And Then There's Aria of Course

This restaurant happened a little while ago now, but it is important enough that I had to dig into the memory banks and make sure it had a Julep showing.

Last year I was invited to attended a birthday lunch sitting at Aria for my friend Janet.

I had the wonderful opportunity back in 2007 to see Matt Moran at a cooking demonstration at the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Festival, so it was a pleasure to go to his flagship restaurant and see what Matt's food is about.

It was art. It was incredible. It was an absolute pleasure to be there...and a total lesson in dining sophistication. It is the first restaurant I have ever been to where I have watched them iron the table cloth on to the table. Fascinating.

I ordered all of my meals off the specials board on the day...so I can't give you exact dish names, but I think the photos are eye candy enough.

The one name I can give you is potato gratin. I ordered it as a side dish to my main course along with some carrots. As soon as the fork hit my mouth, I forgot my name. If I learn to cook a potato gratin that well in my lifetime, I think it will be a life VERY well lived. Divine.

And I know that they are just carrots...plain and simple...but these were the best carrots I have EVER eaten. Those carrots were singing...

The whole meal was pure dining pleasure. The service was impeccable. The whole lunch is something I will remember for the rest of my life and I was so pleased that Janet chose to celebrate her birthday at Aria.

There was no "Hey I'm Matt Moran" song and dance. Matt made no appearance. There wasn't even an area with his cook books on sale. It was a simple "this is my food and welcome to my restaurant"...and god it was done with style.