Show Time, Oscars' 2013

What a day! It was a heated 2 hours while the stars trickled through the red carpet at the 85th Academy Awards. 

It was hard to choose a best-dressed as I felt there was no clear stand out but a decision has to be made so I am going with Naomi Watts. Wearing silver sequinned Armani Privé she looked stunning. Georgina Chapman who is married to Harvey Weinstein looked incredible in her own label Marchesa. The two ladies in red Valentino Jennifer Aniston and Sally Field also looked beautiful.

I gleefully watched on as Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet nipples ablaze, praying for her own sake she didn't win Best Supporting Actress so she wouldn't have to look back at photos in her hideous dress. She won. Poor her! 

No huge massive upsets for the night, all awards really followed on trend with the others award nights for the season. I still must say I can't believe The Impossible was over looked as best picture! 

Pre - Oscar Round Up

As I have been saving this year I have been dedicating a lot of my spare time to watching the Oscar Nominated films for 2013. Not an easy task - if you have watched Lincoln you will know what I am talking about! I don't think any of the films were under 2 hours, but all were interesting and worth talking about. Below are the 9 nominees up for best picture in the 85th Academy Awards;

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

All of the films were so different I am not sure how the judges compare. Life of Pi and Beasts of the Southern Wild both were a bit left of centre and conceptually intriguing. Lincoln and Amour were both long, Lincoln had an interesting story & Daniel Day Lewis was very good. Amour, a French Film, for me was personally sad. I have seen someone affected by strokes and it was horrible to re-watch. Silver Linings Playbook was thrown in for a romantic comedy, although worth watching I don't think it was a Best Picture. Django Unchained was very Quentin Tarentino of which Samuel L Jackson as the house keeper was creepily good. Zero Dark Thirty and Argo were both gripping, for me a tell tale sign of a great movie. Both based on true stories and executed very well. For me the Best Picture was Les Misérables not by much though! I had never seen a live production of this musical and it blew my mind. Not for everyone with the signing all the way through Eddie Redmayne got me through it. What a dream boat. 

I also must mention The Impossible with Naomi Watts based on the true story of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. This is the best movie I have seen all year. It is so gut wrenchingly sad, but so full of how strong the human spirit is. It is amazing what people can go through in order to see their loved ones once more and the hope that this brings.

An Italian Adventure

Recently I made a life changing decision - to move to London! This is a huge leap into the unknown of which I am lucky enough to be sharing with a very good friend, cousin and god-sister all rolled into one.  We decided we needed a little holiday before settling into Londontown, we both couldn't go past Italy. Mainly as we love the food & wine that originates there. On my first trip to Roma I was a budget traveller where my budget didn't extend to decent Italian meals. Fingers crossed that this time we discover some gems. If you have any you want to share with me please do so! 

In Melbourne we have fantastic Italian restaurants, below are my most recent expeditions. Next blog post I am going to share my tried and tested favourite Italian places in Melbourne. 

Cafe é Cuchina

Cafe é Cucina sits on Chapel Street and really would have to be up there with the best food spots on the strip. I was told to have the 'spaghetti in a bag,' which was a seafood linguine cooked in paper. It was incredible! Matched with a good italian Pinot Grigio, I can only hope to find something similar in Toscano.  

I Carusi

I Carusi is an Acland Street institution. With vines hanging from the outside it looks the real deal too. I think between 9 of us we ordered nearly every pizza on the menu! All were delicious and worth going back for. On a Friday night this was a bustling place that you will need to book for. Definitely worth a visit. 

Sunny Sydney

We know Sydney isn't always sunny, but it certainly makes for a good title. This week my work took me up to Sydney for the day. I was lucky enough to have lunch at China Doll. This is my second time in Sydney in the past 6 months so I thought I would blog about some other great dining experiences I have had there. 

China Doll

China Doll is perfectly located on Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo. This was one of my best dining experiences ever. All the food was incredible; scollops, morton bay bug crudo, tamarind fish curry, crispy chicken and last but not least my favourite dish of the day Penang curry of slow braised wagyu beef shin. 

Chiswick

One thing that got me through the City to Surf : Chiswick. I had been looking forward to it for a couple of months! With a very simple menu, Chiswick is delightfully set in the Chiswick Gardens. You can sight the vegie patch in a trip to the bathrooms, these are the herbs & vegetables that land on your plate! We shared the Moran family lamb shoulder and a cocktail pitcher of gin, watermelon & cucumber.   

Bills

In a quiet street of Surrey Hills we found Bills, owned by self taught chef Bill Granger. Housed on a cosy little corner, you could see it was popular with the locals as evidenced by the full house on a Monday morning. Great relaxed fit out with lots of flowers and a huge share table in the middle of the room. I had the stock standard avo on toast & the others had the scrambled eggs which were cheesy and delicious.