Saturday
0830 Attend Barbeque Madness at Sydney Morning Herald Grower’s Market at Pyrmont Park. Join David Tanis of the legendary Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, and a stellar line up of 10 Sydney chefs including Kylie Kwong. Sessions are held every half an hour.
We all stumble down to breakfast about 10ish before stumbling on to the BBQ. It’s all pretty chaotic but we get our seared meat just as they start packing-up around us.
I take a look at Teague Ezard’s restaurant which just opened at the now not quite as tacky Star City casino. The chef seems put out that I have entered the closed restaurant. It looks very cool. And expensive.
1200 Use an E-ticket located in your Welcome Pack to catch a taxi to the Hilton Sydney for the World Chef Showcase. You are welcome to come and go as you please.
I walk to the Hilton in time to post the first in my series of this now very delayed diary. On to see my favourite Melbourne chef Ben Shewry who has a an abalone on white hot BBQ coals in a drum BBQ – inside the hotel! He plays his video about him and his son Kobe that made people cry and the cheffy thing he was at in Copenhagen.
Ben’s near tears on stage and the audience is fast following.
He makes a chocolate Pukeko (a NZ bird) egg that we each get to eat.
We eat various Australian native fruits which are extraordinary and make a compelling dessert.
I interview cacao king Willie Harcourt-Cooze on his chocolate making. Apparently his chocolate will be available for sale in Australia soon. I tell him about Monsieur Truffe and find one of his chocolate bars to give Willie.
Next on is Magnus Nilsson, a straggly haired chef from Faviken in Sweden, a restaurnt in thefar north with just 12 seats.
He is also making an indoor BBQ. “Everyone is doing it,” he tells us. At least at chef’s conferences.
I like his schematic showing what produce uses throughout the year. During the short summer growing season of a fe months it is only vegetables from the garden. Then it’s on to preserved and stored products.And meat that they hunt.
He shows all the ways the store and preserve different vegetables. Something we’ve largely forgotten. I want to get hold of his presentation but you can see him on Youtube here.
I visit a poorly friend in hospital. The food is terrible and i’d starve if I was there. It’s really awful. I’m quite shocked.
1930 Attend the official Destination NSW media welcome dinner at Sepia Restaurant.
We arrive to a Yarrabank late disgorged chardonnay pinot noir, which is pretty much getting towards champagne as much as an Australian wine can. A couple of dozen international food writers and a handful of bloggers are keenly anticipating the 14 course degustation, at the 2012 Restaurant of the Year three hatter.
We start with a whimsical salt and vinegar potato starch, which is a transparent pink.
i have a brief food panic as everyone is erved bu me. It turns out the Sydney dining scene is still a bit archaic, serving ladies first.In this day and age!
I can see the influence of Tetsuya on chef Martin Benn in additional to the supernatural “flower power” chefs.The presentation and the food is exquisite, especially the signature dish (pictured) of Scallop sushi.
What a trip but by midnight the whole table( which has been eating competively all week it appears) is defeated by 14 courses. I still have a special space for what look like stones but are filled with Jelly and eat more than my fill.
There is only one thing to do after so much food; wash it down with hard alcohol.
A possé retires to Gardels Bar, above Porteno is Surry Hills. The only thing to do is down dirty martinis and I conclude that West Winds has taken over from Tanqueray Ten as my favourite.
So much for arriving back at the hotel at 10pm.With the clocks changing it’s nearly 4am. Ouch!