Chez Dre
There’s a new player in South Melbourne and I think they’re here to stay ^^
On my way to the market a week or so ago, I noticed a shiny new sign at the corner of a narrow alleyway off Coventry St. Interest sufficiently piqued by the words ‘bakery’ and ‘patisserie’, I was pleasantly surprised to find the newly-established Chez Dre, a stylish, French café, nestled at the end of the cobbled lane.
The eponymous ‘Dre’ is Andrea Reiss, a pastry chef from Melbourne who worked at Jacques Reymond’s Federation Square restaurant, followed by The Lanesborough, London, from which she was head-hunted to work in one of Paris’ 3 Michelin star rated restaurants. Having experienced the Paris scene, she returned to Melbourne and took over an abandoned South Melbourne warehouse, transforming it into a chic bakery/patisserie/café.
Francophiles especially will love Chez Dre’s art deco look- a mix of metal, marble, wooden and green leather furniture that just somehow looks fantastic together. Definitely go for a table further into the café, from where you can catch all the action in the kitchen, or sit outside in the garden (weather permitting).
Along with shelves and baskets loaded with fresh baguettes, croissants and other baked goods, there’s an expansive display of spectacular dessert items, including tarts, éclairs, mousses and, of course, macarons. In the end, I decided to go with a chocolate tart.
The following description will most definitely fail to do justice to how awesome this tart was. It had a crunchy, perfectly evenly-cooked tart shell, filled with a peanut-brittle-studded chocolate mousse. On top of this mousse was a layer of chocolate cream, enveloped in glossy chocolate ganache, all topped of by a thin peanut brittle wafer. By far the best chocolate dessert since Zumbo’s salted chocolate cake (and I specify chocolate just because Oneills’ banana-maple pudding is to die for :P).
Coffee was good too; full bodied and velvety, roasted by The Maling Room.
Will definitely be back for Chez Dre’s breakfast platter and macarons. J’attends ma prochaine visite avec impatience!
Easy pumpkin soup
Thanks to a wonderful present from A and S, I can now make beautifully smooth pumpkin soup (although I maintain that the hand-mashed version was just ‘rustic’ :P).
Ingredients (makes a lot so you can freeze some for next time)
750g pumpkin (I like to use Jack or Kent pumpkin)
250g sweet potato
1 medium brown onion, finely diced
2 tbs olive oil
1.5-2L chicken or vegetable stock (amount of stock you’ll actually use will vary)
Salt to taste
Black pepper (optional)
Method
1) Peel and dice the pumpkin and sweet potato. The smaller you make the dice, the quicker the vegetables will cook, which means you can have soup sooner! Make sure you cut the pumpkin and potato into uniformly sized pieces because this makes it easier to blend into a smooth liquid later.
2) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. At this stage, I like to add lots of pepper and dried herbs to give the soup some kick. You can also add things like ground cumin or curry powder for some variation.
3) Add the pumpkin and sweet potato to the pot and stir to coat in the oil.
4) Pour enough stock into the saucepan to cover the vegetables, then add more so that the liquid level is about 1inch above the solids. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-25 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Season to taste. You may also want to add a bit more stock if the liquid has reduced too much.
5) Take the saucepan off the heat and allow to cool slightly before blitzing the mixture with a stick blender.
6) Heat and serve (with some cream if you feel indulgent).
Another option is to combine the vegetables with the oil and seasoning and roast in the oven for 10 or so minutes until the pumpkin starts to soften and caramelise. Then transfer to a saucepan and continue with steps 4 to 6.
egg tarts and apple pie 