Celebrating the Pork and the Pig: Yuletide Dinner at Restaurant Atelier

Oh poor piggies. They’ve been getting a bit of a bad rep lately haven’t they with all the attention around swine flu? As expected, this has resulted in the public’s knee-jerk reactions to the outbreak and warnings against eating of pork products were quick to follow. Sigh, the predictability of human nature is a funny thing. Let me start by reiterating that the swine flu virus is only transmitted virally through humans and you cannot get it by eating pork products. So go buy yourself a pork chop and some bacon and celebrate the pig!



What a better way to hammer in that argument than by attending a Yuletide dinner at Restaurant Atelier hosted by, who else, Australian Pork? I could never say no to celebrating Christmas in our winter months of June-August. It’s our chance to step away from the sun, the beach, BBQs and the fresh seafood of our Aussie Christmas and celebrate Yule in the winter chill, with blazing fireplaces and a roast dinner…the way it should be! Unfortunately hopes for a night of eggnog and drunken Christmas carolling at Atelier turned out unsatiated. But at least we had the pork.


Chef Darren Templeman (image courtesy of Hyunjin Ma)

Thanks to the fabulous Mel of Fooderati and Whiteworks PR, eleven of your favourite Sydney Food Bloggers got porked in a big way tonight with a menu that aims to bring the humble pig back in vogue. All meals were paired with wines from the appropriately named Piggs Peake Winery from Pokolbin, Hunter Valley. Honourable guests included Suze, Lorraine, Howard, Lili, Richard, Billy, Helen, Shez and Simon.

Imagine my gasp when I saw that Restaurant Atelier is housed in the most charming, quaint brick cottage with a verandah and a back courtyard right in the middle of a busy urban street?

Image courtesy of Restaurant Atelier

Even better was the homely interior complete with timber floors, wreaths, little Christmas trees, a fireplace and dark red walls, which oozed comfort and warmth, making it the perfect setting for tonight’s dinner. Indeed it felt like we were at a friend’s house for an intimate Christmas meal - the ‘friends’ being the people behind Restaurant Atelier, Bernadette and Chef Darren Templeman.


Chef Darren Templeman

We arrived to canapés on the front verandah of Pork Neck Rillette, Cornichon, Green Beans served on a Witlof Leaf served with a 2007 Piggs Peake Sow Vignon Blanc. The rillettes melted in your mouth and was perfectly paired with the slightly crispy witlof leaf. Unfortunately, I can't comment too much about the wines as I was the designated driver for the night (just wait till I make up for it on my weekend away to Hunter Valley in two weeks!). And it seems like us bloggers really need a third hand to balance the food, wine and the camera. It is the eternal blogger's struggle. Photos? Or food?



As we entered the restaurant, the blogger contingent made a beeline for the back corner table so they could work their camera magic without disturbing the other guests, some of which were noted people from the food industry. Turned out a brilliant idea as our table started to resemble a pyrotechnics light show thanks to a few bloggers who came armed with flashguns.


The bread butter that tasted strangely like cheese...so much so that Chocolatesuze started spreading it an inch thick on her bread!

First course was an Entrée plate of Honey-Glazed Pork Hock with Roasted Apples, Grilled Pickled Loin of Pork with Celeriac Remoulade and a Pulled Neck Salad with Crystal Bay Prawns. These were paired with glasses of Piggs Peake’s 2008 Amanda Love Viognier, 2008 Peartree Riesling and a 2009 Sows Ear Semillon.


Assiete plate of pork entrées


Grilled Pickled Loin of Pork with Celeriac Remoulade

The pork hock was sticky and sweet with the honey glaze (definitely no complaints) but my favourite would have to be the pork neck salad that I couldn’t help but eat with the celeriac remoulade. Who knew that these gorgeously tender pieces of meat came out of a neck?


Honey-Glazed Pork Hock with Roasted Apples


Pulled Neck Salad with Crystal Bay Prawns

We were introduced to the mains with a whole pork rack that was carved in the dining room for all to see. True to form, the blogger papparazzi swarmed with their cameras quickly while I hung back and waited for everybody to be done before sneaking in a shot in with Lorraine.


Now that's a nice rack

The mains arrived but all anticipation of a dazzling piece of crackling was painfully dashed. Our plate consisted of a Boned Shoulder of Pork roasted with a Winter Herb Cure, Creamed Parsnip and Buttered Kale and a Pot-Roasted Murray Valley Moisture-Infused Pork Rack with Broad Beans, Pomme Cocotte and Pine Mushrooms.



The shoulder of pork was so tender that it virtually fell apart under my fork. Unfortunately this small piece of meat housed a very small strip of crackling, which wasn’t as earth shatteringly crispy as I hoped. However crackling is still crackling and I'll never discriminate so this was devoured without a moment's notice.

The rack of pork was unlike anything I tasted before. It was amazingly soft, melt-in-your-mouth and most of all, juicy. The meat juices literally exploded in my mouth with every bite. Bliss!


Shoulder of pork sans huge crackling, alas!

Moisture-Infused Pork Rack with Broad Beans, Pomme Cocotte and Pine Mushrooms

I’m not one for the produce but I really loved the vegetable accompaniments tonight. I yearned for more pomme cocotte (melon balls of potatoes), while I savoured every mouthful of sweet parsnip and buttered kale.

The mains were paired with a glass of 2008 Hogshead Chardonnay and 2008 Wolfie Zinfandel. The chardonnay was so chilled and crisp but I'll forever remain blasé about the humble chard.

Dessert was a plate of Poached Winter Fruits and a scoop of Christmas Pudding Ice Cream. The ice cream was heady with spices and it literally tasted like Christmas in my mouth, though I couldn’t help but crave something rich and chocolate-y every time I looked at it. Big smiles for the poached fruits however, which were cooked just right.




Dessert was paired with a glass of Piggs Peake Little Pig Verdelho Fortified

I’ve never ingested so much pork in one night but I couldn’t be happier. It's the perfect culinary rebuttal to the swine flu hysteria, matched perfectly with the intimacy and cosiness of Restaurant Atelier. At the end of the night, we received an Australian Pork goody bag, which included an AWWW Pork Cookbook and, would you believe, a sizeable pork rack in a quaint cooler bag. Naturally, it didn’t take long for us to compare the sizes of our racks on the street (I lost the race with my small rack...hold the jokes).

Many accolades to Australia Pork for celebrating the pig (swine flu? What swine flu?), Restaurant Atelier for their warm hospitality and Mel and Whiteworks for the kind invite.

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Restaurant Atelier
22 Glebe Point Road
Glebe, NSW 2037

(02) 9566 2112
Email: eat@restaurantatelier.com.au

Dinner: Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm.


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