As I plod and plonk my way from one cutlery bedecked table to another, I do so in the knowledge that every restaurant and café is being run, invariably, for two reasons. The first is because the owners want to make a profit and the second is because they have more than a passing interest in food, the preparation and serving of it, that is. Many proprietors, of course, are blessed with a third reason and that is that they love people and they want to make people feel special, happy and well fed . Often you’ll find one or two of these criteria evident in an establishment and sometimes you’ll find all three.
Occasionally, perhaps even rarely, One encounters more than all of these put together when exceptional all round talent is evidenced, a certain charisma of the kitchen and dining room, an effusiveness of genuine purpose, all in the hands of a sort of epicurean bon vivant.
It is with the utmost pleasure that I add my humble voice to the many before me in wholehearted endorsement of the many accolades and the mountain of kudos that have been bestowed on the matriarch of Gloucester Street, Debbie Elliston.
The bank has recently granted me a generous upper level extension to the numerous mega-mortgages that bear my name and so I have been quick to mentally calculate that I should be in a position to dine out at a further 200 restaurants and cafes in the next twelve months, funded by the stunningly smart and astute investment decisions that followed the “selling of my soul” to said banks.
And so I was able to realize a dream I’d had for many, many months – to dine at Sezns. Of course, I was waiting for an appropriately important occasion to do so as I knew in my heart and felt in my bones (the stomach played a part as well I should add)that Dame Debbie would not let me down.
One of my gorgeous stepdaughters was reaching an age-related milestone in her life the next day and so we both decided Sezns was the place to have a sophisticated, quality dining experience. I knew, from several well known overseas restaurant critics who have anonymously dined at Sezns and from my local colleagues and friends, that this was going to be a somewhat special evening in terms of the food, the service and the idiosyncracies of the location, the individual restaurant ambience and Debbie herself.
I have always striven to be anonymous when dining out as I court no favours, expecting nothing more or nothing less than every other diner receives. I never use my real name and always arrive by taxi, pay by cash or use a card without my name on it. Anyone who has read Ruth Reichl’s book, Garlic & Sapphires knows exactly what I’m talking about here.
Don’t expect to see something akin to the Siena marble & crystal chandeliers in the 18th Century former ballroom now dining room of Les Ambassadeurs in Paris as Sezns is housed in a couple of old shops, delightfully converted for their present day purpose. However, you musn’t despair as there is much to obviate any reservations you might have.
You will undoubtedly, I assure you, be nothing less than overwhelmed by Debbie’s disarmingly charming manner and sense of Australian showmanship. You will be welcomed, you will be treated as a special guest, you will not fail to be impressed.
Ushered to our table in the main dining room we sat, in the comfort of a perfectly moderated temperature-controlled space, and were stunningly looked after thereafter.
From the glasses of bubbly that started our adventure, through the pinot gris, pinot noir, shiraz and ports, teas and long blacks, service was exemplary and entertaining. Our waitress was professional, well informed and courteous and we had the additional benefit, as did the other diners on the evening, of having Debbie flit about like the Camp Mother, ensuring all was well and that water glasses were kept topped up. I got the feeling that were I to have fallen asleep on the floor beside my table she would have placed a blanket over me and tucked me in!!
As an entrée the seared venison with beetroot and hazelnut salad was excellent and a very photogenic indeed. The venison was beautifully cooked and sat provocatively but with a sense of style and comfort embedded in the modestly portioned salad and matched well with the pinot overall.
Our courses arrived, intelligently timed in between our excited dinnertime conversations, and each rivaled its predecessor for top place. My main was lamb rump with olives, potato and goat cheese purée, and salsa verde. A simple yet intrinsically artistic presentation hallmarked this dish and, of course, the eating confirmed its status as the work of a very skilled, talented cuisinier. How could I not be impressed?
Follow this exquisite plate of precious pearls with a dessert of some considerable significance and more than a modicum of Mana, dark chocolate delice with peanut butter icecream and macadamia praline (along with a glass of Port) and you will not fail to understand my feeling, at the end of this evening, that Debbie Elliston has a restaurant that is a product as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, and is herself in command of an instrument of culinary precision. She has a manner as accomplished as Oprah Winfrey, as politically savvy as John Key and as friendly as Edna Everidge.
My advice: Go for the very fine food, stay for the world class individual, honest & genuine service from Madame Elliston at what is unmistakably Le palais d'Elliston de Debbie. How can I not return for more of the same?