As a part of Melbourne's Good Food Month celebrations, popular Collingwood restaurant Saint Crispin celebrated the award winning offerings of Flinders Island. Flinders Island is special due to the strong ocean winds and the salt particles carried in the air. As a result the livestock which graze on its salt covered pastures have a distinctive and more complex flavour. Joe Grbac and his team came up with 5 courses and matching cocktails to honour Flinders Island and its excellent produce.
All the guests were seated together on one communal table in Saint Crispin's beautiful private dining room.
Our first course was the famous Flinders Island Wallaby served as a tartare with beetroot elements and marinated cabbage. I simply love wallaby, it's best served raw or rare so I thought a tartare was a really good choice. The sweetness of the beets complemented the wallaby very well and the cabbage added great texture and sharpness.
All the guests were seated together on one communal table in Saint Crispin's beautiful private dining room.
Our first course was the famous Flinders Island Wallaby served as a tartare with beetroot elements and marinated cabbage. I simply love wallaby, it's best served raw or rare so I thought a tartare was a really good choice. The sweetness of the beets complemented the wallaby very well and the cabbage added great texture and sharpness.
Next was Grilled Garfish, charred asparagus and a smoked oyster mayo. This was my first time having garfish, it turned out to be a very nice, delicate white fish. The asparagus was charred perfectly and very earthy, which went well with the smokiness of the oyster mayo.
The third course was Lamb shoulder. It wouldn't have been a celebration of Flinders Island without succulent, tender, melt in your mouth lamb. It was served along side some radishes, nettles and parmesan gnocchi. It was such a rich and indulgent dish, I would have been happy to finish with the lamb but Saint Crispin still had more in store for us.
Our final savoury course was Saltgrass beef, strzelecki pepper and greens. So simple but so good, Flinders Island beef has such a a great umami flavour already, all it needed was a simple sauce and some crunchy greens.
We ended our meal with a beautiful dessert of Mango, tapioca pearls, mint, vanilla and a beurre noisette crumb. A great summer dessert with lots of lovely textures served in a cute little jar.
And of course it's not a mixer without some kick ass drinks. The team at Thomas Olive (Saint Crispin's upstairs bar) whipped up some pretty exciting drinks to go along with our meal, which included some wines, absinthe and even their own little bottled cocktails.
It was a great night. Lots of great conversation and drinks over some spectacular dishes. I can't wait to see what else Saint Crispin does in the future.
We ended our meal with a beautiful dessert of Mango, tapioca pearls, mint, vanilla and a beurre noisette crumb. A great summer dessert with lots of lovely textures served in a cute little jar.
And of course it's not a mixer without some kick ass drinks. The team at Thomas Olive (Saint Crispin's upstairs bar) whipped up some pretty exciting drinks to go along with our meal, which included some wines, absinthe and even their own little bottled cocktails.
It was a great night. Lots of great conversation and drinks over some spectacular dishes. I can't wait to see what else Saint Crispin does in the future.
