review – Page 8 – A True Love of Mine

Chiosco by Ormeggio and The Dessert of 2015

This is a nutella bombolone.
Look at that ooze, that soft, yielding donut.
If you don’t want to go and get one of these babies right now, there is legitimately something wrong with you.

I know that this is an ambitious blog title, especially considering it is on January. Still, I stand by my call. At this little kiosk by the sea I had what i’m calling the dessert of 2015. I love a fancy dessert as much as the next girl but i’m a little bit over the finicky, frippery and mountain of elements that comes with many desserts at the moment. Sometimes less is more and being able to serve up an unquestionably delicious, simple dessert is the best skill in the universe. That’s what happened when hubs and I went to Chiosco by Ormeggio early in the new year.

We had been to Ormeggio for hubs’ birthday the month before and spied the casual dining kiosk across the jetty. We absolutely loved the dinner at Ormeggio (the dishes and cocktails were so damn tasty I didn’t even have the presence of mind to take photos to share with you) especially for celebrating a special occasion and so we thought that the casual nature of Chiosco would be perfect for a normal date night dinner. Damn straight it was.

fritto misto ($16) and daily fish crudo ($18)

Salted Caramel Popcorn Cruffin @ Brewtown Newtown

This is a public service announcement – anyone with who featured the words ‘diet’ or ‘health’ in their 2015 new years resolutions should close this window now. You have been warned.

Told you so.

I love the way that sweets are like fashion. There are staples that we rely on year in and year out. Those desserts that you know are delicious and will never let you down. Your little black dresses and chocolate cakes. Then you have your pretty young things which aren’t quite as chic and timeless but seem to stay popular amongst those who are young at heart. A little like ballerina skirts and desserts in cocktail glasses. And then you have your trends. Split into two categories, the first are those that are definitely fun while they last but often don’t suit the general population and tend to elicit a ‘what was I thinking?’ grimace upon reflection. Think hair mascara, bucket hats, most of the fashion of the 90s, neon and netting. Then there are some trends which, when done properly are possibly the best thing to have ever happened – ombre hair, high waisted shorts and the return of the peplum.

Remember the hit trends in sweets over the past decade? Ridiculously cute and well decorated cupcakes then light and much easier to eat macarons. These delicate desserts gave way to the oily but decadent frankensweet, the cronut (love child of the croissant and the donut. Where would this craziness end?

Birthday Dinner: Chiswick Restaurant

This year for hubs’ birthday, la nostra famiglia took us out to dinner at Chiswick in Woollahra. I know that this place has been around for ages so i’m sure you’ve all been already but this was a place that we had always driven past and said “oh how pretty, lets go there sometime!” and never really had. I scoped out the menu online to make sure that it wasn’t going to break the bank and it looked like exactly what we were after, nothing too fancy but delicious and well presented. We weren’t disappointed!

We were seated promptly at a roomy table and began with a pitcher of cocktails. I was impressed when they arrived at the table already poured into six glasses complete with fresh garnishes and there was still half a pitcher left over. This was a mix of gin, watermelon, lavender syrup, cucumber and lemon juice and was particularly refreshing during the hot summer evening we found ourselves in. The wait staff were excellent. Often a place is let down by the waiters (or often the management when they cut costs by understaffing then the poor waiters cant help you because they just don’t have the time) but the staff at Chiswick were exemplary. Our waiter was attentive and very helpful when we were trying to figure out if the share plates would feed all of us and which dishes would work best together.