ARIA: PHENOMENON-NOM-NOM-NOM-MENAL!

So my boyfriend and I celebrated our one-year anniversary (*tear*) at Aria on Sunday night. I have wanted to have dinner there since it was first on Masterchef numerous years ago, and I have walked past it one too many times wishing I was dining there whilst on my way to buy a $5 cranberry vodka from Opera Bar (if you ever go there get the Dirty Carpet Disco cocktail instead-it's amazeballs). I had high expectations of Aria AND IT BLEW THEM OUT OF THE ROOF! You know you've entered somewhere special from the very second you walk into the restaurant-having the door opened for you and walking in to see candle-lit tables with sweeping Harbour views, and Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World' playing quietly. Yepp. Sounds like it's out of a movie.

We even got free food while waiting for our food-two little things of leek and parsnip soup with brown sugar crumble on top (I died and went to heaven) were delivered to our table 'from the kitchen with compliments'. Good start. Then came the actual food. I ordered the 'Char grilled O'Connor sirloin with confit carrot, potato rosti, star anise and onion sprouts', with truffled mashed potato and a quinoa and pear salad as sides. Can I just say that this was the best dish I have ever eaten, and that the truffled mashed potato was heaven in a bowl. For dessert I got the 'Banana and chocolate-chip souffle with a dulce de leche ice cream'. Words cannot describe the food-gasms I endured whilst eating this. Absolutely phenomenal. I had never had souffle before so I had no idea what to expect. It was as light as air and I COULDN'T HAVE EATEN IT ANY FASTER!

It's very pricey (especially seeing as though the actual servings of food are relatively small for what you're paying) but definitely worth it if you're into that sort of dining experience. You're not just paying for the food, but for the experience. And not only is the food and views amazing, but the service was really great. Our waiter was the opposite of pretentious/snobby and his recommendations were spot on (forever thankful for him telling us to get the banana souffle). With perfect food, perfect views, and a perfect date, what more could you want?

Picture of my main (taken from the Aria website). I had my steak well-done as always. I tried to take good pictures of my food but the candle lighting made the picture of my main look like a giant lump. I've posted a shitty picture of my dessert though-the souffle even came in a little pan! Too cute to handle.

In other news:
1. I have just started a brand new internship at a kick-ass agency. It's basically an ad agency that 'does good' such as taking on environmentally sustainable accounts. It's a lot smaller than the one I was previously working at, so there is a lot more jobs available for me to do! The people there are GREAT, the work is really interesting and hands-on, and I'm really enjoying it. It's also right near one of my favourite cafes, Single Origin Rosters. Goodbye coffee-sober Chloe.
2. Can my tax return please enter my bank account already?
3. THE ROYAL BABY HAS ARRIVED! Even though I couldn't care less about the monarchy, I was SO EXCITED! I knew the baby would be born while I was asleep (stupid time differences), so I left my computer 'sleeping' next to my bed-not shutting it down-so as soon as my alarm went off at 6am I could get up The Guardian website ASAP and find out the sex of the baby. Am I sad or what...? Don't answer that.

I hope you all are having a splendid time wherever you may be.

Chloe x

HOLIDAIZ

SO. I was lying on my bed, half-heartedly attempting to create myself a Linkedin page whilst watching the third Harry Potter movie, when I realised that it has been YONKS since I updated my blog. I proceeded to pause the movie and leap to my broken desk chair to begin writing this post.

I got back from Broulee a week and a bit ago and it was AMAZING. We got absolutely stunning weather, consumed a diverse range of insanely delicious muffins from the Muffin Shop (if you're ever near Broulee/Mossy Point this place most DEFINITELY should be on your agenda), saw a pod of dolphins which came in so close that we could see the scars on their bodies, went on one too many sunset walks along the beach, and even discovered new places (shock horror!) like a stretch of shops in a nearby town which included an amazeballs cheese shop and a hippie store with a shop assistant that was COMPLETELY STONED! Seriously. Let's just say that it was a learning experience for my twelve year old little brother! It was a truly lovely getaway (loveliness may or may not have been enhanced by the fact that my boyfriend joined us for the last few days-finally got my long romantic walk along the beach ;) ).

Since I have been back Sydney I have been up to all sorts of things. Such things include eating lots of Gelato Messina (best gelato in Australia-just look at their website), seeing movies like Monsters University, road-tripping to Goulburn, FINALLY having breakfast at The Grounds of Alexandria (an absolutely phenomenal cafe/restaurant/farm sort of thing in Alexandria which is absolutely insane), NOT drinking coffee (yepp-you read that right), going for walks here and there, seeing people here and there, and getting excited for my one year anniversary dinner date with my boyfriend at Aria. YES. ARIA. I am so excited and will most definitely post pictures of my food here whether you like it or not!

Hope you are all enjoying life,

Chloe x