Enzo a disappointment!

Having dined at Enzo (local restaurant in Mt. Waverley) many times in the last 20 years, we considered it a safe bet for a local birthday dinner for a friend.  Last time we were there, there were a couple of new faces amongst the staff, but the food has always been great and the wine list quite good and not over-priced.  The same Italian family has run the restaurant for many years and the staff have always been friendly and attentive if a little eccentric at times, with a dress-code of waistcoats and black pants.

Not any more!  The dining room was almost empty, with only 4 other tables occupied and the staff of only 2 were unfamiliar and not as attentive as we were accustomed to - not slack, but given the lack of numbers, certainly not readily available.  Drinks service was sporadic, the initial pre-dinner drinks for the males delivered before the ladies even got to order their wines.  Then, the food!  The entree pork belly was under-cooked with the rind floppy and not-at-all crisp. The fatty sub-skin layer was almost cold, so the meat appeared to have been pre-cooked and instead of being put under the griller to heat and crisp, it may have been microwaved, but barely.  Five small pieces on a bed of rocket!!!  The scallops were watery and tasteless and didn't even show any hint of the sea, so have been frozen, washed and  probably microwaved - very poor.

The eye fillet was a lovely piece of meat so the butcher had certainly performed, but it was poorly presented with the bacon barely cooked and the fennel it was served with was again watery and tasteless - I love fennel so was looking forward to this aniseed taste hit.  The lamb shanks were described as satisfying.  The girls both ordered veal scallopini and described it as ordinary, with too much mashed potato.  Desserts ordered were Creme Brulee and Tiramisu and both were less than satisfying - "can do better than that at home"!

So, apart from the company, which was most enjoyable, the dinner at Enzo's was a major disappointment and we won't be bothering again.  The chef has a lot to learn and the (apparently new) management need to address the slide into oblivion.  It will be only the less discerning who will enjoy an evening there.

Whilst We've Been Away

We've been pleased with our display of orchids this year, even though we've been away a bit.  Jules spent much time and effort in feeding and caring for the plants and we have several pots with 2 or 3 spikes and one still to come with 5 spikes, so all the TLC has been well worthwhile.

Tamar Valley Wandering

This past weekend, with friends Phil and Lynne, we decided to wander through the Tamar Valley near Launceston in Tasmania.  The idea was to visit as many of the wineries in the area as possible in the couple of days at our disposal and enjoy the ‘fruit of the vine’.

Jules and I landed first in order to take a quick trip up to Burnie to visit the rellies and we greatly enjoyed seeing Auntie Lorna (92) in such rude good health and fine form and a couple of glasses of the old amber fluid only added to her sparkle.  We were hosted by Helen and Chris and dined with Christine and Peter, along with the others and loved our couple of hours together at the Beach Hotel and again afterwards at the Sturzaker ranch.  The weather was fine, if very cold and the drive up to Burnie and back again was punctuated by stops at the Ashgrove Cheese Company and in Devonport on the return journey for a good lunch.  Our Thanks to Helen and Chris for our B & B experience and to Christine for baking some of her special mango fruit cake for morning tea.

Returning to Launceston in time to pick up Lynne and Phil from the airport, we wasted no time and headed straight to Josef Chromy’s cellar door to enjoy some fine examples of their produce.  Our very knowledgeable and welcoming hostess introduced us to some rather lovely chardonnay and pinot noir and we came away somewhat lighter in the pocket but keener than ever to sample more of the produce of the Tamar.  Our B&B accommodation wasn’t far away and we arrived to a warm welcome from Janie, who along with Brett, has been running Trevallyn House for some years.  This was our third visit to Trevallyn, which is perched on the hill on the north-west part of Launceston overlooking the Tamar Valley and river.  The house is an art-deco style home which has been in Janie’s family for many years and is beautifully kept and stylishly furnished.  It was originally part of a much larger estate which was a horse stud, many years ago.  In fact, in pride of place in the guest lounge, is a silver cup – the Launceston Cup, won by one of their horses, some years ago.

Friday evening, we’d booked into Navaro’s, one of the finest restaurants in Launceston and we thoroughly enjoyed this, our second visit.  The food is exceptional and the service, extremely good.  It is labelled as Italian, but it is more European in food style, but be warned, the serves are generous so three courses is only for the more ravenous.  On our return to Trevallyn we realised that we’d forgotten our door key and calls to both mobile and house phones of our hosts, went un-answered.  Eventually, after a half hour or so standing in the VERY cold breeze outside the house, we found a window around the back of the house which was unlocked and I crawled through, only to finish up head first onto the bed in the back room.  Problem solved!  We then lit the fire in the lounge and enjoyed a late-night tipple whilst we thawed out.  We found out at breakfast the following morning that Jane and Brett were asleep and didn’t hear the phone – lucky I didn’t finish up at an unlocked window at their bedroom!

Saturday morning we headed off to the City Farmers’ Market and enjoyed a walk around the central city market with a very good cross-section of stalls with everything from organic vegetables, wines, beers, and meat to rabbits, honey and numerous other produce types.  We then headed out along the eastern side of the Tamar towards Scottsdale with our first stop at Piper’s Brook Winery, with the Jansz winery next door.  Over the rest of the day we visited Bay of Fires and Tamar Ridge Estate vineyards, gathering a fine collection of wines in the boot of the car.

We’d had quite a day and decided on an easy evening, dining at the local Legana Tavern where the food was basic, but quite good.  We were back at Trevallyn in time to watch the Magpies match against the Bombers and finish off another bottle of fine red.  Sunday morning we again enjoyed one of Brett’s fantastic breakfasts.  Think of fresh asparagus wrapped with fine prosciutto and served with hollandaise sauce on a potato roesti with poached egg!  Incredible!  We packed our gear and said our goodbyes to Janie and Brett and headed off to the Evandale Market, Evandale being a tiny town just south of the airport.  After wandering the market for a while (girls buying hand-made jewellery) we travelled back up into the Tamar to complete our vin trip with a visit to Rosevears which is on the western side of the river, again high on the hill overlooking the river.  Our hostess at Rosevears managed to squeeze a little more from our credit cards, served a lovely cheese platter for our lunch and organised our full complement of purchases from all of our visits, to be shipped home.  This is one of the great tips about this region – the last winery visited will pack up all purchases and ship them home together.  This is called the Tamar Valley Vineyards Dozen and the wineries all work together to promote the region – a fantastic initiative.

Recommendations – visit the Tamar Valley for the lovely wines and stay at Trevallyn House for a great hospitality experience.

 http://www.trevallynhouse.com.au/

 

http://www.tamarvalleywineroute.com.au/

Auntie Lorna having a big night out.

Footnote:  Our wonderful Auntie Lorna passed away on November 26 - our last remaining link with the previous generation. She was such a beautiful person and a great example to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
She will be greatly missed by all the family.

Christine & Peter

Helen & Chris
 

View over the Tamar from Trevallyn House B&B

Fog on the Tamar on a frosty morning

Breakfast at Trevallyn - a great experience.