Goblets And Gourmet Grandeur

The magical complement of eclectic, fine gourmet with fine world wine labels encompasses chemistry, physics, biology, geography, history, science, art, psychol­ogy and much more! Come share and dis­cover the exalted, diversely gratifying experience with us.  

SINGULAR SUPERLATIVES 

At Marque, Sydney’s distinguished fine dining landmark, iconic gourmet maestro, award winning chef and restaurateur Mark Best custom crafts each multi-course degustation menu paired with striking inventiveness and distinction. The exquisitely created culinary nuggets are uplifting to the hilt. 

The pasture-fresh ‘Autumn leaves, mushrooms and Jerusalem artichokes’ as starters marry a delightfully flo­ral Argentinian Misterio Chardonnay white wine with its green apple, guava and white lily aromas. Making merry on the palate is another exhilarating white —a Domaene Gobelsburg Gruener Veltliner from Kamptal, Austria — offering superb aromas of garden herbs, peach and nec­tarine flavours.

The ‘Blue Mountain Wildflower Honeycomb and cul­tured cream’ is outstanding in its measured proportion, the natural freshness smoothened with the light creami­ness a discovery. The wine that did justice was a sparkling Zonin Asti Spumante Dolce DOCG displaying magnifi­cent fruity notes, light nectarine and grassy flavours.   

The silky smooth ‘Chaud Froid free range eggs’ sync with a grand Domaines Barons de Rothschild Los Vascos Sauvignon Blanc with amazing citrusy and pineapple fla­vours. 

Mark’s ‘Fermented Barley with Beetroot and Cured Egg’ played waltz on our taste buds, the mouth-melting act heightened with a Finca Flichman Misterio Malbec red from Argentina with its elegant and smooth fla­vours helped with deep velvet and black­currant palates.   

Through his fabled and well-calibrated degustation menus, Mark regales diners with refreshing newness each time. 

Mark’s repertoire scales numbers like ‘Octopus Nicoise with Marigolds’ and ‘Parmesan Gnocchi, Bitter Melon and Pumpkin Consomme’, paired with a medium-bodied Framingham Pinot Noir from New Zealand displaying a light musk, truffles and oak wood palate. At Marque, you ingest only the exquisitely subtle jewels of culinary magic.

CALIBRATED DISTINCTION

Spectacular Victoria Harbour vistas from Tosca, the swank, iconic restaurant at the super luxury Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, Hong Kong awe you into silence. Smiling at your wide-eyed look is celebrated Michelin two-star chef Pino Lavarra who creates ‘Art of the Craft’, an evocative Italian cuisine, with his unmatched flour­ish.

The signature gourmet creations here are the choicest innovative treasures this side of the globe. Check out the fabulous ‘Sea Tiramisu with Mediterranean Red Prawn Carpaccio’ boasting myriad subtle velvety flavours, blending effortlessly with a light and fruity Tenuta CA’ Bolani Pinot Grigio Friuli DOC Aquileia, an Italian white that thrills with youthful zest, dis­tinct hints of acacia flowers and heather. Another white captivates equally, a super Sicilian blend Donnafugata Anthilia IGT Sicilia with aromas of yellow peaches, plums, kiwi fruit and Bergamot flavours.

The evocative ‘Cereal Crumble and Roasted Scallop and Caviar’ is a regal offering which tunes up with an excep­tional Zonin Ventiterre Chardonnay that has peach, pineapple and vanillin accents. Never to be missed is their ‘Spaghetti Alla Chitarra with Basil Chlorophyll’ synced with a thrilling Nederburg Winemaster’s Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa — superb green apple, moist grass and jasmine notes, enchanting to the hilt. 

Culinary innovation is heightened in the ‘Baby Squid Wrapped in Swordfish Paper’. A chilled Black Tower Riesling from Germany, with loads of fruity and light cit­rusy flavours adds verve and style to the unique dish.

Christel Kurz, owner of Biohotel Kurz in Bavaria, Germany is the pioneer of pure holistic vegetarian and organic cuisine which has been making waves all over  Europe. We interacted with Christel for long hours on vegetarianism and its bewildering repertoire, now accepted as integral to healthy living the world over. She wowed us with her unmatched innovations and creations that found contentment in our hearts and appetites!

We began with ‘Cherry Tomatoes with white truffle cheese ravioli in white asparagus sauce’ paired with a lovely Ventisquero Classico Sauvignon Blanc from Central Valley Chile, its grapefruit, lime and herbaceous notes adding bounce to lingering citrusy palate sensations.

The next delight was  ‘Potato gratin, kidney beans and beer sauce’ which paired marvelously with an exciting Schloss Gobelsburg Zweigelt from Austria, a red which uplifted the dish with cherry, spicy notes and a long silky finish of fruity flavours. Her authenticity was pronounced in ‘Buckwheat Bliny’s filled with wild mushrooms and spinach’, myriad, subtle flavours that synergised with a finely crisp Banrock Station Chardonnay from Australia, the dry, lightly acidic wine enjoyed for its pear aromas, vanillin and young oak fla­vours. 

Fascinating flavours in ‘Celery cappuc­cino with hazelnut stick’ left us ingesting slowly  and ‘Sage polenta slices with stuffed tomato’ was aromatic yet purely divine, both specialties enjoyed with two distinct wines, one white, one red. The first was a Domaines Barons de Rothschild Los Vascos Chardonnay from Chile exhib­iting superb kiwi fruit, papaya and green apple notes with a fine volume and bal­ance with the dishes. The unusual red was a Masseria Altemura Sasseo Salento, Puglia PGT from southern Italy which showed off its plummy and red fruit notes, spicy yet sweet with a welcoming grace and sweet tannins.  

‘Rose petals and cereal cocoa’ sweet­ened our exploratory sojourn marvelously with an apt Pampas del Sur Chardonnay — Chenin from Argentina. The white added magic with fine mineral acidity, flo­ral hints, citrus and peach flavors which made merry with our light dessert. 

PEDIGREE PERFECTION

As we express zipped up in the dedicated express elevator over the Arabian Gulf to one of the finest, award-wining fine win­ing and dining restaurants in the world, at the most luxurious seven star hotel in the world, we were greeted by the spectacular wide angled ocean views spanning the whole restaurant. This was the distin­guished French fine dining address: Al Muntaha at The Burj Al Arab in Dubai, UAE. 

Our privileged experience of one the world’s finest of French cuisine outposts was sensory stimulation beyond compare. Exceptional epicurean encounters here leave you speechless, as we ingested ‘Charred Yellow Tail Mackerel with red cabbage tea, Vongole, Apple and cucumber’. An invitingly chilled flute of  Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes D’OR heralded our fine voyage.

We ascended to ‘Roasted Brittany Blue Lobster with Macaroni, green asparagus and tomato fondue’ waltzing with a crisp and stylish Maison Albert Bichot Puilly Fuisse, the white fruit magic with light spicy and bamboo notes enticing us. Savoring the ‘Salt baked Celeriac Canneloni with wild mushroom, almond milk, black truf­fles and vegetarian jus’ we celebrated the dish with a pep­pery Golden Sparrow Sangiovese Rubicone IGT from Emilia Romagna, Italy displaying a grand, intense bou­quet of violets, berries and leather flavours. The privilege was ours to the hilt.  

At Europea, the award winning Montreal restaurant in Eastern Canada, the signature dishes enliven every dining moment for keen gourmands. A finely veiled ‘Porcini foam over the superbly steamed Ravioli’ lent a mystical tinge with a fine Casillero del Diablo Chardonnay with hazelnut and fig flavours, pine wood overtones. An enchantingly fresh ‘Shiitake and silken soft Ricotta cheese with crisply shaven white Truffles’ created a concerto on our taste buds with  an amazing Riunite Lambrusco Emilia IGT Amabile, a fabulous Frizzante (a sparkling red) with dry fruity, berry and herbaceous notes that added to the culinary excitement. 

Celebrity  chef Jerome Ferrer’s acclaimed trend-setting swish restaurant presented us with the unique grand Gatsby, ‘A study of mushrooms’ with a superlative Mateus Sparkling Rose Brut from Duoro Valley, Portugal, offering outstanding rose petal, cherry and jasmine hints in its salmon colored effervescence.    

Chef Jerome’s  splendid ‘Lamb Noisettes Kamouraska pear chutney’ and his nouvelle creation ‘Seventeen vege­tables terrine’ are exclusive fine dining treas­ures. We saluted the Beluga flavours with a  handsome Spanish Solar Viejo Rioja Tempranillo red as it unfolded its remarkable light tannins, raspberry and blackcurrant fla­vors, svelte after taste of musk and light tobacco back palate. Sante. 

ALPINE ACCOLADES

At this petite, thematic, classical Tyrolean din­ing landmark in the world’s number one ski wonderland for international cognoscenti, award winning chef de cuisine Stefan Hofer offers his stylised contemporary dishes. Neuwirt, the Michelin star landmark at Hotel Schwarzer Adler appeals to keen foodies from across several European borders to Kitzbuehel in Tyrol, Austria. 

The fusion factor is stunning, as you will discover. The fabled ‘Wiener Schnitzel  with ParsleyPotatoes and Cranberries’, Vienna’s celebrated meat pancake with inviting salted jacket potatoes, aromatic parsley and the astringent taste of fresh garden cranberries is a thrilling begin­ning. It’s matched with a lively Wolf Blass Bilyara Chardonnnay from Australia, the wine presenting light spicy flavours with peach and nectarine, the floral aromas complementing the dish perfectly. As a fine choice add a Chateau de Fontenille, Entre Deux Mers Blanc AOC, from Bordeaux with it’s peppery, shrubbery and mulberry aromas going onto fine, light apple and truffle flavours. The signature culinary marvel, ‘Marinated Beetroot and Meat Ball and Biscotti on a bed of baked Tyrolean Farm cheese’ is a connoisseur’s chosen pick, the contrasting flavours aided by the soft cheese creating a stir on the taste buds. The premium wine syner­gizing the dish is a well chosen, chilled Albert Bichot Puligny Montrachet Blanc from Burgundy, offering candied orange, heather, hawthorn and wildflower aro­mas, the medium acidic flavours reflect­ing fresh oaky after tastes.

Another evocative wine we’d strongly encourage is the Framingham Classic Riesling from New Zealand, a medium peppery-on-the-tongue feel with ginger, honey and green tea flavored assertion. A fine white for a fine dish. 

If you pick an interesting ‘Sheep cheese with Hola flowers, lemon thyme and black bread’ you are in for a thrilling melody on your palates with contrasts that are matched with an exhilarating Nederburg Winemaster’s Sauvignon Blanc from Paarl, South African, the intensely floral, white apple and honeysuckle flavors add­ing zing to the experience. 

A signature desert is always most cher­ished during such a fine wining and dining sojourn. The concluding masterpiece for us, ‘Apple cream, Brioche chips, salty cara­mel ice cream and popcorn’, was an exhila­rating Alpine gastronomic voyage unlike any other. The wine that saluted it was a fine Freixenet Mia White blend from Spain, urging your indulgence over fruity, light lemony and jasmine flavours that thrill your enjoyment in full measure.