Hello Foodies
Tour de Forks’ President Melissa Joachim is in her hometown of Melbourne this month and is iPhone-ing it in, i.e., some great restaurant reviews complete with pictures. Ahhh, vicarious dinning.
A pull on a pair of giant bronze pig trotters, and Melissa found herself inside Melbourne’s brand new Josie Bones Food and Beer, a snout-to-tail eatery with an impressive beer list. They vow to “match food which will be seasonal, local, entire beast focused, cooked with beer where appropriate….” Proprietor and “head hog” Chef Chris Bodenoch” would be the decider on the appropriateness – we presume.
Josie Bones is Chris’ baby and he has partnered with his fellow Masterchef contestant Julia Jenkins who must share his sense of humor. A larger-than-life image of a skinless, headless rabbit – described as oddly erotic – adorns the bar.
But on to the food. Melissa squealed with delight over their signature dish of rolled pig’s head served with gribichem, a mayonnaise-style egg sauce, and crackling. JB offers a crackling du jour, lovely, lovely. She salivated over the grilled lambs tongues which she described as “crispy outside, soft and unctuous within.” Sides? Eggplant wonderfully flavored with cumin. But the much anticipated black pudding mit green apples was disappointing in its blandness. Dare we say –offal? We will. Obviously we are having a lot of fun with this.
On to the beer and an inventory which craft beer aficionados proclaim as awesome. The list boasts brews from Bavaria to Nigeria and includes an IPA from New York And of course lots of Aussie ales.
So all you porcine lovin’ crackling eatin’ bear drinkin’ foodies, enjoy!
Chris’s Blog – take a read http://bit.ly/hI0rfZ
98 Smith Street, Collingwood Melbourne – No reservations.
The Forks
