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Provenance

20/7/2013

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Steve's birthday celebrations started well on the Friday night at the Stanley Pub and the next day we continued the revelry by moving to Provenance in Beechworth. We  faced the elements and enjoyed a mooch around the town with lunch at a local brewery before checking in and taking advantage of the amazingly comfortable bed and napped before dinner. This weekend was very much about good food and then sleeptime around the meals! But given I was still trying to fight off the lurgy, it didn't seem a bad way to spend the time.

Having heard great things about Provenance and having already recommended people try it before we even went ourselves we'd been looking forward to this for ages so to say we had expectations is probably true.
Steve has never been a fan of tofu so when the optional starter was house made silken tofu, soused seafood, wasabi, ginger he wasn't that fussed about opting in but I convinced him and he loved it! The little Asian teacup arrived pretty quickly - a lot sooner than our accompanying sake did but luckily I had opted for the champagne and still had plenty of that. Completely reminiscent of chawan mushi but tofu and not egg I loved the saltiness of the roe and the seafood and the fragrant ginger kiss and then the odd hit of wasabi. We soon learnt with the Provenance dishes to try and get as much of everything in one mouthful as it's about the sum of all the parts as opposed to individual features.

Next came vegetables, pickles, okayu sauce, puffed rice, umeboshi. I feared it would be like the veggie dish at Brooks where I was overwhelmed by the strong veggie flavours and at first mouthful when I had some beetroot and I think another piece of veg I began to think I was down that garden path so to speak. But then I ate more and loved the pickled turnip combined with the savoury almost chickeny okayu sauce and I got it. It tasted good!
Continuing the veggie theme we had roasted broccoli, broccoli puree, candied lemon, anchovy, capers. Completely different to the previous veggie dish I loved mixing the purees and the crumbs and the delicious iron flavours of the florets came through.

The smoked bonito, braised turnip, jamon consommé, sautéed lettuce, bottarga took us back to Japan and away from the veggie allotment. Thickly cut sashimi style seasoned with a meaty almost gluey consomme heavy on the jamon flavours and then lightened up by the cleansing turnip and lettuce.
We then took a turn towards meat and enjoyed pork cheek cooked in hay, grain and pea salad, coriander and blood pudding. I was a little apprehensive about the blood pudding because it was a bit flabby looking and I usually like the coarser, drier black pudding but when eaten with a but if meat some crunchy hay and pea puree it was delicious.

After pork came grass fed Yalandra wagyu, beets cooked in clay, beetroot jam, garlic and horseradish. Steve declared this one of the finest beef dishes he has ever had which is a pretty high accolade. I loved its silky texture and intense flavour off set with sweet beetroot and then a hint of horseradish warmth. An absolute memorable dish and a highlight.
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Steve enjoyed the optional cheese course but I opted out given it was a blue cheese - Bleu de Laqueuille and it was served with quince jelly, saba and walnut bread. I had hoped they would be able to offer me an alternative but it didn't happen so I watched Steve eat and drink the quince liqueur and he did it with such enthusiasm and delight it was wonderful to watch!

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Dessert was banana mousse, peanut frangipane, orange and miso caramel. The banana mousse was fruitier than I expected. Loved the cakey goodness of the peanut frangipane and the zestiness of the orange. Have to concede though that it wasn't the most amazing dessert I've ever had.

Thinking back to dinner at Provenance and it was such a great evening because there was a sense of anticipation as we waited for the next course. I love that sense of uncertainty, of pushing boundaries and when the flavours come together for that party in the mouth, it's amazing.

In the last three weeks, Steve and I have been lucky enough to try out three great two hatted restaurants - Stokehouse, Aria and Provenance and it's really interesting to compare them. Absolutely the food is delicious at all. Aria wins for classic flavours elevated to stellar status but undeniably it wasn't that exciting and if we weren't with 4 friends it could have been a dull night. Stokehouse, great date place and a pleasant evening...more neighbourhood restaurant than destination dining though. And then Provenance - exciting, worth a trip and I think the fact that the whole package was dinner and a gorgeous room and a spa bath just made it a wonderful experience.

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The Stanley Pub

19/7/2013

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Half day Friday and Barley boy's birthday bonanza weekend had arrived! We hit the road to Beechworth. My body went into relax and recover mode as I'd pushed myself to get through the last week at work in spite of feeling under the weather and the 3 hr drive meant a deep slumber for me! Apparently I missed out on seeing some crazy weather come through.

Anyway we arrived in Stanley, found the pub and immediately felt looked after and comfortable. Now that I think back, from the moment Shane called just before we were due to set off to confirm our reservation and was just so super friendly to the moment we walked through the door and he commented that we'd made it in good time, we were always made to feel so welcome.  A quick drink later and we were shown to our comfortable room where we just chilled before dinner. Yes, I continued my 3 hour nap...

Dinner took place in a cosy candlelit corner in the dining room which had a view of the bar area. One thing that did strike me about the bar area was that there was no comfy seating; bar stools yes but no comfy sofa or padded armchairs which was a little strange to me given how welcoming and homely it feels. Steve's response was that given most of the people in the bar area were obviously locals and regulars maybe they don't need the comfy seating and prefer to be more sociable and mingle with each other...makes sense!

Still feeling a bit cold and under the weather I chose to go with the mushroom and chestnut soup and it warmed the cockles of my heart to the tips of my toes. The home made bread was also deliciously soft. Steve went with the twice baked Milawa chevre souffle which was a dish of very aptly described "cheesy goodness" which was a comment Shane made when he delivered it. Great comfort food start to dinner.
We both opted for specials dishes for main and swapped plates halfway through. We went with the belly pork with local apples and a walnut and parsley pesto as well as the lamb rump with Kipfler potatoes and petits pois Francaise.

The pork belly is juicy and fatty in a good way with crackling and sweet meat. The lamb is lean and flavoursome and where the pork belly is naughty, I feel the lamb nourishing me with its protein goodness. We also shared a dish of cauliflower gratin and I really wanted the fries with truffle salt but Shane advised it would be too much and he was right. Oh I wish places did half serves of sides so we that dine in a couple get to take advantage....
Dessert was a trio of Gundowring ice cream for me - honey and walnut, lemon curd and raspberry and they were delicious and so soothing for my sore throat. Steve went with a pistachio and rosewater trifle which he finished quickly so I assume it was good. We enjoyed the remainder of the bottle of Pennyweight Shiraz which was delicious before heading back to our room to retire for the evening.

We concluded that the bed was wonderful and the electric blanket a welcome touch. The water pressure in the bathroom was great and the help yourself continental breakfast the next morning just what we needed. I would highly recommend a stay at the Stanley Pub and have to thank Carrie for the recommendation.
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    Fine Print

    For those that know us, this section will probably come with no surprise! Steve and I love eating out so this is our record of our time in Australia.

    This is a blog that is 100% written and edited by Steve and I. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by any third party.

    Any sponsored posts are easily identified as such.

    Thanks for reading barleyblog.

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