KEY POINTS:
Lovely night at the ballet. It's always a treat: the costumes, the music, the occasion. Little girls having a big night out, in their prettiest dresses, a-twitter, dreams coming true before their - and your - eyes. And that's only the ballerinas. The bright-eyed children with their mothers are even more gorgeous.
Jude particularly enjoys the ballet, and other events at The Ledge, or whatever they've branded the Creative Quarter. So does her mother, who'll travel from Hamilton for an evening of orchestra or dance; Sue, who has figured in these columns; the Lady Editor; any number of friends.
All complain: it's such a performance to find a place to eat first. After the fifth dinner at Kura and Vivace, you're pretty well stuffed. And not in a gastronomic way. Which is the opposite of Bellota's teeny tapas. Pastis? Perhaps. Toto is a grand opera, not an overture.
Date Management 101 suggested Elliott Stables, the lane-cum-courtyard just over the road from The Dredge. Love the cobblestones, the little stores and delis with passionate, food-loving proprietors, the dusky and dusty atmosphere. It's so easy to feel you've bought a ticket and been transported thousands of miles across the globe to a vibrant, cosmopolitan, passionate, other-worldly, world-class city. Like...I dunno... Melbourne.
The food is vibrant, uniformly well executed and more than reasonably priced (Shouldn't that be "far less"? English is a difficult mistress). We've loved Francesco Arini's Bruschetteria from opening day, enjoyed Torchon's crepes and galettes, and have a hankering for the newest choice, Spanish-flavoured El Faro. I yearn for their albondigas but that's the food snob in me: meatballs taste so much classier in another language. Each corner of the culinary round-trip offers appropriate wines by the glass.
Both the food and the bill are lighter than most around town, genially and quickly served, casual in manner if not intent. We like it. A lot.
Just one catch: the Stables' evenings are Thursday and Friday, and the ballet was on a Wednesday. A few clicks produced the information that Chris Upton's wonderful O'Connell Street Bistro offers a pre-theatre menu, the only one that popped up within walking distance of The Hedge.
Cop this for a deal. Three courses for $39.50 a head, or a stomach, provided you tell Himself you're going to the The-Ater and leave the premises by 7.30pm. You don't get the full noise - a limited menu and pay for liquids - but you don't need the full noise if you're going to the orchestra after dinner. It's a lighter meal of little parcels of potato speckled with oxtail, properly fried squid and roasted garlic, or exquisitely nutty smoked chicken, baby broad bean and pinenut risotto.
And what you do get is the style, service, ambience and experience of a restaurant consistently in Viva's Top 5. Begging His Worship's pardon, we might not be a world-class city, but we do have one or three world-class restaurants.
Dropped a hint over dinner that tickets for Leonard Cohen's standup gig might be appreciated as a Christmas present. Hallelujah! Anyone got an idea for somewhere to eat within walking distance of Vector?
