Sometimes a bit of the city comes out of the hippy farm girl. Sometimes that city part needs to be nourished, embraced and relished in. Sometimes, just sometimes that city living is enough to make you want to sing…

Sing an aria.

I have been singing all week. Ever since I got the confirmation email…”we are pleased to confirm your reservation…and look forward to welcoming you to ARIA restaurant.”

Now call me a dag, call me a curd nerd, call a ‘bloody hippy’, but you can also call me a Matt Moran fan. Why?…There is something about that guy that and his food that catches my attention. I had wanted to go to his Sydney restaurant (two hatted) for quite a few years now and here I was finally about to get that opportunity.

…and yes I was singing with excitement.

A gorgeous day out with my man, they could have served us canned baked beans and I would have been happy. Why?

1/ We don’t go out that often by ourselves…actually, um never.

2/ The Monkeys weren’t grappling my legs. Instead happily tying their grandmother to a door frame at home, lighting small fires under her feet and taunting her. (As long as we didn’t get a phone call, that was fine.)

3/ It really is the most stunning harbour, sometimes I need to be poked and prodded and reminded of this.

So did they serve baked beans?

amuse bouche- leak and potato soup

Kurobuta sweet pork belly (the best I have EVER tasted) with pickled watermelon and crackling

cured goose breast with chicken liver parfait, poached rhubarb, black pepper and ginger bread

seared fillet of Murray cod (so crispy skin), spinach purée and fricassée of salsify and borlotti beans

char-grilled Rangers Valley sirloin with a cauliflower and bacon croquette, roasted king brown mushrooms and a grain mustard sauce. (otherwise known as the best steak we have ever eaten.)

custard tart with poached pears, nutmeg and ginger bread ice cream

chocolate deliciousness of some kind or another