Dinner at Cafe Sydney Restaurant – Sydney – NSW – Australia – September 2015

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Cafe Sydney, NSW, Opera House, Restarurant, Sydney Harbour Bridge

Wonderful views of Sydney Harbour from Restaurant ‘Cafe Sydney’

When I used to live in Sydney, friends and I would go to Cafe Sydney on top of the old Customs House at Circular Quay for special events.  One of my best friends and I even took my family there for christmas day one year. The food has always been fabulous and the views spectacular.  I just love it there.  One year I organised for a few friends to take a very sick friend there, picking her up in a limousine and having a wonderful meal on the evening of ‘Earth Hour’ when (the majority of) lights are turned off to conserve energy.

This month, I had a visiting delegation from China and my bosses wanted to take them to a fabulous restaurant in Sydney and Cafe Sydney was chosen.  We arranged for a private room which had exceptional views of the Harbour Bridge.

We had pre-arranged the menu as our group comprised seven Chinese and six Aussie..so we thought it might be too long for us all to select off the larger menu.  Our chosen menu had a couple of options for entree/main and dessert.  I had the vegan option (as I don’t eat cheese) so had my own separate menu (thank you Cafe Sydney for having a vegan menu). But for my meat and fish eating colleagues, the menu looked wonderful.

We all started off with naan bread which was delicious and then went onto our separate entrees etc apart from we all shared fries (staple diet of mine no matter where I go – which I know is very bad but I just love them) and a lovely fresh salad.  My entree was a pea risotto which was delicious and I forgot to take a photo until I had mixed it around a little, then I had a dosa wrap with vegetables inside – I had tasted dosa before but I did not know it was made of lentils.  The chef did a great job of the dosa and whilst it was delicious, I was rather full from two pieces of naan bread and the risotto but ate about half (with fries of course)

There is an excellent selection of wines at this restaurant and we chose a sauvignon glance and merlot to cater for both red and white wine drinkers.  We also had sparkling mineral water which is from NZ (Antipodes) and not only is is refreshing but I just love the bottle.  Then it was time for dessert and I really believe I chose the best…’salted caramel, chocolate peanut tart, banana fritter with chocolate ice cream’….it’s funny I was too full to eat the dosa but when my dessert arrived I seemed to find room to fit it in…

My Chinese colleagues took lots of photos outside of the Bridge and Opera House and my only complaint of the evening was, that because we were in a private room, it seems the waitresses forgot us during the evening and I had to chase them several times to serve more drinks (but must say that is definitely my only ‘minor’ complaint), apart from that, the service was great and meals fabulous.  Definitely a place to visit for lunch or dinner.  If you can dine on the balcony it’s even more special.

A night at the Sydney Opera House – Sydney – NSW – Australia – September 2015

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Concert, NSW, Opera House, Schumann, Sydney, Sydney Symphony Orchestra

A Robert Schumann concert at the Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

A week ago I was looking after a delegation who were on official business here in Australia and was invited, with them, to the Opera House to see a concert.  But prior to the concert I took the delegation, of which most had not been to Australia, down to the Opera House and Mrs Macquarie’s chair to take some photos of the amazing Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Sydney skyline and some lovely flowers along the pathway.

My guests absolutely loved the views and because it was a beautiful sunny day we took some great photos in the sun and also just when the sun was going down.  It was lovely to see so many people drinking and enjoying the afternoon in the open bars around the Opera House.

Then, as we were running late, we raced to the Opera House and went into the Concert Hall for our concert.  I had not heard of Robert Schumann before this concert and I must admit I am a huge fan of opera and had not really been to too many concerts especial one with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, before, so I was looking forward to the evening.

Robert Schumann was born in 1801 and died in 1856.  He was regarded as a child of Romanticism; was a critic as well as a musician but first aspired to be a writer and then pursued music studying the piano.

The concert was Schumann’s ‘cello concerto in A minor’ with Daniel Muller-Schott playing the cello along with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.  Daniel won the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in 1992 and has appeared in many of the world’s great concert halls.  This was Daniel’s first appearance with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was playing the ‘Ex-Shapiro’ Matteo Goffriller (cello) made in Venice in 1727.  Schumann’s cello concerto was exceptional.  And I must say Daniel was very handsome.  I was very lucky as we were seated in very good seats in the Concert Hall so had a very good view of the orchestra.

(photo from http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Muller-Schott-Daniel-2.htm)

Charles Dutoit conducted the evening and is one of today’s most sought after conductors, having performed with all the major orchestras of the five continents. At the end of the concert, Mr Dutoit went around and shook the hands of the majority of the orchestra, something my friend told me is unusual.  Clearly a very nice man!!

When he was in his early 20’s Dutoit was invited to conduct the Vienna State Opera and has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera and the Rome Opera.

(photos from https://royalphilharmonicorchestra.wordpress.com)

The concert lasted just over two hours and comprised many different musical instruments including drums/violins/violas/flutes/trombones/double basses/horns/harp/clarinet/trumpets/organ/mandolin and piano – a truly incredible sound from all these incredibly talented musicians…so glad I had the opportunity to attend.

(photo from http://www.operahouse.com.au)