Palm Beach: Good Food, Good Wine, Good People

Note: The title of the blog post was not selected in any particular order. 

To quote PalmBeachSydney.net, "Palm Beach, the jewel of the Northern Beaches, is the northernmost suburb of Sydney, less than an hour drive from the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the CBD. Nestled on a landmark peninsula, it is blessed with a unique contrast of lush evergreen bushland and beaches of golden sand, enveloped by the pristine blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the calm sailing paradise of Pittwater. A unique environmental awareness blending breathtaking views with quaint cottages and palatial homes, ensures that Palm Beach will forever enjoy a lifestyle of relaxed and casual affluence."

I can attest to the fact that the views are as the paragraph describes and the waters are just as blue. Before a quite busy week at work, I spent last weekend at house in Palm Beach. I've very fortuitously met a group of lovely girls who invited me up to spend the weekend with them and a group of high school and 'uni' (aka. college) friends. Having allowed myself several free weekends & not planning multitudes of trips, I very happily agreed and was on my way. At the time I had no idea what Palm Beach was (this was of course prior to finding the syrupy paragraph above), but figured that any place whose name contains the words 'palm' and 'beach' was probably not a bad decision. 

After a drinks at Opera Bar & a Friday movie with Aimee & Ryan (go see the Social Network!), Saturday morning I packed up my things and headed  across Darling Harbour and Hyde Park into the King's Cross area to meet up with Steph, Anya and their friend Alice, who was visiting from the States. Tummies full of homemade breakfast burrito (salsa,tomato, avocado, eggs, cheese...Carly & Sara you'd have loved it!), we were picked up by Chris with a full on Movember 'stache & Steven and all of us drove to Chris's parents house in Palm Beach. It is amazing and the result of meticulous design & interior planning. Every bedroom had a subtle theme noticed only after spending a few moments lying on the bed or invading the wardrobes with your own un-belonging belongings, and all living spaces could be arranged to accommodate an intimate gathering of friends or a larger, more elegant soiree. The view...well, I'll let you look at the pictures. 

Altogether, there were about 15 of us there, strangers at the beginning, but definitely all became friends at the end of the weekend. There were also about 5 cameras, including my own, which led to a lot of fun photo taking. I have no doubt some will eventually make an appearance on the Facebook.

 The bunkhouse, where the 4 of us girls slept

 The views from and of Chris's parents house. We also went for a brief ride on that boat before a storm rolled in. It has just enough horsepower not to be able to tow. Yes, Chris's parents also did this on purpose

 Duckies! After the storm at low tide

 Tender friend moments

 Alice at low tide

 The lovely Anya contemplating life

 An empty wine glass at sunset

Dinner Saturday: After an entire day of sunbathing, laughing, a drink here or there, and hiding from a storm, little did we know Chris had a delicious meal in the works for us. As he explained to me on the ride back on Sunday, he used to work in the hospitality business covering in his multi-year career a London pub, Notting Hill Clubs, and Sydney hotel before quite literally throwing in the towel for an Accounting education & job. He prepared multiple salads, potatoes, marinated & grilled meats, cheeses & after dinner champagne. (The cheeses we'd been snacking on all day, and was so notable, warrants mentioning as an accompaniment to all meals we had that day. The dinner evolved into late night drawing, dancing & singing very much like many of the long meals with friends I'd had in Italy, where time just stops.

 Sunday: This is the view that we all woke up to on Sunday and went down lovely with our fresh orange juice, succulent mangoes, cappuccinos & tea. After the first few hours of digestion, we headed to one of the many beaches, soaked up the sun and had a few heart to hearts while walking along the surf. I took some time away from the group to do some soul searching on the beach as the waves crashed up against the shore; now, I'm tempted to add 'long walks on the beach' as a genuine interest of mine, all cliched pickup lines notwithstanding. The rhythms of the waves naturally calm and permit me the utmost clarity of thought. The waves mesmerize and confound playfully choosing a different moment to break upon each arrival to shore, never forsaking the infinite enormity to which they belong. I find it to be a beautiful, beautiful thing. Don't think I'll ever quite get enough of it.

The sun setting over the cove at Chris's house

The natural conclusion to the weekend was fish & chips, a sun-kissed crew watching the newest version of Sabrina with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond & Greg Kinnear;  cleaning up the house that had generously & patiently tolerated our shenanigans of the day prior; crossword puzzles; a chicken dance (which I'll not delve into details, but trust me it was hilarious); and transport back to our respective houses. 

Thanks to Chris for hosting truly lovely weekend away from the city & bringing together such warm-souled individuals. Thank you to everyone else for your pleasant & jovial company. Leaving the house, I realized I had a sore abdomen muscles from the sheer quantity of collective moments, sum total probably hours, I had laughed.  Speaking very much from previous experience, for someone newly arrived in a country or city the most difficult thing is weave yourself into the natural life threads of an established friend circle, and its precisely the people you meet that create the rose colored glasses through which you interpret your new surroundings. I am beyond thankful that both outside and inside work, I've found myself amidst such beautiful people. You know you are, so thanks again!

A blog post would not be complete without:

Random Factoid: “Cellar door” according to thesaurus.com is the most beautiful word or phrase in the English language for its harmonious sounds and general pleasing effect to the ear. In terms of phonaesthetics, cellar door is often held up as an example of the most euphonic sound combination.

Quote of the week: "You just gotta believe." -An American colleague.  

PS. Aimee, I miss you!

The Victorious ‘Americain’ ‘Goes West’

Not to be confused with the movie about an immigrant Russian mouse, this post is about my exposure to the great Australian tradition of the Melbourne Cup and my trip to Melbourne, both for client visits and a weekend of exploration.

Melbourne Cup

I won $70! I never win anything. Thank Bob for conning me into the late minute bet on ‘Americain’, the winning horse.

So, the Melbourne Cup is the ‘race that stops the nation.’ In Melbourne on the day of the race is considered a state holiday and everyone gets off work. I was only fortunate to get off half a day and then the office sponsored an open bar and appetizer event at a local bar.  It was a struggle to get everything done in the morning, but an ideal way to spend the afternoon.

Before continuing with my anecdote one thing that you must know about the Cup or horse races in general is that women wear things called ‘Fascinators’. I’m not sure if the word derives its name from the fact its designed to ‘fascinate’ people or to be ‘fastened’ to one’s head. That’s a question for the GOOG. So women wear these elaborate and in some cases Lady Gaga style head gear with elaborate dresses and generally look like the less conservative versions the My Fair Lady race spectators. None of them do it as well as Audrey, but surrounded by them, its impossible not to feel transported back to some bygone era. I kinda liked it, but didn’t fully partake because the ‘fascinators’ also happen to be fascinatingly expensive and like prom dresses, you can only wear them once.

After the race and the Americans almost clean sweeping the in-office sweeps, the office headed to Hugo’s for more festivities and dancing. I was home by 9 PM after 3-4 hours of dancing, and then hit the gym. It was again, a brilliant way to spend a Tuesday afternoon/evening.

Melbourne

Much of Wednesday through Friday afternoon is a blur. When not jotting through the cities in cabs to client events, I was working quite diligently at the hotel.  The must do dinner and drink places are:

Gingerboy – Good Asia fusion, inspired by street car food. Trendy and yummy comfort food.  (Thanks Paul!)

Movida – Delicious Spanishness.  Olives. Jamon. Tapas. Raciones. Churros con Chocolate. (Chris, Julia & Kathleen, this place is Spain.) The beef cheek on cauliflower puree melts in your mouth.  The credit on this on goes to Lindsey!

Mme Brussels – There’s an outdoor patio, an indoor salon designed to look like a patio, a salon a’ la Madame. The waiters & waitresses dress in 1950’s trendy tennis outfits, and the refreshing, light cocktails are served in glass pitchers to share with fresh summer fruits and vegetable slices. The Gin Garden is a definite winner.  Also a Lindsey find.

The Croft Institute – Follow a winding, graffiti filled back alley to a dimly lit sign designating the ‘Institute’. This mental hospital turned bar recalls its haunting beginnings with neon beakers, test tubes and other eerie looking lab equipment and cocktails served with syringes. The bathroom is also quite cool. It has a hospital bed in it, and if you’re lucky security guard #13 will tell you ghost stories on your way back downstairs. Hazel, Elaine & I were a tad…creeped out, but love every second.

Although much of my blog is dedicated to food and fun things, I am actually doing work, and doing a lot of it. Unlike in my job back in the States, I spend less time managing advertising accounts and more time learning about & consulting on my company products, how to position them in a new market and develop deeper business relationships. Although it’s the same products as in the States, its much like learning to speak a different dialect of a language, same base, different pronunciation & vocabulary. I’m also learning more about the Australian online market. Because my team looks over all of Australia, our conversations happen on a larger stage and its imperative to know who the other players are, what they do and how my company fits into the scene. It’s a challenge I’ve never faced before and I’m really enjoying the process. My meetings with clients this past week helped me to get a better idea of what process looks like for our clients and how I, my team & company fit into that. Really exciting stuff. 

One important lesson in business acumen that I learned is that Australians don’t do Starbucks. They actually are just as if not more particular than the Italians.  The clients at one of our visits know my colleague as the ‘Starbucks’ guy because he brought them Starbucks for the first meeting a few months ago and no one drank it. After getting noses turned up at the coffee gesture, he now knows he needs to get a coffee 'order' before showing up at a meeting. Starbucks pastries are acceptable and much appreciated, but coffee is a definite no.

After a busy day on Friday, I met up briefly with Paul at Caboose (great for antipasti & cold cuts) and Rommi & sister at Via Veneto in the Little Italy section of Melbourne on Lyon Street. A  little, kept secret about the Lygon Street Italian area is that especially around 5:30-6:00 PM on slow nights the restaurants start hustling people in to give the appearance of being the place to eat, hawking free appetizers (Bruschetta or Garlic bread) per person and a bottle of wine. The combination of  generously portioned Italian food, boisterous laughter (much facilitated by the free bottle of wine) indeed makes any of the restaurants ideal dining experiences.  Although Via Veneto may not have been the ‘go to’ or ‘must eat’ restaurant, I was thoroughly satisfied with my spaghetti alla pescatora (sp? This was the name on the menu). The lightly sweetened red sauce contained small pieces of fresh lobster meat, jumbo & baby prawns, scallops, the 2 mussles with a kiss of peperoncino, garlic and fresh parsley. My dish was large…very large…and I ate all of it.  Rommi and her sister were going to have to roll me down the street, and then we saw the gelato, la Casa del Gelato. The house of gelato, which contained 30+ flavors, including Bacio, Cassata, Ferrero,  Nocciola, and various fruits including, Fruiti di Bosco. When I translated this for Rommie and her sister, the ‘Fruit of the forest’ didn’t really sound as appetizing as  the Italian. They didn’t believe me at first. Somethings I guess are just not meant to be translated. The extra loop around the block had cleared some extra space in my second stomach and I giddily began to dance to the ‘Taio Cruz’s DJ got me Fallin’ in Love as I began nibbling on the first scoop of gelato. I had been concerned by the lime green color of the Pistachio ice cream & violent pink of the strawberry, but I had chosen well and my ice cream was every bit as delicious as I had imagined. I ate all 3 scoops.

 To repent of my gluttony, I walked across the city to the South Bank to meet up with Hazel & Elaine for a quick hello and to witness large balls of fire erupt from brick columns from the nearby casino.  I also got into and gallantly lost the debate if Russell from “up” is Asian or not. FYI - In case you find yourself in a similar situation, Russell is in fact Asian.

Saturday:‘Go West’ Tour to the Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometre (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I. It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations.

I was up at the crack of dawn to be picked up by Damon, the fearless, self-proclaimed ‘half bogan’ leader of the ‘Go West Tour’. He was incredibly nice and seeing that I was traveling alone, let me sit in the front of the bus, which arguably was the best seat with the most leg room.  As it turns out, Damon was the only person on the bus even close to my age and was studying to be an out doors education teacher at the local ‘uni’. His homework for the weekend consisted of dehydrating fruit for a walk-about all day Monday. Hard life.  He was great company during the 10 hour road trip and even invited me along to the excursions he and his classmates are planning to hike around major national parks in Australia. I’m hoping it works out with my dates because it would be a.maz.ing.  to go, especially with multiple guides who know what they’re doing and where to go. He and I ended up chatting most of the day with another American couple, Jamie & Allie, who were visiting their daughter currently studying at Melbourne University.

Allie also reinforced the importance of blogging for family and friends. She expressed to me her thankfulness that her daughter  maintained the blog. It helped her to stay in touch with her daughter although they couldn’t often talk on the phone, and when she read the blog, she could often hear her daughter telling her the stories in her head and could partake in part of her world, albeit virtually. I hope this serves as a similar comfort to you faithful readers, as that is my intention as well. I also promised to give her blog a shout out in my own. Insatiablyhealthy.com … please check it out.

 I saw many a things on the tour, but I’ll not describe them because the pictures speak volumes. I'll just say it involved small beach towns, ocean cliff faces, a surfer’s memorial, the 12 Apostles, koalas, a helicopter ride, hidden beaches, a rainforest, and Chinese noodles.

A surfer's Memorial

The Australian Wildlife

Random stops on the way to the 12 Apostles

Exploring the Rain forest

A view from the Helicopter

Sunday: Cupcakes, Pizza and more Melbourne

Only two other notes on this one. I think I might officially be done with hostels and I’ve never been so happy to see the Goldsbough in my life. 

Breakfast at Little Cupcakes – Tiny delicious cupcake place. I had the mini-Belgian chocolate, the flourless chocolate chip cookie, and the passion fruit cupcakes with a cappuccino. That’s what I call the breakfast of champions, and I will be stopping by here again!

 

Melbourne alley ways are famous for being full of graffiti.

 

Out in St. Kilda

 

 

Pizza e Birra (Thanks Alejandro! Amazing recommendation) – This is by far the most authentic Italian pizza I’ve had outside of Italy, and the main chef, Silvana is an absolute sweetheart. I stopped by the kitchen after my delicious meal and we bonded over the red sauce subtlety sweetened by the San Marzano tomatoes, the time sensative settling of the raw pizza dough, and gentle spotted, char of the wood-fire oven on the pizza’s crust. A kindred spirit! She gave me the address and name of the chef and sister restaurant in Sydney, EnoPizzeria. Mauro’s getting a visit from me; he just doesn’t know it yet.