July 5th, 2010
No Rain for a week in Ireland!
In the middle of May we were in Southern Ireland and were lucky enough to visit Dunbrody Country House Hotel on Wexford’s south coast.
Kevin Dundon and his wife Catherine run this gorgeous 250 acre spot. Kevin is a TV chef and cookbook author who also owns 2 restaurants in the U.S.
We had been introduced to Kevin through an Auckland chef Michael van Elzen from Molten in Mt Eden who once worked at Dunbrody .Kevin generously spent time with us showing us the marvellous fruit and vegetable gardens ,which in summer supply 90% of the restaurant needs.They even have a resident pig as well as lovely chooks! Kevin cooked us a seafood chowder for lunch with Irish soda bread and showed us the spa and cooking school which makes this a great weekend retreat. www.dunbrodyhouse.com
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
April 29th, 2010
Ramsay’s latest in Melbourne
Here in Melbourne we tried the latest of the Gordon Ramsay chain of Maze restaurants and this was the Barramundi which my husband enjoyed. I had a gorgeous Lemon and Harissa Poussin. As Maze was full we ate at the Grill and both the food and service were excellent. Josh Emmit, a New Zealand chef who has worked with Gordon is running this Melbourne branch and we got a chance to peek at the kitchens after dinner. I had worked on a recipe test of one of Josh’s recipes for Taste magazine.Reviews seem to be favourable so far.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
November 17th, 2009
Heavenly Hawkes Bay
My asparagus and mushroom entree at Pacifica in Napier. (see below)
The earth moved for me in Hawkes Bay last month and it had nothing to do with meeting Dan Carter in the lift (though it was the same day!) There was actually a small earthquake (my first experience) which I felt because I was on the 6th floor of the Te Pania Scenic Circle. I was there for the NZ Guild of Foodwriters conference (my last as President). The team at Food Hawkes Bay certainly turned it on for us with a selection of tours to choose from that had us all dithering and wishing we could do them all. Oddly enough we all thought our own tours must have been the best, as we compared notes.
Despite having been to the area numerous times, it is such a dynamic place that there is always something new happening. Who knew we had a snail farm there?
Maggie Beer from South Australia was our guest writer in residence and she impressed everyone with her approachable,modest brilliance!
My personal highlights (aside from meeting Dan!) were many and varied, from the tour of the Opera House and the visit to Glen Aros lodge through to the lunch at Te Awa, tasting my first Kiwi snail, discovering the caring environment of Hohepa www.hohepa.com
and hanging out with all the conference attendees.I think I will have to post separate blogs for each one at this rate.
This was the entree of Crayfish Ravioli with a pea puree and salmon at Te Awa www.teawa.com
where we also tasted the Reserve Chadonnay 2007 which just won a gold at the Air New Zealand wine awards.
As well as all the conference activities, I managed to get to Pacifica which is a restaurant on Marine Parade, an area not known for its classy food.My meal was definitely classy though some of the food writers I was with that night were a bit underwhelmed with their choices. Guess I got lucky.
More on Hawkes Bay very soon.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
July 22nd, 2009
A side trip to Vancouver
Isn’t it funny how, when something happens that you think is a problem, suddenly turns out to be a great bonus!This happened on my way to Chicago in June when the flight from LA to Chicago was cancelled and the only way a standby passenger could get there was via Vancouver! I have never been so unprepared to visit somewhere. Normally I do lots of homework before I go to a new city but this was a true adventure.
What to do with 7 hours in a strange city? Well it was nearly dinner time so I sought out a fish restaurant. I won’t bore you with the details of why I chose Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop house but lets say it was serendipity at work again.
My waitress Cole set the tone for the evening with her knowledge and understanding of the various fish choices and the wine to go with that. I discovered Joe Fortes follows the Ocean-wise programme which promotes the use of safe (as opposed to overfished) fish choices so I tried Sablefish (a black cod I understand)served blackened with a side of squeaky fresh asparagus and rice. She brought me a taste of a Canadian Gewurztraminer which I agreed was just right so I had that with my meal and then had a lemon tart and a short black before hopping back on the airport bus for my 11pm flight to Chicago!
I had a chance to get a feel for the city and it certainly piqued my interest in returning. It may just become my new route to Chicago each year.I have been told it has the feel of Auckland and there is an element of that and it certainly felt very safe for a woman on her own so next time at Joes I will look at the huge range of oysters and compare them to the Bluff variety. see the link to the restaurant on the links column.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel, Uncategorized
July 13th, 2009
USA 2009
Long Island in the State of New York has long held a fascination for me but without a car it seemed too difficult to get to.However this time I managed to get there thanks to my US resident Kiwi-born friend who offered to drive down from Boston to help me achieve this.We drove through from La Guardia airport and within a short time we were at Pinder Winery which has been operating for 30 years! I bet most people didn’t even know they grew vines up here.We tasted an interesting selection, from a “quincey-flavoured” Viognier to a very nice Mythology 2008 which was a Bordeaux blend but they had something for everyone there and Terri was a knowlegable host.She even guided us to a great inn with a restaurant which had an interesting name, the Jedediah Hawkins Inn.
Recently restored from a near-ruin this was a beautiful spot (see photo) for dinner of the more formal kind. www.jedediahhawkinsinn.com We were treated to a look at the accommodation including the Belvedere Suite but every room was individually decorated and rather gorgeous.At dinner I particularly enjoyed the fresh foie-gras from Upstate New York served with a tiny blue cheese souffle , seared artichoke hearts and a drizzle of a sweet-tart glaze.
The following day we explored the Hamptons, very smart towns indeed especially Southampton and Bridgehampton. I later found out where the Barefoot Contessa, cook, Ina Garten lived but the huge mansions all around the area were certainly impressive. They must need a team of gardeners working fulltime to maintain the enormous hedges and immaculate lawns. Some places only had that much visible to protect their privacy!This area has a feel of Cape Cod about it and makes a nice escape from the city of New York for those lucky enough to own a property there.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
June 6th, 2009
Magical Queenstown
Dont you love it when a place you haven’t been to for many years turns out to be even better than you remember it?In 1982 I had been to Queenstown and Arrowtown briefly while touring with the musical “Evita” so when friends suggested I come down in the autumn to catch the fabulous colours, there was no hesitation.Even though I knew the stone fruit and cherries would not be in season and the Cromwell Farmers Market was over at Easter, lets face it, grapes had well and truly imprinted themselves on the landscape and what was bad about that!
Flying into Queenstown was almost like a natural version of the old Hong Kong airport with mountains replacing the high-rise buildings.Spectacular! The wind must have been blowing the right way as we swept up the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu giving us a grandstand view of the area(planes often land from the north).Stepping out of the terminal, all I could say was WOW as the Remarkables towered above me and my eyes were drawn magnetically to these dramatic hills. Last time they had some snow on them I remembered in a flashback.My friends had given me a whistle-stop tour of the area around the back of Queenstown and Arrowtown and all the way up to Cromwell so the following day I went back to the spots that I had picked out as photo opportunities and good food spots.On a perfect autumn day there is no better way to spend the day than tootling around at leisure, photographing the stunning scenery, sampling the produce of the region and visiting local artists.
I had lunch at Gibbston Valley Winery that day after doing their wine tour and smelling the aroma of crushed grapes (vintage time here)The day was warm enough to sit in the courtyard and I enjoyed a Duck Rillette with muscatels, pickled vegetables and toasted Turkish bread followed by a Valhrona Manjari chocolate tart with mandarin sorbet, chunks of brownie, Persian fairy floss and dried chillies! Yes,chillies. They were crunchy and fab with the dark chocolate.
When I travel and stay with friends, I cook dinners for them and finding the wonderfully stocked Mediterranean Market out the back of Queenstown was a bonus. They even had my favourite Rachel Scott Ciabbata but on the Monday , no fish, so a quick trip to the Fresh Fish Co in Arrowtown provided me with the best fat Groper fillets I had ever tasted .I served this grilled with a hint of Moroccan Ras el Hanout spice and a salsa of coriander , semi-dried tomatoes ,lemon rind and olive oil.We were all swooning with delight at the quality of the fish.
The dinner guest that night was the amazing Da’Vella Gore, an artist ,marriage celebrant,and gardener who has created along with her son, a chapel recycled with the timber from an old church on the West Coast,a reception lodge like something out of Lord of the Rings and fabulous garden bordering Lake Hayes in a setting that would bring tears to your eyes.Do check out the website (see links) and dont miss it if you are in the area. 
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel
March 24th, 2009
South Island Sojourn Part 1
Raupo’s Vegetable Stack.Blenheim.
I have just returned from 10 days away and what an amazing 10 days they were! Having chosen to see NZ, (on my son’s air dollars) instead of going to the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival, I have to say I don’t feel I was shortchanged. I met so many interesting people in so many fields from artists to winemakers and bed and breakfast hosts that I feel extremely stimulated and have taken on board the sign I saw in an Akaroa general store.” We would like everyone to know we are not participating in the recession!”
Undiscovered parts of Christchurch such as Sol Square were revealed to me and there were so many small acts of kindness bestowed on me that I felt very spoiled. Having visited the Foundation Foods’ Factory whose wonderful stocks and glazes I have used for some time, I was loaded up with product and driven to my next two stops as I was on foot that day. After buying some blue cod for dinner then Morbier cheese at Mercato (a bit like Sabato) I was offered a ride back into town by yet another kind store owner. I did have a Wheelie bag but I appreciated the offer and accepted! Had some exceptionally good homemade crumpets with a finger lickin’ lime and ginger syrup at the Crumpet Club in Durham St. That is one idea worth recipe testing!
Next stop, Governor’s Bay with a pit stop at the Lyttleton Farmers Market to stock up on supplies for a few days of cooking for my sister who is Line Producer on a new TV drama series being filmed on Banks Peninsula.I found a new variety of potato like Agria , fluffy mashing type. Unfortunately I cant remember it but it was a Maori name which I will try and find out soon. The venison rack we bought was expensive but we were feeding the producer so we lashed out! The produce is really good at the Lyttleton Market (there is no supermarket there but an excellent food store called Ground Culinary Centre at 44 London St which stocks a number of things sold at the market plus Rachel Scott bread). In fact Lyttleton seems to be almost all cafes and not much else.
I had some research to do for an article and so headed over to Akaroa .I called in to see Bruce and Carol Hyland at Maison de la Mer, a gorgeous B and B www.maisondelamer.co.nzI was enjoying myself so much I forgot to take any pictures but the website has plenty.Had a glass of wine at a cafe on the water’s edge called Truby’s (as it used to be the Plunket rooms) and did take a photo of that. I had been introduced to the owners of No 83 (another B and B ) by my sister and spent a very happy evening there in their company. They have some splendid sculpture in the garden and a bush fringed property just up the hill from town.
My return to Governor’s Bay was hair raising to say the least as my sister telephoned to ask if I could take some items to the production location in remote Okain’s Bay. Now I’m not that fond of high winding roads, particularly with sheer drops, no matter how good the view is, as I’m usually too scared to notice. Let’s just say this was a mission and a half to get down there. I hugged the centre line (yes, there was one of those, amazingly!) in fact crossed it a few times on the really scary bits and no cars came up the other way, thank heavens. Got a fright when A HUGE truck appeared just as I got to the bottom of the hill!By the time I got to Blenheim I was buzzing so when my hosts Toni and Terry Gillan told me the social calendar for the next few days I was ready to go! Five days of meeting new people, dinner parties and the like kept me humming. I put on a dinner for Toni and Terry. We had whitebait fritters where all I had to do to find whitebait was stroll across the road to the little market and pick some up from a stall . Delia Smith’s tomato-stuffed capsicums were the first course, Duck Breast with cherries, mushroom risotto cakes and beans followed and we finished with nectarines topped with a macaroon mixture and baked served with a passionfruit flavoured mascarpone and creme fraiche combo.
Raupo is one of the new cafes in Blenheim and Toni and I had coffee there after our walks! Jan Bilton and I had lunch there too and the photo above was my selection. It was topped with bacon but could be a good vegetarian option without bacon. I really enjoyed it .
I must mention a wonderful garden I visited with Toni and Terry. They told me we were going to Domaine Georg Michel’s for dinner and it didn’t hit me till we drove up the drive that this was a “garden” to visit. In fact when I spotted the Monet inspired bridge and the river running through the property I realised I had seen it on television many years ago. I hadn’t brought my camera, as one doesn’t normally do so when going for dinner.Needless to say I growled at my hosts (nicely) for not warning me about just where we were going that evening.Do visit the website www.hortensiahouse.com and then the garden when in the area, as it is worth it, particularly if you like hydrangeas.
As I was doing some work on an article about breakfast trends in B and B’s, Toni introduced me to two delightful couples who owned Brookhurst and The Peppertree. Brookhurst is a newish house but has a luxurious feel to it and charming hosts Brian and Helen understand how to spoil their guests. Peppertree is very old ( see below).Werner and Heidi Pluss, originally from Switzerland, live on this 10 acre block with fruit trees, miniature cattle, sheep, olives and grape vines. They use much of the produce in preserves which are served at breakfast and even make their own wine. 
I had missed the cherry season but Blenheim is a lovely place to visit anytime particularly if you love food and wine.My next trip is to see the Autumn colours in Queenstown in April.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel, Uncategorized
July 23rd, 2008
American Food and wine highlights
“Chicago, Chicago , that fabulous town”, is a line from a song, I’m sure and I have to agree. I’ve got to know the city pretty well lately as Nick (eldest son) lives there. In June I had the chance to spend 3 days in town checking out the restaurants with a good Kiwi friend.It was agreed we would have one splurge night and chose the Trump restaurant Sixteen as there was an Aussie chef Frank Brunacci heading up the team there.The view from the sixteenth floor is fascinating, looking right into the top of the Wrigley building and on out to the lake.The standouts for me were the appetisers of Scallop, foie gras, sweet potato and spiced pecan plus an extra taste of a main, as an appetiser, of turbot, wild asparagus, butternut squash, pearl onions and crisp potato salad.The dessert of Baba rum, Pina colada icecream , roasted pineapple and tropical fruit gastrique was another delight.
The young sommelier with the perfect name for that sort of job,Kairos Cuillan Des Rosiers, was beautifully discreet when I asked about my favourite Willamette Valley Oregon Pinot Noirs. Guiding me with a gentle “and what sort of price range were you thinking of” I said, not too extreme and so the selection was made at $US81 for the delicious Sineann Pinot Noir 2006, Lachini Vineyard.It was just the sort of Pinot I love with full rich cherry flavours and a lovely savoury overtone.
The other restaurant which impressed was Nacional 27 which we happened on by chance, chatting to someone in a coffee place. I wanted to go to Frontera Grill which was always overbusy and she recommended this place as a good alternative.As it happened the manager knew Lauraine Jacobs so I figured we had struck it lucky.It was Wine Down Wednesday which meant the tasting menu came with wine included for $US44, a bargain indeed when you consider the famous Alinea charges $US 145 for the tasting menu and extra for the wine match. Ok, they are in a different league but this was still great value and excellent food and wine.They even have salsa dancing on a Friday night!
The Green Market at Lincoln Park was worth a visit too (See the Heritage tomatoes above.)Demos and great seasonal produce.
Posted by Sue Story // Filed in Gourmet travel