Long run is away

Sorry AA Gill - promise not to use your byline ever again!

I am in Sydney for a work commitment that involves three nights stay in the CBD. I am enjoying the buzz but find the CBD equal cool and frustrating. Frustrating because there is so much good but you have to sift through the 'I'll never see you again' to find the gems.I will get two growls out of my system early - then all good!
1) how come I cannot get a Campari in an Italian restaurant that serves otherwise fine, almost Roman pizza
2) and this is not limited to Sydney- how come hotels think that cleaning your room is ok for the first night but won't be necessary for the second and following nights- I don't get
this one!!
Moving on...
First meal was a late one (takeaway in a small room) and was from Macchiato cnr Liverpool & Pitt. I was not confident of this place given the expressions of some of the restaurant patrons but the pizza was great - thin, crispy base with just enough quality toppings - I like to drink 'local' wine (at least  early on) so the McWilliams Rosehill Shiraz 11 was a treat..

The next morning I tried to have a croissant & coffee morning. I googled 'best Sydney croissant' then proceeded to walk over half of Sydney cbd looking for the recommended places - that were all shut down! So I went to a fave - Ash St Cellars and had a truly wonderful 'croque' truffled gruyere & jamon toastie!

One of my meetings was cancelled so I had a chance to wander the Rocks to see if I could make some different images of some well known sights.

 Dinner that night was a dilemma - I had a choice of Nepalese, Spanish & Greek. All within a block of my digs! The Spanish place was ruled out because 3 tapas alone would have cost nearly $45! I am not sure this is quite within the intent of tapas! The Greek place (Diethenes) won because it was long established (35years) and experience of sub continental food (is this a fair description?) tells me I
would leave the Nepalese place overfull. Diethenes was a blast from yesteryear with design and
service from another century. This is not always a bad thing! I think the waiters were there when the place opened. Old school service. I had a daily special of fava dip (so Santorini!) that was outstanding and the waiters recomendation of baked lamb leg. The lamb shredded! To drink? A pitcher (I love
pitcher option! So Euro and so sensible) of extremely drinkable Retsina. Needless to say I left here
the same way as I would have left the Nepalese place!!
The next 2 days would be work filled with conference food so I will finish this with a memory of a surprisingly good breakfast find - Cafe Tiamo on Pitt. A funky little 2 level cafe with an Italian name run entirely by the most obliging Japanese crew. I had 2 brekkies here - a very cool salmon bruschetta with avocado and a superb salmon benedict. The bruschetta was an inspiring mix and the benedict EXACTLY as it should be. Eggs should be soft and run free.

AND if you do have to have a conference at Rydges World Square don't despair - their catering is as good as it gets!

In this for the longrun

As I sit here absolutely loving the 2010 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier thoughts stray from what we do very very well to what we probably shouldn't bother with. I can think of lots of things but rice, cotton and quinoa will do as a starting point!

 Firstly - I am enjoying this historic vineyard wine with a perfectly cooked leg of lamb with veg roasted in lamb juice and a gravy made with some of that and some of the same wine....soft succulent meat with accompaniments that taste of lamb without the fatiness of years gone by (I have a long memory)

 The wine is soft yet powerful -  a tribute to the lower alcohol level. This is a grandstand  I will return to often!! Alcohol is only a component of a good wine - not the driver! This Shiraz has much of the pepper of of a fine Cote Rotie with the refinement of a touch of Viognier. Serious stuff. VinoMofo included the bottle in a recent mixed case.

Back to rice, cotton and quinoa - rice is better and uses less of Australia's water if it comes from Thailand, cotton uses less of Australia's water if it comes from China, quinoa is best if it is left for those who depend on it (in South American Andes) . We are now being told the people who have this food as a staple can no longer compete for it - what are we thinking!!!

We often tell ourselves to look outside the square - lets get really clever and look more closely inside the square. And see what's there.

Beautiful roast lamb, old vine wine and local produce might be a good start ..