Vue de Awesome

I do quite like Vue de Monde but someone on Urbanspoon took it to another level

Lunch @ Charcoal Lane

Charcoal Lane is the result of a partnership between Mission Australia and the Victorian Aboriginal Health service and has been described as the indigenous version of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen©®™

The aim of Charcoal Lane is, in their own words, "to provide the opportunity for Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people to transform their lives through traineeships and apprenticeships". A highly worthwhile objective I'm sure you'd agree.

Breakfast @ Collective Espresso

Huzzah! You can actually get decent coffee in Camberwell and you can thank Collective Espresso!

Lunch @ Church Street Enoteca

It's a while between lunches at Church St Enoteca but the news of pork cheeks on the menu had us scurrying in.

For starters:

Lunch @ Cafe Vue at 401

At the end of our previous posting on the new Cafe Vue at 401 we did say we'd be back and we've been true to our word. This time, we're here for lunch.

Dinner @ Garden Court Restaurant

The rest of our afternoon is spent relaxing and watching the league final - it was tense, it was tight, it had the most biased commentary ever heard, Eddie McQuire calling a Collingwood match has nothing on this, but in the end, the result was simply beautiful.

Now it's time for our final meal in Sydney and this was probably the second thing we arranged on our trip. We knew that if we came to Sydney we would have to catch up with one of our favourite maitre d's Matt. We first met Matt at Fenix and he then moved on to Les Boucheries Parisiennes. A few months ago he left and took up a position at the Sofitel Sydney. You always knew with Matt around, an evening of excellent service, food and wine was guaranteed. So tonight we're heading back to the Sofitel and this time we're visiting the Garden Court Restaurant.

Lunch @ The Bathers' Pavilion

Just when they'll lulled us into a false sense of security and we actually think Sydney taxi drivers have improved, we get one that brings us back to earth. It wasn't the fact that he was sneakily reading his large screen tomtom using a magnifying glass, it's that he dropped us off at the wrong spot! It was a bit of a walk in shoes that are not made for walking but we did eventually make it to our destination, a little late but in one piece.

Wentworth Afternoon Tea

With the rain pouring down and a big day of eating planned for tomorrow, we decided to try something a little different and venture out for a spot of Afternoon Tea.

Having done a bit of research it seems that the Sofitel has the best offering. Even though we'll be dining there tomorrow what swayed us was their more traditional take on the afternoon tea and that they serve the Wentworth Cheesecake using the original recipe which dates from the hotels opening in 1966.

Jeff Martin: Back of House

The Artist as genial host.

Having known Jeff for some time we were very excited to have a sneak peek of his latest work "Back of House" just before the official launch. I was particularly looking forward to seeing the finished works having viewed several pieces "in progress" at Jeff's Appleton Street Studio.

The first "Back of House" exhibition was part of our own Melbourne Food and Wine Festival last year and took us on a journey through the Kitchens of some of our best local restaurants. In this series, the kitchens of Sydney have been explored.

This appears to be the first and longest event of the Sydney International Food Festival and is being held at the Shapiro Gallery until October 14.

Lunch @ Glass

Having checked into our room at the Hilton and gathered our bearings, with the inclement weather we decided not to stray too far for lunch but instead venture into the on-site Luke Mangan restaurant, Glass Brasserie

Flight - Melbourne to Sydney

October is the start of the unfortunately named Sydney International Food Festival or SIFF. Perhaps my brain is just wired a little differently but I just can't help but mentally add the word less every time I hear or see SIFF (I'll give you a minute to work that out). I'm just thankful we don't have the Melbourne International Literary Festival though the name might just inspire us to see some of the usual drivel that accompanies such festivals.

The reason we're going to Sydney is to attend a friend's exhibition opening which just happens to be a SIFF event but more about that in a later post.

Unlike overseas trips we're leaving at a more civilised time of 10.30am. The run to the airport is a quick one so after checking in we have some time to relax in the Qantas Lounge.

While we wait we have an excellent view of not one but three A380's.