Altair Indigenous Dinner For Good Food Month
Altair Restaurant was the venue for a stunning Good Food Month Indigenous Dinner degustation event featuring the genius of chef Kelvin Shaw. This local chef must surely be one of the leaders in delivering native cuisine in Australia. Check out our Best Restaurants in Melbourne.
Kelvin Shaw specialises in innovative use of native ingredients; and his passion overflowed with him serving up extra courses; more than the 7 advertised! Billed as 7 courses for only $70, diners were in fact treated to a substantial 11 courses! Kelvin has done this before and The World Loves Melbourne understands Kelvin and Michelle are more concerned with giving diners a memorable experience than they are for margins.
Didgeridoo on arrival was a sensational start to the evening.
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Beer damper with wattle seed and lemon aspen cultured butter was a brilliant starter... We were captivated by Jude Mayall the Outback Chef, who is clearly a big fan of Altair and is one of the leaders in the development of indigenous cuisine in Australia.
Jude spoke about the diversity of cooking with Australian ingredients, with new textures and big flavours to explore.
Crystal Bay prawn cracker, desert lime and brown butter aoli. This dish highlighted the brilliance of desert limes rather than normal limes.
Hervey Bay scallop with bush lime, coriander and ash, raspberry sorbet was a great dish and a huge surprise; looking sweet but tasting savoury. All matched with NV De Bortoli Rococo Cuvee.
Rainbow trout paupiette with bush tomato, native lemongrass and ginger consomme, wild dill was a highlight of the menu. Creamy fish with depth of flavour in the bush tomato, and the consomme was compelling. Paired with 2010 Tim Adams Reserve Riesling from Clare Valley.
Expressions of macadamia with pickled beetroot, toasted grains, Warrigal greens and mountain pepper. This was a unique dish that resonated with texture highlights. Paired with 2012 Bremerton Verdhelo from Langhorne Creek.
Paperbark charred barramundi with river mint, xo sauce and sea succulents. Another compelling dish we loved the match of sea succulents with sweet barramundi. Matched with 2009 De Iuliis Semillon in Hunter Valley.
Emu carpaccio with Moreton Bay Bug, Kombu and bonito butter, finger lime and aniseed myrtle crust. Who would have thought of matching emu with Moreton Bay Bug? Exceptional. 2013 Underground Winemakers Pinot Noir from Mornington Peninsula.
Wallaby tartare with wattle seed, rainforest tamarind, cured egg yolk and lamington. We love a good tartare and this was the first time we's ever eaten wallaby tartare; an enchanting dish that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Paired with 2015 Between Five Bells Pinot Noir from Strathbogie Ranges VIC.
Eucalypt smoked lamb, wild Australian olives, quandongs, salt baked celeraic and saltbush. Another highlight of the night; smoky lamb flavours were memorable. Superbly matched with 2009 Oakridge 864 Syrah.
Toffee bush apples were a playful interlude before the dessert main.
Davidson plum panna cotta, toasted coconut, bunya nut marshmallow with lemon myrtle, gin and billy tea sorbet. A stunning dish indeed, with native flavours embraced in a panna cotta. Gin and billy tea sorbet was inspirational. So good. Matched with DeBortoli 10 year old Black Noble. This event was a triumph and we think up there with the best events of Good Food Month.