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My boyfriend and I have traveled to Sydney, Australia to celebrate the
holidays with his family for the past five years now. Even though it’s
an extremely busy time of the year, mainly consumed with visiting
relatives, I’ve still been able to experience most of the city and the
surrounding area during these annual trips. Of course, everyone knows
(or can imagine) that everything in Sydney is gorgeous—including the
weather, the beaches and the people. Sydney is also home to some of my
favorites restaurants in the world and a major portion of this past
December’s trip was spent enjoying them.
"That’s me and my Whaley Burger (see below) from the clapboard kiosk (does it even have a name?) opposite the ocean at Whale Beach (which is about an hour out of the city and well worth the trip for the perfect surf alone). The burgers from the take-out counter at Palm Beach’s Sugar Palm Restaurant might not be as good (not enough beet root perhaps?)– but the view is spectacular, especially if you’re there while the local Surf Lifesaver’s Club is practicing (see two images above)."
On Christmas Eve, my boyfriend’s mother took us to Tetsuya’s where we
sat down for four hours to enjoy the fourteen course “degustation menu”
(in the U.S., we’d call it a “tasting menu”). This being a Japanese
restaurant and since I don’t eat fish of any kind (no, not even lobster
or shrimp), I had to tell them that I was actually “allergic to fish”
so that they wouldn’t give me a hard time—what I ended up with was
several beef and vegetarian courses which suited me just fine (I’m a
“meat and potatoes” type of guy)! The experience was wonderful but a
tad stuffy (they announce each course with a formal “ladies and
gentlemen” intro) and did we really need four different desserts? Oh
well, it’s the holidays after all! New Year’s Eve was much more
traditional at The Bathers’ Pavilion in Sydney’s affluent Balmoral
Beach suburb. There I enjoyed more beef (shocker!) while Eric Bana and
his wife sat quietly behind us.
New to the Sydney scenester-scene are North Bondi Italian Food and
Ucello at Ivy. North Bondi Italian Food (on the world-famous Bondi
Beach, obviously, and owned by the same people as the legendary Bondi
Icebergs) doesn’t take reservations, so you need to get there by 6pm to
put your name down for a table (they stop taking names around 8pm since
there’s so many people already waiting by then). Of course, if you’re
Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson, you’ll be ushered right to your
table (especially if you’re wearing a super-short black mini dress -
which is exactly what she had on when we saw her there). You won’t be
so lucky if you’re only a budding Aussie supermodel/actress/singer like
Tahyna Tozzi - even if you arrive with your professional surfer
boyfriend Koby Abberton (from the controversial “Bra Boys” documentary
narrated by Russell Crowe), you’ll still have wait with the rest of us
guzzling Caipirinhas in the overcrowded bar.
Ucello (which means “bird”) is the new Italian restaurant overlooking
the outdoor pool and it’s yellow and white stripe cabanas (very Giorgio
of Beverly Hills circa 1981) at Ivy (Sydney’s self-proclaimed “newest
lifestyle precinct” which is home to multiple restaurants, bars and
that aforementioned pool). Ivy’s New Year’s Day party saw the likes of
Paris Hilton mingling with local “Dancing on Ice” starlet Lara Bingle.
No word on how many ended up topless in the pool or getting up to
something naughty behind those stripe curtains but rumors were flying
all around Sydney that week of the location’s debaucherous behavior.
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"For me, no trip Down Under would be complete without multiple visits to Otto Ristorante on Woolloomooloo Wharf – hands-down, my absolute favorite restaurant in all of Sydney. That’s the view of the city’s skyline from my table; and that’s my favorite dish, a main-size portion of the Risotto ai Quattro Formaggi (four cheese risotto with a few hazelnuts). I also can’t get enough of the Carpaccio di
Manzo (Wagyu beef carpaccio) and my boyfriend always ends up with a
whole Barramundi (with the eyes intact). We haven’t spied any
international celebrities there since the day we saw Owen Wilson and
Erica Christensen (sitting at separate tables) but Otto really isn’t
about that – it’s about excellent food, excellent service and an
excellent view. Exactly what every experience in Sydney should be!
Happy New Year!
P.S. Back home in New York, we headed straight from the airport to Bar
Pitti (where we get our weekly Italian fix) and squeezed ourselves into
a table right next to Sofia Coppola and her boyfriend/baby daddy Thomas
Mars (who is in a French rock band called Phoenix). What a welcome
home!
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