Sunday at Sittella

On the weekend I went with a small group of other winos to Sittella Winery in the Swan Valley. The weather was pretty awful – cold and windy with the occasional sprinkling of rain – but that didn’t stop us.

Following a few wine tastings in the cellar door (I particularly liked their Sparkling Chenin and a divine wooded Chardonnay), we moved into the restaurant itself, and spent a leisurely 2.5 hours sitting on the enclosed verandah (outdoor heaters on thankfully), with delicious food and a bit more wine.

I say delicious because it absolutely was. Three of us chose the Winemaker’s Taste Plate, which is supposedly designed to share as a starter – but we each wanted one as a main dish so why not! It contained lots of tiny portions but of a variety of things, and in the end was quite filling. I didn’t eat the chorizo/salami parts as I am still not really eating meat, although there was a tiny bit of chicken liver pate and some terrine thing – only 2 bites so hard to tell exactly what it was, but I think probably chicken again. A highlight was the wasabi-dressed smoked salmon, and the port-soaked figs, both unbelievably good. As well as the bread that came with it, we shared a serving of warm breads as well and this was sooooooo warm and soft, it really was melt-in-your-mouth bread at its best.

Top notch food (at top notch prices however……no bargains here), great service, and a lovely view over the Winter-coloured vines. A lovely way to waste a few lazy hours on a Sunday.

Happy Fooding!

Swanning Around….

This week I went out to the Swan Valley. This is an area only 20 minutes North of where I live, (I’m 5 minutes from the Perth city centre) – very quickly you get out of the suburbs and into “country”, and the Swan Valley is a lovely area for visiting wineries, restaurants, cafes and little side-of-the-road places selling all sorts of gourmet delights – chocolate, honey, coffee, lavender, nougat etc.

I try to get out to this area as often as I can, especially when the weather is great, as there are so many terrific places to sit out in the sunshine having an icy cold beer or glass of champers with friends.

This week I had lunch at The Cheese Barrel, a new restaurant that only opened its doors last September and which I had heard good things about. They are mostly open during the day only, although they do have the occasional theme night ie Spanish cheese/tapas night.

You can choose a ‘regional tasting plate’ for 2, from Australia, France, Spain or Italy, OR you can select individual cheeses and add your own choice of condiments/sides – olives, crackers, figs, fruit bread etc.

We went for the French tasting plate (pictured above), plus we added a Tasmanian cheddar (the tiny wedge you can see in the background!). The cheeses were all brands or types I hadn’t tried before, and were all delicious. The portions were not large, and to be honest I think this was quite an expensive lunch for the serving size. For us it was a comfortable amount for 2 girls for lunch, but someone like my 21 y.o. son (a 6′ tall streak with hollow legs!) could have eaten this platter by himself without a problem and still wanted more!

The wine list was from the adjacent Olive Farm Wines, and I had a glass of the Shimmer sparkling, which was quite young and fruity tasting and went with the cheese very well. The platter came with tasting notes and recommended wines, but I just always reckon champagne is good with everything!

The cheeses are available to buy – which we did! Quite pricey, but good for a special occasion.

I like this place, and I like to support local industry, but considering the value for money I think there are better options around in this area – a nice lunch for something different though.

Happy Summer Fooding!