Watch the trailer here

To cook like an Italian, one must think – and stock their pantry! – like an Italian.  

Luckily, Italian culinary goddess Silvia Colloca is here to help you find and release your very own inner Italian as she returns with a brand new season of Cook Like An Italian Thursday, 8 April 8.00pm on SBS Food.  

Over 10 episodes, Silvia is bringing delicious recipes and Italian entertaining inspiration directly into the homes of food lovers around Australia. The multi-talented food writer, opera singer, actress and passionate home cook is sharing the secret family recipes from her mamma and nonna and her very own tips and tricks for mastering the art of regional Italian cuisine.   

The simplicity of Silvia’s recipes will make you feel at ease and inspire you to embrace the intuitive and minimal fuss approach that Silvia says is key to authentic Italian cuisine. Catering to a new generation of curious home cooks, Cook Like An Italian is your down to earth insider’s guide to finding and releasing your own inner Italian in the cucina!  

Silvia Colloca said: “I am never happier than when I’m in the kitchen cooking for my family and friends, so I’m thrilled to be back with season 2 of Cook Like An Italian. I’m passing on all the tips and techniques which have been handed down in my family for generations, to have you cooking like an Italian in no time! I can’t wait to teach people how to create the meals that Italians can’t live without – and soon you won’t be able to either!” 

SBS Commissioning Editor for Food, Josh Martin, said: “There’s something very magnetic about Silvia in the kitchen. She’s in her element, emanating a genuine warmth and passion as she tries to instil a little of that la dolca vita in all of us. Australians have a real love affair with Italian food and I’m certain that Silvia’s new mouth-watering series will satisfy our audiences’ appetite for authentic Italian cuisine.” 

Cook Like An Italian with Silvia Colloca premieres Thursday 8 April at 8.00pm on SBS Food. The series will also be available after broadcast on SBS On Demand. 

Cook Like An Italian with Silvia Colloca is an EQ Media production for SBS. 

Screeners and images available via SBS Screening Room. Recipes and more on Cook Like An Italian S2 available at SBS Food website. 

RE-, the world’s first permanent no-waste bar, is set to open in the newly-restored South Eveleigh precinct in February. An inspiring collaboration between hospitality heavyweights Matt Whiley (Scout) and Maurice Terzini (Icebergs Dining Room & Bar; CicciaBella), RE- is a bar built from the ground up to be one of the world’s best, with the kind of drinks program Whiley has made a global name on, supported by Terzini’s signature tone and style.

Whiley’s pioneering ethos, first brought to life at Scout, brought a sharp focus to local ingredients and sustainability, leading the way with drinks that preference innovation and taste while minimising waste. At RE-, Whiley is pushing that to its limits, interrogating everything from the materials and glassware, to the light fittings, ingredients and garnishes, through to what goes in the bin.

The result is an approach to waste that is world-leading, with every facet of the bar considered from the lens of sustainability. Whiley’s ultimate ambition is for RE- to be the driver of a global movement that reframes how bars talk about, and act on, sustainability and waste. More than anything, he wants to demonstrate how sustainability, flavour and enjoyment can, and should, go together.

“RE- is a cocktail bar, first and foremost – a place for people to hang out, have fun, and leave knowing they’ve enjoyed excellent service, good food and great drinks with their mates”, says Whiley. “But if you strip back the layers, you realise there is so much more at play here. We care about our environment, we care about people and we care about our future.”

Whiley continues: “Ultimately, the conversation in the industry can’t just be about shifting how you run a service, it’s completely changing how you dictate what comes through your door in the first place, and that extends to the furniture you use, how you build a menu, what produce you’re getting in, even what packaging it comes in. This is not about preaching what should be done, it’s about creating the platform to take the vital conversation around waste in hospitality forward”.

At RE-, Whiley will oversee a list of 8-10 changing signature cocktails. Built on diverted waste and leaning more twist than traditional, there will be a section of highballs and spritzes, as well as classics to get you started. All the drinks will showcase the kinds of innovative techniques he’s known for.

The bar will serve a range of toasties, flatbread and other bar snacks made with sustainable ingredients and reclaimed produce. “Just because it’s made from offcuts or seconds doesn’t mean it needs to be virtuous,” says Terzini.

The groundbreaking approach extends to the look and feel of the venue; an inspiring collaboration with independent creative production company, Alfred, that pushes the boundaries for sustainable design. Housed in a raw-brick heritage site at South Eveleigh, RE-’s arched windows will cast light on materials chosen for aesthetics as much as impact. A central bar and tables resembling terrazzo are made from Re-Plas recycled bottles and tupperware. Stairs – leading to a mezzanine for groups and masterclasses – and structural features are made from recycled plastic bags. Wood is sustainable, banquettes are clothed in pineapple-leaf fibre and elegant light fittings and wine coolers are made from mycelium. Phillipe Starck and Odger stools and chairs, meanwhile, are built from recycled and reclaimed materials.

Whiley says: “Never has this subject been more important. Food waste costs our economy $20 billion a year – more than five-million tonnes of food ends up in landfill; one in five bags of groceries winds up in the bin. We have a responsibility to look hard at what we’re not using and find ways to make it desirable. At RE-, we’ll showcase this through our bar program, but also build a platform geared towards change on a global level. The time is now”.

Further details about the launch of RE- will be announced in due course.

RE-

Opens February 2021

2 Locomotive Street, Eveleigh 2015

wearere.com.au

To celebrate the TGIF-banger ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ by Joe Publick, tikka masala-loving Aussies are being encouraged to upload their ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’-inspired content on TikTok or Instagram Reels for their chance to win a year’s worth of this beloved dish, thanks to online food delivery company Deliveroo.

Content can range from the outright outrageous, to funny, dancey, or simply a great opp to flex your best culinary skills. Much like the dish itself, this challenge is open to your best interpretation.

A list of Aussies TikTokker’s have already come on board to support the #ChickenTikkaMasalaChallenge. You can check out their content here: Marty & Michael, Bayle Bee, Bridey Drake and Sooklyn.

Chicken Tikka Masala is traditionally composed of chicken tikka, boneless chunks of chicken marinated in spices and yoghurt that are roasted in an oven, served in a creamy curry sauce. A tomato and coriander sauce is

common but no recipe is standard. According to the very accurate Wikipedia, a survey found that of 48 different recipes, the only common ingredient was chicken.

Commenting on the Challenge, Joe Publick said:
“You Aussies love a curry don’t ya? – and of course a bangin Chicken Tikka Masala. We’ve teamed up with Deliveroo to give away a whole years’ worth of Ruby (that’s curry for you non-pommys). Let’s get this competition live and see all the absurd things people come up with to win a year’s supply.

It’s not exactly been the best year, so why not lather yourself up in Chicken juice and Masala? Have no dignity left? Perfect! The more embarrassing the better. Obviously.”

Commenting on his Chicken Tikka Masala track, Joe Publick added:
I’d never of thought that a song about a typical British night out would reach Australia… especially during lockdown! But I guess we all need a proper night out to look forward to, and I think that’s why so many people connected with it. Thanks all! God knows we’re all missing the pub right now right?, and if there’s one thing Ozzies and Poms have in common it’s the love of a few pints on a Friday night”

To enter the Challenge, simply:
1. Create your best content using the ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ by Joe Publick audio clip on TikTok or
Instagram Reels.
2. Upload your content to one or both of these platforms.
3. Include the hashtag #ChickenTikkaMasalaChallenge
4. Leave the content public/on your feed for the duration of the entry period (competition ends November
10th 2020).

 Ts&Cs – https://day1e.com.au/comps/TandC/JoePublick-ChickenTikkaMasalaTikTokChallenge-TermsandConditions-Competition2020v3.pdf

LISTEN TO ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ by Joe Publick NOW.

Competition is open to Australian residents only. Entries close November 10th. Full T&Cs available here.

https://www.facebook.com/joepublickofficial/

For most of us, turning up to a favourite local restaurant, being greeted with a smile, and shown to our table to eat something delicious, is enough to make for a great dining experience. However, for haute cuisine aficionados, the quest to find the ultimate meal has become truly all-encompassing. 

Dishes have earned legendary status, chefs have turned into alchemists and artists, secret ingredients have become the stuff of myths, and whoever’s in charge of booking tables is the gatekeeper to all that magic. Take a look behind the curtain at these revered restaurants with some of the longest waiting lists in the world.

Rao’s

Rao’s restaurant is a New York institution, so much so that its tables are fully booked for the next 38 years! The owner of the restaurant wanted to ensure that his regulars would always have a table, so he started assigning tables to friends, family, and loyal customers. The only way to get a table at Rao’s nowadays is to make friends with someone with a table reservation or bid for one at a charity auction. Of course, if you don’t have a connection to the restaurant, there’s one other way you can taste the food at Rao’s new location in Las Vegas, the gaming capital of the world.

Never a place to shy away from the competition, Caesar’s Palace saw a golden opportunity in Rao’s restaurant. In the great race between online and bricks and mortar casinos, Caesar’s Palace already goes above and beyond, offering numerous forms on entertainment, an opulent setting, and hundreds of slot machines. The only way online casino providers could top that is with generous new sign up deals, but one thing that these platforms can never match is a table at Rao’s. So naturally, Caesar’s palace got owner Frank Pellegrino on board and built their own Rao’s. 

You can try their famous tomato sauce, have your steak served table-side, and generally enjoy a pretty damn similar experience, but without the 38-year waiting list. Satellite restaurants like this certainly have their place, but when the owner of a restaurant is so much the focus of its greatness, can a satellite dining experience ever live up to the original? In the case of Rao’s, there are probably very few people who can genuinely compare the two, but for most, a trip to Caesar’s Palace will have to suffice. 

Noma

Noma takes a hyperlocal approach to food, sourcing everything from the land and sea surrounding Copenhagen

Perhaps one of the most well-documented restaurants in history, Noma, has become the subject of one documentary series, two films, three books, and more foodie blogs than you could imagine. It has hit the pinnacle of the top restaurant list four times in its 16 years, and it’s regularly lauded as the restaurant that single-handedly started the New Nordic culinary movement. It is perhaps unsurprising then that the reservation list is around three weeks long, that is when you manage to secure a place on it. 

Noma only releases table bookings once per month, and you’ll be competing with 20,000 other hopeful diners to snatch a space. So sure, it’s 37 and something years shorter than Rao’s, technically. But when you’re competing with a small town’s worth of people to get yourself a spot, the wait might well be quite a lot longer than three weeks.

However, once the wait is over, you’ll be flung into the very best meal that money can buy. You walk along a flowered walkway to the restaurant building itself, where you’ll be greeted by Ali Sonko, a staple of the restaurant. Ali has been at Noma for 15 years, initially as a pot-washer and now as the Maitre d’ – and shareholder no less! 

The ingredients at Noma are all sourced incredibly locally. Things that the home cook would not even think twice about using, such as olive oil, or Himalayan salt, are strictly off the menu. Absolutely everything is found within a 20 mile or so radius of the restaurant. Guests are all served a 20-course menu, costing around 2400 Danish kroner (360 USD) per head, plus extra for drinks. 

Depending on the season, the menu revolves around seafood from late winter to spring, vegetables over the late spring and summer and game during autumn and early winter. Dishes are all served in incredibly imaginative ways, with some of the most famous including slurping your starter from a plant pot and eating from a branch. Whether food as art is ‘your thing’ or not, Noma is truly a life-changing experience and one that must be tasted to be believed. 

The Fat Duck

With a choice of just five restaurants in the UK that hold the hallowed three Michelin stars, the waiting list for any of them is understandably pretty lengthy. The Fat Duck is the brainchild of one part mad scientist, one part master chef, Heston Blumenthal, and it is one of the five restaurants that made the three Michelin star list. It has been named the best restaurant in the world on more than one occasion and as such the wait for a table is quite a long one. 

During its early years, the restaurant fielded some 2000 calls each day from diners after a reservation, but now that the initial hype has slightly quietened, it is possible to get your hands on a table in as little as three weeks. 

The Fat Duck is an unassuming old pub in Berkshire, with a traditional Grade II listed exterior and a whitewashed wall and wooden beam interior. The whole thing feels comfortable, cosy and reminiscent of many a British pub from times gone by. You’re seated in plush leather bucket chairs around circular tables, each illuminated by an ever-changing spotlight – a detail that allows each dish to be perfectly lit. 

Diners are then handed a map and a tiny magnifying glass with which to decipher the menu. As the evening progresses, guests delight at the special additions made to the menu just for them; during the booking process, the staff asks for a little information about each diner to make the meal more personal. 

Touches like these are exactly the kind of thing that sets Heston apart from his contemporaries, he creates a whole story, meticulously labouring over every tiny detail. Dishes like ‘Sound of the Sea’ conjure up memories of holidays many years ago. Guests are invited to listen to a conch shell play out the sounds of seagulls and lapping waves, as they explore a tiny sandbox filled with edible goodies. If theatre and magic are the sort of things you look for in a meal, then suffice it to say, you will not be disappointed with a visit to The Fat Duck. 

London is one of the best cities in the world to visit for tourism and business. Whether you want to treat yourself or impress a potential new client, there are plenty of great places to eat throughout the British capital.

It’s not just English dishes of toad in the hole, fish and chips, and roast beef you can find in the city either. Thanks to its historical position on the globe and proximity to many other European countries, London has one of the widest selection of cuisines in the world. 

You can start the day with American style pancakes, enjoy an upmarket lunch of tikka pigeon, and dine on African maafe in the evening. The options are so diverse you could go for months without eating the same dish twice.

If you’re in the mood for some good steak, then London has you covered too. Here are some of the best places to get steak in the capital. 

The Hippodrome 

The Hippodrome was originally built to be a variety performance theater but has been repurposed several times since. It now serves as London’s premiere casino in the heart of the West End, packed with all the slot machines and table games you’d expect. There’s also a dedicated poker area, which offers different poker games like Texas Hold’em, considered by many the most popular variation in the world. 

It’s not just casino games you’ll find at The Hippodrome though. You can spend your whole night there thanks to its bars, lounges, and dining options. 

Heliot Steak House, found inside The Hippodrome, can seat up to 100 diners. It was voted the “Best Steak Restaurant” by Booktable customers thanks to its perfectly cooked meat and range of different cuts available. 

To go alongside its USDA prime steaks that are aged for up to 6 weeks, It serves up a selection of unique sides, including its signature Millionaire’s Mac & Cheese, which is served with black truffle and a duck egg. 

Even if you don’t enjoy gaming, you still need to try Heliot Steak House at The Hippodrome. 

Smith & Wollensky first made its name in New York, where it has been serving up some of the Big Apple’s finest steaks since 1977.

Its London restaurant retains all of the qualities of its original restaurant. Two-thirds of its wine selection comes from America, and it serves up USDA beef alongside meat from British cattle. 

Every single element of the restaurant has been considered: the crockery, napkins and even steak knives come emblazoned with the company logo. Combined with the perfectly cooked meats, this is one of the best steakhouse experiences in the world, not just in London. 

You’ll find Smith & Wollensky inside The Adelphi Building in Covent Garden.

Hawksmoor Seven Dials

Located inside the old Watney Combe brewery on Langley Street, near Covent Garden and Leicester Square tube stations, Hawksmoor Seven Dials is open to diners for lunch and dinner.

It offers an express menu to diners in a rush to catch a show in the nearby West End theaters, with a broader menu for those with time on their hands.

All its staff are extremely knowledgeable about steak. You’ll struggle to find something they don’t know about cuts, flavors and the degrees of doneness.

To go alongside the perfectly cooked steaks, Hawksmoor Seven Dials serves up great dishes like creamy sweet spinach and roasted root vegetables. 

Hawksmoor dishes even appeared in Melbourne at the end of 2018, as Melbourne’s Trinket Bar served up some of London’s best culinary delights. 

Goodman

Good steak doesn’t have to cost the earth, and Goodman is the proof. You can get a 400-gram ribeye for just over £20, a bargain anywhere, but even more so in central London. 

Paying less doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality. You get perfectly cooked meats from Britain, Australia and the United States, and they’re accompanied by tasty sides in generous portions. One of the best is the serving of beef-dripping fried chips, that packs in incredible amounts of flavor. 

There are literally hundreds of steakhouses in London, many are great, but these few on this list are the crème de la crème.

Northcote newcomer Oh Loretta! is taking High St by storm with her not-so-north-side promise of passionate nonchalance. Simply put, Loretta serves unpretentious food and drink that’s from the heart and for the heart. Upon entry, Kate Peat of Blue 13 Consulting, who has opened over 60 venues to date, will greet you like are being welcomed into own home.

“I want people to come here to feel the love. The love of industry the love of good wine, the love of good food, of having a place to be and feel yourself.” – Kate Peat

Oh Loretta! is the cool aunty you wished you had growing up. She’ll take you in and show you the ropes with bloody good food, heckin’ good wine, and old-timey, foot tappin’ tunes beyond her humble years.

Headed by New Zealand born Chef Dan Wayne, the bar flirts a veg-heavy menu, alongside mouthwatering seafood and meat options, birthed from Dan’s extensive cooking history working at London’s Ottolenghi and Melbourne’s Etta to name a few. With a love of modern Australian cuisine, Dan spends hour after hour smoking over his hibachi grill, roasting, dehydrating, curing, brining, and injecting flavour into Oh Loretta’s fresh seasonal vegetables. His food is elegant, simple, flavourful, well thought out and perfectly paired with wine – and boy does Loretta love a drink or three.

The latch on the liquor cabinet is always loose, and aunty Loretta encourages diners to explore her extensive range of easy drinking wines, craft beers and tall drinks as close to organic as can be. With cocktail offerings as considered and changing as often as their seasonal menu, you’ll want to try what the team throws together each week.

Oh Loretta! is an over 30’s hangout designed for good old-fashioned good times, with a warm retro feel and a regular rotation of DJ’s dropping the pin on the soft crackle of beloved vinyl Thursday – Sundays. There’s no pretentious hat chasing, no obnoxiously loud music, just welcome strangers sharing the hearty table space over a drink, a meal, a dance, and a yarn, then off to bed by midnight.

With a dog friendly courtyard, and of course 100% LGBTQI + friendly, Oh Loretta! is the quiet north-side gem you’ve been waiting for. Grab a mate and head on down, and be sure to stick around on a Sunday arvo after close for knock offs with the team!

Oh Loretta! is all about love.

Oh Loretta!
324 High Street Northcote, VIC

Opening Hours
Wednesday to Friday: 5pm – 11pm
Saturday to Sunday: 3pm – 11pm

More info and bookings at ohloretta.com.au

Vinyl Purveyors
Thursday 5 December – MzRizk
Friday 6 December – Lloyd
Saturday 7 December – Wes
Sunday 8 December – MzRizk
Thursday 12 December – MzRizk
Friday 13 December – Benny Badge
Saturday 14 December – Blaberunner
Sunday 15 December – Sensible J
Thursday 19 December – Wes
Friday 20 December – Michelle Elizabeth
Saturday 21 December – MzRizk
Sunday 22 December – MzRizk
Friday 27 December – Billie Jean
Saturday 28 December – Gerg
Sunday 29 December – MzRizk

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