Tag Archives: Cheese

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Who is reading your reviews?

I didn’t intend to post a review for Richmond’s Prince Alfred on farfromfamished. It was a pretty poor experience and I didn’t believe it warranted the time and effort to produce a full post; however in my opinion, it did necessitate a review on urbanspoon.

What I didn’t expect was a phone call from the Prince Alfred, on the same day I posted the review.

This post is not about the review. It’s more about the events that followed and observing how influential social media is these days. I guess some context will better establish my rationale for this post, so you can find the review here.

So, on the evening of the day I posted this review to urbanspoon, I received a phone call from Caroline at the Prince Alfred, who not only apologised for the indiscretions we experienced in both the meal and the service, but also confirmed that a number of actions had taken place since the review was posted; including agreeing the paella was bad and it should have never been on the menu. Although she was also at a loss as to what alleged pre-mixed shandy might have actually been lurking downstairs in the cellar and I still am unsure as to whether the ‘wine guy’ is actually on the payroll at the Prince Alfred.

We continued to chat about what did work, what the Prince Alfred was aiming for in terms of offering its customers and it all sounded favourable.  

On the back of our conversation, Caroline offered the opportunity to prove themselves in both the food and service that they feel they can offer by way of complimentary food and beverage for me and three guests, which after some thought and discussion with a few people, including a couple of bloggers, I politely declined.

If I wasn’t a blogger, I probably would have taken up this offer. As a blogger, even through it’s not my profession, integrity and balance in what I write comes first and I don’t want to compromise this.

In no disrespect to the Prince Alfred; it’s always going to linger in the back of my mind that although they might be going out of their way to ensure everything for me on this complimentary visit is just perfect, are all diners going to receive the same experience?

Complimentary meals aside, the important thing is that instances like this demonstrate that in a time where diners are more discerning than ever before and referring to ‘non-professional’ reviews as a means to deciding where they’ll spend their dining dollars; it’s gratifying to see that the Prince Alfred is taking the feedback from its patrons seriously to get it right.

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UPDATE: Fringe Food Festival Event – Beer & Cheese 17 April 2012

Blogging friend and Fringe Food Festival co-founder, SJ, fresh(?) from last night’s Four x Four (by 4) Nebbiolo & Beef Dinner has kindly released further information on Beer & Cheese, which is less than three weeks away.

Here’s the high-level stuff…

What: Tutored Beer and Cheese tasting, Dinner with drinks.
When: Tuesday 17th April 2012; 6pm start for Beer and Cheese Tutorial, 8pm start for dinner.
Where: Union Dining Terrace. 270-272 Swan Street, Richmond (enter via Brighton Street, head straight up the stairs)
How much:   $107  a person plus $0.30 booking fee
Booking:  ONLY VIA TRYBOOKING
Note: Please do not contact the venue about this event.  All enquiries are to be emailed to fringefoodfestival@gmail.com.

Some extremely passionate experts in their respective fields of cheese, beer and cheese with beer have generously given their time on the night, which will guarantee you an evening of fun, learning and absolute deliciousness.

Here’s the roll call…

Anthony Femia is the cheese guy. Anthony was recently inducted into the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers as a Garde et Juré and is an internationally recognised Cheesemonger who is passionately dedicated to the promotion and education of the wonderful array of farmhouse & artisan cheeses available from Australia and the world.

Dave from Mountain Goat Beer is the beer guy. ‘nuf said.

Scott Thomas is from the The Courthouse in North Melbourne, which is famous for its eclectic selection of craft beers and pioneer of the ‘gastro’ pub’ in Melbourne. It therefore stands to reason that Scott knows lots and lots about good beer and good food, so he will educate us with what works and what doesn’t and more importantly why.

The night will be hosted on the al fresco Terrace at Union Dining in Richmond, tasting and enjoying your way through nine specially selected cheeses that have been aptly matched with some craft brews. There may be things you’ve seen or tried before… Most likely things you haven’t seen or tried before and most definitely not at the same time (unless you’re Anthony. Probably.)

Once you’re all cheesed and beered out, the remaining room in your partially full tummies will be filled with a share-plate provincial European meal, served upstairs at Union Dining.

Yummo! Can you wait? I can’t. So, buy your tickets NOW… otherwise I might not be allowed to help with future events and that would make me sad. You don’t want me sad.

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Fringe Food Festival Event – Beer & Cheese 17 April 2012

Next to loaves and fishes, beer and cheese are two of the great staples of life and the similarities between beer and cheese go way, way back. We can actually go as far back as the discovery of preserving food… in this case by transforming surplus grain into beer and very fragile milk into the longer-lasting form of cheese.

A second and pretty important similarity is the key process to their respective creation, which of course is through fermentation.

For the uninitiated, to brew beer, simple sugars from grain are converted by yeast into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In cheese, it’s the conversion of milk by a bacterial culture that makes it acidic, turning the milk sugar lactose into lactic acid, blah, blah, blah and so on.

However, the similarities do not end there. The most important similarity is the not the process, but arguably the art of their creation; how grains or milk are chosen and handled, plus the selection and addition of other flavours and of course, their conditioning to create something that from it’s initial and humble origins can become the most wondrous culinary experience.

So it begs the question; with so many similarities, why do we not pair cheese with beer more often?

As someone that probably drinks far too much beer and has a tendency to over indulge when a cheeseboard is placed on the table, I’d like to know a little more beyond unwrapping a Kraft Single to compliment my Carlton Draught.

With the great support and effort of the Fringe Food Festival, we’ve gathered some of Melbourne’s (and possibly, Australia’s) top aficionados and experts on beer, cheese and food matching, who will guide you through the whys and wherefores of matching, as well as take some time to appreciate the care, effort and passion that has gone into the products that we will be sampling on the night.

As a blogger, I am passionate about Melbourne and Victoria’s food culture, particularly at a grass roots level and I am a great supporter of the events that the Fringe Food Festival organise.

I am honoured to be involved in helping to organise this event that will again showcase some of our best local produce and its providores. And I can guarantee that there will be no Kraft Singles involved.

Advance tickets for April 17 are available here and stay tuned either via farfromfamished or via the most excellent Fringe Food Festival website for more details in the lead up to the event.