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[title]Sometimes, it's wise to take stock of the sheer amount of stuff we all have and to consider what is really meaningful to us. Sure, there’s a drawer full of mismatched socks and some undies that have seen better days but when did new hosiery ever make someone feel special?
Experiential gifts (for others, or even for yourself) are quickly becoming a mainstay of festivities and birthdays, of anniversaries and just-becauses. Why not treat someone you love to a once-in-a-lifetime, adrenaline-fuelled moment that they will never forget with, oh let’s say, a helicopter ride over the city followed by a casual lunch at one of Sydney’s most beautiful restaurants?
RedBalloon has teamed up with Tourism Australia to encourage folks to reduce waste and embrace adventure, and one of their most memorable experiences comes by way of a scenic flight along the Sydney coastline up to the Northern Beaches before an eight-course degustation at Luke Nguyen’s Botanic House in Sydney's Royal Botanical Gardens.
Nguyen was born in Thailand and brought up in Australia by Vietnamese parents and Chinese grandparents, and that ancestry shows up boldly on the tasting menu. Sashimi kingfish and finger lime with miso and sesame oil dressing straddles southeast Asian flavours with Japanese sensibilities and the delicate starter leaves more than enough room for the heady and robust twice-cooked master stock chicken with turmeric curry.
While the master stock poaching might be left in the dust by the rich coconut curry, the dish itself is a punchy and fragrant crescendo and with a backdrop of the recently renovated Botanic House space, you’d be forgiven for overlooking the technique and focusing on the resort-esque chamber instead.
Louvered windows allow oceanic breezes from the nearby harbour in to cool you down from the flush of heat brought by the salt and peppered squid with citric pops of finger lime caviar. At this point you might be considering whether the bird's-eye view of waves crashing on sheer cliffs and stretches of aqua, ultramarine and cobalt against the ochre of Avalon Beach can compete with the glimpses of Morton Bay fig trees and twisting fronds of tropical vines that surround the eatery. And honestly, it probably doesn’t matter. What matters with an experience of this nature is what you’ve taken away from it. No, you cannot hold it in your hand and it can’t be tied up with a bow but what an experience like this leaves you with is an inimitable memory.
Eight courses to reflect at the magic of it all, of being transported both literally and figuratively to a space outside the everyday and the mundane. Eight courses to reminisce with glee while excitedly wondering if you really had spotted a shark in the breakers or if it was just wishful thinking. And a final moment of sharing this out-of-the-ordinary day with someone you’ve bonded with, in a new way.
Head to the RedBalloon website here to book your experience and see what other unforgettable moments are on offer.