Brown Brothers Epicurean Centre
A few weeks ago EG and I had an extremely memorable long weekend away in the Victorian Alpine region. Memorable not only for the amazing food we ate, wine we drank, place we stayed at and views we admired. But memorable for the fact that EG proposed! Yes…that’s right. I am the soon-to-be Mrs.Gourmand!
But let me digress back to our dining experience. This is afterall a food blog 
Opening in 1994, the Epicurean Centre is Brown Brothers foray into the foodie world by doing what is only natural for those that like to drink wine; offer food in which to pair it with. The Centre is a showcase of local produce with a menu that changes seasonally. At lunch they offer any two dishes with a glass of matched wine for $42. Each additional dish (and glass of wine) is an extra $14.
EG chose the char-grilled pork kassler with salted cabbage, horseradish and potato puree. The kassler was incredibly smoky and tender with just the right hit of salt. The tang of the sauerkraut offered good contrast to the gamey meat, as did the horseradish spiked puree. It was matched with a 2005 Barbera that was high in acidity and generous with plummy flavours.
I chose the mix of slow braised mushrooms served with a truffled parpardelle and aged reggiano. As you can tell the mushrooms were the star of the dish - a mixture of enoki, field mushrooms, shitakes and carrots (for sweetness), braised heavily in a truffle infused broth. Fresh thick-cut parpardelle sat on top, themselves sauted in a truffled butter and herbs. To top the whole thing off, generous shavings of parmigiano. This went well with a buttery 2005 limited release Chardonnay, which was subtle in oak and deliciously rich in the mouth.
A good sticky date pudding is often hard to find, but this Brown Brothers version was text book perfection. It was served with a Gundowring Tokay and date ice cream, which itself was worthy of being plated as a dessert. But what shot this dish into absolute perfection was the wine match - a chilled Brown Brothers Very Old Tokay. The caramelly/treacle flavours of the pudding were absolutely echoed in the Tokay, and caressed the tastebuds as it slid ever so deliciously down the throat. Oooh yes.
Anyway, we honestly didn’t think that dessert could be topped. But with a penchant for goat cheese, the Milawa Capricornia (one of my all-time favourites) beckoned seductively. It is an aged, nutty cheese with a subtle hint of lipase heat. It paired fantastically well with local walnuts, Milawa walnut bread and the 50th anniversary special 2004 Shiraz Mondeuse Cabernet, an almost black, finely tannic blend of berries and spice.
What a perfect way to start an absolutely amazing weekend.
Written by mellie on
August 4th, 2008 | Tags: Bright, Brown Brothers, restaurant, winery | Category: dining experiences
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August 4th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
OMG!!! Congratulations you guys! That’s amazing news. Am soo so happy for you.
Have you started planning yet? Hehehe.
All the best for your future!
xox Sarah
August 4th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Congratulations, the soon to be Mr and Mrs Gourmand.
Are you going to chuck a huge party in which we’re all invited? Hahaha.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Congrats on your wedding! That’s awesome. Are you going to be blogging about the wedding food? =P
August 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Argh mellie I didn’t know you guys had moved to wordpress (damn rss thingy!) so I’m only just catching up on your most recent posts. I did, however, already know about the engagement - congrats once again - I’d been thinking of sending you a facebook message whinging that since the big announcement I hadn’t read a single tummy rumbles post (clearly the soon-to-be-wedded bliss was overwhelming!)… silly me for not double-checking on the actual website!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Aiiii! Congratulations you two!!!! How wonderful for two food bloggers to be getting married! So lovely to hear good food bringing people together like this!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Congrats to both of you. I was wondering when this news would make it on to the website… my sources are pretty good too.
Oh yeah, and the food snaps look terrific as always.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Congratulations!!
August 6th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Congratulations to the both of you! That’s incredible news!
August 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Hi all - thanks so much for all your well wishes! We are both just so happy - I guess it was only matter of time
Sarah - I haven’t started planning yet, although thoughts about the wedding cake are definitely forming!
Thanh - hmm…intereting concept. Perhaps the Bloggers Baquent: Wedding edition?
Karin - of course!
Claire - yes, finally made the jump over to Wordpress. But I couldn’t figure out how to update the RSS (…and a few other bugs to boot!) Yes, post-engagement bliss has certainly kept me busy
Serenity Later - I think it’s the perfect arragement for two food bloggers to get together. At least neither of us needs convincing to splurge on dinner, and neither of us cringes when we whip out the camera!
Hey Ken - yes, your informant was most correct ;-)..just took me a while to get over the excitement! Thanks for the snap snaps!
Phyllis - thanks!
The Psuedo Epicurean - thanks too!
August 8th, 2008 at 11:31 am
congratulations! that picture of mushrooms made me die a little bit. i once tried to make a similar dish (no truffled pasta though) but i made the mistake of thinking that you could never use too much butter. oops!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Thanks estelle - yes, even though I luuurve butter, there are times when one should use a little restraint
Thanks for the congrats!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Congratulations the pair of you! Now I can’t wait for the wedding cake post. Have fun guys.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Gasp!! Congratulations! I haven’t even read your entry yet - just saw that sentence and had to comment straight away. Congrats again!!
August 18th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Thanks Neil and Agnes.
Hm..wedding cake post? What about wedding banquet post?!? There is a whole lot of eating that gets on before the cake