Zafran - Spanish Cooking Master Class

http://zafran.com.hk/

Those of you who know me would be familiar with my foodie adventures and be well aware that I'm not a great cook.  My Instagram feed is full of restaurant meals and the very, very rare photo of a home cooked meal.

So when I get the opportunity to participate in master classes and learn something new in a kitchen, I jump at the chance.  Chope Hong Kong had partnered with the Aqua Restaurant group and Zafran Spanish restaurant to have new Chef Pere run a small group of bloggers through his famous "Black Paella".  Interestingly, the last time I'd had a masterclass, it was at Mondo Organics in Brisbane and a Spanish feast fit for a king (see post here).  

Seemingly, I am destined to improve my Spanish cuisine repertoire, which is certainly ironic living in the heart of Hong Kong.

I'd always thought that Zafran was a nightclub in the few times I wandered down Wyndham Street, but was surprised to find a funky looking basement restaurant as I descended the stairs to the Masterclass.  We were met by Zafran's new chef, hot off the boat from his native Barcelona, who seemed a little nervous to be fronted by so many food bloggers and cameras.

ISONO Eatery and Bar - the more casual Spanish spot

http://www.isono.com.hk/

One of my top rated restaurants from 2015 was Vasco, Spanish fine dining.  You can read all about it here in my Top 10 of 2015. While Vasco is the ultimate in fine dining, there is a much more relaxed and casual feel about ISONO, the Spanish style tapas restaurant run by Drawing Room Concepts, the team behind Vasco and numerous other restaurants around Hong Kong.

Located on the sixth floor of Soho's very own arts precent, PMQ, ISONO eatery and bar shares many of the same traits as its more distinguished older brother.  The menu was created by Executive Chef Paolo Casagrande, drawn from his memories and experiences as a child in the Mediterranean.  If you're not familiar with Paolo Casagrande, his main game is at the Two Michelin starred Lasarte in Barcelona, but he lends his expertise and name to both Vasco and ISONO.

We'd been eyeing off checking out ISONO for a while, but it took one of those serendipitous moments to eventually get us in for dinner.  We were at a genuine loss one night walking home from work....  We simply had no idea about what we felt like for dinner and were getting a little frustrated trying to pin down one restaurant to visit.  It just so happened that we were walking along Hollywood Road and only a few steps away from the PMQ.  With no reservation, we hedged our bets that we'd be able to score a table as a walk in.

Mercedes Me - Luxury showroom and fine dining restaurant?

https://www.mercedes-benz.com/hk/mercedes-me/store/

As far as luxury brands go, Mercedes is one of the most enduring and well known brands on the planet, especially if you're a car nut.  I've always been more of a Beemer guy and BMW is my luxury car of choice.  But the world of luxury car brands is a competitive beast, and many of the well known brands are looking to expand their base with more accessible entry level cars.  It seems that Mercedes is taking another approach to help their luxury brand become a little more accessible with the introduction of the Mercedes Me concept.

Partnering up with Maximal Concepts in Hong Kong, the crew that run Mott 32 (see post here) and Blue Butcher (see post here), Mercedes Me is one of the first concepts stores that blends a Mercedes showroom with a full restaurant.   Located very conveniently in the Entertainment Building in Central (underneath HMV), the restaurant slash showroom is noticeable with a stylised logo that is both serious and whimsical at the same time...  Oh, and don't forget the flashy Mercedes vehicle that on the night of our visit was the safety car from Formula 1 Grand Prix.

I'd been keen to get into the restaurant for a while, and had been stymied by trying to book in on a Friday and Saturday night, it seemed that Mercedes Me was doing well enough that you couldn't book a decent time on a popular night.  As it turned out, we were able to secure a table as a 'walk in' early on a Sunday night, which suited me just fine.  Not knowing what to expect from a restaurant in a car showroom, I was impressed with the fit out.  I shouldn't have been surprised by the lux fit out that combined a very modern restaurant with a homage to one of the most recognisable car manufacturers on the planet.

Zurriola - a game menu that fell short

http://www.zurriola.hk/en/#/home

You know those times when you have no idea what you want to eat?  If you're like me, you can spend hours and hours just looking over restaurant menus to see if anything 'grabs' your attention and gets you out of your lethargy to make a booking.  There's no rhyme nor reason for me selecting a dining spot sometimes, it could be a particularly appetising photo on a web site, or an interesting and different menu, or even just a cool name.  Our visit to Zurriola was based simply on the fact they had a winter 'game' menu with venison on offer.

Winter in Hong Kong brings a couple of very appealing options, it's obviously truffle season, and I don't really need to explain what's so great about that!  But it's also 'game' season, which means pheasant, wild boar and most importantly venison.  If you've not had venison before, it's a very strong flavoured red meat that is quite simply delicious.  Venison is usually deer, but throughout history, it's been a general term used for game and at one time or another has referred to hares, wild pigs and goats.  It also happens to be one of SC's favourite things to eat (after bacon, truffle and duck fat).

Zurriola is a Modern European style restaurant, which means that it takes a bit of a contemporary view of traditional dishes.  I'd been quite excited about visiting, after reading some local HK blogs about how amazing the place was and in particular, one blogger thought the tasting menu was amongst the best in Kong Kong.  Located at TST, we were again struck speechless by the skyline that was recently rated as the best in the world.  We were seated at a table that afforded us the most incredible views of the island and our only regret was that it was raining outside, otherwise the balcony windows would have been open.

Fofo by el Willy: Not just a funny name

http://www.fofo.hk/

For a restaurant with a funny name, FoFo by el Willy takes itself pretty seriously.  Taking on the moniker of it's namesake in Shanghai, Fofo Hong Kong is the latest in a burgeoning chain of restaurants from chef Willy Trullas Moreno.  Originally from Barcelona Spain, Willy started with the original Fofo in Shanghai but has taken his concept of authentic Spanish cuisine and made as accessible to as many people as possible.

I first visited Fofo by el Willy a few months ago, thinking that the name sounded cool, but mostly because of a rad looking tasting menu that was available for a short time.  I'm not going to say much about that initial experience, except to say that the service was poor and left me unimpressed.  What did impress me was the way the team at Fofo reacted to my issues and had me back for a second visit.

The head chef of Fofo by el Willy in Hong Kong is talented chef Alex Martinez Fargas, also from Barcelona, a man that takes his food very seriously indeed.  With a slew of awards, which includes a recommendation from the Michelin Guide and a Best Restaurant 2105 award from the HK Tatler, Alex had done a top job of bringing the fun concept of Fofo and turning it into a serious contemporary Spanish diner.

Catalunya - a slice of El Bulli in HK?

http://www.catalunya.hk/

There are restaurants that are so famous that they transcend the industry and fundamentally change it.  Current paradigm changer is Copenhagen's Noma but Heston Blumenthal's the Fat Duck is probably better known for changing things up.  The grandaddy of them all though has to be El Bulli, Ferron Adria's Spanish game changer, a restaurant that has closed but its legend lives on.  I was never lucky enough to visit El Bulli, but then, very few were.

It was with great excitement that I realised that some of the team behind El Bulli had established a restaurant right here in Hong Kong, and that I'd be able to experience some of the brilliance of the famed restaurant, albeit a tenuous link.  Catalunya is located in a quiet side street in Morrison Hill (the back of WanChai), hardly the setting for one of Hong Kong's hottest restaurants, but in a way it's oddly poetic that a such a Spanish beauty can be hidden so well.  My excitement remained at insane levels for a few days while I maintained a fantasy that I'd be dining at a spot helmed by Alain Devahive Tolosa and Pol Perello, the El Bulli trained chefs that ran the kitchen......  at one time!

My bubble was burst by a well known and connected chef out of Singapore, who sent me a quiet FB message to inform me that the dynamic duo had moved on from Catalunya.  C'est la vie I guess, but it did help settle my expectations for our meal, with were rapidly reaching unrealistic proportions!

22 Ships - tapas at the cool end of town

http://www.22ships.hk/

I've not really been in Hong Kong long enough to have witnessed the gentrification of parts of Wan Chai. I mean I can still see elements of the old Hong Kong in the hip Hong Kong district, but it seems as if a large part of the area has already changed.  It's not for me to say whether that's a good or bad thing, I have a natural predilection towards urban renewal, but there are some parts of Wan Chai that are now pretty hip and cool.

Ship Street is probably one of the leading lights in the gentrification of Wan Chai, with an ever expanding number of cool little restaurants and bars, along with some of Asia's top restaurants (see post here and here).  It was with this in mind that we decided to catch up with local food buddy Cynthia from JustCozitsTuesday for dinner, it also helped that it was in Cynthia's neck of the woods for a change!  Big fans of Aberdeen Street Social (see post here), we went to Jason Atherton's other Hong Kong restaurant, casual diner 22 Ships.

Named after it's location in Ship Street, 22 Ships is easy to spot from the street.  As with a lot of small, hip restaurants, there's a no reservation policy at 22 Ships, which normally means you need all parties together to score a seat.  We'd arrived a little earlier and with puppy dog eyes, asked if we could take our seat as our friend would be joining pretty quickly.  The waitress took pity on us and led us to one of the few tables that was still available inside and as we waited for our dining companion to join us, we looked over the menu.

Zelo Spanish Restaurant and Tapas - it filled in some time

http://www.gaiagroup.com.hk/zelo

Normally when I'm heading out to eat, I have an interesting story about the choice of the restaurant or a little bit of background about the chef.  Not this time, we did have interesting plans for the evening, we were going to see Tomorrowland and were then cracking on with a visit to Wagyu Takumi (see post here).  What we need though was a quick and simple lunch before heading to the movies, one that wouldn't ruin out appetite for an expensive dinner.

Since we were at Pacific Place at Admiralty, there were a couple of options that included Thai, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.  Being a fan of Spanish cuisine, in particular tapas, we decided that bite to eat at Zelo would satisfy our need for a quick and light meal before the movie.

The thing that stood out most about Zelo was the beautiful cast iron dome that decorates the casual dining area of the restaurant.  It's an impressive looking feature that dominates the space and is clearly visible from most spots in that end of the shopping centre.  The feature also played acoustic tricks on us, while we were seated at a table right at the edge of the dome, by placing an ear next to the structure, it seems you could clearly hear people talking on the other side....  Cool.

Vasco Spanish Fine Dining - Incredible and Memorable

http://www.vasco.com.hk/

I'm normally pretty pedantic about the order in which I write my blogs, with each post in the order in which I ate the meal.  Normally.  Sometimes, I have a meal that's so magnificent, that I simply can't wait until I get through the backlog and I just have to write about.

Vasco, Spanish fine dining, was one of the most exquisite dining experiences I've had in a long time! Big call, I know, but there it is.

Located in the heritage listed and superbly renovated Police Married Quarters (PMQ) site on the corner of Aberdeen Street and Hollywood Road, Vasco is one of a handful of restaurants that calls the site home.  If you've not been to the PMQ before, it's probably worth your time, with restaurants, art studios and just an all round cool spot to hang out (especially once a month for the night markets).

We'd first spotted Vasco while visiting the aforementioned night markets and somehow knew that it was going to be a special event.  So, on a Tuesday night, after a huge day at work, we'd arranged to treat ourselves to the  mind and kitchen of Chef Paolo Casagrande formerly of two-Michelin-starred Lasarte Restaurant in Barcelona.  Located on the 8th floor, we took the large service elevator, then final few steps upstairs to the top floor of the PMQ and plush looking entrance to Vasco.

Mondo Organics Cooking School - back to basics for a foodie

http://www.mondo-organics.com.au

**I was a guest of Mondo Organics for this cooking class

I wasn't going to lie, so when it was my turn to rate my cooking skills from 1, a beginner, to 5 a culinary wizard, I gave myself an honest zero.  We were standing in a semi circle around Mondo Organic's head chef and cooking school instructor Paul Horne and we were about to be put through our paces with the modern Spanish tapas class.  But I get ahead of myself.

A few months ago, I made a long overdue and first visit to Mondo Organics (see post here) and was completely blown away by the West End institution.  I'd been hearing great things about Mondo Organics for many years, but strangely had never got around to checking out the casual fine diner.  I'd been slowly making my way through the AGFG Brisbane hatted restaurants and it was getting impossible for me to ignore Mondo any longer.  Quite rightly, I my post reflected the amazing meal that I'd consumed and I resolved to get back to Mondo as quickly as I could for a return visit.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long when Mondo Organics co-owner and chef Brenda Fawdon contacted me and asked me to come along to the Mondo cooking school, so they could put me through the paces of the well known cooking classes.  Excited and a little apprehensive, I happily agreed to come along and write about my experience!  FoodMeUpScotty, in a cooking class - chalk that up as something you're not going to see every day!

Gordita - a different take on Spanish cuisine

http://gordita.com.au/

All the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place at one of Brisbane's newest dining hotspots, the awesome M&A Lane in the Valley.  Gordita is the latest funky restaurant to open up in what is quickly becoming a killer dining destination, one of many in a rapidly expanding Brisbane dining scene.

As seems to be the case lately, we were walking to James Street to do our usual weekend shop, when we noticed that Gordita had opened its doors.  I'd known that Gordita was opening soon, in fact I'd been invited along to check out the menu at a sit down lunch, but the moment I saw that the spot had opened, there was no way I could wait a week to check it out.  In fact, we waited exactly one day before the lure of the shiny shiny had us booked in to sample some lovely Spanish nosh!

Gordita is part of an ever expanding empire of restaurants form Jamie Webb, who also runs Spanish Tapas joint Peasant at the Barracks (see post here) as well as Oyster Bar Cabiria and Lefty's old time music hall. Drawing on his experiences running restaurants in New York and Sydney, Jamie has put together a southern Spanish style restaurant that is very different from the more traditional cuisine at Peasant.  Amazingly, he's also been able to lure Alfonso Ales to consult on the menu, who brings his experiences in working in Spain's best restaurant in recent years ,(now closed) elBulli.

Ole Spanish Restaurant - did my chorizo obsession get the better of me?

http://www.olerestaurant.com.au/

When you feel like something tasty, I mean really full of flavour, it's hard to go past Spanish cuisine.  I have to admit to a bit of an obsession with chorizo, for me it's the king of sausage and the king of flavour.  I'd had a little taste of chorizo with my breakfast (see post here) and found that it had whet my appetite for more, much more.  We wondered where we could go so I could get another hit of that sweet sweet chorizo, it obviously had to be a Spanish restaurant, but where? 

It came to me in a flash, we've walked past one of the larger and more popular Spanish dining spots so often, it had faded into the background a little bit.  Ole Restaurant seems to be the most popular dining spots over at Little Grey Street at Southbank and it seems to be packed at any time of the day or night.  I've thought about going there a lot and when I suggested Ole to SC, she seemed pretty interested and reminded me that she had been there before and had really enjoyed it.  We had a plan, now it was time to execute it.

We would normally walk over to Southbank when heading over for dinner, especially on a weekend but we had a dilemma.   If you've been in Brisbane for the last week or so, you know that there was a massive bushfire over on Stradbroke Island and it had been creating havoc over Brisbane, in fact it had turned the CBD into a smoky haze.  There was no way that we would be over to walk over, especially with SC's asthma already playing up, it was definitely driving weather.

Casual Dining - San Churro Chocolateria

http://www.sanchurro.com/

We'd heard about the snazzy new Christmas light show that the Brisbane City Council was putting on in King George Square and thought we would check it out.  After all, as ratepayers, we wanted to see what our $300,000 was being used for and to be honest, we were a bit sceptical about how wisely the 300k had been spent.  So, we formed a loose plan, head down to the Square and then after the show, check out the new San Churro in Charlotte Street.

As we fought the unusually large crowds in the Queen Street Mall and wandered through the even larger crowds streaming down Albert Street, we were surprised with how many families were still in the CBD on a Saturday night.  Once we hit King George Square, we had a bit of an inkling of why the crowds were still about.  City Hall had been transformed into a colourful kaleidoscope of bright light and imagery.  And this was before the show had actually started, it was just the timer counting down to the next show, which was only a minute or so away.  What sweet timing.  If you've not seen the show, I'm not going to spoil if for you, but I will say that it's one of the most spectacular light shows I have ever seen.  Do yourself a favour and get down to see it before it finishes at Christmas.  I know we will go back a few more times just to take in the enormity of the whole show.  BCC, money well spent!

Ortiga - sunset falls on a Spanish great

http://www.ortiga.com.au/

What tumultuous time it is with Brisbane restaurants of late.  There has been much movement with many new restaurants opening but sadly some closing as well.  The last few weeks have heralded the news that some of Brisbane's best and most awarded restaurants are closing down.  First was the news that after only a year in operation Bistro One Eleven would shut its doors immediately and then later the same day was the sad news that one of the country's best restaurants would also be shutting its doors.

The news that Ortiga was to shut down hit me hard, it's not only one of the best restaurants in the country, it's one of the most imaginative and creative restaurants I had been to.  Ortiga still seemed so relevant in today's cut throat restaurant industry having risen two places in the Gourmet Traveller Top 100 restaurants to number 28.  It also hit me hard as it was a regular special occasion dining spot and  I was booked in to visit for my wedding anniversary, indeed a special occasion.  While I was incredibly saddened by the news, the one consolation was that Ortiga would continue to operate for a few weeks and that we could still have our special occasion dinner, only now it would also be a farewell dinner.

The partnership between Simon Hill and Pablo Tordesillas had indeed been a special one.  Simon has had the knack of building special partnerships after such a long and successful relationship with Jason Peppler at Isis, ironically in the same location.  Isis was a mainstay of the Brisbane dining scene for around twelve years before it's ultimate transformation from Modern Australian fine diner to Spanish award winner.  It seemed as if the success of Pablo and Simon would continue on for equally as long, but incredibly Ortiga will be closing its doors after five incredibly successful years.

Moda - Spanish excellence in Edward Street

http://www.modarestaurant.com.au/

Tucked away at the end of Edward Street in the 'Paris' end of Brisbane is one of Brisbane's most enigmatic restaurants, Moda.  There are so many elements of Moda that are just done differently to most other Restaurants in town.  To start off, almost the entire dining area is part of a courtyard that, while not open to the elements, gives off the feeling of being purely an outside dining experience.  When in Moda, you get the feeling that you are dining in the countryside somewhere, with a large hedgerow enclosing the restaurant.  This is perfect given Moda's proximity to the botanical gardens.

Another element that adds to Moda's mystery is how it became Moda.  Head Chef Javier Codina had one of the most successful and long standing business partnerships with Gianni Greghini in what was at the time one of Brisbane's most celebrated restaurants Gianni's.  Then at the hight of Gianni's popularity they decided to part ways and do their own thing.  In what turned out to be a blessing in disguise, this allowed the creation of Moda and unleashed the Catalonian within to unveil one of Brisbane's best Spanish restaurants, Moda.

Pintxo - casual tapas in New Farm

http://www.pintxo.com/

What to do on a Sunday night when your usual plans for a movie and dinner with friends falls through?  SC and I thought long and hard about going it alone to see a movie and grab some dinner but the movie we wanted to see was not on at a good time.  Still wanting to get out of the house, we decided on a nice simple dinner at one of our favourite Spanish tapas restaurants in the New Farm.

Pintxo is an interesting little taperia located on Brunswick street that has gone through a bit of an evolution of late.  At one time there was a tapas train taking up half of the restaurant and it was a great way to come in with mates and sample different spanish delights.  Recently Pintxo has moved away from the tapas train and converted the area to more traditional dining.

The name pintxo comes from the Basque region of Spain and literally translates to 'spike' and is in reference to toothpick that is spiked through bite size ingredients.  Usually associated as starters in Spanish cuisine they are often found in bars or taverns across northern Spain.  The main difference between a tapas and a pintxo is the 'spike' through the food.

Ortiga - when only the best will do

http://www.ortiga.com.au/

December seems to be Spanish month!  After visiting a couple of tapas restaurants I thought it would be time to get along to the king of Spanish tapas in Brisbane, Ortiga.  For me, Ortiga has re-defined the way we look at tapas and elevated the humble meal into a gastronomical delight, fine dining at its absolute best.

Simon Hill is responsible for Ortiga on the site of his once famous Brisbane institution, Isis Restaurant, on Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley.  Isis was recognised as Brisbane's best for a long time and Simon ran this in conjunction with one of my all time favourite Chefs, Jason Peppler (recently of now closed Confit Bistro).  It took a long time for Ortiga to be developed, with the Isis site empty for around two years before it's unveiling.  

I wasn't long before Ortiga achieved the ultimate accolade as being voted Brisbanes Best Restaurant in the Gourmet Travellers Top 100.  Ortiga is one of only three restaurants in Brisbane that has been awarded two chefs hats in the prestigious Brisbane Times Good Food Guide and two stars under the Gourmet Travellers awards.  Ortiga is also ranked the 30th best restaurant in Australia.  There are some serious accolades here for a restaurant that has only been open since 2010!

Pablo Tordesillas is the genius head chef of Ortiga who has worked in some of the world's best restaurants and learned his trade under the tutelage of Richard Corrigan (regular judge on the Great British Menu) and has spent time with one of Britian's most respected chefs Phillip Howard from two Michelin starred, the Square.

Peasant - tapas at the barracks

http://www.peasant.com.au/

I love the development of the Barracks precinct, but it's an area I have almost totally ignored.  I used to eat there a little bit, long before it was developed and the Hog's Breath steak restaurant was the only restaurant in the area.  Back then the barracks were a dilapidated eyesore and I always asked why such a prime spot was in such disrepair.

Fast forward to 2008 and the development is completed with the Barracks being redeveloped to a eating hub and the cinemas and shops open for business.  SC and I have walked to the Barracks many times over the last few years, more just to walk around Brisbane and surrounds to see whats changing, but never together to eat.

The perfect opportunity came to me during the week after winning a couple of movie tickets to see a film at the barracks.  For the record, the movie was 'Step up to the Plate' a film about Michel Bras handing over his 3 Michelin Star restaurant to his son Sebastien (all in French, of course).  I had been eyeing off the tapas restaurant Peasant for ages and this was too good an opportunity to pass up, so SC and I arranged to meet at the Barracks after work and try it out before the movie.

Granada - Tapas for two

http://www.granadatapasbar.com.au/

Dark and mysterious inside

I love Spanish tapas.  While I am sure everyone is familiar with the concept of Tapas, it's worth talking a little bit about the history and origin of tapas.  The original tapas were the chunks of bread that drinkers used to cover their drinks (usually sherry) between sips, often to keep insects out of their sweet alcohol.  Normally chorizo or ham was used and the saltiness of the meat often activated a diner's thirst which was a great way for bars and restaurants to increase the sales of alcohol.

In more recent times tapas are usually a wide variety of Spanish appetizers or snacks, served both warm and cold.  Tapas has evolved into an entire and often sophisticated cuisine with an entire meal dominated by serving after serving of delicious Spanish treats.

It's with this in mind that I finally got over to South Brisbane to check out Granada.  I had heard many great things about this little Spanish taparia, including the mexican influence and was keen to check it out for myself.  With me was my good mate CI, who was feeling a little under the weather and was not super hungry, which left more to eat for me!

Looking through the extensive list of tapas, I could see many traditional Spanish tapas but could definitely see a bit of an influence from Mexico and we ended up mixing it up with our order.  CI had been to Granada a couple of times, so I left it in his very capable hands to choose the tapas.