http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2011/04/29/99designs-raises-35-million-crowdsourced-graphic-design
The 26 staff crowdsource graphic design website, 99designs, has raised $35 million in it’s first round of funding. This has been backed by angel investors who also back eBay, Survey Monkey, Flickr and Squarespace.

http://www.getelastic.com/shopping-cart-urgency/
Ways to improve and reduce the abandonment rate on ecommerce websites during the checkout phase. A good post by Get Elastic to show what tricks certain websites have used to improve conversions

http://www.adnews.com.au/news/groupon-gobbles-first-australian-rival
Groupon buys it’s first Australian rival – crowdmass. The Melbourne based company was attractive to Groupon simply because of their talent. Looks like Groupon wants to start with the small players first to tackle the bigger later. The crowdmass website now links to stardeals.com.au

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20058652-48.html
Rolls Royce released an App on the iPhone and iPad to customize various features of their flagship model – the Phantom. It’s colour palate allows you to select from 44,000 colours, however it says that you can take a picture of any surface and make you own unique colour. The point of this? I’m not sure.

I must admit that I’ve had dinner at Pyrama quite a few times, but never had the opportunity to write a review. Previously my review for Pyrama was based on their breakfast/brunch/lunch service on the weekend – which was amazing! And dinner is no disappointment either.

Chef Jim Larcan cleverly designs his menu based on the season and selects his produced when they are the ripe time to savour. Their service is very friendly and they have an attentive eye for detail to ensure that you have a faultless evening. Staff at Pyrama haven’t changed in the various times that we dined there which shows the quality of management in keeping their staff happy.

Pyrama have a special that has been going on for some time and it hits the sweet spot for those looking for fine dining without busting the budget. $29 for 1 course, $40 for 2 courses and $52 for 3 courses (wine is extra). There are a dish or two that can attract an extra $10 on the bill, but my god the value for money is outstanding. With a decent wine list to compliment your dinner, you don’t feel disappointed that it is not BYO.

We called at 8:45pm to check if they had availability within 15 to 20 mins and Karen was more than helpful to accommodate our late dinner by letting Jim know of our late arrival. To start I had the carpaccio with mushrooms and grana padano (Italian cheese) which was simply prepared and served to perfection. A very nice and light way to start off dinner. Other options on their entrée menu are Tempura Zuchinni flowers with ricotta and herbs or chorizo with caramlised onion, apple and yoghurt  – who would have thought =)

My mains was the sirloin (which attracts and extra $10 on the bill) and was absolutely divine. It comes with fries, herbed butter (café de Paris) and red wine jus. Cooked as requested, medium rare, the meat was very tender and the jus works balanced the flavours really well. And those fries are to die for! They look similar to McDonald fries (sorry Jim), but they taste a 100 times better. Other options for mains are confit duck with lentils, shallots and orange sauce or try the pan roasted spatchcock with roasted beets and parsley salad.

Desserts are irresistible (like in any restaurant). However, our mains were quite filling and we instead opted for some homemade chocolate truffles. These melt in your mouth with a cup of latte alongside. If you want something more filling try their vanilla pannacotta with mango and mint salsa or the French white chocolate crème brulee with passionfruit.

Pyrama is a welcome restaurant for a nice low key dinner and you can chose to enjoy your meal in their courtyard or indoors if the weather doesn’t suit. The staff are very friendly and Karen and Linda do an awesome job of making sure you enjoy yourself- and Jim at the same time ensures that your plate comes with quality and tasty food.

You will not be disappointed!

Website – http://www.pyrama.com.au/
Menu – http://www.pyrama.com.au/menu.html

Atmosphere – 8/10
Food – 8.5/10
Wine (cocktails) – 8/10
Staff – 9/10
Value for money – 9.5/10

The DCM nightclub on Oxford Street has recently been replaced by a Mediterranean restaurant called The Mediterranean. Opened by the owner of Tandoori Palace from across the road, this restaurant boasts a decent menu of some Greek classics. Arriving at The Mediterranean requires climbing a flight of stairs which could in itself work up a thirst for a glass of wine.

The atmosphere is different to your traditional fine dining restaurant whereby this setting has Greek resembling statues, and the decorator seems to have a fetish for long hanging lights. There is a feature wall when you arrive with brick tiles and a relief. Towards the end of the bar there is a beautiful painting (or wallpaper) of the Greek island coast, which unfortunately is dimmed out due to the lighting. Previously a dance floor and now capable of holding close to seating over a 150 people, the restaurant has been opened for just over 8 weeks.

The menu list your Greek specials of dips, souvlaki, moussaka and also a great variety for seafood dishes. We had ordered the mixed platter ($10), which unfortunately only turned up with 2 dips – Tzatziki and Taramosalata (fish roe) but however they missed the eggplant dip (Melitzanosalata). Being a non-seafood diner, the tzatziki was actually pretty good. Nice warm pita bread topped with dried herbs works really well with it. I did however crave for other dips but we moved on to the entree of meatballs (Souzoukakia – $15.90) where the serving is actually quite generous with 4 large pieces – enough for one per person to try. We had also ordered some Ouzo Prawns ($17.90) which look well cooked in the a rich tomato, garlic and chilli based sauce.

Our mains had one let down, the Lamb Fourno ($26) which did have quite a few rib bones in the dish, and while some of the meat was tender it left little to desire with slightly over salted potatoes. However, the meat Moussaka ($20) was value for money. I haven’t had very many Moussaka’s in my life, but this tasted great. Nice layer of mashed potatoes on top, with a layer of tomato paste and mince sitting on a bed of eggplant baked with crispy sides that held its shape well when presented. A piece of this was sufficient to fill me up without much of the Lamb Fourno.

After having tasted the above it left very little room for dessert, but I was given an explanation of a deep fried donut topped with honey and cinnamon that sounded great, but I had to prepared myself for a walk down the stairs – and dessert would have made that harder.

The Mediterranean’s kitchen is run by a Greek chef and so the quality of food isn’t bad for a restaurant down Oxford St which unfortunately does have a lot of competition to keep them going. The restaurant has an abundant amount of room to host group dinners and functions which they advertise on their website. $50 per person allows you to try a mixed variety of what The Mediterranean has to offer. Their wine list is pretty decent for a restaurant of this price range too. We had a great Sauvignon Blanc that worked well with our food, but if I wasn’t driving I would have selected a second glass of red for my mains.

Being only opened for 2 months, the service will need time to improve itself. The waitress did have a hard time understanding our order, as well as the names of the dishes. Her knowledge of the wine list required us to repeat it a few times, but again that just needs encouragement and education. On a Tuesday night (which is when I went) don’t expect a full house, but on a Friday or Saturday I’ve been told that live entertainment is on offer with belly dancing and singing to bring in a crowd.

Dine at The Mediterranean and then head down to the nightlife of Oxford Street, you won’t regret filling up your stomach before those tequila shots.

Hence, I’ve decided that at the end of every month I will post a list of what I’ve liked and what I’ve added to my collection.

So here goes:

Last weekend I made a trip to Canberra, and dropped in on Mount Majura. They had some awesome grapes and they include:

The award winning Chardonnay ($21) has a really nice melon and buttery toast taste and one that I wouldn’t recommend drinking when it’s chilled. Stick it in the fridge for 20 to 30 mins, and you have a wonderful glass with a white meat dish. Keeps well till 2019.

The Tempranillo ($35) was perhaps my favourite amongst their selection of reds. Beautiful rich red flavour of dark berries and cherry with some very fresh and fruity tastes to it. I think this will sell quickly, so stock up and keep for a few years (until 2014).

The Riesling ($21) was my favourites from the whites. Rated 94 by James Halliday, this wine has beautiful flavours of citrus and would work well with seafood and white meat. I highly recommend keeping a few bottles in the cellar for just under a decade (2018).

Above are some recent favourites from the Wine Society. Having been a member with them for over 2 years now, they have had some excellent bottles on their shelves.

First off, 2008 Shanahan Barking Dog GSM ($22.99)- this is an awesome cork bottle of fun sold exclusively by Wine Society. Deep red plums, berries and spices make up the palate and I’d recommend cellaring for a little while longer – I think 2012 could be it’s prime – but will stay well till 2016.

The 2008 Zilzie Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.99) is a brilliant quaffing wine that works really well with red meat. Drink some now and over the course till 2012.

The multi-awarding winning 2008 Taylors Estate Clare Valley Shiraz ($12.99) is another ripper that is great for drinking now, but over time (up to 2016) would open up to be an even better bottle. With sweet notes and fine tanins this is a must buy. Don’t let the price tag fool you.

Lastly, the 2005 Grant Burge Holy Trinity GSM ($35)- what a great wine this is. Had it for dinner over at Blue Eye Dragon (BYO) and thought it was absolutely fantastic with the food we ordered. Fruit intensive with deep colours, this wine will mature over the next 12 years. I couldn’t resist getting a dozen – a bottle for each year!

A couple of years ago, I attended the Taste of Sydney festival – and I remember trying some of the dishes from Longrain, which I thought was fantastic. Especially their tapioca dessert.

So recently, we decided to give them a go. Longrain is a restaurant where you can’t book a table, and when you do get table… you’re pretty lucky (or so you think!)

First impressions of the place was friendly atmosphere with a decent sized cocktail lounge on one end and the restaurant and the other – in between you have a long hallway (Tony Hawk would love to convert it to a skating ramp).

The place looked busy, and I think know why. Since you can’t book a table, people rush in early to get their names on a list by the restaurant’s… let’s call him the bouncer, this guy meant business. So once you’re names is on the list, you wait – in their cocktail bar.

We asked for a “table for 2”, and he said “Sure, that’ll be 2 hours”. I had to clarify if he misheard me mentioning the number of people and not the number of hours. Clearly, I was put in place to say that it will take 2 hours. Great, so where to? Of course we were ushered to cocktail lounge and asked to “enjoy ourselves” while we wait – nice touch.

6 x cocktails (at $16 – $18 each), sparkling water, some oysters and a dish of mince pork lettuce cup kind of thing. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember much of it, partly because I wait for 2 f@*king hours! By then my taste buds had given up and it probably preferred a chicken kebab as opposed to a curry. Just as we were contemplating our decision, bouncer man comes and offers us a table.

As I sat down, I noticed that our ‘table’ was in between a birthday celebration to my left, a couple trying to have an intimate moment to my right, and a couple who were previously getting drunk at the cocktail bar now sitting opposite me – lovely!

Dinner time, and we ordered 2 main dishes, a salad, brown rice – all to share, followed by dessert (yes, I had their tapioca pudding) – but let me say that the food didn’t compensate for the lack of table service, mannerism of the restaurant staff and not even the table setting. Honestly the restaurant could do with more space dedicated to the dining area.

All in all, cocktail, nibles, mains, dessert came to $110 per person – so value for money wise, it’s okish. I’d rather spend an extra $80 and go Universal for a 5 course world cuisine with matching wine.

And to top it off, the staff decided to charge my credit card twice within a space of 1 minute. I got a call from my bank on Monday morning (thanks St George) to call back the restaurant if it was a mistake.

Admittedly, their accountant was much better to deal with and I would rather have her serve my table.

Longrain –I wish they called it Longwait!

Atmosphere – 7.5/10
Food – 6.5/10
Wine (cocktails) – 7.5/10
Staff – 5.5/10
Value for money – 6/10

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from JESS3 on Vimeo.

I had been taken here for my birthday – and the experience was second to none. This had to be in the top 3 for me in 2009!

Run by Justin North, Chef of the Year 2009 (by SMH Good Food Guide), Becasse is quietly located on Clarence Street, Sydney. The first thing I noticed, was the calm welcoming feeling of a fine dinning restaurant with staff who you knew would make you have a comfortable evening.

You didn’t feel that you needed to be your best to enjoy Justin North’s impressively looking and tasting Modern French menu. We were shown to our table, located near a corner with views of the restaurant’s mezzanine level. The interior is comfortably lit with just the right amount of lighting to have a nice intimate dinning experience. With two tones of brown curtains draped along one side of the wall, and the opposite side matched with similar tone paints, all then tied in together with brown matching wooden chairs, gave the entire room a nice warm and expensive feeling. You can’t miss the round chandeliers hovering around the centre of the restaurant.

Our host for the evening I believe was the Sommelier himself and his casual and humorous professionalism made our night even more enjoyable. We ran our eyes fairly quickly over the menu for a bit, given that our intentions were to have the degustation menu ($130 pp). However, after spending a little too much time over the extensive wine list, we decided to go for the degustation with matching wine ($190 pp).

Given my lack of palate for seafood, our host was able to speak with the chef to alter just my courses – which was a treat. I think more and more restaurants are getting better at this, as opposed to ‘Sorry sir, the tasting menu is fixed – here’s our A La Carte menu’ (knob!)

Now do forgive me, as I dined at Becasse back in December – so I maybe short on the details of all ten courses – but more importantly having 9 or 10 glasses of wine didn’t make things easier.

I remember starting off with an Amuse Bouche of some sort after which we received 3 different varieties of bread – rosemary, pumpkin and poppy seed (I think). Then I recall a basil with tomato and olive oil sorbet. And I remember this clearly because of the olive oil sorbet  – rich, but cold and yet perfectly matched the tomato and basil concoction. I then recall a course of sliced pork with a little salad and another of a steak fillet of some sort (told you I was hazy with the details). However, one of the dishes that I knew didn’t settle well with me was pork liver – I just couldn’t handle that stuff. A bit too gamey, with a texture that didn’t quite suit.

Also failing to please the palate was dessert, but I think I blame this on the 8 courses of wine before dessert arrived, as well as the bottle of champagne that was knocked off before dinner. I’m not having a go at you Mr. North, I just don’t think my stomach appreciated the consumption of the last 2 hours before dessert was placed in front of me.

Complimentary coffee helped, as well as a short conversation with the host and some of the staff towards the very end. Friendly yet attentive staff, minimalist décor, creative cooking and nicely matched wine made things simply enjoyable.

I definitely intend to head back to Becasse – the next time I’m hoping to remember all the dishes.

Just a wonderful way to celebrate my 26th.

Atmosphere – 8.5/10
Food – 8.5/10
Wine – 8/10
Staff – 8.5/10
Value for money – 8.5/10

http://www.becasse.com.au/

Located on Victoria St, Darlinghurst, this Italian restaurant doesn’t have people standing out the front asking people to walk in. It’s not a busy hyped up place like Bar Reggio or a restaurant that you’ll find on St Kilda in Melbourne.

A Tavola is fine dinning Italian with a casual yet modern décor. The interior is very warm and welcoming. It’s not too noisy and a table in the covered courtyard towards the back of the restaurant is a different experience. A second level also exists for functions and a more private dining experience.

After a couple of drinks at Victoria Room, we jay walked across Victoria St and met with the Maitre d’ who checked our name and asked us to follow her to our table. Some of group members were a few minutes late and walked right in, however, the Maitre D’ was quite adamant on knowing who they were with – as opposed to letting them stroll right in.

Now, when I saw our group – I better mention who the group includes. Of course there was myself, Maia Michaelis, Sam Wadsworth, Amy Kwok, Sophie Chappelow, Stuart Pond, and Sophie’s lovely parents from the UK.

As we sat down, we found a piece of paper with the menu for the evening. This is where things took a tumble for me. As an Italian restaurant, I’m sure the owners and the chef like to keep thing very traditional. However, the menu written in Italian with no explanation of each dish, took things a little too far. We had to wait for our waitress to explain not only each dish on our menu, but also each dish on the specials board. 10 minutes later and hoping  we hear correctly with her thick accent, we all needed a good 10 more minutes to absorb what was the best fit for our appetite.

We ordered several entrée dishes to share. A bowl of warm olives, meat stuffed olives, a couple of salad dishes – including one with buffalo mozzarella with prosciutto and some focaccia  bread.  The salads were the highlight for me. The cheese was brilliant, rich and worked perfectly with the prosciutto and lettuce leaves topped with a well balanced Italian dressing.

My main course had to be in my top 10 list of 2009. I had veal, slow cooked in milk (and a tomato base), placed over freshly made pappardelle. The veal was cooked to perfection. Tender, gamey and full of flavour. It was one of the most satisfying meal for dinner.

Dessert for me was a complete let down – I ordered a chocolate fondant which turned up to be an overcooked cupcake. I did however give a good go at some deep fried ricotta served with marsala ice cream. The waitress was kind enough to ask what was wrong with my fondant, and after mentioning to the chef they took it off the bill – nice touch. I wouldn’t say dessert was brilliant, so I’d recommend to skip that course and after a cup of coffee or go across the road to Gelato Messina.

In terms of a dent to your pocket, A Tavola is what you would expect to pay. It’s not overly expensive, but it’s not your average pasta take away. You have to appreciate your food to justify the bill, and I enjoyed my entrée and main to justify the expense.

Overall, I would give A Tavola a thumbs up – well cooked food, great staff and a good place to catch up with your mates. I’d definitely visit this place in 2010.

Thanks for introducing us to this place Sophie! =)

Atmosphere – 8/10
Food – 7/10 (a let down because of dessert)
Wine – 7/10
Staff – 7.5/10
Value for money – 8/10

www.atavola.com.au

So what have I been doing since my last post? Aside from dinning out and creating a backlog of restaurant reviews, I bought a new house in June last year (yay!) along with a new car (double yay!).

I have moved out from the CBD, where I rented for over 4 years, and now live in a much quieter and close to some new favourites down at Waterloo - rated 2009′s #5 in Sydney on RP Data’s list of ‘hot suburbs’ – (triple yay!)

Let’s start first about why I decided to move?

Rent in the city wasn’t bad and I admit, the apartment was absolutely convenient, 24-receptionist meant that security wasn’t an issue, it was close to shops, transport and a walk to work. However, interest rates were good and the government grant was quite appealing – which made it easier to repay (when comparing to how much rent was in the city!). And, of course I based my calculation on interest rates going up and factored to about 14%.

So, aside from rent as a motivator, the other reason was noise. I faced Castlereagh and Liverpool streets, which have fire brigades screaming down every few hours – not ideal for relaxing at home after work. The apartment was also fairly small, and I felt more space would be a much more satisfying feeling. And worse of all was the ridiculously small outdoor area – and I have been craving for a proper outdoor setup with furniture for a very long time.

So why Waterloo?

It’s one of those suburbs that is not very much heard off – it’s like when you say “I live in Waterloo” – people give you that look of “Where now?”. It’s not far from Surry Hills, Redfern and Zetland – I bet now you’re thinking – “ohh, I know where that is!”

More importantly though, was the apartment itself. It’s one of the those places that you walk into and go ‘Aaah – this is what I want to buy’. The apartment is completely open planned - you enter on the top level where the living, dinning and kitchen areas are and then walk down to the bottom level which has the bedrooms & bathrooms – keeps it nice and private when you have guests over.

So with the location and apartment selected, I must say I didn’t have a bad experience with the bank (St George) nor the Agent (Raine & Horne) nor my solicitor (Philip Soo, Westside Law). All were absolutely helpful - making settlement a breeze.

The day I settled (on a Wednesday), the following day all the furniture from Nick Scali arrived – dinning table, chairs, centre table, sofas, and a bed. On Friday came the mattresses, as well as the fridge and washing machine. On the weekend I moved. By Sunday night I was settled in and prepared for the old place to be handed back to the owners.

Moving out from my old apartment wasn’t bad either - 4 trips in my new Mercedes A170, and I was all done. Yep, the A170 has a fair amount of room when you drop down the back seats – more importantly my previous rented apartment was fully furnished, so I had no furniture besides a little shelf from IKEA.

I must admit that buying a house during the end of financial year sale was perfect for loads of bargaining power – including the negotiation power when I bought the car too.

Do I miss the city? A little, but the advantages there are now replaced by others that makes me feel a lot more comfortable about my new home.

I’ve got some restaurant reviews backlogged – so I’ll make sure to post them soon. A sneak peak at the list includes:

- Tetsuya
- Becasse
- Marque
- A Tavola
- Le Pelican
- Toko
- Wah Wah Cafe

Eating at Bennelong makes you feel like a celebrity or a socialite to some extent. You feel a little special to have a meal in a restaurant that has the same roof as the Sydney Opera House. More importantly once you do get a booking (which isn’t easy) – you tell your friends about dinner plans and you hear this “Whooo” sound coming out of their jealous lips – well maybe not, but you feel a little excited about the evening before it has even started.

Located near the main entrance of the Opera House (towards the left past the cloak room), Bennelong run by head chef Guillaume Brahimi, has an amazing warm welcome as you are seated to your table. The view is spectacular, and during your booking you can make a request of what aspect you want your table to face (if available).

Once again, I’ll re-iterate, booking is essential and it showed throughout the course of the evening as there weren’t tables free.

We had got a table which was part couch and part chairs for six of us. Some had views of the bridge, while the others made do with the view of the city. After being presented with the food and wine menu, we had to get cracking on choosing our wine. The white wine was a bottle of 2005 Hugel Gewurztraminer ($85) and a recommended bottle of Burgundy wine ($165). However, note that are over a 100 bottles of wine to choose from – some ranging as much as $6000 a bottle. As a sommelier to assist and if you can be upfront about your budget, be honest or face the embarrassment of him/her recommending a $600 bottle of wine that you then have you retract yourself from selecting.

We were offered a selection of bread to choose from. I tried the buttermilk roll and then had a rosemary bun – both were warm and fresh and once you spread the French butter, you felt like you could have them as main course.

We were presented with an amuse-bouche of duck foie gras, spread in between crusted gingerbread. This was simply fantastic – the rich texture of foie gras with the crustiness of the ginger bread was very light as your bite through, however then the heavy feeling of the foie gras gets to you. A very nice palate opener for the evening.

To start off, I had quail cooked two ways ($40). While it did look small on the plate – I’m actually glad as it gave me enough room to accommodate the rest of the evening’s delight. The plate contained a piece of smoked quail breast and another of fried quail leg. A quail egg that was covered in breadcrumbs and fried served over a bed of greens (almost a nest looking) was a clever touch to the meal. All flavours matched very well – along with the egg which had the inside york nice and runny. The wine too worked very well with the entree and it was pleasantly light and flavourful.

A nice of piece of cheek for mains ($55 – available on the specials menu), and mine was soft and tender where the meat just fell apart as soon as the knife met it. Again the red wine was nice and light for this meal. There isn’t too much to comment on the dishes themselves. Chef Brahimi has kept things very simple yet the taste and texture of his plated food is simply wonderful.

Finally for dessert, I couldn’t go past the chocolate soufflé. As it arrived, the waitress asked if I would like to follow the chef recommendation of dipping the spoonful of coffee ice cream into the soufflé and top it with a hot chocolate sauce. Bare in mind, this isn’t a small soufflé – so if you’re keen to have this for dessert, be conservative during entree and main.

Dessert was simply brilliant, a sensual play of that soft airy texture with the sweetness of the chocolate and slight bitterness of the coffee ice cream. Along with dessert, you are surprised with a selection of petit fours which include salty caramel, passionfruit jelly, dark chocolate tart and macaroons.

Overall, Bennelong is fairly versatile where you can have that romantic moment in a quite table near the window or have a group of friends on bigger table in the centre of the restaurant. Staff can be a little up themselves but attentive, food was simplistic but beautifully flavoured, wine wasn’t cheap but matched well – you can see where this is going. Bennelong isn’t cheap, don’t expect a $100 per person. Double or triple that for an enjoyable evening. Save up and wear your best suit for an amazing dinning experience.

Atmosphere – 8/10
Food – 8/10
Wine – 8/10
Staff – 7.5/10
Value for money – 8/10