 17 July 2016:

Ask almost any restaurant industry veteran about her early days on the job, and she’ll regale you with tales of screaming chefs, flying hot pans and countless slammed fists. The restaurant kitchen has long been, literally and figuratively, a heated place, heightened further by chefs’ egos and a hierarchical machismo culture that prides itself on instilling fear in those at the bottom rungs.
Today, particularly in the Bay Area, things are changing. Such stories certainly still exist, but the industry is beginning to experience a shift as it catches up to a more tolerant and enlightened general workforce.
Many believe it’s the direct result of a severe staff shortage, a problem that’s made it increasingly difficult for restaurants to operate the way they once did. The culinary field has become a much broader one, too, with tech companies and other big businesses luring cooks out of the kitchen, promising more humane hours, higher pay and enticing perks. Plus, organizations devoted to labor equality have shined a spotlight on issues that historically have made the restaurant a difficult place to work.
Yet a sexual harassment case this spring highlighted that not all restaurant employees feel as if progress has been made. Celebrity chef Michael Chiarello was sued by members of his Coqueta staff for alleged explicit advances and failure to pay wages, among other accusations. This served as a wake-up call for others to focus on safe, gentler workplace environments.

A cheap night's eating out in Sydney

It's no wonder Millennials can't afford Sydney house prices. All explained here. 1 side of mozzarella~$26.00.Jeebus. pic.twitter.com/lRZkraql2J

— Josh Bornstein (@JoshBBornstein) July 17, 2016

Acre

Camperdown NSW 2050 Australian - city farm-to-table is the aim

Restaurant	Acre
Street address	31A Mallett Street
Suburb	Camperdown
State	NSW
Postcode	2050
Phone	0413 786 137
Website	acreeatery.com.au
Style	Contemporary
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"... there is good cooking and real charm here – with more to come, when the farm grows to be as important as the table."
Reviewer	Terry Durack SMH 8/7/16 13.5/20
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Coconut Grove

Harris Park NSW 2150 Indian

Restaurant	Coconut Grove
Street address	46 Marion Street
Suburb	Harris Park
State	NSW
Postcode	2150
Phone	02 9687 3853
Website	cocogrove.com.au
Style	Indian
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"... While there's definitely the opportunity to go big on curries and the like (and I highly suggest you do) there's a whole lot of small plate good times to discover..."
Reviewer	Myffy Rigby - Sydney Morning Herald 12 July 2016
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East Bar and Dining

Mount Martha VIC 3934 Contemporary

Restaurant	East Bar and Dining
Street address	464 Esplanade
Suburb	Mount Martha
State	VIC
Postcode	3934
Phone	03 5974 4443
Website	eastdining.com.au
Style	Contemporary
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"... the menu on the website featuring every cheffy trend of the last three years – kimchi, cultured creams, liquid nitrogen and chocolate with beets ... there's a lot of skill and passion here ... Pro Tip: Come early, it gets busy and slower later at night."
Reviewer	Gemima Cody 12 July 2016 14/20
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Hellenic Republic

Williamstown, VIC 3016 Greek

Restaurant	Hellenic Hotel
Street address	28 Ferguson Street
Suburb	Williamstown
State	VIC
Postcode	3016
Phone	03 93934 1000
Website	hellenicrepublic.com.au/williamstown
Style	Greek
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"There's fun to be had. ... George Calombaris brings his brand of Greek to the beach."
Reviewer	Gemima Cody 15/7/16 14/20
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The Resident

Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Mediterranean

Restaurant	The Resident
Street address	18 Vollege Street
Suburb	Darlinghust
State	NSW
Postcode	2010
Phone	02 8318 8618
Website	theresidentdining.com.au
Style	Mediterranean
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"clever, contemporary food, lots of seasonal and vegetal dishes, consistently excellent sauces, one major (1 kg dry-aged rib-eye) steak hit, realistic prices and polished staff."
Reviewer	Terry Durack - Sydney Morning Herald 13/7/16 15/20
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Ristorante Tartufo

Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Italian

Restaurant	Ristorante Tartufo
Street address	1000 Ann Street
Suburb	Fortitude Valley
State	QLD
Postcode	4006
Phone	07 3852 1500
Website	tartufo.com.au
Style	Italian
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"Everything we tried at lunch at Tartufo was seriously excellent. ... Trying hard and kicking goals. I’ll be back."
Reviewer	John Lethlean _ The Australian 9/1/16 4/5
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Pink Moon Saloon

Adelaide SA 5000 Australian/bar

Restaurant	Pink Moon Saloon
Street address	21 Leigh Street
Suburb	Adelaide
State	SA
Postcode	5000
Phone	0407 111 857
Website	pinkmoonsaloon.com.au
Style	Australian
Awards Fairfax Good Food Guides
Awards Gourmet Guide
The Australian Top 50
Restaurant & Catering Awards
Other Awards
Reviews & Notes	"The simplicity of the menu structure is impressive: small snacks, sandwiches, ploughman’s, salads and “The Daily Chops”, which means whatever protein is happening that day in the smoky oven. It’s a restrained approach limiting choice to two or three dishes in each category. But it works."
Reviewer	John Lethlean - The Australian 18/1/16 4/5
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