Michael E. Generalireview collection- bench mark wine bar
June 23rd 2007 01:46
When benchmark’s owner Tasso Rovolis leased this ex retail site in early 2003 he literally built the restaurant from the grease trap up. Tasso who owned la lupa in Dickson had spent before leaving canberra spent years on the gold coast expanding his wine and management experience ,The front window displays some the hundreds of empty wine bottles involved in gaining this knowledge. The head chef Avram Tsidiridis formerly of The Tower restaurant runs the kitchen with unflappable efficiency so much so that he was working alone the night we dined in the booked out restaurant.
The luxurious dining room has a theme of wine paraphernalia and wood grain, this is interspaced by gumleaf green feature panels all under 16 foot ceilings. Benchmark is a wine bar first and fore most, but where many restaurants concentrate on the cuisine to the detriment of a wine list, the reverse cannot be said of Bench mark. We arrived early evening and soaked up the cosmopolitan atmosphere while parusing the wine list, there were many delightful selections (500 wines, 100 of which are available by the glass) so we left it to our waiters to come up with the options to match our meals. The dinner menu is not huge, yet every dish sounds sumptuous. I start the night with the pan seared scallops ,roasted pork belly, salsa vierge and aromatic herb oil. The delicately cooked scallops snuggled into one shell topped with crispy pork belly. The salsa vierge was secreted beneath the shell. All together the salsa accented the sweetness of the scallops with the pork providing texture and salt. this was partnered by a Pierre de la Grange, 'Vieilles Vignes', Muscadet, Loire Valley, 2004 ($12.5) a subdued and elegant white great with delicate seafood flavours.
my wife selects the crumbed pan fried meredith goat's cheese with semi dried tomatoes and an oregano balsamic syrup (16) the beautifully browned goats cheese puck was smooth and tart. the accompaniments identify this dish as Mediterranean with modern European flair. A bay of fires pipers reisling sparkling compliments the dish being fine competition for any import
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The luxurious dining room has a theme of wine paraphernalia and wood grain, this is interspaced by gumleaf green feature panels all under 16 foot ceilings. Benchmark is a wine bar first and fore most, but where many restaurants concentrate on the cuisine to the detriment of a wine list, the reverse cannot be said of Bench mark. We arrived early evening and soaked up the cosmopolitan atmosphere while parusing the wine list, there were many delightful selections (500 wines, 100 of which are available by the glass) so we left it to our waiters to come up with the options to match our meals. The dinner menu is not huge, yet every dish sounds sumptuous. I start the night with the pan seared scallops ,roasted pork belly, salsa vierge and aromatic herb oil. The delicately cooked scallops snuggled into one shell topped with crispy pork belly. The salsa vierge was secreted beneath the shell. All together the salsa accented the sweetness of the scallops with the pork providing texture and salt. this was partnered by a Pierre de la Grange, 'Vieilles Vignes', Muscadet, Loire Valley, 2004 ($12.5) a subdued and elegant white great with delicate seafood flavours.
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