Italy - Pisa - Gelato and Towers

After a very quick visit to Nice (which will have to be longer next time (and I am assuming there will be a next time!)), it was off on the road again to Italy. Which fortunately was only an hour away.

Although our actual destination in Italy was a little bit further, so we got to take in a little bit of the countryside as we drove through, or as much as you can see from the motorways anyway.

I spent a bit of time behind the wheel on the way to Italy and I must say, it was a little bit of blood-pressure-raising business! After being spoilt in Switzerland and France with fairly wide motorway roads and polite drivers, the Italian motorways were absolutely tiny. I'm amazed that people could go faster than me (at 110kmph) in these lanes that literally only just about fit the cars in.

There's a reason why Italian cars are designed small I think.

And not to mention, Italian drivers are pretty brutal on the roads. Gotta watch for yourself there!

Fortunately while I got left behind in Italian motor vehicle dust, I got to enjoy a couple of alps and mountains, it was generally quite a pretty part of the country to drive through.

Whilst our destination was Figline Valdarno in Tuscany, as Pisa was on our way, we made a pit stop.

And well, did some very touristy things. You have to. It's also absolutely hilarious to just sit back and watch other tourists do their own touristy things. Everyone was just standing with their hands up in their air, whilst their (usually male) partner leans all the way back with the camera and does their little artistic wink while composing the picture.

I personally loved Dad's idea. Favourite-ist picture ever!

We also had our first taste of Italian gelato on the way out of the Leaning Tower of Pisa area. Just a small, wee shop right by the exit on the farside, away from all the hawkers and tourist trap souvenirs. Oh my. I don't know how or why it's so much better, but it just is. The flavours are genuine, rich and authentic. The texture…oh the texture, words can't describe! It's creamy but light and just bursting with flavour. There's really nothing better on a warm ( or even not so warm) day.

And one other thing that's fantastic. It is SO cheap. Like 1.5 euros for one scoop or something stupid like that?

The man who served us was adorable, I loved his little hat and that excellent moustache.

Mum and Tim vote yes to Italian gelato.

And one more shot for the road.

Duckfest at The Provincial

It was a typical Melbourne night, the air was crisp, the traffic on Johnston road flowing consistently and Brunswick street was brightly lit from the street lamps and myriad of restaurants that sat along it.

Mum and I managed to get a park, 30 seconds away from the junction and quickly jumped out and scuttled over to the soothing warmth of the Provincial Hotel where our coats quickly came off as the heat started sinking in.

The dubbed 'duck enabler', Anna (@eatnik), had worked a little magic and organized another wonderful #duckfest. The last one was at Pan Asian, which turned from a small gathering to a bit of a soiree of bloggers, and was a raging success. This time, we were at the Provincial Hotel and it was a more modest and intimate affair.

I had never stepped foot into the Provincial before, I don't mean to take the superficial hand, but on the corner of Johnston and Brunswick, I always just assumed it was your average joe pub/bar.

But oh my, once you walk in and walk through the bar, the most gorgeous dining room is laid out before you. Tablecloth, wine glasses, it was all a much finer affair than I had judged from the outside! Never judge a book by the cover they say...

I loved the room we were squeezed into, rustic brick, dimmed lights, candles on the tables, it was a little bit romantic even....or as romantic as it can get with 30 or so bloggers. It was definitely cosy and comfortable...kind of like a log cabin in the mountains...except made out of bricks.

I had brought my mum along to this duckfest since Brad wasn't free and she was quite curious to see how many ways Westerners could cook duck. Tonight we were to feast on Milawa ducks, a cross breed of 4 types of duck, produced by Russell Mickle and prepared by chef Paul Cooper.

I got a glass of the 'Squealing Pig' pinot noir, just because the name tickled my funny bones a little more than anything. You've got to decide somehow right?

Our first course was a canape of duck rilettes on brioche. It was a fun little teaser to start the night, sweet from the little slice of apple on top which added an extra texture into the rilette. Shame it's only two bites really...

I must have gasped when this was put in front of us, dressed like the prettiest little garden with a golden egg in the middle (it's like an Easter egg hunt!), was a plate of duck neck sausage served Lyonnais style with duck heart & liver and poached duck eggs. I quietly just wanted to take pictures of it all night, but it's just as well that I didn't, as it was absolutely gorgeous. The sausage was absolutely scrumptious, the meat so tender and I very happily scoffed down my mum's portion of offal cuts, since that's not so much her thing.

There were mixed views on the poached egg, but I personally quite liked it. It wasn't as runny as I was expecting it to be, but I quite liked the thicker, gooey consistency it had. It was perfect for smearing over the sausage and liver, adding even more richness to each mouthful. I could see why eaten on it's own people wouldn't have liked it though.

I'm not sure what I expected when I read there was cassoulet on the menu, but when I was told to 'be careful the bowl is hot' and shuffled over, I was not expecting something this ginormous! The duck cassoulet was finished in the wood oven with pork belly and toulouse sausage. Beneath the sea of duck legs sticking out of the deep bowl, was an abundance of other proteins, including beans. It just smelt divine as it was placed in front of us, teasing us as we waited for each of our turns to get some onto our plate...

Oh my goodness. The beans. Were. Amazing. They had absolutely just absorbed all the flavours from the other meats, perfect in texture...I just wanted a whole plate of them. The pork belly was lovely and tender and the duck meat was also falling off the bone. The only real complaint was that the meat was only 'warm' not really 'hot' which was surprising since we were warned about how hot the bowl was! It's also a tiny bit of a shame the beans sort of outshone the meat for me, but if we had really gotten this hot and fresh I think, it might have made the difference.

A funny transition from a heavy course to a lighter savoury course, but one that makes sense in hindsight (as the sweet rhubarb helps prepare the palette nicely for dessert), our last savoury dish was a pan roasted duck breast, caramelized endive and bacon tart fine, rhubarb puree and duck orange sauce.

Nothing to complain about. The duck itself was lovely and flavoursome, cooked well and I loved the sweet rhubarb puree that went with it. Such an interesting mix of flavours that I hadn't come across yet. The endive tart was also quite lovely, even though I am gluten intolerant, I could resist having a few bites of the flaky pastry.

Our dessert course, was somewhat regrettably and somewhat thankfully not duck (the concept tickles me, but it would just seem weird to stomach...), but instead a pumpkin seed frozen nougat, chocolate mousse, almonds and honeycomb.

Pumpkin seed nougat? I was absolutely tickled, I love desserts that are presented like this, for some reason it makes me think of the Roman Forum in Rome, it's got some columns standing, some that have fallen over, a bit of dirt here and there....etc. My mind goes to strange places.

I personally quite enjoyed this, it was something a bit different. I enjoyed the texture of the nougat, and the fact that it wasn't overly sweet. Probably because of the pumpkin seed. I'm not sure how well it went all together per say, as there are so many components, but I would eat this again quite happily as I really loved the smooth but slightly grainy texture of the nougat and of course, it's flavour. Although more chocolate next time please!

It was a lovely night, great food accompanied with great company! I had the pleasure of being seated next to Kenny and Bennie, the cheery father and son team of Consider the Sauce, Bruce and Jane, with the Tummy Rumbles team just across from my mum (although there was a steel pole in the way). I couldn't help but tell Melissa how reading their blog just two years ago is what got me sucked into the world of food blogging and had me start up this one.

So now that I know there is more to the Provincial Hotel than meets the eye, I for sure will be back to try their dinner menu and maybe not have duck next time.

Thanks again Anna! :)

The Provincial

299 Brunswick St

Fitzroy, 3065

Chin Chin

As if you all need any intro to this place, you've probably read about it in the 20 other blog posts and reviews from broadsheet and the like about the trendy but laid back and casual Thai diner. You'll have read about it's warehouse appeal with it's gorgeously high ceilings (I know I mention them time and time again in this blog but I can't help but love them.), long narrow windows, punchy typography heavy posters at the front of the restaurant and very slick fit out at the bar. So I might as well say nothing and just give you pictures.

But I tend to be the chatty sort (even online) and I'll tell you what I think anyway. I love the high ceilings, I love the shelves and bottles on the wall behind the bar, which somehow remind me of one of those marble maze games where you have to tilt the marble into the end hole, and even those lantern like lights above the bar. All very cool and quite chic indeed.

(The drinks menu, so cute!)

Being a bit of a graphics nerd, I also enjoyed all the different types of type that were all over the place. From the menus, to the wall decor. It was a bit of a smorgasbord for my eyes. Very poppy, very fresh. Although it also sort of feels like the walls are constantly yelling at you. At least they look cool doing so.

Brad and I rocked up on a Saturday evening at about 7:30 or so. It was busy. It was bustling. A lady who was in front of us decided to leave and as she was leaving commented 'I don't like these places that have paper menus and use them as placemats...', which had Brad and I looking at each other going 'Huh?'

The floor staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. We were told first to go hang out at the bar for a bit before we were to be seated and even the bar was absolutely full, there was no way we were going to get a drink before seating, but that's alright.

I took pictures instead. Teehee.

Fortunately it wasn't too long a wait before we were collected, led to and seated amongst the throng of people. Even in the heart of the chaos, I found it wasn't too hard to communicate with Brad and was thankful I wasn't shouting over the table all night!

The wine list was fun, there was something on the wine list with a name to do about zombies or aliens, which was extremely tempting (the table next to us got it and it has the most excellent label), but we ended up getting a carafe of the house white pinot gris, which is especially made for Chin Chin. I unfortunately don't remember more details about it though. I got a bit tipsy off it though.

The menu at Chin Chin is actually, a little surprisingly, quite extensive. Take your pick from a little something, or a soup, or some green stuff, curries, barbeques, mains, sides and sweets. Phew!

Brad and I started with the spicy corn and coriander fritters, with iceberg lettuce and Chin Chin's chill jam. What a delicious way to start the night! The corn fritters were light and well...corny (hurr), they reminded me slightly of St. Ali's fritters, albeit smaller and a little less herby.

Combined with the lettuce, which had a tiny silver of ginger on it and the chilli jam, it was a mix not to be missed. The chilli jam in particular really made the dish for me, I thought it was very much like a typical Malaysian sambal, with crunchy hints of dried shrimp in it. My only feedback? Need more chilli jam....

For vegetables we decided to get the "Morning Glory" (which got some funny looks from my friends when I recounted what I ate afterwards...), which is wok tossed siamese water cress with yellow bean and chilli.

This was not as spicy as I thought it would be, but I absolutely loved the flavour the yellow bean parted to it. Or if it wasn't the yellow bean, I liked whatever the heck it was. For a vegetable I'm used to coming across quite often in Chinese cuisine and not usually being overwhelmed by it, the seasoning and flavours in this were deliciously moreish! Recommended!

After reading it on a few blogs, I decided we had to try the spicy eggnet rolls with spanner crab and chilli jam. Whilst I was enamoured by the eggnet itself, which was gorgeous and even in consistency, there was a little bit too much coconut or something in there for my liking. A bit sweeter than I would have liked personally, but that didn't stop us from finishing it all up in a jiffy.

As neither of us had had boar before, we opted to get one of the mains, which was wild boar stir fried with red curry paste, snake beans, ginger and basil. Again, not overly spicy, but tasty, the boar was a bit leaner than other meats, which I expected. I thought it would be a little gamier, but the curry flavour covered that all up quite nicely. Not the most memorable dish of the night, but certainly nothing wrong with it either.

We had a tiny bit of an issue getting our last dish, as we had had our four other dishes and had about a 20-30 minute wait on this one. However, I do respect the waiters for explaining to me there had been a confusion with sending dishes out and I certainly can understand that new runners often get things mixed up now and again. Let me tell you, it's amazing how far a little bit of humility and an apology can go. With me anyway. It happens, and as long as I eventually have hot food, I'm pretty satisfied.

Our last dish, which we barely had room for, was a Massaman curry of coconut braised beef brisket with pink fur apple potatoes and crispy shallots. Ah, it was just lovely, again not one of their spicier dishes (pay attention you non-chilli eaters, I've done your homework for you!), but wonderfully rich in flavours. There was just enough warmth from the spices and just enough sweetness from the coconut. It was not so much a creamy curry but it was maybe a tad on the oily side. I would however, come back again for this. Although there are so many more dishes I want to try...

Chin Chin stayed busy almost the whole night that we were there, but even so, I quite liked the busy atmosphere. Other than our slightly late dish, we had a very pleasant experience with good food, good wine and absolutely lovely staff. I liked the honest, but updated take on the dishes.

Yeah there's a lot of hype, but these guys know what they're doing and I'm looking forward to checking out the lunch service sometime when I can get some better lighting....

Chin Chin

125 Flinders Lane

Melbourne, 3000