Tillermans

Have you been wondering where we are or do you already know? Yes, it's France time again. And we're not coming home .... Yet! Take no notice of signs on doors or answering machine. We'll be open for dinner Saturday 17 October. See you then!

Vote for us and win!

Each year, Restaurant & Catering conducts the Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence throughout Australia, and between May and October there are more than 20 industry events held to recognise the outstanding achievements of restaurants and caterers. Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence are the most dependable and authoritative guide to Australia's best restaurants. With more than 500 trained judges and 2500+ entrants, the Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence set the national benchmark. They are the most important and respected industry awards, specifically designed to objectively recognise and promote industry best practice. Details about finalists and winners are annually updated on individual listings on restaurant.org.au

Vote for us as your favourite restaurant by 7 March and you could WIN one of five pre-paid visa gift cards to the value of $100! You could even spend it here on your next visit! Not only that, we will then be in the running to enter and anonymously judged by one of 500+ judges. We may even win in our nominated category at the regional, state or national level!!

Voting is easy, simply fill in the form on savouraustralia.com.au before 5pm Sunday 7 March 2010.

Winter at Tea Gardens

In addition to our delicious Toby’s Estate coffees and teas, we are now offering a small range of T2 tea, ‘real’ hot chocolate and mulled wine to enjoy throughout the winter months at Tillermans.

T2 Teas

T2 offers the finest collection of teas and herbal/fruit tisanes. They are designed to relax, excite, calm and of course taste great. At Tillermans, we are pleased to offer just a small range of these teas to either drink here or loose leaf teas to purchase from our ‘little shop’ to take home.

Blue Mountain - vanilla scented tea with pretty cornflowers and floral overtones, fragrant and velvety. 

French Earl Grey – a classic earl grey with rose and hibiscus and a touch of peach. (It’s the yummiest!) 

Pai Mu Tan – (apparently pronounced pie-moo-tan).  A rare White Tea. Tender buds are picked in early spring to produce this rare white tea. Delicate and elegant. 

Organic Chai – certified organic tea w/ organic spices cinnamon, cardamom, clove and star anise. A heady, steamy delight served with hot milk and honey. 

Evening Tea – a light blend including Darjeeling has just a touch of caffeine and is deliciously relaxing. 

Hot Chocolate

A totally indulgent hot chocolate made with very dark Belgian chocolate and a touch of milk.

Mulled Wine

A brew of red wine, brandy, oranges, lemons and spices to warm you during the cold months.

Nearly Easter

Hi all,

Of course anyone who knows us will surely forgive us for being soooo behind and sooooo slow to keep our blog up to date. Xmas and the January school holidays are always impossible for us when we are involved 24/7 with the restaurant. And now here it is nearly Easter!

After 20 years in Restaurantland, we have made the decision that seeing as though the restaurant is so much of our life, we have to (want to) let the rest of our life co-exsist with it. This has always been the case to a certain extent, but in 2008 we intend to aim for a more balanced life.

Our 2 wonderful children, Benjamin and Rebekka, are now living away from home. Peter spends many hours on his French translations and PhD thesis - when he is not running that is! I am also studying at university (very part time) , doing some running (very part time), and being a daughter, wife and mother (also very part time). The rest of my time I spend thinking, doing, tasting, reading, cooking and experimenting with food.

We are still waiting for our little 'maison' in France to be settled so that we can go and get it furnished ready to stay in. We were hoping to have settled a few weeks ago - but alas, not yet!

Our Easter Opening Hours will be

Good Friday - Open Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Easter Saturday - Open Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Easter Sunday - Open Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Easter Monday - Open Breakfast & Lunch

PS We have a delicious range of Kennedy & Wilson couverture chocolate Easter eggs. They look really beautiful and taste divine! Don't miss them.

PPS We look forward to seeing you over the Easter break. Don't forget to book early.

Christmas Update

Hi all! Yes we are back to reality. France remains a pleasant dream in the back of my mind - to be revisited whenever I have a few spare moments.

The restaurant has been open for the past 2 weeks, but we really go into full swing from Boxing Day. Our hours for those who need them are:

Closed Xmas Eve & Xmas Day

Open Boxing Day 6pm

Open Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner from 27 December

We look forward to seeing you all then - please try to make a reservation a few days in advance so as not to be dissappointed. We fill up so quickly at this time of the year.

To all our friends and customers, we wish you a very safe and happy Xmas and New Year.

Sigoulés, France

I know that I told everyone that I would be writing daily or at the very least every 2 days, but what with IT issues and complete lack of motivation, this is only the second report that I have posted since arriving in France (or is it the 3rd?).

Hopefully I will be forgiven if I tell you all that I have been busy house hunting, going to markets, eating, cooking, talking french, more eating, more house hunting and so forth - as one does when in France!

Happily, none of this has gone to waste (although it has most definitely gone to MY waist!) as I can now purchase my food from the market while speaking French, I have increased in size quite 'rapidment' and we have today signed the papers for our own little house (maison de ville) in a small town called Sigoulés, among the vineyards of Monbazilliac. This is about 15 kilometres south west from Bergerac in the Dordogne.

We truely are having a wonderful time. The caves at Lascaux with the prehistoric art have been waiting patiently for millenium for Peter to visit! This is something that he has always wanted to see. How amazing the drawings are. I found an absolute sense of peace in the knowledge that for tens of thousands of years - in amongst all the horrible things man has managed to do - there have always also been those who see beauty all around them and are able to unwittingly leave behind a message for those who follow.

Au revoir from Sigoulés.

France at Last

I would like to start by apologizing to all the people that we were going to email. Unfortunately our IT hasn't been as we were hoping. Firstly, our internet connection in our appartment in Paris was not working and secondly, now that we have interenet connection, we are unable to send mail out. We can receive but not send. I will have to contact our friends who are in Geneva to help us work out the non workings of mail out. So for now this is as good as it gets.

Talking about as good as it gets - we have just spent a beautiful afternoon wandering around the town of Bergerac and then sitting in the sun having lunch. Lunch, for those who are interested, consisted of duck terrine, steak frites (steak and chips), and chocolate crepes all washed down with a few glasses of the local rosé and an café to finish.

We are now back at the grand house of our friends. Peter has gone for a run around the vineyards-we are smack bang in the middle of them. I am writing this and watching the last rays of sun sink down over the valley and vineyards. We are enjoying the sun and the warmth while it lasts. It was very, very cold when we were in Paris and I am sure it will get colder here over the next few weeks.

Its time to start thinking about dinner (of course). I think just an omlette with some delcious local bread and a glass of wine. Until next time - au revoir.

Snake in the Grass

Saturday of the October long weekend, a brown snake swam across the Myall River, slithered across Marine Drive and stopped on the front lawn of a holiday rental.

Perched on the veranda of the property was a group of five women on a male-free weekend escape.

Panicked by the screams, the snake made a getaway and took up residence in the front garden.

Afraid that the snake would cause harm to passers-by the women called ‘reptile rescue’.

Neighbouring restaurants momentarily lost customers as they flocked to the house to get a glimpse.

As in all good fishing tales the length of the snake grew and grew until it was finally captured and the true length was revealed – 5 ft.

The crowd, which by this time was well over a hundred, erupted with excitement when the snake was finally caught – after hours of fuss.

With a bow from Barry and Judith – workers from ‘Reptile Rescue’, the pack cheered and scattered as quickly as it had gathered.

Written by Rebekka Hodges

News at Last

My wonderful I.T. person/friend Liz has finally taken pity on me and linked this blog to our great web site (which she also created). Every time I think that I understand how this all works, I come across something that confuses me and brings me to a halt. Maybe its because its usually around midnight after working all day that I let myself relax and start 'playing' around with the computer. Luckily I don't actually play games on the computer, otherwise I would get nothing done.

That all said, I now hope to be able to keep you up to date on the goings on at Tillermans.

Those of you who were hoping to join us for a coffee or a meal last Saturday will have to forgive us as we were hosting a wedding on the day and were therefore not open for other business. It was a really beautiful day for a wedding. The weather forgot that it was supposed to be the middle of winter and turned into summer for the weekend! The restaurant looked beautiful and was a wonderful backdrop for the happy couple and their family and friends.

Late at Night

I have never really been very good at keeping a diary! Days go by at such speed and I just can't seem to grasp them before they are gone.

Our Bastille day was really very good this year, and lots of fun.

Tonight we hosted a Spanish night for the local wine club. It's lots of fun to research different foods from different countries. Gives everyone in the kitchen a chance to play and taste some new foods and flavours.
I think that the favorite of the night was 'fried milk'. It was yummy - we served it with sherried raisins and cinnamon ice cream.

I must ring my good friend Jim and wish him a big Happy Birthday. Hope he won't mind that I will be a day late - as I said earlier, time just keeps slipping through my fingers! Anyway, Happy Birthday Jim xxx