Wednesday, 19 December 2007

Cafe Sydney

Not one for shying away from the good life, this lucky lady spent her second consecutive night dining out on Sydney's harbour. This time, around the corner from ARIA, atop the historic Customs House, at Cafe Sydney.

With a swanky interior, gorgeous waitstaff and a view you'd happily eat your hat to get to, this is one dining experience that visitors and Sydneysiders alike should endeavour to treat themselves to. Thankfully their food is also divine so no hats need me on the menu.

Modern fusion dishes celebrate fresh seasonal produce, with a focus on seafood. The unique flavours of Asia, India and Europe are captured through the kitchen's use of a wood-fired grill, authentic wok and Indian tandoor oven. Your taste buds will be led unto temptation, your tummy satisfied and your eyes delighted.

Picture this...


We indulged in...

Pre-dinner cocktails

HURRICANE
A long warm cuban affair. Barcardi 8 year old and Bacardi Superior blended with passionfruit, pineapple, orange and lime juice with a dash of Tuaca $19
THE LONG WHITE CLOUD New Zealand at its refreshing best. 42 Below Feijoa Vodka with Poire William, lychees, guava nectar lengthened with lemon squash $18

Followed by...

Chilled gazpacho soup with steamed yabbies, avocado and lemon creme fraiche $24
Ocean trout gravalax with poached duck egg, asparagus, broad beans, truss tomatoes, lemon dressing and ocean trout caviar $26
***
Grilled tuna with bagna couda, white anchovy, broad beans, peas, borlotti beans, celery heart and lemon aioli $38

Roasted veal tenderloin with proscuitto, grilled fig, gorgonzola, wild rocket, vincotto and jus $39

Washed down with…

2002 Amberley First Selection Cabernet Sauvignon - Margaret River, WA $72

Cafe Sydney
5th Floor, Customs House, 31 Alfred Street Circular Quay, Sydney 2000
Tel +61 2 9251 8683


Tuesday, 18 December 2007

January Issue

Well for those of you who have waited patiently, BAZAAR's January issue is now on newsstands! Yes, this is the one in which I have actually written stuff.




The Travel Supplement (not pictured) includes five reviews by the Intern, and a medley of her work research-wise... Oh, and her name in the masthead. Yee ha!

Decadence and Deliciousness

Last night I indulged in the ultimate extravagance, drinks on the harbour followed by dinner at Sydney's ARIA Restaurant in East Circular Quay.


For reasons as yet revealed my friends have taken it upon themselves to make sure that while in Sydney, I eat and drink as much as I possibly can and pay for none of it! I regret that it probably has something to do with the fact that they all subscribe to this blog and are therefore aware of my pitiful financial position back in London... I promise any posts that comment on my money (or lack of it) are written for their entertainment value and not by any means to make this a forum for woe-is-me.

But so it is, that last night I met with a girlfriend at Opera Bar (possibly Sydney's most stunning harbour drinking hole) and enjoyed a bottle of sauvignon blanc before we headed back up to her work - she's front of house at ARIA - to be schmoozed by her colleagues and stuffed like olives.

Our entrees and mains were ordered with ease (and chosen with careful thought to the size of our bellies) only for the kitchen to lavish us with the attention of a European grandmother eager to feed... so that one entree each became three and later an intended shared dessert morphed into two, to be chased by devilish petit fours! Thanks to the personal attention of sommelier Matt Dunn, our meal was showered with wine to match each dish. We were totally spoilt.

With taste buds tantalised and our blood alcohol levels rising our conversation turned girly, a little loud with lots of laughing and talk of old-loves and future conquests. Panoramic harbour views, good food and great company... Sydney really is the place to be.

Our Menu

pan friend scallops with sweet corn puree, cauliflower beignet and a caper and sultana dressing $42
terrine of rabbit cassoulet with pickled onions and grain mustard $38
a cigar of goat curd with a salad of pickled beetroot and an apple and hazelnut pesto $38
western australian scampi wrapped in tunisian brick pastry and served with gremolata $40
***
castricum roasted lamb rack with confit neck, cavolo nero, beans, lemon confit and black olive tapenade $54
poached beef fillet with braised silverside, bone marrow, condiments and beef consommé $56
truffled potato mash $15
mixed leaf salad $12
***
pedro ximenez ice cream with marinated raisins and orange $22mango and passionfruit turnovers with banana ice cream $24

ARIA Restaurant
1 Macquarie St East Circular Quay Sydney 2000
Tel: +61 2 9252 2555

Sunday, 16 December 2007

Acclimatise me, please!

Anytime you're visiting friends and family you can be relatively sure that the gatherings will include food and drink, and lots of it. In coming back home for the holidays said-friends and family have been fattening me up much like the Christmas turkey - just call me Hansel.

While the inches will surely take another week or two to find themselves on my waistline, my declining fitness was put to the test Sunday morning when I attempted a 12km run with my sister.

We set out from Manly (in Sydney's Northern Beaches) running north past Queenscliff, Freshwater and Curl Curl, but just at the base of Dee Why, this little piggy could run no more. The sun was pelting down upon my newly fake-tanned skin (note: fake tan blocks pores and traps body heat - not pleasant) and the humidity was causing my tummy to do cartwheels. We'd run a good half hour but the thought of chugging up another hill and then the return journey (with an E.T.A. of an hour and ten minutes) proved too much and intuitively, sister knew. She asked if I’d prefer to turn round and walk back… swallowing my pride (amid gasps for air) I said, “If you don’t mind… otherwise I think I might be sick.”

Tail between my legs – now covered in a sweaty-sheen with my full-length leggings rolled up to mid-thigh (nice look, I know) – sister tried her best to make me feel better. Saying things like, “It’s the heat, even I find this run hard,” and “You just have to let yourself acclimatise.” While I admit that running in London temps of 4°C is very different to Sydney’s 24°C with 54% humidity, I can’t help but think that the five slices of gourmet pizza indulged in on Saturday night also contributed to my feelings of lethargy and nausea.

Never one content with failure I have promised sister that I will spend the next few weeks training and before I set sail for Mother England, I will run with her once more – all the way to Dee Why and back – no matter how many Christmas puddings I am carrying around my belly!

Friday, 14 December 2007

One Wedding, and the funeral of Mr Fabulous

Now I've never wanted this blog to turn Sex and the City - and I promise future entries won't - but having recently attended my first wedding as an eligible bachelorette I feel it incumbent upon me to comment on the saga of those Mr Moneypants-Metrosexuals out there. Lets name this one Fabio, because - he thinks - he's Faaabulous!

Back in the land down under, the wedding was in Melbourne's Yarra Valley vineyards. The setting was just divine - rolling green hills, bountiful grapevines all in neat rows, and a duck-filled pond at the edge of the sandstone winery where my gorgeous girlfriend said, "I do" to her beau.

As the sun began to set we guests took our seats at the tables assigned us. GF had commented that she had placed me next to a similarly eligible bachelor, who was "a bit much, but good for a night out or two." Cheers, I thought. I had actually spotted Mr Fabulous across the duck pond earlier when we had all been mingling amongst canapés. He was hard to miss. Talk, dark and handsome, with big gold sunnies and a greasy smirk. Not my type (if a type indeed I have?)...

At the dinner table a friendly, older couple sat opposite and the wife asked how long Fabio and I had been together. Apparently we looked very well suited. I set the record straight, no we weren't together. Without missing a beat, he said, "Not yet." Hmmmm.... Fabs, not a great move, but the night continued with pleasant enough conversation. He stared deep into my eyes (looking at his own reflection in the darks of my pupils no doubt!), asked me lots of questions, paid me lots of attention, and kept pouring me glasses of wine.

I have to admit that my initial dislike did waiver a little when he asked to take me out for a drink, or dinner, when he planned to visit London in January. He'd been quite charming after all, if not a little too confident, but when the speeches started and Mr Fabulous continued to talk - and loudly too - this bachelorette had had enough. Being told when to drink more wine, and drink her water is not exactly this chick's thing. Especially when Fabio had obviously had a little too much wine and was slurring his words and leaning in a little too close, touching her knee and stroking her shoulder (ewww!).

Another "No" not adhered to, I asked Mr Fabulous if he'd ever heard the word, and suggested he pay it greater attention in the future in order to bring himself down a notch or two. At this point he so eloquently told me that he'd "have me" by the end of the night. Nice.

With speeches over and the cake cut I took the opportunity to escape Mr Fabulous and mingle with other, less inebriated guests. An older guest whom I had chatted with earlier in the day found me in the crowd and asked if I wouldn't mind him introducing me to a "very nice boy" he knew... Without much chance of declining I was led through the room, right to Mr Fabulous! "Oh no, no, no." I politely told my eager Cupid that Fabs and I had met and that it was probably best if he and I keep our relationship at a 'friends' level. Fabs then took me in his arm and whispered in my ear, "You're the loser." Could this guy get any worse?

It wasn't until the after party when dear Cupid implored again that I give Fabs another go. After all, we were both intelligent, attractive people. I couldn't resist the urge to tell Cupid that Fabio indeed thought himself the perfect catch - so much so that I worried there wouldn't be enough room for me in his life (or his mirror), because no one could love Fabio as much as Fabio clearly loved himself! Cupid smiled, a knowing smile. Later he tried one more time for good measure, this time in front of Fabs. Fabs replied, "No comment." At which point I stated that that if he thought calling me a loser was acceptable then it showed what sort of guy he really was. He went to follow me with a drunken retort but I beat him to his punch line with a fairly certain "Would you please F-off?" Pity it was at this time that everyone in the pub fell silent... Fabs was left red-faced and alone. Probably the only time in his life he'd cursed his great height, because never has a poppy drooped so low and scampered so quickly out of doors. Harsh? Maybe. But truly, enough was seriously enough.

Moral of the story: Boys, don't think that a pair of gold Gucci sunnies, a silk tie and Italian leather shoes will always getteth you the girl. Whilst we want our boys well dressed, we never want to have to compete for space at the vanity.