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It’s not that I’m hard up for blogging material - I have about a gazillion blog entries from Japan/Singapore just begging to be written. But when a foodie moment grabs you by the short and curlies, how can one resist?

Such a moment occurred a few weeks ago at a wedding reception of all places. My friends David and Laura decided to tie the knot, and after a beautiful, relaxed, touching ceremony held amongst the gums beside the Yarra River, we retired to Fenix for the reception.

The intimate private room on the lower level was beautifully decked out - white napery, heavy silver cutlery, nice stemware, tables strewn with deep red rose petals, and romantic mood lighting. A string quartet continued the elegant theme, with house staff flitting in and out with bubbles and canapes.

I was gripping myself for some horrid mass produced wedding fare, but I needn’t have worried. Fenix has done well for itself over the last year, scoring a couple of respected reviews and a hat in the Good Food Guide. In fact, with chef Raymond Capaldi’s reputation for inventiveness, this should be quite interesting!

The first course was a boudin of rabbit served with a pineapple cumberland sauce. The boudin was part sausage, part terrine, being pressed and moulded into a firm succulent roll which was sliced for serving. It sat on a mound of piquant and sweet cumberland sauce, though by my reckoning it should have been called a chutney or relish, as it was thick like a paste as opposed to being loose like a traditional Cumberland. Either way it was a winning combination - the gamey meat working very well with the sweetish accompaniment.

The delightfully named “Spring/Summer” was a cold soup of cucumber essence seasoned well to bring out the best of this crisp green fruit. The floating islands of yoghurt mozzarella was our first introduction to Capaldi’s molecularly gastronomic bent, and it was wonderful. The little islands were indeed yoghurt flavoured, and were rubbery and squeaked on your teeth, just like mozzarella. A small dice of cucumber and thin slivers of blanched lemon added further freshness to this seasonal dish.

The roasted blue eye was a good looking slab of fish, the crisp skin looking almost like leather. To the side a fillet of smoked eel added a sooty hint to the squeeze of chicken parfait on top, which was further studded by slivers of sweet dehydrated apples and mushroom. Classic combinations with a modern execution.

The 36 hour cooked lamb is one of Capaldi’s signatures. The meat was incredibly dark, sticky and so tender it fell to bits at the touch of my fork. It was served on a long dollop of carotene (hmm…now doesn’t that sound delectable), and a side of dehydrated potatoes and sweetbreads. This was pure comfort food. I had to close my eyes to savour the taste with each mouthful.

Dessert was an absolute surprise, just because it looked so darn kookie.Violet Crumble by name and Violet Crumble by taste, it was certainly not Violet Crumble by look. In fact it didn’t even shatter like it mattered at all. Beneath the viscous honeycomb flavoured bubbles was a square of decadent chocolate and almond mousse. What a fun dish to eat!

Following on was some wonderful petits fours, plus the wedding cake (croquembouche), which by this stage, I was too full to eat. Seriously, this was the best wedding meal I’ve *ever* had.

Lastly - David and Laura - I wish you all the best on your life journey together. May you fulfill each other in every way possible.

Written by mellie on December 13th, 2007 | Tags: Modern Australian, restaurants | Category: Uncategorized |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL