Gastro-Pub Crawl
Image: First the Lord Mayor Clover Moore came for the nightclubs, but I didn’t do much clubbing anymore, so all I did was join some stupid Facebook group. Then she came for the pubs with bands, but I said nothing because my local pub did not have a band (and frankly I found them a bit loud). But as I discovered on my gastro-pub crawl, there are more than a few reasons we should all be fighting to protect our local and historic pubs from one-size fits all legislation...
First the Lord Mayor Clover Moore came for the nightclubs, but I didn’t do much clubbing anymore, so all I did was join some stupid Facebook group. Then she came for the pubs with bands, but I said nothing because my local pub did not have a band (and frankly I found them a bit loud). But as I discovered on my gastro-pub crawl, there are more than a few reasons we should all be fighting to protect our local and historic pubs from one-size fits all legislation…
Stirred by the rumblings about the closure of The Hopetoun and the ongoing five-year struggle Matthew and Daniel Rule (owners of The Annandale Hotel) are still facing in the Land and Environment Court, I decided it was a pertinent time to undertake my first pub crawl. Not long thereafter I was in The Royal Oak Balmain happily ensconced in a quasi chef’s table setting at the kitchen’s pass, looking at a collection of cooking tomes. Eyeing Larousse Gastronomique and Anthony Bourdain’s original Les Halles Cookbook with a Josef Chromy ‘Pepik’ chardonnay (a bargain at $35 a bottle) in my hand, an ironic reading of John Thorpe’s now infamous line, “we don’t want to sit in a hole and drink chardonnay and read a book,” was inescapable.
The Royal Oak Balmain seems to have gone the way of a restaurant with a residual front bar, housing pokies that no one seems to be playing. Our waitress agrees it’s “more a restaurant flowing into the bar busy.” Thus it’s lucky I’m here to sample the Gastro Pub Tour, part of the 2009 Balmain-Rozelle Food Week running from the 17th-23rd October. I’m tempted by a bowl of Tasmania mussels steamed in cider, bacon, cream and herbs ($22) well-matched with a Pipsqueak Cider, so pale that I couldn’t help but look through it to the ‘residue’ of Balmain’s working class past across the street. There’s a red brick housing commission three-storey walk-up and a station wagon that looks as if someone’s living in the back of it; parked right behind a shiny new red Mercedes SLK280.
When I get to The Riverview, another discreet hotel nestled on a picturesque Balmain back street, the difference in pubs is even more obvious. The three remaining pokies are tucked away like an embarrassment to the otherwise genteel refinement of the rest of the historic venue. Their ‘pub menu’ includes items like truffle custard, wagyu beef bresaola, morcilla and calves’ liver. Licensee Tim Condon explains: “In this economic climate, pubs need to do what they can to stay open. It’s shifted away from gaming, and pubs now need to be more creative. Good food and good wine are a big deal. People care not only about what they eat, but who’s cooking it. We’re jumping on that band wagon.” In more tasty terms, take a stab at Chef James Watson’s Food Week selection of slow-roasted Berkshire pork belly, caramelised figs, skordalia, wild rocket and sherry vinegar matched by a glass of Greystone ‘Norwester’ Pinot Noir ($35).
To my relief, the walk to the final pub in the tour works up a hunger. The 3 Weeds is another of the inner west’s original hotels, established back in 1881. Once famous for live music and bands, these days it wins most of its accolades for The Restaurant at 3 Weeds. Delving into the garden-like plate of pan roasted John Dory with squid ink and lemon gnocchi, confit cuttlefish and shellfish bisque from Chef Leigh McDivitt, I can see why. Their sommelier has completed the special ($38) with a glass of ‘04 Scarborough Blue Label Chardonnay and it’s an excellent pairing.
I’m definitely of the set more likely to be found in restaurants than pubs, so the extent of foodie culture that I found in these three iconic watering holes did impress. By finding my own community, I got to see why these ‘public houses’ still have a role as the focal points of communities. This is true regardless of what those communities like to do inside them – yes, even if it’s clubbing and listening to noisy bands. I rest my chardonnay with a final urging to support your local pub. If you get to the three I visited during October, you’ll get a physical reward as well as the social one; a complimentary bottle of First Creek wine.
The Royal Oak Balmain
36 College Street, Balmain (02) 9810 2311 www.royaloakbalmain.com.au
The Riverview
18 Birchgrove Road, Balmain (02) 9810 1151 www.theriverviewhotel.com.au
3 Weeds Rozelle
197 Evans Street, Rozelle (02) 9818 2788 www.3weeds.com.au
