Grab Some Gold With Aussie Attractions (Restaurants... -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 8/1/2000
Last Visited: 1/2/2002
Michael Bennett, executive chef of The Left Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, didn't wait for the Olympics to begin to do an Australian wine dinner.For three evenings in late June, the Mediterranean restaurant was draped in heavy mosquito netting and decorated with plastic kangaroos, lizards and other animals native to Australia.The staff dressed in bush outfits - "khaki shorts and shirts, like you see in the movies," he says.
Bennett served the sell-out crowds a multicourse meal pairing each course with an appropriate Australian wine.For an appetizer, Bennett stuffed Maytag blue cheese mousseline inside a vol-au-vent placed on top of sun-dried cranberry relish.The dish was topped with slices of smoked duck breast and garnished with Belgian endive and frisee.
The main course paired Australian lamb chops, seasoned with a stone-ground mustard, rosemary and sage rub, with mango barbecued blue-water prawns.He sauced the dish with pan-roasted rosemary demi-glace studded with cherimoya.Garnished with fried, sliced lotus root to hold the prawns, garlic blossoms, rosemary sprigs and a deep-fried udon noodle, the dish was presented on a bed of "rocket"-flavored mashed potatoes."In Australia, rocket is what we call dandelion greens.
...
They grow wild and some people cultivate them to eat," says Bennett.
Australian wines are also integral to the "Catch the Taste of Pacific Rim" promotion running through mid-October in all Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in the United States.
24 online sources [ view sources ]
Profile is not claimed [ claim profile ]
