Aussie dinner with Chef Michael Bennett

Grab Some Gold With Aussie Attractions

Restaurants USA magazine's final issue was published in September 2002 but these archived articles remain available for our readers' convenience.

Restaurants USA, August 2000  --  Highlights of Article

The 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, this summer presents a perfect promotional opportunity.
By Suzanne Hall

Sydney, Australia, dazzled us when it welcomed the new millennium. The whole world will be watching again when the city hosts the Olympic Games from September 15 to October 1. There’s still time and good reason to take advantage of this event with special Australian promotions.

Let Aussie wines be your centerpiece

Michael Bennett, executive chef of The Left Bank in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, didn't wait for the Olympics to begin to do an Australian wine dinner. For three evenings in late June, the Mediterranean restaurant was draped in heavy mosquito netting and decorated with plastic kangaroos, lizards and other animals native to Australia. The staff dressed in bush outfits — "khaki shorts and shirts, like you see in the movies," he says.

Bennett served the sell-out crowds a multicourse meal pairing each course with an appropriate Australian wine. For an appetizer, Bennett stuffed Maytag blue cheese mousseline inside a vol-au-vent placed on top of sun-dried cranberry relish. The dish was topped with slices of smoked duck breast and garnished with Belgian endive and frisee.

The main course paired Australian lamb chops, seasoned with a stone-ground mustard, rosemary and sage rub, with mango barbecued blue-water prawns. He sauced the dish with pan-roasted rosemary demi-glace studded with cherimoya. Garnished with fried, sliced lotus root to hold the prawns, garlic blossoms, rosemary sprigs and a deep-fried udon noodle, the dish was presented on a bed of "rocket"-flavored mashed potatoes. "In Australia, rocket is what we call dandelion greens. They grow wild and some people cultivate them to eat," says Bennett.

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