This weekend will be our last weekend of brekkie. We’ve decided to stop doing brekkie for a bunch of reasons, the main one being that it’s a lot of work and stress for everyone with little reward. I hope this doesn’t upset anyone too much, but rest assured it should mean some interesting new things for our lunch/dinner menu in the near future. As of next weekend, we will be open from 11:30am Saturday and Sunday.

The lovely Gina, one of our regular ladies in the restaurant, has been giving me a hand with getting the joint more energy efficient. One of her ideas was to begin a maintenance program for the refrigeration compressors (in a commercial setting, the motors that cool the fridges are external to the fridge ‘cabinet’. The compressors are these external motors).
So, the fridge tech came out and gave the motors a good clean and mentioned we should save a bit on our energy bill. Gina and the fridgy were bang on to the tune of about $60 for a month! The financial cost was about $120 for the work and I think we’ll do this every 6 months. So for a couple of hundred dollars a year, we could save about $700 plus the saving on potential breakdown costs that the regular servicing will help protect against. So, high fives to Gina for this initiative – it is always nice when helping the environment is also financially beneficial!

As we provide a completely meatless menu, we often get asked about the products we use. More specifically we are asked about our eggs and our cheeses. I’ve tended to avoid blogging about this stuff for fear of sounding preachy – I for one hate being told what to do and how to eat and hypocrisy is a credibility crusher. So this is simply meant to be an answer to a couple of FAQs.
The egg question is related to the living conditions of the chooks that provide our eggs. We source our eggs from Egganics who have an organic free-range farm in Orange. If you’ve visited the Everleigh markets, you are likely to know Jacqui, Jim and the girls from Egganics who have a commitment to providing quality organic eggs in a humane way. The chickens are protected by dogs and are free to roam about the farm as they choose, to the point that they put themselves to bed! The Egganics website is being built as we speak and as soon as it is finished I will be sure to post the address.
Now for the cheese question… This question is about whether or not the cheeses we use contain animal rennet. Animal rennet is an agent used to separate the curds and whey in the cheese making process and is derived from calves’ stomach. So, through much research, we’ve managed to source cheeses of high quality that do not contain any animal rennet. As a general rule, Australian produced cheeses tend not to use animal rennet whereas European cheeses do.

Monica has been whipping up her own delcious blend of cabernet-shiraz, vanilla and selected spices. It’s just been tasting fantastic and poor old Mon is battling to keep up with demand. We serve it warm with a wedge of orange and it’s just perfect for these cold, cold nights!

We have been planning it for a while and now we’ve finally tapped the Mad Abbot Tripel! The Little Brewery crew up in Port Macquarie have been dragging home a swag of awards, all of which are more than deserved – particularly for this beer. It is a massive 9.5% and with each sip you feel a little warmer and slightly fuzzier… It tastes of stoned fruits, is on the sweeter side and has a palate that just goes on and on and keeps on changing. It is really worth trying, just make sure you leave the wheels at home if you do…

Our latest wine special is from Harkham Winery and is their 09 Aziza’s Preservative Free Shiraz. We’ve been wanting to get a good quality, locally made wine that contains no preservatives and is thus, allergen free for a long time, and here it is! The wine is beautifully bottled with a wax seal which adds a little fun! It definitely needs a few minutes when the wine is first opened to get itself right, but once it does it shows good tannins and a lovely balance.

Soooooo tap beer news is this: we’ve decided to dedicate one beer tap to a Seasonal Ale. All this means is that we now have an excuse to change one tap really regularly and hopefully make these changes in line with the seasons.
Our first bash at it is the 4 Pines Dunkelweisen which is a dark, wheat beer (Dunkel = Dark, weisen = wheat). The crew at 4 Pines in Manly (great guys with a venue that is definitely worth checking out if you’re over that way) have done a pretty top notch job with this brew. It’s beautifully dark and cloudy with a rich malty flavour and a very soft bitterness. It’s definitely a beer for a cold and rainy winter night.

We have now tapped the Stone and Wood Pale Lager from Byron Bay and it is tasting fantastic. It’s just a beautifully balanced beer with enough complexity to keep the beer geek interested. It has replaced the Greenstar Lager which is back on deck in longnecks.
Also in is the Red Oak Irish Red Ale which has come on in place of the Red Oak Bitter. The Irish has been a bit of a favourite amongst the staff since day one; it’s rich and malty and the perfect companion for a cold Sydney evening.

We will be closed on Monday 26th April for the ANZAC Day Public Holiday. Hope this doesn’t put anyone out too much but we’ll be back on deck on Tuesday.

We have a new wine and beer special on offer at the moment. As with our previous specials, we have only ordered 12 bottles of wine and 2 cases of beer, so once they run out, it’s over.

The Beer
Brew Boys Maiden Ale is a toasty coloured amber ale from the fellas at Brew Boys in South Australia. The beer is quite sweet and malty when it first hits your mouth but then a late explosion of bitterness kicks in cleansing the palate nicely. The Maiden Ale is definitely a beer for autumn – comforting but not too indulgent.

The Wine
2008 Politini Vermentino from the King Valley in Victoria. This is my first experience of Vermentino and I’m a little surprised I haven’t heard more about it. It has a nice floral and inviting nose that gives you an expectation of a clean crisp wine. A drink tells a different story as it has a much richer flavour than expected but the finish is quite dry, leaving you ready for a little more.