The Bridge Room

                    Robata grilled Southern Squid, pressed potato, paprika, egg yolk, mint

Is it fair to say that sometimes rules are made to be broken?. At times it seems that they may be just guidelines and we should make decisions during live interplay that reflect the situation. The night I went to the The Sydney Morning Herald Editors’ Dinner at              The Bridge Room the heavens opened and rocked the suburbs washing people down the streets and catching all unaware, coatless and sans umberella.  I was late but my friend washed in straight from work at a bit after 6.10 pm, cold and bedraggled, to be turned away and told to come back at the right time, 6.30 pm. Yes rules are only guidelines.

Here is the menu and my funny notes. All wines were Phillip Shaw, whose wines from Orange I haven’t had before, and loved matched with this food. Look for some of the brilliant bottle labels below. You may find some of those shots out of focus as the dinner was rather slow and the wines were very free flowing.

The night included talks by the wine maker, and Ross Lusted the wonderfully talented chef, and hosted by Joanna Savill and Sue Bennett of the Herald.  There was an interesting question from the dining audience about what they think of food bloggers. Sue said that they were trained journalists at the Herald and Joanna said there was room for all.

The were some stunning dishes in this thoughtful line up. The overall favourite of the night for most though, was the Goose liver custard. The custard itself was salty, cutting like silken tofu. A fork full of slippery Asian custard revealed  tiny squares of  buttery goose liver. The surface of  clear warm jelly held  just cooked scallops and briny mushrooms. At the very bottom of the bowl were a tiny sprinkling of soft Du Puy lentils. The Phillip Shaw No. 11 Chardonnay 2011, Orange NSW, served with it , had a lolly sweet aroma, but Oakey Chardonnay characteristics moving into a gentle acidity that made good friends with the silky custard.

The Bridge Room Herald Benefits Dinner 2012 $185.00 per head

 [effortless-gm address="44 Bridge St Sydney , Australia, NSW 2000"]