Dijon

So, we officially made it- our first anniversary! 11 months ago, when Kit and I had been together one month, I took him to Benchmark, where we enjoyed a fantastic 5 course degustation menu. That night we made a deal, that we would celebrate our anniversary at Waters Edge. Unfortunately, by the time 12 months rolled around Waters Edge had been closed, by all of two weeks! Maybe if Kit had made his move on me two weeks earlier we'd have been able to enjoy Canberra's only two-hatted restaurant before it shut its doors forever :)
So, with our first choice down, we quickly decided on Plan B, Dijon.

In memory of our first "monthiversary" we decided to try the Dijon degustation. Unlike most restaurants we've been to there was no set degustation menu. Instead, we had a choice between a 5-course or 7 course option, and could either give the chef free rein, or give him a few specific dishes we wanted to try, or avoid, from the a la carte menu. Of course, given the occasion, we chose to go all out, and opt for the 7 course "degu" (as our waiter called it) with matched wines. Our only rules for the chef were that our meal had to include the oysters, and not the mushroom and blue cheese tart. Considering the scope of the menu, we were looking forward to seeing what we'd be lucky enough to try.

Premeal appetisers included fresh homemade sourdough served with porcini mushroom butter, and warm cauliflower veloute with chive oil

As asked for, our experience started with fresh rock oysters, served with a refreshing wasabi and kaffir lime granita and topped with salmon roe. The tart granita was a perfect balance to the oysters though the kaffir lime definitely overwhelmed the too-subtle wasabi flavour. The accompanying SA sparkling semillon was a perfect match, reflecting just enough of the sweetness and zing of the oysters without overpowering their crisp flavours....to be continued

(5 November 06)....see,I was onto something here, don't you think? But alas, given that we went out last night to celebrate our first 18 months together,I'm having a very difficult time remembering the subtle intricacies in flavour of the 7 course meal we had 6 months ago. I do remember there being a course of pork belly and black pudding, a really good tasmanian pinot noir in there somewhere,and maybe some swordfish, but I might be making that up entirely. Either way,it really was a great meal,and a beautiful way to spend our anniversary.The lesson is though,no matter how great a meal is, chances are you won't remember everything about it in 6 months when you try to post a restaurant review. So, I'll make sure I write about Da Noi much sooner.

Til then..