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Archives For November 30, 1999

The Cooks Larder, Avalon

April 6, 2011 — 10 Comments

After watching my niece play soccer, I wandered up the Northern Beaches, to Avalon. I love Avalon. It has village feel, with plenty of choices of places to eat, and some cute little shops (such as one selling decorator items for beach-houses). Avalon has a relaxed feel, without being grungy as beachy places can be, having an understated style.

We settle on having lunch at The Cooks Larder. I don’t think it has any identifying signs from the street, but the locals sure know it, judging by the constant stream of people we saw looking for a table. I can understand why.

It was the first day out of daylight savings, so I was hungry early. We got a table at just the right time: at the end of the breakfast service, and just before lunch began to be served. Good timing.

Atmosphere

Our table was in an ideal location on this sunny autumn day, looking out into the street, so we could watch people strolling by (and cute gentleman driving his mobility scooter to do his grocery shopping, complete with a Ferrari flag at the back!). The restaurant has these old hand-beaters hanging from the ceiling along the wall:

Cute. And at the back of the restaurant, there is a shop selling all sorts of delightful produce. Apparently they also have cooking classes, including for kids during the school holidays.

Menus

The menus at The Cooks Larder sure do looking interesting. Here are some items from the current lunch menu, to give you a feel for what they offer:

  • Homemade pork terrine or chicken liver pate with onion marmalade and sourdough toasts.
  • Antipasto plate, with homemade marinated, chargrilled vegetables with bocconcini, caramelised balsamic and sourdough.
  • Zuchini fritters with cucumber, watercress, mint and fetta salad.
  • Prawn, lemon and fennel risotto.
  • Homemade linguini with zucchini flowers, ricotta and herbs.
  • Grass-fed scotch fillet steak sandwich on sourdough with onion marmalade, mayo and rocket, fries – thickcut.

While waiting for our lunch to arrive, we saw the last of the breakfasts go by, and they looked fabulous. The ingredients are fresh, interesting, good quality, and the serves generous.

The restaurant is not licensed, but they accept BYO, and there are two bottle-shops very close by.

Mains

I wanted to leave room for dessert, so ordered the oregano, chilli and garlic marinated squid with lemon, aioli and rocket salad:

The squid was tender, with that gorgeous char-grilled taste. I couldn’t really taste the distinct flavours of the marinade, but it was tasty. The lemon and olive oil dressing on the rocket salad went so well with the rich aoili and squid. A light, yummy dish.

The person I was with ordered the croque monsieur with free range ham, gruyere, homemade ketchap and greens:

The sourdough bread was nutty and rich, with the outer sides being crunchy, and in the inner side soft. The sandwiches were piled thick with beautiful ham. The homemade ketchap was strong and rich, a perfect complement to the ham and cheese. That sure was a good-sized serve.

Dessert

I saw the list of desserts before ordering the main course, and the only question was which to order:

I ended up choosing the pecan, fig and maple syrup cake with caramel sauce, served with vanilla bean ice cream:

I love figs, so I loved the richness of the figs with the maple syrup, with the soft pecans throughout the cake adding some texture to the cake. The caramel sauce was a good one, not too strong or thick, matching the cake well.

So, my first visit to The Cooks Larder was a good one. With the interesting menu, the relaxed atmosphere, the great location, I’ll be back. I’d particularly like to visit for breakfast next time.

Up the road

After leaving the restaurant I saw this:

I couldn’t resist taking a photo. Funny, heh!

Details

Here are the details about The Cooks Larder at time of posting. Please check their web site for more current details.

Web site http://www.thecookslarder.com.au
Address 21-23 Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon, NSW, 2000
Phone (02) 9973 4370
Open Breakfast: 8am – 12pm, 7 days
Lunch: 12pm – 3pm, 7 days [3-6pm light menu]
Dinner: 6pm – late, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Menu Modern Australian. Breakfast $10-$17, Lunch Mains $18-24, Dinner Mains $28-29.
Cooks Larder on Urbanspoon


I know this was for lunch, but I’m thinking about breakfasts out. Where do you like to go for breakfast?

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My birthday celebration at Ad Lib Bistro, Pymble

April 2, 2011 — 10 Comments

Update (June 25, 2012): It is with regret that I learned that Ad Lib Bistro, along with the Berowra Waters Inn was closing. See the SMH article for more details. I’ll leave the rest of this post as is, in memoriam! Big changes going on in the restaurant world in Sydney.

 

In thinking about what to do to celebrate my “round birthday”, as a friend called it, another decade, I had been debating where I’d like to go for dinner. It had to be something with great food, something special, and something where there would be dishes my nephew and niece might enjoy. There are quite a few restaurants I was looking at, with unique, incredible dishes, which I would enjoy, but then those might be not appreciated as much by younger ones.

Another consideration was how many to invite, whether to invite the majority of my family and friends, or to limit the numbers and keep it more intimate.

French food, and just about all things French, are the ultimate for me, so eventually I settled on Ad Lib Bistro at Pymble, which had the added advantage of being easily accessible by everyone who were going to be there. I had been to Ad Lib Bistro earlier, and found the food delicious, and service superb.

On the evening, I arrived to a beautifully set table, with the menu for the evening there for each person.

As guests arrived, we had some celebratory champagne: the Pommery Springtime Brut Rosé. Loved that! It was a pale pinkish-golden colour, and gentle, subtle in flavour.

For the more than 10 people there for the celebratory dinner, I could choose a dégustation menu, or a table d’hôte menu. I ended up going with the latter, so that people could choose what they wanted. The Ad Lib staff were helpful in the planning of the evening, including letting me make some adjustments to the standard menu to include dishes I wanted:

The Ad Lib Bistro staff provided superb service, in the planning, and throughout the evening.

Ad Lib Bistro - staff

Appetisers

For the appetiser, I ordered the prawns sautéed in garlic butter, baby spinach and Paris mushrooms. It seems to be all the rage to have a foam on a dish, and this had the garlic butter foam surrounding the prawns. Even the spinach tasted garlicky (yum!). The prawns were tender, succulent.

Here’s the sugar-cured salmon, toasted brioche, herb and shallot mascarpone. It looked gorgeous. I’m looking forward to getting back again so I can have more of the dishes!

I heard good reports about that, and the onion soup gratinée:

Mains

I had eaten the duck before at Ad Lib Bistro. Big, big flavours. Normally I would choose something different on each visit to a place, but this was so good I had to order it again. The duck confit is moist and tender, with a crispy skin. The Lyonnaise potatoes were rich and flavourful, having been sautéed with butter, onion and garlic. And then the fresh orange, and the endive and raddichio salad added complementary flavours and textures, with the orange adding sweetness, the endive and radicchio adding crunch and bitterness, which all the more made the flavour of the duck stand out.

The fish fillet meunière was served with almonds, green beans, and beurre noisette. The fish was tender and tasty.

I heard good reports about the grilled sirloin steak, served with beurre café de Paris. One of my friends who doesn’t usually eat steak even ordered it and loved it.

For sides, we had lots of small dishes of mesclun salad, French fries with mayo, and creamed potatoes. Even though I had the Lyonnaise potatoes on my plate I had to try the creamed potatoes, and they were light, fluffy, buttery, creamy, heavenly, melting in your mouth.

Desserts

I had read that the dark chocolate mousse is normally plated at the table, for a bit of showmanship, but I think because of the number at our table, it was served already plated. Light, full chocolate flavour.

I ordered the crêpes suzette, served with macerated oranges. By that time of night it was dark outside, and the light more dim inside, so the pouring of the lit Cognac and Grand Marnier liqueur, with its blue flame, onto the crêpes provided some drama. The rich orange flavours and the lightness of the crêpes were even better than I could have imagined they’d be. Another dish I’d order again because it was so good.

The raspberry souffle, served with a raspberry sorbet, was gorgeous. I’ve had it previously there at Ad Lib. The souffle is incredibly light, and the raspberry so definite. The raspberry sorbet ball rests on tiny crumbles of something like a butterscotch, presumably to stop it from rolling around the plate (and the crunchiness adds texture).

After dessert we were served tea, coffee and petit fours, which were delicious chocolate truffles.

A wonderful evening. Superb food, superb company and superb service. What more could one ask?

Details

Here are the latest details for Ad Lib Bistro, Pymble (details are different for Ad Lib Bistro at Double Bay). Check their web site for current information.

Web Site http://www.adlibbistro.com
Address 1047 Pacific Highway, Pymble, NSW, Australia
Phone 02 9988 0120
Open Lunch: Mon-Fri, 12 noon – 2:30pm
Dinner: Mon-Sat, 5pm – 10pm
Also open from 10am Mon-Fri for coffee and dessert
Menu French, Mains $25-45
Ad Lib Bistro on Urbanspoon


Where have you gone for a memorable celebration meal?

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