On the 3rd of May Joe and I ventured out to a Bank of Melbourne Insiders Dinner which seems to be an ongoing series of events under the auspices of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. I’m not sure why I got an invitation via email, but I was happy to sign up. Clever marketing, Insiders makes it seem you are part of a privileged elite! The invitation claimed we were in for a wild adventure in contemporary dining from the people that brought you Sunda and Aru… at Melbourne’s boldest new restaurant.
So off we went, not knowing what to expect, to PARCS at 198 Little Collins Street. Where it was pointed out PARCS is SCRAP spelt backwards. And so we were fed a meal of dishes made from scraps from restaurants including Sunda, Aru and the Windsor Hotel. The whole concept arose when the owner and chef, formerly of Sunda, was whiling away his time during Melbourne’s long lockdown. Lots of preserving and fermentation, starting with opening drinks. Here I am trying the Sunflower Kombucha served on arrival.
Truth be told I wasn’t that keen but Joe was happy to drink two glasses of it. Next came an example of pickling – useful in making scraps edible. I’m generally not keen on pickled food but this first plate called Some pickles and ferments included some that were quite good. I liked the red beetroot and the cucumber. The orange beetroot not so much. To my surprise I liked the beetroot leaves and the other shredded one which I now can’t remember. Interesting.
The restaurant was supporting the Drink Victorian campaign and we started with a lovely 2021 Sorrenberg / Semillion Sauvignon Blanc from Beechworth. Thoroughly recommended. Perfect for our first entree of oysters. I normally don’t like anything other than raw ones but these had a mango kombucha aged in beeswax dressing which was delicious. Enhancing rather than disguising the original flavour. I forgot to photograph them before eating! Here’s the evidence.
Next came Wild boar & mushroom spam with blackened tomato ketchup. Although the names – both spam and ketchup – didn’t inspire confidence I was pleased to discover both were delicious. As was the unnamed pickle on the side.
Next came Chinese doughnut, smoked sunflower marrow, moromi za’atar. An intriguing name for a quite delectable delicious dish. I could have eaten lots of these.
We now moved to red wine, which was a NV Xavier Goodridge ‘Papa’ Pinot Noir from Gippsland. This to accompany the first of three main dishes which was Pumpkin on pumpkin on pumpkin. Intriguingly the sauce on which the wedge of roasted pumpkin is sitting is made from pumpkin seeds. It has a very interesting flavour – quite different from what I expected. Not as pumpkinish as you’d have thought.
Our second main was also intriguing. Jewelled rice, beetroot stem acar, crispy crickets. I wondered where that final ingredient was hiding and was assured we couldn’t see it/them. They’re not, as I thought they might be, the crispy things on top of the rice. This was probably the most normal of the dishes we were served.
By this time I was getting full and I couldn’t finish my Wok-tossed gai lan, kangaroo, vegemite garum although it was a very fine dish.
I couldn’t even manage a mouthful of dessert, which according to Joe was delicious. Not too sweet, he said. It looked quite exotic. White chocolate ice cream, umeboshi, old fruit.
The evening included speeches from our hosts – chef and maitre’d. They are very proud of their pickling and preserving techniques and are keen to share their efforts. Having indulged in perhaps one glass too many, we were happy to oblige. The green labelled jar contains bread miso, described as bottled umami, unrivalled savouriness. The orange one is orange kosho, a zesty, spicy salt-licked goodness. I’m looking forward to trying them.
And so we staggered out into the night! Replete and quite enthralled by one of our most interesting meals ever. PARCS is worth a visit if you’re feeling adventurous. Menu changes according to what’s available and what has been bubbling away in the fermenting jars.
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