Across the Border: Kings Cross: Bars: The Bourbon

Kings Cross institution, The Bourbon, finally reopened last week after closing in February 2010 when a storm tore off its roof and caused water damage throughout the building.

That feels like so long ago and I, like many residents, have been patiently awaiting its return to the Kings Cross strip. 

It was always a great locals' pub, because you could sit outside on the street, people watch and chat to passersby.

The Sugar Mill hotel's outdoor seating fulfils some of that brief, looking out as it does on the colourful characters that hang out on the Springfield Avenue mall, but it doesn't have that beautiful sweeping curve where Macleay Street meets Darlinghurst Road.

And it doesn't have the view of the marvellous El Alamein Memorial Fountain.

The Bourbon has all that, and a rich history in the area, dating back to 1967 when it was christened The Bourbon and Beefsteak by owner, US Airforce veteran, Bernie Houghton.

The photograph above, by Paul Green (possibly this Paul Green?) is from the City of Sydney Archives and shows The Bourbon and Beefsteak in the late-1980s when it was still in the Bernie years with its Hollywood-style outdoor lighting and over-the-top interior with walls covered in memorabilia. 

That ghastly plane tree to the right of the picture hasn't changed a bit. 

But the Bourbon and Beefsteak did change when it was sold in 2005 and the new owner cleared the walls, gave the character-filled joint a stainless-steel makeover and shorted its name to The Bourbon.

I'm not going to cover the history of the drinking hole, because a proper historian, Paul Ham, wrote a great piece for The Monthly in April last year, which paints an evocative picture of the Bourbons and Beefsteak's colourful former life.

So after an absence of three years, I visited the new Bourbon last week, shortly after it reopened following a makeover by new owner Chris Cheung, whose hotel portfolio includes the Coogee Bay Hotel, Key Largo in Rushcutters Bay and Cruise at West Circular Quay.

The marketing campaign around the new venue is based on quotes by dead people and old people, such as Ludwig van Beethoven, above, who says "To play without passion is inexcusable".

Another quotes chef Alain Ducasse: "Desserts are like mistresses. They are bad for you. So if you are having one, you might as well have two."

I'm not sure what the quotes are all about, except perhaps they are alluding to The Bourbon's new focus, which is no longer $10 steaks and cheap beer for members, but live music and fancy food.

The absence of the cheap stuff is no great loss for me, because I no longer drink beer, but I was disappointed by the curious design of the outdoor area, which is rather claustrophobic with chunky tiled columns and large window panes obscuring the view of Macleay Street.

There was one good table with a view, but it was taken and so I had to sit and wait for my friend in a rather uncomfortable spot:

Just getting into the outdoor terraced area was an adventure that involved going up the steps at the new front door, passing a woman at a booking desk, walking round through the bar, past the indoor dining area, down some more stairs and then finally through a glass door.

 

There is also some banquette-style seating (above), lined with bookcases, which seemed at odds with an outdoor area.

It seems that inside is the place to be, but that's hard to take in Sydney when the weather is mostly sunny throughout the year and al fresco dining should be more common.

But to help encourage people indoors, the Bourbon has built a show kitchen where you can turn your head from the bar and watch chef James Metcalfe at work.

According to The Bourbon's new website, Metcalfe formerly worked for fine-diner Becasse, Etch in Surry Hills and burger joint Charlie and Co, so foodies will fancy a bit of name-dropping in that field. But I don't know if locals are going to be walking down the strip to have $22-plus mains that require a side of fries that cost $7 and a $6 salad. 

I know I couldn't. I pay too much rent to live here. And although I really wanted to stay and try the food - especially after seeing yummy-looking plates pass my table - I can't really afford to go to the local and spend that kind of money.

To survive the competition - and there's lots of it in Kings Cross - they will need to win as a destination venue, attracting tourists or people from outside the neighbourhood each night of the week.

My friend Jane Green and I enjoyed a bottle of the Argo Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ($32) from Orange, in the NSW Central West, and after being accosted by staff, who were friendly but helicoptered around the table, ordered some king fish sashimi for $12.

The plate looked lovely and was made up of four paper-thin slivers of fine fish, but I couldn't help but think of Brown Rice across the road, where $10 would get me eight nice, fat slices of salmon sashimi. 

The best thing about the chatty staff was extracting details.
According to the waiter, the second level of The Bourbon will open in six months with a bar, and the third level will be open next year, housing a restaurant.
Chris Cheung also owns the neighbouring old Swannies club, which closed when the club went into administration in May 2011, but that isn't scheduled to open until 2015.

Moving on, I always think bathrooms are a good way to judge a place and the ones in The Bourbon, down the back stairs, were clean and grand with pseudo-Dyson hand driers, where you dip your hands into the machine and water magically evaporates. But there was no soap left in the dispenser.

To encourage sociability between the guests, there's also this mixed-sex hand-washing fountain (above), where the soap dispensers were full.

So, it was a fine night because I had the dear Jane Green for company and we eventually got the table with the view that I wanted, but will I rush back?

Perhaps after three years my expectations were too high.

I would love to know if you have been and what you think.

*

The Bourbon

22 Darlinghurst Road

Kings Cross NSW 2010

02 9035 8888

www.thebourbon.com.au

Across the Border: Woolloomooloo: Food: Lanzafame

Every now and then I have a craving for pizza. 

Not the thick, oily crust type of pizza, covered in glue-like cheese. 

When I crave, I want real Italian pizza with minimal toppings but strong flavours. 

And my absolute favourite pizza treat in the neighbourhood is Lanzafame. 

Lanzafame was where I invited my friends to celebrate my birthday last year, and where I often go with my friend, Ruby, for pre-show or early dinners, because it costs just $15 for a pizza and a glass of wine during lunch and between 6-7pm. That must be the most inexpensive meal in Sydney.

Lanzafame is hidden away down the hill on Crown Street on the northern side of William Street.

It's rather obscure location with its lack of foot traffic, means that I never have a problem procuring a table as the restaurant is often quite empty.

I don't mind that at all, because it means Ruby and I can relax, drink our wine and enjoy the peace and quiet.

There's a large area inside, as well as an "outdoor area" which we booked for a fairly large group for Ruby's birthday last weekend. We ate early so everyone paid just $15, plus any other drinks they had. Bargain! Lanzafame also does gluten-free pizza bases, so people with coeliac disease can enjoy the normally forbidden food.

Ruby had wanted to host the party at her house but because her apartment is fairly small, there was no way we would all fit inside comfortably.

Lanzafame was perfect because we had the entire area outside, with one long table and a few lounges on the end, where a couple of the smokers in the party could go and have a fag. It was so relaxed, Ruby didn't have to wash up, and the waiter really looked after us.

The restaurant is owned by John Lanzafame, who was the chap that made Hugo's Lounge, on Bayswater Road in Kings Cross, famous for its pizza. 

John Lanzafame also won an international pizza cook-off in the United States, so can lay claim to the title of "World's Best Pizza Champion".

John Lanzafame comes from an Italian background, so apart from pizza, there are a range of pastas, risottos and lovely Italian entrees and desserts. The tiramisu is a delight, but I've never tried anything else on the menu, because I can't even finish an entire pizza, and would never be able to squeeze any more food in.

My absolute favourite pizza is the mushroom one (above). It has nothing but mushrooms, cheese and a dash of chili. I'm also partial to Lanzafame's ham and pineapple pizza (pineapple being a great Australian addition) and I adore the rocket and parmesan salad:

John Lanzafame has also two published cookbooks: one is devoted entirely to pizza, Pizza Modo Mio, while the other is a collection of Italian recipes, Family Italian, which includes these yummy looking asparagus fritters:

On Saturday night, our friend Lucas was keen to try the Italian doughnuts on the menu, but after devouring his pizza had no more appetite, so I very naughtily copied down the recipe from Family Italian.

I don't think John Lanzafame will mind too much if I share it with you here:

John Lanzafame's doughuts (sfingi)

Ingredients:

7gm dried active yeast

3 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar, plus extra for dusting

500gm self-raising flour, sifted

150gm sultanas

canola oil, for deep frying

Method:

Combine the yeast, a pinch of the sugar and 250m warm water in a small bowl and stand for 10 minutes or until foaming.

Meanwhile, place the flour, sultanas, remaining sugar and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and combine well. Make a well in the centre, pour in the yeast mixture, 150ml water and stir until a wet dough forms. Allow the dough to stand for 40 minutes of until nearly doubled in size.

Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan or deep-fryer to 160 degrees Celsius, or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil browns in 30 seconds. Carefully drop 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until golden all over and cooked in the centre. They should have the texture of a thick sponge. Remove using tongs and drain on absorbent paper. While still hot, dust with sugar and serve immediately.

And now I am craving hot Italian doughnuts.

*

Lanzafame

88 Crown Street

Woolloomooloo NSW 2011

02 9331 8881

www.lanzafame.com.au

Darlinghurst Blog: Food: Messina Laboratorio

For a long, long time I have been admiring the Mario Brothers-style mushroom-shaped dessert in the window of Gelato Messsina. 

I would pass by on some boring Tuesday night and see four or five mushroom desserts, with their big red heads and white comic book-type spots, in the big showcase freezer, and I would try and dream up reasons to buy one.

Surely it would make an ideal birthday present. Or perhaps I could buy one to take into work for my colleagues to enjoy. 

But there was always the melt factor. A frozen, gelato dessert would never last the distance.

And then Messina Laboratorio opened up next door.

Messina Laboratorio, or Messina Lab for short, is like the weird Willy Wonka side of the traditional Gelato Messina, where the ice-cream makers go a bit kooky and make big crazy stuff and miniatures of stuff, such as hamburgers (above left) or the strange (usually much bigger) Mario Brothers' mushrooms (below centre).

So when it opened a few months ago, I had my heart set on the mini mushroom - I could eat it on my own; no need for a birthday present or other reason.

I had to have one. 

But then I was on some stupid detox for a while and it seemed revoltingly indulgent to go in and buy the mini mushroom purely for myself. 

Until last night, that is.

Last night, I thought, "stuff it, I deserve the $9.90 mushroom", and so I bought one and carried it home like precious cargo, put it in the freezer and forgot about it for four hours until I got the munchies about 11pm.

That was when I pulled the box out of the freezer . . .

opened it up . . .

photographed the mushroom  . . .

put it on a plate  . . .

and started to eat it.

The mushroom crown is all chocolate gelato with a caramel centre, then there is the vanilla gelato mushroom stem, which grows out of a "moss" of green crackly stuff, which has the same effect in your mouth as Magic Gum, that weird pop-in-your-mouth chewing gum you may have had as a child.

Eating the mushroom, known as "Mini Me", was a bit of a production, and had me interested at every spoonful, unlike the usual bowl of ice cream or gelato in a cone, which still has me excited, just not switched on.

It is not the most dainty thing to eat - especially when you get down to the green moss, crackling base - but I still devoured it pretty quickly.

*

Messina Creative Department

Laboratorio and Patisserie

243 Victoria Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 8354 1223

www.gelatomessina.com

Darlinghurst: Food: Sur Bourke

My friend Ruby, who tends to dwell on the western side of Darlinghurst Road, introduced me to this new French cafe late last year and it quickly became one of our favourite lunching spots. 

Sur Bourke doesn't look like much from the street; you could swing past on the bus on Bourke Street and barely notice it, but its healthy, well-balanced menu is a real stand-out and the prices will keep you returning. 

Inside, there is fairly limited seating and a distinct French touch to the decor.

There is de bicycle suspendu au mur.

Common bottles of water packed in a sweet wooden crate.

Colourful berets lined up in a row.

 And tins of French Cassoulet and bags of coffee grouped together on shelves.

But it is outside, on warm days, where Ruby and I love to be: sitting with the flower pots, sun on our backs and watching the world go by very slowly.

Sur Bourke serves breakfast ala Francaise, such as croissants or brioche with jam, Nutella or ham and cheese ($4.50-$6), as well as home made bircher muesli ($7.50), spelt fruit loaf ($5.50) and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on sourdough ($9.50).

But we often go for lunch and even Ruby, who is happy to eat breakfast eggs all day long, usually orders from the lunch menu just because it is so good.

There's the obvious croque Monsieur ($11.50/$16) and a quiche with side salad ($9.50) but it's the tasting plates and salads we love.

Last time we were there, Ruby ordered the mixed leaf salad with parmesan, walnut and pear, served with a slice of sourdough and a boiled egg ($10). It's actually quite a generous bowl, despite that photograph above making it look quite small. And don't you think the eggs look like frangipanis when they are cut that way. Everything is prepared with love.

I had what I always have: the $14.50 lunch plate, which includes ham, pickles, Swiss cheese, tomato, two slices of sourdough and a side salad. 

I love picking at things and slowly eating and everything on this plate is like a taste bomb, including the salad, which in other places is often just tired old bland mixed lettuce without any dressing.

Here, it is so flavoursome, it could stand alone as its own meal.

Just writing this post has made me realise that it has been far too long since my last visit.

 *

Sur Burke

266 Bourke Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 8084 9376

Darlinghurst Blog: Food: Boca Argentinian Grill

My friend Sapphire Tenzing and I always seem to eat at the same cafes and restaurants and go to the same pubs. 

It's not that we are completely unadventurous. It just seems easier to meet up at the usual haunts because if we have a craving for a particular dish, we know where to find it. 

Or if we are running short of cash, we know where to eat on the cheap. And it's always best to play it safe when we're broke. 

That's why it's always the Darlo Bar ($12 Pad Thai for two), the Kings Cross Hotel ($12 steaks) or the Fountain Cafe (longest happy hour in the district). 

But after a recent trip to the cinema to see Woody Allen's latest, Midnight in Paris, we began musing on life, dreams and romanticism and decided that we should have dinner somewhere we had never eaten before.

And that's how we ended up at Boca Argentinian Grill.

Boca opened about 18 months ago at 310 Liverpool Street, on the corner of Victoria Street, and it was hard not to notice its arrival at this bustling intersection. 

The building was once home to a Pasta Pantry eat-in/take-out place and was looking a little faded. 

The owners of Boca completely revamped the building, painting the exterior in a pale pink, with punchy yellow window frames and woodwork, as well as bright blue veranda railings. 

Colourful lights were hung from the awnings, footpath chairs and tables were added and the building suddenly had a new, lively and more welcoming presence on the street. 

From the outside, passersby could also look through the large windows into the barbecue or parilla style kitchen and see large chunks of meat hanging from hooks and all kinds of cuts being seared on the grill.  

Prior to the Pasta Pantry and long before Boca, the building - which I can trace back to the 1880s - was home to another foodie joint owned by a Maltese family, the Abelas. 

Joseph and Phyllis Abela lived in the upstairs of the building in the late 1940s and 50s and on the ground floor operated a corner shop delicatessen.

In March, 1950, Phyllis died at the Royal Women's Hospital in Paddington, leaving Joseph as sole carer of their six children - Deirdre, Carmen, Lena, Victor, Josie and Mary.

Two years later, in September 1952, the Abela's shop was robbed by an armed man who threatened young Deirdre with a pistol.

A man early last night held up a young Maltese girl at pistol point in her father's mixed goods shop at the corner of Liverpool Street and Victoria Road, Darlinghurst, and stole 15 Pounds from the till.

The man threatened to shoot the girl, Deirdre Abela, 17, if she screamed.

He then snatched the money, ran out to the street and apparently escaped in a car.

Miss Abela said she was alone in the shop about 8 o'clock when the man walked in.

He asked for a drink and paid for it.

''He seemed very nervous," Miss Abela said.

''He had the drink and asked for a packet of cigarettes.

"I put the cigarettes on the counter and asked him for the money.

''He pulled a grey looking pistol from his pocket and said, 'Don't you scream or I'll shoot you'.''

''I started to say, 'You . . . ' and he said 'You shut up', waving the pistol at me.

''I didn't scream because I didn't want to get shot.

''He reached over the counter, snatched two Five Pound notes and five One Pound notes and then ran out the door.

''I ran around the counter and into the street and saw a car pulling away at high speed.''

Miss Abela rang her father, Mr Joe Abela, who was visiting some relatives.

Mr Abela rang the police.

Police in wireless cars searched the area but found no trace of the man or a possible accomplice.

Miss Abela told the police the man spoke with a foreign accent and was of foreign appearance.

She said he was about 26 years, 5ft 5in tall and appeared to have one black eye.

I can find no record of whether the police ever caught the pistol-packing, thieving foreigner and I don't know what happened to the Abelas. I hope Deirdre wasn't too disturbed by the experience. She seemed fine enough to speak to the Sydney Morning Herald's crime reporter, so I imagine she wasn't too scarred. The counter where she was robbed would have been where there is a long eating bar at Boca (above).



The interior of Boca is even more colourful than the outside, with rich red walls on the ground floor, while the collection of rooms on the first floor are covered in hyper-coloured blue and yellow stripes. 

There's also an excellent open air area on the first floor, which would be a great place for a work party or large group of friends, because you could take over the whole space.

A lot of care has gone into the look and feel of the restaurant and that same thoughtfulness comes across from the waitstaff too. We had about four staff waiting on our table and they were really friendly and super efficient. 

Saph and I grabbed a table outside so we could watch the passing parade of people in Halloween costumes and within minutes a waiter was pouring us glasses of the house-wine from a penguin-shaped carafe, called a pinguino ($23). 

The pinguino was the cutest thing we had seen all day and had us in stitches as I would never think to associate penguins with Argentina. We asked the waiter what on earth the penguin meant, but he just shrugged and laughed and had no explanation. 

The only clue I could find while googling was that serving wine from penguin-shaped jugs was popular with working class Argentinians in the 1930s and that most elderly Argentinian still have them in their cupboards.

Then I also learned that the Argentinian coastline is a breeding ground for the migratory Magellanic Penguin and six other species of the water bird, including the Macaroni, Chinstrap and Rockhopper penguins. 

I didn't know there was such a thing as a Macaroni Penguin either. 

But now I know that the Macaroni Penguin - which has a rather extravagant yellow crest - takes its name from the 18th century British term macaroni, used to describe a flamboyant fashion style such as that worn by the character, Yankee Doodle. 

"Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni."

Anyway, there's no macaroni on the menu at Boca, just loads and loads of meat.

Saph and I skipped the entrades, such as the empanadas (two for $11), South American pastries with savoury fillings; the torta frita, an Argentinian cheese bread ($3); and the picada, a sharing plate of cured meats, pickled veal tongue and rolled flank steak stuffed with vegetables, olives and pickled yellow peppers ($23). 

Instead we went straight for the parrillada pampa main meat platter (above, $60), which featured lamb leg, rump steak and chicken thigh, all marinated and sizzling away on a mini table-top barbecue with sides of chimichurri sauce and salsa criolla. 

The platter came with our salad of choice, ensalada del berro, which was the tiniest bowl of watercress, spanish onions and capers in lemon dressing. 

We also ordered another side, papas estralladas ($10), or crushed potatoes pan fried with garlic and olive oil, which was also rather small for the price.

We didn't mind too much though, because by then we were already on to our second pinguino and were so full that we were struggling to get through the large selection of meat on the grill. There was enough meat for four people and only enough salad for one.

When we could eat no more, the waiter vanished with our leftover meat and returned with it in two fashion boutique-style paper bags - no one would have any idea we were carrying home large quantities of meat.

You would think by now we would have been wise to call it quits, but then some sweet treats arrived on the neighbouring table and we couldn't help but be envious. 

We had already spent most of the night watching the endless array of food being brought to the table of three men who seemed to know the Boca owner. The final dish they were served was a rectangular plate carrying three 1cm-thick chocolate coated circles and they looked delicious. 

A waiter told us they were a traditional layered sweet pastry called alfajores, and that each Argentinian province had their own unique varieties, which come with different pastries, fillings or coatings.

The Boca plate of three alfajores, which variously include jam or caramel fillings, costs $29, or they are $12 each. 

We decided against an alfajor as we had already eaten too much, but then the waiter returned with an alfajor on a plate and said it was complimentary. He was so sweet.

We chopped it into four and realised we could manage to squeeze a bit more food in after all. 

It was the most amazing thing, kind of like a gourmet wagon wheel, with biscuit and caramel covered in crisp chocolate.

As we walked home we reflected on how friendly the waitstaff were, especially the young man who brought us the alfajor. Then while we were discussing how inexpensive all that food was, we realised they hadn't charged us for the second pinguino either.
This hospitality wasn't wasted, as both of us can't wait to return for a rooftop night with endless pinguinos and alfajors - and it could become one of our regular haunts.

*

Boca Argentinian Grill

310 Liverpool Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

02 9332 3373

www.boca.com.au