Stimulating Eating

With Mother’s Day coming up soon, and the K-Rudd’s stimulus package burning a hole in your pockets, here’s a bunch of things that should make stimulating eating!

Recession Busting Specials
If you haven’t visited your favourite restaurant in a while, why not share your recent good fortune with a restaurateur? At the moment I am trying my hardest to check out as many of the recession busting specials on offer all over town. Let’s support those businesses who are doing their best to help everybody afford to find a little comforting cheer in a tougher economy. Most notable of course is Essen Restaurant www.essenrestaurant.com.au at Broadway who recently gave away a plate-sized schnitzel and a beer to anyone who booked a table online. There wasn’t a catch. After ploughing my way through his excellent Chicken Jaeger Schnitzel, I can only hope owner Geert Elzinga is right when he declares: “Well people will always need schnitzel.”

Right now there are dining discounts to be had Sydney-wide, including  paying what you believe the meal is worth at Sobo Bistro in Bondi, ‘Pizza e Birre’ for twenty bucks at Carpaccio in Leichhardt; a trio of courses for thirty three bucks at Bei Amici in Darling Point; and inexpensive pasta at La Sala in Surry Hills.
Essen Restaurant, 133-135 Broadway, Ultimo (02) 9211 3805

Baby Spice
At a recent yum cha review I dined with Rebecca Le Tourneau and her delightful nine year old daughter. My young guest impressed me with her easy acceptance of spice and strong flavours; in fact I was rather shocked to see no concessions toward mild food in the selection Rebecca ordered. Upon enquiry, I was told that from very early on, Rebecca was feeding her daughter a version of what was on her own plate, whatever it contained.

If that’s a shade laissez-faire for you, take the guesswork out of what to feed with a Baby Spice pack from Herbie’s www.herbies.com.au in Rozelle. The kit contain six diverse spices devised especially for lengthening your child’s palate, and bringing you one step closer to returning to your favourite Indian restaurant without having to find a babysitter. So sprinkle some cinnamon into their mashed banana, and cook their pumpkin with a dab of ras el hanout – all up the spices and eleven accompanying recipes will set you back thirty dollars. If you’re looking for an interesting gift for a new mother and hate going into all-things-baby stores as much as I do, this could be your saving grace!
Herbies, 745 Darling Street, Rozelle (02) 9555 6035

Sweet Infinity
Little beats a decent pie as a good value meal in cooler weather and Leanne Beck’s pies at Sweet Infinity www.sweetinfinity.com.au in Woolloomooloo have won another fan. Her Lamb and Pea Pie ($6.50) is a classic pastry shell generously filled with beautifully cooked lamb pieces well integrated with mushy peas. I haven’t had a better lamb pie even if you take the baking of the Country Women’s Association into account. While you’re there, satisfy your sweet tooth with a light and milky White Chocolate Mousse ($5) topped with fresh blueberries; or a moist, golden mini-loaf of Orange and Poppy Seed Friand ($3). Not to crow about it, but the baking here also attracts some of the area’s more famous locals; I hear Russell has a sweet tooth.
Sweet Infinity, 53 Riley Street, Woolloomooloo (02) 9331 2448

Boon Chocolates
Fanny Chan’s chocolates are so good, even my significant other who claims not like chocolate finds them compelling. The Darlinghurst shop which is curiously reminiscent of a chocolate box itself, is co-owned by brother Alex Chan who explains Fanny “feels what she wants to make, so it’s very, very personal.” Fanny’s chocolates mark a culinary safari, echoing her Chinese and Filipino heritage; Manila of course lies on the very route the Spanish galleons took back to Spain, carrying chocolate from the Aztecs. Add to that a Belgian chocolate education from Patrick Mertens (one of Belgium’s top ten chocolatiers) and a plethora of Australian ingredients and you have a ‘Pash’ a layered square of superb Belgian chocolate that cleverly rolls passionfruit and caramel around your palate in equal measure. I could wax lyrical about the vanilla and star anise in the ‘Lien’ but it’s a ‘being there’ experience. Theoretically you could also buy a box for your Mother, but they might not be easy to part with.
Boon Chocolates, 251 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst (02) 9356 8876

Just The Bill Please
Perhaps it’s no coincidence, but Bill Granger’s latest book Feed Me Now! (RRP $49.99) landed on my desk just in time for this pre-Mother’s Day column. It’s all about modern family cooking where corners must sometimes be cut in order to get a meal on the table while children play merrily underfoot. Beautiful photography, simple recipes with few ingredients (and indeed the odd tablespoon of red curry paste) may not appeal to any seasoned cooks, but new mothers who’ve never been a fan of the cooking might like it better if Bill Granger is in their kitchen.