The Doltone House Group has just launched a brand new food emporium named Signorelli Gastronomia. The family owned and operated company has a significant portfolio of waterfront entertainment and catering venues, including Jones Bay Wharf and Darling Island Wharf. Signorelli Gastronomia is located on the lobby floor of the new Accenture building in Pyrmont on a lovely waterfront location, not too far from the Good Living Grower’s Markets (held every Saturday). Good living described the location to be similar to Harrod’s Food Hall in London, but I would say it’s a lot less commercial, with a familiar Italian family touch.

Wine room (left), Cheese room (right)

They described it to be a place where “visitors can buy, taste and learn about high quality food and drink… enjoy foods grown within a 100mile radius of Pyrmont that respects local farmers, maintaining a menu that is seasonal and diverse“. The space consists of a shop which stocks gourmet products such as cured meats, fresh pasta, premium gelato and dried herbs; a dining area that seats no more than 30, with mostly bar or communal table seating; a wine room and a cheese room. I appreciated the open layout of the place as we sat close to the pizza station, watching the chef kneading pizza dough on a floured marble bench.

Being day three of opening, there were the much expected service hiccups, but the staff were all incredibly friendly and the service was professional. With our sore heads from the previous night’s activities we were craving some hearty Italian food.

We ordered the ham hock and foie gras terrine served with watercress, baby carrots and toasted sourdough to start, which was delightfully flavoursome, and less rich than the usual chicken liver parfait served by other restaurants. The addition of the baby carrots inside the terrine was a nice touch (perhaps it made me feel healthier?).

A selection of fresh oysters (Pipe Clay, St Helens and Sydney Rock), some served with prosecco granita.

The aroma from the pizza station got the better of us. It was like our minds were read, and the waiter came around and offered us a sample of some freshly made garlic pizza that just came out of the wood fire oven while we were waiting for the next course.

For our mains, I opted for the tagliatelle that was on the specials (something that our waiter initially forgot to mention, but I had overheard the dish mentioned for the next table and changed my choice due to food envy). It was served with chorizo, dried chilli, ricotta and wilted sprouts. This is normally a little too oily for my liking, but it sure hit the spot.

My partner, equally fragile at the time, opted for the sage crumbed 250g veal cutlet with wild rocket, fresh lemon cheeks and capers, fried to perfection with a batter full of flavour.

And what better side dish than the duck fat fries with smoked sea salt? The smoked sea salt added a wonderful dimension, like it had been barbecued over wood chips. I’m sure the smoked sea salt can be purchased from their store. The chips however, I thought were too chunky to be enjoyed, unlike the version from Sean’s Kitchen.

The squid ink risotto, Hawkesbury cuttlefish and soft poached hen’s egg from the next table looked salivating, with the soft centered yolk oozing into the warm rice. One should always leave a reason for a second visit!

There was a great selection of desserts on the menu which I also thought should be saved for my second visit, so we ordered an Affogatto for a quick sugar and caffeine hit. Little did we know it was going to be so fun!

The affogatto was served in a mini copper pot

Instead of the usual liqueur poured in with the ice cream and espresso, the frangelico was encased in a jelly membrane which explodes in the mouth, made with a method of spherification a technique made famous by Ferran Adria.

My only complaint is that the ice cream melted much too quickly and it should have been pressed down and frozen with the copper pots.

James, the chef brought over a few additional “shots” of these jelly explosions that had a bit more kick to the ones inside the dessert. He informed us that they will be holding classes for this new and modern style of cooking later on, which could be quite fun.

Whist we were eating, we spotted a giant block of cheese with a diameter of a barrel that was being carefully divided for the cheese room, and it turned out to be Sovrano di bufala (aged buffalo milk cheese) – one of my favorites! I bought plenty to stock up and share with friends.

Signorelli Gastronomia proves to be a promising food emporium with authentic Italian cuisine and fantastic gourmet products, similar to the style of Fratelli Fresh and Bacco Wine bar.

Along with the grower’s markets, could Pyrmont be the next food hub?

Signorelli Gastronomia
48 Pirrama Road
Darling Island Wharf
Pyrmont NSW 2009
Tel: (02) 8571 0616
www.signorelli.com.au

What sets him aside from the rest of the three Michelin starred chefs is that Heston was completely self taught. He was inspired during the age of 16 after a visit to a French restaurant (L’Oustau de Baumaniere) and he had an epiphany – he wanted to devote his life to gastronomy. With a copy of On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee and spending every last penny dining at Michelin starred restaurants, he especially took a keen interest in the technique of cooking and the science behind how flavour is produced, and it was only a natural progression that he began to explore molecular gastronomy.

After the recent debacles The Fat Duck restaurant experienced, I thought it would be easier to secure a table. Boy was I wrong! It was booked out for the next two months, so I was on a waiting list for a 2PAX at any time during my three week stay in London. Luckily, reservations emailed me days before, and I had secured a table for two on a Tuesday night.

Unlike elBulli, dining at The Fat Duck was not one of those trips where I spent months and months anticipating for, as I probably spent more time worrying how to get out of central London during peak hour traffic after work. I also missed out on tickets to Heston’s talks during last year’s Melbourne food festival, so I’m not as familiar with his concepts as I had hoped for. It was probably a blessing in disguise, because sometimes when you read too much into the chef and his creations, the meal itself is like watching a Harry Potter movie – you’ve read all the books, everything looks great, but you inevitably know what is going to happen next.

The Fat Duck is located just outside of London in Bray, under an hour’s drive from the city. It is near Berkshire, where Heston grew up and still resides with his wife and three children. The restaurant is a humble, cosy Tudor styled building with low ceilings and exposed timber beams, around 15 tables or so occupying the living room sized space. It seats a maximum of 45 people, and there is almost a one staff to one diner ratio.

“I love what I do,” Heston laughs. “I do think that it doesn’t matter how gastronomic food is or it can be. I think you should be able to have fun. If one word that a customer could say to me to describe the experience of the restaurant it would be fun, to have a sense of fun.”

Heston was right. It was indeed the most “fun” I’ve ever had during a meal, where he doesn’t miss a single detail of the story that unfolds through my palate during my 18 course tasting menu. To transcend diners as the role of Alice in Wonderland (and you’ll see the references he makes to that story later) and having tea with the Mad Hatter was all part of his charm. Perhaps, with his whimsical approach to cooking, he relates to the role of the Mad Hatter, only to swap the top hat for a chef’s hat?

The Wine List

The 18 course tasting menu (the only option for dinner – he had recently removed the a la carte menu) plays with every theory he’s found from scientific studies of how to trigger memories through smell, taste, touch and sounds. Once it was combined into a multi-sensory affair, we add in all our own memories and experiences to the table, giggling and interacting with the ’story’ our own way, from the prologue right down to the appendix. Every dish was inviting and had its own unique comfort zone, and I can’t really imagine anyone who wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I did.

(click on any photos to see a detailed, full-sized zoom)

After settling wth some olives and vintage Rose champagne, our meal begins with a spectacle of liquid nitrogen, like a magician’s grand entrance, followed by a spritz of fresh lime perfume in the air amongst us that lingered and refreshed our senses. The waiter “poached” the lime mousse inside the liquid nitrogen until it resembled a very cold piece of meringue, sprinkled it with green tea powder using a powder puff and asked that we eat it straight away with our fingers.

LIME GROVE
Nitro Poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse

RED CABBAGE GAZPACHO
Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream

JELLY OF QUAIL, CREAM OF CRAYFISH
Chicken Liver Parfait, Oak Moss and Truffle Toast (Homage to Alain Chapel)

We were first presented with a bed of moss on a wooden box, with two packets of what resembled Listerine Strips with the label “Fat Duck Films”. We let the thin clear strip dissolve on our tongue, immersing it with flavours of wooden oak undertones, while our server poured a liquid onto the moss that turned our dining table into a mystic forest.

The truffle toast and the chicken liver parfait was served - my ebony Laguiole knife started to gently disappear as the mist thickens on our table. It was like dining amist the Yorkshire moors.

Quail jelly, langoustine cream, foie gras parfait and pea puree – such a perfect combination, the truffle toast with just the right amount of crisp and dark truffle notes that complimented so well the oak.

ROAST FOIE GRAS
Gooseberry, Braised Konbu and Crab Biscuit

This is possibly the best foie gras dish I’ve ever had, blended with flavours of soy and konbu (the thin membrane on the bottom is also a slice of konbu), crisp crab biscuit and the sweetness of the gooseberry puree.

MOCK TURTLE SOUP (c.1850) “Mad Hatter Tea”

“Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?”
“No,” said Alice. “I don’t even know what a Mock Turtle is.”
“It’s the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,”

It looked like a golden pocket watch in a large cup, which was attached to a teabag string labelled “Mad Hatter’s Tea”.

It was served with a miniature terrine of calf’s tongue, Colonnata lardo with a Mock Turtle egg, which is a turnip mousse with a swede puree, and little enochi mushrooms to signify the Caterpillar’s toadstool that was reminiscent of a storybook scene.

Using our ‘teapot’, we were instructed to pour hot water over our golden pocket watch.


The gold started to magically float away while the ‘pocket watch’ (a stock cube) dissolved into a fragrant veal consomme. Poured over the main dish, it was such a beautiful dish  when the baby herbs floated with the gold flecks shining under the softly lit dining room.

“SOUND OF THE SEA”

Presented with a large sea conch and an iPod tucked inside, we were encouraged to immerse ourselves with the sounds of the sea. The use of the word “sounds” was probably inadequate as Heston wanted to engage all the senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. While listening to waves crashing and seagulls squawking and reliving a ‘Lord of the Flies’ moment, a glass plate of malty tapioca “sand” made from dried eel, sashimi, samphire and different textures of seaweed, with a “sea” foam is served.

There were no shellfish (razorclams being part of the ingredients) as this was the infamous dish that caused the food poisoning scare.

SALMON POACHED IN LIQUORICE
Artichokes, Vanilla Mayonnaise, Golden Trout Roe and Manni Olive Oil


I never thought salmon, liquorice, vanilla and roe would complement each other so well. This dish was another one of my favorites – the salmon was poached to such perfection it’s hard to describe how smooth and tender it was.

POWDERED ANJOU PIGEON. (c.1720)
Blood Pudding and Confit of Umbles

TAFFETY TART (c1660)
Caramelized Apple, Fennel, Rose and Candied Lemon

THE NOT-SO-FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST (1 of 3)
Parsnip Cereal
Our server walks up to us and said “Good Morning” with a smile, “We will be preparing some breakfast for you today”. We were given a small box of  cereals with milk on the side.


They were small flakes of parsnip which were pressed to look a little like rolled oats or mini cornflakes. Milk was then poured on top, very cute.

THE NOT-SO-FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST (2 of 3)
Nitro-Scrambled Egg and Bacon Ice Cream

This was the part I was waiting for, the infamous smoked bacon and egg ice cream! Our waiter wheels a trolley next to our table with eggs and a frying pan atop a cooper burner. She breaks an egg into the frying pan, pours in liquid nitrogen and stirs with a wooden spoon and says “They’re cooked!”.

I later found out that The ice cream custard is injected into an empty egg shell, which is then cracked at your table and ‘cooked’ or frozen with liquid nitrogen into clumps of scrambled egg like ice cream.

THE NOT-SO-FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST
Hot & Iced Tea (3 of 3)

I was told that the hot and cold tea is made by removing the ions from water, which turns it into a fluid gel. With a partition down the middle of the glass, hot gel down is poured down one side and cold gel down the other side, and the the partition is removed while the gel stays still. An interesting characteristic with de–ionised water is that when it is standing on the table it is somewhat solid like jelly, but when tipped on an angle (while drinking) it turns to a liquid. The two different temperatures swirling in your mouth is a very unexpected sensation.

CHOCOLATE WINE “SLUSH” (c.1660)
Millionaire Shortbread

Another old recipe – this one from the 17th Century, an ice slush that tasted of red wine and chocolate, and went amazing well with the Millionaire shortbread, which was soft oozing toffee in between two thin layers of chocolate.

WINE GUMS
Historic Trade Routes of Britain

I love this concept! A picture frame arrives, with an old map and gummies stuck to the surface of the glass.

The gummies tasted exactly of Mead, Cognac, Madiera, Sherry and Rum. It’s amazing how the flavour of each is captured so well in a gummy.

Cheese from the cheese trolley (optional)

We still had red wine leftover, so why not?

“LIKE A KID IN A SWEET SHOP”

Heston makes sure we do not leave empty handed, so we are given a bag of ‘goodies’ to bring home. My favorite part was the “Queen of hearts” which was in a tiny envelope sealed with wax. It looked just like a playing card, but it is actually a flat piece of white chocolate with the pattern printed on both sides, and in the centre was filled with a fresh berry compote, which was quite amazing – Another Alice in Wonderland moment.

At a mere £130 per head, it’s of extreme good value compared to a degustation at a 3 hatted restaurant in Sydney, in my honest opinion.

If I were to describe a meal at The Fat Duck in one word, it would be memorable. The sheer theatrics and the presentation alone is sure to impress. Save this one for a special occasion!

To make a reservation please call +44 (0) 1628 580 333 between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday (including bank holidays).

We accept reservations as far as two calendar months in advance and the restaurant is closed on Sunday evening and all day Monday.

We had appropriately fasted for the whole day, having nothing but an artery clogging breakfast at our hotel early that morning. It was 8:30pm, and nothing had been eaten for over 11 hours. We were well and truly prepared in anticipation for the 34 course extravaganza that awaited us when our waiter said:

“Ferran has prepared a special menu for you tonight” in his heavy Spanish accent. “Please let me know if you have any dietary requirements. We will be serving a large range of things, including razor clams, sea anemones… Is there anything you don’t eat?”

“Absolutely not.” I replied, “We will try anything!” (I am Chinese afterall)

our table

The senses Ferran wants to engage with his diners is none than the usual: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste… but what makes him a stand out from the rest is his clear intention of stimulating The Sixth Sense. Before you try to say “I see dead people” in Spanish, his concept of the Sixth Sense is actually about the stimulation of the mind – provoking it for a deeper response or a desire to analyse a dish: whether it triggers memories of childhood, or makes a cultural connection to other styles of cooking, if it challenges you to overcome fears of new and strange things, or it’s cheeky and playful with the things you are used to. When you are presented with one dish, your senses always fail to initially predict the outcome as it significantly contrasts your own knowledge and experiences, which really makes every bite truly mind blowing – or mind boggling.

Eating involves the use of all the senses. Each sense can be seen as a separate creative method, but in many cases it is the interaction between different senses that produces the most interesting results. This can occur not just within one dish, but also over the course of a sequence of dishes that engages the senses in different ways. – A day at elBulli

The 34 course tasting menu is a theatrical affair. At times, Ferran’s humour will make you laugh; it will surprise you when the unexpected jumps at you; At other times, it will shock, questioning the norms you are once used to. The culinary journey you embark on is full of emotion and new experiences. The degustation is explained by some to consist of four main acts.

Act One usually consists of a welcoming cocktail, aperitifs and “snacks”, usually served on the terrace, all dishes served without cutlery and eaten by hand. 

So the curtain opens with a cocktail…

(please click on images for enlarged gastronomic food porn view)

cane: mojito - caipirinha

This was no ordinary cocktail, but a cocktail infused inside sticks of sugarcane – one flavoured with a mojito, the other with a caiprinha.

gin fizz

The gin fizz was a mixture of warm and cold liquids- the foam was warm, almost milky, and the liquid below was almost gelatinous. When you drink it, both layers combined in your mouth for a strange combination of temperatures and textures.

After our cocktails, we selected a 1996 Billecart Salmon for the reminder of the evening, one of our favorite vintages for Champagne.

spherical olives

spherical olives

passion orchid

rabbit ear crunchy

mimetics peanuts

tomato biscuit

This tomato biscuit reminded us of the red sprinkles you find on Arnott’s pizza shapes, but so much more decadent garnished with gold leaf. The flavour doesn’t taste artificial as it is derived from freshly dried tomatoes.

"averantos"

Averantos (I’m still unsure as to what it is) is somewhat like puffed sesame seeds and a smoky flavoured seasoning like bacon. It was very lightly held together and can only be picked up by holding the paper and consuming it in one bite.

black sesame sponge cake with miso

The fluffiest, lightest sponge cake, made by siphoning batter with nitrous oxide into plastic cups, and microwaving them, as shown in one of Ferran’s presentations during the most recent book launch. He mentioned that this was a recipe that only took him “minutes to develop, but others – many years.”

beetroot and yogurt meringue

The meringue with flavours of beetroot light as air, filled with a whipped yogurt centre. This is served with a spoonful of beetroot essence (seen in the background of the photo).

essence de betterave

An intense shot of beetroot liquid in a measured spoon – all part of the “instruments” used in his kitchen.

oyster leaf with dew of vinegar

This leaf had a remarkable resemblance to the taste of an oyster, so when served with red wine vinegar “beads” and some eshallots, it was indeed just like eating an oyster! Ferran has visited places like the Amazon during his off-months hoping to discover more fruits and vegetables with new flavours.

Unpictured: Gorgonzola Mochi (link to someone else’s photo here)

Looks just like a bocconcini, but was a liquid filled sac that was fragile like a small water balloon. The waiter presents it on a metal plate for us to carefully pick up, and it is to be eaten straight away. A very intense explosion of gorgonzola flavour lingers, made possible by a type of spherication (please correct me if I’m wrong) where liquid is encased in a membrane.

grilled strawberry

The grilled strawberry was served in a contrast of temperature with the gorgonzola mochi. It is rather unexpected that it was filled with a warm liquid, salted and somewhat alcoholic in flavour.

After the selection of snacks, the waiter began to set our table with cutlery, in preparation for the next act. Act Two is the most substantial part of the meal which consists of savoury, tapas-styled dishes. It flows uninterruptedly one after another, at times a little too quickly. There was a moment between the 20th and the 21st course where I really just needed a gastronomic breather, so my brain could catch up with the information my stomach was trying to process. Naturally, the waiter seamlessly organised for each course to be brought out slower.

haricot bean with Joselito's iberian pork fat

The haricot bean was reconstructed using the same spherication technique as the mochi, only this time hot liquid is encased in the membrane. The thin translucent layer with paprika floating on top actually a slice of ham fat, all submerged in a smokey ham broth.

cuttlefish with pesto ravioli

Baby cuttlefish, served withpesto “ravioli”s, which were also liquid contained insidea membrane that bursts in the mouth.

parmesean frozen-air with muesli

"muesli"

parmesean frozen-air with muesli

We were presented with a white styrofoambox, just like ones you find in takeaway ice cream stores. Our waiter lifted the lid and revealed something that looked like a frozen white cloud. In the plastic bag we were given sprinkles of berries and other dried ingredients that have a crunchy texture, and we were told to scatter it on the “air” a little at a time. The frozen air was cold, but as soon as it enters the mouth it melts into almost nothing, leaving behind the salty bite of parmesean cheese, just like it was freshly grated from the block. The museligave it another depth in texture and a citrus sweetness to it. Highly enjoyable experience.

yolks

This was one of my favorites of the night: reconstructed egg yolk (shaped like mini-bullets in the photo), egg whites, floating in tiny fish caviar with different flavoured Japanese seasoning around the plate, such as shiso, yuzu, wasabi and white sesame. Each seasoning gives a different perspective to the dish which was a phenomenal fusion of Japanese flavours.

lulo

lulo

This dish was served with spoons that were frozen in liquid nitrogen and steaming like dry ice, a truly fascinating spectacle. The plate was presented to us with three segments of a fruit called lulo, a very acidic Columbian fruit (texture like peach, but extremely sour), and it is topped with shaved foie gras fat. The only way to shave the yellow fat like chocolate curls is to do so at a very low temperature and served frozen. As soon as you eat it, it melts back to its original oily consistency, much like butter.

garlic with coco

Garlic with coco probably wasn’t one of my favorites, (perhaps I felt a little disappointed as the usual version is presented with caviar) three cloves of garlic cooked in three stages of temperatures (firm, roasted, charcoaled) in a coconut soup reminiscent of Chinese desserts. The flavours were very intense and different textures were integrated.

tomato - basil

tomato - basil

Roasted cherry tomatoes in a black olive (?) sauce, topped with a dried basil leaf, which was strongly seasoned with basil powder, intensifying the flavour ten-fold.

razor clam with seaweed

Another personal favorite: extremely fresh, juicy and sweet raw razor clams on foam served with a mixed seaweed salad. Very well balanced and truly fantastic beyond words!

asparagus with miso

White asparagus on whipped miso cream, wrapped in clear rice paper and garnished with fresh edible flowers. This dish reminded me of the Chinese white rabbit candies my grandmother gave me when I was young. This was eaten by hand as a whole mouthful.

abalone

Ferran, an avid fan of Chinese cuisine, mentioned that his favorite restaurant in Sydney was Golden Century, he liked it so much he paid a return visit for dinner. I can see the heavy Chinese influences in this abalone dish. Served on a bed of enoki mushrooms, black seaweed stems, with layers of ham fat in between slices, and topped with baby shimeji mushrooms.

sea cucumber with mentaiko and rhubarb

The texture of the sea cucumber was different to those found in regular Chinese restaurants and was more similar to shellfish such as clams. It is served with rhubarb, which balanced out the flavour of sea water, and topped with mentaiko, which is a spicy Japanese cod roe.

sea anemone 2008

One of the things you have to keep while dining at elBulli is an open mind. This dish consists of raw rabbit’s brains and sea anemone, both ingredients I’ve never tried before. It is also served at room temperature, which proved a little more challenging for me to process mentally.

rabbit's brain

sea anemone

I love how there’s a red vein popping out of the brain on my plate, how else would you know it’s fresh? I felt like a child trying something for the first time, and I playfully giggled to Aaron and made him try it first. We both recorded our reactions to the dish on video (click for the youtube link). While many of you may think this to be a horrible experience, it certainly is our most memorable and most talked about part of the meal, which I think was the Chef’s intention. All I could describe from this dish was “a lukewarm taste of the ocean”, yes, it was slimy but it wasn’t all that bad. If only there was more seasoning to the dish that just the flavours of the fresh anemone!

gnocchis of polenta with coffee and saffron yuba

We breathed out a small sigh of relief when a vegetarian dish was served after the previous dish. The gnocchis are actually polenta encased in a membrane in a creamy sauce, and is surprisingly complementary with the coffee powder on top. It is served with capers, and a saffron infused egg.

suckling pig tail

The suckling pig tails were very similar to crispy Chinese roast pig, with a sweet sauce. It is served with a ham consomme containing tiny cubes of silken white tofu and rockmelon (cantaloupe) and petals. The soup itself was very salty, but with the rockmelon, it was perfect.

Act Three opens with a transition towards the sweet notes. Avant desserts are served, followed by the desserts. The first avant dessert looked like a classic Monet painting.

water lily

This was a beautifully presented palate cleanser which looks like a lily pond, with edible flowers submerged in a floral, perfumed cold soup. Refreshing and full of spring flavours, sprinkled with aforementioned “averantos” seeds. A visual delight and a nice beginning after the savoury performers.

mango ravioli

By now, we are no stranger to the explosion-in-the-mouth sensation, and the mango ravioli delivers just that - but we are never tired of it! It was spherized to look just like a raw egg yolk, so the mango flavour was a surprise.

coco

coco

But just as we thought nothing could surprise us, a giant white shell was brought to the table – which I thought was something like an ostrich egg. The shell was then cracked with a spoon and sprinkled with curry powder. We were to break pieces off and eat it with our hands – and tasted just like the flesh of young green coconut on a tropical island, frozen, but creamy.

amber

Amber is a honey jelly which encases a single floret of Elderflower, just like a large crystal marble. It is visually stunning and almost rolled off the table when we tried to pick it up with the leaf.

ices

Ices was a watermelon dessert served with syrup and yogurt ice cream, topped with a snowflake shaped sugar icing layer, with a thin sheet of ice that rested on top. The sheet of ice is cracked with your spoon and gives a sorbet effect.

By now, the word gluttony doesn’t do any justice to the way we were feeling. To our surprise, Act Four (named “morphings”) was served in a theater of its own, and “lasts as long as the after-dinner conversation”.

Morphings...

Morphings... (other side)

Every table gets their own box of hand made chocolates, and being a table of two – this was a lot of sweets considering the 8PAX next to us received the same offering. Chocolate mint leaf, eucalyptus chocolate, cinnamon slices, peanut brittles, chocolate raspberries, chocolate truffles,  pistachio chocolate slices, strawberry chocolate… we were overwhelmed with selection and determined to try every single one, despite the fact that we were on the verge of bursting! Every single piece were infused with only the freshest of flavours, and so carefully handcrafted by each Chef.

Morphings...

Morphings...

My two personal favorites were the pumice-like white chocolate which crumbled in the mouth but melted like chocolate, the “coral”, which were hand made chocolates covered in sour cherry powder. LOVED it!

We proceeded to finish our champagne outdoors, it was almost 1am by now, the air was balmy and stars glittered across the clear sky on the night of St John’s festival.

Champagne

But alas, all good things come to an end… Many of you have asked me what the bill came to at the end, well, you can see for yourself:

The final hurrah

It was certainly the most expensive meal I’ve ever had so far in my life, but nothing that 30 odd hours of waiting tables didn’t take care of. The beauty with making a reservation 15 months ahead is that there’s always plenty of time to work towards that memorable trip - and it was worth every cent.