By Leigh O’Connor.
It’s the most wine-derful time of the year and most of us will be joining family and friends to celebrate as the festive season rolls around.
For those not wanting to cook during the holidays – and let’s face it slaving over a hot stove in Summer is a tough gig – dining destinations around the country are preparing their best festive feasts to make sure you have a great celebration.
Here are five suggestions to mistle-toast the holidays with a meal to remember:
Tucked away in Parkridge Resort on Alba Close in Noosa Heads with calm grassy surrounds, is a new hub of food and beverage offerings – ALBA by Kuruvita. The beautifully designed space combines a cafe, providore, pizzeria and a relaxed all-day bar offering, which evolves into a stylish restaurant and cocktail bar as the day progresses.
Gather your loved ones and join Peter and the gang for a decadent four-course lunch showcasing beautiful local produce in a celebration of Christmas in the Queensland Summer – think poached prawns, ocean trout poké, roasted suckling pig or snapper pie and a divine dessert of dark chocolate sphere to finish.
Find where the flavours of Southeast Asia artfully collide at Rumble restaurant on Pyrmont Street in Pyrmont. Located on Level G Harbourside of The Star, Rumble is the latest spark in the casino’s dining precinct, chasing bold flavours that bring punchy tastes to complement quality local produce; expect a warm, immersive experience in a beautiful setting of natural quality materials and traditional cues.
Treat family and friends to a memorable meal over the festive season and enjoy all Rumble and The Star have to offer.
Discerning Sydney diners find a place where creativity is king, culinary inspiration flows, ideas are born and fresh ingredients are transformed at Atelier by Sofitel on Darling Drive. This elegant East Sydney restaurant serves a sensory dining experience inspired by the customs and flavours of South France; in contemporary surrounds of polished wood, walls covered with wine racks and cane table settings.
Executive Chef Sam Moore presents a Christmas menu to sleigh all diners with a seafood platter to start, followed by mains of honey and thyme roasted duck and baked barramundi, rosemary and garlic roast potatoes, salad, carrots, cabbage and a dessert of Valrhona yule log.
Spoil yourself and loved ones with a fine dining experience north of Sydney Harbour Bridge at Annata restaurant and wine bar in Crows Nest, along Willoughby Road. Whether enjoying a cocktail at the bar, relaxing in the alfresco area, or dining in the chic restaurant ambience, you’ll be taken on a satisfying culinary journey of taste sensations from fresh seasonal menus.
Annata’s all-inclusive festive feast - available until Friday, December 23 - starts with French Champagne on arrival with a crab cake snack, before everyone’s fave prawn cocktail, lobster tail in butter sauce, roast duck with orange sauce, poached asparagus and salad. Sweet tooths will salivate over pavlova and Christmas pudding petit fours to finish; all dishes with the option of perfectly matched wines.
Celebrating Melbourne’s history of Italian immigrants and evolution into a cosmopolitan culinary city, Luci is a contemporary Australian restaurant housed within the grand hall of the historic Equity Chambers Building on Bourke Street. Its art deco-style dining room – designed by Bates Smart – provides a sophisticated backdrop to the Mod Oz menu with Italian accents ideal for festive fun.
Executive Chef Jason Lear offers a five-course Christmas menu starting with tomato consommé and porchetta carpaccio, crab and fennel tortelli with shellfish sauce and smoked trout roe. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder and seafood guazzetto are the choices for the main, finishing with panettone pudding, brandy and butter gelato.
But wait, there’s myrrh! Click here for more venues for festive fun come Christmas Day.
