Gastronomie

Missives from Australia, Day 1 in hindsight

2008-11-20T16:31:58-08:00

The overnight flight from SFO is interesting. Because you're flying for 14 hours, it's actually possible to get 8 hours sleep, and still squeeze in a meal and a movie. Admittedly, flying business class probably made this a hell of a lot easier, but I noticed that people in Coach had whole rows to theselves, too.

At any rate, we hit the ground running, since our room at the hotel wasn't quite ready yet. Our path took us down to Circular Quay, and up towards The Rocks, the original settlement when the penal colony was established.

This area is simply stunning, though steeped in a rather dark history. Nurses Walk to Suez Canal, now home to precious cafes and wine bars, were the site of streetfights and much rabble-rousing. The placards on the street corners are illuminating -- did you know that even the nurses in Sydney were convicts?

Amongst these streets, we happened upon the Renaissance Patisserie, where we found the best macarons I've had outside of Europe -- passionfruit & dark chocolate are a marriage made in heaven.

We also found Odyssey Wine Bar, where we vowed to return for dinner the following night for a taste of their food & wine flights.

Just as we thought we might have to break down and eat heavy pub food, when all we really wanted was fresh seafood, we stumbled upon Rockpool. Unbenknownst to us, this is one of the top 10 eateries in Sydney, with good reason.

We started with a dozen oysters (try as I might, I'm not loving the local Sydney oysters. Tasmanian are more to my taste so far), moving on to a stellar korean-inspired tuna tartare, and 'Crispy Leatherjack': beer-battered white fish over rice + an incredible soy-mirin-ponzu vinaigrette.

We shared a bottle of Shaddowfax Pinot Gris, which was, not shockingly, perfectly paired with the local fishes.

Our dinner at Ravenna with Stuart & Robin was equally exceptional, and introduced me to local Kingfish, which is a white tuna-type fish which I've made it my goal to eat as much of as possible.

We're now on board Qantas flight 747 on our way to Adelaide, gateway to the Barossa Valley.

Have a favorite winery, restaurant, or site you think we shouldn't miss? Let me know!

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Missives from Australia - Sydney, Day 2

2008-11-19T19:01:23-08:00

*I decided just this minute that, instead of emailing folks individually, I'd update the blog via these little missives from the other side of the globe.*

We got a good night's sleep after a delightful dinner with the owner of an agency here that I'd met thru Rick - they drove us around Bondi Beach... So beautiful.

This morning, we left the hotel around 9, went and explored the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens (they have a colony of bats!!! Thousands of bats!) & Macquarie street all before lunch. We are going to walk a bit more, then going to the fish market for late lunch.

(I wrote the above a couple hours ago)

We have now eaten a dozen oysters, a lobster and half a dozen local prawns for $37 AUS (or about $24 US)!

Tonight we're eating having nibbles at Odyssey Wine Bar, and another passion fruit macaron from the no-name patisserie around the corner, followed by a night cap at the bar at the Opera House.

Sydney is gorgeous & fascinating, and we're really glad to have another day and a half here on our way back to the states.

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Hi! Ate! Us!

2008-08-19T17:41:52-07:00

I know, I've been gone a while. Consider it a summer sabbatical. Or hiatus {tee-hee}. Truth is, I just haven't been terribly inspired in a while.

And then, sometimes it comes in spades, all at once. In a very short period of time, I have:

Celebrated a good friend's birthday at South Food + Wine, which has renewed the excitement for my trip to Australia in November.
Felt magically lit from within at the Fatted Calf dinner at Piccino, bubbling over with the thrill of great food and great friends and beautiful spaces.
Shown my kid brother some of the best food in this amazing city, and watched as it lit a fire in him to pursue his dream and go back to school.
Eaten the most perfect San Francisco summer sandwich: Fatted Calf mortadella, Dirty Girl tomatoes, butter and basil on Acme Pain de Mie...
... washed down with a glass of rosato...
... whilst watching a magnificent sunset!
Drunk a bottle of bubbly anchored behind Treasure Island
Ate a post-Ferry Plaza Farmers Market picnic on a blustery day in Walton Square
Drunk my way, with several awesome people, through half the San Francisco drinks listed in the Food & Wine Cocktails 2008 book.
LANDED A NEW ACCOUNT!

It's been a good summer, no doubt. But this week, in particular, seems to have broken me out of my writing stupor. I'll be back later this week with a couple of delicious bites -- I have missed this pretty pink page, and I've missed all of you!

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, Hiatus, Summer,Photography,Oakland,San Francisco

Qu'est-ce que c'est... or, Where in the world is Fatemeh?

2008-05-24T23:17:01-07:00

Gastronomie-SF

Seven Hours in Memphis

2008-05-13T18:54:42-07:00

I know I sometimes have a warped view of my world... For example, for the past several years, I've flown over 100K miles per year on United, which has bestowed upon me the status of "Premier Executive 1K". Which basically means I'm that schmuck you hate as you're boarding, who's usually seated in Business Class with a glazed look in her eyes, trying to remember which city she's heading to next.

There are, of course, some nice perks to this program -- the aforementioned upgrades usually clear, I get treated pretty well if there are irregular operations (e.g., weather, equipment problems, etc), and... and... OK, maybe that's mostly it.

But the thing is, once you get used to the perks, it's really hard to think about going back to a lower level of status. Like I said, a warped view.

What does this all have to do with Memphis? Well, United was running a double-miles promotion, and I've always wanted to eat at C's favorite barbeque joint, the Bar-B-Que Shop, so on a total whim, we booked a ticket that would put us on the ground in Memphis for almost exactly seven hours.

It was an exhausting journey (we were in the same clothes for exactly 28 hours), totally indulgent (three meals in 5 hours), and totally invigorating. It was one of those days that leaves you marveling at how amazing the world we live in is, and was a reminder to throw caution to the wind and take life by the balls sometimes.

Tags: Food, Food & Drink, BBQ, Beer,Photography,United,Travel,Memphis,Oakland,San Francisco