Sydney – Nicci Carrera

November 28, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Food, Local, Manhattan, Netherlands, New York, Paris, Poem, San Francisco, Travel, Writing

A Thanksgiving day poem and highlights of a foodie

Love is what it’s all about–
but food is a close second.

Nia Simone, November 28, 2013

I was asking an Australian friend if they have any holidays that are basically about food. Not really. Okay, so I have several Australian friends, many of whom I’ve met through blogging, so pipe up if you disagree! Of course, as you know, the food in Australia is amazing, so perhaps we don’t need a specific holiday centered on feasting there.

Australia is my other home, and this is becoming clear as one fellow blogger thought I was Australian. I love Australia and my Australian friends. Today is an American holiday, though, and I’m going to celebrate it by starting this celebration of food off with home-grown and home cooked foods before moving on to some of my international culinary samples.

Home grown and home-cooked:

P1070154 — Vegan Thai with other veggies

Greenwich Village Manhattan:

Turophilia (excessive love of cheese) Greenwich Village, sign outside the cheese shop

Octopus, beer and a dolmata at Boukies, Greenwich Village

Australia:

P1060761 — Stuffed squid at a tapas bar in Melbourne, DeGraves Street

P1060975 — Joe’s? I think, Sydney, by the river

P1060977 — Smoked salmon at Joe’s in Sydney

San Francisco:

Paris:

Self portrait — I guess you could say wine was a big feature in Paris! This was dinner on the deck of our apartment.

Crepe de Frites Maison Robert on Champs Elysees

Tomato jam mozzarella bonito and basil sorbet, Opera House

Green pea soup cold with cream and goat cheese on toast, Opera House

Opera House, Grey Goose is the house vodka

Amsterdam:

Thai food

Appetizers ready to go out to the deck of the houseboat

Texas:

Torchy's Tacos, The Independent — Torchy’s Tacos, The Independent

More Manhattan:

Days 16 019 grilled camembert — Grilled camembert at The Eatery

Days 16 021 meat loaf ravioli mac and jack — Meat loaf ravioli mac and jack at The Eatery

Days 16 018 sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes — Sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes

Days 20 21 050 A — At The Boathouse in Central Park

Days 20 21 052 A — The Boathouse, Central Park

Days 20 21 085 A — Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restaurant upper west side

Days 20 21 088 A — Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restaurant, upper west side

Day4 Hot Pretzel — Hot pretzel in Central Park

Flor de Mayo, Peruvian restuarant, upper west side

Shmear, a deli in the upper west side — Shmears at a deli in the upper west side

Pain au Chocolate at the Pushkin cafe across from the Museum of Modern Art — Pain au Chocolate at the Brasserie Pushkin across from the Museum of Modern Art

Blackbottom cheesecake from The Bake Shop

Grasshopper (mint chocolate chip) from The Bake Shop

November 26, 2013March 20, 2014 Nicci Australia, Travel

21 Food! (and setting) reasons to love Australia

Twas two days before Thanksgiving and the blogger was thinking about FOOD. Shopping and planning for the feast while reminiscing about food in Australia.

We ate lunch at one of the many restaurants by the river in Sydney:

Near Bondi Beach we enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cafe:

After lunch, you could get a tattoo next door. My friend considered it. I did not. (I didn’t even get pierced ears until I was 30. (About a year ago. 😉 ))

Looks like I had seafood again.

In Melbourne, Leanne Cole and I split a basket of blueberry scones here:

And of course, I had a flat white.

Leanne then took us through more arcades and streets. At the end we saw DeGraves Street, which is closed to cars, lined by restaurants and filled with tables and heating lamps. We went back that night and had dinner at a tapas bar. We sat at a bench table inside as it was raining a bit, and just people watched. Since we accidentally ordered way too much food (tapas are supposed to be small plates!) we spent a few hours drinking champagne and lingering over the amazing food.

The next day was epic! Leanne took us along The Great Ocean Road. We stopped for lunch in Lorne:

where we all ordered the most amazing barramundi:

I can’t leave out dessert! So here is a picture of a gelateria where we stopped to fortify ourselves with a couple scoops in Watson’s Bay, near Sydney.