Degustation

Estelle by Scott Pickett

11/04/2016 07:22:00 PM

Estelle by Scott Pickett

We visited Estelle by Scott Pickett quite some time ago, (actually, exactly a year ago today!) Given that it was so long ago, I almost considered not blogging the meal, but I was looking back through my photos the other day, and I remembered just how wonderful this meal was. I couldn't not share it with you!

Estelle by Scott Pickett
245 High Street
Northcote, VIC 3070
Ph: (03) 9489-4609
Website
ESP - Estelle by Scott Pickett Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Y'all know I'm a big fan of Scott Pickett, ever since his days at The Point (see my previous posts, "Beast on a Block at The Point", and "Birthday Dinner at The Point"). Estelle by Scott Pickett is his high end offering - a multi-course tasting experience in a very slick bespoke dining room.

Open kitchen

I thought the space looked fantastic - it would be great for a special occasion or romantic anniversary. (Or to take someone on a date who you're really trying to impress!) We brought my friend An here as a birthday gift. (Obviously this was before we put a moratorium on the degustations and insisted on a strict budget for birthday dinners!)

Cocktails!

In addition to an extensive wine list, ESP has an original cocktail list, so we started with a round of cocktails to kick off the celebrations. Unfortunately, as it was so long ago I've actually forgotten what the cocktails were - suffice it to say that they were very good, with clean and delicate flavours. And how pretty are those glasses?

I have to say, we were here on a weeknight, so I thought I'd have one cocktail, and maybe have one glass of wine with the food. However, as per our usual tradition, An asked that I do that matching wines so that he could have a little taste of each wine. Well, it was his birthday after all! Who was I to refuse?

House-made bread - pretzel roll and bacon scroll

The house-made bread was excellent - I particularly enjoyed the pretzel roll, and the bacon scroll. Warm, fluffy, delicious!

Butter

The first course proper was a selection of amuses bouches, served theatrically under a smoky cloche.

Cloche!

Cured Kangaroo, Black Rice
Cod Roe, Potato Soufflé
Lemon Myrtle, Parmesan
NV Gosset ‘Brut Excellence’ Ay, Champagne, France

Matched with a glass of Champagne, the amuses consisted of black rice crackers topped with cured kangaroo, light-as-air potato pillows topped with cod roe, and crisp parmesan wafers.

Tomato, Burrata, Green Strawberry
2010 Meerea Park ‘Alexander Munro’ Semillon, Hunter Valley, NSW

This was a really light, springtime dish - with gorgeous milky burrata, green tomato and fine slivers of green strawberry. I always thought that green or white strawberries would be dry and tasteless, but these were delicate and fragrant.

Yellowfin Tuna, Baby Peas, Foie Gras
2013 Chateau L’arnaud Rose, Cotes de Provence, France

The yellowfin tuna dish was another winner. (We requested this be done without foie gras). Incredibly fresh slivers of tuna with (again) incredibly fresh baby peas scattered on top. So good!

King Salmon, Asparagus, Seaweed
2013 Partick Piuze ‘Terroir de Fye’ Chablis, France

The king salmon dish looked simple, but was very good. The salmon itself was cooked perfectly, rare on the inside and with a nice char on the outside, and I liked the contrast of the rich oily fish against the fine slivers of raw asparagus.

Duck, Mandarin, Turnip & Kombu
2010 Linnaea Barolo, Piedmont, Italy

I particularly enjoyed the duck dish, especially the crisp duck cigar. A rich savoury jus brought all the elements together nicely.

Spring Lamb, Wild Garlic, Gnocchi
2009 Mount Mary Reflexion Cabernets, Yarra Valley, Vic

The lamb was perfectly cooked, lovely and tender. This relatively simple and hearty dish was a good way to end the savoury courses.

Rosella, Sorrel, Macadamia

The rosella, sorrel and macadamia dish was a transition course between the savoury and the sweet. It was refreshing and herbal, with (I believe) a sorrel granita, rosella flower gel, and finely shaved macadamia. Unusual and delicious.

Cheese course! Tête de Moine

A cheese course is available at an extra supplement. We enjoyed beautiful petticoat frills of tête de moine, a Swiss cheese from the Jura region with a wonderfully nutty flavour. This came with housemade bread rolls, crisp fruit bread, pickled beetroot and a cute little poached pear.

Mango, Passionfruit, Kaffir
2011 Kracher Eiswein, Burgenland, Austria

I love how the dry ice evaporating off this dessert makes the photo look a bit magical. This was a lovely, tropical-tasting mix of mango, passionfruit and kaffir lime, with a nice texture contrast from the soft sponge and crisp meringue shards.

Raspberry Soufflé

You can choose a bonus dessert for an extra supplement, which of course we went for. On this occasion it was a stunning raspberry soufflé, served in a gorgeous copper pot, with a crunchy sprinkling of toasted oats on top. This was excellent, incredibly light and, amazingly, not overly sweet. We shared the dessert between the three of us, which was just right; I do wonder if anyone ever orders the bonus dessert just for themselves!

So that was our dinner at Estelle by Scott Pickett! I really loved this venue - the dinner was delicious, the atmosphere was great, and the service was professional and friendly. It was actually one of the best degustations I've ever experienced. Highly recommend!

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2 comments

  1. What a meal! And look at the rise on that souffle too! :o

    ReplyDelete
  2. The food look incredible. And love the drama of smoke underneath a cloche! I have the same quandary about past visits that I never got around to posting. If only we could clone ourselves to do more work!

    ReplyDelete

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