You don’t need to be much of a foodie to know that we’re right in the middle of the truffle season in colder parts of Australia.
In Launceston, the Tasmanian Truffle Festival is luring keen punters with degustation dinners, cooking classes and harvesting workshops. It’s the same in Canberra and the surrounding area, and no doubt in Victoria and other cooler Australian climes.
On the outskirts of Orange, Borrodale Vineyard is running weekend truffle hunts, accompanied by truffle-inspired lunches of course, and early in the month held its annual Black Tie and Gumboot Truffle Hunt and Dinner.
Leading restaurants — both regional and metropolitan — obviously aren’t going to be left out of the excitement and it’s partly for that reason we were recently drawn to Sokyo, in Sydney’s Star.
The Executive Chef, Chase Kojima, is offering a special truffle menu until August 6, including Chase toro toro (tuna belly and sea urchin served with crispy nori and truffle), which we were served as a delicious start to our meal.
The idea of eating sea urchin immediately took the Woman with Altitude out of her comfort zone, but she adjusted quickly and absolutely adored the scintillating, yet quite subtle, blend of unusual savoury flavours. They certainly worked well with the Bannochburn Riesling from Geelong.
But truffles weren’t the only reason – indeed not even major reason — we had been drawn to Sokyo.
That was Sokyo’s reputation as one of Sydney’s premier Japanese dining venues, especially in the sushi/sashimi end of the menu.
Yes, I finally know who’s paying the zillion dollars a kilo for prime cuts of tuna, kingfish, etc at the Sydney Fish Market.
It’s the likes of Chase Kojima and he’s doing them full justice with a series of clever combinations and absolutely stunning presentation.
I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Japan, so I’m not sure what awaits me in the top sashimi palaces of Tokyo, but I do nominate Sansei, on the Hawaiian island of Maui, as the only equal I’ve come across to Sokyo.
They do know their fish in that part of the world and have access to some of the very best. And they do have the chefs to make the ultimate best use of it, and certainly put to bed America’s reputation for rather ordinary, would you like to upsize that, cuisine.
Chase learnt his craft in his birthplace, San Francisco, and has also worked in Japanese restaurants for the renowned Nobu group in Dubai, London, Los Angeles and the Bahamas.
It’s a Friday evening and Sokyo is fairly buzzing. I’m glad we have a booked table because we’d have no chance otherwise.
The crowd is on the younger side, a mix of couples and groups, many of them women. All seem fascinated by the food being served and are relishing the experience.
So do we as our waitress guides us through a range of Chase’s selections: skewers of the most tender wagyu beef, interspersed with caremalised eschallots and served with a lipspacking BBQ teriyaki sauce; wonderful tempura of red snapper with a bity chilli vinegar; ocean trout with yakari-and-wasabi salsa, yuzu soy and garlic chips; tai goma nori (another dish based on red snapper, this time served with miso cream cheese, roasted goma nori and white shiso dressing; and Kokkaido scallops, served with aomomo, tomato and yusu honey.
The highlight, though, is a remarkably textured and flavoured sashimi set featuring tuna, kingfish, red snapper and scampi, some of them just slightly seared, and all beautifully presented on the most perfectly cooked portions of rice.
It really is a sensory overload, right on the culinary edge — and food to savour, appreciate and talk about. Thank you Chase, it was a marvellous experience.
John Rozentals is a freelance writer whose passions are travel, food and wine. He lives at Molong in the Central West of NSW, from where he hosts Oz Baby Boomers, a lifestyle-resource for mature Australians, and Molong Online.
