JetMoney

Arzak: a stand-alone reason to visit San Sebastian

LUCKY travellers are sometimes fortunate enough to experience something, or come across a place, so special that, in itself, would motivate a return to an area. Restaurante Arzak (pronounced Ar-thack), which has three Michelin stars, is one such place for JetMoney.

Lunch there yesterday was truly remarkable across many levels - the generosity of spirit of the father-and-daughter team Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, who walked the floors greeting guests and explaining the background and construction of various dishes; the small but comfortable dining room; but most especially the food. You expect clever food at three-star restaurants but you can't hope that everything will be delicious. It was here.

From the outset we knew this was going to be great meal, as Arzak himself stood beside us, dictating to his maitre d' a degustation menu designed just for us.

First came a series of beautiful looking and individually tasty amuses, the favourites of which were a crunchy mouthful of rice-encrusted mushroom and a fun melon-wrapped goat cheese which was sprinkled with popping toffee.

Next came a perfect pairing of apple slices with foie gras: hot and delicious, the apple's acidity offset the butteriness of the foie gras giving it length without letting it be cloying. One of the biggest foie gras fans at our table rated it as one of the best dishes of the food he'd tasted in a long time. Another went so far as to deem it the best dish he'd had so far this trip.

The lobster dish that followed looked frightening at first, arriving atop a pimentos, raspberry and vermouth sauce sprinkled with what looked like flour. As it turned out, the "flour" was a form of tapioca, used on this plate as a thickening agent for the sauce, constructed by the kitchen but put into action by the diner. The sweet nature of the lobster with its snappy texture worked wonders with the gelatinous nature of the resulting sauce.

What came next was a dish not to be missed by those visiting Arzak - a "chicken and egg" combo that was part comfort food, part haute cuisine. A poached egg lay in a slightly thickened chicken stock surrounded by smatterings of crispy dried-then-fried chicken skin and slices of mushroom, all of which was draped with a freeze-dried paper-thin sheet of yolk. Every morsel was devored, our plates wiped clean with bread.

Two different fish dishes arrived after an appropriate break: monk fish with a sauce of the fish's liver, and hake with green sauce. The highlight of the latter was the block of almond, clam and "clay" that accompanied it. Also tremendous were the sides of tiny peas (remember the reference to Basque caviar?) and baby broad beans. The beans were so young they didn't need to be skinned and had an unbelievably earthy, nutty crunch. But the peas - OK, these are the best in the world so anyone who's into the vegetable needs to make the trek to the Basque region by the end of May.

Then came tender, succulent lamb with a fine romesco sauce coupled with a spoon of pimento "yolk"; and pigeon with blue potatoes in a rosemary/liver sauce. The latter was yet another clever example of how modern thickening agents are enabling chefs to create sauces that coat the tongue and give great length while remaining super fresh rather than being reduced to within an inch of their lives.

There's a lot going on with Arzak food. It's complex, but it retains balance. Everything goes together and everything tastes good. That's better than a three-star effort.

Precision pays at Mugaritz

SATURDAY night saw JetMoney enjoying one of the best overall restaurant experiences of its life, at Michelin two-starred Mugaritz.

Here is a place where nothing is left to chance. Absolutely everything is thought through and solutions arrived at that result in a seamless, precision-driven experience.

Consider the restaurant's name, for example. It's comprised of two words, "muga" and "aritz", which mean "limit" or "border", and "oak". The oak is a sizeable 400-year-old tree that sits outside the restaurant and divides two towns - Astigarraga and Errenterria. "You could be taking a drink in the [restaurant's] caseta and be in one town [the former]," explains chef Andoni Luis Adruiz, "then go inside to eat and be in another [Errenterria]."

That tree is an integral part of the design of the restaurant, apparent on the impressive website and on all stationary, including business cards. The latter is another example of smart design, and a demonstration of how the staff at Mugaritz forms part of a whole - an integral feature of Adruiz's philosophy.

Each of the restaurant's nine managers has a square business card on a suede-like stock which, while hard to read, are each pieces of a puzzle. When flipped over and matched together, they create a version of the dandelion image used so impressively on the website and on the rough-hewn board which covers the restaurant's menus (The axe handle to which the latter is bound didn't go unnoticed, either!).

Despite the chill of the evening, JetMoney entered Mugaritz to find surprising warmth in its spacious dining room given its high ceilings and walls of windows. Subtle lighting over warmly hued wood and stone furnishings and fittings, and clever, earthy room dividers probably account for most of the comfortable ambiance. Think up-market organic, an approach which extends to the kitchen and food preparation. 

Everything stems from Adruiz, a protégé of Martin Berasategui (whose three-starred Michelin restaurant in San Sebastian was voted 27th best restaurant in the world in this year's Restaurant (magazine) Top 50), and Ferran Adria of Catalonia's el Bulli (named best restaurant this year for the third time in the same award list).

It's no surprise, then, that when Adruiz opened Mugaritz in 1998 at age 27 he had big plans, informing staff at their earliest meeting: "We are here to create the best restaurant in the world."

JetMoney got to see firsthand how his detailed, precision approach to life translates to the plate, having being invited into the kitchen before dining.

Adruiz's attention to detail is apparent here more than anywhere else. Staff use tweezers to place individual flowers and micro herbs and sprouts just so on each dish, the portions produced from individual vials so each plate receives exactly the same combination of flavours and textures. Sauces, jus and soups, taste-tested by at least three people for quality control, are dispensed from test tubes, again, ensuring precision of measurement on delivery.

"In this way, everything will be consistent," says the chef. "Every plate will either be good, or every plate will be bad."

The systematic approach also makes for a very relaxed kitchen by Michelin standards. It wasn't always this way - a few impressively deep dents in a refrigerator door attest to how fiery the generally mild-mannered chef has been when things have gone awry in the past.

On to dinner and JetMoney left itself at the mercy of the chef who prepared a special menu. Many wonderful things were delivered on to the table that night. I'll just cover favourites.

Two amuses got things started spectacularly - "rocks" of edible clay-encased new potatoes served atop hot rocks, then a table plate of fresh shelled peas and sweet baby potatoes in herbs and oil. This last dish (left) was spectacular in its simple but flavour-filled presentation. The peas, known locally as Basque caviar, exploded between the teeth. It's a pity their season lasts just one month.

The most visually impressive dish was a plate of vegetables, oven-roasted and raw, topped with micro sprouts and greens, seasoned with browned butter, dusted with seeds and petals then drizzled with an "Emmental" cheese broth.

The result was a taste sensation, with each bite delivering naturally occurring layers of flavour which changed with each bite. Given the work that goes into its construction, it's little wonder only 16 serves of it go out each night. Lots of tweezer-action here.

Next came sweet, nutty langoustine tails served on an amaranth "risotto" (not the most popular grain choice for those present), then an aromatic and pungent stew of roasted spring onions (delicious), a perfectly cooked sea bass fillet and, finally, a slab of roast Iberian pork.

Two desserts followed, the best of which was the single recipe that hasn't changed since the restaurant opened nine years ago - caramelised French toast enriched with cream and egg yolk served with ice cream of Latxa ewe's milk.

The sweet crispy-topped "toast" combined perfectly with the slightly sour handmade ice cream to give this dish Star Status among JetMoney favourites as a dessert option. Globally, it is now second only to JetMoney's number-one choice: the date tart served at Sydney's Rockpool Restaurant.

Mugaritz is probably a true three-star restaurant in all but its one area of weakness - the wine list. While clever, it lacks the depth of the other three-star restaurants in the area. While wine obviously requires a large capital outlay, a commitment to improvement here might get Muraritz over the Michelin line.

Overall, though, this place sings. It is now stamped firmly in JetMoney's top five restaurants of the world.

Tapas galore in Donostia's Old Town

DRIVING rain, whipping winds and an unseasonally wicked chill didn't deter JetMoney from continuing its tour de force of great food in the Old Town of Donostia (Basque for San Sebastian) on Saturday. 

This time, the target was terrific tapas bars, a tough assignment given that there are more than 30 such joints in the old town alone. But it's also where the best of the bunch are. The trick is finding them.

Thankfully we had insiders' tips, again from the tireless team from Mugaritz.

Mugaritz maitre d' Joserra Calvo and one of the restaurant's creative team, Javier Vergara, guided us through the mass of teaming bars we otherwise would have wandered through in an unknowing haze.

It's standard behaviour in Spain to bar hop among tapas bars: a plate of mushrooms here, jambon there, chillies and olives at another place, always washed down with a glass of the local plonk or beer.

That's basically what we did, but at three of the best, according to the locals. It used to be that just one really good tapas joint existed in San Sebastian. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) the breakdown of the marriage between the two owners saw them go their separate ways. They each opened their own bars, resulting in two truly excellent places for the town. We went to both of them.

The first, Bar Beti-Jai, specialised in fish. But it presented us with our first taste of delectable aged Iberico ham, as usual coupled with crusty bread. The smell of the meat is the test, we were told. That's the true indicator of really great ham. What you're looking for is yeasty, blue-cheese characteristics, all of which were achieved here.

Next came delectably fresh anchovies, a fish which is becoming rarer than ever. Its season lasts just a few short months, and this plate of the marinated variety was the first of it. The fresh, smooth flavour made restraint difficult. Before leaving, we downed a traditional San Sebastian favourite of green chillies wrapped in salted anchovies and speared with a green olive-topped pick.

Next stop was a mushroom specialist in Bar Asador. That's all we ate here, steaming plates of eight flavourful fungi varieties with varying characteristics of taste and texture, all of them more-ish. It was difficult to stop going back for more, but knowing we had a gastronomic challenge ahead of us that night helped - but only just.

Last stop was Bar Bernardo Etxea, (run by the former husband of the marital breakdown). This place specialises in crustaceans and has tanks full of spiny lobster, crayfish and crabs. Although ham and meats are also favoured here (the Iberico ham sausage was wonderful), the crustaceans are the real reason for going there. We particularly enjoyed a San Sebastian recipe: crab meat mixed with onion and tomato, placed back in the crab shell and topped with bread crumbs before being grilled. Also good was Hake cheek flash fried in an egg batter. The lemon pieces, we were told, are for use only when the fish is not particularly fresh and was needed to mask the fishy smell. It was clearly an unnecessary additive here.

Before retiring for a siesta, Mugaritz's Joserra Calvo steered us towards a place he deemed among the best cafes in town for a fortifying coffee. The macchiatos at the recently renovated Cafeteria Avenida XXI, situated on the main shopping drag Avenue de la Libertao, were both hot and strong, providing us with what we hoped would be a much-needed digestive aid before the big event planned for that night - dinner at Mugaritz.

Baffled about San Sebastian's latest Michelin three-star

AKELARE is San Sebastian's most recent entrant into the illustrious three-starred Michelin restaurant set, and JetMoney is puzzled as to how it came to get the top honour after dining there the other night.

It's up there alright - high on a hill above town, that is. And it's out there, too, by way of what chef Pedro Subijana presents on the plate. As one of the JetMoney team commented during our meal, "everything on the menu should be in quotes".

Admittedly, there were some delightful high notes during the night but things looked grim from the outset.

The first in a series of canapes came in a "party box" with four very different tastes and textures, none of which appealed to any of us - a dusty-tasting basil balloon, a scary black pudding roll, a bizarre fish-soup ball, and a chequer-board cracker of olive and red pepper which had the mouth-feel of paste.

Other starters included martini straws on ice (which were oddly medicinal in flavour) then liquid almonds and bread (these were good). The oysters in their "shell" didn't go down well at all. They were "like being hit in the face by a wave of sea water", commented one of our party, and "have the texture of sand", said another. We think you'd be hard pressed to eat four of them offered as an appetiser option. A mussel served topped with black bread was slightly more impressive.

Slices of melt-in-the-mouth Iberico ham came next, served draped over an inflated baguette crust which was smashed on delivery to complement the wonderfully yeasty meat. Think Vegemite overtones on the back of the palette. Yummo.

The dish of the night came next in the form of egg with caviar, cauliflower puree and chive butter. This was one of those things that looks and tastes better than it sounds, with the egg presented as a smooth, flat pancake shape of high sheen, topped with generous portions of Oesetra caviar. It was a cream and butter bomb, but the saltiness of the caviar cut through the richness of the delicious puree for perfect balance.

At this point, most of us went on to try different seafood options ranging from a visually impressive lobster salad with cider vinegar (this was good) to a fish and shellfish soup (it didn't get eaten), overcooked Hake with mussel and clams, and roasted lobster with spiced balloon (made of cheeze, incredibly). This last dish was more clever than it was great.

Of the meat dishes, including veal, pig's "trotters" and roasted milk-fed lamb, the latter alone was well received, standing out due to its succulent tenderness. It should really only be ordered, though, by those who can tolerate a high fat content.

Not one of the three desserts that hit the table was enjoyed. None was finished.

On a positive note, wine afficianados will be delighted with Akelare's wine list which was very good, peppered with lots of older vintages. It's also remarkably reasonable. We reackon we could have paid for our whole meal for four people for the price one would pay in Paris for the 1990 La Tache we enjoyed for just £680. It was a perfect bottle with beautiful fruit. Also amazing was a stunning 2004 Chassagne Montrachet "Les Ruchottes" for just £72.

Three-star glassware was also very much appreciated, with sommelier burgundy glasses produced for the La Tache.

Overall, JetMoney rates Akelare as a Michelin two-star at best. We've since eaten at another locale which we think may be more deserving of the top gong. More on that soon.

Hitting the ground running at San Sebastian

NOT a minute was wasted after JetMoney's arrival at San Sabastian yesterday. Never mind that we were at the tail end of 30 hours of travel, including the long haul from Sydney to London, an hour's drive from Heathrow to Luton, then having our jet redirected from San Sabastian to Biarritz, on the French side of the Basque region, due to poor weather.

On our arrival, Mugaritz chef Andoni Aduriz took us under his wing, having organised an informal but delightful way to get our culinary tour started. Restaurant Yalde, a 15-minute circuitous drive from the centre of town to a semi-industrial area, is close to his own Michelin two-starred restaurant at Gipuzkoa.

Aduriz hosted the lunch in Yalde's rustic rooms, explaining that although diners could choose from a menu, those in the know always ordered the same things.

He got things started with crusty white bread and a mixed plate of hams, salamis and chorizo hailing from Spain's south-west, and local sheeps' milk cheeze. Ranging from delicate to robust, the flavours worked well with an elegant, fruit-filled and spicy Bierzo "Cepas Viejas", by Dominio de Tares from Castilla y Leon, on the Atlantic Coast.

Next came generous portions of a local delicacy - cod fish "breathing bladder". Served battered and fried with onion strips, green capsicum and a fresh tomato sauce, its gelatinous texture coated the mouth and lingered long - a bit too long, perhaps, for a couple of us who were grateful for the powerful Bierzo's palate-cleansing properties.

Things picked up, though, with the next course, a unique but wonderful combination of mushrooms and "scrambled egg", the former sourced from regional hill mountains. The flat, flavoursome, tattered-edged mushrooms were pan fried in olive oil and garlic then sprinkled with finely chopped parsley. When topped with the egg mix, their slightly fatty texture was decadent and delicious.

The grand finale arrived with instructions that fingers only, please, were to be used to eat the glistening lamb cutlets and chops if the best tastes were to be enjoyed.

The steaming meat came stacked on a table-top grill under which coals of smouldering grape vines still smoked. A simple salad was the perfect accompaniment to the rich flavours of the tender and aromatic lamb, and a refreshing way to end a terrific lunch.

It's clear why Yalde is a favourite among local chefs. Its honest and produce-focused approach to food definately makes it worth a visit by foodies in the region in search of more illustrious fare.

Surprisingly sophisticated Stockholm

THERE are many things that are not surprising about Stockholm - the high ratio of blond/es, the peace factor, the number of museums that feature on the city's 14 islands and its network of attractive waterways. JetMoney has been pleasantly delighted, however, by the calibre of some of the restaurants here.

We've only been in town for a couple of days waiting to board a cruise scheduled to visit other Scandinavian capitals and Russia. With the help of Foders, cross-checked with the ever-reliable Andrew Harper Guide, we've come across some fun and delicious examples of Swedish cuisine.

The two best we experienced by far were F12, a hip and groovy space a couple of blocks away from the Opera, and Pontus in the Green House, a former Michelin one-starred restaurant that deserves fresh consideration.

F12 is one of only three Swedish restaurants to get a mention in the latest edition of Traditions & Qualite - Les Grandes Tables du Monde. Its menu is divided into traditional and innovative sections. My starter of Lobster "skagen" with avruga caviar, from the traditional menu, layered lobster meat, foam, and caviar resulting in a fresh and light way to get the meal going. My Bloke enjoyed his entree of raw prawns and horseradish cream in an acidic green broth, being especially impressed by the freshness of the trout roe.

From the innovative menu, the main of pike perch was a stand-out with its scrumptious combination of "green curry", bok choy and thai broth with fresh chestnuts. And as with most seafood dishes in Stockholm, there was loads of fresh dill on everything.

On the wine front, F12 had a surprisingly deep burgundy selection within a small but reasonably well selected list.

Pontus, on the other hand, had a good, surprisingly eclectic wine list for Sweden, with a much-better-than-average US wine selection for Europe.

The French sturgeon roe we started with had a slightly better taste than Iranian or Russian sevruga but was not as good as their osetra. It was served with the usual caviar accompaniments but wonderful light potatoe pancakes replaced the usual blinis.

Highlights were the starter of confit white asparagus with truffled pork and foam and fresh shelled peas. The confit duck main, served with sweetbread-stuffed morels, carciofini and stewed vegetables paired perfectly with one of Guigal's great single vineyard Cote-Rotie's, La Turque, from the outstanding 1988 vintage.

The other place worth a mention we learned about by chance on the morning we flew out of London. We were doing business in an up-market handbag store on Sloane St where the part-Swedish sales assistant, on learning of our departure for Stockholm that day, told us of a personal favourite of hers Lisa Elmqvist, found in a large food hall (the Ostermalm Saluhall Market Hall) in the heart of the city.

The food hall itself is worth a visit just to check out all the strange foods you'd be unlikely to find elsewhere. The restaurant is jammed in the middle of all the action where seats are offered at communal tables of six. JetMoney shared a plate of Lisa's salt-cured salmon with a sweet mustard dill sauce to start, then some local char, which was like a buttery, lighter version of salmon, and some lemon-fried sole with a beetroot and caper relish. Both were fresh and superb.

One thing about Stockholm is they eat early. Elmqvist's place was packed by 12.30pm and the queues stopped by 1.15pm.

Ahhhhh, lovely London

ONE of the many things JetMoney gets most excited about when planning a visit to London is the dining opportunities. After New York and Paris, this is where we've found the best food in the world.

In the week we just spent there, we returned repeatedly to old favourites Zuma (Japanese), Amaya (Indian) and Zaffarano (Italian). Each of them is reliably splendid for reasons which I'll go into later.

Best of all, though, JetMoney tried a few new (for us) highly-rated places and has very good things to report. I've already posted on Sketch, Pierre Gagnaire's sharply put-together effort in Mayfair.

An even fancier highlight was dinner at The Greenhouse, also in Mayfair, to which we made a bee line after learning it picked up the Wine Spectator's Grand Award last year, the highest accolade for exceptional wine lists.

We'll be going back to The Greenhouse in future to sample more of chef Antonin Bonnet's French-influenced European cuisine after enjoying our most impressive meal of the week. (Previous visits to Gordon Ramsay's Royal Hospital Rd establishment remain unrivalled to date.)

There's no doubt the 1996 Meursault-Perrieres from Coche-Durie and a spectacular bottle of 1971 DRC Richbourg helped things along at The Greenhouse. But my perfectly al dente risotto of summer truffles (it was blanketed with shavings) had just the right balance of acidity, creaminess and flavour. It was so good my Bloke, who was already tucking in to a wonderful but less impressive langoustine display, asked for a mezza course of the same risotto preparation. I think he got even more truffles.   

My main, Bellac lamb, was the best I'd ever eaten. And that's saying something from someone from Australia, a country that has access to some fairly decent cuts of the meat from the homeland and neighbouring New Zealand. I'd rather go back to The Greenhouse for more, though. However, given its menu changes eight times a year, I may miss out on the next go around.

The other big gun that took our fancy was the exemplary one-star Michelin restaurant, Tom Aikens, at Chelsea. Here is another entirely unique class act that should not be skipped.

From the moment you sit down, array of breads are tempting, but go easy. Aikens shows no restraint when it comes to presenting the dishes that follow on so many plates and boxes (the plate ware is impressive on its own), the amount of food that ends up on the table over a course of a meal is extraordinary. One of two amuse bouches offered involved four tastes in shot glasses - each one more divine than the last - plus an array of upstanding edibles that defy description but were equally enticing.

My main and the dessert combinations were amazing, the latter arriving at the table deconstructed across four trays and dishes. And just when we thought things had drawn to a close, our petite fours turned up as "petite 16s", all of which, again, were presented on multiple surfaces. Amazing. It's another must-do experience for serious foodies. 

But on more familiar ground, we had our first and last meals of the week, (and another somewhere in between) at high-energy and fast-paced Zuma, of Knightsbridge, about a five minutes' walk from Harrods. Zuma showcases contemporary Japanese at its best. In fact, it may be any Japanese at its best. Better cut, fresher sushi may be hard to find outside of Tokyo. Book early, and do take a seat at the sushi bar if that's all that's available. Also, try the "special chocolate dessert". It's not on the menu, and only insiders know about it, but there's a reason for that. Yummo.

JetMoney likes both lunch and dinner at Amaya, which has been doused with awards since opening in 2004, and even picked up a Michelin star this year. Tucked away in Halkin Arcade off picturesque and trendy Motcomb St in Belgravia, the impressively decorated and sizeable Indian restaurant is a gem in a city which offers tonnes of terrific Indian fare. The focus here is getting diners to explore and share a broad array of grilled food before moving on to the curries and biryanis.

For our Italian fix, we regularly head to Zafferano, which is a short walk from JetMoney's hotel and conveniently located next door to Christian Louboutin's London boutique (JetMoney's favourite shoe man). This terrific, authentic Italian restaurant has a predominantly Italian staff, and it's always reassuring to see a heavy Italian cliental.

I never skip Zafferano's burrata cheese when it's on the menu - owner Enzo has it flown in fresh from the Italian region where it's made, Puglia, three times a week. It was spectacular with the sweetest cherry tomatoes ever out Sicily. Paired with the greenest, fruitiest of extra virgin olive oils (from Enzo's brother in Liguria and available for sale) the soft, delectable white cheese was soon devoured and the oil mopped up with bread. 

Finally, we had another go at trying to understand what all the fuss is about with Nobu. Our lunch there convinced us that that the food continues to be mixed. But if you venture there, don't miss the starter of yellowtail tuna with a yuzu sauce and jalapenos. However, skip the mixed sushi/sashimi platter unless you like a high ratio of vegetables and oversized chunks of fish.

Sketch: Funky but fabulous

IT'S billed as London's most expensive restaurant and even copped some slack over its pricey menu when it first opened just under two years ago. But if it's something different you're after - and Paris great Pierre Gagnaire's food definitely makes it worth the visit - Sketch, in Mayfair, deserves a position high on your London hit-list.

JetMoney went for the Sketch Gallery rather than the more up-scale and controversially priced Library upstairs (which is roped off and off-limits to all but booked diners). But we were blown away on many fronts - even by the toilets, no less - and are pleased to report on what is as unique a dining experience likely to be found anywhere.

Sketch Gallery was unlike any restaurant JetMoney's seen to date. On entering, we felt we were back in the Tate Modern Museum which we had visited that morning, what with all the fancy room dividers, funky faux French antique furniture and multi-media action adorning the walls. By day, the room is cleared of its furnishings and becomes a true gallery as its 12 projectors shoot images on to the restaurant's four walls. The nightly film "exhibition" changes every three months. JetMoney saw a collation of works by surrealist Guy Bourdin depicting a mix of strange/fun/amusing/bizarre images from the early to mid-1970s. It was distracting at times, but it grew on us as the night wore on and the room filled up.

Our choices for starters were great, the first comprising gamba and sea bream ceviche "cooked" in acid and served with guacamole, mascarpone, trevise salad and shredded green apple; the other a baby spinach salad with shaved foie gras and smoked duck magret from Landes, French beans, capers and a caramalised soya vinaigrette.

For the mains, my roast breast of duck was superbly executed - tender, tasty and scrumptious - but too generous a portion to finish. My Bloke's stroganoff was spectacular, accompanied as it was with the most outrageously decadent mashed potatoes (available also as a side dish).

The Gallery's excellent staff - who are mainly French - were very instructive in helping us make our selections from the comprehensive menu. Our waiter, Mohammed, displayed incredible knowledgeable about the food, its pairing with other courses and how all of it should be eaten despite the fact the menu had changed completely a week ago.

In terms of the wine list, ask for the fine-wine version which is not immediately offered if you're into a good drop. The sommelier deftly veered us away from our initial choice to match our entrees to something which turned out to be far more appropriate.

One of the most outstanding features of Gagnaire's London enterprise are the toilets. I kid you not. Ascend a dimly lit staircase which narrows out at its peak to find a cavernous room filled with what look like enormous eggs. Boys go to the blue lights, girls to the pink. Each is an individual toilet "pod" with their own music input and dim lighting. Step out and a "French maid" hands you a hand towel. We thought that was about as special as a loo experience could get. That was until we saw the so-called (aptly named, as it turned out) "crystal bathrooms" which were, again, colour-coded but with so many mirrors and sparkles within they made your head spin. I haven't seen a more elegantly hung loo paper.

One more tip on the place: if you want to try the Library but are wary of a big spend straight off the bat, try the little known-about fixed price five-course lunch meno served each Tuesday through Friday. Just being in the space itself will be worth the effort.

Amalfi Coast cuisine

A LOT of eating and drinking took place among the JetMoney set this week at some terrific and some not-so-noteworthy places along the Amalfi Coast.

There was pizza at Cumpo Cosimo - an extremely popular but over-rated venue not far from the Ravello's main square, which has a wickedly over-priced wine list - and some fabulous pasta at the Palazzo Sasso's informal dining alternative, Terrazza Belvedere - home to one of the more spectacular views down the coast and provider of one the prettier and tastier Campari-and-soda combinations to date.

Down at Positano, Chez Black served up impressive bowls of sumptuous and more-ish mussels done in a simple base of white wine, oil and garlic. And a little further down the road - actually it was in Campania's Avellino wine region, which is inland and not on the Amalfi Coast at all - the Hotel Civita provided us with a wonderful lunch of fresh, tasty vegetables, al dente pasta and luscious seafood for a fraction of the cost of what you'd pay for such a spread closer to Mediterranean. The wine - from two of the local producers - was almost free (well, € 5 to €7 for half bottles of DOCG-designated wines, which is almost free).

And again at Ravello, the Belvedere Restaurant at the Hotel Caruso (which neighbours Palazzo Sasso) blew us away. After a dubious start, it ended up dishing up one of three outstanding meals JetMoney enjoyed in its week-long Amalfi Coast stay.

The first was at another restaurant at which JetMoney has become a regular - Capri's Aurora Ristorante and Pizzeria. We don't go there because all the famous people do - honest. There are enough pictures of the likes of Beyonce and her rapper Bloke, and Pierce Brosnan with some glamour (actually, I think it might be Aurora's owner, Mia D'Alessio) to make one feel that they've crashed some A-list party. D'Alessio's wine list is one of the most comprehensive and impressive anywhere (apart from Florence's Enoteca Pinchiorri). It helps that she also runs one of the best-looking and well-supplied wine shops just a few narrow streets away.

Aurora introduced JetMoney to the Sorrento speciality of enormous knots of fresh mozzarella which, when first placed before six of us, we felt certain we could not finish. But, combined with the traditional Caprese accompaniments of seasonally dynamic tomatoes, basil and olive oil, it wasn't as challenging as anticipated. Also excellent are the thin-crusted Napolitana-style pizzas and the fried vegetables and seafood.

That night, we were back at Amalfi's La Caravalla with four of our Aussie mates, all of whom are hard-markers when it comes to good food. It was a moving night for all of us, but particularly for one doyen of Sydney dining. The well-known restaurateur, who's industry track record spans 35 years, was reduced to tears on eating a special gnocchi preparation with vegetables, prawns and salted anchovies. Perhaps it was the bi-lingual explanatory notes, presented scroll style, in deference to the dish's history and splendour that got him going. He said he'd never eaten anything so perfect in his life.

Whatever it was, another guest, a former Australian Labor Party back-room powerhouse-cum-prominent Sydney businessman, promptly dubbed him "Lacryma di Mick" (tears of Mick), a label that's threatening to stick, much to the subject's dismay.

The nickname's author continued to wax lyrical about his own linguine with anchovy sauce and local potatoes (that dish also earned an explanatory scroll), saying he'd "never had anything like it before, it's unique and I want to eat it every day of my life". And of the spoonful of holiday fare served when the meal came to a close (I mentioned it my last post on La Caravella), he said: "It's corrupt. It should be in a Royal Commission." The wordsmith liked it.

Where's the best Italian food outside of New York? Amalfi

WHILE the title of this entry may be hard for Italians to swallow, JetMoney has consistently found New York Italian to be of a calibre difficult to match in the Home Country herself.

It's true that restaurants/trattorias/osterias in Italy are terrific at throwing things together (no place, anywhere, can beat the Amalfi Coast's caprese salad), but when it comes to fine dining Italian food, it doesn't get much better than what they produce at the likes of New York's Babbo.

Nevertheless, JetMoney can report that the next-best thing, La Caravella Ristorante, is based in what's probably Italy's best food region, Campania. We have our driver, Francesco, to thank for the tip on this place when we were here about the same time last year.

We went to the Amalfi restaurant again for lunch today and will no doubt be back there again with our Aussie mates before the week's out. The complimentary dishes that chef Antonio Dipino sent out during the meal were testament to the pride he and his staff take in what they're doing.

An amuse set the tone of what was to come - slices of local "bandiera" fish with spicy rucola and explosive sweet quarters of cherry tomatoes in a wonderful spritzy vinaigrette.

Starters consisted of generous plates full of tubetti pasta with a simple but elegant three-fish ragu. We cleaned the plates despite thinking restraint would be better so we could more enjoy our mains.

No matter, we managed to get through both of them, too, the best of which was grilled scampi served with a mint-infused vinaigrette. It didn't actually need the latter as fresh grilled scampi is a stand-out dish on its own, as our waiter suggested. A crisp butter lettuce salad, topped with a table-side preparation of lemon juice extra-virgin olive oil and salt, brought things to a fresh close. Or so we thought.

We'd opted out of dessert but were delighted when presented with a dessert spoon each of lemon sorbet with a lemon marmalade. And it didn't end there. Next came a traditional August-15 holiday-celebration sweet unique to the Amalfi Coast - again served on a spoon - consisting of thinly-sliced aubergine wrapped around candied fruit and topped with a chocolate sauce. We had no hesitation in taking that all in one bite as we were instructed to do. It was strange but delicious.

One of La Caravella's seriously strong points is its great wine list, consisting of one tome each for white and red wines featuring mainly Italians but with strong representation across the board. Impeccable staff delivers flawlessly fresh food made of authentic flavours in a traditional but elegant restaurant space. 

This is a one-star rated Michelin restaurant which may indeed deserve a second star. It's certainly not a restaurant any serious foodie should miss. Just be sure you're not killed by a truck or errant motorino rider while you're walking the 20m (66ft) up the road from Amalfi's centre. It's a tight fit.