The daughter leaves next week on her E3D visa. She has a few USCIS hoops to jump through but will eventually be allowed to work as well.
We went up to Sydney to say goodbye and to help a little with some moving chores. Everything is going into storage although we did score a few fancy appliances to 'look after'.
The visit turned into a bit of a dining out fest.
For lunch we went back to Sake on the Rocks.
This restaurant specializes in modern Japanese cuisine.
We decided to sit at the bar for our meal and watch the talented kitchen staff go about their craft. The sushi chefs have amazing knife skills.
Our meal consisted of:
-Sashimi appetizer
-White-soy snapper thin slices of sashimi snapper | sesame seeds chives yuzu juice | white-soy dressing.
-Steamed prawn dumplings shumai | spicy ponzu
-Wagyu dumplings ginger | chive | spicy sour dipping sauce
-Pan seared ocean barramundi cone bay ocean barramundi butter soy sweet ponzu | buckwheat | tomato salsa
This was all washed down with a glass of Jim Barry's Clare Valley Riesling.
It was a hugely enjoyable meal with attentive service in very pleasant surroundings.
The Rocks is the area of original settlement of Sydney and is now a popular tourist precinct filled with hotels, pubs, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and the inevitable souvenir shops. Lots of the old buildings and warehouses remain. There is also a really good market with high quality hand made goods set up at weekends.The place was really buzzing especially since the very large cruise ship, Carnival Spirit, was moored right 'next door' at the international terminal in Sydney Cove.
That night we headed into the newly 'revived' inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale to LP's Quality Meats.
American Bar B Q restaurants are a relatively new addition to the Sydney foodie scene. This is one of the best.
Luke Powell (the LP) has worked at some of the best restaurants in Australia and overseas. It was at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York, USA that Luke became fascinated with the smoking and curing of meat and decided to bring that skill to Sydney diners.
A Southern Pride Smoker shipped straight from Tennessee is their production unit and it sure does serve up some mighty fine dishes.
We selected:
-Applewood smoked ocean trout with crème fraîche, dill and capers.
-Smoked Beef short rib
-BBQ chicken with paprika and dill rub (only a half!)
Mash and gravy plus roasted carrots with harissa and almonds were the sides
The dessert to die for was pouding chomeur with vanilla ice cream.
Roll us outta there!!!
They had a very eclectic wine list with the vast majority of makers unknown to me.
We selected a Between Five Bells wine.This winery is owned by a group of guys with various wine backgrounds. Their inspiration is a) "the classic field-blend red wines of California, with their flare, deliciousness and wild, rich flavours" and b) "the wines of the central and southern Rhone Valley, where, if you look past the big names, reside some of the most natural, rustic, slurpable Shiraz and Grenache based wines anywhere in the world".
The 2014 H-cote is a blend of the Italian varieties Nero d’Avola and Negroamaro from a Heathcote (Victoria) vineyard which was fermented on their skins as well as skins of Pinot Gris.
This a very straight forward but drinkable wine that went well with the strong flavours of the food. They say it is a wine that shows silk, spice, savoury and gulp-able flavours. We couldn't argue with that.
So next morning, after breakfast and a bit more furniture dismantling, we said our goodbyes and headed back home.
We are planning to visit New York in May next year to catch up with the kids.
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