EAT: SPARE ME KITCHEN LAUNCH [CLOSED]
Be sure to spare a visit (or two) for Fitzroy's new Spare Me Kitchen eatery; the restaurant component of Glamorama's restaurant meets bar meets night club establishment. With a menu created by David Stewart (head chef of Ascot Food Store, and the creator of one of Melbourne's best soft shell crab burgers), get your taste buds excited!
Although my excitement was perhaps slightly dampened by dulled senses thanks to one nasty winter cold... still, nothing like a tasty spread and some good company to lift spirits.
Our evening kicked off with some starter dishes to share. The winning dish of the lot was the silky, fresh slices of Hiramasa kingfish; it's flavour highlighted by its simple pairing with lemon oil, shoots and capers. Pleasing charcuterie fans, the creamy duck liver parfait serving was extremely generous and accompanied by jamon, saltbush and pickles. Also one too try was the crispy and crunchy trawler prawns; packed with enough delicious heat to almost clear up my blocked passages!
Moving onto the mains, I pulled out every ounce of my self control to order something that wasn't the soft shell crab burger (seeing as I had already tried it before and also wasn't feeling too well). Self control won out and I ended up with the Blue Eye but proceeded to come down with a case of major food envy. Having said that, I still quite enjoyed the fish dish. The Blue Eye was cooked beautifully; its flesh fell apart with minimal effort. The creamy white wine sauce complemented the natural sweetness of the fish. Serving as not just a garnish, the parsley provided a great measure of herbaceous flavour that boosted the entire dish.
There were no complaints when it came to the desserts with chocolaty rich indulgence captured in the chocolate marquise on one hand and a lighter but equally flavour packed, sweet-but-balanced-out-by-tartness lemon dessert in the other.
While I can't quite vouch for Glamorama as a bar or night club (although I'm totally digging the vibes of the lofty interior), it does do very well on the food front with a tasty menu that focuses on great produce and flavours while embracing food sustainability.
Spare Me Kitchen
Level 1,
393 Brunswick St,
Fitzroy, Victoria,
(03) 9419 6380
Disclosure: I attended the launch dinner as a guest of Spare Me Kitchen and Zilla & Brook Publicity and Production. All opinions expressed in this post are based entirely on my experience and observations made during the time of my visit.