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| View from our balcony |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Review: Bistrot D'Orsay
Nestled within Melbourne’s theatre district on Collins St is Bistrot D’Orsay.
Walking through the doors was like being transported to a cosy and intimate restaurant in the heart of Paris. The décor has a quaint French feel about it and the smells wafting from the kitchen were heavenly.
The four of us were seated by a lovely waitress, who was attentive but unobtrusive, and began our meal with wine or for me - a champagne cocktail.
We started with the house made brandied duck liver pâté. The butter covering was a bit hard but once you got past that, the pâté was delicious.
We moved onto our entrées and I had the twice cooked goat’s cheese soufflé on beetroot with walnuts. It was the first time I have had a soufflé and I decided to forget about my lactose intolerance and at least try a little bit. It tasted so good that I polished the whole thing off very quickly. With a subtle cheese flavour, the delicate cake texture just melted in my mouth.
Next was mains and I had the crispy skin salmon with carrot and pea puree. The salmon was perfectly cooked, pink and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Some of the others had the braised beef cheek on buttery mash potato with truffle oil, caramelised onion and asparagus. I had a little bite and I was almost wished that I had ordered it instead…
We managed to fit in dessert – the portion sizes may look a little small but they are definitely filling! I finished the meal with the parfait with green apple, rhubarb and crumble – delish! The sourness of the apple and rhubarb was perfectly matched with the creaminess of the parfait. Others on our table had the vanilla crème brulee, it had a beautiful vanilla flavour and a divine caramelised top!
We were pretty much ready to roll out of Bistrot D’Orsay by the end of the meal. It was a fantastic meal – not cheap by any means but well worth it. It’s a great place for a special occasion but make sure you book, especially on weekend when it gets quite full.
Bon Appétit!
Walking through the doors was like being transported to a cosy and intimate restaurant in the heart of Paris. The décor has a quaint French feel about it and the smells wafting from the kitchen were heavenly.
 |
| Inside Bistrot D'Orsay |
The four of us were seated by a lovely waitress, who was attentive but unobtrusive, and began our meal with wine or for me - a champagne cocktail.
We started with the house made brandied duck liver pâté. The butter covering was a bit hard but once you got past that, the pâté was delicious.
We moved onto our entrées and I had the twice cooked goat’s cheese soufflé on beetroot with walnuts. It was the first time I have had a soufflé and I decided to forget about my lactose intolerance and at least try a little bit. It tasted so good that I polished the whole thing off very quickly. With a subtle cheese flavour, the delicate cake texture just melted in my mouth.
 |
| Twice cooked goat’s cheese soufflé on beetroot with walnuts |
Next was mains and I had the crispy skin salmon with carrot and pea puree. The salmon was perfectly cooked, pink and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Some of the others had the braised beef cheek on buttery mash potato with truffle oil, caramelised onion and asparagus. I had a little bite and I was almost wished that I had ordered it instead…
 |
| Crispy skin salmon with carrot and pea puree |
 |
| Braised beef cheek on buttery mash potato with truffle oil, caramelised onion and asparagus |
We managed to fit in dessert – the portion sizes may look a little small but they are definitely filling! I finished the meal with the parfait with green apple, rhubarb and crumble – delish! The sourness of the apple and rhubarb was perfectly matched with the creaminess of the parfait. Others on our table had the vanilla crème brulee, it had a beautiful vanilla flavour and a divine caramelised top!
 |
| Parfait with green apple, rhubarb and crumble |
We were pretty much ready to roll out of Bistrot D’Orsay by the end of the meal. It was a fantastic meal – not cheap by any means but well worth it. It’s a great place for a special occasion but make sure you book, especially on weekend when it gets quite full.
Bon Appétit!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Photography challenge: B is for Baby
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| C’mon, give me a hug, you know you want to…. |
With its blue eyes and blonde tuff of hair, Bimbos Deluxe’s Kewpie mascot sits high above Brunswick St and watches over the comings and goings.
Created by Rose O’Neill, the Kewpie first appeared as a cartoon in The Ladies Home Journal in 1909 and was then regularly published for the next 25 years in different publications. “The idea grew from a baby brother when I was a little girl. I made drawings of him while I played with him. All his little looks and gestures came out later in the Kewpie,” Rose said in an interview with Hobbies Magazine.
The first Kewpie Kutouts appeared in the Women’s Home Companion magazine in 1912, a time when paper dolls were hugely popular. Rose, an illustrator, artist, sculptor and writer, designed the Kewpie paper dolls to have both a front and back. It was the first time that paper dolls had been made like that and children loved having a Kewpie that they could play with.
Building on its popularity, a Kewpie doll made from porcelain began to be produced in Germany in 1913. A bit like Hello Kitty, the Kewpie image was put on a whole range of merchandise from doorknockers to Kewpie Kameras.
All things Kewpie remained in great demand until the late 1920’s. They might seem gone but they will never be forgotten. Kewpies fan clubs exist all over the world and the International Rose O’Neill Club Foundation holds an annual festival in the USA called Kewpiesta!
The Kewpie doll started to be made from celluloid (a type of plastic) in 1949. The antique porcelain Kewpies are highly sought after and worth a LOT of money… So keep your eyes peeled!
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