FOOD NEWS: TIPICO’S 1ST BIRTHDAY REGIONAL ITALIAN LUNCH SERIES, ROCKPOOL BAR & GRILL MELBOURNE NATIVE DINNER

TIPICO’S REGIONAL ITALIAN LUNCH SERIES LAUNCHES FOR ITS FIRST BIRTHDAY

Windsor’s stylish Italian restaurant, Tipico is celebrating one year of serving ‘untypical, typical Italian’ with a regional lunch series launch and partnership with photographer Danielle Castano on Saturday, 8 June 2019. Co-owners Andrea da Como and Marco Scalisi have chosen Piedmont as the first region in their program that will see a total of seven localities of Italia that the restaurant will showcase through to December.

Guests visiting the venue on the birthday will witness a gallery of unseen work by Castano from her recent trip to Italy, while warming their bellies with Piedmont classics prepared by Head Chef Daniele Colombo and sips of Arneis and Nebbiolo. The shared set Piedmont menu will include antipasto, pasta and a main dish such as:
● Vitello tonnato; poached veal, tuna mayo, fried capers
● Agnolotti del plin filled with ricotta and black truffle in a butter and thyme sauce
● Brasato al Barolo; Barolo braised beef cheek with polenta

Priced at $45 per person, the lunch series offer includes antipasto, pasta and a main dish plus a glass of wine from the region and is available from 12-4pm; Saturdays and Sundays.

Next on the culinary regional map:
● June: Piedmont
● July: Trentino Alto Adige
● August: Veneto
● September: Emilia Romagna
● October: Tuscany
● November: Puglia
● December: Sicily

Address: 242 High St, Windsor, VIC 3181
Website: tipico.melbourne

ROCKPOOL BAR & GRILL MELBOURNE CELEBRATES NATIVE INGREDIENTS WITH EXCLUSIVE DINNER

Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne is celebrating Australia’s rich heritage of native ingredients at an exclusive dinner on Monday, 24 June. Neil Perry and Head Chef Chris Budicin will prepare a six-course, share-style menu that fuses native
fruits, herbs, seeds and other flora with the first-class, Australian produce for which the restaurant in renowned.

The menu will chart an exciting seafood course, showcasing marron, Port Phillip Bay scallops, and winter-rich tuna, alongside native heroes such as kangaroo, wattleseed, warrigal greens, pepper berry, paper bark and Davidson plum.
The stunning dinner, which starts at 6.30pm, is $135pp with matched wines an additional $65.

Dishes include Tuna crudo with Davidson plum and black sesame seeds paired with 2016 La Violetta Das Sakrileg Riesling,  Port Phillip Bay scallops with paperbark and desert lime salsa paired with 2015 Michael Hall Roussanne, Saltbush and warrigal green pie with bush tomato harissa accompanied by 2017 Pyren Vineyard Cabernet Franc,  Woodfire-grilled kangaroo loin with spicy tail and lemon myrtle jus paired with 2017 Aphelion The Confluence Grenache, and finishing with Wattleseed, finger lime and aniseed-myrtle pavlova paired with 2014 Friends of Punch Berry’s Creek Riesling.

Rockpool Dining Group Culinary Director Neil Perry said native ingredients add a new dimension to any menu and are a wonderful exploration for chefs and diners alike. “Freeze-dried Davidson plum has an intense sourness and packs a bigger punch than sumac, piquant desert limes push through the most robust flavours with their own concentrated tang, and
lemon myrtle lends exquisite notes of lemongrass and lime to any dish,” Neil said.

“Australia has a food culture that dates back 60,000 years and we’re excited to further explore the rich pickings from nature’s indigenous garden and pay homage to our fabulous heritage.”

Bookings can be made at Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne.