The Kittyhawk, Sydney

Chips are good but homemade crisps are better. Especially when they're a vehicle for creme fraiche, caviar and briny pops of trout roe. It's just one of the snacks at The Kittyhawk, the French restaurant and cocktail bar you've probably walked past a million times and never noticed. Kittyhawk isn't entirely new, having opened in 2016. My interest to visit was piqued when I realised Alex Lynn, former head chef of Casoni, was now rattling the pans here.



Entering Kittyhawk feels like a bit of a strange and awkward maze at first, but keep walking and a second door spits you into a moody dining room. The semi-circular banquettes are where you want to be - cushioned and cosy comfort for the entire table. The dimly lit room is filled with prints, dark toned timbers and empty liquor bottles.

What I do love is the menu, a terrific range of dishes that can easily accommodate your table's collective appetite. Because you can order throughout the night, too, it means our late-running friend, doesn't miss out either.


Sardines, pickled lemon, aioli and toast $19

We kick off with Ortiz sardines, the saltiness of these prime fillets offset with pickled lemon slices pickled fennel and a dollop of aioli. The charred toast offers a pleasing smokiness.


 Trout roe with crispy potato $14

The trout roe with crispy potato is ridiculously addictive, like the fanciest chip and dip you and your boujee friends could possibly imagine.


Trout roe and caviar on crispy potato

Slather generously and savour that creamy lusciousness against carby crunch. Bliss.


Steak tartare with horseradish $20 

Housemade crisps also arrive with our steak tartare, seasoned with just enough cornichon to make me sigh with relief. Could I just have all my meals served on potato crisps please?


Bone marrow, parsley and black garlic toast $17

Ordering bone marrow on any menu is usually a no-brainer for me. This one is cooked to perfection, the trench of marrow wobbly with fattiness but still whole, slicked with a parsley sauce in forest green. The black garlic toast on the side reminds me of Vegemite toast, but truth be told, I end up preferring to eat these components separately so I can appreciate each of them on their own and unadulterated.


Boudin noir with French toast $16 

Boudin noir blood sausage arrives as crisp slices on top of rafts of French toast. Melted cheese adds a extra layer of decadence, the whole shebang crowned with petals of pickled onion.

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Gruyere cheese donuts $8 for 2 pieces

And because Chef Lynn has realised I'm dining tonight (I'd sent him a direct message on Instagram to reserve an order of scarlet prawns), we're sent out a round of gruyere cheese donuts from the kitchen.


Inside the gruyere cheese donut

If you love cheese, you'll love these donuts, elongated footballs of cheesy sophistication.



Let's not forget the drinks list either, a comprehensive menu that includes a depth of rum and cocktails like lean in all different directions. The Ledo Road with pandan leaf, lime juice, pandan syrup, toasted coconut milk and Bacardi has my name all over it.


Gnocchi Parisienne with mushroom fricasse and asparagus $27 

We finish up with larger dishes, including the gnocchi Parisienne. This French take on gnocchi is potato-less, instead using choux pastry that is boiled and then pan-fried. It makes for a starchier and slightly chewier mouthfeel, the golden-seared pillows served with a deeply rich and savoury mushroom fricasse. Crisp asparagus spears provide much appreciated freshness and crunch.


Scarlet prawn tagliatelle with prawn bisque $38 

And of course we have to have to the scarlet prawn tagliatelle. These are huge portions, each one easily shared between two. The scarlet prawns themselves are enormous, cooked so the flesh is still soft and sweet. The highlight is in the prawn head of course, a bonanza of prawn intensity that deserves to be licked, scraped and sucked with enthusiastic abandon.


Rum baba brioche cake with rum and creme patissiere $14 

Dessert is a classic rum baba, theatrically set on fire at the table. Once the blue flame subsides, you're left with a boozy brioche laced with rum, best eaten with a good spoonful of creme patissiere.


Creme caramel with miso caramel

And because it was my birthday, the kitchen sends out a complimentary dessert: creme caramel with miso caramel on the side. It takes us a while to work out the flavour of the caramel on the side - later verified with Chef Lynn - its savoury saltiness adds nuance and complexity to this traditional French dessert.

All up, good food and good fun. And if you enjoy live music, swing by on Thursday nights when blues-rock band Cass Greaves and the Ragin Cajuns perform.






Kittyhawk
16 Phillip Lane, Sydney
Tel: 0455 041 172

Opening hours
Tuesday to Saturday 4pm-12am


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All-you-can-eat raclette at Loluk Bistro, Surry Hills

What's better than grilled cheese? ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT GRILLED CHEESE. Imagine a landslide of molten cheese, scraped onto a plate of potatoes, bread and charcuterie. With endless cheese. Yep. Unlimited. Non-stop. Never-Ending. Unrestricted. You know you want it.


Melted raclette cheese

Live out all your wildest cheesy dreams with the all-you-can-eat raclette at Loluk Bistro, a quaint French bistro in a converted terrace in Surry Hills. The front dining room is tiny but the courtyard out the back - accessed by a scenic walk through the kitchen - is much more airy.

The all-you-can-eat raclette menu costs $49 which is pretty darn reasonable. That includes unlimited raclette, boiled potatoes and salad. You also get a serve of bread and charcuterie. And friendly staff to serve you all night. And do the dishes. Not bad considering raclette itself costs $55/kg.

It happens every Tuesday and Wednesday night and, unlike most other raclette offerings in Sydney, runs throughout the year.


Raclette cheese under the grill at Loluk

Raclette is a Swiss cheese by origin, popularly melted by a campfire or grill and scraped onto bread. It began as an easy and mobile meal for cow herders, but today it's enjoyed as more of a social event, much like fondue.


Boiled potatoes (unlimited)

At Loluk, the carriage of choice for your melted cheese is the humble potato (unlimited as part of the raclette all-you-can-eat). While the cheese is melting in the kitchen, diners are instructed to start cutting up the boiled potatoes on their plate.


Scraping melted raclette cheese onto potatoes

Staff will then come around and scrape lashings of gooey molten cheese all over your potatoes. It's wondrous.


Melted raclette cheese on potatoes

There's a nutty, slightly acidic flavour to raclette, not dissimilar to Gruyere. It languishes with ease across the potatoes. The potatoes, I have to say, are impressive too, with a waxy lusciousness that makes them ideal for melted cheese.


Charcuterie plate for four

Alongside your potatoes, you'll score a charcuterie plate - a selection of prosciutto, saucisson, coppa, white ham and bresaola served with pickled onions and cornichons. Additional serves of charcuterie are available for $8 but we don't need any more, especially since we're intent on filling our stomachs with cheese.


Salad (unlimited)

Salad is unlimited too. Sure it's only a simple salad of leaves tossed with dressing, but trust me, you'll be relishing a mouthful of greens as a much-needed palate cleanser between all the cheese.


Grilled raclette cheese

"More cheese?" The staff are super keen to keep on plying you with cheese. I'd expected the restaurant to try and discreetly restrict cheese consumption, but the staff on the floor merrily oblige you with as much cheese as you can stomach. Literally.

And there's seriously something so mesmerising about watching the cheese river slide off the half-wheel and cascade onto your plate.


Gooey and golden raclette cheese on potatoes

Glorious cheese. Our table is divided over whether people prefer their raclette all soft and melty or tinged with golden and caramelised edges. I'm all about the latter.


Potatoes and raclette cheese

How much cheese can you eat? It all depends on your greed. And lactose tolerance. I manage five serves of raclette before I have to wave the white flag. And loosen my belt.


Profiterole with ice cream and chocolate sauce

Dessert is included, a profiterole with ice cream and warm chocolate sauce. I wish I could say it's incredible. It isn't. The pastry feels forlorn and the ice cream is low in butterfat.

Not that we needed any more dairy products at this point.



But the raclette is good. And plentiful. And the staff are a friendly bunch too.






Loluk Bistro
2/411 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 7900 6251

Opening hours
Lunch Friday - Saturday 12pm-3pm
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday 6pm-10pm


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Raclette Tuesdays at Handpicked Cellar Door, Sydney

Hello winter. Hello melted cheese. If a hot molten river of oozing cheese is your idea of bliss, then you'll definitely want to make friends with raclette. This semi-hard cheese is melted under a red hot grill and then scraped and served over potatoes. Where can you get raclette in Sydney?  It's now served up every Tuesday at Handpicked Cellar Door on Kensington Street.


Handpicked Cellar Door lounge area

The Handpicked Cellar Door operates as a wine tasting venue and retailer for its label of "handpicked" wines from around Australia and the world. It also doubles as a wine bar, offering wines by the glass alongside cheese boards and charcuterie. Wines range from $8-$35 per glass.


The Experience Room for group tastings and events

Raclette is usually a winter-only event but the waitstaff I spoke to seemed convinced that it was so popular, it may run permanently. Officially, it's on until the end of August. On the night we dined, there were so many patrons that we ended up being seated in the rear Experience Room, usually reserved for private group tastings and events.


Half a wheel of raclette

Raclette is a cheese that originates in the Swiss and French Alps, made using unpasteurised cows milk. At room temperature it has a reasonably mild flavour but the true magic happens once it's subjected to heat.


Half wheel racelette grill

At Handpicked, they use a traditional grill designed for half wheels. It takes about three or four minutes for the cheese to bubble and turn golden brown. That's when it's ready to raclette, or scrape, the cheese onto the waiting potatoes.


Raclette Tuesdays menu

There's only one raclette option: a small plate of potatoes, pancetta and pickles served with melted raclette. Cheese dreams are made of these? You bet they are.


Swipe Right (Perfect Match) raclette matching wine flight $25
L-R: Chardonnay from Mornington Peninsula VIC, Shiraz from Heathcote VIC, Shiraz from Barossa Valley SA, Cabernet Merlot from Margaret River WA

We also go with the matching wine flight, four half-pours of wines from around Australia. It's interesting to see how the taste of both the wines and the raclette alter with each matching. My favourites turn out to be the chardonnay and the Barossa shiraz.


Melted raclette on potatoes

We're warned there may be a wait for our raclette, but it arrives within ten minutes. It's not a huge serving but there's enough to keep you occupied for the entirety of your wine flight.


Cheese Dreams Are Made of These $24
Melted raclette cheese straight from the wheel served with pancetta, potatoes and pickles

Expect about 6-8 chat potatoes, three slices of pancetta, two pickled gherkins and a handful of rocket dressed with balsamic. The raclette is the obvious star of the show, a melty stretchy oozing puddle of cheese with a faint nutty sweetness. The best bits are tinged golden brown, with a resistance that's satisfying chewy.


Melted raclette cheese ready to be added to the boiled potatoes

It's worth hovering near the raclette grills to watch the melty cheese scraping action at least once. Is it just me who finds the slow-motion ooze a little hot under the collar?


Golden river of grilled raclette

It's mesmerising...


That's the spot

And oh so satisfying.


Stretchy oozing raclette

And if the raclette doesn't warm you up, the wine will. Happy cheese day y'all.






Handpicked Cellar Door
50 Kensington Street, Chippendale, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9392 9190

Opening hours
Monday to Wednesday 11am - 10pm
Thursday to Friday 11am - 12 midnight
Saturday 10am - 12 midnight
Sunday 10am - 10pm

Raclette Tuesdays will run at Handpicked Cellar Door every Tuesday 5.30pm-10pm until the end of August 2018.

Restaurant Hubert Bridge Bon Appetit, Sydney

Bridge Bon Appetit? It's the newest dining space open at Restaurant Hubert, a sophisticated wine bar that runs the length of the mezzanine corridor above the main Beatrix dining room. Diners waiting for tables downstairs are redirected here for drinks but it's a worthwhile dining destination of its own, with a distinct menu separate to both Restaurant Hubert and Bar Pincer.

We arrive so early on a Saturday afternoon that Bridge Bon Appetit isn't even open - their doors are unlocked at 6pm. Instead we're invited to wait downstairs inside Bar Pincer (both Bar Pincer and Restaurant Hubert open at 5pm).


Prime beef tartare $24
Wagyu topside, classic condiments and French fries from Bar Pincer

Pre-dinner drink? We opt for a pre-dinner tartare instead. Because #priorities

The prime beef tartare arrives within five minutes and it's just as good as we remembered. The hand-cut beef is lusciously chewy and zingy with the just the right amount of cornichons. A tumble of skinny French fries provide the hot and salty crunch we're looking for.


Counter dining on the mezzanine Bridge Bon Appetit overlooking the Beatrix Dining Room

We head back on flight of stairs to Bridge Bon Appetit. The mezzanine corridor wasn't originally designed for diners. It was merely a passageway to the private theatre at the end of the corridor. But it works as a wine bar set-up, the corridor flanked by timber beam counters lined with stools.

It's dim and moody up here, with tasselled lamps acting as natural dividers between cosying couples. The muffled din of diners downstairs can be heard, and if you peek over the edge of the railing you can score a flat lay view of everything that people are eating below.



La petit roe boat $18 for 2 pieces
Uni, avruga, salmon roe and cod roe barquette

We start with the la petit roe boat, surely the cleverest play on words we've seen this year. Set sail on a crisp barquette boat loaded with uni sea urchin roe, avrugar caviar and salmon roe on a bed of whipped cod roe.

Four kinds of eggs in one mouthful? Bliss. Every component is superbly plump and fresh. And if you're a party of three, the kitchen will happily tweak the usual serving size from two boats to three.


Saucisson sec and pickles $16
Pork and black pepper salami and pickled vegetables

The saucisson sec makes for an ideal snack pre-, post- or for your dinner. We pick our way through chunky slices of cured fatty-flecked pork salami and the tangy sourness of pickled carrots, celery and cauliflower. The only thing that's missing is a crusty baguette.


Anchois $22 with Hubert baguette and butter $6
Angelachu anchovies with eschalot and brown butter

Housemade baguettes are available. We follow our waiter's advice and order ours with the angelachu anchovies, regarded by many as the best anchovies in the world. The anchovy fillets are pristine, fishes from the Cantabrian Sea in northern Spain and then salted for six to nine months.

We're instructed to make a mini anchovy sandwich here, slathering the baguette with brown butter before layering it with the anchovy fillet, eschalot rings and greens. It's simple but satisfying, and the anchovy fillets are remarkably good, with an earthy saltiness that maintains delicate refinement.


Veal tartare $24
Raw veal, rosemary and pane carasau

Can you have two tartares in one evening? Absolutely. The veal tartare is distinctly different from the version downstairs, its dressing more noticeably tangy along with a hint of chilli. We're not sure that the shards of pane carasau, a Sardinian flat bread, work in this dish, but we do relish the salt bush. And the slightly mouth-tingling seasoning is reminiscent of Japanese shichimi togarashi.


Posson marine $18
Cured fish and native succulent vinaigrette

There's much to like about the cured John Dory too, firm and fresh fish. But it's the native succulent vinaigrette that really steals the show, a vivid green richness that's so tasty we want to lick the plate clean.


Caviar omelette $36
Omelette, creme fraiche and caviar buerre blanc

For maximum luxe, it's hard to go past the caviar omelette drowned in a lake of buerre blanc sauce. The omelette is soft and barely set, like the airiest pillow. We're told the sauce is actually half buerre blanc and half miso. The miso adds an umami complexity to the French butter sauce, marked with popped of caviar and the gentle crunch of chives.


Corn pudding 

Desserts change regularly. We're saddened that the mont blanc is not available but do order the corn pudding, an ode to corn on a plate. The corn pudding is strangely comforting, its silky texture contrasted with a rubble of different tastes and textures, everything from fermented corn kernels to walnuts to white chocolate and fresh tarragon.

The nutty toasted corn kernels will bring you flashbacks of popcorn as your brain tries to process a dessert that's equal parts savoury and sweet. It's different. It's fun. It's so very Restaurant Hubert.






Bridge Bon Appetit at Restaurant Hubert
15 Bligh Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9232 0881

Opening hours
Monday to Saturday 6pm-12am


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