Mr NQN often complains that I’m always in a hurry. I always complain that he’s always in a dream like trance and every trip involves me herding him to get ready “We’re running late! Are you ready?” is often a cry of mine. However this evening, I’m in no hurry at all.

It’s the first night of the Sydney Festival and there’s a tell tale excitement in the air. People are in good moods and the weather is balmy. And we’re positioned right on the water at Woolloomooloo Bay wharf at the bar at Manta and settled into a deep banquette lounge. And I’m not moving. A boat sails past pumping dance music with people dancing on the bow. Later, a boat cruises past with the entire thirty of so passengers singing Happy Birthday. Hundreds of people walk past and provide us with copious amounts of eye candy and entertainment.

Manta ‘angel’ chips with truffle oil and parmesan $15.5

I have learned the hard way that I am a very cheap drunk. So for me to have a cocktail I must have food and food that can soak up alcohol or I’ll soon be climbing up on one of those boats. The angel chips do the trick. Last time we ate at Manta they were a little too rich as we had them along with a huge steak and lobster but outside of this they’re just what I need. They are generously coated with truffle salsa and parmesan and the chips are golden and crunchy (although the chips at the bottom don’t get that moreish blanket of parmesan)

Manta Martini $16

The Manta martini is filled with freshly crushed lychees and lemongrass syrup shaken with Belvedere vodka and apple juice, served straight up martini style. It’s very strong and fruity with a distinct Asian flavour to it from the lychee and to a lesser extent the lemongrass which is more subtle.

Asian bellini

The Asian bellini has lychee liqueur, champagne and watermelon liqueur at the bottom. Once stirred, and the watermelon liqueur does have the tendency to settle, it is sweet, bubbly and giggle making.

A dozen oysters $49

There are usually three varieties of oyster but being oysters, a couple of them aren’t at their best so we have two oysters to choose from. There is the Sydney Rock from Moreton Bay and Sydney Rock from Port Stephens. They both taste quite different. At Manta they explain that they are all freshly shucked and never under running water, just brushed to get any grit or shell out if there is any. So the oysters taste like the sea brine. The Moreton bay are subtler in flavour with a more straight briney taste whereas the Port Stephens oysters have myriad flavours from the sea. And you can order them on the muscle if you would like.

Ocean trout roe – 30g $38

There are three types of caviar available, the ocean trout roe ($38), oscietra ($165) and beluga ($265) per one ounce serve. It’s an item that they don’t sell a lot of as most people don’t go for it. But not me, I love caviar borne of having a Russian friend in High School. Her parents spent a small fortune buying caviar and she was nonplussed about the stuff whereas I loved visiting her and getting a taste of caviar. This caviar is the ocean trout roe so technically not caviar but roe. The beads are small and firm on the outside which makes me quite hard to pop and there isn’t a great deal of the salty nectar inside. I have to admit that I didn’t really go for this roe as I love the gentle popping and resultant explosion of salty caviar. It is served with sour cream tiny radish batons and diced cucumber on thinly sliced bread that is not quite crouton, not quite fresh bread.

Hiramasa kingfish carpaccio, capers, shaved fennel, radish, orange $19

I recall adoring this dish last time but this time it is fresh but is a bit bland in comparison as there isn’t enough salt to bring out the lovely flavour of the kingfish (last time there were different accompaniments).

Summer Breeze $16

The summer breeze cocktail is a long, icey drink of sweet berries and is eminently drinkable. It’s a blend of fresh watermelon, blueberries and raspberries shaken with cranberry juice, Belvedere vodka and Chambord. And for those that don’t drink very much, the sweetness of the cranberry juice and berries makes this easily downed and as the name suggests, perfect for hot evenings like this.

Pineapple Sorbet Mojito $16

I equally adored the pineapple sorbet mojito as it was full of fresh mint and pineapple flavours. There was fresh mint and pineapple sorbet with lime and sugar, Havana Bianco rum, served over ice, topped with soda water. Another refreshing drink for summer.

Suddenly the heavens open up-not rain my dear readers but the shades pull back to give us a glorious view of the last half hour of light before darkness descends. And did you know that the shades along all of the restaurants are controlled by a little wind measure that sits atop some of the poles? I had to ask because I was curious as all of the shades along the wharf pulled back at once.

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The Provenance’s courtyard

“Please ring the bell then enter “. I am very much about first impressions and from glancing into the picture perfect courtyard and seeing the heavy brass knocker, the ornate doorbell and sign I think I’m in for a real treat. However I’m too busy taking photos to follow the instructions properly and the heavy door swings open and we are ushered into the lobby for The Provenance. Owner and Head Chef Michael Ryan greets us with a handshake and a smile and an angled spatula sticking out of the shoulder pocket in his chef’s whites.

Where are we? Why my friend Gina and I are in Beechworth in Victoria. Mr NQN has had to work (poor baby!)  so Gina has volunteered to take his place for my little trip to Victoria. We’ve been prepping ourselves for this meal today having all but skipped lunch as we didn’t want to ruin our appetites for this meal. The evening before, Michael’s tweet letting people know that I was visiting did induce some envious comments from fans of his food and I wasn’t going to waste this exciting eating opportunity.

Amuse bouche: French radishes with whipped butter and miso powder

We start with an amuse bouche with a different. It is a plate with two French radishes with whipped unsalted butter from a local Myrtleford supplier and a sprinkling of dehydrated miso powder. We are to dip the radish into the whipped butter and then dip it into the miso powder. It’s a crunchy, smooth and buttery texture with the salty miso powder which bizarrely, and stay with me, tastes a little like beef stock powder!

Poached octopus, sake infused cucumber, umeboshi, raw broad beans, avocado, ponzu 2009 Dal Zotto Arneis
Rutherglen

Our first dish is a dish that Gina is usually reluctant to eat. She doesn’t like octopus and so I offer to eat her version if she doesn’t like it. no such luck The octopus is sliced thinly and is paired with traditional Japanese flavours and Michael brings them out and explains to us that he uses grated daikon to tenderise the octopus which is a traditional Japanese method and this is then poached for a mere five minutes. There are strips of pickled cucumber pickled with sake and ginger. to finish it off there are little squirts of umeboshi puree and avocado puree.

Asparagus three ways

An extra course for us proves to be one of my very favourites. It’s the ultimate in simplicity-three spears of asparagus. The bottom one is a pickled asparagus, the middle a white sous vide asparagus and the top a steamed green asparagus spear and they are all topped with a seaweed sauce. The difference between the three asparagus is readily apparent and the simple but perfect seaweed sauce complements it. It reminds me of dishes I had when I lived in Japan that celebrated the simplicity of good, seasonal produce.

Butter sautéed cauliflower, cauliflower puree, mustard sabayon, polenta shortbread crumbs, brown butter jelly
2008 Mayford Chardonnay Porepunkah

Vegetable phobic Gina’s first words when she tries this are “If I could cook vegetables this way I would eat them”. There is a little trail of butter sauteed cauliflower, pickled cauliflower florets, a chickpea and cauliflower pure sitting on a bed of small and large crumbed polenta shortbread crumbs, topped with a creamy, light mustard sabayon and brown butter jelly which pulls the whole dish together. In fact if there’s one thing that we could perhaps suggest is a few more of the jelly cubes-it’s not greed I promise! And I’m so fascinated by the brown butter jelly as it tastes like browned butter but I’ve never seen it in a jelly form before. Michael tells us that it is done by gelatine filtration.

Chef Michael Ryan

Confit artichokes, cured tuna, blood orange, olives, pangrattato 2009 Sorrenberg Gamay, Beechworth

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