Evening with Reynold

I have been watching MasterChef Australia every year, and finally after it's 7th season, there is finally a person in Sydney who will be opening up a dessert bar-thank you Reynold! You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting. Even though other people who do end up opening bars/restaurants/cafes, none of them are based in Sydney. Finally have time to get this post up.

When I first saw his Facebook post about a pop up restaurant, it was already 10ish mins late, and it was 1hr after the original Instagram post. The email bounced back and after the 3rd go, everyone realised you needed to add '.au' at the end. After a long time, finally got a reply to say I've been put onto the 2nd pop up (hence why the 2nd lunch and dinner seatings were already full before it was already released, for people like me who missed out by a few minutes in the first round). Booked a table for 2 with a fellow Reynold fangirl. 

That night the ground was unbelievably wet with puddles, and didn't help with the fast setting winter sun. Ended up walking from Wynyard, Walsh Bay, The Rocks, and back round to Walsh Bay, since I didn't use myGoogle maps but followed my friends...we were late but weren't last....at least they still saved a spot for us, and it had relatively good lighting...messy hair and full sweating, but made it there in the end... (sorry for photo spam to come, it looked too pretty. so had to take photos of different angles). $80 for 4 courses-take my money!

Moss: Charred apple, aero yogurt, Dulce, matcha, pistachio, green apple

It was so pretty on the plate, definitely looked like the things you see him plate up on Masterchef! Everything worked so well together. The yogurt was the best part, so light like foam, but melted quickly, and the sponge was super duper light-would have preferred more flavour though. Loved the matcha sprinkled on top which tied everything together. Flavours were true and didn't taste any over powering sugar at all.

Nomtella: Hazelnut brownie, chocolate cake crumb, vanilla rum, espresso, salted caramel

Gold foil is one of my favourite things to eat, although there's no taste, it looks pretty (and isn't cheap). The ice cream melted too quickly on this one, but restaurant quality ice cream unlike supermarket stuff always melts faster. Would have preferred more rum flavour in it, but the brownie was delicious and not overly sweet, and balanced beautifully with the salted caramel (:

menu (waiting for 3rd course)

stalking Reynold in the kitchen (guess who in the foreground?)

Forest: sour cherry kirsch, ganache, soil, raspberry, chocolate

before

after

Loving the gold detail on the chocolate log. This was in place of the Forbidden Fruit which featured on Masterchef, but apparently people last week found it too heavy/big. This log was also on MasterChef-cut into the log and out comes raspberry goodness. Even though there's quite a bit of chocolate around, it actually wasn't that sweet since the acidity from the raspberries was quite prominent. Love a little bit of action in food.

Panna: coconut, meringue, passionfruit, pineapple, hibiscus, mango

Crowd favourite of the night! It was sooo pretty on the plate, and super light and refreshing, perfect way to finish off a night of desserts. The texture of the panna cotta was spot on, 'wobbled' on the plate, with a hint of coconut and not overly creamy. Loved the bits of sago for a chewy texture, meringue for a crunchy element, and (slightly melting) mango ice cream, which definitely tasted like fresh mangoes. Edible flowers is also another thing I love to eat. The pineapples gave it a tiny but of acidity, and the piped passionfruit around are details which takes the dish to another level.

dessert with a view

Sydney Dance Lounge, Walsh Bay

Reynold!

Stephen and Jessie

The four desserts were surprisingly light, and normally sugar (turns into fat) fills you up, but since these desserts weren't overly sweet, I still had a tad bit of room for dinner. Can't wait for Reynold's dessert bar to open up soon!