That Jess Ho

Sure, it’s not your typical Sunday lunch, as the Lincoln family noted, but it was a lunch nonetheless.  Something different, new and in the day-time: something we’re not used to seeing each other in.

This is the fourth Sunday lunch that Cutler and Co have held and it is something more casual, an encouragement of booze, or perhaps that is the company I keep.  The seven of us, occupying a booth usually reserved for six started our day with a few pints at the Worker’s Club.  On being seated, as casual as the service appears, it isn’t.  It’s still polished, noticeably running under cover numbers, jackets are taken, the menu is explained, or rather, the new Sunday system is and drinks are offered.  Before we are even settled, we are offered water and are told that even Melbourne’s finest goes through a filtering process.

Basically, Sundays operate with having eight dishes brought to share as entrees, banquet style, before your mains.  As a diner, you specify your preference of main and dessert and wait for everything to be brought out to you.  The lunch is $65 a head and our table ordering 4 bottles of wine on top of that, we each ended up paying $120 a head, leaving what I would consider a pretty good tip.

We started off with French Breakfast Radishes. Ross believe that we butter the radish, but from what I have experienced with my crazy Frenchies, I buttered my bread, placed the radish in and lightly salted.  The radishes, as you can see are not the round ones you normally see at the markets and are milder and sweeter than most.  It was just clean and simple.

At this point, I ducked out to the bathroom and checked my Twitter.  Yes, I am an addict.  I was asked to comment on the seasoning at Cutler, and I have noted that in restaurants of this caliber, cruets are usually missing from the table, but here there are little bowls of Murray River salt flakes.  This came out with the radishes, but I will get back to this later.

Next, the House smoked mussels. There were two per person, and this is where the flavours started to build and pick up, the smokiness in these mussels were quite light.

And one of the standouts of the lunch, Cured Kingfish, Rye, Capers, Creme fraiche. The rye was sliced impossibly thin and managed a definitive crunch against the sweet fattiness of the fish, salty resistance of the capers and sharpness of the shallots and creme fraiche.  If I were at the bar, I would probably work my way through a few serves of this, a nice glass of wine and probably even a martini.  But, that is me and my romance with food.  I’ll leave you out of it, it’s dirty.

Wood grilled asparagus, orange escabeche and green almonds. I think Steve and I were playing polite until the end of this dish, it was smart, sweet, tart and not dangerously overloaded with dill.  Everything spoke for itself and then ended up getting mopped up by bread.  And here is also where the dishes were getting dangerous and friends asking that I put the camera away.  Sorry, but if you dine with me, I will test your patience.  It just is.

At least I didn’t lick a plate.  I would have, but it is against my religion and your eye sockets.

Ful Medames- crushed broad beans, mint. How could you go wrong?  In season, still tooth-some and crushed, not pureed.  The broad beans, though double podded, maintained some of their original characteristics by being crushed.  Usually, you meet purists who are determined to eat them single-podded when it is the beginning of the season because the skin is less intrusive, alas I am not one of those people.  But, did I mention that I love broad beans?  As in love…love affair.

Coppacola, apple mustard & rocket. This sparked confusion on our table, because we know a place like Cumulus cannot afford spelling mistakes, with my phone returned to its jacket pocket and hidden away, there was nothing of the Google-gods.  Graham assumed that it was made from the head, someone please clarify.  The apple mustard was dotted on the coppa and brought out the sweetness in the meat.  It’s funny to think that you can still play with food in this way, because upon first readings of the menu, pork chops and apple sauce first came to mind.

These little men, I adore.  I love.  I actually find myself sitting at the bar eating these with a few beers, and can proudly admit to having done so at least thrice. Pimentos de padron, apparently there is one out of a hundred that blow your head off.  With a few of plates of these on the table, it was a bit of a fight for these deep-fried and well-salted suckers.  Alas, no heat, just smoke.

And the last of the starters: Carrots, almond cream & harissa. When brought to the table, the carrots were described to be pan-roasted, and on first looks, we thought it would be the winner of the starters.  The carrots were simple and sweet and naturally, the combination of almonds and harissa work, but it was just that.  Simple, creamy and sweet, no disappointment, and no hidden surprises as Graham was anticipating- not that you’re meant to be.  I mean, if some small leprechaun manifested itself out of the carrots I don’t know if I would be applauding or freaked out.

I can’t believe I was tossing up between this and the fish.  But, I am so glad I chose the Slow cooked & roast duck, turnip, pear, mustard fruits, boudin noir. The pear comes under the mustard-fruit cherry which still has it’s pip inside.  I swooned a little when I discovered this because it is so often that people are telling of their horror stories where they have a pit in their olive or a bone in their fish.  I’m sorry, but how the hell do you think they form?  Olives naturally have pits (and taste better for having them), fish have bones and cherries have pips (and even in clafoutis, pips are traditionally kept in them).  It is nature, and a reminder of natural states make me a little fuzzy inside, for some reason I feel more connected to it.  The baby turnips are a perfect platform for the duck and the boudin noir was my favourite; blood on toast (as Andrew McConnell later simplified for me on a chance meeting after lunch), sitting on top of the roast duck.  Here is where I bring back the salt, at this point, for me, the meats were slightly underseasoned.  Graham later pointed out that these are the effects of cooking in a polyscience.  That being said, it would have been no big crime if salt wasn’t on the table, but it did give my dish an extra kick.

Steve’s Wood grilled lamb shoulder, rump, chicory and artichoke. There was a slight argument over which was the rump and which was the shoulder.  I thought that the round in the foreground of the photo would be the boned, rolled and sliced shoulder and the others, the rump.  But, with three chefs on the table, we couldn’t come up with the answer.  Lincoln/Spencer fail.

Amanda’s Line-caught local snapper, broad beans, glazed shallots, potato aioli. Obviously a lighter tasting dish than my own, Amanda loved the shallots.

Everything came out very quickly and we were allowed a break between mains and desserts.

Thank God.

Such a plate-licker. I am kind of sad that I didn't.

And naturally, I opt for the very good cheese.  A generous portion that was later shared out with those who chose sweets. The Ossau Iraty, poached quince. I really enjoyed how mild the quince was, as I often find that quince overpowers the cheese, this wasn’t the case.  The cheese itself is a sheeps-milk cheese: smooth, nutty and very creamy, and because I had to try it, the rind was edible and slightly tart.

And I managed to sneak in a photo of Graham’s dessert: Whipped ricotta cheesecake, pumpkin seed crumble, golden delicious. He loved this, and we noted that it was probably made in one of those scary techno-machines named Thermomix.

Family photo.

For what our table did, which is drink a lot and eat even more, I would say that the new Sunday lunches are great value.  And what is even more special, is that unlike certain celebrity chefs, Andrew McConnell actually spends time cooking in his kitchen.  We kept roaming for a drink and I ended up chewing off his and Jerome Borazio’s ear around the corner.

Yeah, sorry guys.

Cutler & Co.

55-57 Gertrude St,
Fitzroy, 3065.

(03) 9419 4888