Ripples at Sydney Wharf, Pyrmont, Sydney - Chef's Table

"Look! Look! There's fairy floss above our heads!"This is just one moment of glee in a food-filled evening at Ripples Sydney Wharf.We struggle at first to find the restaurant, looking for wharves nine and ten, before realising it's only a mere stroll from the grass of Pyrmont Bay Park, home of the Good Living Growers' Markets. There's a casual al fresco feel to the restaurant, the dining area set

Truffle Festival lunch at Senso Restaurant, Canberra

Head chef and owner, Jan Gundlach, breathes in deeply

EDIT: Senso Restaurant has closed.

Truffles. Is there are food more veiled with gastronomic intrigue and romantic mystique?

We headed to Canberra's first Truffle Festival to find out first-hand the allure of the truffle, a road trip that detoured via Berrima for scones, before arriving at Senso. for a four-course truffle lunch.


Pumpkin

Truffled scrambled eggs, scones in Berrima and the Capital Country Truffle Festival, Canberra

Black winter truffles from Manjimup, Western AustraliaOld socks and sex.That, according to some, is the most accurate description of the smell of fresh truffles.I'd never tried fresh truffles before which was why the first ever Capital Country Truffle Festival had me snuffling about the web like a truffle-hunting, errr... pig.Truffles have been cultivated around Australia for several years now,

Sydney Winter Festival, Cook and Phillip Park, Sydney

Sydney. Snow.The two words seem at odds with each other, but for four days last week, locals had the chance to experience a winter wonderland at the inaugural Sydney Winter Festival.For the first time in almost fifty years, an outdoor ice skating rink was erected in Sydney's CBD, set up on the forecourt of St Mary's Cathedral. Ice skating session tickets were offered online prior to the event and

Merivale Winter Feasts Launch Party, The Establishment, Sydney

Forget any jokes about swine flu. The pig outside the Establishment last Tuesday was more like a call to arms. Or a call to stomachs, as the case may be.We joined the hungry hoardes at the Merivale Winter Feasts launch party, a follow-up to the successful March Into Merivale campaign. Over the three months of winter, Merivale restaurants will be offering $35 lunches and dinners of one, two and

Simon Johnson sale, Alexandria

I like to spend my Saturday mornings in bed. Under the covers. Blissfully warm and preferably asleep until midday. I call it my weekly banking, a catch-up on all those late nights spent eating. And blogging.Few things will get me out of bed early on a Saturday. Food is one of them. Sales are another.A food sale? Ahhh.... now we're talking.After hearing Pig Flyin wax lyrical about the annual sale

Wagaya, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney

Food bloggers ahoy!Pic above just added - thank you Karen for your wide angle lens and the tripod donater (can't remember who?). We took this shot towards the end of the evening when alas, a few people had already gone home.How many food bloggers can you fit into a 25-seater room? We managed to squeeze in 30, a feat achieved when Chocolatesuze celebrated her birthday at Wagaya. Just when we

Freebie Friday winners: Good Food & Wine Show

The winners of the Grab Your Fork Freebie Friday competition have been decided and confirmed*.Avik has won the major prize with their question: "What was the first dish you taught your children to cook?"Avik has won 1 x double pass to the Good Food & Wine Show Sydney including tickets to the Gordon Ramsay session at 12.30pm on Saturday July 4 2009, worth $95 in total.The Random Sequence Generator

Upside-down pear and macadamia cake

This one's a winner.Every time I've made this upside-down pear and macadamia cake, everybody wants seconds. The cinnamon-spiced pears are a perfect match for the chill that is winter, and the inclusion of almond meal gives the cake a lovely moist friand-style crumb.What I love most about this cake, is it can be made in advance and then reheated to serve. Once up-turned on a plate, I like to place

The Smokehouse, Surry Hills, Sydney

EDIT: The Smokehouse has now closed

I do love a good bathroom.

Just as they say you can judge the quality of a coat by its buttons, so too is the mandatory bathroom inspection a good indicator of a restaurant's attention to detail.

It's a little dim when you first enter the bathroom at The Smokehouse, your hands flailing in the milky shadows searching for the light switch, until you realise,

Lowenbrau Keller, The Rocks, Sydney

It's true. I do derive an inordinate amount of pleasure whenever I say the word schlachtplatte.Partly it's because I relish putting on a very bad German accent, trying to generate as much noise as possible on the schlaaaaacht (I did say it was a bad accent). But perhaps the most exciting part about saying schlachtplatte to the waitress is the promise of the meat to come. A feast of meat. A

The Light Brigade Bistro, Woollahra

"Hi Helen...I’ve been looking at your fabulous blog ‘Grab Your Fork’ and I wanted to extend an invitation for you and a guest you to experience the award-winning cuisine of Chef James Privett at the Light Brigade’s Bistro..."And that email--by Lisa from the Trish Nicol Agency--is how Suze and I find ourselves at the Light Brigade for her early celebratory birthday dinner.Light fitting in the

Yuletide dinner at Restaurant Atelier, Glebe with Australian Pork

Sometimes you need to hit "pause" just to appreciate all the good things in life. You would think the end is nigh, what with economic woes and flu outbreaks, yet if you stop just a minute and breathe, you'll find there are plenty of things to smile about and be grateful.Even the official onset of weather means good things. I'm thinking rich hearty comfort food and cuddly doonas, big steaming mugs