6 minute read
Dining
from CityNews 200813
WINE / Mitolo shiraz From spuds to shiraz, that’s Mitolo
By Richard CALVER
A COLLEAGUE was made redundant. We wanted to have a celebration of note to ease his pain and, to be frank (with whom I’m often confused), to help ease ours.
Flash back to an office sign on a Kiwi colleague’s desk: “Everyone brings joy to this office: some when they arrive, some when they leave.”
Three of us decided to arrange a dinner at a restaurant nominated by our departing mate and to share the cost so that he wasn’t out of pocket. He chose Wild Duck on the Kingston Foreshore where we had the $99 a head banquet, suitably adjusted for a gluten-intolerant member of the party.
The wine was a key to feeling better about the world as the cold grip of COVID-19 affects jobs and job prospects. We did talk about “getting other jobs” but that conversation quickly died when we discussed the unemployment figures which I later desultorily looked up.
They show that compared to early March, before the nationwide lockdown, there are an additional 1.12 million Australians now unemployed or under-employed. Researcher Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 12.5 per cent for July is significantly higher than the ABS estimate for June 2020 of 7.4 per cent.
I said to my friend: “These days, if an interviewer asks me where I see myself in five years from now, I just answer: ‘Hopefully, not dead’.”
At the restaurant, I had forgotten my reading glasses so instead of the painful process of trying to choose a wine that would please all, I handed the list to a mate’s wife and asked her to choose.
She chose a 2014 Mitolo G.A.M. Shiraz. When I blindly peered at the label I said: “Oh, is this a GSM, that’s shiraz driven?
“No,” she said. “He named the wine after his three daughters; we know because we went to the restaurant in the McLaren Vale.”
I checked the website later and, sure enough, in the description of how Mitolo Wines was born is the revelation that: “The first Mitolo wine, the 2000 G.A.M. Shiraz was named after Frank’s children Gemma, Alex and Marco.” Um, close with the daughters but Marco sounds like a boy…
The Mitolo range has resulted from a partnership with winemaker Ben Glaetzer and focuses on fruit from McLaren Vale-Willunga district. The G.A.M is the flagship wine and the winery has now received a five-star rating from Halliday.
The price was a surprise only revealed to me and the other non-choosers when the final tally came around: $119.00 a bottle, and we had the last two in the restaurant’s stock.
I subsequently found it retails for around $58 a bottle, so the mark-up was as would be expected. Mitolo was a potato grower and I had some dealings with the company in the early 2000s when I acted for the National Farmers’ Federation.
Mitolo has now become a producer of this lovely wine; it is always a pleasure to encounter grapes when you expected potatoes, especially made into wine of this quality.
The evening was punctuated by various exclamations of praise for this intense and complex drop. On the nose it had black fruit and bitter chocolate. On taste, it had tonnes of depth and a full finish. When the duck pancakes came out, they and the G.A.M. were a pas de deux of elegance.
This was an expensive night out but a great way to thank a colleague for his support and steadfastness.
We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere – Tim McGraw
DINING / Magoo’s Café & Bar, Kingston Foreshore Magoo’s lives up to its promise
WENDY JOHNSON.
MAGOO’S is a new café and bar on the Kingston Foreshore that lives up to its promise to provide a warm and inviting place to enjoy a drink, a bite to eat and live music on weekends (when COVID-19 restrictions allow). Colin Greef giving Milton Public School children guitars. Guitars go to bushfire kids By Danielle Nohra A GROUP of Canberra veterans, almost a year after calling for donations in a “CityNews” article, has recently returned from giving guitars to children who had lost theirs in the summer bushfires.
During the three-day trip from Nowra to Narooma, ex-Navy man Colin Greef says they gave away 30 guitars and 15 ukuleles.
But, since the article, he says they’ve been able to give away 60 guitars, which were donated by “CityNews” readers, to disadvantaged children in the ACT and NSW.
The Soldier On guitar-playing group wants to share the positive power of guitar playing with troubled kids and will continue to take donated guitars (old and new) and guitar parts such as strings. Guitar donations and parts to the Robert Poate Centre, Building 45, 80 Bellenden Street, Crace. Call 6188 6142.
Staff are attentive and want you to be comfortable. There’s nothing they wouldn’t do to make your visit a happy one.
Let’s start with the pricing. Magoo’s, even though it occupies a prime spot on the expensive Foreshore real estate strip, offers wines by the glass starting at $8 (and $30 by the bottle), cocktails sitting at $16 or $18 and bottled beers mostly $9. It’s great value for the Foreshore where I semi-recently paid $32 for two glasses of ordinary chardonnay at a bar. It’s nice to know you can head out without breaking the bank.
The food is also reasonably priced, with specials on our visit $14 to $20 and “Gorgeous” potato gnocchi… with wild mushrooms and baby spinach in beurre noisette. Winning main of the day. Photo: Wendy Johnson mains topping off at $22. with wild mushrooms and baby spinach
We loved both entrees, one from the in beurre noisette ($20). It packed a set menu and one from the specials. punch on flavour and the gnocchi wasn’t
The salt and pepper squid ($15) was heavy as it sometimes can be. The dish magnificently tender and tossed with also looked pretty on the plate. a flavoursome combo of coriander and The beef in the Guinness pie was chilli. It was served with a cream aioli tender and tasty but my mash was cold and next time I may order that as a and the gravy didn’t seem like it was main. From the specials, we indulged made in-house ($19). in the Spanish garlic prawns ($18). The panko batter with paprika on the Like the squid, the prawns were super fish was super crunchy and the truffle tender, absolutely delicious and worth fries were cold ($22). Staff promptly every bite.
The winning main of the day was the gorgeous potato gnocchi
dealt with the issue by bringing another batch of the fries, which were lovely with bits of truffle.
On our visit, the music was by Mitch Canas who has been on the scene for yonks and is always a joy to listen to.
Magoo’s was doing a stellar job controlling social distancing, better than most places we’ve observed of late. Hand sanitiser was available on entry and staff made sure everyone registered. There was even a small red rope at the entrance to help maintain control.
Magoo’s is on the water, across from Go Boats. It’s challenging opening a new venue in COVID crazy times and Magoo’s needs to tweak some operations, which I’ve no doubt it will. The commitment is there for sure.
Magoo’s Café & Bar, Trevillian Quay, Kingston Foreshore. Call 6193 7935 or visit magooscafeandbar.
com.au
