Six chefs, six different courses. All matched pretty decently with wines from Myattsfield and Thumbprint Wines.
It’s great to have events like these in Perth, not only because they showcase all the talent in the city’s dining scene, but because they also raise funds and awareness for worthwhile causes, in the first event’s case – Foodbank WA.
The evening was by and large smooth sailing, perhaps except for the MC smashing too glasses at the end during the final speech (sorry guys – that’ll be coming out of my paycheque I’m sure).
The first dinner sold out in 20 minutes, so those interested in attending future events should join the mailing list via the website in anticipation of the announcement of dates and ticket sales for dinner number two at Divido.
Books are the world’s greatest source of knowledge.
Yet they can also supply an endless amount of low-brow amusement.
Over the years, I’ve chanced on some quirky “bookmarks” – think 25-year old train tickets and visiting cards for Charlie Gairdner hospital when telephone numbers were just seven digits long – that have made highly entertaining portals into the world before me.
My latest is a hand-scrawled cocktail recipe in a well-worn first edition copy of The Australian Bartender’s Guide to Cocktails (“Officially Recommended by the Australian Bartenders Guild”) that features an intriguing recipe for a “Maggot Moron”.
In case you can’t see the image above, here’s the inscription:
Maggot Moron
Vodka 2oz
Rum 2oz
Burbon [SIC] 2oz
A previous owner of the book has also scribbled “Spakas Special” next to the recipe, suggesting this might have been a concoction for either a regular or perhaps any customer that’s had a little too much to drink.
Personally the above combination does nothing for me, but if anyone feels like giving it a whirl and letting the Internet knows how it goes, be our guest.
As an aside, the current martini combination I’m rocking is a 9:1 combo of superbly smooth Martin Miller Westbourne Strength gin and trusty Lillet. It’s not quite Churchill-like in its purity, but my sort of drink. To me it doesn’t taste like it’s missing something but could do with a little extra oomph, so future revisions might include a dash of olive brine in the mix or the addition of a green olive garnish.
While working for yourself is great in terms of dictating your own workload and holidays, I miss the social environment of a newsroom and editorial department.
About this time on a Friday while working in an office, I’d usually take it upon myself to open something for the department and help ease us into the weekend after a busy week.
May all your Friday arvo drinks by stress-free and merry.
Ah Bar Lourinha. How so many of us in Perth love you so and how you’ll always hold a special place in the tapas-adoring hearts of Marie and I. We still daydream about the awesome simplicity of the beans and almonds we enjoyed that chilly September night in 2006. Polaroid SLR680, expired branded 600 film.
Wine is an integral part of Ben Portet’s family tree and has been since 1698 when Jean Portet was born in France’s Cognac region and became a winemaker. His decision to continue with the family trade not only makes him the 10th generation of Portet family to make wine – his dad, pictured above with Ben, is Yarra Valley vigneron Dominique Portet – but it’s also given him a brilliant brand name.
Of course, an evocative brand is just one part of the wine making and marketing jigsaw and Ten Men has more going for it than just a clever bit of rhyme. You get a sense of some kind of X factor when you inhale this wine’s bouquet of spice, vanilla and citrus, but it’s difficult to zero in on exactly why this stands out from the rest of the samey-samey sauvignon blanc pack. Then you learn the grapes for this wine were frozen over three days and the juice aged in French oak. The penny drops. But perish any thoughts of intense ice-wine richness; the hibernation seems to impart richness of texture and complexity of flavour to the wine rather than simply ratcheting up the residual. Vanilla pulses through the vibrant, lively wine with those oak-derived characters reverberating on the finish. One for those that appreciates the Graves style of sauvignon blanc and a wine that’s as instantly likable as the charming bi-lingual 29-year old that makes it.
Thirty One. 31. Whatever way you write it, it’s not a memorable birthday – let alone number – particularly after the hoopla of the big three-oh.
For me, birthdays are fairly momentous events, even though I try to play them down as I get older. They’re a good chance to take a step back and take stock of the last 12 months and evaluate how things are going and how you’d like them to go between now and your next birth anniversary.
Between turning 30 and 31, lots has happened and by and large, it’s been largely good. Amazing in fact. I feel incredibly blessed to have experienced some of the things the last 12 months have given me. But one area where I feel I’m not doing as much is my photography.
Not photography in the sense of taking snaps for articles and stories, but in the sense of analogue – largely Polaroid – photography for the sake of capturing the changing world around us. I still love it and find myself losing track of time on flickr and with my nose in graf and photography books and magazines.
I’d like that to change and have decided today’s as good a day as any to embark on a year-long one-a-day photography mission.
I’ll work out the rules later (I really wasn’t kidding when I said I made a decision today) but most importantly will be posting one previously unseen shot each day. Polaroid photography will largely feature in these 365 selections.
For regular readers – if any – I apologise for the intrusion but with AceHighWine only starting to find its feet again, I figure the time is right to introduce some new flavours to the b(l)og.
So without further ado, I present “Day One”. A Polablur of the backyard, on wonderfully 2005-expired 600 film shot in my SX-70.
Starting this project also allows me to give props to one of my favourite Diggin’ in the Crates – DITC – tracks, the late 90s Diamond D classic, Day One.
