Best eaten the day it’s made and best eaten with friends so you don’t scoff the lot!  Here’s the recipe too:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8051/caramel+popcorn

Quick and easy and dirt cheap too.  If only it could also be fat free!

Here is a link to the trailer to whet your appetite:

http://www.curiousdistribution.com/downloads.aspx

I have four double passes to give away to the first four people who comment on my facebook page about who their food idol is! Note, the passes are only valid at Chauvel Cinema, Palace Centro, Palace Nova Eastend, Cinema Paradiso or Greater Union Manuka.  Entry is open to Australian residents.  FoodieChat has sole discretion to determine the winners, which will be the first four comments following the post titled “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”.

Excerpt from the Herald Sun Article (And recipe)

Herald Sun – Dan Hong

MUM’S LEMONGRASS CHICKEN WINGS “Mum used to make these chicken wings, then freeze them for us to eat for dinner when she was busy working in the restaurant. Every time I smell this marinade I think of home! Allow an extra four hours to marinate chicken,” says Dan. Serves 4 Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 4 hours marinating time Cooking time: 45 minutes Skills needed: Basic 20 chicken wings 4 vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into thin wedges 4 Lebanese cucumbers, in wedges Steamed jasmine rice and Maggi Soy Sauce seasoning (optional)

LEMONGRASS MARINADE 400ml fish sauce 400g caster sugar 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tsp ground white pepper Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, trim winglet (the meatless last 3cm of wing) from chicken wings and discard, then cut wings in half at the joint. To marinate chicken, whisk all marinade ingredients in a large bowl until sugar dissolves. Add chicken, cover, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Place an oven tray in the oven and preheat to 200C fan-forced. Drain chicken, discarding marinade. Line preheated tray with baking paper and place chicken on top in a single layer. Roast, turning every 10 minutes, for 45 minutes or until golden and sticky. (Remove any smaller pieces 5 minutes earlier, if necessary.) Combine tomatoes and cucumbers in a bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Divide salad, chicken wings and rice among plates. Drizzle rice with a little soy sauce seasoning, if using, to serve. TASTE TIP * Cooking the chicken wings on fan-forced helps to give them that charred, sticky, caramelised finish. If you don’t have a fan-forced oven, turn up the temperature to 220C.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/recipes-straight-from-the-menu/story-fn6cc38y-1226321974035

I have to admi, the yield was small – the one large heirloom tomato and two small roma ones, plus a few basil leaves the caterpillars rejected:

But each one super tasty, lovingly tended, and absolutely beautiful. Here’s the yellow one served with the basil and some caramelised balsamic and olive oil.   Amazing.

Each pig was pre-cut into squares of crackling, kinda like peking duck – but with pig!  Each guest then got 2 squares, served atop a pancake with hoisin sauce and two slivers of pickled cucumber.  A bit messy to eat, but it was fantastic.

Looking at the poor piggy – it was then taken to the kitchen to be chopped up and their stir fried for a second course.  there was ssoooo much skin left I would have loved a second plate!! hehehe.

Another unique aspect of Sky Phoenix wedding reception banquets is the dessert. No sweet red bean soup here!  They give you two mango pudding carp per table!! How unique!  It’s so rare that chinese restaurants innovate so this was a very good surprise from the usual banquet fare

I really had nothing to complain about the restaurant especially since it was only on its third trading day, so I will leave it at that!  We opted to share an entree – my sister was so lovely in that she allowed me to pick what we ate so that I could try everything I wanted to. I love her!  How sweet!!  So I picked the pulled veal ravioli.  It actually came too quickly as I was about to go to the bathroom and had to sit back down.  There were 4 tortellinis, which my sister said tasted like gow gee wrappers. I wasn’t sure but I suspected not.  It came with a vinegary dressing with freshly podded broad beans and egg white and finely diced cornichons.  It was an interesting mouthful and I loved the broad beans. At $17 it wasn’t expensive but I would have liked a bit more meat in my ravioli.

Apart from the fresh produce, some of which is from its 100sqm garden out the back, it offers family style dining with shared mains.  There were 4 choices on offer that day, a snapper, Moran family lamb, chicken baked with hay, and a fish and prawn pie.  After we found out that the fish was trevalla and snapper, we opted for the pie .  We figured at $52 it was meant to be for 2 people – $27 pp right?  When it came out, we thought hmmm maybe 3 people! The pretty scaled pattern on the pastry lid had a little porcelin bird to let out the air, which matched the baking dish.  It was huge!

The fish was a generous portion, I didn’t get much prawn, but it was the best fish I’ve ever had. It was sssooooooo fresh. We enjoyed it thoroughly, I recommend this dish!

I was always going to try the hand cut chips – but after we saw someone else order it, the decision was cemented. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, they were $8 and served with black garlic aioli.

We also had to order some token greens – the broccolini with garlic was great, also $8.   We were struggling to finish with this feast!

But who could leave without getting dessert?  For $14, we got an eclair, which was freshly baked with a sweet crust on top, and filled with whipped cream, and accompanied by 2 poached sugar plums.

I thought the value of the dessert didn’t match up to the value of the mains and sides, but at $105 for 2 people – I thought it was great value.  Matt Moran was in the kitchen too – which is great considering he’s probably in peak Masterchef season. I wonder what Malcolm Turnbull thought of the food as he was there too  Here is the kitchen garden, you can’t any more local that this!

All in all, I was super impressed. I had already had such high expectations and they were exceeded!   A bit less burn on the rosemary bread, and a little bit more adornment on the dessert and it would have been perfect – but I certainly will be back – soon – for sure!!  Moran and Sullivan have targetted the price range to be for regular dining for locals, and I have to say that I agree, the price point makes sure that you can go often without denting your eastern suburbs mortgage too much LOL

The service was quite good for opening – the staff had to check a couple of things with the kitchen but I’m sure that won’t be necessary in time, and the ambience was great too.  Great atmosphere. All in all, a wonderful night out with my sis

Right out the front, as per its UK sisters, you pass by the hand made pasta machine and produce – it’s made fresh daily!

Even in Sydney, the decor is like I stepped back to Canary Wharf – the furniture the same, the tea towel napkins the same – the chain completely consistent and like it was plucked straight out of the UK !

I loved this graffiti wall.  In fact, there are a few spray paintings around the place that create a funky urban uber cool environment.

We were seriously lucky to score the table right next to the open kitchen. Shouts of “yes chef!” and high energy cooking happening in there – the head chef keeping a watchful eye and cleaning dishes as they went out.  He was also so kind to respond to my questions of “Whats that?” “what’s that?” – you know, sneaking a look of what food looked like before I had to committ! haha.

We finally ordered after a final check of the menu. And promptly, out came two little pails of complimentary bread.  Who offers free bread these days?? The sourdough, pita, grissini and house baked foccacia was drizzled with pesto and served with balsamic and olive oil.  Definitely could have wolfed more of this down!

What was a soda?  For $4.10 I had to find out.  It was lemongrass and ginger cordial topped with sparkling water. It certainly did have a kick to it! I couldn’ really taste the lemongrass though, but it was otherwise like a nice refreshing ginger ale.

I had to order the arancini – as I did in London, and again, it could have been air freighted over as it looked exactly the same!  A dreamy dusting of parmesan on top and house made tomato sauce accompanied it.  There were 3 balls – for $9.50.  They were crispy on the outside but I found the balls to be slightly dry in the middle – and I thought that for that price maybe a 4th ball could have been offered instead of putting paper in the bottom – or at least making all 3 balls the same size instead of giving 1 that was smaller than the others (the back one).

These were the Italian nachos – deep fried pillows of ricotta ravioli.  We watched the girls hand make these out the front!

And the calamari with garlic mayo – $12.  It was more a tapas size than an entree size.  Really garlicky and awesome flavour – again, a little more would be better – or charge a bit more and get a bit more?  It wasn’t really enough to share, more like a side dish.

And the meat board for one.  Just like in London served on a wooden plank balanced on tinned tomatoes as a stand, there was mix of meats and some pickles and salad.  Bonus points for allowing single person serves!  At $13, I thought this was good value.1

Being the start of spring swimming costume season, the girls decided that we should go for entree sized pastas instead of having a main sized pasta – all those carbs at night need to be worked off right?    I was happy with the serving size of mine – the slow cooked cuttlefish.  All the pastas are handmade and were so fresh – yet still able to have that al dente texture.  I have to say that I haven’t had cuttlefish before, and it smelled and tasted a little fishy for my liking.  I loved the sauce though – rich with olive oil and stock ($13.50 for entree size).

Next time though, I will definitely definitely be going for the mushroom ravioli.  Don’t feel sorry for vegos here because here they feast!  Even the bread crumbs look meaty!  And great value too.

I have had boar just twice.  Once at the Spitalfields markets and the other time at Spiedo – Alessandro Pavioni’s new digs at Westfield Sydney.  And here is the second place I’ve heard of in Sydney that has it. Wild boar sausage with lentils.  I have to say that at $22, maybe a bit more sausage could have been offered, but what it lacked in size it made up for in flavour.  Very Jamie style!

The sides were very well priced – this crunchy salad was $5.50 and was a beautiful mix of red and yellow beetroot, radish and carrot with lemon and mint dressing. It lacked seasoning a bit so I just added my own and also some of the olive oil/balsamic from the bread.  It’s approximately the size of  a typical rice bowl.

The absolute stand out dish for me that you must must MUST MUST try (get the picture? ) one of – per person that is!!! – is the polenta chips. WOW. Crispy on the outside, well seasoned and soft on the inside.  I’m sure that if I drank beer these would be an awesome snack. The best I’ve ever eaten!!

Well Jamie’s Italian, Sydney certainly did live up to my expectations. It really took me back to my holiday and felt like we were enjoying something that Jamie himself created and would be proud of.  It was so much like the other restaurants – but I don’t say that in a bad chain way – but in a reliably good way.  I certainly will be back.

Here’s another umm… cocktail? hehehe.  Also $16.  Very refreshing and dry as requested I was told.  Cool glasses huh??

The only two food offerings were jaffles:  $7.50 each and served on these gorgeous grandma style plates – vegetarian one with cheese, tomato, basil;

Or a cup of curried nuts – $4.

Compulsory deco – the deer head on your way down! hehehe

See you every Friday at Grandma’s!

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/sepia-dominates-year-of-dining-simplicity-and-maturity-20110905-1jttt.html

Start planning your dining now!