Pizza e Birra, Surry Hills

It was our lucky day. Sir D, BLT and I had just driven out to meet Flamezy at Pizza e Birra in Surry Hills for lunch. We were expecting to have difficulty finding parking but lo and behold! A free parking space beckoned to us right outside Pizza e Birra which we claimed without any hesitation. It was just the start of what was going to be a fantastic day.

Seeing how packed the restaurant was and knowing its' popularity, we anticipated a short wait to be seated. Surprisingly, we were seated straight away as if a table had already been set in advance for us. The food gods were definitely smiling on us today! We were handed rustic brown paper menus containing an array of pizzas, pastas, salads and sweets.

Spinaci e Gamberi (Spinach and Prawn) pizza - $23.00

The Falconer, Darlinghurst

Falcon in The Falconer

The Falconer is an unsuspecting little restaurant on Oxford Street that we walked straight past when trying to find it. Sir D and I were greeted by cheerful waitstaff who asked us whether we were here for dinner or drinks, and then led us to a comfortable booth on the side of the restaurant.

Menu

We are handed us single page menus with entrees, pasta and risotto, mains, sides and salads and desserts. It all sounded so delicious I wanted to order one of everything, but I exercise restraint and we choose one entree and two mains.

Arancini (2) filled with pumpkin, stracchino cheese and marjoram - $8.00

Ben & Jerry's, Manly

Did someone say free ice cream?

How could I resist the lure of a Scoop-A-Thon at the newly opened Ben & Jerry's at Manly, especially when that day was forecast to be 35ºC! I joined Suze, Yas, The Ninja's body double, Shez, Richard and Rose for some serious ice-cream eating.

We joined the ever present queue and waited for our turn while the Ben & Jerry's people held competitions giving away free cooler bags and other merchandise. While we were in the queue we decided which flavours to get using these handy flavour cards.

We got our ice creams and sat outside the store where they had installed some fresh grass on the pavement, and we tried and tested all the flavours. My favourite was without a doubt the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough aka Peanut Cookie-Burra Dough! The salty peanut butter with the sweet ice cream was the most amazing combination ever! Phish Food (which doesn't contain any fish food) as also a close second with melty marshmallow bits in the chocolate ice cream.

Clockwise from top: Berry Berry Extraordinary, Chocolate Therapy, Lemonade Stand, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Chocolate Macadamia, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Lemonade Stand.

Dolcissimo, Haberfield

A trip to Haberfield on Sunday afternoon meant I couldn't get my ricotta cheesecake fix from Pasticceria Papa because they were closed! But not to worry, we head across the road to Dolcissimo instead for some pizza, pasta and, according to them, 'Australia's finest gelato'.

Spinach and ricotta ravioli with Napolitana sauce - $19.70

Their extensive menu consists of traditional wood fired pizzas, pastas, risottos, mains, panini and a wide range of home-made desserts. I'm here with Sir D and his family and we opt for 2 pizzas and 2 pastas to share between us. The first dish to arrive is the spinach and ricotta ravioli in a Napolitana sauce. The ravioli are soft pillows of pasta filled with a light and fluffy filling. The dish is simple but delicious with the rich tomato flavours of the sauce and the subtle flavours of the spinach and ricotta.

Farfalle al salmone - $23.90

Bravo Trattoria and Gelato Bar, Crows Nest

I'm no expert on gelato but I have yet to find better gelato on the North Shore than the gelato at Bravo Trattoria. This, I think, can be confirmed by the queues at the gelato bar on Friday and Saturday nights, even in the midst of winter!


There's quite a large range of flavours available, with the friendly favourites such as hazelnut, chocolate, and mango being consistently good whilst some of the more unusual flavours like yoghurt and taro changing quite frequently.

Gelato Messina, Darlinghurst

Despite the very cold weather recently, Sir D must have his gelato fix so after dinner at Rise we walk a couple of blocks in search of Gelato Messina on Victoria Street. We are very glad to see the gas heaters outside the shop front and we are surprised to be joining quite a number of others eating and ordering gelato on this chilly night.

The menu ranges from gelato in a cup or cone, take-home tubs of gelato, gelato cakes, tiramisu, coffee and Callebaut hot chocolate! However tonight, we only have eyes for gelato.