I Don't Eat, I Devour

In the lazy, hazy days post-Christmas but before New Year, I have ample time to not be productive, yet here I am, writing up the Christmas lunch which wrapped up a full and busy work year.  Venison tartare Venison is not a meat I see served often - Three Blue Ducks did a wonderful job of ensuring it is not gamey by serving it with beetroot, horseradish and crispy beetroot brik pastry. The beetroot is treated so that it is sweet and sour, thereby balancing the meatiness of the dish.  Kingfish  The raw kingfish is tossed through a curry spice and serve with grapefruit, fried curry leaves and toasted peanuts. A delicious twist on the usually lime-heavy kingfish dishes seen elsewhere.  Burnt leeks Leeks is usually not my vegetable of choice, but even I cannot deny that it is gorgeously sweet when cooked right, and here, the vegan treatment of it with macadamia cheese, capers and smoked macadamias, it is soft and flavourful.  Lamb This dramatic-looking dish is a Moroccan spiced lamb shoulde

The last time I had a booking at Bistrot 916 was the day before going on an interstate holiday just before the most recent Sydney lockdown - and out of an abundance of caution, I had given up the booking (which was no easy feat to get and took months of waiting) to my friends. Since then, I have desperately wanted to try it and finally my time came.  Chic and darkly romantic, this beautiful bistro serves traditional French fare, which is rich, salty, covered in butter and oh-so-delicious.  Baguette with bottarga butter, $7  Of course, we had to commence the meal with that most typical of French bread. The creamy butter is made gently salty by shaved bottarga - one of life's simple pleasures amped up slightly.  Tuna Tartare, $27 The surprise that came with the tuna tartare (which is fresh, gorgeously flavoured with pickles and egg yolk) is the fried pastry with a smattering of Maldon salt - crunchy, sinful, but delicious.  Saucisson Sec, $12 Saucisson sec always reminds me of that f

This long-standing Paddington restaurant is something of a venerable establishment. I can't quite believe it's taken me so long to finally pay it a visit, and believe me, it lives up to the hype.  Pretzel bottarga, $18 The first thing foodies will mention when the name 10 William St is spoken is probably this delicious entree. The waiter also recommended it, saying, it has practically never left the menu. We can certainly understand why that might be. Beautifully lightly whiped butter with a generous shaving of salty bottarga, served with a piping hot, seedy, satisfyingly chewy pretzel - wonderfully satisfying.  Focaccia, $4 With such generous serving of whipped butter, we had to order a focaccia just to mop up the remainer of the previous dish. The focaccia came with the most decadent pool of olive oil, and is wonderfully fragrant and fluffy.  Eel on toast, $14 each one of the new, rotating menu items, the eel on toast sounded a little more unusual than the alternative (king p

If you were to ask me where is my favourite CBD happy place for a quick escape, Hubert would be my immediate response. When I push open these heavy, huge doors and descend the dimly lit staircase with walls of little alcohol bottles (as though one were descending into a wizard's den), I feel the rest of Sydney - work, stress, relationship drama, the endless to-do lists - fade away.  To me, Hubert is an escape. It's where I'm comfortable enough to order drinks off menu, watching the candles burn slowly, while listening to the house jazz band play. The conversation there are always in low murmurs - all that is to say, Hubert is one of those places where escapism is easy.   Having introduced my happy place to my brother, he was appropriately excited when I suggested that I took the family there for his birthday. Half dozen oysters, $36 As one would expect, the oysters supplied to Hubert is fresh and plump. The real winner and that which makes enjoying oysters at Hubert more