Sunny Sydney days and gourmet nights

by Charlie Leocha

The bustling city of Sydney after two days in the Blue Mountains was a change, but perfect weather made it a pleasure to explore the city’s nooks and crannies between appointments, lunches and dinners. From Bondi Beach to Darling Harbor, from Paddy’s to Paddington markets and from gourmet restaurants to lamb chops on the barbie with friends, Sydney was hard to beat.

Sydney is accessible. The Central Business District (CBD), Oxford Street, Darling Harbor and The Rocks are all within no more than a half-hour’s walk of each other. The bus system reaches out to the suburbs and bays and coves of the harbor. The train loops through the town. And the ferry system may be one of he best in the world for linking a city by water.

This network makes Sydney an easy place to enjoy. Visitors can cherry pick only the sights they want to see and them easily move between them, unlike many other of the world’s major cities where tourism must be organized by neighborhood. There are some limitations, such as distance that makes getting from Manly back to the CBD time-consuming. But that being said, sights on the same side of the harbor can be easily organized.

On a Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, I managed to walk from The Rocks market, down Kent Street, along Darling Harbor, have a flat white at a cafe, then continue past the Aquarium and Wildlife World, through Paddy’s Market, back into Chinatown and across George Street to Hyde Park. I took a bus to Rose Bay for lunch with friends, got a lift to Paddington’s Markets at 3 p.m., bought jewelry, wandered down Oxford Street, bought gaudy bangles for my niece, crossed Hyde Park again and met a friend at 5:30 p.m. for a schooner at the Fortune of War pub next to Circular Quay.

The day before, after arriving from the Blue Mountains at about 10 a.m., I managed business meetings at The Rocks, then lunch out at Bondi Beach, another meeting near the Central Train Station and finally took a train to Circular Quay. You get the idea.

Since my last days in Sydney during the Olympics, Darling Harbor has continued with its redevelopment. Today the entire trace of Cockle Bay has been renewed and new attractions, Wildlife World, the IMAX Theatre and The Outback Centre, have been added to the Aquarium along the eastern side of the bay. The Chinese Garden of Friendship anchors the southern end of the Darling Harbor development.

Just beyond the Chinese Garden of Friendship, stands Paddy’s Market, one of the best places to buy bargain souvenirs such as clip-on koala bears, t-shirts, hats, key rings, postcards etc. There are hundreds of stalls. The prices are sometimes only 25 percent of what one might spend at pricey downtown and airport shops. Don’t spend all your money at the first place. Walk around and get the lay of the land, check prices, then go back and bargain. If you have time, one of the short massages available at a handful of stalls are amazingly relaxing. Paddy’s Market is open Thursday to Sunday and on holidays.

Another excellent and colorful market with jewelry, clothing, baby items, hats, fabrics and so on, is Paddington Market on Oxford Street about a half-hour walk from Hyde Park. It is open on Saturday. Click here for a more detailed story about Sydney’s markets and what to see almost for free.

The highlights of my last two days in Sydney were three gourmet meals in three very distinct restaurants in three unparalleled locations — Icebergs at Bondi Beach, Glass Brasserie in the Hilton and Galileo in the Observatory Hotel. None of these restaurants are shy about pricing. Clients come for the luxury, the singular experience and to see and be seen.

Icebergs Restaurant and Bar (9365 9000) has unique views across Bondi Beach. It has been repeatedly voted Sydney’s “bar with the best view.” The glass walls with waves lapping at the building foundations allow diners to feel as though they are hovering above the undulating sea and the white-sand beach with its bands of surfers. The cuisine is modern Italian (a traditional Italian place, owned by the same group, stands at the other end of the beach).

The lunch crowd was elegant with lots of suits and black dresses. Discussions were either business between younger diners or reminiscing with groups of older casual patrons who savored every bite as they slowly worked their way from salad to clams to risotto to mains and cheeses washed down by Australian whites.

Starters of taramosalata, salt dried olives and flatbread; or Parmesan, grissini and fresh fig; will set one back A$21. Entrees such as a fish carpaccio with fennel seeds, lime and fennel salad; risotto “Marchiangiano” with slow braised beef, beef ragu and pecorino; or spaghetti with clams and zucchini blossoms all come with a tag of about A$25. Mains of “Cartoccio” — stingray, silverbeet, asparagus, shitake and wood ear mushrooms — steamed with broth in a paper bag; or hand-dived wild Hervey Bay scallops list in the A$40 range.

The Hilton, which just finished a major renovation, has become a happening place in Sydney. Stars now stay in the Sydney Hilton’s very modern suites and one of Australia’s celebrity chefs, Luke Mangan, presides at their restaurant, Glass Brasserie (9265 6068).

The chic Zeta Bar seems to float above George Street. It has been declared the Bar of the Year by the Australian Hotel Association and has won a handful of other recent awards. The real proof comes in its creative cocktails and the fantastic views of the Queen Victoria Building that seems so close one could reach out and touch the faÃ§ade.

The restaurant setting is an architectural masterpiece designed by Tony Chi with glass as the main building material and the see-through focus of the rooms. The unusual concept is to allow the city to enter the dining room. A 10,000 bottle wine cellar spans the entire length of the restaurant with three 13-meter-high wine towers where stewards pluck bottles while suspended by ropes and pulleys.

Chef Mangan’s menu is a blend of classic French cuisine and native Australian. It is ambitious to say the least. Starters and entrees present local oysters, petunia ocean trout, kingfish, prawns quail and steak tartar. Seafood main dishes range from roasted jewfish fillet, yabbies, tomato fondue, zucchini and herbed potatoes; to barramundi poached in red wine, Jerusalem artichoke puree, morel mushrooms and baby leeks. Sample meat mains were roasted lamb rack, braised neck with walnut herb crust, tongue, pumpkin ravioli and lentils; and rare roasted venison, with soubise custard, beetroot, mint, feta and horseradish jus. The surreal setting and meal are a total experience.

My final dining adventure was at the ultra conservative and traditional Galileo Restaurant at the Observatory Hotel (9256 2222). Dark mahogany cabinets, lush brocade curtains, plush armchairs and sparkling crystal chandeliers set the restaurant’s conventional continental mood. However the menu is anything but staid and traditional. It is a delightful roadmap to a rare journey of taste sensations. Chef Haru Inukai blends cutting edge French cuisine with modern Japanese touches to create one of Sydney’s top dining masterpieces.

Unlike the bulk of modern gourmet chefs who seem to blend ingredients that fuse together on one’s palate, Inukai’s creations allow each of his ingredients to hold their own flavors. These distinct flavors maintain their integrity then blend delightfully with the other elements in each and every dish served. The brilliant wine selection by Sommelier Christian Vaeppler enhanced the dinner with every course. This was one of my most memorable and flavorful meals of the year.

The degustation menu started with Tasmanian Pacific oysters with 12-year-old white balsamic vinegar; duck terrine set in pistachio oil; yellow fin tuna tataki over Spanish onions; and layered salmon, leeks and seaweed. These starters were served with a 2002 Yarrabank Pinot/Chardonnay sparkling and a delightfully fruity 2006 Joseph La Magia Riesling/Traminer from Adelaide Plains.

Asparagus timbale with squid, gnocchi in squid ink, an eggplant and tomato fondue with cured red snapper, olives and Parmesan followed the starters. The timbale was accompanied by a subtly oaked 2004 Tarra Warra Chardonnay.

The main course of Aurora lamb rack was served with an astonishing semi-dried tomato and eggplant puree that managed to maintain the flavors of both elements. The accompanying wine was a robust and smoky 2004 Stonier KBS Pinot Noir from Victoria. The plum and cherry flavors and strong fruit finish were delightful.

Finally, after a mandarin and lemon thyme sorbet, the dessert of upside-down fig tart with fig sauce, crÃ¨me anglais and rum raisin ice cream was a fitting finish to this extraordinary meal. The final wine selection was an Austrian ice wine, 2004 Kracher Eiswein Cuvee from Bergenland.

After coffee, we walked to the Sydney Observatory (9921 3485), across Kent Street from the hotel and had an opportunity to use the telescope to view Saturn and Jupiter. The Observatory was built in the late 1800s to accurately tell time and eventually became one of the top astronomical viewing platforms for the southern hemisphere skies. The Observatory is open daily with a 3-D space theater and tour during the day and by reservation only at night for telescope viewings. Call or visit their website for full booking information. Adults pay A$15 for the night sessions and children pay A$10 with various other rates for students and families. From the surrounding gardens the night views of the lights of the Harbor Bridge and surrounding skyscrapers are beautiful.

The Orient-Express Observatory Hotel was my base for explorations of Sydney during my time in the city. It allowed a relaxing respite from the churning city. The tranquil residential neighborhood streets lead to the center of The Rocks with cafes for breakfast, tucked-away restaurants and traditional pubs or into the Central Business District and Darling Harbor area with its tourist focus. The hotel became my luxury home in Sydney away from my small apartment home in Boston and the staff had the uncanny ability to read my mind from breakfast suggestions to help with luggage and directions. The old-world Globe bar is perfect for meetings and interviews and a swim in the Observatory pool with its starry ceiling is a memorable experience.