LuMi Bar & Dining, Pyrmont - 20 March 2015

LuMi Bar & Dining has been on my radar well before its opening in September last year. I don't keep my love for Ormeggio at the Spit a secret, where LuMi owner and executive chef, Federico Zanellato, was head chef for 4 years before leaving to open his own venture with restauranteur, Bill Drakopoulos. After several booking changes due to circumstances beyond my control, I finally made it to LuMi on Friday night with my wife.

LuMi is located in Pyrmont in a space that resembles a glass box.  Lumi is Italian for small lights, reflecting the multitude of pendent lights hanging from the ceiling. LuMi is also the combined name of Federico Zanellato's twin daughters, Luna and Mia.  

Federico Zanellato in the open kitchen

Federico is a chef that has a CV that will make most chefs jealous. He's done stints at 3-Michelin star restaurants (La Pergola in Rome and Ryugin in Tokyo), Noma, Attica on top of his head chef gig at Ormeggio. So it's no surprise that LuMi has been a very popular restaurant since its opening and has received widespread praise from food critics and bloggers alike.

LuMi is pitched as a casual fine dining restaurant and offers an 8 course degustation-only menu for dinner. At $95, LuMi represents unrivalled value  in a city where $100+ tasting menus are the norm. The food is modern Italian with Japanese influences. As always, my wife had the vegetarian menu.

Course one    

Porcini brisee, mascarpone, walnut; Rice chips salt and vinegar

The meal kicks off with a series of snacks delivered to us in rapid sucession. There was a crumbly porcini brisee with mascarpone and shaved walnut and salt and vinegar rice chips. Salt and vinegar chips seem to be a mainstay at fine diners these days, but these ones were a standout: light, paper thin and very well seasoned.

Sourdough, butter

LuMi's sourdough has a robust flavour, a lovely thick crust and is served with a house churned butter.

Mussels, coconut, seaweed

Mussels, coconut and seaweed was like a Thai-style mussel dish cooked in coconut milk, which were served as purees in a mussel shell. Coconut was the dominant flavour in this snack, with the sweet, mineral flavour of mussel being quite subtle. The vegetarian version was the same as mine minus the mussel puree.

Chawanmushi

Since its opening, LuMi has been offering an Italian interpretation of a traditional Japanese dish, chawanmushi. Instead of dashi, LuMi's chawanmushi was cooked using Parmesan consomme and topped with tomato water and strands of basil.The chawanmushi was silky smooth, and wobbly, which are traits of every good chawanmushi. The dish tasted unmistakably Italian, but executed with the precision and balance found in Japanese cuisine. Just heavenly!

Potato & rosemary focaccia

The potato and rosemary focaccia is not like any normal focaccia. I often find focaccia quite heavy but this was light and fluffy. Amazing!

Course two

Calamari & scampi, cucumber, yogurt, fennel

Chopped raw calamari and scampi sat in a cooling cucumber broth and was topped with yogurt, fennel fronds and sesame seeds. The calamari and the scampi were sweet and there was a nice contrast in texture between the firmness of the calamari and the softness of the scampi. I enjoyed this clean and refreshing dish.

White cucumber, apple, sour cream

My wife's first full course consisted of discs of white cucumber from the Blue Mountains, fermented Granny Smith apple water, sour cream, fennel fronds and radish flowers. My wife loved this fresh, cooling dish!

Course three

Veal tartare, tarragon emulsion, roasted capsicum, buckwheat

Finely diced veal tartare was mixed with roasted capsicum on a pool of tarragon emulsion and topped with puffed buckwheat. The softness of the veal with the crunch of puffed buckwheat was a textural delight. The tarragon emulsion, which was sweet and had a slight aniseed taste, added another dimension to the dish. A dusting of togarashi added some nice kick to the dish. This veal tartare is up there amongst my favourite tartare dishes in Sydney and was one of the highlights of this meal.    

Roasted capsicum, tarragon emulsion, buckwheat

The vegetarian version of this dish leaves out the veal and increases the portion of roasted capsicum. This dish was also one of my wife's favourites. The togarashi did make her lose her marbles for a bit and she has been kicking herself since for not developing an appreciation for togarashi earlier.

Course four

Spelt ravioli, burnt butter, pumpkin, avruga, chives

Four discs of spelt ravioli were filled with burnt butter and pumpkin puree. We were instructed not to cut these on the plate, instead we should eat them whole. The pasta is delicately thin and the raviloi bursts almost immediately in the mouth, releasing the most incredible flavour! For me, brown butter is a total game changer: nutty, "caramelly" and was so good with the sweet, creamy pumpkin.  This creation is surely an ode to the famous fagotelli carbanora, a dish that Federico would have cooked countless times during his time at La Pergola. The ravioli was topped with pumpkin seeds, avruga caviar (omitted in the vegetarian version) and chives.

Course five

Tonnarelli, bottle squid, orange, purplette onion

You know the pasta course is going to be awesome given the chef used to ply his trade at Ormeggio (where you will find the best pasta in Sydney)!  Al dente strands of tonnarelli were glistening with squid ink sauce. The sauce tasted of the sea and was damn delicious, but there is no mistaking that it's salty and intense. The bottle squid was tender but retained a nice bitey texture. Candied orange peel and purplette onions help cut through the richness of the dish.

Risotto, tomato, balsamic, fennel, chives

The vegetarian course was risotto cooked with tomato water. The risotto was on point, with its perfectly al dente grains of rice and creamy texture. The tomato flavour worked extremely well in this risotto and was well balanced with the balsamic reduction, fennel and chives. This risotto is up there with some of the better risotto dishes we've tried in Sydney.         

Course six

Beef cheek, cauliflower, parsley

My final savoury course was beef cheeks, which were covered with a blanket of paper-thin cauliflower and dusted with smoked kale powder. I always get excited when I see beef cheeks for its rich, deep flavour and its melt in your mouth softness. The braised Angus beef cheeks were, to no one's surprise, tender and had a nice, slightly crisp exterior. The pairing with parsley emulsion and the subtle kick of horseradish was a winner.

Turnip, gruyere, porcini powder

My wife's final course was salt baked baby turnip with Gruyere fondue and porcini powder, another of my wife's favourite dishes for the night. The Gruyere fondue was pretty freaking incredible and shows up most cheese fondues out there. The turnips were juicy thanks to the salt baking process.   

Course seven

Evergreen

The first dessert, Evergreen, is one of LuMi's signature dishes and has been on the menu since day one. Evergreen is part palate cleanser, part dessert and part genius - a really clever transition from savoury to sweet. Basically it consisted of five herbs presented in five different ways. There's sorrel sorbet, lemon basil granita, mint meringue, shiso jelly and parsley salt. Put all these together and you get a dessert that is ridiculously refreshing with well rounded flavours and a variety of temperatures and textures. In short, this was an awesome dessert! I suspect that Evergreen will be talked about for a while yet and Federico will have a hard time taking this off the menu (at least I hope he doesn't!).

Course eight

Ginger ice cream, white chocolate, passion fruit, yogurt crumble

The finale to what has been an incredible meal was another stunner in young ginger ice cream with white chocolate foam, passion fruit powder, lime zest, yogurt crumble and meringue. The young ginger ice cream was very pleasant and not at all overpowering. The passion fruit and lime zest added a sour tang, which was nicely balanced by the sweet, milky white chocolate foam. The yogurt crumble and meringue provided texture.       

Verdict
Highlight: Evergreen is one of my favourite desserts in Sydney at the moment.
Lowlight: I am not the biggest fan of the glass box design of the restaurant.   
Overall: At $95, LuMi Bar & Dining represents some of the best value on the Sydney fine dining scene, especially given the talents of the head chef, Federico Zanellato. The food here is some of the most innovative, thoughtful and clever you will find. A shoe-in for hats from the next edition of the Good Food Guide. 8.5/10 (Excellent) 

LuMi Bar & Dining

Address: 56 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
Contact no: (02) 9571 1999
Website: http://www.lumidining.com/ 

Lucio's Italian Restaurant, Paddington - 15 Nov 2014

Long, lazy weekend lunches are something that I love to do, but don't do often enough. I mean what better way is there to unwind after a long week at work  than to enjoy good food with great company and be served by friendly, attentive waitstaff? Both my wife and I decided that we deserved a little treat (namely Alba white truffles, more on that later!) so we checked out the 2-hatted Lucio's Italian restaurant, an institution in the Sydney dining scene. 
 

The man behind Lucio's is Lucio, obviously. Well Lucio Galleto to be precise. Lucio's opened in 1981 in Balmain and moved to Paddington in 1983, which it has occupied since. Lucio is from a family of restaurateurs in Liguria in North-West Italy so it would only be natural for Lucio's to be a family run restaurant with his wife, Sally, son, Matteo and daughter, Michela all involved in running the restaurant.

Art restaurant: the art collection alone justifies the trip out to Paddington!

Lucio is an avid art collector and some of his collection can be found hanging on the walls of the restaurant. Dining at Lucio's is like you've stumbled into an art gallery. Some of the works are from leading contemporary Australian artists, who are also regulars at Lucio's. For his contributions to the arts as well as being a restaurateur and an author, Lucio was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2008. The art works on the wall and the restaurant's natural lighting create a bright and charming dining room that's fun, relaxed and perfect for weekend lunches.

John Olsen graces the covers of the menu

Lucio’s menus features traditional, authentic northern Italian cuisine with a focus on the fresh, seasonal produce, which reflects the restaurant's motto: "we follow the season, not the fashion”. The head chef at Lucio's is Nicole Bampton (ex-Tetsuya's and ex-Sepia). Amazingly, Lucio's have only had 3 other head chefs in its thirty years of operation.



I'm not sure if there is a more passionate, energetic and likable front of house person than Lucio in the Sydney restaurant scene. As soon as you set foot in the restaurant, you are greeted by the man himself and treated like an old family friend despite being a first time customer. The service at Lucio's is some of the best that I have encountered anywhere in Sydney. Not only was everyone was helpful and professional (as you would expect at a fancy restaurant like Lucio's), the service was friendly and relaxed and all the staff were happy to have a good laugh with the diners. It's just good old fashioned, warm Italian hospitality at Lucio's!

Sourdough roll, butter, olives

Set at each table upon arrival was a small dish of olives coated in some of the finest olive oil from Liguria and sourdough rolls, which were still warm as they had only just arrived from the baker. If I had to guess, the rolls were from Iggy's Bread.

Burrata, crushed broad beans, mint ($22.50)

My wife and I decided to share the burrata, crushed broad beans, mint and Lingurian olive oil to start the meal. This was a simple, yet highly enjoyable starter with high quality ingredients. Burrata is often runny in the centre, but this one was more soft and creamy rather than oozing.

     

Let it rain white truffles!

Now onto the ingredient that convinced me that I had to make the trek to Paddington from the west: Alba white truffle!  Readers may know that I have  a small obsession with truffle. I go nuts over the aroma and flavour of truffles! The white truffle from Alba (in Northern Italy) is stuff of legends. It is widely considered to be the best truffles in the world and can only be grown in the wild (and not farmed) for a few months of the year (October and November being peak season). Lucio's is one of the few restaurants that I am aware of in Sydney that imports white truffles each year and has even created white truffle menus in previous years.

Pasta of the day - Pappardelle, truffle butter, Alba white truffles ($50)

Lucio's pasta of the day was pappardelle tossed in white truffle butter, with fresh white truffles and Parmigiano Reggiano shaved at the table. We each ordered the truffle pasta, since there was no way either of us were going to share. Like all of Lucio's pastas, the truffle pasta was served simply, allowing the magic of white truffle to shine. Predictably the flavour and aroma of the white truffle was pungent and sent me into raptures. 

 

Not to be out matched are the pasta at Lucio's, which are made in house daily.  The pasta is some of the finest you will find in Sydney. The pappardelle were thick ribbons of the silkiest pasta while retaining a delightfully firm bite. I ate this bowl of pasta slowly so I could savour the taste of truffle for as long as I could.

Lucio showing one of his waiters how pesto pounding is supposed to be done!

I like a bit of theatre and one of Lucio's specialities is their pesto, which is freshly pounded at the table. Not listed on the menu is a basil pesto pappardelle, which we noticed during this meal is a favourite amongst their regulars (cue for me to remember to order next time!). Watching the pesto being pounded made me realise how simple pesto really is to make and question why I would even buy it from a jar. Sometimes the best things in life are the most simple!

Grilled asparagus, parmesan ($18)

We were both already quite full by this stage, so it was a good thing that my wife opted for some grilled asparagus with grated Parmesan. I tried one of the spears and I was amazed with the quality of these asparagus. They were wonderfully thick, juicy and flavoursome. So good that we'd both happily eat them on their own.

Black handkerchief pasta with cuttlefish, mussels, prawns & chilli ($32)

While every other table seem to order the green taglioni with blue swimmer crab tossed in a rich tomato sauce, which has been a signature dish of the restaurant since day one, I ordered the restaurant's other signature pasta:black handkerchief pasta with an assortment of chopped seafood (cuttlefish, mussels, prawns), garlic, chilli and finished with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Again, this was a minimalist pasta dish with fresh, simple and amazing flavours and silky sheets of pasta. The chilli in this dish is quite subtle though so I would have preferred the chilli to have packed more of a punch.
 

Campari babá, ruby grapefruit & mandarin sorbet with white chocolate & citrus curd ($17)

By the time we got to the decision of whether to order desserts, we were both filled to the brim. But how could we leave without trying one of Lucio's desserts? So we opted to share one of their lighter offerings: a baba cake soaked in Campari; with a ruby grapefruit & mandarin sorbet; fresh segments of ruby grapefruit and mandarin; and a white chocolate & citrus curd. The baba was light and moist, the sorbet was tangy refreshing and the white chocolate and citrus curd was moreish. Like the savoury courses, dessert was simple yet incredibly delicious!

Almond biscotti

A plate of almond biscotti marked the end of what was one of the most memorable weekend lunches that I've had in Sydney for quite some time. Based on this meal, I would have to say that Lucio's is one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Sydney and I can't wait for a return visit to try more of their menu.

Verdict:
Highlight: ALBA WHITE TRUFFLE!
Lowlight: Said truffles are available for limited time only.   
Overall: It might cost a bit, but Lucio's is a Sydney institution serving some of the finest Italian food in town. The food is authentic and served simply and highly satisfying. The service is warm, friendly and attentive. 8/10 (Excellent)



Lucio's Italian Restaurant

Address: 47 Windsor St, Paddington NSW 2021 
Contact no: 02 9380 5996 
Website: http://www.lucios.com.au/