Le Foote is a restaurant in The Rocks precinct of Sydney taking up the space of Phillip's Foote bar and restaurant on George Street. The Mediterranean restaurant is by the same team from Hubert and Alberto Lounge and is decked out retro style and makes use of the historic site. Find out what the best dishes are and what you have to order!
To get to Le Foote you can either enter through the George Street entrance and make your way through the bar and up the two sets of stairs to the restaurant right at the back of the site or enter through the side via Argyle Street. There are several rooms here at Le Foote including a huge outdoor section (although today it's empty) but the pick is the main dining room at the back right of the site. The Head Chef is Stefano Marano,, originally from Naples who previously worked at The Apollo.
The room has an indoor outdoor vibe with cool breezes from the thrown open windows. A huge mosaic by Italian ceramicist Mastro Cencio using tiles from Civita Castellana spans two entire walls. Waitstaff wear pressed white shirts and bow ties and tables are decked out in double layers of white tablecloth. I think to myself, where am I?
Soraya, the fourth Kardashian sister arrives a few minutes later. Tables are set close together and we are almost touching elbows with the two gentlemen sitting next to us so we ask to move to another table just to give everyone some space. Service ranges from sweet to efficient depending on who you speak to. Our main waitress is like a mum who doesn't have time for your nonsense and when we dither for a few seconds over which cocktail she says she will be back and disappears before coming back. It aint warm but she's busy.
Soraya is back from an overseas holiday so it's water for her and I have a Menta Nuda mocktail which is made with non alcoholic rum, mint and yuzu soda which is refreshing with the perfect level of sweetness.
We start with the house baked sesame focaccia that comes out in two huge slabs. This focaccia is soft on the inside but very crisp on the top and bottom. The sesame seeds are a nice touch and one that I'll try at home.
The focaccia pairs perfectly with the zingy, lemony taramasalata and crispy crudites. The blanched beans are perfectly crisp while the radishes are peppery. Neither of us is willing to pull apart the chunk of fennel though, instead we dip the crunchy focaccia into it.
The item that they told us was a must order is the cheese pie (and really I need no convincing of a cheese pie). The cheese pie features four types of cheese wrapped in pastry with lemon and native berries for sweetness. It's very moreish, giving Ossetian cheese pie (without the greens).
I've been too busy telling Soraya about the behind-the-scenes of my Antarctica trip and marvelling over her massive diamond engagement ring that the next course comes out some time later when we've both taken a breath and our waitress has had to come back a few times to see if we want our plates cleared. The Carpenteria Gulf king prawns come out butterflied. It is normally three prawns per serve but our waitress arranges for two prawns per person. The prawns are succulent and easily come out of the shell. The tomato piccante is a spicy tomato drizzle on top and all they need is a squeeze of lemon on top.
For our main, we asked for recommendations as my allergy to barramundi precluded ordering the divine sounding barramundi dish. Our waitress recommends the strip loin as the charcoal grill is a big part of the restaurant's offering. The steak is a very good one, juicy and cooked medium rare without us even asking for it. It is served sliced for easy sharing (I want all my steaks to come out pre-sliced).
If you're looking for a side for the steak, the potato en croûte with sliced, creamy potatoes underneath a disc of buttery puff pastry is perfect. Nothing goes together better than steak and potatoes but then you add pastry into it and it's all you need.
When we ask for the dessert menu they bring out a marble display stand with the offerings. Unable to choose, we ask our waitress to bring two of the best desserts and she knows immediately that it's the banana parfait and the orange panna cotta. The orange panna cotta is wonderfully wobbly with a paper thin orange fruit crisp on top and a strong orange flavour to balance the creaminess of the dessert.
While the orange panna cotta is very good, the frozen banana parfait slice with dark, roasted black sesame and drizzles of toffee on top is definitely the must order (along with the cheese pie and potato en croute). I absolutely love banana desserts and I excitedly take a spoon to this and end up gathering up more strings of toffee than intended and these stick to my chin but every bite is worth it.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer efficient or warm service? Do you ever ask the server to bring out whatever they recommend?
This meal was independently paid for
Le Foote
101 George St, The Rocks NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9232 0881
Monday & Tuesday 5 pm–12 am
Wednesday to Sunday 12 pm–12 am
https://swillhouse.com/venues/le-foote/
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