Alex: Nestled discretely off one of the main roads in Double Bay, Vine offers both a contemporary fine dining menu with a heavy influence on French culture as well as a bar menu that is perfect for a casual or quick-lunch.
On this rainy Saturday arvo myself, Bianc and new friend and pocket rocket Joyce were brought to our table with a refreshing glass of Nv Dominique Portet ‘LD’ Brut and a clear view of the rest of the restaurant. The restaurant in itself exudes a chic and sophisticated décor with floor to ceiling windows that allows natural light to envelop the whole interior with the use of neutral colours with their furnishings.
As we settled in and perused the menu we were brought a fresh slice of sour dough bread with some butter (that we wish was a little warm) but had a nice texture with the added addition of the pink salt flakes.
The fine dining menu is designed in order to be shared so you can obtain a greater understanding of what the menu has to offer. Bianc was instantly miffed by the fact she couldn’t order the burger off bar menu in the ‘dining’ room. She then gave me the silent treatment because I put an essential ban on burgers for the day! Joyce tried to placate the big baby by offering to move but I was all about the tough love that day.
For bites (starters) we ordered the Bresaola (50g) $16. A generous serving for the price. The cured meat had a similar taste to that of prosciutto but I think what made everything come together was the deliciously crisp bread!
The confit Duck Croquettes $7ea were nice and juicy and the fried batter broke up into shards as you cut into it which was quite lovely to look at and even better to eat. Definitely a must order if you are a duck lover!
For our main we decided to share the larger share platter, Pork with Soubise, black pudding, raisin & caper dressing $65 We were tossing up between this and the lamb, so I’ve just created an excuse to go back. I think we all were a little turned off by the black pudding so that remained mostly untouched. We were under the impression that the pork was going to have a crispy skin, as we did specifically ask but it was more caramelised if anything. Still it had a really nice flavour and was succulent and tender. The potato batons were also a winner! (Sorry this picture doesn’t really do anything justice)
Just because we didn’t have enough food…we decided to get the Truffle Mash $10 Decadently rich and creamy with a subtle hint of what I’m going to guess was truffle oil.
Joyce was keen on getting the Fagotelli (V) Pumpkin, gouda, mushroom, yarrow $26 so in order to appease the travel queen we obliged. Bianca likened it to an Italian ‘dumpling’. The stuffing oozed out as you cut into it with a very rich orange colour from the mix of pumpkin. Bianc also made mention of the teeny-weeny mushrooms… “Oh look at how cute that little one is!”
Now I don’t know what to say about the infamous Assiette Mignardes 32 (dessert board) that is on offer at Vine. A mini Heston Blumenthal influenced dessert platter which was extremely interactive, fun and tasty all at the same time. As each of us bit into something different we were grinning with excitement! While some components were definitely a lot weaker than other’s (Macarons), the dish as a whole remained strong and definitely up there as one of Sydney’s best desserts!
So now, I leave you with some dessert porn shots that you can enjoy until you actually make it to Vine yourself!
Thank-you to the staff at Vine for the lovely hospitality! We can’t wait to see you again soon.
Until next time!
Alex
Now that’s one fine spread of food! Double Bay is one of those areas that never gets consideration from me. Perhaps that should change, now that I’ve seen what’s going on at Vine.
Yeh there’s actually been quite a few really great cafe’s/restaurants opening up around the area so I definitely recommend venturing to the east! 🙂
-A
Oh it bothers (more so, upsets) me when I see something on the bar menu I want but can’t order … so I feel for Bianca 🙁
But the dessert!! My heart just melted!
Hahaha, well she definitely didn’t leave hungry that’s for sure!
– A
holy crap that dessert platter looks freaking amazing!!
My eyes literally lit up when I saw the dessert platter, it looks brilliant 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Gorgeous photos! What camera/lens are you using? They’re so lovely!
Thanks Lorraine! I use a canon 500d and interchange between two different lenses. A wide angle and a fixed 50mm lens 🙂
– A
Wow everything looks amazing!
Awesome pics, you guys! That dessert platters just made my heart stop beating; so pretty!!!