The Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson graced our fair, sunny shores today to sign the books of the Sydney contingent of her Antipodean fans. I for one, managed to sleep well despite the occasion although there was just a little hint of trepidation along with excitement. What if she wasn’t as lovely as she is on television? Would I have to rename my blog to “I don’t want to be Nigella”? That’s the risk of meeting your “idols” I suppose.
I managed to convince my lovely husband to take a few hours off work and come with me to photograph her book signing and we lined up at about 11.45am for the 12:30pm start. There were already about 200 people lined up, some since at least 9am. The crowd is made up of 2/3 women and 1/3 men and the line snakes around the shops on the first floor. There were at least 5 security personnel as well as ABC staff on hand to see that everything ran smoothly. The security guards are apologetic about the long queue and the ABC staff apologetic as Nigella will only be signing her name due to the number of people and only 1 item per customer. Damn, there goes my little intro about my website when I ask her to sign to “Not Quite Nigella” 
Once 12:30pm hit, the line moved smoothly. It was only another 10 minutes until we reached the front and we ushered to the corner of the store where the Domestic Goddess herself sat. In a candy pink cardigan and black dress (exactly like the one she wears on the Nigella Feasts DVD cover) she is as stunning as she is on television. Her skin is luminous and she has a broad sweet smile. I have three books but the ABC staff help open them up to the signing page so that she’ll sign them all.
Yes the above photo and three below photos were our little exchange! My arm on the left 
I even get a bit of a conversation with her when she comments “Wow, you have so many things marked for cooking” about the earmarks on all of my books. While in the queue, I was a little embarrassed at my well worn, well marked books compared to everyone else’s pristine copies but she doesn’t seem to mind. I said to her that I had already made at least 1/4 of Express, hence the dodgy cover but Domestic Goddess was my favourite as I love baking and I would have brought all 6 but I didn’t think that it was practical. She smiles that fabulous and genuine smile again and says that is wonderful and that bringing all 6 would be rather too heavy indeed. She signs unhurriedly and cocks her head while doing so which is much like the way she is on television.
After a few more photos and a thankyou and goodbye, we’re ushered along to make room for more people getting their books signed. She has a lovely smile for everyone and looks at everyone in the eye which is exactly what everyone had hoped for. I think the title of just “Goddess” would be rather fitting.
ABC Shop
Level 1, Queen Victoria Building
455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Listen to a podcast of Richard Fidler’s interview with Nigella here (click on headphones icon)
| April 1st, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
After a recent visit to Carne station in Parramatta, we were driving back home and passed Hooters, to which we immediately screeched with laughter. Once our laughter subsided we realised that we just had to come out for a visit. More for morbid curiosity than anything else. Hooters is an American phenomenon that hasn’t quite made an impact here with just the two locations in Sydney and one in Queensland. We wanted to know whether the “image” of Hooters was anything like reality. Would it be like a down, down home version of the Playboy mansion much like the show Blokesworld? I haven’t known a single person that has visited, due to its location being rather far away and the reputation being that of a busty, bawdy, blokefest.
We needed to convince my food adventure friends Queen Viv and Miss America that this was indeed, something we should do in the name of research. Miss America was more than amenable, she even threatened to bring along her own inflatable swimming pool and lime jelly. Getting the regal Queen Viv to agree was another thing. We asked if she was busy and that we were thinking of having another food adventure out to a place that has a certain charm. Once we had ascertained that she was free, we told her that it was called “Oouteurs” suggesting that it was a chic little French bistro. I gave the game away as I couldn’t keep a straight face and Queen Viv was a good sport and thought that there was some merit to our morbid curiosity. We thought that it would be an interesting thing to see who would go there on Valentines Day and my husband, relieved of Valentines Day cooking duties, agreed. I didn’t mind giving up Valentines Day. After all, our wedding anniversary is only a few weeks later and we have planned something big for it.
I wanted to dress up as a prim and proper Victorian lady with high Victorian collar and lace parasol and ask in a haughty voice “Where are the OWLS?” but my husband, Miss America and Queen Viv said that I would be the only one
Ringing ahead to book I was told that it was indeed “singles night” where they match up a girl and a guy to go off and have dinner together. Half of the restaurant was booked up for this event with places running out but the other half was walk in traffic.
At 7.30pm on Valentines Day, we arrived after fighting some insanely awful traffic. Miss America and Queen Viv have just arrived too and are looking a little distressed. “Its very LOUD music in there!” Queen Viv exclaims and we walk in to an aural assault. They have our booking and we’re led to a high table with menus on the side, a caddy of squeezy bottles of tomato sauce, BBQ sauce and American mustard and something that makes us laugh, a paper towel dispenser, with the last towel decorously folded over modestly.
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| February 14th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
There’s very little that can go wrong with a view like this. The view uninterruptus from Icebergs has got to be one of the most iconic Sydney vistas, that of Bondi beach. Icerbegs opened with a splash and since then reviews on the ground have been mixed but the chef Maurizio Terzini still received his two chefs hat this year from the SMH.
We’ve booked for 6.30pm, a little early we know but seeing the view as it descends from daylight to twilight to the fall of darkness is something quite spectacular and I find that watching a pool of glossy black water isn’t quite as exciting as seeing it develop to hand.
Its surprisingly busy with diners given the early timeslot. We’re ushered to the best seat in the house, right next to the window. Service is efficient if not especially warm and relaxed, the staff seems a little stressed out and serious.
Sourdough bread and olive oil is brought to the table while we ponder the menu and the scenery. Along with the menu items, there are quite a few additions to the menu for the evening with 3 entrees, 2 mains and 2 extra desserts. I find that the entrees are beckoning me more as they seem more creative so I order one of the special additions to the menu suggested by our waitress: scallop sashimi with crispy garlic, marjoram and grissini $32 and a regular entree: crab, soft polenta, garlic, chili, lemon $28. Blythe orders the figs with gorgonzola, ricotta, walnut and honey $26 and the Flinders Island Salt Crusted Suckling Lamb and mache salad $48. She’s intrigued by the idea of Polenta chips with sour cream $14 which she saw on the website which are actually from the bar menu so we order those.
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| February 4th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
In a lucky stroke of fate, Blythe and I were able to get a last minute booking to Altitude on a busy holiday season Saturday night. It meant dining at 6pm and leaving by 8.15pm but we didn’t mind, we were just glad to get a booking at a day’s notice. Blythe is leaving tomorrow for London so she wanted to make her last night in Sydney count food-wise. I can relate to that.
The view from the restaurant
In the lobby the Shangri-la hotel is full of people eager to get up to the 36th floor, including a large and seemingly already tipsy hen’s night party. Most turn left and go to the Blu Horizon’s bar. We turn right and go towards the calm serenity of the Altitude restaurant. Cream alicebanded staff in brown and black dresses take us to the table, as we’re the first, we take some pictures of the view before its obscured by diners. There’s a stunning direct view of the Opera House as well as the Harbour Bridge.
Blue cheese and sun dried tomato bread with herb butter and pink salt
We’re asking to break the rules here tonight, as I want to order the 7 course degustation menu $135 with extra cheese plate $15 while Blythe wants to order the 4 course menu $110. The kitchen recommend against this but as we are intending to do a plate swap for each dish, we don’t mind at all so they oblige. A waiter appears with a selection of bread: blue cheese, 11 grain or sun dried tomato. During the course of the night, we try all 3 types, the Milawa Blue cheese being the clear favourite for both of us. The table next to us clearly likes the bread too, continuously having their bread supply replenished much to the detriment of their appetite.
Amuse Bouche: Celeriac veloute with truffle oil
Blythe’s Amuse Bouche arrives, a celeriac veloute with white truffle oil. Its lovely, perfectly seasoned, rich and flavoursome. A perfect soup. I hold up the cup to my mouth to receive every drop.
Degustation item 1 : Herb crusted yellow fin tuna with blue swimmer crab
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| January 7th, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
To say that for me, this Iron Chef dinner is my Olympics, is not understatement. I’ve trained for it, prepared for it and dreamt about it. I’ve made sure that I’ve taken plenty of vitamins to ensure that I don’t get an unexpected cold, carefully chosen my outfit and counted down the days, hours and minutes until this amazing event.
Diners await the Iron Chef experience
Arriving at 6pm we come across our fellow diners, all 120 of them. Its a large crowd and apparently double the size of last years. For them to host a total of 360 diners over the 3 nights must show that despite how long ago production ceased, the Iron Chefs still have a strong allure. People are mostly dressed up (although there I see a diner in t shirt and jeans) and range from wealthy looking older couples, corporate looking thirtysomethings to the book wielding fans, some who have traveled quite a distance and at considerable expense to be there but who confess that their income doesn’t usually stretch to the heights of $500 a plate. There’s a little competition between these book clutching Iron Chef fans with guarded questions like “So how many times have you seen them cook? Me I’ve seen them three times”. There’s also a real excitement in the air, the staff are buzzing around excitedly and ensure that people are greeted and taken care of and diners know that they’re in for a special event. Iron Chef Chen walks through the lobby and several people stop him and ask for a picture. He gladly obliges and is friendly and approachable.
Menu Page 1
Menu Page 2 (entrees)
Menu Page 3 (mains and dessert)
When the grandfather clock strikes 6.30pm we are ushered into the Globe Bar. They’ve set up tables in both the Globe Bar and the Galileo restaurant to accommodate everyone. We are sitting with the other winner of the Australian Macadamias competition and her partner. Perusing the menu it comprises of a welcome cocktail, a six piece entree plate with 2 dishes from each Iron Chef and 2 dishes from the Observatory’s Chef Haru, 5 mains and 1 dessert, all with matching wines. Ingredients such as lobster, foie gras, zucchini flower, sea urchin and the famed Kinugasa mushroom feature and the excitement level goes up a notch at seeing the mouthwatering sounding dishes. There’s a flurry of chef’s whites and suddenly Chen is jovially wandering around the room welcoming everyone to the evening and he stops and takes photos with us. We touched an Iron Chef we whisper!!
Welcome Champagne Cocktail
Soon after we are enjoying the welcome cocktail: Champagne Chambord made with NV Pol Roger “white Foil’”, Epernay, Champagne. It deliciously sweet featuring a toothpick of firm, sweet lush blueberries and raspberries.
Entree variation (two items from each chef)
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| November 7th, 2007 by Not Quite Nigella
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