Eataly New York

I know! More New York posts! Really? Yes, I have been rather slow with my travel posts and I had decided to scatter them across the months rather than put up post after post of NYC! Sorry to those who would be 'so over' my New York trip by now.

The famous "Flatiron" building just outside Eataly

This post is about the time I spent at Eataly in Dec last year. It was not my first time, admittedly I did give it a whirlwind visit in June 2013 but this time I made an effort to spend a couple of hours here.

And for that, I saw aisles of dried pasta, pasta sauces, fresh pasta, recipe books, chocolates, Italian sweets, salami, prosciutto, and a whole host of Italian small goods, both packaged and freshly served off the counter. Oh and there was cheese, desserts and heaps of Italian bottled drinks. Need I go on?

KIN by us. (Macquarie Park, Sydney)

With social media so prevalent in society, a brand new cafe with delicious food can be so easily promoted via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. It is the case for KIN by us., a very new cafe which opened in Macquarie Park, North Ryde a couple of months ago.

To add to the popularity of this cafe are ex MKR contestants Uel and Shannelle who seem like a lovely couple. Their TV presence has certainly helped with the publicity of their new food venture. And it has turned out to be a hit.

I visited over three occasions to try out the different dishes.

Waffle Belly - caramel soy pork belly, potato waffle, onsen egg, mushrooms and cabbage. This was my dish and I loved it! The pork belly was so tender and packed full of flavour. I don't believe I have had a potato waffle before and was surprised when I cut through it was soft, rather than the crunchy waffle I am normally used to. But I did like the texture and it went so well with the pork belly. And the egg, beautifully cooked by the way. Note that in almost every dish on the menu, there is an onsen egg on offer.

Snap, Crackle, Pop - chicken rice with crackle and onsen egg. The aroma of the rice when the dish was served had me slightly salivating. It was my friend's dish but I managed to get a bite. :) Nice flavours and I enjoyed the crunchy chicken skin crackle. Note to chef: More crackle please! :)

On another visit, I had the Kaya Toast which was homemade coconut jam on toast. I opted not to have the onsen egg. The Kaya had a lovely fragrance, however for $7 I would have liked a couple more half slices? Am I being greedy? Hehe!

LuMi Bar and Dining (Pyrmont, Sydney)

LuMi has been on my list since the first time I saw their food pics on Instagram back in Oct 2014. So far all I have read about the food has been positive reviews and I couldn't wait to dine there. Again it was for another good friend's birthday catch up but why not, eh? :)


This time it was for lunch on a Saturday and we were lucky the weather was in good form.

What a view from the restaurant!

Normally on Saturdays for lunch, there is the a la carte option or a 4 course degustation. However their website did say we could request for the 8 course degustation as long as we gave ample notice. I did! :)

We started with a tasting platter of Cheese tartlet and corn, Rice crisps with salt and vinegar, Cos lettuce with pistachio and horseradish, Potato and Rosemary Focaccia. The rice crisp was paper thin and almost melting in my mouth. And the focaccia was light and fluffy and superb!



And the Chawanmushi certainly played tricks on my mind. The dish looked Japanese but was full of Italian flavours with every mouthful. There was parmesan in the custard, tomato water with basil on top. Loved it!

White cucumber with apple and sour cream. Lovely presentation, clean flavours, crunchy textures and very summery in image and flavours.

Veal Tartare with tarragon, emulsion, roasted capsicum and buckwheat - I completely forgot to take a picture of this delightful dish! Aaargh! :( I loved the crunchy texture of the puffed buckwheat which offset so well against the smooth veal.

Spelt Ravioli with burnt butter, pumpkin, avruga, and chives. Their signature which didn't disappoint. I really liked the visual beauty of the ravioli. 

Spaghetti Alla Chitarra, with Orange beurre blanc, scampi and bottarga - the squid ink pasta was nicely al dente and I could taste bites of the sweet tasting scampi.

Pei Modern Sydney (The Rocks, Sydney)

For SH's birthday dinner this year, she chose Pei Modern. It opened in the latter part of 2014 at the Four Seasons Hotel near Circular Quay.

Mark Best, the renowned Sydney chef, opened his first Pei Modern in Melbourne a few years ago and when news filtered through of a Sydney opening, the foodie world was abuzz!

We initially booked to meet in January but I got so sick we had to postpone until late February.

Bread was served in a rustic mini sack. Interesting...

We decided to start with something 'Clean and Green' - Cucumber and young coconut salad. I don't think I have ever had young coconut flesh on a salad but I did like its sweetness and bite. It was a fresh and rather summery salad. There were bits of jellified coconut water which offset the crunchy cucumber.

We then had the Tiger prawns, vadouvan and caramelised yoghurt. It was beautifully cooked. There was a smoky flavour and the prawns were sweet. I didn't think we needed the yoghurt but I think it's a personal preference.

Per Se (Manhattan, New York City)

My 'to eat' bucket list is not a list which I have written down but one that is mentally in my head. The experience of dining at a Thomas Keller restaurant has been on my bucket list since I don't know when! I have tried in vain to get a table booking at Per Se during the few trips I made to New York over the past few years. This time I was determined to get a table, no matter what!

How about the fact I set my alarm clock to 2.00 am on a Sunday morning (when I was in Sydney) exactly 30 days before the reservation date? Does that sound too desperate? Or better yet totally determined? :)

And when I finally did get through (the line was engaged for 40 minutes) my booking was for 10 pm. Aargh! But there was no way I was not going to accept that time slot.

On the night we were due here, we arrived around 9.30 pm at the Time Warner centre. What a lovely building filled with up-market brands and some lovely Christmas lights. When we arrived at Per Se, I was sure we would have to wait for our table but they assured us our table was ready even though we were 1/2 hour early.

We were lucky enough to have a table next to the window and I could see Columbus Circle in the night lights.

The food experience started with a couple of amuse bouche.

Cheese gourgere - yummy cheese balls.

Salmon cornet - smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill served in a mini cone. Sorry, the image of this dish was so bad! :(

Then the Chef's tasting menu dishes were served.

"Oysters and Pearls" - Sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek oysters and Sterling White sturgeon caviar.

Butter  - salted and unsalted. There was a story for each of them which provides an interesting facet to the butter. Both were delicious in its own way and went well with the milk bun.

"Salad of Caramelised Artichokes" - Parmigiano Regiano, saffron pickled garlic, salsify root and Romaine lettuce.

"Sauteed Fillet of Chatham Bay Cod" - topped with a Pommes Maxim's, caramelised cauliflower tapenade, and clam chowder sauce.