That lovely foam coming out of the nitrous oxide cream whipper is not actually whipped cream, but a warm white chocolate and soymilk foam, created by the cocktail masters from Der Raum for the Vitasoy vs. St Ali event.
The warm foam was the topping for their amazingly delicious 'pina colada' - rum, pineapple juice and agave nectar. Like, WOW! Matt from Der Raum says he got the idea for the cocktail when he realised soymilk has a bit of a coconutty taste to it. It's not on their menu yet, but may make an appearance for their Spring menu. Fingers crossed!
Vitasoy vs. St Ali was held in a funkified warehouse on Yarra place, just down the street from St. Ali. In addition to the Der Raum cocktails and canapes, there were DJ's, live graffiti art and street performers.
Sandra got heaps of great photos of the firetwirlers, but I liked these the best, because they spell "S C". You can see more of Sandra's fabulous photos of the night here at her Flickr page.
Firetwirlers spelling "S C". "S C" for Sarah Cooks, geddit?
Canapes were prepared by chefs Ben Cooper (St. Ali) and Paul Jewson (Outpost). I've never been to St. Ali for dinner, but I've heard great things, and now I really think I should! I definitely want to try Outpost's food, if only to see how Paul cooks food in that tiny space!
Oysters with soy and mirin dressing
Asian-style Pulled pork with salsa verde
I enjoyed the fresh, light taste of the salsa verde, but immodestly, I like my own pulled pork better. I think that's because I appreciate the, well, vastness of the portion I inevitably roast. And the crackling, of course.
Chicken and mushroom pies with edamame
Miso-soup with silken tofu
No matter how much fried food I've eaten, or how much I've had to drink, (oops!) I find miso soup to be so cleansing and purifying. Perfect, and salving. (And much better for you than traditional hangover food!)
So, er... speaking of fried food...
Deep fried chicken wings with chilli and salt
These chicken wings were awesome! I don't think you can go wrong with deep-fried chicken, and these ones were juicily crispy, and vibrant with chilli.
Towards the end of the night, the air was getting cold, and feet were getting tired... but I'm glad we stuck around for dessert.
These donuts are a Phillipa Sibley creation - filled with passionfruit curd and topped with pineapple glaze. In its tiny size, it was a perfect little treat. Although I think most people I saw definitely ate more than one!
Here's a pic of the soymilk-wall graffiti-art in progress. As you can see, even hardworking artists need sustenance!
Apparently towards the end of the evening, they started to dismantle the wall, and people got to take decorated slabs of soymilk home. I'm gutted I missed out on that, because I drink heaps of soymilk! D'oh.
Big thanks to all involved for a great night! It was lovely to sample all the canapes and the great cocktails, and to catch up with heaps of Melbourne food bloggers.
Sarah Cooks attended Vitasoy Vs. St Ali as a guest.
8 comments
great work on the photos by Sandra!
ReplyDeletesee you tomorrow to get our pudding on :P
Oh, check out that that foam...and yes, I would've packed in those doghnuts as well!
ReplyDelete@Shellie - Thanks Shellie! I've passed your feedback on to the boss ;).
ReplyDeleteSo excited for pudding. Like, ridiculously excited!
@Adrian - The foam was incredible! Loved it! Yeah I ate like 3 donuts, oops!
xox Sarah
Gosh! At least you got food photos... I like the pina colada... heh
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome night. Gorgeous photos from Sandra! Love me some Vitasoy, sounds pretty special all whipped up with white chocolate on top of pina colada - a million times removed from where it usually goes over my rolled oats :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Sarah - and fantastic photos by Sandra. I loved the cocktails, too bad they were in such small cups. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. Love the S and C fire swirls. Wish they did a T and D :-( Weren't those cocktails and donuts amazing?
ReplyDeleteWow! Just look at the form of the foam! Can't imagine that was soy on top of the piñacolada.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it would be fun joining that event. Wish I could be there, but I'm like million miles away. Great photos!