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What’s the first thing that you think of when you hear the word Huxtable? The Cosby Show family right? I’m not familiar with anyone else with the name so we have Cosby Show episodes on the mind when we walk into Huxtable on Smith Street in Collingwood after a short pleasant fifteen minute stroll from the Park Hyatt. The space is modern although no, it’s not a replica of the set (although a part of me thinks that that might be fun but perhaps taking the theme a bit too far).

And like Central Casting has placed some extras inside from the couple with the retro glasses-thick rimmed enormous white rims for her and Bill Lumbergh style glasses for him. There are three families in the immediate eye view, all with young children. Apparently naming your place after one of televisions most famous families has families coming in early on a Saturday night. The interior is fitted out using a lot of browns-there are brown vinyl swivel chairs and what looks like dad’s garage tool holder which in this case holds cooking tools. And playing in the background are songs such as Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher.

Why is it called Huxtable? We ask the waitress. Well it seems that it is called Huxtable as a nod to The Cosby Show. The three guys that head it up are from New Zealand and they thought that it would be a fun name. They are Daniel Wilson in the kitchen (the chef), Dante Ruaime formerly of MoVida (the restaurant manager) and Jeff Wong who owns 19 Squares, a St Kilda cafe (the coffee guy). “And it’s just a coincidence that everyone that works here is from New Zealand” our NZ accented waitress says.

The menu is designed to share. It’s broken up into little bites-and some from bite sized morsels to slightly more substantial entrees, to share plates which are broken up into sea, land and earth.

Huxta bubbles $8

We start with the huxta bubbles which is a sparkling wine made especially for them. We ordered it for the name-who could resist it? Even Mr NQN who doesn’t like sparkling wines quite likes this fizz.

Rice flour crusted oyster po’boy, iceberg, sriracha mayo $6.50

The oyster po’ boy comes a mini crunchy fresh baguette filled with two oysters. The baguette is crunchy, like those Vietnamese baguettes that are earth shatteringly good and give the soft oysters inside an appealing crunch on the outside. There is a shredded iceberg lettuce salad tossed in sriracha mayonnaise, sriracha being that omnipresent Thai hot sauce that you see on tables in large plastic red bottles so there’s a bit of spice along with the creaminess. And I could have eaten lots of these.

Jalapeno & cheddar croquette $3.50 each

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I look up and there is a piano suspended from on the wall above. A red chair and a wooden desk greets me to the right. I walk in and down the stairs past the displays of fruit, spices, teapots and vintage couches and spy a couple of old fashioned rotary whisks adorning the walls. Two of my travelling companions Tina and Mariam from my recent trip to Canada sit against the banquette on this quiet Monday night. We’re early granted for this neighbourhood, and there is one other table quietly dining near the window.

The somewhat mysteriously named Food Society is not actually a food society or club that requires membership to pass under the piano above but instead it is a restaurant that serves Eastern European food, a sector of European food not particularly common in inner city Sydney. At the bar are two gentlemen in checked shirts and bow ties and there are pots of mulled wine well…mulling including one spiced apple pie drink (curses, I’m driving and can’t drink!) as well as Svarak which is a mulled red wine.

A faux fireplace glows and we quickly shed our layers. We’re dining mid September and Spring is definitely in the air but it’s still a bit of Winter here with the fireplace and a Winter menu (said to change soon). We take the waiter’s recommendation for entrees and mains and it’s the mains we have the most trouble deciding on as there are four must try sounding ones. Orders are taken via iPad and the waiter proudly shows the system where the kitchen can feed back to him how many portions of a dish remain. Dishes are designed to be shared and many of the mains are smaller than normal but the prices reflect this with most mains under $25.

Pierogi with organic pork, roasted shallots $10.50

The pierogis come out first on a long plate as four pierogi dumplings that have been filled with organic pork meat and then boiled and then pan fried with a roasted shallot and speck butter sauce. The pierogi are a sturdier dumpling with some bite back and are good stomach fillers for cold nights.

Beetroot and vodka cured ocean trout blini, dill cream $16

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My favourite time to eat at places with a water view is during the day. Sure the night time might be more romantic especially when you’re with your partner but unless it’s during Summer when it gets dark late, Winter and Spring dining with a view means missing out on the well…view. But during the day the vista is ablaze with colour and mood. And as much as I travel a  lot, there’s no view quite like the view of home, that of Sydney Harbour.

So when Alice, Beau and I are headed across the bridge to Manly Pavilion to try out their new high tea we’re all thanking the heavens that the rain that had seemed to drench Sydney for the past week has somehow cleared up, that the clouds had exhausted the sea and given up bucketing us down with precipitation. We nab a miracle park outside the entrance and make our way down the stairs to the restaurant floor. It has been about a year since my last visit and I was smitten with the food and the Italian influence extends to the Italian High Tea or Afternoon Tea. And yes I know the difference between the two but they call it high tea here

We order our tea and take a look at the menu. I was interested to note how different this afternoon tea menu was to a regular one. The tea is $50 for the regular tea or $70 with matched wines. Would Italianating it mean simply including panna cotta and artisan salume in the sandwiches? This one looks very different indeed with the Manly Pavilion modern Italian style in smaller portions and served on a three tier stand-I suppose it’s easier for the kitchen this way. The tiers are served with tea, coffee or Italian hot chocolate which we see too late-we’ve already ordered our tea but we make a mental note to revisit that hot chocolate before we leave.

Our plates arrive along with a plate of fat bread slices and excellent olive oil. Then another bowl of bread comes and it features some crisp savoury crostini and small warm bread rolls. The menu appears more of a guide than what you will receive as from the menu there should be both parmesan and balsamic crostini but there is only one.

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