Sociale (Como, Italy)

I'll keep this post less detailed than usual, because after all, aren't holidays about trying to relax as much as you can?

After a few days wandering the streets of Prague, we made our way to Italy, more specifically, Como to spend some time with family by the lake. After a day visiting the beautiful (touristy) towns of Varenna and Bellagio, and enjoying the fresh lake breeze under the warm sunshine, we decided to head into the main town of Como for dinner.

The streets certainly are pretty:

After being vetoing a few restaurants we walked past, and being turned away from a restaurant due to lack of space, we ended up at Sociale, a homely restaurant tucked away near the cathedral. 

Our waiter was mostly attentive throughout the evening, and well versed in Italian, English, and French, among other languages too I'm sure. We started off with the obligatory bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a bottle of red: 

and some cold appetizers,

Affettato misto da

 and warm appetizers to share.

Antipasto caldo del Sociale

Tonda di polpette

 For mains,

Spaghetti alla carbonara

Osso Buco

Proposta di pesce del giorno 

As you can see, the food couldn't be considered light by any standards. Hearty and filling, it was perhaps over-seasoned with salt and/or MSG (we were all very thirsty afterwards). Reasonably priced however, we left with full bellies and in a happy mood (good food, good wine, and good company will do that after all). 

A nice evening walk along the lake capped off a pretty superb day.

Como, you were so touristy but still so lovely.

Sociale
, , Italy
Wed - Mon 12:00pm - 230pm, 7:00pm - 10:30pm

Villagio

You know that moment when you're stuck in a mall, and can't find anything other than fast food? Yeah, I hate that and avoid it at all costs. So what I end up doing is organising any essential mall trips (and by essential, I mean there's stuff I need, but don't know where to get it from) around meal times. 

As was the case last Sunday, I organised to meet up with a few friends for lunch, then tackle the shopping list. For convenience sake, we ended up at a mall restaurant that was relatively well reviewed on Yelp, Villagio, that's tucked into a corner of the upper level of Fashion Outlets of Chicago. 

It's fairly obvious that the restaurant is part of the mall, but if you choose an inner table, it definitely doesn't feel quite so much like a food court.

The best thing by far at the restaurant was the bread baskets.

Bread

Not satisfied with just giving out slices of crusty, warm bread, they're also generous enough to provide flat bread with a delightful, vinegar and tomato-centric bruschetta topping. If you do happen to devour the basket and plate like we did, then they're happy to provide you with more. 

The menu is extensive and focuses on Italian cuisine. There are cold platters, warm appetizers, salads and soups kick the meal off, followed by the usual pasta, pizza and Italian-style meat mains like Parmigiana and Scaloppini, and paninis.

Seeing as I'd gorged  myself on the bread, I ended up ordering a seafood soup.

Zuppa Mare e Monti

With mixed fish, rice, calamari, shrimp, clam broth, tomato and zucchini, it really is a throw-whatever-you-can-find-into-the-pot kind of soup. While warming and flavoursome (the seafood and tomato combination just works), I was hoping that it would both be thicker in texture and larger in size. 

The dishes enjoyed by my companions were much more substantial:

Pizza Pepperoni

Linguine Nettuno

I  tried neither of the pizza or pasta dishes but what struck me most as they came out where how big the servings are. This is America after all, so I shouldn't be surprised. 

The pizza base was unfortunately soggy, but apart from that, both companions seemed to enjoy their meal enough. Both ended up with take-home boxes of food.

Dessert was somewhat disappointing.

Tiramisu

While pretty enough to look at, the tiramisu was heavy on both liquor and cream, and lacking in substance and interesting flavours. What a shame in my eyes, because tiramisu isn't really that hard to get right.

Villagio does decent food for a decent price. Given its location in a food court, it certainly stands a class above the other options. The service was friendly, although somewhat haphazard (requests were frequently forgotten) and that seemed to be due to the inexperience of some of the servers. Regardless, we came out with our bellies full and happier than if we had eaten at the food court so I'd definitely recommend Villagio if you're in the mall. I'd skip dessert though. 

Villagio
Fashion Outlets of Chicago
Way, Rosemont, IL
Mon-Sun 1130am-11pm

The Trust

So much time has passed since I was last in Melbourne that I'm now thinking about when I should head back next for a visit. Which just goes to show how overdue this post is.

Selecting a location for a dinner with colleagues is always a challenge; the restaurant has to be close enough to the office, the space has to accommodate at least 10 people, food should be reasonably priced, there must be enough vegetarian choices available, there should be a decent wine list, and the menu should appear tasty enough to some of the fusspots in our group (ahem, me).

After a bit of searching, we decided on The Trust which appeared to at least satisfy all these requirements. 

The Trust

Walking into the big front restaurant, there was certainly enough space to seat all of us. Apart from a few other patrons enjoying after-work drinks, we were the only diners. Which suited us just fine. 

The menu has an Italian spin to it and is quite extensive covering antipasto selections, pastas, and fish, lamb, chicken and vegetarian mains.

To kick things off, we ordered a few items from the antipasto bar.

Salumi Misti

It's hard to go wrong with thinly sliced, well cured meats. I can't remember the exact cost, but the menu says it's $20, which in hindsight was way to expensive for this, no matter how good it was. 

For the benefit of the vegetarians, we ordered some chickpea chips.

Chickpea Chips

These were nicely crunchy on the outside, and by contrast, soft on the inside. I found them to be a little bland and the sauce only helped to add a little flavour. Much better were the gooey aracini balls. 

Aracini

Another vegetarian dish, these were stuffed full of cheese. Not a healthy choice by any stretch, but comfort food in small serves is always in fashion.

A beautiful demonstration in simplicity came in the form of a calamari entree.

Calamari Grigliati

With chilli, lemon, olives and parsley, in my mind this is a quintessential Mediterranean dish. I certainly can't vouch for the authenticity of this, but it was my favourite starter full of flavours and fresh-tasting seafood. 

We ended up getting almost all the mains available between us, however I only have shots that turned out well thanks to my colleague's camera (my iPhone failed to take decent photos in these lighting conditions). 

From memory, Agnello all Brace of 10 hour slow cooked lamb, chickpeas and mixed grains was rich and thick, with a generous portion of meat accompanied by a salty broth.  

I'd ordered the fish of the day, accompanied by roasted baby beetroot and potatoes, a lonely spear of broccolini, and a very odd tasting crab-quinoa concoction.

Fish of the Day

The fish was crisp and nicely salted, with a nice firm flesh, but really, I couldn't get over how jarring the crabby mousse thing was. Points for healthiness and creativity, but unfortunately no points for taste.  

Squid Ink Linguine

And for interest, the squid ink liguine was ordered. Because differently coloured pasta is always a hit (but of course it tasted like any other well-cooked pasta). Not as good as freshly home-made, but a decent dish. 

Overall, we had a good time at The Trust and would certainly recommend it for groups. The atmosphere is cosy but still professional (like an old library full of dark wooden furniture), the waitstaff are friendly and efficient, there's something for everyone on the menu and the food is satisfying and decently priced (average standard for a CBD restaurant). Nothing mind-blowing here, but sometimes that's not a requirement. 

The Trust

Mon-Fri 9am-12am, Sat 5am-12am

Pizza Capers Flavourendum

I believe there are 3 types of people in the world; those who like simple pizzas, those who like gourmet pizzas, and those who only like pizzas at 3am in the morning. I fall in the middle-camp so was super-stoked to be offered the opportunity to try a few of the new pizzas on offer by Pizza Capers and vote in their Flavourendum to pick my favourite!

Three very different pizzas were up against each other in the taste test: Tuscan Pesto Chicken & Bacon, Reef & Beef and BBQ Bonanza.

First up to the stage, the Tuscan Pesto Chicken & Bacon. 

Tuscan Pesto Chicken & Bacon

With tender chicken and sizzling bacon pieces on a medium-thick base smeared with tomato sauce, accompanied by red onions, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan, fresh herbs and creamy pesto, it was a brilliant combination of flavours. It made me realise that after months of American pizza, Australian pizza is just that much better.

The next contender: Reef & Beef.

Reef & Beef

A fairly classic pairing often seen in pub meals but rarely seen on pizza, the Black Angus Beef, Cajun prawns, bacon, shallots, red onions, red capsicum, tomato sauce, mozzarella, lemon pepper, hollandaise and fresh lemon was quite good. Sizeable chunks of steak made an appearance alongside the sweet and spicy prawns. My only complaint was that the steak was on the dry side, but it was a good pizza nevertheless.

The final contender: BBQ Bonanza.

BBQ Bonanza

This is definitely a gourmet take on meat-lovers pizza. 100% Angus beef, sizzling rasher bacon, smoke cured pepperoni, leg ham, herbs, mozzarella and BBQ sauce is miles better than the not-quite-meat seen on many pizzas. For those who want more meat and more meat on pizza, then this is winner, but for someone like myself who prefers a more balanced meal, I did find it overpowering. Regardless, I did decide that the salty meats of varying textures, a hit of herbs to freshen up the slice, and sweet BBQ sauce is a decent offering.

All pizzas are available on a delicious gluten free base which I don't think is as delicious as a traditional base, but which is convenient for all you gluten-free folks out there.

As for the champion? Colleagues who I invited to sample the pizzas with me (what, you didn't think I ate three pizzas myself did you?) voted for the Reef & Beef but my favourite was the Tuscan Pesto Chicken & Bacon as I thought the flavours were more interesting and always like plenty of vegetables on a pizza. 

In a fairly crowded pizza delivery service market, Pizza Capers stands out with their interesting menu options and quality ingredients. Now if only they had a Melbourne city branch, and could change pizza offerings in America to be similarly delicious.

Thanks to Pizza Capers and Retail Food Group for this fun opportunity!

Vapiano

Sometimes restaurants are popular simply because they’re new, or have some ‘gimmick’ that draws people in. The new location for the Vapiano brand (from the USA) fits both criteria for popularity, but is uncharacteristically backed up by some good quality food.

First up, the gimmicks. When you enter Vapiano, you don’t pick up a table number or wait to get seated, you pick up an order card. The idea is that your food and drink orders are placed on the card and you can settle the balance at the end. Pretty neat, and it certainly makes split bills a breeze. 

Vapiano Chipcard

The food definitely has Italian influences, but the menu is clearly split into pizzas, pastas and salads. So clearly split in fact, that there are separate ordering stations for each. You pick what type of dish you want, you order and the chef makes it for you on the spot. Then you get to watch the fun of rapid-fire cooking which is more entertaining than sitting down and waiting for your meal in my opinion.

Pesto & Gnocchi

Both times I managed to pop-in outside of rush hour, which meant very little time passed between mentally deciding what I wanted to eat to the food in my mouth. That’s always a plus in my books, but I can see how the system may be frustrating during busy periods.

Still, even if there is a wait, the food is worth waiting for. It’s a fluid, customisable menu so everyone can pick a dish that suits their taste, and gluten-free options are available as well. The first time I went, both M and I ordered pasta dishes.

For him, spaghetti bolognaise, simple and packed with flavour using very fresh ingredients.

Spaghetti Bolognese

For me, gnocchi with pesto, also simple and delightfully tender, although was perhaps a bit on the oily side.

Gnocchi with Pesto

The second time I was there for an early dinner service. I’d actually planned on a dinner straight afterwards, so settled for an antipasti plate to share.

Large Antipasti Platter

Filled with cold cuts of meat and various cheeses, olives and marinated vegetables and paired with soft bread, it was my type of appetiser.

The other dishes I didn't get to try, but they looked and smelt pretty good (except the salad, which I thought looked a tad boring). Crappy lighting and hungry friends also results in crappy photos, so apologies. 

Interesting Pasta - I forget what this was

Insalada with Beef

Toscana

Con Carne

It would have been a shame to let the dessert selection go untasted especially when they looked so attractive.

Panna Cotta

Tiramisu della casa

Classic desserts that are hard to go wrong with are always a winner.

Even with its slightly gimmicky set-up, there’s nothing gimmicky about the food dished up at Vapiano. It’s fresh and uncomplicated, and what you see is what you get (almost literally as you can watch them cook it for you). The atmosphere is cosy and the service is fast. Table service is non-existent, but that’s mainly a function of style rather than a drawback as it certainly makes sense for it to be a help-yourself kind of place. Vapiano is already a favourite with the CBD lunch crowd and it’s really not hard to see why. Maybe we’ll see more new restaurants adopting this format in the future – it has potential.

Vapiano

Vapiano
Ground Floor, Rear at Flinders Lane,
Sun-Thu 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am

Caffe e Torta

Sometimes when you're in the city, you need a warm hug to carry the worries of the world away. And if a hug doesn't always do the trick, catching up with a friend in a cosy little cafe that serves simple and honest food certainly does.

Caffe e Torta (Coffee and Cake) is a small cafe tucked away on Little Collins St, just by Royal Arcade. It's fairly popular at both breakfast and lunch, with a menu that essentially covers all the basics. While a large baguette chock-full of fresh ingredients would have been satisfying enough for lunch, I was tempted by the frittata on offer, made with roasted pumpkin, baby spinach, fetta, herbed ricotta, free range eggs and parmesan cheese

Frittata

It came out warm, although not as hot as I would have liked, and was quite a sizeable dish. It's rare to find an interesting looking frittata, but I appreciate the effort they made here - look at the seam of pumpkin all the way along. I was a little disappointed in the taste and felt that there could have been a stronger hit of flavour (maybe a stronger cheese thrown into the mix would have helped) but overall it was quite a well rounded dish.

My friend obviously had similar thoughts to me, and while she considered the sandwiches and baguettes, she settled on the spinach and cheese pie made with fetta and ricotta.

Spinach and cheese pie

I wonder how much spinach and cheese they go through here? Quite a lot I'd imagine. In any case, the slight saltiness of the fillo pasty meant this pie was a notch ahead of the frittata. 

While the lunch dishes aren't perfect at Caffe e Torta, they're still good quality and satisfying. The service is efficient even though the place was packed elbow to elbow, and the prices are reasonable. I'm tempted to return to this bustling little cafe for breakfast, or perhaps for a coffee and a big slice of cake. Indeed, the cafe itself is telling me to.  

Caffe e Torta

Mon-Thu 730am-7pm, Fri 730am-9pm, Sat-Sun 830am-7pm

All Around The World

The following is a post written by Mariana Trulli. It even includes a delicious butter chicken recipe - relaxed dinner with a lovely glass of Australian wine this weekend anyone? 

Sophie
xx

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All Around The World

Pairing the right wine with an international dish is more art than science, and you don’t have to be an accomplished sommelier to get it right. With just some basic knowledge of the different types of wines, your tastebuds will help you make the right choice. You also don’t have to be a master chef to cook up international culinary delights that will tantalize the palate. You just need the right recipe. The bottom line is that the right wine with the right recipe is always a match made in heaven.

A Bite of Italian with the Right Wine

Gnocchi is a traditional type of Italian pasta that has been created and enjoyed since Roman times. Not only is it delicious, you don’t need a lot of ingredients or gadgets to make it. All you need is some baking potatoes, flour, eggs and a pinch of salt. Bake the potatoes and mash them. Mix them with the flour, eggs and salt until you have firm dough. Divide the dough into one inch pieces and boil in water for two to three minutes. When the gnocchi float to the surface, you’ll know they’re done. Top it off with a brown butter, sage and parmesan sauce. Just prepare the sauce in a skillet and pour over the gnocchi.

Since Australian wines like merlot have less tannin and structure than some other wines, they are well-matched with hearty dishes like potatoes and pastas. Merlot is soft with black cherry and plum flavours that complement the flavour of gnocchi. It also goes well with another traditional Italian dish known as puttanesca. Puttanesca is also easy to whip up in the kitchen. Sauté some chopped garlic in olive and add some chopped plum tomatoes along with black and green olives. Boil up some linguine and pour the mix on top of the pasta. Top with fresh basil, and you’ve got a gastronomic masterpiece.

Warm up with Boeuf Bourguignon

This traditional French stew is pure comfort food. All you need is some chuck steak, flour, butter, small button mushrooms, bacon, spring onions, carrots, red wine and beef stock. Cut the meat into 1-inch chunks and brown on all sides in a skillet. Mix and sauté all of the other ingredients and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Garnish with some roughly chopped parsley and dig in. Red burgundies are ideal for boeuf bourguignon. They are medium bodied with aromas and flavours of strawberries and raspberries that make the flavour of this dish pop. Red burgundies offer subtle tannins and acidity for balance. One of the best Australian wines for boeuf bourguignon is the Australian red labelled Shiraz. Malbecs also go well with any braised beef. These wines are full bodied with earthly and woody flavours.

Create the Popular Indian Koyla Butter Chicken

Take the taste of chicken to a whole new level with this recipe for koyla butter chicken by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Although there’s a long list of ingredients, prep time is just 20 minutes and cook time is just 30 minutes. Here’s a list of the ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 piece of coal
• 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 8 black peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes and onions
• 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder
• 3/4 cup yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek
• 10 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons honey
• handful of chopped almonds
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons cream

Marinate chicken with red chilli powder, lemon juice and garlic. Grind the cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf and peppercorns into a fine powder. Add the ground powder to the yoghurt along with the cumin and turmeric powder. Add this mixture to the chicken.

Place onions, garlic cloves, nuts, honey ginger, red chilli powder and tomatoes in a pressure cooker. Tie muslin cloth around the remaining cinnamon sticks, peppercorns and bay leaf. Seal it to make a bundle known as a potli.

Add the milk and potli and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Let this delicious meal sit for about half an hour and serve with one of your favourite Australian wines. While you’re enjoying a great international meal, it’s great to celebrate your heritage with a local wine. A Pignot Grigio always goes great with chicken. It’s a citrusy wine that is perfect for casual dining and summer quaffing.

Serving a tasty international meal along with the right Australian wines is a tradition to be celebrated.

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Crust Pizza Party!

When the opportunity to host a pizza dinner party came my way courtesy of Crust Pizza and Retail Food Group, I jumped at the chance. Crust Pizzas are deliciously gourmet, and are reasonably sized and priced so there would definitely be big smiles all around. 

To liven things up in the office, and with a bit of encouragement, the dinner party became themed. Carnevale! Although, in hindsight, things ended up looking a little bit Mardi Gras instead. 

The Giant Mask

Twirly Decorations (also fun to play with)

Centerpiece

Masks for the Guests

We were eagerly waiting in anticipation for the pizzas that had been orders. Eight large pizzas that would satisfy our cravings with a varied range of toppings from salmon, lamb, chicken, beef, ham and vegetarian. When the pizzas arrived, they were hurried opened, and arranged nicely as dinner parties should be somewhat organised (although the primary aim is of course to eat lots of good food in great company).

Crust Pizza Party!

A little snapshot of what we consumed (with those doll tables included as I wanted to take photos before all the pizzas had been attacked):

Wild Mushrooms and Wagyu Beef

I loved the sweetness of the asapragus on this one - it offset the earthiness of the mushrooms and the richness of the beef perfectly! 

Pizza devouration in process

Pepperoni

Capricciosa

Peri Peri Chicken

More pizzas being devoured

Smoked Salmon

Smoked salmon is always interesting and this pizza was done well in my opinion (and relatively healthy too - all those omega 3s).

Mediterranean Lamb

A favourite with a few of the boys in the office!

Vegetarian Supreme

Unfortunately our only vegetarian pizza but the first to be completely consumed.

Prosciutto

The Aftermath

Don't worry, all the pizzas were eaten by the end of the night.

We were also had a pasta included in our order - and so while this was a pizza party and no-one felt the need for pasta, it was eagerly devoured for lunch the next day by a colleague.

Bolognese Verdi

No dinner party is complete without dessert - so dessert pizzas and surprisingly good ice-creams.

Blackforest Dessert Pizza 

Ice-Cream Pots

So, I'm declaring this a successful dinner party with all the required ingredients: food, drinks, dessert, good company. Crust's pizzas are gourmet quality and reasonably priced (just over $20 each for a large), deliver to your door and don't leave you feeling nasty afterwards.

Thanks to Crust Pizza and Retail Food Group (especially Amy!)