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| The door that greeted our entry |
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| A cute concept of using recyclable wooden utensils |
We were told that the doors would open at 6.30pm and the first course would be served at 7.00pm. We arrived to see that the place was indeed filling up fast!
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| The menu that was present throughout the whole night |
As we were seated, we were informed of the process and introduced to the concept of the Cocktail Night. Being the foodie that I was, I begin jotting down notes as each “element” was brought to us, as there was alcohol involved and I wasn’t going to trust my memory on this ^_^
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| Water – spherification of Cairpirinha |
First cocktail, representing the ‘Water’ element, was a bit confusing, as we were left to our own device to figure out how to drink it. Apparently 3 giggling girls could get it wrong!… We drank the shot and then had the lemon ‘oyster’, rather than the other way round, much to the amazement of the couple seated next to us…
As a drink, because it was a shot, this went extremely quick and I was feeling quite lightheaded! My tolerance to alcohol has pretty much gone downhill ever since I stopped working for companies that offer month end drinks 😛
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| Tuna tataki with oyster emulsion, saltbush & edible sand |
The first course that was paired with the cocktail was a delicious Tuna tataki dish. With the most delicate edible sand and oyster emulsion. I quite literally wanted to lick the plate clean! (I DID NOT, in case you were wondering!)
This dish would be my second favourite dish of the night!
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| Air – gin, marschino liqueur, lemon & lavender mist Cheers to over 20 years of girly friendship! |
The second ‘element’ arrived, a cocktail comprising gin and representing the element of ‘Air’. This was our least favourite drink… it was quite bitter and neither of us finished it off… it had an interesting introduction though!
Before we were allowed to drink, there was a brief introduction, and one waitress released a lavender and lemon scented mist upon us (from a perfume bottle!)
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| My notes, with Ms Tinymouse’s extra notes 🙂 |
By this stage, Ms Tinymouse was extremely giggly and kept succumbing to laughter at anything that was being said, much to the amusement of the lady seated next to us, whom we later discovered was a free-lance Journalist doing a piece for The Age.
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| Buckwheat risotto with duck egg and cranberry |
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| Shot courtesy of Ms Tinymouse |
We took quite a lot of photos (as can be seen), with Ms Fashionista’s SLR camera… which prompted one of the waiters to demand, “Okay, whose the food blogger here??!”… hence. how we found out that the lady next to us was a free lance Journo and now a Twitter acquaintance 🙂
The waiter was hilarious and was very friendly and chatty… just the way we like it with alcohol!
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| Earth – frozen peaty whisky and dark chocolate |
The third ‘element”, Earth, was Ms Fashionista’s favourite… it was a frozen cocktail (meaning ice-cream!), of whisky and dark chocolate and had a very very intense smoky essence…
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| Pan seared kangaroo loin with celeriac puree & cocoa soil |
Paired with the Earth element, was a pan smeared kangaroo loin with celeriac puree & cocoa soil… (those tiny bits of meat at the background is speck)
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| The kangaroo dish came adorning paint spattered boards |
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| Arriving under cover and released with smoke!! FIRE – cognac, fig, orange & burnt sugar |
The fourth element was my favourite! And I even polished off Ms Tinymouse’s cocktail (by this stage, she was drinking warm water and no alcohol)…
Representing ‘Fire’, this cocktail was a mix of cognac and burnt sugar (do you see why I liked it?)
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| Fromage – Fire Engine Red Panna Cotta with red wine gel & Squid Ink Grissini |
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| The 5th Element!! |
The last element, the 5th Element, we were told to guess…
We were also told that we had to make the cocktail ourselves, by balancing the flavours provided…
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| Citrus, Syrup and tinctures (own made bitters) |
I actually had a lot of fun… all 3 of us ended up with very different tasting drinks… and we all liked our own versions best
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| Reversed Floating Island |
Delicious vanilla cream oozing out of the meringue shell encasing it, the dessert was sweet and was a great way to end the course.
Did you guess what the last element was?
It was ….
Creation!
It was a super fun night, filled with much chatter (we were chatting to the two tables immediately next to us and sharing notes!)
Would I return for another adventure? Most definitely… am already planning one for the girls at work for November’s menu!!!
*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality
Food/ Cuisine: Modern French
Dining Style: Cocktail and food degustation
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 8/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10 (it was quite cold, and we were sitting inside the cafe!)
Service/ Attitude: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10 (5 courses, 5 cocktails for $75)
Address:
Cafe Vue
Normanby Chambers
430 Little Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel:(03) 9691 3899
Website: http://www.vuedemonde.com.au/cafe-vue.aspx
Cafe Vue is open from
Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm and
Friday evening from 6.30pm for Cocktail Nights
* Cafe Vue does not take reservations during the day, only for
their Cocktail Nights on Friday evenings
How to get there:
This element thing reminds me of angels and demons!
It sounds like you had a blast! That risotto definitely has me drooling…
Miche: It does doesn't it =)
Chanel: It was absolutely the best risotto in a very long while!!
Definitely sounds like a riot! If only you had captured the plate licking man 🙂
This is high on my list of must-dos next time I'm in Melbourne. Will be sure to book early!
I love the themes that Cafe Vue come up with every month. Have only been to their Cocktail night once (when the theme of the month was "At the Movies") and thought it was okay, but "5th element" looks and sounds way more interesting.
Yay, I love Cafe Vue cocktail nights! I want to go for another one!