"sydney" news and stories

They may be the most expensive menus in the world -- and we're not talking about the price of the truffle mac 'n' cheese.

It's the menus themselves: at a restaurant in Sydney, Australia, the hostess doesn't hand you a boring old paper menu, but a brand new iPad.

We've got to admit, that's pretty cool.

The custom app at Mundo, in North Sydney, not only allows you to touch screen your way through the restaurant's selection of internationally inspired tapas, but when you've decided between the Szechwan Calamari or the Kingfish Ceviche, you can send the order to the kitchen yourself.

What do you do if you happen to have a bountiful harvest of 24,000 peaches?

If you're BMF Sydney, you create a sculpture of a naked woman in the middle of Sydney, Australia. The sculpture is "Ella," the peachy interpretation of Ella Baché's new skin care line with the slogan, "Skin Good Enough To Eat." Whether you'd actually want to eat skin care products out of the bottles is up to you. Let's hope that BMF Sydney does something useful with those peaches afterwards.

[via: Neatorama]

The Ricotta Hotcakes from Sydney Food by Bill Granger are easily some of the best pancakes in the world, as JenJen from Milk and Cookies found out when she made a batch for herself. The pancakes manage to have a tremendous amount of flavor and an incredibly light texture all at the same time. In all honesty, the pancakes need nothing on them, but original version served at bills in Sydney is heavenly and comes with sliced bananas and honeycomb butter, which is a compound butter made with crushed honeycomb candy (like the inside of a Violet Crumble) and a touch of real honey. JenJen just used real honeycomb to top hers for an interesting, but simple, twist. Whatever you use, you won't regret trying the recipe for a second.

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When I mentioned that the chef I would most like to have cook for me is Bill Granger, it did not immediately occur to me that some people are unfamiliar with him. He is an exceptionally talented Australian cook whose style is of simple, fresh food with clean tastes and, of course, an Aussie flair. I bought a copy of Sydney Food when I first visited his restaurant in Sydney, bills. The cookbook, which includes all the favorites from the cafe menu, is beautifully put together , with straightforward instructions and mouthwatering illustrations. Since it is an Aussie cookbook, you will want to either have a scale or a conversion chart with you when you cook from it, or just try one of his newer cookbooks, like bills food.

Highlights of Sydney Food include Granger's internationally famous scrambled eggs and bills' signature coconut bread (my personal favorite), as well as the incredibly good ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter and a wide selection of savory dishes.

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Beer does not immediately spring to mind when asked to think about desserts. Whether you like dark or pale ales, chances are that you are more likely to want a beer with your pizza than with your creme brule. Restaurateurs and brewers, however, are seeing things in a different light. With the proliferation of microbreweries, including restaurants and pubs that brew their own blends, a wider variety of beers are showing up on menus and the unique flavors in some brews - from honey to blackberry - are helping to put some beers on the dessert menu on a regular basis. Strong, dark beers can have a noticeably bitter after taste, but many pair well with fruit to make sorbets. Dairy can mute the flavors of some malts, but also conceals lingering bitterness, so it pairs well with stronger ales. Wine and champagne have long been making appearances in desserts - why not beer?

Guinness has appeared, with success, in ice creams already and there are commercial varieties of beer ice cream as well, though unique new flavors will not have the same lure of a brand name to draw consumers in.

[Photo Sydney Morning Herald]

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