Life with Bees

I've been on holidays and have been using the long, lazy days to catch up with some restaurants. So I had lunch at Sage at Gorman House this week.

The restaurant always gets approval from our friends and I was pretty keen to finally check it out. It's a small but very charming restaurant that sits just on the side of Gorman House in Braddon. The dining room is white and minimalist with plush seating and soft, first-date lighting, though this is all going to change in an upcoming refurbishment. The Canberra Times Food & Wine magazine reports owner Pete Harrington is going to go for a sunnier look with bright colours, which would be lovely for summer.

Sage offers an $18 Express Lunch menu as well as its a la carte menu of $18 entrees and $32 mains. I ordered a caramelised pork belly with yellowfin tuna sashimi from the express menu. It was a pleasant spring day, great for sitting outside in the courtyard. The squares of pork belly were glassy and caramelised on top and mostly tender beneath (I did get one leathery dud square). The tuna sashimi was clean and strong with a sprinkle of rock salt or sugar on top. It all went beautifully with a pile of basil and a puddle of raspberry caramel that had more in common with pekat soy sauce.

Because I'd had the cheapo main dish, I splurged on dessert. There's a short but sharp dessert menu (all $14) with interesting-sounding dishes such as a jasmine tea creme brulee and a chocolate fondant with malt ice cream. I got two fat brandy snaps filled to bursting with fig and whiskey cream, served with a scoop of olive oil ice cream and a citrus scone.

I had a beautiful dinner the other night. It was cold outside, the kind of chill that's like a bar of metal, and I was slated to work until 11pm. Luckily I had a packed dinner from TK to eat at my desk – beef goulash with pasta. It was a slow-cooked special, the meat tender even after a blitz in the microwave, and filled with savoury spikes of carrot and mushroom. I will admit it was very rich – the gravy was like lava, perfect for the fat pasta spirals, but disturbingly similar to confit when it went cold. But it was hearty food for a winter night and it was so delicious.

Awesome pic via moogs Flickr

And yet the more perfect it was for the occasion, the more homesick I got for something completely opposite. All I could think of was how wonderful it would be to possess a bowl heaped with gleaming cherries. Or lift a fork to a slice of mango. Even just feel a fuzzy peach under my fingers. I wanted the pleasure of sunshine food again. Not the weight of foods that are marbled with protective fat, or packed with stewed vegetables. I want light stuff, delightful stuff, food that tastes sharp and bright. It doesn’t even have to be sweet – I can’t pick a ripe peach to save my life, it’s always the acid too-earlies or the half-drunk too-lates. Just food that's alive again.


I am so ready for summer!