Whether you prefer fine or casual dining, by the sea or on the top of a mountainside, the choices are endless.  This list is provided to help narrow down some of the choices into added feedback for review by those arranging a special outing or are just looking for somewhere fun to relax.  My reviews are multifaceted based on my background and reasons for sharing.  

 

Travelling extensively, since my youngest age, across Australia and to numerous destinations across the globe has allowed me to develop a love for the food industry and the ability to transform simplicity into extraordinary through keeping approaches non complicated and embracing the complimentary flavours, textures and the likes of the brilliance of produce from many backgrounds and cultures.  Along the way I have dined in all types of dining establishments. 

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A very early treasured memory was attending one of the finest in Banff, Canada, where I was treated to receiving a large white chef's hat and was shown the workings of a kitchen operated by a globally awarded best chef for steaks in Canada, at the age of only six.  I still have the hat or formally called a "toque blanche" (French for "white hat").  I later wore my hat for my first true mostly independent cooking activity for a science class to discover the value of yeast in the creation of penicillin.  Upon reflecting it is easy to see how my two most favoured career preferences were shaped and intersect, cooking and science and not in any order.  I have indulged in a la carte meals at restaurants in exotic locations, with exceptional views, as well as intimate settings of silver service, trying to interpret all the intriguing, but somewhat overwhelming formalities, while frequenting favourite cafes, like Daci Daci in Hobart, where no microwaves are used in their cooking, attending events with socially connecting with new connections over elaborate grazing tables while learning the history of champagne first hand at an experiential event at the quaint but stylish Aimee Provence Buderim, to taking part in a traditional hangi in Rotorua in New Zealand.   Each equally entertaining and indulgent at differing levels and for many complex reasons.  To assist you in making a selection for your next dining out gathering,  romantic occasion, event organisation or places to mark on your list when travelling, I hope this list of personal insights and those I have marked to attend in the future for travel can provide a new consciousness of where you want to dine, why and what cuisine you would like to choose.

 

 

 

 

  

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I have tried all types of cuisines across the world, including Pakistani cooking in San Francisco to living it up as what writer Tiana Templeman of Australian Traveller describes as an 'Aficionados', appreciating the separate piscatorial menu where sustainable species are matched with a suggested sauce for my 21st birthday celebration at Jellyfish Restaurant on Eagle Street Pier, Brisbane city, dining under the stars on the river overlooking the Story Bridge with family.  The selection of the evening being swordfish for me, which I had been looking forward to tasting for some time.  It did not disappoint, quite the opposite.   I am not vegan or vegetarian, but have a number of close family and friends who are and I appreciate the invites to share a meal at a favourite dining space of their preference.  I will discuss some of them here also and tag them under vegan, vegetarian accordingly, as I will tag other cuisines into categories of culture, location, and food type for easier navigating when you want to look up inspiration for your choices or to search for a similar recipe of the meals discussed.

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Highlighted will be those dining escapes from the everyday I found to stand out from the rest and the collection of reasons why, adding some of the menu selections offered and decisions made, as well as the value of the moments shared with friends, family or business guests, across my everyday outings to my travel adventures.  It is my goal to encourage others to make the most of each outing, sharing in moments where memories are made over quality servings, creatively presented, by passionate chefs and dedicated teams.  Those individuals who often gain good vibes knowing plates are consumed with enthusiasm.  Being in a chef/cook/hospitality career is no easy feat, and yet those who go out of their way to bring together the many moving parts and exert their energy and intellect to engineer amazing tastes and whole experiences to excite the senses, undoubtedly have you at the centre of their purpose.   

 

Working in the industry since the age of fourteen and eventually running my own restaurant by age nineteen (steep learning curves) with a cross generational, multicultural and multiskilled staff of fourteen, on a major tourist route in Tasmania, I also hope to be able to provide inspiration for others in the field to continue their path of growing to be the best they can be and gaining the same level of excitement that they did when they commenced to be professional and innovative through added interpretation of the add ons in cooking.  Such as my perspective as a customer with a view from cooking in some awesome venues with some talented chefs, which are the culinary arts and sciences which help evolve communities and whole civilisations, as well as the history, art and chemistry of cooking and serving with past, present and future trends discussed.  A separate portal will be available for commercial hats who are keen to touch base with a community of cooks and providers from accessible regions and beyond.

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There are many cooking styles, with at least eight main categories of importance for the experience of the meal: including, but not limited to restaurant atmosphere, core items of consumption, restaurant scene, personal service encounter, staff quality, visitors, restaurant decision process and individual circumstances.  To add to this is the consideration of attributes offered by the quality of food presented, such as appearance, including size, shape, gloss, colour, and consistency, texture, flavour, and nutritional content.  When you combine all these points for review, the composite can enhance your overall experience.

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The modern idea of preparing food as a craft and a form of commercial enterprise can be traced as far back to at least the 11th century with medieval guilds. Guilds comprised various types of merchants and craftsmen, and each guild provided a specialized good or service to the community.

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The value of history is it helps us understand the present and the future. In food service, knowledge of the professional heritage helps us see why we do things as we do, how our cooking techniques have been developed and refined, and how we can continue to develop and innovate in the years ahead.  The history of food is important as it is as old as the history of humanity.  It is essential to our survival, as it not only keeps us functioning physically, it unites us, triggering revolutions, transporting cultures and transforming the way we live.  It has fueled countless new technologies and exploration all over the world. Food also has an integral and historical connection to health - the study of what and how we eat has often been an a major component to the approaches to medicine around the globe for the longest time. Food is in particular inherently political as well.

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How often do you consider where your food comes from? If you can pinpoint where your food was grown and produced, you can make more informed decisions to maximize quality, freshness, and nutritional value. You can also help support local economies through your purchases.  Supporting those restaurant, cafes and venues which have a focus on providing sustainable productions to best serve you can continue to grow with your support, and this is as easy as slowing down and thinking just a little more about what it is you truly want from your today activities, but also your tomorrow.

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Although food and nutrition have been studied for centuries, modern nutritional science remains in its infancy. The first vitamin was isolated and chemically defined in 1926, being less than 100 years ago, ushering in a half century of discovery honed on single nutrient deficiency diseases.

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What is certain is over the centuries of food production, the simple potato is one of the most important staple food crops, from the great Incan Empire to the sailing ships of explorers to the garden plots of Europe. And still to this day, the potato is the most widely consumed vegetable by far.  In Tasmania potatoes are a hot subject, where there are over 20 varieties discussed openly amongst the community.  I haven't found that to be the case coming from Queensland originally.

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The concept of metabolism, the transfer of food and oxygen into heat and water in the body, creating energy, was discovered in 1770 by Antoine Lavoisier, the “Father of Nutrition and Chemistry.” And in the early 1800s, the elements of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, the main components of food, were only then isolated for the first time.  Understanding the science of food has lots of room for growth, despite how long it has been studied for.

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The culinary arts takes food to a whole new level.  Beginning technically, as best understood from some records, in the Western world, as a craft and later as a field of study.  This craft began to evolve at the end of the Renaissance period. Prior to this, chefs worked in castles, cooking for kings and queens, as well as their families, guests, and other workers of the castle.

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During the Renaissance, a clear demarcation separated peasant food – or what has become to be known now as “cucina povera” – from the sophisticated cuisine of the nobles.  Apparently, the farmers largely consumed porridge-like soups, different types of breads and grains, and a lot of vegetables, unlike those at the top.  It is thought generally that the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history thrived during this era, while global exploration opened up new lands and cultures to European commerce. The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization.  The printing press, firearms, and the nautical compass — were evidence the Moderns could not only compete with the Ancients, but had well surpassed them in the regard these three inventions allowed modern people to communicate, exercise power, and finally travel at distances.  

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There is some debate over the actual start of the Renaissance. However, it is generally believed to have begun in Italy during the 14th century, after the end of the Middle Ages, and reached its height in the 15th century. The Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.  However, 

'renaissance' is a French word translating to rebirth. It symbolised the beginning of a new era of art, rebirthing the classical models of Ancient Greek and Rome periods while using the modern techniques.  The Renaissance Began in Italy, Because Italy Was the Birthplace of Antiquity. The Renaissance began in Italy, the birthplace of the Roman Empire. Following the fall of the empire in the 4th century, and the subsequent dark ages, the incredible art and ideas of Roman times were temporarily lost.

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The Renaissance is when the types of Italian food we know and love today start to become more familiar, with shaped and filled pastas, pies and pastries, and even desserts such as zabaglione. 

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Table manners became a thing and with global trade routes becoming firmly established, new foods were introduced from the New World.  And there it is....the wonder of Sugar .......was introduced and spices were more prized than ever.  The late medieval period and early Renaissance was also particularly focused on the concept of balancing food against the individual temperament, hearkening back to the writings of the ancient physicians, Galen and Hippocrates. The humoral diet was exceedingly complex though, and by the middle and end of the Renaissance this had fallen by the wayside. Abiding by this diet was particularly prohibitive for nobility looking to show off their wealth through food and banquets. The vestiges of such still linger today in such popular lore as “feed a cold, starve a fever” and in descriptions of taste sensations, from hot peppers to dry martinis."

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By the latter part of the Renaissance, tastes had begun to shift from the cloying spices and acidic flavors of the Middle Ages (such as sauces similar to the salad dressings of the modern era, made with wine, bitter grape juice, or vinegar). In the Renaissance, a new richness appeared and sugar became prevalent in most dishes--and counter to what we know today, because it was naturally sweet, it was considered "healthy" so the chefs of the time used it in everything. Butter and oil also became popular to thicken sauces. 

And ablast, the design of  the printing press led to the expedient development of cookbooks, which began the spread the ideas of noble chefs across Europe.   To discover more about this period of great change you can continue reading how dining truly took shape from then to now at 'The Era of 1000 Delights'.