Freelance food, drink + travel journalist
At the same time each year my family and I venture to The Long Apron, located in a small town called Montville in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Each time we dine there we are stunned by the creativity of the food, the professionalism of the service and the pure bliss of the setting.
Known as one of the hardest restaurants in the world to get a reservation at, I challenged myself with the task of booking a table for four during our trip to Barcelona. After many fruitless attempts, I finally secured a booking near the end of the trip. This would be our last Michelin-starred dinner in Barcelona. Will all the effort be worth it?
After I missed out on going to one of the world’s greatest restaurants, El Bulli, which closed its doors in 2011, I kept a close eye on the chefs to see where they would go. While many ex El-Bulli chefs are now scattered across the globe, three of the main chefs stuck together and opened two restaurants, one in Northern Catalonia in a seaside town called Cadaqués and one in Barcelona. During my visit to Barcelona, there was no way I would miss visiting this restaurant!
Following only days after our meal at ‘The World’s Best Restaurant’, Sant Pau had to meet a very high benchmark in order to impress us. Interestingly, the restaurant doesn’t feature in the S.Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list, yet they have maintained three Michelin stars since 2006. On top of this, the owner and head chef Carme Ruscellada has the most Michelin stars for a woman in the world! I pondered if the list had made a huge mistake.
It’s not often I can brag; “Hey, I’m going to the best restaurant in the world!” When a restaurant has such an accolade and three Michelin stars, there is one factor which may severely affect one’s experience – expectations. And being the best restaurant in the world, mine for El Celler de Can Roca were the highest they have ever been and probably ever will be.
Pizza can be made in very different ways. Whether it’s a thin base or thick base, chewy crust or crispy crust, jam packed full of toppings or a few well chose simple ingredients, bianche (white base) or rosse (red base), there are plethora of ways to make a pizza. At Sorellina, they serve pizzas how they want to. There are no ingredient substitutions or additions and all pizzas have a thin base with a chewy, rather than crunchy, crust. There are a range of both bianche and rosse pizzas on the menu but they are all kept very simple using minimum ingredients, following the traditional Neopolitan way.
Pizza can be made in very different ways. Whether it’s a thin base or thick base, chewy crust or crispy crust, jam packed full of toppings or a few well chose simple ingredients, bianche (white base) or rosse (red base), there are plethora of ways to make a pizza. At Sorellina, they serve pizzas how they want to. There are no ingredient substitutions or additions and all pizzas have a thin base with a chewy, rather than crunchy, crust. There are a range of both bianche and rosse pizzas on the menu but they are all kept very simple using minimum ingredients, following the traditional Neopolitan way.
My mate Callum raved to me about a breakfast he had at Chow House on James St, Fortitude Valley. So, with Callum and another mate, Jakson, we all made a pact that we would go there as soon as holidays started. It wasn’t the first time I had heard about the breakfast at Chow House. I knew that head chef Timmy Kemp was well regarded for her breakfast fare having wowed diners at her previous restaurant, Timmy’s at Southbank (since closed). My Mum also whet my appetite further when she told me that Kemp’s Crumpets and lemon curd are stuff of food legend.
My mate Callum raved to me about a breakfast he had at Chow House on James St, Fortitude Valley. So, with Callum and another mate, Jakson, we all made a pact that we would go there as soon as holidays started. It wasn’t the first time I had heard about the breakfast at Chow House. I knew that head chef Timmy Kemp was well regarded for her breakfast fare having wowed diners at her previous restaurant, Timmy’s at Southbank (since closed). My Mum also whet my appetite further when she told me that Kemp’s Crumpets and lemon curd are stuff of food legend.
To celebrate the completion of term two, Grade 12, I was allowed to choose a restaurant for lunch. I had heard a lot about a newly opened eatery called Catbird Seat Bistro on Stanley St, East Brisbane, and I was looking forward to giving it a try.
Elliot Baker