Detours. A French expat’s insider's guide to exclusive food, chocolate and travel experiences in Sydney, Australia.

Sydney Open: my behind-the-scenes architecture adventures in Sydney last Sunday

Here I am, standing backstage at the prestigious Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay, looking at the production team putting the finishing touches to the set of the much anticipated 'Uncle Vanya' by Chekhov, starring Australia's very own acting legends Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, John Bell and Richard Roxburgh. 

I'm extremely impressed by the sheer scale of the wings area. The ceiling must be at least 10 meter high and there's a gigantic set of doors right in front of me, used for the delivery of unusually big pieces of equipment on stage.

Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay. The entrance of the main performance hall is lined with recycled timber from the wharf - really beautiful.

I'm surrounded by kilometers of meticulously labelled cables and plugs, a mountain of half-empty paint tins, a random collection of stage props, and roll after roll of plastic films in every colour in the rainbow (the films are used as filters for the on-stage lights).

As I'm shown the way to the make-up and dressing rooms for an exclusive 'behind-the-scenes' sneak peek, I feel like pinching myself - how lucky am I to be here?! 

The beautiful Walsh Bay area and its heritage-listed timber wharfs

Well actually, everyone was invited along to the party - courtesy of the 2010 Sydney Open (Nov 6-7).

Every two years, Sydney Open - which is part of the Sydney Architecture Festival - celebrates Sydney's rich architectural heritage, with a $40 "City Pass" giving you access to over 50 buildings and sites normally off-limits.

The Grace Hotel; skyscrapers in the CBD

From architectural icons to hidden places, award-winning contemporary designs to much-loved heritage buildings, Sydney Open is a fantastic opportunity to re-discover Sydney's iconic buildings and get a fresh perspective on your own city - becoming a tourist in your hometown for a whole weekend (something that's very dear to my heart).

In addition to the very environment-friendly Sydney Theatre, some of my favourite visits last Sunday included the Sydney Harbour YHA youth hostel in The Rocks (the hostel is built above ‘The Big Dig’, the largest archaeological urban development ever completed in Australia); the beautiful Art Deco State Theatre and the Great Synagogue on Elizabeth Street. 

The Art Deco State Theatre on Market St

Gorgeous illustrations in official Sydney Festival 2011 program

Surry Hills, Sydney, by Marcela Restrepo

WOW. The Sydney Festival have just announced their line-up for the 2011 Festival - get ready for an exciting Sydney summer!!

John Malkovich in Sydney Opera House, a new production by our very own Sydney Dance Company, Arrested Development in Martin Place, the return of Smoke & Mirrors in the Spiegeltent, the Australian Chamber Orchestra in the big outdoors at the Regatta Centre in Penrith, Symphony in the Domain - and much much more.

But what really grabbed my attention was the gorgeous illustrations by Marcela Restrepo, a Colombian illustrator based in Sydney. Love love love her work - check this out!

Tickets for the Sydney Festival 2011 go on sale on Monday 15 November at 9:00am.

For more info on the program and ticket packages, visit www.sydneyfestival.org.au. You can also follow the Sydney Festival on Twitter (@sydney_festival, hashtag #sydfest).

For more info on Marcela's work, you can visit her website and blog. You can also buy limited-edition prints from her online store (pretty cool Xmas gift idea if you ask me!). In Australia, Marcela is represented by the super talented and all-almighty Jacky Winter Group in Melbourne, who in my humble opinion NEVER get it wrong when they sign up new creative talent.

So what do you think of her illustrations?

Favourite picnic spots in Sydney - Part 1

[This post has been updated since its first publication. Click here for Part 2, with another round-up of locals' favourite picnic spots.]

One of the questions I get asked A LOT as a private tour guide is "What's your favourite spot in Sydney for a romantic picnic, or a picnic with friends?"

The thing is, it's like having to choose between one's children - there are so many fantastic picnic spots in Sydney, we're really spoiled for choice!

One of the places I often take clients to is Shark Island, in the middle of the Sydney Harbour. Gorgeous island with a beautiful rotunda, million-dollar views over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and shaded picnic spots with tables and benches. Just perfect. Besides, Shark Island is usually very quiet, because few people are aware of access rules and regulations, so it's almost like renting your own private island. Bring on the Moët and feel like a VIP for next to nothing! 

Gourmet picnic on Shark Island by Mytinerary. With some of Sydney's best artisan food, including fresh baguette from Brasserie Bread, dukkah, Bitton olive tapenade, charcuterie from Leichhardt, french Champagne, berries, cupcakes from Sparkle Cupcakery, fruit marshmallows from Sweetness the Patisserie and chocolate tarts from Bourke St Bakery in Surry Hills. 

Other spots I really like for secluded or romantic picnics include Bradley's Head amphitheatre, Collins Beach in Manly, McKell Park on Darling Point, the gorgeous Arthur McElhone Reserve in Elizabeth Bay, the Wendy Whiteley garden in Lavender Bay and the Manns Point Park in Greenwich.

What about you? What are some of your favourite picnic spots in Australia?

Bradley's Head amphitheatre

Mytinerary organises gourmet picnics for private clients and corporates, taking care of everything for you, from the location and picnic basket to a bottle of Champagne and private water taxi transfers. Email us at [email protected] for enquiries and quotes. 

View Favourite picnics spots in Sydney, Australia in a larger map

Travel: our traditional harvest lunch in the heart of Champagne, France

Fact #37: life tastes better with Champagne. Scientifically proven.

Recently, I got plenty of opportunity to validate these important scientific findings. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Jean and I got married about a month ago in Epernay, in the heart of the Champagne region in France. I know, a dream come true, still squealing with excitement inside!

Anyway, we hadn't planned it that way, but it turned out our wedding day was actually the very first day of the 'vendanges' or harvest that year, so the whole region was buzzing. 

Every year in September, weather permitting, the grapes are picked by hand, crushed, and stored, beginning a process that changes depending on each Champagne house, and whether they're creating Brut non vintage, or other varieties like rosé, vintages, or prestige vintages.

Thousands of seasonal workers flock to Champagne from all over Europe for the 'vendanges', which last for about 3 weeks. Some of them stay in tents, others in caravans, motels or boarding houses. They work pretty hard during the day, starting early in the morning. And one of the 'traditions' of vendanges is that each Champagne house has to provide daily lunch to all the seasonal workers who work for them.

And that traditional 'vendanges' lunch, my friends, is quite a sight, let me tell you. Think long communal tables with all the workers and 'vignerons', a glass of red, homemade pates, slow-cooking regional dishes, baguettes and cheese aplenty, and yummy tarts. Oh, and Champagne aperitif of course.

Established in 1822, Bauget-Jouette is a fantastic family-owned Champagne house based in Epernay. They're still using a traditional press and have some of the best vineyards in the region - hence a most excellent champagne.

On the Monday just after our wedding, Jean and I were lucky enough to be invited to share the 'vendanges' lunch at Champagne Bauget-Jouette, owned and managed by friends of Jean's parents.

And Oh-my-God, the lunch was delicious - and just the perfect way to unwind after the wedding!! The sun was shining high that day too, we couldn't have asked for more...

 

Chuao: the world's best chocolate (and a David vs Goliath drama)

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a sucker for good family dramas. On the silver screen I mean - in real life it's not as much fun (my husband, for instance, tends to get offended when I reach for the popcorn box while we're in the middle of a fight...)

Anyway, give me a story of love, revenge, family feud, treason and brothers and sisters arguing over leadership and family inheritance - and I'm in heaven. 

So when I read about the story of "Chuao", the world's best chocolate, and found it to be a cross between "The Godfather" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - it got my full attention. When I realised it involved Italian vs French protagonists, I knew we'd be in for a bloodbath.

Chuao chocolate bars from Kakawa

You see, even though our two countries are very close (my mother's family are Italian, just to give you an example), we've had our share of 'irreconcilable differences'. Notre-Dame de Paris vs St Peter's Basilica. Eiffel Tower vs Tower of Pisa. Chanel vs Prada. Catherine Deneuve vs Sophia Loren. Baguette vs focaccia. Perrier vs San Pellegrino. France vs Italy at the 2006 Football World Cup. And now Valrhona vs Amedei chocolate.

Amedei, founded in 1990 some 40 miles outside of Florence in Tuscany, is the joint project of a 43-year-old Italian named Alessio Tessieri and his younger sister, Cecilia; he buys the cacao and she turns it into dark, glossy bars. Last, a competition in London awarded a gold prize to one of Cecilia's handiworks, a single-plantation chocolate called Chuao. Two other Amedei products tied for silver.

Both the cult French pâtissier Pierre Hermé and the visionary Spanish chef Ferran Adrià have said that Chuao might, in fact, be the world's greatest chocolate. It's very aromatic, with a clarity and elegance more often found in wine and some single malts. And yet Amedei is sold in only a handful of stores around the world - let alone in Australia.

My Top-10: why I love Manly, Australia

Wow, time really does fly... I've now been living in Australia for four years - and still very much in love with Sydney. It's funny because people ask me all the time 'Oh my God, how come you're living in Sydney when you could be living in Paris??!'

The thing is, Paris is amazing of course - and I'll always remain a Parisienne at heart - but believe me, there's quite a difference between visiting Paris when you're on holidays (completely carefree and with lots of time on your hands to walk around, go to markets, and enjoy everything the city has to offer), and working there full time in a crazy-hours industry such as PR or advertising.

Enjoy the view (talking about the sea, of course...)

This is why Jean and I decided to come over to Australia. I guess we needed a bit of a break from all that 'métro-boulot-dodo' frenzy, as we say in French (for 'train-work-sleep')...

And I have to say, so far it's been for the best. It's like, instead of being this all too familiar husband, Paris became this exciting French lover I come back to once a year or so, with only the fun bits to share and no time to get blasé.

And so without further ado, here's what I like most about my 'new husband' - aka Manly Beach in Sydney's Northern Beaches. We moved here after two years living in Elizabeth Bay (which we really enjoyed as well), but Manly is a very special place and every day I feel really blessed that we're living in this area. So if you're coming to Manly for a day - or just a couple of hours - here's my Top-10 list of what to do:

#1: Go for a walk - or a run - on the main beach.

Frolick in the waves. Enjoy the salty sea breeze. Check out the (hot) volley-ball players. Go for a swim - or a surf (I couldn't surf for the life of me, must suffer from some sort of childhood trauma in big waves). Make a sandcastle with your kids. Show off your new bikini. Take your iPod and go for an energising run, in true Rocky Balboa style.

Jean surfing - Manly Beach - Freshwater Beach

If you're up for a little exercise, you can walk all the way to Freshwater Beach next door (go left if you're facing the sea). Fab views and you can reward yourself with a delicious coffee and gourmet sandwich at Pilu's little kiosk, voted by food critic Terry Durack as one of the Top-50 experiences every Sydney food lover should try.

Move over Louis Vuitton, here come the TT Trunks from Paris

Dear new husband Santa,

I've just found the perfect travel accessory - and Christmas-gift idea for 'moi'. Considering I've been really nice this year, could you please be so kind as to arrange the delivery of a TT Trunk under the Christmas tree for me this year?

I know it's a bit early to start thinking of Christmas, but because the TT Trunk is 'a bit' pricey, around the $16,000 mark, I thought I should give you an early notice, so you have enough time to transfer funds from your savings account.

Besides, each trunk is cut, dyed and sandpapered by hand, resulting in over 250 hours of work to produce one single trunk, so you might want to place my order early.

So I had a really good look at the TT Trunks catalogue, and although the Champagne trunk and Shoe trunk sounded divine, I think I'll go for the over-the-top Pool & Spa trunk.

The Champagne trunk comes with its own completely silent, 60-litre fridge and can hold 20 bottles and 18 flutes.

You see, the Pool & Spa trunk is an invitation to "farniente". Its large drawers are perfect to store all these must-have items in summer, such as sunscreen, towels, hat, shoes, books, books, magazines, water, champagne, and there's even a dock for iPods and iPhones. It's going to be so useful for our honeymoon. 

Besides, dear hubby Santa, you do realise we live in Manly, Australia, right? As in Manly beach. So you'll agree with me that the Pool & Spa TT Trunk is almost a first necessity product for us? In fact, I find it a bit hard to understand how come we don't have a TT Trunk yet - that's a bit sloppy, honey Santa... What do you mean, it will take you three years of salary to pay for it?? Errr, I don't know if you've heard but the GFC is 'kind of' over. Nuff said.

Anyway, here's the gist of what TT Trunks is all about - hopefully that will convince you. And who knows, you might even be tempted by the Dandy or Cigar trunks yourself? I'm sure if you talk to them and say you're interested in buying two trunks, they might give you a good deal, you know.

TT Trunks is a young and innovative luxury goods company specializing in the creation of high standard furniture trunks. It was founded less than a year ago by Damien Finot and Julien Trossat, two Paris-based entrepreneurs and friends - and former Louis Vuitton project managers.

 The Dandy Trunk

 

DIY 'Miami Rice' pudding

When Jean and I came back home a couple of months ago, we spent a fair bit of time in Bayonne in the Basque Country, in the southwest of France, near the Spanish border. That's where his family's from, and because Bayonne is home to so many world-class chocolate artisans, I always love going back there and stocking up on gourmet goodies.

One of my favourite pastry shops there is Lionel Raux (7 rue Bernardoux, 64100 Bayonne, www.patisserieraux.fr). Their cakes are to die for, they have a very chic macaron & chocolate bar upstairs, and they make over 30 different sorts of chocolate bars - you got the picture. But what really caught my eye was their really gorgeous range of "DIY" rice puddings, or "riz au lait" as we say in French.

 Riz au lait (pronounced "ree-oh-leh") is the epitomy of the French grandmotherly dessert : simple, homely, comforting, sweet and creamy. It's one of my favourite desserts and immediately conjures up images of childhood bliss and summer holidays at my grandparents'.

About 10 different rice pudding pre-mixes are available at Lionel Raux, featuring all sorts of spices and ingredients. All have funny names as well, I always love a good sense of humour when comes to food and pastry. The one I've tried at home was "Miami Rice", with candied orange, cinnamon and sugar cane. Just divine!!

If you feel like making "riz au lait" at home, here's a recipe I really like from Cannelle & Vanille.

So tell me dear reader, what are the childhood recipes you're most nostalgic about?

The divine Cannelés Bordelais

Have you ever tried a “Cannelé Bordelais”? It’s one of my all-time favourite French cakes, and each time I travel back home to Paris I always make sure to visit Eric Kayser’s bakery in the 5th arrondissement to indulge in a couple of divine cannelés. 

Cannelés or canelés - pronounced [ka-nuh-leh] – are a humble regional speciality from Bordeaux, in the southwest of France. They're an absolute must-try if you're visiting that part of France, with its world-famous vineyards. They date back from the 18th century and were invented by the nuns of the local convent of Annonciades, who would bake them for the city’s homeless kids. 

Cannelés are made from a vamped-up crepe batter cooked in tiny copper molds, baked at a high temperature until a really nice caramelized shell develops, hiding and protecting a rich custardy interior. The crunchy burnt sugar shell makes an exquisite complement to the smooth sweet filling fragrant with vanilla and rum (back then, Bordeaux was the important port for French trade with the Caribbean, hence the invention of a cake stuffed with rum, sugar, and vanilla).

The traditional cannelé is made in copper molds, but nowadays homebakers use silicon molds instead - not exactly the same results, but good enough.

Image courtesy of FXCuisine.com

Cannelés cost about 2 euros per unit and are available from the famous Baillardran pastry in Bordeaux (they also have outlets in train stations and airports in Paris and the Basque Country). Most good Parisian pastry shops also bake cannelés these days, including the brilliant Eric Kayser. 

If you want to try your hand at baking cannelés yourself, here’s a great recipe in English from the fabulous Chocolate & Zucchini food blog.

 

Around the World with Chocolate, special SIFF event

Could you live in a world without chocolate? Did you grow up daydreaming about winning the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket and tasting the finest truffles and pralines? Are you looking for a very special gift idea for the chocoholics in your life?

Chocolate lovers, rejoice! To celebrate the world-class talent of Sydney’s finest chocolate artisans, Mytinerary is inviting you to a special “round-the-world” chocolate tour as part of the Sydney International Food Festival.

Take your tastebuds on a gourmet journey like no other and join us on a fabulous exploration of “Planet Cacao” as we focus on a different continent every Saturday in October:

Saturday 9 October: Americas (10am-4pm)

Saturday 16 October: Europe (10am-4pm)

Saturday 23 October: Africa (10am-4pm)

Saturday 30 October: Australasia (10am-4pm)

Not available on these dates? Visit our regular "Ultimate Artisan Chocolate Tour" page for additional dates this summer.

 

This one-day deluxe tour will take you from the lowlands of Mexico and Central America to the lush plantations of Madagascar, by way of Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir in Versailles and Johannes Van Houten’s factory in Amsterdam.

Discover the rich history of cacao discovery and cacao trade. Hear about the religious and ritual significance of chocolate for the early Mayan and Aztec civilizations. Learn about the different steps of the chocolate-making process, from “bean to bar”. Find out how chocolate conquered Europe in the Renaissance and became the “drink of kings, and king of drinks”.

Mingle with like-minded foodies and interact with some of Sydney’s most talented chocolate artisans, who will share with you their passion for chocolate and tell you about their personal approach to chocolate making.

Most importantly, get ready for a chocolate tasting extravaganza! In addition to your morning coffee and chocolate macarons, you’ll taste different sorts of hot chocolates from each continent, some inspired by antique Aztec recipes, others featuring pure “single origin” cacao beans from the best plantations in the world. 

You’ll also taste some of the finest chocolate bonbons and truffles in your life, with several pieces for you to try at each of our chocolate stops. Think dark chocolate ganache with Thai basil, truffles with French Champagne and milk chocolate with Mexican chilli. Last but not least, you’ll enjoy a delicious tasting plate featuring among other delicacies a handmade chocolate mousse. 

And for a welcome savoury break, you’ll be treated to a sumptuous lunch at a Sydney favourite. Each Saturday, the restaurant will be different, in line with the continental “theme du jour”. Icing on the cake, matching wines from each continent will also be served (eg wines from Argentina or Chile on the “American” day, wines from South Africa on the “African” day, etc).

Click here to make a booking.

Price: $249 per person, all inclusive (morning coffee and macarons, extensive chocolate tastings in up to 4 different locations, 2 different sorts of hot chocolate, chocolate tasting plate, lunch with matching wine, transportation, private guide and gourmet goodie bag).

To ensure an intimate, truly interactive gourmet experience, our tours are limited to 8 guests per day so make sure to book early! To make your booking online, click here. 

You can contact us on 1300 951 138 or [email protected] for more information.

We look forward to having you on the tour!!