North Sydney is quite lacking in cool places to hang… with the exception of Drink Better Wine (see my review of this fine establishment here) and the Treehouse. The Treehouse stands head and shoulders above the rest of the bars in terms of a killer wine list, amazing rustic bar food and of course some pretty cool cocktails.
So it’s a loverly afternoon and we are here to grab an “unwind” vino. We arrive soon after 5pm, but the place is packed out (I mean seriously), so we find a nice little standing area next to the outside bar.
We chat on what to order and settle on the bottle we want, I want the Chicken Liver Parfait (it’s amazing) but she wants some cheese. We agree to do both!! I like compromises.
Sabella Cabernet Sauvignon (2010)
The wine is the Sabella Cabernet Sauvignon (2010) from Mclaren Vale in South Australia. We start chatting about different wines in Australia. I express my deep love of Western Australian wines, which turns out to be very topical as she is paying a visit to WA with her family and heading to the great wineries in Margaret River. We compare notes, we’re on the same page – she’s going to all the best wineries in WA.
Anyway back to wine here at the Treehouse. The wine is oh so lovely, it’s full, its got a chocolatey and vanilla linger on the tongue but it is the full fruit flavour of blackberries which just hit your palate you when you have the first taste that makes this wine. I just love it!!!!
Chicken liver parfait with orange marmalade, cornichons & fresh baguette
The parfait is perfect. It captures everything you love about life. It’s silky, it’s velvety, it has that exotic “I am in the middle of Paris” feel, it creates a tingly feeling all over, it’s the best. It is the Life of a Travel Czar at its completeness. The parfait has this shiny “don’t mess with me look” and along with the beautiful sweet rind of the orange marmalade it just complements the richness of the parfait – it’s rich and beautiful in every way!
The Cheese Board: Triple cream, Shadows of Blue, Maffra cheddar
The cheese plate is a work of art. There is a soft blue cheese, a hard cheddar and a soft triple cream cheese.
- The cheddar is creamy, sweet but has the strong taste of a typical cheddar flavour. It really provides a perfect texture and flavour to go with the wine.
- The blue cheese with an amazing! It’s a rich cheese with soft, creamy texture and a very mild taste while the little salt and tart of the blue mould gives it that little kick.
- The triple cream, is in a bit of a class of its own, coated with a white mold, it has rich buttery centre that’s heavenly with the texture of full cream cheese and a hint of yeast and citrus that makes it lovely.
The lavosh crackers are first class, crisp, with the rustic taste. Then there is a fig paste which is sweet, sticky, it adds to the texture of the creamy cheese (with those little fig seeds which just crunch on your mouth) – it adds the texture and changes the tone of the cheese plate ever so slightly.
The conversations flows… we discuss politics, the MH370, life in Sydney… it’s been ages since we had a catch-up like this! Sometimes you get too busy in life to not focus on the simple things!
We finish the night and make our way home agreeing that we need to do drink’s more often! Sometimes the pace of life consumes you, but you just need a wine, great company and beautiful rustic bar food to keep everything in perspective.
