Coffee Warehouse Cafe & Deli @ Homebush

My brother loves pizza, probably one of his favourite food. So, for his birthday he organised a dinner at Coffee Warehouse Cafe and Deli. Coffee Warehouse Cafe & Deli is located along the busy Paramatta road amongst a bunch of car manufacturers. The name of the restaurant is quite a handful, and I am not sure if I can really refer to it as a restaurant. By day it works as a place for coffee and cafe style food, and at night as a pizzeria. The warehouse element of the 'restaurant' is that they sell a range of coffee machines, coffee beans and other interesting European biscuits and sauces. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the interior).

Meatlovers

Ham, cabanossi, pepperoni, bacon, bbq sauce

Mexicana

Pepperoni, onion, capsicum, olives, chilli, jalapenos

Ham & Pineapple

Smoked ham, pineapple

Polenta Chips

Homemade polenta chips with rich napoletana sauce and parmesan

Roasted rosemary tomatoes

Rocket and parmesan salad

Caoricciosa

Smoked ham, mushrooms, olives

Prosciutto

Prosciutto, mascarpone, olives, rocket, extra virgin olive oil 

PATATE

Pizza Bianca - sliced potato, prosciutto, rocket

Digging in! 

All the food was exceptional! Despite some of the photos making the pizzas looks oily, they aren't that greasy. The pizzas aren't overcrowded with too many toppings, which allows all the individual elements to come through. The dough itself allows for a crisp crust and base. I definitely recommend ordering sides helped break through all the pizza goodness. Possibly the best Italian Pizzeria I have been to! 

On top of my brother loving pizza, he loves cakes with mousse in it. So I went to Cavallaros in Liverpool to purchase one of their popular cakes - Nocciola. It is composed of hazelnut daquoise, milk chocolate mousse with praline, and there are also little circle crisps through out the mousse.

Happy Birthday!!

The dinner was for 12 people, and in between us we ordered 8 pizzas (I think) and a whole bunch of sides to share amongst the entire table. We were all completely stuffed by the end of the meal. It is a great place to celebrate a birthday. However, they do charge a cake fee of $2.50 per person. 

Good food, good times!

Jool's pregnant pasta

Jamie Oliver is one of my favourite chefs, and in his latest cook book Jamie's 30-minute meals (approx RRP $45.00) has some great easy recipes. They are supposed to be quick, but depending on how fast you work and the amount of people you are serving time can vary.

 For an online version of the recipe visit http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2010/10/19/jamie-olivers-30-minute-meals-jools-pregnant-pasta/

 You will need a food processor for this recipe.


Ingredients

4 spring onions
1 carrot (peeled)
1 stick of celery/pieces
1–2 fresh red chillies
1 x 6-pack of good-quality sausages (approx. 400g)
1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
500g dried penne (or any pasta of your liking)
4 peeled cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes


To start off put a large saucepan of water on the stove and bring to boil. On another stove top put a large frying pan on high heat. 


Method:
1. Chop up the spring onions, carrot and celery into 3cm pieces and put in the food processor. Add the chilli/es with stalk removed and blitz. (Mine didn't have celery because the local Woolworths had no celery pieces in stock)

2. Add the sausages, fennel seeds and oregano to the processor and continue to blitz until mixed well.

3. Drizzle some olive oil in the hot fry pan and add the sausage mixture. Breaking it up and stirring as you go.

4. While cooking the meat, the water for the pasta should be boiled. Season the water with a bit of salt and add the pasta and cook to cooking instructors. Stirring every few moments to avoid the pasta sticking.

5. Once the meat has been broken up and cooked, crush 4 peeled cloves of garlic into the mixtute.

6. Add 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes and stir through.

7. Check to see the pasta is ready.Drain the pasta and pour it back to the saucepan (and don't put it back on the heat).

8. Add the cooked meat mixture into the pasta and stir through.

9. The pasta is now done and ready to serve
For a side I made a basic salad composed of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, mixed salad mix and can of sweet corn kernels.

Dinner is served!

Good food, good times!

Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia @ Chifley Plaza

Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia (2 Chifley Plaza, Sydney)
http://www.bacco.com.au/

Continuing on with the birthday festivities we went to Bacco: Wine, Bar & Pasticcecia @ Chifley Plaza. Bacco is an Italian restaurant located on the lower ground. As soon as you walk into Chilfley Plaza and look around all you see are people dressed up in suits on their lunch breaks or having meetings.  There was some confusion in the beginning with who was our waiter, and where we were being seated. There is no one that welcomes you into the restaurant as you walk in, but once you get settled its is a great experience. You know when an Italian restaurant is good when the actual waiters speak Italian.The atmosphere is classy, sophisticated and a great place for a fine dining experience. 

We were given complementary bread whilst deciding what to dig into. The menu has a wide variety with various cheese and meat platters, as well as pastas and other main meals. There is a lot to choose from with each item on the menu sounding delectable. The fun part is trying to name the dishes with an Italian accent (definitely best to leave it to the experts).

The mains were absolutely beautiful. We tried a little bit of each others meals. I somewhat regret getting a main meal that wasn't very Italian (the veal). I will definitely go for something more Italian next time. All their pastas are made fresh on the premises on a daily basis and you can definitely taste the difference. Nothing beats freshly made pasta! (even though it is something that I wouldn't do at home). Overall the mains were great with little to no criticism whatsoever. 

 DENTICE IN GUAZZETTO

Cripsy Snapper filet in a cherry tomato, capers, ligurian olives and saffron potato $31

FETTUCCINE AI CARCIOF

Home made fettuccine with artichoke pecorino and mint $29

LINGUINE CON MARRON

Linguine pasta with marron, cherry tomato and broccoli $34

COSTOLETTA DI VITELLO

Wood fired grain fed veal cutlet with Mediterranean vegetable stack and basil $32

There is nothing like ending the day with some lovely desserts. The Bacco patisserie/cafe is right next to the restaurant on the lower ground. You are able to order any desserts displayed at the patisserie which are then served to you at the restaurant. The options are limited to the time of day you go. We were eating dessert at 3.00pm meaning that a lot of the desserts were sold out, but giving the options we were still very pleased. Each dessert only cost $7 which I found extremely cheap considering the standard. They each melted in your mouth with everyone clearing their plates, not leaving a crumb.

Strawberry mousse or cheesecake

TRIO CIOCOLATO

 Three layers of Belgium coverture. Milk, Whilte and 70% Excellence on an almond sponge

Pannacotta

There was a bit of confusion with the strawberry based dessert as one waiter said it was a cheesecake and another said it was a mousse. In my opinion it tasted like a mousse because it was light and fluffy and not as heavy tasting as a cheese cake. The dessert I ordered (TRIO CIOCLATO) was definitely my favourite. Even with three layers of chocolate it was light and absolutely delicious!!

I hope everyone at the birthday enjoyed their meal and again a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MINH DANG!

Good food, good times!