World Class World Cocktail Week is a mouthful-in more ways that one! As part of this years World Class celebration we hosted thirty diners to a truly memorable garden-to-glass experience at Bronte’s renowned Three Blue Ducks.
The Foraged dinner was a journey of exploration through the restaurant’s kitchen garden, followed by a locally-sourced four-course dinner. Former World-Class Champion Tim Phillips (owner of Bulletin Place) was on hand to create the cocktails working closely with Head Chef Darren Robertson and his team to create the perfect match to each course.
Guests were greeted with a Tanqueray & Tonic on arrival and some tasty appetisers. These included fresh Sydney Rock Oysters with lemongrass and ginger from the garden and beef brisket in potato skins. Then it was time to take our seats and dive in to the first course. Leather jacket brandade with horseradish, fermented carrots and weeds was matched with a Don Julio Blanco with beetroot, rhubarb and sourdough tea. Yes…sourdough, as in the bread. Phillips explained the interesting process of using Sonoma sourdough bread that was soaked then strained and added to the drink for a sour twist. (Seriously- what kind of drinks genius thinks of these things? I guess that’s why he’s the former world champ)!
The next course was a rustic combination of pine mushrooms, buckwheat, almond cream and goats curd matched with a Tanqueray 10 with almond, lemon and myrtle. Robertson spoke about his foraging adventure with his girlfriend collecting mushrooms the weekend before. Sounds like the perfect foodie date to me! Next came the flank steak, sea lettuce butter, shaved zucchini and sorrel. Phillips created an exceptional cocktail using Talisker, seawater (that he assured was purified before adding), mandarin, backyard honey and umami to match.
This was my favourite cocktail of the evening and the perfect combo of sweet and salty. Dessert took a more savoury direction consisting of smoked potato ice cream, chocolate cookies and lemon verbena granita. It was perfect for those who don’t enjoy a sweet dessert and was served with a Ketel One Citroen based cocktail with aromatic cold press and lemon verbena. The whole experience was intimate, educational and not to mention absolutely delicious. It was a great insight into how we can source produce locally and create a unique feast with just a bit of imagination