Friends for life

Garry and I joined two long-standing friends, Jon and Colm, for dinner last night. We kicked off the evening with cocktails at Bobbie’s, a new subterranean bar in Double Bay before venturing upstairs for dinner at Neil Perry’s new Cantonese restaurant, Song Bird.

We last caught up as a quartet in July 2022, and before that, we enjoyed leisurely Sunday cocktails at the Beresford Hotel in 2019. However, we’ve had a couple of meals alone with Jon in the intervening years. Garry and I entertained Jon at Margaret, Neil Perry’s flagship restaurant, earlier this year, and an evening at Rockpool in Melbourne last year.

Our meal in 2022 was a leisurely lunch at Nour, followed by cocktails at the Dolphin Hotel. Jon succinctly describes this post-COVID reunion as “The best seven-hour lunch we’ve ever enjoyed”. Nour really was awesome. The restaurant gave us a large circular table next to full-length picture windows overlooking its rear garden wall. Above is us at the Dolphin.

Jon has the dubious distinction of being one of my longest-standing friendships in Australia. More than 30 years ago we met at a mutual friend’s housewarming party. Since then, our friendship has endured through good times and bad. Along the way, we’ve always been there for each other as we’ve battled some of our darkest moments, met our respective partners, got married (Jon and Colm in December 2002) and relocated across the globe (Garry and I to London, Jon and Colm to Vancouver).

Jon has taught me much about life. For example, his friendship helped me understand my mother’s personality and what she valued most. He’s also taught me true friendship is often an endurance race, not a sprint. I've learned that factors sustaining the relationship morph and evolve over time. Here's to many more decades of growing older together.

Year of the Foodies

Those who know us well will gladly testify that Garry and I are passionate foodies. Over the years we’ve been progressively ticking restaurants and memorable dining experiences off a forever-expanding bucket list. The last year or so has been filled with plenty of new foodie memories.

For the last seven years, we’ve gone to Melbourne on business twice a year. Each time we spend a week exhibiting at a major trade show by day before booking ourselves into some of the city’s finest restaurants at night. Over the years these culinary highlights have included Kobe Jones, Dinner by Heston (since closed and relocated to London), and Vue de Monde. Without a doubt, Vue de Monde remains one of Garry and my greatest culinary hits of all time.

This year we made the most of our return to Melbourne after a COVID-induced absence of more than 2.5 years. We finally got to sample the Teppanyaki grill at Koko in Crown Casino and spent a memorable evening at Attica. Attica was particularly interesting. For many years it was considered Australia’s best restaurant. It reimagines a range of recognisable dishes using native Australian ingredients.

For example, when we dined at Attica, we enjoyed pastrami made from Emu (it tastes like regular New Yorker pastrami), and crispy snacks made from saltbush. While the experience was unique, I personally found it a little underwhelming. The restaurant itself is rather spartan and the concept of regular food made differently wore a little thin as the evening progressed.

For me this year’s Melbourne highlight was Koko. I love the theatre of Teppanyaki and the chefs at Koko delivered in full. The menu was also peppered with plenty of unexpected flavour bombs. I’d have to say it was even better than the Melbourne institution, Kobe Jones.

This year we’ve also enjoyed lunch (twice) at Mimi’s in the Coogee Beach Pavilion, including a farewell meal for a departing staff member. On both occasions the food was superb. Caviar and Dom Perignon are always a match made in heaven, and nothing beats a towering platter of crispy Pommes Allumettes. We also enjoyed the theatrical unveiling of a neighbouring table’s salt dome baked Mud Crab. One, I’ve never seen a crab so big, and Two, I’ve never seen a salt crush so thick and hardy!

However, my ultimate foodie experience of 2022 has to be Margaret, the new Neil Perry restaurant in Double Bay. Garry and I enjoyed a memorable belated birthday dinner for myself in early November. Every dish we sampled was heavenly, including Neil’s almond-based Wedding Cake dessert filled with layers of fluffy Swiss Meringue. I subsequently attempted to recreate this dish for Garry’s birthday a few weeks later

My new EO Forum group also enjoys a meal together once a month at one of Sydney’s many reputable restaurants. To date, this has included the highly rated Botswana Butchery, Hubert’s, and the Menzies Bistro at Shell House. Garry and I have also found time to entertain a key customer at Cottage Point Inn, a waterside venue I last visited in 1998.

Finally, before I sign off, a shout-out to Automata. We enjoyed its degustation menu over winter last year before the city went into total lockdown for four soul-destroying months. The restaurant has subsequently announced it’ll be closing in early 2023. However, the meal Garry and I enjoyed was a genuine treat from start to finish. No wonder we’re constantly doing battle with an expanding waistline.

When in Rome...

For the entire time Garry and I lived in London we never indulged in a High Tea. This quintessentially British tradition was conceived by high society in the Victorian era. At the time most people ate a hearty breakfast and often didn’t dine again until the evening.

The Victorians began taking afternoon tea to bridge the gap. By the end of the century, afternoon tea had become a daily ritual for the upper classes, though it had spread in various forms through much of the rest of society too.

In the more privileged households the ladies would dress for the occasion whether at home or out in public, and the selection of goodies on the tea tray become equally elaborate. Pastries, scones, clotted cream, delicate cakes, and the ubiquitous thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches.

While in London last month we took time out one Sunday afternoon to treat ourselves and a long-time friend to a decadent High Tea. I booked us into the ornately decorated Oscar Wilde Lounge at the Café Royal in Piccadilly Circus. The afternoon was totally over the top but heaps of fun.

We spent almost four hours drinking champagne and nibbling on canapes and petit cakes while being entertained by a pianist on a grand piano. Our waiter even put on a show for us. Our empty flutes were regularly topped up with an outstretched pouring ritual that I’m honestly not game to try at home.

The road to Hobart

Our final two days in Tasmania were spent driving through to Hobart, followed by a morning exploring Hobart’s popular Salamanca weekend market. We spent several days in Hobart on our last visit so we decided to spend more time visiting the area’s regional sights on our way into town.

Our road trip took us through the scenic London Lake district. Here you can find a stone cairn marking the geographic centre of Tasmania. We then took a detour to visit the picturesque Russell Falls on the fringe of Mount Field National Park. Here we stopped for a picnic before moving on to Salmon Ponds.

The Salmon Ponds is Australia’s oldest trout hatchery. It was founded in May 1864 and today it’s still supplying more than a million trout for stocking Tasmania’s lakes. Rivers and dams. The attraction includes a series of display ponds filled with fish including Atlantic Salmon, Rainbow Trout and some impressive Albino Rainbow Trout. 

Our final stop on the way to Hobart was Pulpit Rock Lookout. This spectacular outcrop looks out over a scenic bend in the Derwent River and the floodplains beyond. It was a fitting way to end our rural adventure before we drove on into the city.

As luck would have it. We arrived in Hobart on the final night of the Taste of Tasmania festival. This is Australia’s largest and longest-running food and wine festival. This year The Taste showcased 98 small to large food and beverage producers and 710 artists. We send several hours that evening wandering the harbourside event tasting all manner of delicious food. However, the real highlight was a chance meeting with Justin Arnold, the wine-maker at Ghost Rock, my favourite Tasmanian winery.

On our final morning in Hobart we stopped in at the Tasmania Museum & Gallery to see this venue's Tasmanian Tiger exhibit.  It's a modest room near the back of the building.  Inside are the preserved remains of Tasmania's famous extinct marsupial carnivore. Much of the room is kept in darkness to reduce the bleaching effects of light.  A timer switch briefly illuminates them before they're cast back into darkness.  It a rather poignant set up. I don't how we missed this on our first trip to Hobart?

The smuggler's curse

I'm guilty as charged.  Last month I failed to declare four jars of Marmite as we came through customs at Sydney airport.  It was an honest mistake.  I'd forgotten that Garry and I had made a last minute purchase in Auckland.  As luck would have it our luggage wasn't searched. 

However, it was one heck of shock to discover the hidden booty as I opened my suitcase. Television reality shows are forever broadcasting stories of reckless passengers who fail to declare food products at the airport.  These omissions can result in an on-the-spot fine of $340; which is considerly more than the shelf price of my four Marmite jars.

In recent months, I'd grown dispondent that Sanitarium Marmite would never reappear on Australian shelves.  Week after week I'd diligently check our local supermarket for a delivery. The shelf remained resolutely empty.  Production of this breakfast elixir restarted more than six months ago in New Zealand.  You'd think that was plenty of time to restock Kiwi shelves and send a few boxes across the Tasman.

It was therefore somewhat ironic when Marmite reappeared on local shelves the day after our return from New Zealand.  Garry had a little chuckle when he spotted the jars in stock.  We'd driven out of our way to collect our Auckland stash and here they were in Sydney less than 48 hours later.  Smuggling clearly doesn't pay.

Marmaggedon is over!

A small miracle appeared in the mail this week.  My sister-in-law has sent me a "care package" from Auckland.  I'm now the proud owner of two jars of New Zealand's Sanitarium Marmite! More than a year since it disappeared from Supermarket shelves my favourite childhood spread is back. I made myself toast this evening just so I could have a quick salty hit.  Delicious.