Tetsuya

Our concierge suggested we add Testsuya’s to our list of dining adventures in Sydney, and Pamela’s relatives all said we’d like it best. They were right. This is the restaurant that should have three Michelin stars.

It’s located in a Japanese-styled house near Chinatown. The dining rooms look out onto a Zen garden, providing a restful backdrop—although soon all the tables are filled, so it’s not exactly quiet!

Service here is friendly but much more professional than at the other restaurants where we dined this week. Most interesting to me was that no menu was presented at the start of the meal. Our server simply asked if there was anything we didn’t like, or any allergies, and then we put ourselves in his hands for the nine courses that followed. Nearly all of them were stellar. My favors were:

Amuse bouche of potato soup with coddled quail egg. We started with a bang, as this simple espresso cup of soup had all manner of complex flavors, and was much more than the sum of its parts.

Tetsuya’s signature dish of ocean trout. Perfectly cooked, with a savory coating of herbs, and delicious unpasteurized roe.

Bread and butter pudding. I was shocked that this was my favorite of the four sweet items served as two dessert courses, because I’m not a bread pudding fan, but this was very complex, and the embedded golden raisin were scrumptious. It also perfectly matched an impressive Tokay from Australia.

Speaking of matches, I had nine perfectly matched wines with my courses, but Pamela and Dani opted for individual glasses of wine. It was Dani’s first opportunity to order her own wine, and Pamela also put herself in Dani’s hands, and they had four very interesting and thoughtfully choses wines. For the record, Dani’s first selection, to accompany the seafood dishes, was a Spanish Albarino.

I felt guilty that Pamela insisted on paying for this meal, but it was wonderful to spend our last night in Sydney together, and the meal was that much better for the wonderful company.

Earlier in the day Dani and I walked down to the Rocks and dropped our laundry off at a place that changes a flat fee to wash, fold and deliver back to our hotel. Convenient!

Then we walked several miles through the city and Chinatown, over to the University of Sydney, where we had lunch, wandered around the campus, and Dani spoke with a nice gentleman from the International Studies office. She collected a lot of useful information about study abroad, graduate and medical school options. I can see where it would be very tempting to spend a few years—or a lifetime—in beautiful Sydney! We’re sad to be leaving.

Jenolan Caves

Our driver, Trevor, picked us up early for the 100 mile drive to Jenolan Caves. The caves are in the Blue Mountains, southwest of Sydney. Along the way we stopped near Leura, where Pamela used to live, to see the view. Trevor took us to the end of a dirt road and we walked out onto Flat Rock. watch out for that 800 foot drop–there’s no guard rail! The swirling fog made everything mysterious. Then it was on to the caves.

Our tour was of Orient Cave, the most spectacular. Certainly this was the best cave I’ve ever seen. Just as the Great Barrier Reef ruins you for other snorkeling, this cave has probably made it pointless to visit any others! The 90 minute guided tour was well done, and the 358 steps were easily negotiated. They’ve done a nice job of developing this cave without ruining it.

Afterwards we had a quick bite on the veranda of the cafe, where the King Parrots came and begged for crumbs.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Featherdale Animal Park, where Dani got to pet many kangaroos, wallabies and a Koala. It’s a nice park, the same one we visited in 2001.

For dinner we took Trevor’s recommendation and ate at a small cafe near our hotel, called Fish at the Rocks. It was quite good.

Read Dani’s detailed description of the trip here:
http://danialcorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/australia-2011-day-8.html

Sydney Zoo

We spent a delightful day at the Sydney Zoo, courtesy of Pamela. It’s just a short ferry ride across Sydney Harbour from Circular Quay. It’s a great zoo, and the animals were very cooperative, standing where we could see them! The weather was perfect for strolling the steep grounds, low 70s and a light breeze.

Very Curious Seal
Lemurs: My Favorite
This Tasmanian Devil isn't actually squashed, just communing with the pavement

I cancelled out dinner reservation at Est. because it seemed too similar to meals we’d already been non-plussed by, and instead we returned to Chat Thai for a delicious and somewhat adventurous Thai dinner. Although the Westfield mall and its other restaurants were deserted, Chat Thai was packed, so it was a good thing we got there early.

For Dani’s detailed description read:
http://danialcorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/australia-2011-day-7.html

Quay

We checked out Quay in the afternoon, before returning in the evening for dinner.

Quay (pronounced “key”) is a three-star Michelin restaurant that has been voted best restaurant in Australia and Asia. It’s on the third floor of the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, and has a spectacular view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Dani and I stopped by on our  afternoon walk to check it out, and then returned for dinner at 6pm.

The setting is stunning, with a 270 degree view of Circular Quay, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour  Bridge.

We opted for the eight course tasting menu, with eight matching wines. There are two wine options, classic and premium, so we selected one of each, enabling us to sample 16 wines. The classic offering was almost entirely from Australia and New Zealand, while the premium was mostly European.

Service was attentive and friendly, with nearly every course presented by a different, personable server. Our sommelier was from Germany, and she provided a detailed description of the origin and characteristics of each wine.

The wines were the highlight of the meal. There were only two we didn’t care for. The premium wines were always better, but in two cases the classic wines matched the food better.

Rhubarb on pomegranate molasses crumbles

There was one standout course, something neither of us would have ordered had it not been on the tasting menu: pig jowl with a maltose crackling crust, served on cauliflower and prune purees. I know, it sounds awful. But it was one of those dishes where each individual ingredient tasted fine, but the combination of all four was a home run, something entirely different. And we both loved the wine pairing of 2007 Domaine de L’Arjolle ‘Lyre’ from Pouzolles, France. It was like Yquem without all the sweetness. I need to get some of this.

Pig jowl

The food was good, but for the most part not what I consider Michelin three star. Certainly Eleven Madison Park has nothing to worry about. But the meal was much better than Becasse.

Palm blossom brioche, amaretto cream, prune sorbet

As dinner ended we were treated to a fireworks show in the harbour, and then had a short walk back to our hotel through The Rocks. There were still lots of people celebrating Australia’s rugby win, spilling from bars out into the refreshing evening air.

 

Australia Museum

We spent a pleasant day at the Australia Museum, which has upgraded their video projection since our last visit ten years ago. Their insect and mineral collections are really extensive, although it’s the dinosaurs that draw the kids.

Dani points out that ten years of waiting to go for a walk have really taken a toll on the dog:

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at McDonald’s to see if the food was different than in the US, and it was (I guess–it’s been years since I ate at McDonald’s). They have a Grand Angus burger that’s sort of like the old McDLT, and you can (“for a limited time”) get a shaker bag and seasoning for your fries. The seasoning tasted like Shake ‘n Bake.

For Dani’s detailed description, read:
http://danialcorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/australia-2011-day-6.html

 

Rockpool Bar & Grill

Portions of this entry were originally written by Dani for her blog.

Rockpool Bar & Grill is a short walk from the Four Seasons Hotel. It’s a beautiful room, which looks like it may have been a bank in another life. There are wine glasses everywhere!

The menu is extensive, with an emphasis on wood stove and rotisserie. Dani had rotisserie chicken and I had rotisserie lamb shoulder. Both were excellent, but the lamb was better. However the side items stole the show: melt-in-your-mouth brussels sprouts and roasted parsnips. We don’t know why parsnips aren’t more popular in the US, they’re like sweet potatoes, only with better mouth feel.

Rockpool is pretty expensive. It was a challenge finding a wine for less than $100, and most were over $200. That said, there are at least a thousand selections on the impressive winelist, including many selections of Petrus going back to 1900 (Ka-ching!).

The “petit fours”weren’t what you’d expect. One was a chocolate devils food cake cupcake and the other was slabs of dark chocolate bark with sesame seeds and cashews.

“Bar & Grill” is a strange moniker for this restaurant, because it’s not really the casual experience that summons up. I suppose it’s called that to differentiate it from the higher-end Rockpool near our hotel. That one had a menu that involved too many thing that really do come from tide pools, so I’m glad we chose this one. It was definitely a better meal than the one we had at Becasse.

The ceiling of the bar at Rockpool

 

Breakfast Point

A more extensive version of this entry was written by Dani for her blog.

After breakfast we went to Circular Quay, and the same wharf where we met Pamela to catch a ferry to her neighborhood. The water taxi service is incredibly reasonable. An adult one-way ferry ticket is only $5.60. The ferries run on a timetable, much like a train system.

The ferry we took had an open deck on top. We sat up there on our ride to Breakfast Point, where Pamela and her youngest son live. This morning dawned foggy, but by the time we got on the ferry enough had burned off for us to enjoy the view.

We departed Circular Quay (pronounced ‘key’) at 9:40 and arrived at Cabarita by 10:20. The journey took us through Darling Harbor, and a half dozen stops, none of which took more than a minute. Along the way we passed lots of interesting houses, a campground, and the Luna Park amusement park.

Pamela met us at the dock and drove us to her condo, a beautiful new buildings. The building had all the latest security, including electronic key fobs required to open any of the outside doors and which only take the elevator to your own floor.

Pamela’s apartment is beautifully decorated. All the furniture is white and bright, which makes the apartment seem light and airy. She has two bedrooms, a very practical kitchen, and a little study.

She also has art everywhere, more than half of it was done by her friends. Many of the pieces were by mountain artists, and all had a story to go with them.

We chatted for a bit, admiring Pamela’s view (which unfortunately is becoming restricted by a new building going up in front of the river). A call from Andrew’s prompted us to walk to his nearby building. His 8th floor corner unit has an even more spectacular view of Sydney in the distance. At Andrew’s we got to meet all of Pamela’s family: her two sons, Brett and Andrew; Brett’s wife, Sandy; their children, Emma and Simon; Andrew’s wife, Wendy; and their daughter Karina.

Andrew and Wendy provided a delightful lunch. They had set up an enormous table, with so many different delicious foods. Andrew barbecued delicious Wagyu sausages, eggs, and bacon. Wendy had beautiful quiches, pastries and preserves.

And the conversation was wonderful; we immediately felt like part of the family. We talked about the differences in food, politics and culture between the states and Australia, theme park projects, and the differences in the university system.

After a lovely, several hours long lunch and conversation, Pamela, Andrew and Karina gave us a tour of the  club house and then escorted us along the paths back to the ferry, where we caught the 4:15 to Circular Quay. Dark clouds in the East provided a dramatic backdrop for the setting sun behind us, turning Sydney into a city of gold. We stood on the prow of the ferry on the way in, and the sights were even more beautiful than during the morning.

 

Hunter Valley Wineries

This post was shamelessly cribbed from Dani’s blog.

Today we went to the Hunter Vally wine country. This was exciting for Dani because it was her first time on a wine tour someplace where she’s over the legal drinking age.

At 8:30 we met both Pamela and our guide/driver for the day, Trevor. Trevor loaded us into a fairly comfortable four wheel drive SUV and set off for wine country. There was some confusion over names at first (Trevor started calling Pamela “Barbara,” and she started calling him “Henry”) but after the first few kilometers everyone was properly sorted.

The drive up was very scenic, even though we kept on the main highway to save time. Large swaths had been cut through sandstone mountains to make room for the road in spots. When we asked Trevor why one side of the bluff had so much water running down it and the other side was bone dry, he proved very knowledgeable and explained how water collected on internal deposits of clay and lime stone, only to trickle out. The other side was dry because it got the brunt of the sun everyday and dried out quickly after rainfall.

Trevor was very knowledgeable about everything from wine, to geography, to history. We’re looking forward to our trip up to the Blue Mountains with him on Tuesday.

We arrived in wine country by 11:00 and Trevor knew his way around brilliantly. Our first stop was Audrey Wilkinson. They had several very nice whites, including a semillon and a very nice lightly-oaked chardonnay with a nose that smelled smoky, almost like a smoked sausage. The reds were a little disappointing, more a sour cherry style than the big Aussie fruit bombs we expected.

The view from the winery was spectacular. The “cellar door” (in the US it would be called a tasting room) was on top of a hill overlooking the valleys on both sides. Trevor told us that during the summer when there are lots of leaves on the vines to provide shade, kangaroos come out and lie in the vineyards on the slope.

After that we went to Brokenwood winery. This was a very nice winery and the girl at the counter was very knowledgeable about exactly where the grapes for the various wines were grown, what kind of soil they grew in, and what that did for the flavor/smell of the wine. She poured us lots of different wines to compare. Brokenwood was also nice because they have a US distributor, which means that we could actually order some wine shipped home.

After Brokenwood we took a break from wine and went to “The Smelly Cheese Shop.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t actually that smelly (all the cheese had been wrapped up). We selected some triple cream brie to take to Pamela’s cousin’s for lunch. Her cousin, Janis, and her husband Adriaan had graciously invited us over for lunch.

They live on a unique property. It is a residential winery. Everyone who lives there owns a share of the grapes produced. Their house was just lovely. The view was beautiful, Adriaan’s garden was in full bloom, even in winter, and their kitchen reminded us of ours at home. Janis set a table outdoors on the patio in the shade. The weather was just perfect for an outdoor lunch, 70s and a light breeze.

Janis downplayed her cooking, saying lunch was “only a light salad” but what she made was so tasty! The salad had prawns, pineapple, lychee fruit, cucumber, diced red onions, avocado, mayonnaise, mustard, cream, and a dash of olive oil. It was just delicious. This was accompanied by fresh seeded bread from the market in Cessnoch and a selection of cheeses. Adriaan opened a couple of bottles of wine from their winery, Kelman, which were just delightful and refreshing (a semillon and a semillon/sauvignon blanc).

We only had an hour to spend with Janis and Adriaan, but they were simply lovely people. Janis is originally from Australia but Adriaan is actually Dutch, though he grew up in Brussels. They met while Janis was traveling, married, and lived in Banyuls France. About five years ago they moved back to Australia and built their house on the winery. Now they’re thinking of moving in closer to Sydney, though they still love their winery.

Trevor collected us again and took us to two more wineries, Pepper Tree and Tower Winery. Pepper Tree was in a lovely spot, but their wines were the weakest offerings of the day (although they had a well structured merlot).

Tower had some shiraz that was a bit bigger, but we finally decided that the Hunter Valley style is simply lighter. In fact, our discovery of the day was that Hunter Valley’s styles for all their varietals is very consistent from one winery to the next. A semillon from Audrey Wilkinson tastes very similar to a semillon from Tower, and so on.

The traffic getting back into Sydney in the afternoons can be beastly, so Trevor warned us that we needed to leave the valley by about 2:30. We dropped Pamela off at her new apartment on Breakfast point, just north of Sydney, and then returned to the hotel.

Trevor will be taking us to the Blue Mountains next Tuesday. We were struck by how he didn’t require us to pay for today’s excursion, but just shrugged and said we could pay for both next week. It’s a great country.

For dinner we walked a few blocks over towards The Rocks, a trendy shopping and dining district, and sat outside under the heaters, sharing an Italian salad and Marguerita Pizza.

Becasse

This post was cribbed from Dani’s Blog

We met Pamela in the lobby at 5:30 and headed over to Bécasse for dinner. The restaurant recently relocated from a 90 seat location to a 24 seat spot in an upscale mall. After passing through a wrought iron door threaded with ivy and then walking down an exceedingly long hallway decorated with trees whose seasons changed, we approached the main seating area.

The room was cozy, plush, and a bit avante garde. Service was friendly rather than formal.

Pamela had never had a tasting menu before, but we talked her into the nine course menu degustation, which turned out to be 12 courses with 12 matching wines. She acquitted herself quite well.

The food was frankly a bit disappointing. While each plate was beautiful, and the individual ingredients were exotic and interesting, no dish ever combined to be more than the sum of its parts. There were no home runs.

Nevertheless, it was a delightful meal, with great conversation and a relaxed atmosphere.

Many hours later we strolled home, enjoying the cool night air.

Circular Quay

Circular Quay (prounounced “kee”) is the waterfront area next to the Sydney Opera House. It’s just a block from our hotel, and we met our friend Pamela there, where she arrived from her house by one of the River Cat ferries. After she checked in we went for a long walk past the Opera House, Government House and up to the Museum of Sydney, where we had lunch in their outdoor cafe. It was a beautiful day, short sleeved shirt weather, and the water was crystal blue. Hard to believe it’s winter when you’re slathering on sunscreen!

 

Kable’s

Kable’s is the fine dining restaurant at the our hotel, the Four Seasons Sydney. Although the hotel has a spectacular view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour, Kable’s, surprisingly, doesn’t, as it is located on the mezzanine of the lobby. (I’ve included some views from our room instead.)

After our long night and a busy day walking around town, we decided to take advantage of the proximity of Kable’s, and had a lovely dinner. The menu consists of fair-sized tasting plates, with an emphasis on sashimi and other fish dishes with Asian-influenced preparations. Although there is an umpteen course tasting menu with matching wines, it’s also a good place for a light meal, with each plate costing just $15.

 

A Room with a View

Once the sun turned the corner of the building we opened our blind and found a lovely view of the Sydney Opera House from our room on the 28th floor of the Four Seasons. Refreshed by our showers, we went out and walked the city, ending up at the Sydney Aquarium, which we remembered enjoying on our previous visit. It’s a pretty good aquarium, and the only place I’ve seen a platypus, which is truly an animal assembled by a committee.

Afterwards, we wandered back into the business district looking for lunch and stumbled into an upscale mall that turned out to contain the restaurant we’re going to tomorrow night. It also had a lot of other good restaurants included one that was really jammin’: Chat Thai. It was very inventive, and quite reasonably priced.

The 22 Hour Night

It takes 22 hours to fly from Orlando to Sydney, Australia. That may sound like a long time, but Dani and I discovered that if you have the right seat, it actually isn’t too bad. The sun set as we took off, and was just rising as we landed in Sydney, twenty-two hours–and two days–later. Essentially, we chased the moon for a day, all the way across the international date line.

It’s easy to forget how much better International service is than domestic, even on the same airline. Our first class flight from Orlando to LAX was the usual tired plane, big seat, pretty mediocre food. But the flight to Sydney was a delight. Using frequent flyer miles, I booked us on Delta in their Business Elite section from Los Angeles to Sydney. The new 777-200LD planes are great, and the Business Elite section has seats that are like little rooms that fully recline into a flat bed. There are large pullout tray tables and touch screen monitors, and even a USB jack for charging stuff. Dinner was a tasty, multi-course affair with five spice seared tuna sashimi, a delicious salad, short ribs, and a 2001 Rioja.

Another plus of Business Elite is they give you fast passes for customs and immigration (a program being tested by the Australian government) so we were in and out of the airport in no time. A driver met us and took us to the Four Seasons Hotel, our home base for the next eight days. Time for a shower!

Sushi Pop

At last! There’s a sophisticated and trendy restaurant in Orlando. Sushi Pop in Oviedo combines highly creative sushi with a touch of molecular gastronomy and an anime-inspired decor to create a top notch experience worthy of New York City. Highlights were:

  • Edamame with garlic salt
  • Ceviche roll (hamachi with avocado, tempura shallots and chipotle lime sauce topped with flounder, siracha hot sauce, micro cilantro, Hawaiian pink salt and wedge of lime)
  • Hot Mess roll (smoked salmon, avocado and tempura flakes with maple soy, topped with baked tuna, salmon, yellowtail, flounder, spicy mayo, smelt roe, scallions and rendered bacon)
  • Hamachi Kama (grilled yellowtail collar glazed with sweet soy, topped with toasted garlic, scallions, lime wedge and ponzu dipping sauce)
  • It’s No Yolk (fresh cubed salmon tossed with lime juice, olive oil, shallots, thai basil with sunny side egg of sweet coconut milk and mango puree, served with seaweed rice cracker)
  • Maple ice cream with candied bacon

The seating is a combination of tables, couch-like booths and bar stools. Servers wear individual quirky costumes. Anime plays on flat screens, and the wall art is manga. Reservations are a must, as the place was packed, inside and out, during our three-hour gastronomic tour. Highly Recommended.

Thirst of the Nation

Last night Linda and I went to a charity fundraiser, Taste of the Nation, at the Marriott World Center. Similar events are held in cities around the country. It’s one of those events where a few dozen restaurants and wineries set up tables in a convention center and donate their food and wine, while donors eat, drink and bid on silent auction items to raise money. (Let’s set aside the irony of doing this to stop childhood hunger.)

I can’t speak too harshly of this event, because it was for charity, and because the restaurants and especially Marriott put a tremendous effort into it. And the food was fantastic. I’ve been to dozens of such events, and this was the best food I’ve encountered.

The problem was the wine. There almost wasn’t any. Or anything else to drink, for that matter. With hundreds of guests, I doubt there were a dozen bottles on offer. In fact there was such a shortage of beverages that soon lines formed at the Nestle water products table!

This had a secondary disastrous effect, because the silent auction is, let’s face it, fueled by intoxication. And with the auction ending at 9:30, but the VIP spenders arriving at 6:00, I doubt there were many left to bid. I can’t say for sure, because we left after sixty minutes and went to the Vineyard Grill at the Ritz Carlton. For a bottle of wine.

Stuffing Meat Loaf

Linda made a new meat loaf recipe last night that’s the best I’ve tasted. Rather than bread or cracker crumbs, it uses Stove Top Stuffing mix:

  • 2 lbs ground round
  • 1 package Stove Top Stuffing mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 medium finely chopped onion
  • 2 or 3 finely chopped celery stalks
  • Ragu Chunky Marinara
  • 2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsps brown mustard
  • Cavendar’s seasoning
  • Top with bacon and ketchup

Bake one hour at 400 degrees.

 

Lemon-Free Hummus

Because Dani’s roommate is allergic to citrus (and several hundred other things) they’ve discovered some interesting alternative recipes. Today she made this, which I think I like better than regular hummus.

Recipe

19 oz can of chick peas
3-4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
7 or 8 shakes of Moroccan Road (or cumin)
1/2 tsp organic garlic
1 or 2 shakes of garlic powder

1. Drain and rinse chick peas.
2. Place in medium microwave safe bowl with lid
3. Add a drizzle of olive oil and stir chick peas
4. Microwave for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. While chick peas are still hot, add at least two tablespoons of olive oil to begin and blend using immersion blender
6. Add balsamic, garlic, garlic powder, and cumin to taste
7. Finish blending
8. Chill before serving

Hummus made from the above ratios is thicker than traditional hummus, more like a spread.

Asiate

The reviews of Asiate all said it had a great view. That’s all they said. So I was a little worried about making it our final meal on this New York trip. But it was right across the street from our hotel, on the top of the Mandarin Oriental in the Time Warner Building, so we gave it a shot. It turned out to be a good choice. The sashimi appetizer I had was the best ever, and I eat a lot of sashimi. The tuna was perfect–buttery and plentiful–and it sat on a bed of complex ingredients and sauces. The salmon entree was also quite good. And as you can see, the view can’t be beat.

A nice end to a nice trip. We packed a lot into these three days in New York.

l’Atelier NYC

We finished our last full day in New York with a visit to Joel Robuchon’s l’Atelier in the Four Seasons Hotel. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and great food at l’Atelier. We’ve tried them in London and Las Vegas, and this one was just as good. The servers are friendly and informative, and the sushi bar-like setting is unique.