Spicers Balfour - tranquility near the CBD

http://spicersretreats.com/spicers-balfour-hotel/dining/

One of the finest dining experiences I'd had in a very long time was two hatted regional restaurant, the Long Apron (see post here).  It was my first real exposure to the Spicers Retreats, which have always had a reputation for excellence, both with romantic getaways and fine dining. I guess it makes sense that amazing restaurants would form part of a romantic weekend getaway.  I've normally associated the Spicers Group with regional locations, and have always been perplexed by the Spicers Retreat in trendy inner city suburb New Farm.  When the opportunity arose to get along and check out the Balfour Kitchen's new Pacific-Indo menu, it was a no brainer!

The Spicers Balfour Hotel is just a few minutes from the CBD in Balfour Street, which is on our regular walking path when we saddle up for our weekend walks.  Even though it is within easy walking distance from our apartment, we jumped in the car and made the trip through peak hour Brisbane traffic and found a park just around the corner by the Wilson's Lookout cliffs, which was already a world away from the busy Brisbane traffic.  As we walked around the corner and up to the retreat's front door, we could see that it was an oasis of quiet, right on the city's front doorstep.

The nearly hidden resort on Balfour Street is a huge converted Queenslander and passing the traditional brass plate announcing that we had arrived at a Spicers Retreat, we made our way up the stairs into another world.  We were greeted warmly by one of the many fabulous and well trained staff members, who showed us to our table on what was once the front deck of someone's home, but now a beautifully renovated outdoor dining area.  We were given a couple of menus and brief explanation of the menu, which had small plates for starters, which were specifically designed for sharing.  Looking over the menu, we could see the distinct influences of Indian cuisine.

Biota Dining and Urbane Restaurant - 2 Hat collaboration = 4 Hat success

http://www.biotadining.com/     http://www.urbanerestaurant.com/

Sitting at home, mucking around on my iMac (as you do), I received an email from one of my favourite restaurants letting me know about a pretty special dinner.  I'm normally pretty absent minded and disorganised and good at forgetting about such emails, but this one piqued my interest immediately, it seemed like a once in a generation deal (I may be exaggerating).  It was compelling enough to forward straight on to SC and check that she'd be as keen as I was, with an immediate reply - 'of course'. 

You might be wondering what could garner such interest from a guy that eats out all the time?

2 Chefs - 4 hats - 1 Dinner

Then I read on.  One of the country's best chefs, Alejandro Cancino from our very own Urbane was teaming up with James Viles from Biota Dining in Bowral, who just happened to be youngest ever Chef’s Hat winner at the age of 23.  James has worked alongside some of the world's best chefs including Alain Ducasse and Hans Haas, so it's no wonder that his restaurant, Biota Dining, has been recognised as regional restaurant of the year, two years running.  Alejandro and James are well known for their strong commitment to sustainability and were partnering to design a six course menu, incorporating seasonal botanicals from our own local growers.  It was a meal not to be missed!

I've written about Urbane a few times (see posts here, here and here) which is a testament to how great the restaurant is, but I really wanted to see how two such revered chefs would work together.  I was especially excited about getting along to the dinner, it was petty unlikely that I'd ever find my self in Bowral...  I have to admit, the lure of four chefs hats in the kitchen was too much for me to ignore!

Iceworks - the changing face of Paddington dining

http://www.iceworks.com.au/

I love being surprised.  It's a pretty awesome feeling when you take a punt on a restaurant and it pays off handsomely.  Very early on in my blogging adventure, I started to look outside my normal comfort zone for dining spots, which led me to check out Iceworks in Paddington.  It wasn't just any old night either, we'd decided to take a punt on Iceworks on New Years Eve (see post here).  It was a bit of a departure from our usual NYE dinner celebrations, which are normally at more established restaurants.  Like I said, taking a punt can have a big payoff and in this case, it was a meal that was quite unexpected and one to remember.

As is often the case, things change and we were invited along to check out the changes at Iceworks, which included a new team looking after the restaurant, a new chef and a brand new menu.  Nowadays, it pretty common for restaurants to invite along bloggers and regular diners to check out new menus and provide feedback.  Its a great way to engage and reward regular diners and an excellent way to promote the business, but getting bloggers in can be a double edged sword!  There is a bit of pressure on to get it right and if it goes wrong, there is a potential for it to be very public!

We are quite familiar with Iceworks, we've not only dined there before, but we used to live just up the road and had walked past the location many times before.  For residents and those with great memories, you might even remember when the location actually housed real Ice Works, I'm pretty sure it was called the Ithica Iceworks and did a great job of supplying ice to Brisbane residents. We'd arranged to arrive around 6:30pm, so didn't really have time to walk, which with the warmer wether would have been lovely - but not to be.  Forgetting that there was plenty of parking underneath the restaurant, we parked around the corner and ended up walking a bit anyway!

Cheap Eats Lunch - Hive Coffee and Eat House

http://www.hiveeathouse.com.au/

I was inspired by my trip to the new Bread and Meat Co CBD location (see post here) and wondered what other gems were around the CBD for lunch.  I’m pretty sure there are 100’s of great little spots around our river city that need to be explored and I’m just the guy to do it.  I’ll have my ear to the ground as well as my eyes on the lookout for those great little lunch spots, but I’m keen to hear if you’ve got that special little spot that you want me to visit.

Last week I went and checked out a breakfast spot that specialised in meat and I‘d really enjoyed my visit to The Cutting Board (see post here).  It was at this breakfast that I got a bit of an idea on where to visit next, with the boys from The Cutting Board having recently set up a new venture down my end of the city.  Hive Coffee and Eat House is the sister restaurant and has been up and running for about five weeks in the newly redeveloped food court in the Riverside Centre. 

Hive Coffee and Eat House has The Cutting Board owner Anthony Attard involved in the set up and his influence is clear and, boy, he sure does love his meat!  Both of the ventures he is involved in feature meat quite heavily and for a carnivore like me, that is quite gratifying to see, especially with his liberal use of chorizo.

It had been literally years since I had stepped into the Riverside Centre, which is surprising since I live just up the street and walk by and around the space so often.  The last time I was actually inside the Riverside Centre, it was much more of a traditional food court with a heap of little eating spots that were mainly forgettable.  I was pretty surprised to walk into the space and see that it had been redeveloped to feature fewer dining options, but those that were there were at the upper end of ‘carvery’ and starting to approach restaurant style food.