Matching artisan gin with Thai food flavours

The Hippocampus distillery, bar and cellar door has moved across the country to Melbourne’s south-east to become part of Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers.

To mark the move Hippocampus has launched Hippocampus Bangkok Gin - a collaboration between Boatrocker Brewers & Distillers and renowned Thai chef David Thompson’s Long Chim team.

The new drink, aimed to match with spicy Thai cuisine, is a joint effort between Long Chim’s jungle juice juggler James Connolly, and one of Australia’s finest distillers, Lex Poulsen of Hippocampus.

Connolly has a fondness for the bold flavours of south-east Asia and in particular the Kaffir Lime Leaf. He has long held a desire for a spirit with such tastes, along with rich Thai aromatics. The opportunity to work with the Hippocampus team has given birth to the new gin.

"To go alongside our rigid backbone of classic gin botanicals, we selected a trio of botanicals widely recognised as being very Thai; Kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass and ginger," says Poulsen."The juniper berries are macerated in spirit overnight to extract plenty of goodness. In the morning, all of the remaining botanicals are added to the pit and heat is introduced to begin distillation."

The end result is an aromatic, punchy and vibrant gin with pronounced Thai flavours.

Hippocampus x Long Chim Bangkok Gin, 700ml. ABV 45%. $95. http://hippocampusmd.com.au/shop/

Fashionable shopping centre gets its own luxury hotel

For those who like to shop until they drop - and then start again the next morning - Australia's largest shopping centre is to get its own five-star hotel.

Chadstone Shopping Centre is a regional shopping complex located in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Malvern East and is promoted as the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere

AccorHotels has announced that it will operate the Chadstone Hotel Melbourne under its M high-end MGallery by Sofitel brand.

The new-build, 250 room hotel will sit alongside Chadstone’s world-class retail, dining and entertainment precinct.



Reaching 13-storeys high with two restaurants, a lounge bar, day spa, fitness and meeting facilities, the hotel will become the 10th MGallery hotel in Australia and will join other iconic Melbourne MGallery addresses including The Como Melbourne in South Yarra and Hotel Lindrum in Melbourne’s CBD.

Construction on the $130 million Chadstone Hotel Melbourne will commence in the first half of 2018 with the hotel scheduled to open in 2019.

Simon McGrath, COO of AccorHotels Pacific, said: “We are delighted to be working on Chadstone’s new hotel development and are incredibly excited by the synergies it creates; bringing our high-end, boutique MGallery by Sofitel brand to Melbourne’s most luxurious fashion address.

“Chadstone has become a destination in its own right with more than 500 stores across retail, entertainment and dining and having an internationally recognised hotel brand within the precinct, coupled with the strength of our loyalty and distribution platform will make for a powerful mix."

MGallery by Sofitel is AccorHotels’ collection of unique boutique hotels that are design-led.

Finnair banks on Nordic flavours

International airlines are constantly looking for a competitive point of difference to make them stand out from the crowd. 

Finnish flag carrier Finnair is banking on a Nordic food vibe for economy and business class passengers to fill the seats on its flights. 

Finnair is investing in its food offering as part of the carrier's drive to present customers with a truly Nordic experience.

Finnair General Manager for Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia, Geoff Stone, said food was one of the items that frequently comes up in airline customer satisfaction surveys, especially on long-haul flights, where dining has a strong impact on the overall customer experience.

Finnair has been delighting its business class customers with signature menus designed by top Finnish chefs since 2013 and is now introducing its first Nordic co-operation with top Swedish chef, Tommy Myllymäki. 

Rock star chef Myllymäki's Signature European winter menu (below) will be served on all Finnair long-haul flights departing Helsinki from February 7, 2018, and will feature Nordic flavours including Jerusalem artichoke with cep mushrooms and pear, and braised ox with celeriac and kale.

The European summer menu will have more emphasis on seasonal, crisp fresh vegetables to celebrate the freshness of the Nordic summer.

"It was exciting to translate my food philosophy into the airline environment," said Myllymäki. "In the end, the restrictions are also opportunities. 

"Seasonality is key for me, and I want to bring more vegetables, freshness and different textures to the meals on board."

Finnair has also teamed up with the Culinary Team of Finland, which represents Finland in international culinary competitions, to design a menu for the economy class of Finnair's long-haul flights departing Helsinki (below).

"We want to showcase the best of Finnish cuisine to the world and created a menu that celebrates Finnish traditions and specialties, so that everyone traveling between Europe and Asia with Finnair get a taste of modern Finnish cuisine," said Finnair's 2017 signature menu chef  Eero Vottonen, who is also a member of the Culinary Team of Finland.

The European winter menu will feature a marinated potato salad, lamb with oven-baked turnips, and a cheese curd cake. Seasonal menus will follow in the European summer and autumn.  

"Our new chef co-operations bring the best of Nordic flavours to our customers," said Maarit Keränen, who oversees Finnair's on-board food concepts.

"Food plays a key role in the customer experience, and we are delighted to offer a little piece of the Nordics to the thousands of customers, who fly with us every day from Helsinki to Asia and the Americas."

Finnair offers connections from Australia with Oneworld partners and flies between Asia/North America and Europe with an emphasis on fast connections via Helsinki.

www.finnair.com/au

New era for Port Arthur Historic Sites

The newly developed Port Arthur Visitor Centre was formally opened on Monday, December 18, by the Honourable Will Hodgman MP, Premier of Tasmania.

The new centre features a new restaurant - 1830, where diners can enjoy fresh local produce with views out over the World Heritage site.

The popular café has been expanded to include different styles of service with additional outdoor dining space.

There is also a dedicated space for walkers embarking on the Three Capes Track to prepare for their adventure.

The new facility also includes the introduction of 52 new character cards in a state-of-the-art interactive gallery (above), inviting visitors to delve deeper into the who, what and when of Port Arthur’s fascinating history.

Regular visitors are advised that access to the Historic Site is once again via the Visitor Centre main entrance and guided tours will again depart from the lower level of the Visitor Centre, as will ghost tours.

The café will be open from 9am-8.30pm and Three Capes Track walkers will have a dedicated check-in counter and luggage storage area on the lower level of the Visitor Centre.

The new gift shop sells high-quality products made by local artisans.

http://portarthur.org.au

Clover Hill unveils dramatic new cellar door - and new label

Tasmania's Tamar Valley Wine Route has gained a new cellar door with sparkling wine specialist Clover Hill having opened architecturally-striking tasting rooms overlooking the vineyard and out to the Bass Strait. Over a year in the making, the Clover Hill Cellar Door will also offer a new range of still wines. The neomodern building sits at the top of Clover Hill's sloping vineyard and is of rammed-earth construction with recessed floor lighting and tactile materials. Adam Torpy, the Clover Hill CEO, says: “There’s a huge movement in the Australian industry at the moment with regard to landscape integration and impactful designs that reflect a winery’s uniqueness, and I can safely say you’ll see no other cellar door like this. “It’s wonderful to think that everything we do at Clover Hill comes from this land and that the cellar door might give us another way to educate wine lovers about what makes the Lebrina site special. “We’ve created nooks throughout the space in an effort to foster an atmosphere, and from every point you’re encouraged to look down through the vineyard.” To celebrate the opening, Clover Hill is launching a cellar door exclusive range of six still wines under the label Idiom. These wines will be integrated into new tours and experience packages at Clover Hill, such as an Elite Experience, aimed at small groups wishing to immerse themselves in Tasmanian sparkling production. Clover Hill is at 60 Clover Hill Road, Lebrina, Tasmania. www.cloverhillwines.com.au

Sydney pub favourite re-opens with a gourmet vibe

One of Sydney's favourite pubs has a whole new gourmet look with Merivale re-opening the recently acquired Hotel Centennial on Woollahra’s Oxford Street.

Executive chef Ben Greeno, from The Paddington just up the road, will preside over the kitchen, collaborating with Fred’s Danielle Alvarez on the dining room and bar menu. Greeno will be joined by head chef James Evangelinos, fresh from a stint in New York.

Greeno and Alvarez have created a menu shaped with a Mediterranean accent. The aim appears to be simple dishes done well.

“This is a nod to Southern Europe; food inspired by the season and what people want to eat,” Greeno says. “It’s what you’d like to make at home, but rather go out for.”

There will be a selection of flat breads from the wood-fired oven, such as minced lamb, merguez, yoghurt and pickled chilis or ‘fennel, greens and garlic cream’, along with simple pastas and salads.

Seafood will feature prominently with dishes like wood-oven-cooked squid with aioli and cherry tomatoes, and clams, fennel, chilli, roast bread and rouille’ among the starters.

Mains include grilled flounder with seaweed salsa verde and snapper fillet with tomato, verdicchio, lemon and capers. Other homely-sounding favourites include whole roasted chicken, Rangers Valley cote de bouef and steak frites.

Desserts will include lemon verbena custard tart with fresh peaches and nectarine; and roasted figs with rose and yoghurt sorbet.

The Mediterranean influence follows through to the bar menu, with simple snacks like grilled fish with rocket and lemon, along with charcuterie choices, cheeses and the same selection of flat breads.

Megan Sullivan, previously restaurant manager of Merivale’s est., will be leading the team on the floor.

The Merivale Group acquired Hotel Centennial on November 22. While there are no plans for a major refurbishment of the space, the front bar will be refreshed in the new year.

Hotel Centennial, 88 Oxford Street, Woollahra, Sydney. www.merivale.com.au