Tetsuya's - a meal to remember

Last day in Sydney. Hal, Tash and Laila came into the city to get us, and we headed back to Hornsby, the area of Sydney where they live. Stopped at the local mall to visit T2 - a new tea shop chain in Sydney that sells and serves a wonderful selection of looseleaf tea . We shopped for a bit, bought some tea to take home with us, and then enjoyed a high tea type tray of sandwiches and goodies, complete with scones and cream. Laila got her one little version of a tea party, with her own pink teapot and little cup, and a cupcake. We have to pace ourselves - we have the big event 15 course dinner tonight at Tetsuya's!We then headed over to see their new expanded warehouse to see all the product for their online kitchenwares store (http://everten.com.au/home.php), and to browse the shelves and do a little shopping. I think we spent close to 2 hrs wondering the warehouse looking at all the stock, finding stuff that even Hal didn't know he sold! This is the way shopping should be done! On our way out the warehouse area, we unfortunately got locked in (someone closed and locked the gate), so we had to call Tash's dad to come rescue us (he works at the warehouse, so had a key to the gate). Then it was back to their house to grab their overnight bags (they booked a room at the Marriott so they can stay in the city with us tonight after dinner, and be there to take us to the airport in the morning). We said our goodbyes to Tash's dad and to Laila and drove back into the city to get ready for the big event.

A little background on tonight's event:
Tetsuya's (http://www.tetsuyas.com) is one of Australia's best restaurants. Hal and Tash, who share our love of fine dining, have been waiting and trying to get into the restaurant for quite a while now, hoping to share the experience with us one day. Apparently, this place books out months in advance. The minute they knew Kevin was coming to Sydney again for work, Hal phoned to try to make reservations. Was of course booked months out, but Hal asked to be put on the waiting list anyway. To our surprise (and the unfortunate demise of the poor saps that cancelled their reservations - thank you whoever you are), we got a call earlier in the week that we were reserved. Tetsuya's renowned degustation set menu is 15 courses (at quite a pretty penny, so this is something we will not experience often), with an optional wine pairing of 9 different wines - quite the experience! We have been in 'training' all week preparing ourselves for this amount of food.

So we took a cab to the restaurant, were seated, and the heavenly experience began. The meal started with a fabulous chilled corn soup, served in martini glasses. Hal, Tash and I then had oysters (an extra we ordered), followed by several incredible seafood dishes. We then had a chicken dish, a beef dish (Tash had lamb, which was actually better than the beef), and a lentil and caramel dish (which was superb), which led us into the 3 dessert courses, ending with coffee and Petit Fours. The meal was paired with 9 different wines (the boys had their own wine pairings, Tash and I shared one), which topped it all off to being an exquisite meal, and a perfect last night in Sydney, spending it with wonderful friends. Truly an experience we will all not forget.

The highlight of the evening which is worth mentioning was the second dessert course which was a fabulous Tetsuya's rendition of strawberry shortcake served in a shotglass. It was so incredible that we all actually resorted to hiding the glasses behind our hands and licking them clean, sending us all into hysterics. I think the 9 wine pairings may have added to our giddiness.

Thank you Hal and Tash for a wonderful, unforgettable evening!! And for an overall great time in Australia!