No smears, no liquid nitrogen... no worries

While the sky darkened, the temperature dropped and Melburnians were warned to go home early to avoid the forthcoming storm, I was bracing myself last night to face the elements and head across town for dinner. What?s a bit of wind to a Wellington girl, after all? I?ve leaned into plenty of the Kiwi capital?s southerly storms. No cobwebs on me.



Once the rains had watered the garden and flooded some streets and the wind had sorted out a few trees, it was relatively calm as we walked the block to catch our tram. We were off to Matteo?s in Fitzroy North, recently voted Victoria?s best modern Australian restaurant in Restaurant and Catering Victoria?s awards for excellence. We went to the two-hat restaurant for our wedding anniversary recently and when news of their forthcoming Portuguese night landed in my emailbox, I was on the phone to make a booking.



Owner Matteo Pignatelli has had innovative chef Raymond Capaldi doing guest turns in his kitchen of late. I last met Raymond when he starred in a dual turn with Rene Redzepi of Noma fame during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. The brief from Matteo was simple: ?No foams, no soils, no air or smoke, no deconstructions, no smears, no liquid nitrogen? and, hopefully, ?no tantrums!? Clearly, in spite of a couple of transgressions, the affiliation worked out as Matteo extended Raymond?s European vacation with a further four dinners.



We started our journey with a shared taste ? tender pickled octopus with potato, tomato and red wine. This was followed by three course set menu which began with Sopa de Pedra, stone soup which references the old Portuguese tale about a monk who came into town and set about making a soup with water and just a stone for flavouring. He persuaded the locals to provide a little seasoning to make his soup better and eventually as they all contributed, he had a cauldron of tasty soup to share.



Our stone soup featured tender ham hock, black chourico, white onion, coriander puree and a hearty red bean base. The black ?stone? promised turned out to be a potato that had had a brush with squid ink. This course was matched with a 2007 Luis Pato Vinhas Velhas Brancho.







The main course was Bife a Lisbon ? meltingly tender braised ox with garlic confit, sweet parsnip puree and coffee. On the side we had steamed clams with beef and pepper sauce, quite a spicy little number. While the clams were more decorative than anything, that pepper sauce was a perfect match for the beef. The squashed potato baked with piri piri seasoning had just the right amount of crustiness where the cut side had sat caramelising in the roasting pan. The 2007 Quinta da Craston Douro was an excellent match for such robust flavours.







The spirit was willing when dessert arrived but I don?t have much of a sweet tooth, specially at the end of such a substantial meal and I?m afraid I picked at the date, fig, meringue and almond dessert. Nor could I manage a Portuguese tart with my 2005 Serrat Late Harvest Viognier from the Yarra Valley. But I thought it might do nicely for breakfast.



It looked like chef?s night off at the next table ? Shane Delia from Maha, Riccardo Momesso from Sarti and familiar TV face George Calombaris from The Press Club, and their wives, checked out Raymond@Matteo?s. All three received one hat in The Age Good Food Guide last year. We were invited to join them and Matteo for a nightcap and some industry chat. All well worth braving the elements for. Alas, I left my my Portuguese tart behind when I table-hopped.



Raymond Capaldi will be back at Matteo's on Tuesday September 8 for a UK night, on September 22 cooking Polish fare and on October 6 for German Oktoberfest. Follow the restaurant on Twitter @Matteos_Restrnt or sign up online for notifications of forthcoming events.