March into Merivale: Est

March into Merivale restaurant deals have been running for several years now and I've always tried to make the most of them. A few years back I went to est for my birthday, and so this year when my very fashionable friend from interstate was visiting I thought it was worth going again.

The deal wasn't quite as cheap - last time it was $55 for 3 courses plus wine, this time $70, but the thing about est is you always get top notch service (it is 3 hat after all!) and the ambience and vibe of the place is brilliant. I love it there!

Italian buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, tarragon, sumac vinaigrette

grilled scallops, shaved fennel, zucchini flower, truffle, rocket

This was delish! I mean, how can you go wrong with scallops that are perfectly cooked with great flavours all balancing together.

fillet of beef, edamame, cucumber, miso-wasabi butter

Perfectly cooked and wasabi miso butter is always a fave of mine and that zing that comes from the wasabi was beautiful. I love a well cooked piece of meat!

And onto my favourite - dessert!

chocolate cream, apricots, tarragon, apricot

Raspberries, ginger cream, sorrel sorbet

The desserts were good but not WOW as I usually like my desserts to be. But you know the whole menu was accessible, easily eaten and beautifully presented. The entree and main were the standouts for me despite their simplicity as all I really wanted that night was a good meal that was delicate and it delivered exactly on that.

Between us we tried most of the meal options (except for the fish because no one wanted to give up the beef!). We stayed chatting for hours about all things fashion (because that's what we do!) and it was such an enjoyable evening.

Have you tried any of the MIM deals?

Burberry + Romeo Beckham

I know this has image has been doing the rounds, but I couldn't help but post about it because it is just unbelievably adorable and cute!

None other than ten year old Romeo Beckham starring in the Burberry campaign and having a quick laugh and chat with Christopher Bailey. If only we all had that money to look so stylish!

How does a 10 year old manage to make a Burberry trench look so glam?

ASOS Cuteness!

As you might remember me posting, I am going to Glastonbury music festival later this year which is renowned for being rained out. My cousin recently showed me this on ASOS and my friends and I are all so tempted to buy it!

HOW CUTE IS IT!?

What's not so cute is the 50GBP price tag ouch! For a raincoat? That's just for fashion? No thank you. I would understand if it was a outdoors store specially waterproofed rain coat but for now, this is staying firmly on the wishlist and not on the buy list (until it goes on sale!).

Jennifer Zeuner Swirly Monogram

If you follow my twitter you'll remember I moaned about breaking the chain on my Jennifer Zeuner horizontal cross necklace. Well I was annoyed because I was in a rush cleaning the chain and pulled a little too vigorously and some of the chains snapped. Damn!

Anyway, I was going to hop to her online store and order a replacement but ended up fixing the chain to a certain degree. So then I was tempted by all the other goodies and did some sneaky self gifting :)

I've always loved this swirly monogram necklace on LC and a whole host of other celebs thought I would take the plunge and get the medium silver (the large, while beautiful, was more than I wanted to spend even with discount codes).

There was also so much indecision because I wasn't sure if I should get the swirly monogram necklace with three initials or just the one, but ended up choosing the latter.

The website claims the orders may take up to 3 weeks to ship, but I literally had the necklace in my hands within a week of ordering, and all with free shipping internationally! Bargain! The packaging was beautiful too...

And a close up...

I also love this one on Whitney Port (its a round disc with 1 or 3 monogrammed letters). I would choose 3 letters for something different I think...but for now this one is staying on my wishlist!

The Rabbit Hole

I checked out The Rabbit Hole the other day - its a new restaurant and bar concept that has been open for about 6 months (I think) and claims to have a L'Astrance trained chef at the helm! I went to L'Astrance last year and so I had high hopes for this place, considering the prices were decent.

Anyway, they don't do bookings on Friday night so we rocked up to find an apparently very long list of people who were waiting. Turns out they had a Groupon type deal expiring that weekend so of course it was just our luck that we were fighting for a table with all those people.

Because we weren't dining on the discounted deal, they very graciously seated us earlier and after chatting to the owner for some time she told us the table was actually meant for her father but he had decided to give up the table. +1 on the service thus far! +1 also on the friendliness of the staff thus far!

Anyway, they have a bar menu which looked cheap and cheerful but we went for the full menu. I didn't have either of my two better cameras with me that night so iphone photos will have to suffice....

Entrees I don't have good photos of - at around $16 each they were beautifully presented, tasty and a decent size. We ordered the scallops and the tartare and the flavours were all great and I could very much see the French training in the mastery.

This was my main that I ended up choosing because they claimed the gnocchi which I had originally wanted was sold out. We did see it go out to tables later (the ones with the deal) so we were a bit annoyed because we really wanted that gnocchi and it clearly wasn't sold out! Also with the gnocchi off the menu, it really didn't leave any vegetarian choices... Anyway this was the blue eye cod that the waitress suggested because its spectacularly presented. To be honest, I expected more after that description but the serving size was generous and the fish perfectly cooked so not too bad for $30 by Sydney standards.

Now desserts were interesting...we ordered this deconstructed smoked pineapple brulee ($19) which was disappointing because the flavour balance was just a little off. At first we were wondering why the dish had a distinct after taste of meat (like bacon!) which wasn't very pleasant. By then a different (not so helpful) waitress was serving us and tried to snobbishly explain to us that it was smoked and that's just how it tastes, judgementally saying "you just don't like it?". Well, no, its not about liking, its about the fact it tastes like it was made incorrectly. As we tasted it some more we could understand the smoking technique explaining the after taste but even so the chef needs to work on this a little we think!

We also ordered the chocolate fondant which was to the standard expected, thankfully!

Its interesting because despite the slow service towards the end and the dessert issue, some of the friends I dined with said we would perhaps go back. The pricing for the serving size is very good for Sydney and its filling a niche that Sydney is missing in terms of fine dining without the pomp and circumstance. The bar looked great as well for a casual catch up with friends over nibblies! Will I be back...not in a hurry but perhaps as they work through their teething problems it may improve.

#19: YSL Haul

After 2 years, I finally used the last of my net-a-porter Shoe Subscription credit by snapping up some YSL before a) the sales ended and b) it all gets rebranded!

Thanks to a whole lot of internet discussion about it I heard about the Arty rings being 50% off so got myself two:

I ended up sending back the gold one because being one block colour, it didn't have that Arty glass appeal.

I also got these sunglasses because quite frankly, after 10 years of wearing the same pair of Ferragamo sunglasses I need a change. Yes, you heard right, 10 years! I've been wearing my favourite trusty sunglasses forever because they're perfect and despite having a Chanel pair I bought a few years back, I still always go back to the Ferragamos. Not anymore, my friends. These YSLs are the perfect mix of classic and simple with a bit of an edgy street style to them. I quite like them! I think they will go to Europe with me in a few months time :)

Aaand just for fun I added in this Karl jacket because it was really cheap (70% off!). I have one of his other blazers and the cut is amazing for the price, so I thought I'd take the gamble on this. Its not the best black blazer I have in my wardrobe, but a girl can never have too many :)

You'll see in the pic of the aqua ring there's a YSL shoe box snuck in - my sister happened to also have her new pair of YSL shoes arrive on the same day I got my NAP delivery!

Amazing story + video

I came across this amazing video telling the story of a lady's battle with cancer. She was taken to Paris by the photographer Sue Bryce to take absolutely breathtaking photos (and this video) as well as tell her story. Seriously, you should watch this video! Paris is undoubtedly one of my favourite cities in the world and I love that the video takes us through some of my favourite places there - Trocadero overlooking the Eiffel Tower and Tuileries and looking over cute Parisien balconies.

One day, I hope I can wear a beautiful floaty dress like her and spin like a little girl around the streets of Paris!

Here are some stills too which are also beautiful:

Source: Sue Bryce photography and picturecorrect.com