Baroque Bistro Patisserie new winter menu

Standing in Baroque Bistro around 10pm the night was drawing to a close. Head Pastry Chef Jean Michel Raynaud had been working since 4am and needed to get back to the kitchen. There was still work to do. Cleaning up. But instead he was excitedly and passionately describing the sweet temptations that I had just eaten.

Tuesday 31st May was the first of two dinners to preview the new seasonal winter menu. Both nights were sold out.

Les Quatre Saisons de BAROQUE

Four Seasons Preview Dinners : Winter 2011

Amuse Bouche

2009 Tscharke Eva

A salad of organic beetroot, breakfast radish, carrot and cumin bavarois

2010 Tscharke ‘Girl Talk’ Savagnin, Barossa Valley, SA

Burgundy poached hens egg, beech mushroom, speck, brioche, burgundy glaze

2009 Tscharke 2006 ‘Only Son’ Tempranillo Graciano, Barossa Valley, SA

Braised Angus beef short rib, boudin noir, baby turnip, glazed radish, creamed parsnip

2008 Tscharke ‘The Potter’ Garnacha, Barossa Valley, SA

Valrhona chocolate curd, preserved cherry, pistachio

Tea, coffee and seasonal macarons (chai, pear and chestnut, and black truffle)

All wines have been hand selected to match tonight’s menu and have been generously supplied by Damian Tscharke of Tscharke Wines. We would also like to thank Skye McIntosh and the Sydney Youth Orchestra for their exquisite musical performances.

Tonight’s menu has been carefully crafted to showcase the best of winter seasonal ingredients. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed preparing it for you and on behalf of the Baroque team we would like to thank you for attending tonight’s event.

Peter Robertson – Head Chef            Jean Michel Raynaud – Head Pastry Chef      SYO               TSCHARKE

Whilst everything tonight was really scrumptious from start to finish and stands up again any dishes in town there were a couple of real standouts. It might be due to my penchant for eggs, but I’d go back for the Burgundy poached hens egg every day. I’ve had an egg baked en cocotte in red wine before but never poached. Oh so stunning. As I cut through the red (coloured white) the yolk oozed over the dish. And although I always adore a runny yolk, tonight it was the Burgundy flavoured white that enthralled. The white soaked it up and stained the flavour with the wine. Also deserving a special mention was the parsley foam with just a hint of fresh horseradish. This dish, liked the others, achieved the ambition of the new menu, to take a wholistic approach to food based on the availability of seasonal produce.

In an inspirational approach Baroque invited one of the best of the Baroque musicians to call in the winter menu. The Sydney Youth Orchestra performed movements from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at intervals between courses.

Then we made our own music. Oohs and aahs were the melody over the base of beef. It fell apart on the fork and melted in the mouth. And we all agreed that the creamed parsnip was the perfect accompaniment.

Then came a surprise – though it shouldn’t have been as I’ve always been captivated by the talents of the Baroque Head Pastry Chef. And the French Valrhona is a delightful all time favourite. His treatment was however unexpected and as I cut the chocolate flock the molten 70% single estate Araguani flowed over the plate. Flecked gold feuilletine was visual artistry against the backdrop of pale green pistachio. Kirstch cherries were superb. The dessert bound me. Until I was taken even further on a journey of discovery with the new seasonal introductions of macarons. Black truffle spoke of Perigord and the earth and the colder months. Jean Michel Raynaud explained it was designed as a savoury macaron, better served with cheese perhaps. A little bit sweet. A little bit savoury. Which could be used as a bridging course between mains and desserts, rather than the expected macaron place at the end of a meal. I’m up for it! It’s time for us all to be a little bit more adventurous, while maintaining our traditional roots.

The recipe for Jean Michel Raynaud’s Pear and Chestnut Macarons is available online here on Inside Cuisine. The dishes showcased in Les Quatre Saisons de BAROQUE are part of the new seasonal menu and will be available on the Sydney bistro menu from Thursday 2nd June.

Baroque Bistro
88 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
+61 2 9241 4811