As sure-footed as a Himalayan bovine

Venue: Yak Bar pasta artigianale

Style: Italian

Address: 150 Flinders Lane, Melbourne [Google Maps]

Phone: (03) 9654 6699

Hours: Tue-Fri 7:00am-3:00am / Sat 5:00pm-3:00am

Prices: Starters $15.00 / Pastas $21.00 / Desserts $12.00

Bookings: Recommended

Website: http://www.yakbarfood.com.au/

Angel hair pasta in squid ink sauce with calamari, shaved scallops

According to a review in The Age this week of shifts in Australian eating habits, the last decade has been unkind to Italian restaurateurs. Crazes such as low-carbohydrate diets and a preoccupation by the media with low GI (glycemic index) foods are unlikely to have done these restaurants any favours. Beloved by Australians, mainstays like spaghetti bolognese have had to compete with an explosion of choice on the dining scene, from food trucks to pintxos to authentic Mexican.

And while Melbourne is not without its stalwarts of the Italian culinary tradition, it has been a long time since I've been excited by an Italian restaurant. The cooking is invariably good but the price-to-portion ratio regularly strikes me as having been formulated in a Bizarro universe.

At Yak however, the mix of service, flavours, quality produce and value for money is in equilibrium.

Forest mushrooms with fresh goat's cheese and crusty foccaccia

We start with two beautifully plated appetisers of goat's cheese with wild mushrooms and foccaccia and a serve of tender calamari with salsa verde and shaved white zucchini.

Char-grilled baby calamari with salsa verde and shaved white zucchini

The mushrooms are suffused with rich, earthy flavour, enhanced by the decadence of the smooth goat's cheese. Good oil and herbs finish the dish. The calamari and zucchini is a marvel to look at and delicate to eat, with touches of citrus and saltiness.

Pizzoccheri with potato, cabbage, taleggio cheese, garlic, sage and brown butter

Mr. S orders the pizzoccheri on the grounds that neither of us know what it is. This rustic dish of buckwheat pasta and vegetables again demonstrates the kitchen's lightness of hand, with a burnt butter sauce adding just enough richness.

My angel hair pasta however is a dish I would return for alone, dressed in evil-looking squid ink sauce and finished with just-cooked calamari, shaved scallops and one tantalisingly fresh oyster.

Chocolate hazelnut tartufo

We cannot refuse dessert, given the quality of the meal so far and opt to share a rather anti-climactic looking tartufo. It is however finished off with good liqueur and hiding a heart of velvety hazelnut ice-cream.

Same as I ever was

Service is suitably attentive but unobtrusive, as in, our orders were taken promptly and our water regularly refilled, but no-one laid a guilt trip on us for not being interested in coffee, nor were we discouraged from sitting around to converse for more than an hour after we finished our dessert.

It stands to reason that a kind of complacency sets in with any food that becomes a staple. Yak however is doing great things with pasta and everything else we experienced. Order the one you've never heard of and know you're in good hands.

Duck season! Fire!

Until relatively recently, French was the preferred language of international relations and diplomacy. Shifts in political dominance have been reflected by this move away from French as the international auxiliary language, however, French words maintain a unique cachet that add an air of respectability/glamour to the banal (Gel Multi Tenseur Buste just sounds so much more scientific than Boob Enhancing Cream). Likewise, confit de canard is the sort of thing many of us strictly go out to dinner for.


Years ago, before I became committed to recreating feats of deliciousness at home, I didn't stop to ponder the mysteries of fine cooking - I just assumed there were no half-measures. You were either a disciple of Escoffier or you appreciated fine cookery as an occasion, subsisting on tuna pesto sandwiches during the week (delicious, actually).

Confit de canard refers to duck legs cured in salt and poached in their own fat. And if I can get it right first time, so can you - and you should. It felt obscene, suddenly having a huge quantity of succulent, glossy duck meat available to me, not to mention the skin, all crispy, golden and richly flavoured. The recipe below was a first attempt and one I will make again; the textures and tastes are in complete harmony, every bite of freshly-roasted hazelnut and softened taleggio lifted the dish into the stratosphere.

Dominant political powers aside, loud moaning is something we all understand.

Duck confit pasta with caramelized pear, hazelnuts, taleggio and sage

Serves 4 hungry people

Ingredients:
4 duck Marylands (a duck leg with the thigh attached and skin on)
Salt
Olive oil
150g raw hazelnuts
3 pears, washed, with the cores removed
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
450g fresh pasta (tagliatelle, garganelli)
4 shallots, chopped fine
Black pepper, freshly ground
Sage (or mint), washed
150g taleggio, cubed and at room temperature
2 cups white wine or chicken stock

Method:
1) To slow roast, preheat the over to 150°C / 300°F. Pat duck legs dry with a paper towel, focusing on the skin (the drier the skin, the crispier the finish). Prick all over to render out fat and salt generously.

2) Pour enough olive oil into a casserole dish to cover the base. Place duck skin-side up in the dish without the pieces overlapping and cook for 90 minutes.

3) Increase heat to 190°C / 375°F and cook for 15 minutes. Duck should be light golden brown. Remove and allow to cool enough to handle.

4) Roast hazelnuts on a clean tray. Nuts can burn quickly; 5-10 minutes should be sufficient. The hazelnuts will smell roasted and look shiny when ready. If you're easily distractable and wind up with a slightly burnt scent, it is likely to just be the skin, which slips off quite easily, leaving you with delicious, carbon-free roasted hazelnuts. Set aside.

5) Transfer duck to another dish. Pour out excess liquid in the casserole dish, reserving at least half. Slice pears into thin wedges (I recommend using a mandolin, for speed and consistency), place in casserole dish, toss with reserved duck fat and cook in oven at 190°C / 375°F for 30 minutes or until pears are very soft.

6) Shred duck skin and meat off the bones; chicken shears are useful here. Otherwise, get in with your hands and resist the urge to nibble on that luscious duck skin.



7) Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the butter and shallots and cook until translucent. Add the duck meat and skin, a few sage leaves and white wine or stock. Turn heat down to medium. Add the pear if it needs more softening. Simmer for at least 20 minutes. Add more wine or the liquid from the pears if the duck appears dry.

8) Place pasta in salted, boiling water. Fresh egg pasta will need stirring to keep it from sticking.

9) When al dente, drain pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water and add to the sauté pan with the duck. Toss the pasta with the duck. Add black pepper, hazelnuts, pear, taleggio cubes, more sage and toss again before serving.