A Tavola

A Tavola

348 Victoria St
Darlinghurst

Sydney

NSW 2010
Phone: (02) 9331 7871

Meal : 22 May 2009

One of the advantages of working partly from home is the food flexibility. Obviously, this is also one of the disadvantages, as the temptations are greater as well...

This year the Sydney Tarts watchnuts are celebrating 5 years of their weekly coffee & lemon tart meetings. I’ve only been a part of this group for a couple of years, but along with some of the others, including onomatopia, we are planning a GTG celebration and perhaps a momento of some sort.

Ever open to the task of investigating dining options, I decided to do a solo recon mission to A Tavola to see whether it might be a suitable location. Two of the group had already been there for dinner and enjoyed it, but were unsure as to whether it would meet our particular needs (e.g. good lighting for watch photos LOL).

Despite being on a self imposed diet of sorts, I decided that I could justify a larger-than-usual lunch if I followed it up by not eating dinner ;) so abandoning my work for a little while, I headed up to Victoria St. Fortunately for me, it was a Friday, as they are only open for lunch on Fridays for some reason.

One thing that the others who had been there did not mention was that there is a courtyard there, but it seems that they didn’t know.

Unfortunately, I subsequently discovered that with our numbers, we’d not be able to book the entire courtyard unless we satisfied a “minimum spend” of an amount which would be impossible for us to meet. However, a large table there is still under consideration at the moment.....

One of the things that I’d read about was the quality of the house made foccacia with chilli oil that is served to diners as they are seated.

What can I say except to wish that I’d been given more? In going to the courtyard area, I had passed the happy sight of the Chef making A Tavola’s pasta on the big marble communal table inside, the quiet hum of the busy kitchen, and the freshly made foccacia just waiting to you.

The menu is rather minimalist; I’d say that the blackboard menu is more the “menu” than the dozen odd items listed on the actual physical one. I decided to go with a pasta dish of course, and to go with one of the non blackboard items, the Sigarette al Ragu ($22).

The photo doesn’t do justice to the size of the dish, which was bigger than I had expected. Large, honest-to-goodness and full of comforting goodness, this is the sort of ragu that I could happily eat regularly. In fact I enjoyed the ragu so much that when I next go there, I will be torn between ordering it again, and trying something new..... [AP]

Bambini Trust Cafe

Bambini Trust Cafe
St James Trust Building
185 Elizabeth St
Sydney NSW 2000

Meal : May 1, 2009

Bambini Trust is one of my all time favourite restaurants in Sydney. It is not trendy, its menu not adventurous, and it doesn’t seem to push any gastronomic boundaries, but for at its price point, and even if the price is disregarded, for me it’s one of the most consistently enjoyable places in which to have a meal.

Unfortunately, it is not within my means to go there as frequently as I would like to but if I go there, I have no doubt that I will enjoy the experience, from the warm and cosy interiors to the quality of the food and service.

On this particular occasion, I was taken there by ABC, with whom I have dined there a number of times before, and who knows that I am fond of it. Someone must not have told the Bambini customers that there’s a recession going on, as not only was it full, but we’d been asked if we could come 15mins later than our request, so that they might fit us in!

As is my wont, I’d done my usual menu obsessing routine before I got there, and pondering whether I could convince ABC into having the Italian Buffalo Mozzarella, Vine Ripened Tomatoes, Basil & Aged Balsamic.

Yay, I did!

The menu made a point of referring to the Buffalo Mozzarella as being “air freighted”, which probably explains the $22.50 price tag attached to it! Was it good? The portion of mozarella was more than enough for two and in a way I’d have preferred perhaps one more slice of tomato in order to balance it out a bit (one bite mozarella, one bite tomato etc) but that was my only real quibble.

Dining Companion decided to have the Roasted Barramundi ‘Salmoriglio’ with White Anchovy, Lemon & Herb Potato Puree ($34).

It had been one of my possible choices, so I tried a bit and enjoyed it as I did, I actually preferred my choice, the Confit of Duck with Frisee & Lardon Salad, Pommes Landaise & Truffle Jus ($34).

I know the whole “truffle” thing is considered by some to be a bit passe but in a way it barely registered in this dish for me personally. A friend of mine likes his duck skin to be crispy but as I am one of those folks who actually prefers not to eat the skin (not even pork crackling!), it is neither here nor there for me. The duck’s skin in this case wasn’t as crisp as some would probably prefer but for me, it isn’t as critcal in a duck confit.

By this point it was almost 3pm and the restaurant was still full, as were we, so there was no room for anything more than a coffee..... [AP]

The St. Charles Bridge, Praha
[pj.m]

Prague is a beautiful city with an outstanding amount of architectural and sculptural gems. The St. Charles Bridge is under construction, but still walkable and a must for any visitor.

Geneve...
by pj.m

No thanks to my camera, I must have lost a picture in this series, but it came out pretty well nonetheless.

Le Sentier..
by pj.m

This is a panorama of the beautifully pastoral Le Sentier. After an extraordinary lunch with Mr. Philippe Dufour, Mark Schmidt, Ian Skellern, and my good friend Christine, I could not help but capture the view. This lake was frozen until April and there was still snow when this was taken around the 3rd of May, so I can understand the necessity to do something like watchmaking to pass the non-farmable months.

St. George Cathedral of Prague.
by pj.m

Having lived in Italy for over 7 months and visiting at least 1 cathedral in each of about 20 different cities, I can say that this was definitely one of the more impressive and interesting sites. What I really loved about the religious architecture of Prague was the use of gold and St. George was no exception.



Outside of Sta Maria del Fiore (il Duomo) of Florence, St. Peter in Roma, and La Sagrada Familia of Barcelona (a Gaudi masterpiece), St. George would be in my top 5 favorites.

A Brief History of (my) Time.. In Europe
by pj.m



Glashutte Original, Revolution, & Horomundi: Thank You. I had an incredible trip and it would have never happened if not for you. Rene and Christina, you were unbelievable hosts, Thank You as well.

I would also like to thank Wim, for hosting an excellent prize on the GO forum, IanS for taking time from his incredibly busy schedule to travel with me outside of Geneve, MarkS- it was a pleasure to finally meet you, and of course the watchmakers, Mr. Dufour, Mr. Roth, Peter Speake-Marin, Romain Gauthier, Felix Baumgartner, the wonderful staff of Greubel Forsey and Losa Bruno. It was an honor and pleasure to meet you all, and I very much appreciate the time that you took to speak with me.

[all monikers are of course Horomundi references]





The beautiful village of Glashutte...



My new beautiful baby girl.. the Sport Evolution Perpetual Calendar



The gorgeous center of Dresden...




I will continue later with Prague and Geneve.... for now, at least I know that this is working for me.