Bill Granger is the undisputed King of Breakfast – the man built his empire on scrambled eggs. His restaurants are world-famous, but until recently I had never visited any of them. Having breakfast at Bills seems so Sydney, like having a pie at Harry’s Café de Wheels in Wooloomooloo late on a Saturday night. So when I had an interstate visitor, a trip to the Surry Hills restaurant was definitely on the eating itinerary. Coffee and hot chocolate was the only way to start off the chilly morning. I am fussy about good coffee, and the long black was the nicest I’d had in a long time. The hot chocolate came with Callebaut pieces that could were stirred into the hot milk.

I had the Ricotta Hotcakes with Fresh Banana and Honeycomb Butter ($16.60) and yes, they were every bit as delicious as they sound. They were perfect – beautifully light and fluffy, and the ricotta really works well in the hotcake. The honeycomb butter makes these a supremely decadent breakfast, especially when doused them with lots of maple syrup. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish, but struggled to finish it.

As I mentioned before, Bill Granger became famous for his Scrambled Organic Eggs ($12.80), and they are a staple on all of his three restaurant menus, served with crusty sourdough toast. For a dish that contains a heck of a lot of cream, the eggs were surprisingly light. You can find the recipe for Bill’s scrambled eggs here.

We also shared some Homemade Toasted Coconut Bread ($5.80) which I have made at home in the past from Bill’s book ‘Sydney Food’. It is dense and definitely more bread-like than cake-like, but still absolutely delicious, especially when toasted with lots of butter. When we got the bill, I realised this was probably the most expensive breakfast I’ve ever had in my life, but I think it was worth it for a special treat.

Bills – 359 Crown St, Surry Hills

A secret dinner, how intriguing! My curiosity was certainly piqued when Lili from Pikelet & Pie mentioned that she was participating in one organised by her friend Fouad from The Food Blog. Steph and I were very excited about it, as we had no idea what was on the menu, nor the venue. In fact that was kept a secret until the day of the event, and the location was sent to us via text message at 3pm that afternoon. It felt like we were in a spy movie or something – very “covert ops”. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at Element Bistro on King Street. Having no idea of the menu made it difficult to choose a bottle of wine to bring along! The venue was a tiny yet quaint French bistro owned by Matt Barnett, who was also participating in the dinner.

We start with olive oil tasting. Patricia Lathourakis from Forque explains how to properly taste the oil – first by swirling it to warm it, then sniffing it, then tasting. The blood orange was my favourite, but I think I would have preferred this exercise with some bread to dip into the oils. Patricia also prepared the entrée, a celebration of Mediterranean cheeses all sourced locally. Inspired by Italy was a half tomato filled with tomato and oregano. Greece was represented with buffalo feta on a potato and fennel ‘pancake’ and finally Lebanon got its turn with labne (a beautiful creamy yoghurt cheese) served atop roasted beetroot slices with walnuts, honey and vinegar. This was my favourite because the creamy tang of the labne was perfect with the beetroot, and the walnut gave a beautiful crunch.

Fouad cooked the next two dishes, both Lebanese in origin, which I had to admit was a cuisine I was completely unfamiliar with. The first was Young Organic Lamb Shish Barak, also known as ‘blessed dumplings’. The lamb dumplings are beautiful and flavourful, and served in a garlicky yoghurt sauce, with coriander, silverbeet and toasted almonds and pine nuts scattered on top. I loved this so much that I wanted to lick the plate clean. The flavours and textures all complemented each other so perfectly.

His second dish consisted of ‘Moghrabbiyeh’ – large Lebanese cous cous that are eaten like pasta, served with chickpeas, chicken, caramelized onion and black pudding from Eumundi Smokehouse. It was served in a reduced chicken stock, gewürztraminer, made with burnt sugar, butter, caraway and star anise. It was, again, a very well balanced dish although slightly on the salty side. I had never tried black pudding before, but with these accompanying flavours it was right at home.

At this point I was beginning to get full, but Chef Matt Barnett’s French dish was next. A beef fillet stuffed with bone marrow and cavolo nero, creamy Soubise sauce and a potato and thyme croquette. The beef was perfectly cooked, pink in the middle and very tender. The croquette was delicious with a crispy exterior and fluffy potato inside.

Lili prepared the desserts, and I was very much looking forward to seeing (and tasting) what she had made. A ripple of excitement went through the dining room as the plates were distributed, and for good reason. It was a seductive chocolate and orange cake with sexy orange blossom panna cotta, and pine nut praline. The cake was dark and rich, yet still moist and was complemented perfectly by the subtly flavoured panna cotta. The pine nut praline gave sweetness and crunch, and I am constantly reminded how well pine nuts work in sweet dishes as well as savoury. I wanted to lick the plate clean, and I have my fingers firmly crossed that Lili might blog about the recipe!

And so the Secret Dinner came to a successful end. I would like to thank and congratulate Fouad, Lili, Trish (and Matt) for having the courage to cook for thirty strangers and share part of their cultural heritage on a dinner plate. It was such a fantastic evening, and a completely unique experience. I hope that there will be more in the future! Thanks also to Lili for offering us the spots and to Steph for being adventurous and coming along with me. Check out Fouad’s and Trish’s posts about the dinner for a peek behind the scenes at everything that went into organizing it.

There’s just something about Adriano Zumbo. He seems to have the ability to draw out the sweet tooth in just about anyone. It was a real treat to see him on Masterchef and watch the contestants (and then some food bloggers) try to recreate some of his incredible cakes! After I missed out on the food blogger gathering at his Chocolat Café following the launch of his Winter Collection due to a public transport mishap (boo!), I made it my mission to travel to Balmain for a taste of my own. The latest collection for winter, called 40 Days and 40 Nights is as creative and inventive as ever, with bold presentations and even more interesting flavour combinations.

After seeing everyone’s posts about it, I was fascinated by the ‘Escape from a Columbian Rainforest’ – a flourless chocolate sponge, dark chocolate fizzy disc, cherry cola jelly, cherry cola syrup and chocolate sabayon mousse that looks like a Coke can. It’s changed slightly since the launch. No longer can you poke a straw into the top to suck out the cherry cola syrup, because the top is now a very authentic looking silver chocolate disc. But this left us a little confused about how to eat it, especially when it got battered around a little on the walk to the ferry! Having never been a huge fan of Cherry Coke I think the flavours of this were lost on me a little bit, but the presentation won me over completely.

The ‘Wheely Lost’ was hazelnut meringue, anzac moisture, mint chocolate disc, vanilla apple tatin chantilly and apple tatin compote, which seemed to be a reinterpretation of this one and carried on the ‘wheelie’ theme that has been also present in other collections in the past. I loved the slightly crunchy anzac biscuit crumbs dotted around the outside. The flavours of apple and mint worked well and definitely seemed wintery.

‘Danny has tickets to her box office’ consisted of a chocolate pop rock and popcorn disc, vanilla almond chantilly, dulce de leche, flourless chocolate sponge and almond feulletine. This was interesting to eat, especially the chocolate pop rock disc which gave an interesting sensation when you put it into your mouth. I really liked this one, except that the almond chantilly tasted mostly of marzipan and I’m not a huge fan. It was exciting to see popcorn in a sweet cake, and I think this one worked.

My favourite was called ‘Lukas Rides the Tube’, I believe a new addition to the collection. It’s a stunning cake with macadamia praline mousse, macadamia daquoise, vanilla chantilly, pear tatin and macadamia feulletine. I thought the flavours and textures were really well balanced, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

The macarons were amazing, as always, a combination of flawless technique and innovative flavour combinations that satisfy my sweet tooth every time, like salt and vinegar, and salted butter popcorn. My favourites were the gianduja and pine nut, and the rice pudding, which was a great play on textures with a lovely warm cinnamon flavour.
I will definitely not leave it so long between visits again, because I never fail to be blown away by Adriano’s creations. And now, with the lines at his patisserie stretching out the door, and lotteries to win a chance to buy his chocolate mousse cake, it’s as clear as ever that Sydney’s collective sweet tooth cannot be sated.

I can’t think of many ways I’d rather spend an afternoon than sitting in the sunshine with a few girlfriends, leisurely sipping tea and eating dainty cakes. But when you add in teapot cocktails and a beautiful view, there’s no wonder we were at the Loft two Saturdays in a row for High Tea! The first time, Steph, Karen, Lili, Betty and Jen and I sampled the Loft’s regular High Tea package, available every Saturday and Sunday between 1-3pm. We decided on High Tea with a Twist which comes with a tea-infused cocktail or glass of sparkling in addition to a tiered stand of petit fours and tea or coffee. It was a real treat to be served cocktails out of cute teapots, which gives the Loft’s High Tea a real difference from others in Sydney.

The teapot cocktails come out first amongst a flurry of camera snaps. With one teapot shared between two, we decided to share the Sencha Quince Fizz (Lillet shaken with a hint of vanilla, fresh passionfruit pulp, pink grapefruit and chilled T2’s Sencha Quince Tea), the Turkish Delight (Plymouth gin and a touch of Tuaca shaken with homemade rhubarb puree, pear cheek, fresh lemon and chilled T2 Turkish Apple Tea) and the Strawberry Pash (Zubrowka Bison-grass vodka, crème de fraise shaken with home made apple puree, strawberries, basil and sweet T2’s Mardi Gras). The Sencha Quince is a favourite, though tastes more of passionfruit than anything else and Turkish delight is lovely, fruity and light.

The sandwiches were nice and fresh, however the fillings were quite standard – smoked salmon and dill, cucumber and cream cheese, and chicken and mushroom. The roasted vegetable frittata however was quite disappointing, tasting very eggy with a strangely shiny surface.

The scones looked a little flat but were surprisingly light and fluffy, served with strawberry jam and whipped cream. Though apparently it’s hard to compare them with the Tea Room’s scones… I think that might be our next High Tea outing, in fact.

The tiny lemon meringue pies are cute, and very sweet, but I think I’ll love any lemon meringue pie you put in front of me. The brownie was a tiny bit overcooked, but I really liked the pear and almond tart. The dark chocolate truffle dusted with cocoa powder was also delicious. Having tasted the tapas plates that the Loft prepares in-house and loving them, it seems that the quality has taken a little step down on the food that is ordered in.

Next up, the girls came back to take our tea orders. We each ordered something different, which meant there was little room left on the table. The tea was served in elegant fine glass teacups, which proved a little too delicate when Lili swapped one cracked teacup for another! I had the Madagascan Vanilla tea, which was a lovely black tea scented with vanilla bean, but Lili’s chai and Steph’s Blue Mountain tea smelled incredible as well. I also had a taste of Betty’s Gorgeous Geisha, a beautiful and slightly fruity green tea. The high tea had it’s ups and downs. The highlights were definitely the teapot cocktails, the wonderful company and the beautiful view, which made it a very memorable afternoon indeed.

The next Saturday we were back for a special Christmas in July High Tea, which I was excited about from the very beginning. Though not a white Christmas, it was unseasonably warm, an absolutely gorgeous day to be sitting in the sunshine. Steph and Karen were back, as well as Lorraine, Betty the Hungry Girl, Suze and Helen, and Leona was unable to make it at the last minute.

We started with teapot cocktails again, and I don’t think they ever get old. Santa’s Little Helper had fresh berries crushed with cranberry juice, bourbon and fruit liqueurs balanced with a hint of citrus, topped of with red fruits tea. It was quite strong, and the bourbon seemed quite out of place in this otherwise very girly cocktail. Silent Night was chocolate liqueur combined with Martel VS, a touch of chilled espresso rounded off with peppermint tea. This was intriguing as I love chocolate and espresso together, but it didn’t quite live up to expectation. The highlight however was Rudolph’s Nose, with rhubarb puree and fresh cherry shaken with bison grass vodka and a hint of citrus with Turkish apple tea. We also couldn’t resist a repeat performance of the gorgeous Sencha Quince Fizz.

The sandwiches were an improvement on last week, with more festive fillings such as turkey and cranberry, baby prawn mayo with sprouts and honey roasted leg ham with mustard pickle. They were all quite nice, with the turkey being a favourite. There was also a slice of chicken & pistachio galantine, a baby red pepper stuffed with goat’s cheese and a ham and roast onion frittata, which was a huge improvement’s on last week’s.

This week there were raisin scones with jam and cream, just as nice as last week’s. The White Christmas rum ball was white chocolate with a tasty alcoholic kick.

The sweets were also an improvement on last week in my mind, with the mince pie being one of the best I’ve ever had. I’m not usually a fan of them, but this had beautiful buttery pastry and a tasty spicy filling. The baked custard tarts had the same pastry base, and the sour cherries were a nice addition. The macadamia nut brownie was not overcooked, still slightly molten in the center.

This week I decided to try the chai tea – wonderfully spicy and seductive in flavour, definitely a favourite. So while the food was much improved, the cocktails were a little average, and as Karen mentioned, the atmosphere could have definitely been more festive with a Chrissy carol or two by the piano man, or some decorations. I think we’ve proven that you can never have enough high tea, and so, even after two in as many weeks, we are still planning another for the near future – the QVB Tea Room, perhaps?

High Tea is available every Saturday and Sunday between 1-3pm. Bookings Essential.
Christmas in July High tea is available for one more weekend – Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July. Bookings Essential

The Loft, 3 Lime St, King St Wharf Sydney