On November 17, Chilli Padi at Melbourne Central held its last winemaker’sdinner for 2007.
The menu, crafted by executive chef and co-proprietor Li Teoh with head chef Raymond Soo, was stylish and innovative, sharing equal billing with the the elegant wines from winemaker extraordinaire Paramdeep Ghumann’s Nazaaray winery.
Proprietor and head sommelier Robert Teoh was at his convivial best, playing mine host to the hilt.
Titled Bread Winner, the first tasting platter showcased soft shell crab on roti pizza, char siu pork on mantau buns and spicy eggplant and asparagus on sliced baguette.
We then journeyed on the rice route with sushi, Chinese style rice in a bamboo tube, Indian biryani and Malaysian nasi goreng.
Sharing the main event were scrumptious lamb cutlets in miso butter, Thai red duck curry and guava glazed pork ribs, accompanied by a Waldorf salad of apple and celery jelly, plus a shaved calamari and vegetable salad, with a support act of steamed rice.
The banana katsu, espresso jelly and red bean ice cream provided the fitting sweet finale.
Nazaaray’s beautiful wines that evening were the pinot gris 2007, sauvignon blanc 2007, chardonnay 2004, pinot rose 2006, pinot noir 2005 and 2006, merlot 2004 and shiraz 2006.
It was a great evening, shared among good food and wine connoisseurs, with Paramdeep looking every inch the maharajah in his traditional garb.
Chilli Padi’s team of seven chefs from Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand performed impeccably.
Chilli Padi also provides late suppers known as Chilli Malam until 3am on Wednesdays and 5am Thursday to Saturday, featuring sushi, south Indian curries and delicacies like nasi lemak in banana leaf wraps.
Now you can have double chillies when another Chilli Padi opens in Prahran very soon.
