Bastille Day Celebration 2013

Bastille Day Celebration 2013

This year the committee has decided to organise a Bastille Day event focussing on quality French food.  We also decided that for the first time, our Bastille Day celebration will be a lunch. 

The details:

Where: Drystone Restaurant (Mimosa Winery) on the Tathra/Bermagui Road.  http://www.mimosawines.com.au/home.html

When: July 14th - for lunch - 12 o'clock.

How much:  Members $35, Non-members $55 - meal consists of shared Taste entrée plates, main and dessert.  Mimosa wines are of course available, as well as a number of other excellent wines.  Corkage is $20 per bottle if you want to take that special bottle.

There is a possibility that a bus can be provided ($20 per person return) to encourage safety on the roads.  Availability will depend on numbers.

Please contact Kerry ( kerryinparis@gmail.com or tel: 64959463) by June 14th if you would like to attend, and also advise if you are interested to travel on the bus.  Payment in full will be required by June 28th.

Payment: You can either send a cheque to The Treasurer, Alliance Française de la Côte de Saphir, PO Box 3, Merimbula 2548 - or pay by EFT - email us for banking details.

Gail and Glenn from Mimosa Winery are very enthusiastic about the event, and have provided a sample of the French-influenced menu - which looks fantastic.  We will be a part of a wider Bastille Day celebration in the restaurant, and live music will be provided.  One of the most highly respected restaurants in the area, members who have eaten at the Drystone Restaurant will confirm that the food and atmosphere is of the highest standard.  

This is our major annual event, and we'd love to see you there - bring your friends.  It is certain to be a memorable lunch, and a very highly subsidised opportunity for members to sample the Drystone Restaurant's food and wine.

Little Paris Kitchen SBS Thursdays at 8pm

Just watched the first episode, and it was good.  Definitely worth a look on SBS On Demand.
Here's a review from The Australian TV Editor, Ian Cuthbertson:
Whatever happened to French restaurants? In the 1970s and 80s they seemed to be all over Australian capital cities like un irritation. Now they are as rare as teeth in a coq au vin. And, since French women are known to be slim and gorgeous (see the book French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Guiliano) it can't be that the food is unhealthy. This delightful six-part cooking program, hosted by English-born chef and food writer Rachel Khoo, pictured, will make you nostalgic for Paris and French food in general. The scenes of Paris are beautifully shot and they reflect Khoo's passion for the place. The chef left England to live and work in Paris years ago. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu before opening a restaurant in her tiny flat in Belleville where, with just two tables, she wowed the notoriously fussy French food critics and anyone lucky enough to score a booking. This is not just a triumph of celebrity cooking but a victory over space that should inspire anyone living in cramped conditions to give adventurous cooking a red-hot go. With arms outspread, Khoo can almost touch the walls in her kitchen. Undaunted, she show us how it's done with humour and a lovely, engaging manner. Her aim in this series is to take the fear out of French cooking. Mission accomplished.

French Cooking Class with Lynne Macmillan

8 lucky members had the rare chance to enjoy preparing (and eating of course) a 3 course French meal under the watchful, experienced eye of Lynne Macmillan at her beautiful home in Tathra.

Le Menu:     Escalope de saumon au fumet d'huitres

                      Medaillons de porc aux pommes et au cidre

                      Tian de courge & courgettes Provençal

                      Croustade de pommes et de pruneaux a la Gasconne (Pastis Gascon)

                      Glace aux pruneaux et Armagnac

Thanks for giving so freely of your time Lynne - I'm sure everyone there had a fantastic day (and this wannabe chef spent the day at home sleeping and/or coughing!).

I really hope this can be repeated on another occasion.

Neil

Kerry, Anh-Thu, Gai, Margaret sharing a laugh in the kitchen.

Margaret dealing with the apples.

Gai, Jan, Gabriel, Narelle, Kerry, Margaret and Anh-Thu.

Margaret, Anh-Thu, Robert, Lynne, Gai, Kerry, Gabriel, Narelle.

Lynne and Gai serving the vegies.

Margaret, Anh-Thu, Robert, Lynne, Gai and Jan.