Rashmi Uday Singh’s Good Food Guide

Aus-Umm ... Jap fare

Quite simply, it’s the best meal I’ve eaten in my whole life. And considering that I’ve spent 20 years of my life studying and writing many a book and column on restaurants, this is quite an admission for me to make. Of course, many other international food critics have similar high-praise and one even suggests that you book a table at birth here at Tetsuya’s. Sure! It’s tough to get a booking here and I would most definitely book here and then plan my trip to Sydney around it. Wouldn’t you do the same, if you knew that at the end of the trip a memorable orchestra of flavours and textures awaited you? An experience bordering on the divine? A composition par excellence? Each meal consists of 14 degustation dishes, suitably married to wines. And all this in Sydney’s city centre, the restaurant sprawls in the two-story chateau on a heritage-listed site. It reminds you of a Zen temple of timber and marble, cool black and white interiors accentuated by sleek sculptures. The bar is dimly lit , there are three private dining rooms on the first floor and a ten seater chamber with a small open kitchen where the master cooks himself. Happily, this exclusive dining space is not just a draw for the moneyed elite. Wakuda who started off his restaurant career as a dishwasher has no interest in snob value and I absolutely fell in love with this 43-year-old disarmingly charming man. None of the high international praise has gone to his head. Robert Carrier called Tetsuya’s food “pure genius”, Alain Ducasse, Charlie Trotter all wax hyperbolic. And why not? Described as “an artfully constructed sequence of miniatures” some of the courses are a scant mouthful of surprisingly juxtaposed flavours and textures, delivered to the table in a spoon or shot glass or in a plate like a painting. Time stands still as I go from one heavenly creation after another, from the tangy gazpacho with spiced tomato sorbet to luscious scallop with foie gras. What is astonishing is the simplicity of Wakuda’s cooking techniques, the finest of local ingredients (all hand-picked, even though he has a huge team of chefs). This unique cuisine is based on the Japanese philosophy of natural seasonal flavours, enhanced by classic French technique. Edible seduction, is how I’d describe his desserts, be they the orange, honey and black pepper sorbet or that amazing blue cheese (you read that right) bavarois with a kiss of blue cheese. The early season berries with orange, Grand Marnier jelly, champagne ice cream and that floating island with vanilla and praline anglaise are to die for. And then to go to heaven and find myself in “Tetsuya’s” with Tetsuya.