Food review by Steve Liebeskind and  wine review by Stephen O'Halloran

Food

Our new President Bill Alexiou-Hucker hit the kitchen and pans to begin his reign and to add extra pressure it was a mixed lunch. There were 45 attendees after having 5 people drop out in the last 24 hours before the lunch.

Canapes

* Feta muffins - beautifully present and morish starter. These were served cold and they looked like they were warm.
* Seared scallops and taramasalata, grated bottarga served on a spoon. The scallops were well cooked and the taramasalata added a soft texture to compliment the scallop. The bottarga (cured fish roe-pouch) gave the nibble a different dimension. There was a strong seafood flavour with the scallop, but the canape was well received.
* BBQ octopus on skordalia and toasted crouton. It's Bill so we had to have octopus and he didn’t disappoint. The seafood was well-cooked and the skordalia (garlic and potato dip) was a great complement to the octopus. Add a little olive oil and we have a winner.

No one went hungry from the canapes

Main

Balsamic glazed chicken with parsley, lemon zest, garlic, kalamata olive and olive oil salad on a bed of tomato orzo (risoni is also known as orzo). This dish came to table with great colour and exciting crispy skin due to the balsamic glaze. We all received a Maryland sitting on the orzo and the chicken had olive and parsley salad sprinkled over it. The flavour was terrific and uncomplicated. There was no rice used or harmed on this dish. There was a challenge for Bill in that with the Easter break leading into the lunch, there were two suppliers of Maryland one was traditional and the other was pterodactyl (prehistoric bird - massive) size. The large leg caused a number of mains to be a bit tough and undercooked but the flavour you expect from Bill was there.

Cheese/dessert

Baked goat's cheese and glazed pear tart with a pecan and cranberry crumb.
This was a success for both Bill and the new Cheese Master (Mark Bradford). We were presented with a goat cheese-inspired dessert. The pastry was puff pastry blind baked and had the pecan and cranberry crumbled as used as the base. The lightly flavoured goat's cheese was broken up and topped with thinly cut pears and then baked and served at a warm temperature. Large individual tarts came to the table and were able to be cut into wedges of 8 per table. The crisp edging added to the rustic charm of the dish. Overall this was a great success.  

While there were two reds served with this dish a sneaky little half bottle of muscat was put on the table and this went so well with the dish.

The cheese was a Brabander L'Amuse which is from North Brabant, Netherlands and is an Artisan made cheese. A semi-hard goat's cheese that is light in flavour. The porcelain-white paste of this cheese is a stark contrast to the deep amber colour synonymous with classic Dutch gouda.

Wine

The gathering today 11^th April was a mixed luncheon, very well attended with a nearly full house. Our Chef du Jour Bill Alexiou provided us with an excellent roast Maryland chicken and some very tasty pass-arounds. The food will be reported upon by others as usual. With regard to the wine, my comments are as follows.

For the pre-lunch wines, we were provided with two excellent wines, an Italian Soave and a rose from Provence. Of the two I much preferred the Soave. A first-rate aperitif style white, fresh and crisp with great fruit/acid balance. Lovely clean fresh flavours, ideal with the pass-arounds. Soave is an ever-popular Italian White wine from the Veneto region of northeast Italy. Made up from mainly Garganega and Trebbiano grapes. 12.5% vintaged in 2020. I really liked it. The rose from St Louis de Provence was an enjoyable wine, dry in the extreme, pale pink in colour, very typical of a rose from that region 12.5 % 2021. A Grenache blend, well-made wine, but in my view, not a great deal of flavour.

Moving on to the wines served with the main course, we had two excellent Australian Chardonnays, one from Curley Flat in the Macedon region of Victoria and the other a Coldstream Hills from the Yarra Valley. The Curley Flat was the older of the two from 2012, and the Coldstream Hills was from 2013. Both wines are now 10+ years old, but both drinking beautifully, with no sign of ageing adversely. The Curley Flat was a big wine 13.8 % deep straw colour, developed with a prominent oak aftertaste. A classic “old style Chardonnay” we talk about.

 The Coldstream Hills was my choice of the two. Great integration of fruit/acid with restrained oak. 13 %. A better-balanced wine in my view. There was as you would expect a divergence of opinions around the room on these two fine Chardonnays, which were perfect partners to the delicious chicken. I suppose it comes down to the style of Chardonnay you prefer.

The two red wines for lunch were an Italian Dolcetto d’Alba and a Barbera d’Asti.  Dolcetto translates into English as “sweet little one“. The wine was from the well-known producer Paolo Scavino, vintaged in 2017.  The Barbera was produced by Mauro Molino in 2015.

The Dolcetto at 14.5 % was an easy-drinking, typical Italian red wine meant to be drunk with food. Restrained flavour, no intention to dominate the food in this sweet little one. Enjoyable.

The final wine was the Barbera from 2015 14 %. This was my pick of the two, a bit more flavour and substance. Again an excellent wine with the chicken.

Many thanks to our Winemaster for his thoughtful selections of our wines today.