Melissa Leong Joins ABC Radio Melbourne Afternoons as a Regular Guest

Afternoons with Richelle Hunt Wednesday 23 January, 2019

Throughout 2018, I had such fun occasionally popping up on the ABC Radio Melbourne with Richelle Hunt on her Afternoons program. So I am THRILLED to announce that in 2019, I will be a series regular on her show, to talk about food, social politics and the media. Click the above link to hear our chat this week; from the #10yearChallenge, to why it’s more than just trivial that Sandra Oh is having her time in the Hollywood sun, we talk about Lo Mai Gai, our favourite home cooking recipes…and our shared nostalgia over the local neighbourhood pharmacy.

How To Entertain Like A Restaurant Architect

Published November 2017

From my family to yours, as featured in delicious. Magazine’s annual Entertaining Issue.

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Pascale Gomes-McNabb is the creative force behind some of Australia’s most stylish restaurants, but how does this architect design the ultimate long lunch? A few heavy-hitting culinary cohorts don’t hurt. Food and travel writer Melissa Leong happens to be one of them and she saved us a seat at the party.

The average Australian diner may not know Melbourne-based architect Pascale Gomes-McNabb by name, but they’ve certainly heard of the restaurants she’s had a hand in bringing to life. In designing high-profile establishments such as the original Cutler & Co. and Cumulus Inc. in Melbourne, Sydney’s Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Cirrus and Monopole, and SA’s Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant (to name but a few), she’s had a hand in the way Australians dine at the top end of town.

We’re gathered at Pascale’s latest masterpiece – the North Melbourne terrace she calls home – to break in her new digs (not that these guys need much of an excuse to pop a bottle of Champagne). It’s full of her signature dark metals, contrasting textural finishes and pops of colour by way of bowerbird curios.

The guests include chef Matt McConnell of Bar Lourinhã; his wife and business partner, Jo Gamvros; close friend Linda Jones of Alimentari; Felix Allsop of cocktail bar The Everleigh; his mate Joe Jones from cocktail bar Romeo Lane and restaurant The Mayfair… and yours truly.

Matt’s eclectic Latin-spiked cuisine displays an ease and generosity of flavour, with an uncomplicated style that belies the extensive experience he’s picked up from his travels and years spent overseas. “Fun is kind of crucial,” he adds.

Cocktails are mixed by former chef Joe Jones, who has built his drinks career on elegantly simple beverages with classic roots and minimal fuss.

There’s a sign at Bar Lourinhã that reads ‘Good Times’, and those are certainly had every time these friends get together.

Style

“We don’t do minimalism here,” says Jo. “Our collective style is loud, unapologetically bold and colourful.” Pascale favours striking jewellery such as her evil bunny ring by Emma Abrahams from Heart of Bone, while metallic threads and big prints are offset by the odd neutral for balance. Jewel-toned flowers against a dark backdrop add drama to the table.

Menu

It’s all about easy, shareable, seasonal food that’s big on flavour, colour and texture. Vibrant bottarga shaved over potato, a summer-worthy skirt steak bathed in mojo verde, and subtle seafood offset by smoky chilli and rich slivers of lardo.

RECIPES

Corn crisps, steak tartare and smoked herring roe

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

RECIPES

Scallop, lardo and smoky chilli

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

RECIPES

Whiting crudo with radish

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

RECIPES

Seared skirt steak, mojo verde and shaved horseradish

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

RECIPES

Stracciatella, pickled carrot and fennel

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

RECIPES

Potato 'salad', vinegar, bottarga

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM
RECIPES

Orange caramel molotovs

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

Playlist

From Marvin Gaye and Grace Jones’ My Jamaican Guy to Michael Jackson’s Beat It and satanic pop rock by Ghost, with a little Nancy Sinatra thrown in for good measure, the tunes are as eclectic as the group’s style.

Drinks

“Always start and end with bubbles!” yells Linda.

Punchbowl cocktails scream party fun and are a great way to make cocktails an easy affair when entertaining.

RECIPES

Beehive punch

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

A twist on everyone’s favourite, the Negroni, is also perfect, even outside aperitivo hour.

RECIPES

Tequila negroni

BY DELICIOUS. TEAM

Fooderati on 9 Honey

I had the great pleasure of chatting to the delightful Jane De Graaf, 9 Honey's food editor, to talk about simple recipes you can keep on hand for mid week meals. We also talk about Jennifer Lawrence's drunk alter ego Gayle, and dish on The Chefs' Line behind the scenes. 

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The food writer and TV host's one pantry trick that will smash it out of the park tonight.

When you see the glamorous Instagram pictures of food writer and TV presenter Melissa Leong (aka Fooderati), you’d be forgiven for thinking that her days are spent eating solely at high end restaurants and languishing in plush hotel rooms. But don’t be fooled, the host of SBS’s The Chef’s Line has a deeply rooted love of home cooking.

Check out the ‘What the F is for Dinner’ podcast with Jane de Graaff and Melissa Leong sorting your ultimate pantry dinner tonight…

One of her greatest joys is celebrating and championing home cooks and the extraordinary dishes they can create, from humble cheese toasties to extravagant multi course spreads.

So, it was a true eye-opener to sit down with her recently in the dimly lit surrounds of Melbourne’s The Mayfair to talk about how to make the best dinner of your life out of just pantry staples, and why it’s so important to have a huge array of condiments on hand to pep-up any meal. It’s basically a free-pass to create a kick-ass meal any time without thinking too hard about it. 

Melissa joined me for our delicious 9Honey Kitchen fifteen minute food podcast ‘What the F is for Dinner’- and it’s certainly a topic that is close to her heart.

 “[We all] do the fridge and pantry dance, right? Where you stand with the fridge door open, look at everything. Then you close it, walk away and look in the pantry. Then go back to the fridge and wonder if anything new has magically appeared in there,” she laughs.

Food writer and TV host, Melissa Leong - aka Fooderati

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It’s a relief to know that someone who has restaurants in the family and spends her time interviewing Australia’s best chefs still faces the same dilemma we all do come dinner time. 

Take a listen to the podcast to hear Melissa’s pantry trick for overcoming the last-minute dinner question, and I can guarantee that it’s a brilliant one that you will simply lap up tonight.

“Some of the best cooks in my life are home cooks, and as much as we love going out to restaurants and eating really delicious, fancy, professional food, heart and soul you’ll always come back to eating the stuff of your dreams and the stuff of nostalgia and your childhood.”
It’s why top end chefs spend a lifetime trying to recreate their grandmother’s best cakes and dinnertime staples. Because we all want that food that was made with so much love. 

“Practical home cooking needs to rely on things that you can just have on hand all the time,” says Melissa. “So that when you do stand in front of the cupboard or fridge and go ‘what the f is for dinner’, you can pull together a really amazing meal based on pantry staples that can survive a nuclear holocaust.”

Her ultimate trick is a twist on XO sauce… but I’ll let Melissa explain why in the podcast. Because no one can sell it better than the woman herself, and you’ll be ready to ditch the chicken salt and swap it for this little trick in no time. 

“I’m all for hacks that add lots of flavour with very little effort” – and that sounds like our kind of cooking. Especially when it comes to Melissa’s easy Chinese hot pot.

And that’s dinner, done, easy.

Note:You can catch Melissa hosting and judging SBS’s The Chef’s Line, championing home cooks and encouraging us all to have a crack in the kitchen.

You can also find our 9Honey Kitchen easy vegetable hot pot recipe here for another easy take on dinner

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