Lunch 22 September 2015
It was another great Greek performance from Bill Alexiou-Hucker, helped in the plating up department by Peters Squires and Manners. The aperitifs, or mezes, were a tempting chicken liver pate topped by a dollop of sweet green pistachio paste on toasts, a fetta and spinach frittata served in little squares, some very moreish taramasalata with a black olive topping on toasts and warm handmade dolmades, moist and tasty. To wash them all down, we saw a Thalassitis white from Santorini, made on assyrtiko grapes and finely dry and aromatic, with definite dried herb notes. As backup, there was the 2005 Huntington semillon from Mudgee, good drinking although the fruit is starting to drop out. The main course was a lovely moussaka made on beef and grilled eggplant with potatoes, topped with a béchamel sauce and accompanied by diced zucchini. The advertised Moroccan twist turned out to be pureed dried fruit, which lent a pronounced, slightly heavy, fruit sweetness to the dish; but despite hearty helpings, not too much found its way back to the kitchen. Accompanying the food was a 2012 Agiorgitiko by Gaia, quite tannic and European in style; and a 2009 Dom de Gerovassiliou shiraz/merlot blend, also from Greece, but showing pronounced fruit in a more Oz style. The Greek theme continued into the cheese, Acting Master Gary Linnane supplying an Odysseus barrel-aged fetta from Northern Greece. Made from sheep and goat’s milk, it is aged in wooden barrels and was much less salty and more peppery than the usual tinned variety. It was served drizzled with olive oil and scattered with dried oregano, and with diced and pickled vegetables as an interesting side dish. For wines, it was back to Oz, with a 2006 Epsilon Barossa shiraz, typical of the region with tonnes of sweet fruit and 14.5% alcohol; and a Macquariedale Thomas shiraz from the same year, again typical of a Hunter in the modern style and great drinking, at its best. The coffee came from El Salvador and showed rich chocolate characters in the mouth, with a slightly short finish. But the Armagnac from birthday boy Roger Prior showed no such defect: a rich lingering and penetrating blend containing material back to 1931.