Quay - Sydney, Australia

Dinner - Friday, October 19, 2012

Quay has one of the most gorgeous night-time views of any restaurant I've eaten in, rural or urban. Your mileage will almost certainly vary, with two major factors coming into play: (i) seating - we were fortunate enough to be seated at the best table in the house (at the north end of the restaurant, where the floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around in a semicircle), with panoramic views from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the Opera House, all the way back to the edge of Circular Quay; (ii) obstructions - of our four nights in Sydney, we were again lucky to dine there on the only night that a giant cruise ship was not blocking the restaurant's entire east-facing view.

Of course, good food and good views come at a hefty price. The eight-course degustation at Quay runs $220 (a four-course prix fixe menu is $160), a significantly stiffer pricetag than all the other restaurants we dined at on this trip. Was the meal worth the admission fee?

Attica - Ripponlea, Australia

Dinner - Saturday, October 13, 2012

Although we were very disappointed at missing the Ben Shewry guest dinner at Manresa earlier this year, we certainly made up for it by making the trip to Attica proper.

The restaurant's star has been on the rise in the past few years, due to Shewry's use of native Australian ingredients and his "earthy" menus - just the type of cuisine that appeals to us.

The restaurant is black, like a studio set, with draped curtains and minimalist furniture. Spotlights direct your attention to the food in front of you, so organic that it is a jarring contrast to the industrial environs. With the degustation being the only option on weekends, relatively few choices are required of the diner (drinks, essentially) before the food arrives. And arrive it does, in the humblest of beginnings.

Intermezzo 6 - Consolation

I posted a disappointing time in Long Beach this weekend, in what should've been a very easy race. I was keeping up with the 3:15 pacer until I was waylaid by a terrible case of side stitches 3 miles from the finish line - this from someone who virtually never experiences them. In any event, I had to run-walk the remainder of the race (although I was proud of my kick in the last half-mile) and finished way off my goal time, and 3 minutes over my PR.

Such a performance did not deserve the congratulatory breakfast I had planned at the one-and-only Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles, so we settled for a consolation meal on the way home. Eat your vegetables, kids.

Rapini, cherry tomatoes, anchovies, chili - Pizzeria Mozza, Newport Beach, CA (2012)