Quoth the Raven

Food! Glorious Food!

Sydney is definitely the place to find it.

Sydney is the hub of fine dining, a city surrounded by picturesqe scenes, aswell as absolutely gorgeous people.

One such restaurant to find all this and more is Cafe Sydney. Don't be fooled by the name, this restaurant is in no way to be compared to a cafe.

With views overlooking the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, that alone is worth reserving a table for, but add to that the fine dining, and the attentive staff, and you have Cafe Sydney.

If you get the chance to visit the land downunder, and find yourself wandering around the Rocks in Sydney, get yourself to Cafe Sydney - you won't be disappointed.

Welcome to Teatro Zinzanni.....

No, this is not me and my husband having a wonderful evening at Teatro Zinzanni! This is my husband, who played the role of Romio, with a larger-than-life, Juliet! You would think that we were out celebrating his birthday and not mine? Actually, I would much rather watch the show from the sidelines than be a part of it. Joel admits he was slightly embarrassed but I know he loved it! Wouldn't you want to be wooed by Juliet?

'La la lalala la...la.....Dream a little dream with me' oops sorry I was carried away thinking about the show. Dinner & Dreams was the theme for the night, and what a night it was. It will certainly be remembered for a very,very long time. It was absolutely spectacular.....with the performers, the music, the five course meal, everything was done to perfection. It was really amazing how smoothly everything came together, they actually incorporate the serving of the meals into the show. The actual meal/show lasted just over 3 hours, which may sound like a long time, but once you enter the arena you are transported to another era. It is as if time itself stands still. We were seated with 4 other couples and really had a ball!

The guest for this series was Thelma Houston. You must remember Thelma? 70's, disco, sang the hit 'Don't leave me this way'. Wow! She was totally awesome! She sang with such ease.....

I don't really want to say anymore, I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen the show. Just think Cirque du Soleil combined with a really nice European restaurant.

Late Night Nibbles

Well I have noticed that some weeks I have plenty to say, and other weeks nothing. And other times I have alot to chat about, but no time to put words on paper. So a couple of weeks ago we celebrated my husband, Joel's, birthday by dining at Serafina. What a wonderful place to dine, aswell as people watch. I didn't know Seattle had a hip crowd, but it does and this is definitely where the hip hang out.

The menu is HUGE! It took me awhile to decide what to eat as there are so many wonderful dishes to choose from. I decided to go for the grilled Ahi Tuna with a salad of radicchio, basil and endive with minted cous cous, and a relish of vine ripened tomatoes, cucumber and red onions. Ummmm scrumptious! I did have to ask for the tuna to be cooked just a little more. But the server, Eden, was more than willing to do anything to make our dining experience perfect. She was really fantastic, she was attentive without hovering around the table all night, and added just the right amount of conversation. I must add, that the tuna was cooked to perfection but I have a thing about food that still looks like the animal it came from. Yes, I am abit squeamish about eating meat/fish/chicken that still looks like such, which is why my main diet consists of chicken fillet. I did try going vegetarian for awhile, the fad lasted about 18 months and it was great. I have never looked, or felt healthier, but I did get a little bored with the food I could eat. Admittedly, it may have helped if I actually experimented with different recipes. I did cook one seriously vegetarian dish in that time and it took me about 90 minutes! I guess the fact that I had an eating disorder at the time made it easy for me to just limit my food intake?

Anyway, back to Serafina - it was an absolutely wonderful restaurant with the most intimate atmosphere. The perfect place to take that special someone in your life. (And no, I don't get a discount for recommending the restaurant!) We will definitely be going back. And the cocktails were to die for, and maybe I would have died if I hadn't watched my step while leaving the restaurant. Yep, those dreaded 4" heels again! Plus the floor has some differing levels which may be hard to notice when your tired, or have had one to many cocktails, or a bottle of wine, or all of the above. Maybe I need to start drinking more so my system can handle more alcohol? Or stop drinking altogether? Or maybe I should just throw out those dreaded 4" heels!! We'll see......but for now, ciao baby.

Happy Anniversary to Me

On August the 5th we celebrated our wedding anniversary, having thus far enjoyed 9 years of marital bliss! The challenge, after living in Seattle for 4 years, is where do we dine for our special occasion. I have been fortunate enough to have visited the Fairmont Hotel's Georgian Room, for both lunch and afternoon tea. Both, of which I highly recommend. Previous years we have dined at the King Fish Cafe, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have read mixed reviews but I found the food to be great and the staff friendly. We have also gone to the Pink Door which is fantastic. A truly unique dining experience! We dined on italian fare while watching trapeze artists perform overhead. I do recommend limiting alcohol consumption, as having to take on those stairs leading up to the alley was certainly a challenge for me. Hey, I only had one martini, though it was quite strong and I am not usually a martini drinker. Oh, and the couple of glasses of wine?

Last year we decided to go to the Waterfront Seafood Grill. Yet another wonderful place to dine. I cannot emphasize how impressed I was with the excellent service. The food was to die for, as was the prices. But my philosphy is 'you get what you paid for' and we did get all that we paid for, and more. Did I mention that the views are also wonderful, overlooking Elliott Bay.

So you see the dilemma that we were facing? Where do we go from here? I decided to choose the Georgian Room for the gorgeous interior, the ambience, and my previous experiences. I must applaud myself on an absolutely wonderful choice. From the moment that we were escorted from our vehicle, we entered another world. A world where customer service is exactly that. The staff are exceptional, the menu delighful and the company; just gorgeous. And I must add, my philosphy has been discarded thanks to the Georgian Room. We ended up spending $180! I cannot believe that such a fine dining experience could be so reasonable. We both enjoyed a 3 course meal, pre-dinner cocktails, and a decent bottle of wine! A glorious evening was had by all.

Here comes the bride all dressed in wine....

What a play on words. Gee, I am just so hilarious??

What a great weekend it was! Unfortunately, Monday comes around way too quickly.

So we had a wedding to attend. Now, I must say that as much as I don't mind attending weddings, I hate having the dilemma of deciding what to wear. Really, who is going to be looking at me anyway, we all know that everyone is busy adoring the bride. But this does not seem to change a thing? So I begin stressing about what to wear about a month in advance......yep I am crazy! I also realized that I hate to shop for an outfit, so I don't. This time I waited till the day before, rushed out to Nordstrom and could not find a thing, anything that was affordable, anyway. I did manage to find a really cool coat! Pink, 3/4 length, with a cool black/white design on the inner lining. But for $390 it was not leaving the shop, not with me anyway!! I would have a hard time trying to explain that purchase to my endearing husband?

The first step to getting help, is to admit you actually have a problem. So I finally have to admit that I am a shopaholic, which in this instance came in really handy. I decided to look through the numerous clothing items, shoes and accessories, that I have crammed in my closet. Would you believe that I managed to put 2 outfits together!! Including a pair of shoes with a 4" heel, which I have owned for about 6 months. After buying them I realised just how high they were, and too be honest, I was a little scared to wear them. But desperate times call for desperate measures and I had no other choice.

So off to the wedding we go, walking, very, very slowly........

Eugenia and Kevin were the lovely couple. Eugenia looked absolutely gorgeous - but what bride doesn't look good on her wedding day?? Right, wrong, I have seen some pretty scary brides over the years. Her dress was really beautiful, apart from the red wine that some jerk spilled all over her. Yep, red wine all down the front of her eggshell colour dress!! Thankfully, it was after the photos were taken.

It was a nice ceremony, very quick, which was fine with me, being that it was an outdoor wedding and the temperature was around 97 degrees! The wedding began at 4.30pm and by 10.30 my feet had just about had enough from walking in my 4" heels. It was time to lose the heels, and the extra height that at 5' 3", I desperately needed!

Well I think the lesson learned from this experience is:

1. Get your outfit early!!
2. Don't drink red wine when talking to the bride!

Bring Me Another Drink

Well, on a lighter, much lighter note, my husband and I
decided to go to a wine tasting class at the Chateau
Saint Michelle.

I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! The
presenters were fantastic, I have never heard anyone
speak with so much passion about wine. The fact that
it was only a 2 hour class did not prevent me from
learning a great deal about wine; from the wine
making process to the art of enjoying wine. Although
I did learn that it is probably not a good idea to try and finish all of the wines that are placed in front of you.

It was a really wonderful afternoon, and for only $25 per person it was a bargain!