‘MATCHED’ @ The Boulevard

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of The Boulevard and Cake Wines.

Cake Wines recently launched ‘MATCHED’, a celebration of kitchens that don’t live in the limelight.

The campaign runs through-out July-Aug-Sept and is about celebrating “kitchens that don’t live in the limelight”, hearing stories from the chefs that run them, and giving some much needed love, and exposure, to the restaurants, cafes, tapas/wine bars and gastro pubs that sometimes get drowned out by the celebrity driven food world.

Cake Wines is a newish, contemporary winery from the Adelaide Hills made up of a couple of young wine makers and young wine lovers. Working with over 50 venues nationally, Cake has approached chefs / venues / owners to match their favourite dishes to any one of Cakes’ existing wines. Cake will dedicate their social media network to sharing some of these inspiring food and wine stories across the 3 months.

As part of the ‘MATCHED’ campaign, Gastrology were privileged to visit The Boulevard. A unique venue which offers beautiful views of Melbourne’s skyline and the local Studley Park precinct, the Boulevard is located a mere 10 minutes from the CBD. 

The menu features modern Australian cuisine which showcases the finest ingredients carefully selected from local and imported suppliers.

Whipped goat cheese with onion compote, house made dukkah and toasted olive sourdough

This was a scrumptious start. We enjoyed the prominent tartness of the goats cheese which was complemented by the sweet onion compote. 

House made gnocchi with mustard butter, fried sage and shaved grana padano

The beautifully pan fried gnocchi was wonderfully light and captivating with its fragrant sage aroma and lingering rich grana padano flavour.

Crispy skin barramundi with king prawn, sautéed spinach and prawn bisque

The quality of the barramundi was exemplary. The skin of the fish was perfectly seared to be very crisp while the flesh was delicate and moist. It was a dish that allowed the natural subtle sweetness of the fish to be enjoyed. The prawn bisque boasted a decadent depth of flavour and was the perfect accompaniment to the fish, king prawn and melt in your mouth spinach.

Slow braised beef cheeks in a red wine sauce, white bean puree, caramelised onions and crispy pancetta

The slow braised beef cheek was excellent – a memorable dish combining flawless texture with equally superlative flavours.

The matching wine, the Cake Wines Pinot Noir 2012 was the perfect match to the slow braised beef cheek. A supple and approachable wine, the summer fruit flavours and subtle spice notes complemented the earthy braising sauce and the sweetness of the onions. 

Banana and sticky date pudding with butterscotch, organic vanilla bean ice-cream, walnut praline

Consistent with the preceding courses, the banana and sticky date pudding was well made and decadently coated in copious amounts of rich butterscotch sauce. It was a lovely rendition of a classic dessert.

With a lovely relaxed ambience, cheerful wait staff and award winning Modern Australian cuisine, The Boulevard is an ideal venue to laze away the afternoon.  

Location: 121 Studley Park Road, Kew

Phone: 03 9852 8144

Link: http://www.theboulevard.com.au/

Cuisine: Modern Australian, Coffee, Breakfast/Brunch