Tetsuya Wakuda
I do have a few dreams left and many of them involve eating at spectacular restaurants around the world. One of them is located here in Sydney and it’s one that I haven’t visited in over seven years as the last time was for my 30th birthday. So I was very happy to be invited to attend a Electrolux Masterclass with Tetsuya Wakuda at his world famous restaurant Tetsuya’s. Only twelve classes are held a year and needless to say, spots are very much limited to a lucky few. Tetsuya would be showing us how to cook some dishes and talking to us about how he likes to cook and answering any questions that we had for him. To top it all off, we’d be sitting down to one of his famous degustations, an epic 10 courses that no soul in their right mind would ever pass up. And the best part? One of you Dear Readers, have a chance to win a spot at a Masterclass including, flights, accomodation and transfers! 
Yes the Electrolux Tetsuya Masterclass is a “money can’t buy” event and tickets to it are not available to the general public so the only way to get to attend one is through invite only-or of course a competition like this.
The evening started with a chauffered car pick up. The driver opens the door for me (don’t you just love that?) and I get into the car and we pick up Christie and Peter on the way. We arrive along with the other bloggers invited and enter the upstairs newly fitted kitchens. We mingle with some champagne while Tetsuya and his staff are busy prepping for the evening’s class. After a short time we are ushered into the new kitchen, a stunning marble topped island with knee pad activated sinks, a sleek fridge and a shiny induction cooktop. And this would be this kitchen’s maiden voyage!
His first tip after welcoming us and confessing his nervousness is about induction saucepans. People are apparently put off from buying induction cooktops thinking that they will need to buy new saucepans but he tells us that if you place a magnet on the base of a pan and it sticks, it will be induction cooktop safe and he also mentions that 80-90% of pots made today are induction suitable.
Tetsuya and Christie
Click here to read the full story
|
March 5, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
Christie and I are a touch frightened. It’s raining and there’s a note under the windscreen wiper. We’ve just attended the opening of the new Essential Ingredient store in Rozelle and we were just about to find somewhere around here to eat when we go to feed the parking meter and find this note. It’s wrapped in cling wrap and says “Wayne 04xxxxxxx Call me, Cute yellow car”. It’s so random and so doesn’t make sense – we don’t have a yellow car and there’s no yellow car around. Because it’s a sinister looking dark and stormy night, we abandon plans to eat locally and high tail it out of there wondering why and how someone cling wraps a note like that and sticks it under a windscreen wiper? And what kind of person carries around cling wrap? The kind that has human heads in their freezer? Yes, let’s get out of here, we agree.
I check my book for places to eat. Apres jumps out at us although it is in busy 1 hour parking only Potts Point. We ring and ask whether at this lateish hour we can secure a table and they tell us that the kitchen closes at 10pm but they’ll keep it open until 10:15pm if we just want one plate. Done. We arrive and by some miracle find a park and arrive. It’s in a gorgeous Art Deco style building with ruby shaded velvet boothed seating. The manager is friendly and leads us to our table. When he asks us what we’ve been doing that evening thus far we tell him and he remarks how their sister place La Grand Bouffe is near there. Doh! Except that we did want to leave the area pronto of course in case a human head hunter was after us. There is a 3 course set menu but we’re not hungry enough for that and we’re too late for that. Entrees are $18.50, mains are $29.50 and desserts $14.50.
Amuse Bouche: Escargot
Click here to read the full story
|
March 1, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
“We’re going to dinner with Trissa and Dan” I tell Mr NQN one evening and then mumble “It’s Indian French” and then scamper off quickly before he can ask me to clarify. No such luck “Whaaat? Did you say Indian French?” he asks incredulously. *Gulp* “Yes” I answer. “Well I hope it ends better than the last fusion restaurant we went to” and I can’t help but agree.
Inside it’s vivid oranges as Dan points out as he’s wearing a bright orange shirt too. There are oranges in a bowl, orange lights and there’s also a touch of the Old Raj in one corner with gilt edged tables and chairs. The menu sounds tempting so we ask the waitress what she recommends and she decisively reels off 4 entrees and 4 mains.
Green pea cappucino
Our amuse bouche is a light green pea cappucino which is deliciously earthy with a light touch of Indian spices.
Cumin Infused Trout Confit $16
Click here to read the full story
|
December 4, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
I know I’ve told you about my lovely readers many times before. My readers and my compulsion to blog are the reason that I have this site so when a lovely reader told Bistro Lilly about my blog and suggested they invite me to eat, I was the unwitting beneficiary of this generous moment of magnitude. Bistro Lilly was in truth a place Mr NQN and I had tried to book for an anniversary one year but it was closed for a function so when I tell him we are going to go there a look of fear flashes across his face “Weren’t we supposed to go there once for our anniversary? What happened?” fearing that it was he who forgot to book. I assure him that there wasn’t a problem (it was booked for a function).
It’s a warmly lit place on the bridge end of King Street, right near the bridge. I’m greeted by Marc who has invited me there and we sit down and have a look at the menu whilst sipping some sparkling wine and carbon neutral sparkling mineral water from New Zealand. We ask for recommendations as it’s hard to narrow the choices down.
Bread with oven roasted head of garlic
Click here to read the full story
|
November 28, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
It’s coming up to crazy season, that’s right, Christmas is almost upon us! December is a hectic time and Christmas meet ups with friends seem to happen in November as December fills up months in advance. When Kath asked our group whether we’d like to go to Baroque Bistro, the brand spanking, new and shiny thing on the block owing to some miracle of planning there was a date we were all free in November. Baroque Bistro is by the same people that own La Renaissance, the lovely patisserie in The Rocks and rumour had it that you could watch all the chefs baking all sorts of goodies in the window and on the other side, there was a beautiful view of the harbour. It’s open 7 days a week from 8am til late and given the location and view, the prices are a veritable steal.
Our waiter explains that there is only the duck leg available in the duck dish tonight which is usually duck done two ways making it a duck done one way only so we bypass it. Trish, Kath and I are eager to share so that we can try more so we order a few things that we all like the sound of or are curious about. The waiter is a tad confused about our need to share as he wants to assign each position in the table with a dish and this results in a main going missing a little later.
Click here to read the full story
|
November 20, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
