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Thursday May 17, 2012

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Ela joins the Union

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 8 August, 2011 - 2:32 PM
Union Dining

Union Dining – 272 Swan St Richmond  www.uniondining.com.au

Yet another highly anticipated opening, this one a collaboration between former Melbourne Wine Room chef Nicky Reimer, and Cutler and Co’s able front of house manager Adam Cash, Union Dining is a welcome addition to busy Swan St (albeit on the Burnley side of things).

Housed in what was a Greek restaurant, it instantly has a relaxed vibe, with terracotta tiled floors, white arches, a gas fireplace and it’s wonderfully spacious – there’ll be no elbowing complete strangers as you reach for the butter in this place.

It’s European cuisine, cooked with fresh, local, seasonal produce – not a bad start. Originally open only for dinner, Union Dining has just started offering lunches from Friday to Sunday, including a great shared provincial lunch on Sundays.

At $55 per person, the Sunday lunch is terrific value for three generous courses, and it varies from week to week so this is simply what was on offer last weekend. The first course comprises four different entrée dishes to be shared among the table. “Soused” green beans with feta and roasted almonds were refreshing; soft prosciutto was paired with grated manchego cheese and fabulous sweet mustard fruits. More unusual was the Polish sausage salad, a mixture of three or four different sausages, sour cream based dressing and big, sour caperberries. Loved the Smoked trout salad, with plenty of dill, gorgeous soft egg, and I couldn’t resist squashing it all down onto the thin olive oil brushed toasts.

The next two courses were much more traditional for a Sunday afternoon. The main a big, rich, beef daube with plenty of garlic and divine porcini mushrooms that seemed to soak up every single flavour that had been imparted into the stew. The stew arrived with something I’d never heard of before – pink fir apple potatoes. Apparently they’re a century old variety, they were certainly lovely and soft, with an almost nutty flavour. Cavolo nero was unfortunately cold pretty quickly.

Dessert was a revelation – and took every diner on our table back to a family dinner table somewhere. A trifle with a difference, it consisted of layers of blueberry jelly, poached pear, soft sponge, Meyer lemon curd (bit of an orange/lemon hybrid), fresh cream and all topped with crunchy, sweet, candied pistachios. An unusual sounding combination of flavours, but the result was seriously sublime – the dessert you find room for when there’s simply no room left!

Interestingly we had different reactions to the share nature of the meal – I love all diving for dishes at the same time, others hated the DIY aspect and would have preferred to get a full plate of food in front of them, all to themselves.

Good range of wines, but not cheap. By the glass you’re looking at $10-20; bottles starting at $45 to around $90.

In terms of the normal a’la carte menu available for the rest of the week – you’re looking at entrees between $17-20; and mains from $29-34; with options like steak tartare; smoked ham hock salad with fregola and soft egg; or a big, rich Abacchio of goat (marinated, braised overnight, then cooked for three hours).

It’s good European fare, lacking the pretension of some inner city eateries. A great Sunday lunch, and no doubt a good spot to try a midweek or weekend dinner. 

PLAY: Ela Carte with Ross and John

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3AW Food 3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.

 

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