OUR LUNCH AT NOMA COPENHAGEN

Hello again, my dear readers,

In this post I would like to share with our our experience at the number 1 restaurant in the world Noma in Copenhagen.

You see, my husband is from Cape Town, South Africa and whilst he immigrated to Australia, his parents chose not to move.  Hence, every year we go to Cape Town for about 10 days to pay them a visit.  

My husband is a bit of a food connoisseur who loves to dine at very posh, famous, Michelin starred celebrity-owned, ranked-top-in-the world restaurants in every city we visit. Sometimes it poses quite a conundrum as some of them require a booking to be made many months in advance, well before we start planning our holidays.  Sometimes you just get lucky.  When last year we were mapping out our European holiday, we decided to include Denmark in our itinerary.  And then, we naturally thought of how lovely it would be, if we can get a table at Noma while in Copenhagen .

We knew Noma had a waiting list of at least 3 months and we were only going to be there for 3 days, but my husband called them from Sydney and asked to be put on the waiting list regardless.  I continuously teased him about it, until on our second day in Copenhagen he received a phone call from the restaurant.  It turned out that someone had cancelled their booking and there was now an opening for lunch.  Needless to say, we both immediately shouted "YES"!  We could not believe our luck

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People do not go Noma because they are hungry and are just after something to eat; rather, it's an opportunity to dive into the amazing and unique world of a super-talented man, to feel inspired by him, to share his unique approach to food and life, to taste dishes you cannot find anywhere else - in a gastronomic sense, that is.  We were served 17 dishes in total and, whilst they were all memorable, I will recount just a few. 

When the maitre d' showed us to our table, we noticed that the waiter was trying to re-arrange some flowers in a vase on our table.  We didn’t think twice about this until she pushed the vase towards us and there in the middle of the blooms were two edible snails, one for each of us.  It was challenge #1 and we had no choice but to tackle it, and tackle it we did.  I must say, the snail tasted good. 

Our next challenge was presented to us in a non-descript glass jar full of ice with the lid securely closed.  When the waiter opened the lid and showed us what was inside, we gasped.  There, on top of the ice cubes, laid two very much alive shrimps.  Yet again, we summoned up our courage and reached for the shrimps.  When I took my shrimp out, it was still waggling its tail.  The waiter saw the horror on my face and took mercy on me.  He pushed some sauce towards us and told us first to dip the shrimp in it and then swallow it.  I can’t honestly tell you what it tasted like but was relieved when it didn’t jump out of my throat.

The following courses were of less adrenalin-pumping but still astonishingly challenging and equally unpredictable nevertheless. 

At some point, they brought us raw eggs, butter, two small frying pans, a bunch of spinach leaves and a timer, and explained that we had to cook our own egg omelet. We had a lot of fun doing it and it tasted divine.

Another dish was a plate full of soil (edible of course) with some exotic garden vegetables.

The other – a recreation of the ocean bed with seaweed, shells and the like, every piece looked so natural that we had to ask a waiter for guidance as we couldn’t determine what was edible and what was just part of the setting

Fried shallots with Garlic

As much as we were admiring the food, I couldn't wait for the dessert, my favourite part of the meal. First, they served us chocolate buns in a tin box that were in the shape of snails.

Then one of the waiters brought us a parcel wrapped in plain brown paper and when we unwrapped it, we found two pieces of bone marrow.  Puzzled, I gingerly gave it a little bite and to my delight, I tasted white chocolate and salted caramel, both of which were utterly delicious.

After the last dish was served to us, we looked at eaht other with the sad realisation that our delicicious, delightful, exciting, unforgettable and totally unique experience had come to an end.  We had to leave this delectable paradise and return to planet Earth. Now I understand why they call it Food Porn.

FLARED WHITE JEANS AND ANIMAL PRINT COAT

Hi everyone, hope you are all well.

The end of August has heralded the official end of Australian winter and with this came the urge to refresh the spring wardrobe.

I didn't mean a total wardrobe overhaul but I wanted a fresh pair of white jeans and maybe some shoes.  From reading the posts of my fellow fashion bloggers, I gathered that a lot of you also love white jeans and wear them quite often.  Last year I purchased a pair of white skinny denims from one of my favourites, J Brand, which you've seen me wearing here and here.

This year I was on the lookout for something different.  Once while shopping at our local department store for something else, I spotted a pair of jeans from J Brand that have some interesting details that made them stand out from the rest:  they were cropped and raw hemmed with flare bottoms that were split on the sides.

I have previously purchased a couple of pants from this brand and I like what they make for good quality, fresh style and perfect fitting.  In fact, in my last post the cargo pants I was wearing are also from J Brand.  They come at a price besides it was in the middle of winter and I was not in the mood for spring shopping yet so I left them hanging on the rack.

A month later when I decided to begin my spring shopping, the main stock was sold out but there were a few odd pairs, the ones that I liked among them, left hanging on the rack marked "Sale" at a dramatically reduced priced tag.  My hands trembling with excitement, I checked them for size.  When I saw that they were my size, I knew that I had to have them, it was meant to be.

While I was thinking of summer outfits that could revolve around these pants, an opportunity presented me with a reason to wear them much sooner.   Sometime ago friends of ours asked us if we would like to join them to go and see a concert called Hits of Motown, the show that "celebrates the most influential era in pop history in a big night of back-to-back Motown hits that will leave you breathless". 

To be perfectly honest with you, I had no idea about Motown is but the idea of going out, seeing your friends and having a good time sounded very appealing and we agreed.  If you, like me, don't know anything about Motown, it is American record company behind the voices of  soul superstars like Diana Ross, Steve Wonder and Michael Jackson to name just a few.

After what I read about this era, I decided that the my new jeans would be perfect for such an outing.  I wasn't sure what top should I wear them with but then remembered that I have a simple boat-cut black top that will be not only will go well with the pants but my newly acquired oversized so called Portrait earring will look perfect against the open neck and shoulder of the top.

I bought them from Gorman, a label very much loved by Australians for its whimsical signature prints and distinctive colour palettes.  While I find the clothes a bit too quirky for my taste, I do like their footwear and overtime have bought a couple of pairs of shoes from them.  The store's window display always draws attention from passers-by for the abundance of colours and prints, myself including, and it was during one of my window shopping moments that I spotted these funky earrings.

 I have never ever owned nor wore anything remotely looking like them before and that was probably the main reason that I bought them.  I finished my outfit with an animal print coat and a fresh pair of shoes in gingham print that I recently bought at Zara.

This print has been one of the most popular prints seen all over Instagram and in blog posts for quite some time and by the look of it, its popularity is not going to abate soon so I am planning to get a good wear out of them.  Besides, the heel is of a very reasonable height which means that I could easily wear them all day long and thanks to the pointy toes, they look elegant enough to be worn to more formal occasions.

As I hoped, my outfit was very well suited to the mood of the concert which, by the way, was thoroughly enjoyable.  A couple of songs that were performed brought back some nostalgia but that did not stop us letting our hair down and we had a lot of fun clapping, tapping and singing along with the people on stage.

Until next post,

Anna
xoxoxo

CARGO PANTS REVISITED

Hello everyone, hope you are well.

In my previous post I was talking about the revival of an old staple, skinny jeans.   Today I would like to continue going down the same avenue and look at another piece of clothing that has been on the fashion scene for quite a while (I bought mine all the way back 2009!!!) yet still shows no sign of disappearing in the near future - cargo pants aka combat pants.  

Originally designed for tough outdoor activities, they can be unmistakably identified by one or more cargo pockets.

Since then, they have gone through some metamorphoses and emerged more stylish-looking and refined.  Their versatility has been tested and extended well past their initial purpose. The most important moment in the history of cargo pants occurred when the new slim shape replaced the bulky heavy shape of the original design thus making it possible to wear cargo pants way beyond occasions that call for a casual dress code.

These days cargo pants are manufactured from much lighter and softer fabrics that allows for a more feminine fitting.  

They also come in different shapes of the leg from the wide floppy functional pants gathered at the bottom into a cuff to slimmer, rather elegant looking shape that actually help visually to elongate the legs.

You might think that having the same pair of pants for 8 years is a long time and I would totally agree with that, however every time I think of disposing of them in the bin and buying a fresh pair, it turns out that they look very similar to mine, obviously, that's why they are called cargo pants, dah, and I return home empty-handed.  

When I went shopping for my cargo pants, I tried few pairs of various shapes trying to figure out what style suits me best until I came across a pair from J Brand  that I really liked.

The fact that I can wear them to a picnic  in a park , come home, kick off my casual shoes and a t-shirt and replace them with a pair of smart or dress shoes, a long-sleeved attractive top, grab a stylish handbag and I will be ready to go out to dinner with very little effort is the main reason that I have kept my cargo pants for that long.  

With just a few simple moves your cargo pants take you from the casual activities during the day to an evening adventure from drinking cocktails at a swanky bar or to a dinner at the hottest restaurant in town.

I am wearing: cargo pants - JBrand
Shoes - Bally
Handbag - Bvlgari
Belt - Hermes
Top - from Iconic

Have a great week, everyone

Till the next post

Anna

xoxo

BURGUNDY SKINNY JEANS

Hi everyone, hope everyone is fine and doing well.

There are a few  items of clothing in my wardrobe that are quite old but somehow I can't bring myself to throw them out.  Not that they hold any sentimental value, but each time I think it's time for this or that piece to go, the wheel of fashion resurrects them back to life.

Case in point, my skinny jeans made of oilskin fabric aka as wet or Harper.   They were hot about five years ago when I purchased them but as popular now as when I originally bought them.

"Call me vain but it gives me the pleasure to know that they still fit"

There are many ways you can wear your skinny jeans.  they are hugely adaptable, comfortable to wear and could be very flattering if the style and fit are right.  You can wear them at any time of the day, casual or smart, rock or chic, depending on what you are pairing them with and what accessories you choose for the outfit.

My husband and I were going for a lunch to celebrate our wedding anniversary at the highly popular restaurant called "China Doll" situated on a stretch of the refurbished Cooper Street Wharf  colloquially known as The Sidney's Finger Wharf.  Although the restaurant has won multiple awards for cooking the most delicious modern Asian food, the vibe is light and casual and no particular dress code is required.

With that in mind, I decided that my skinny jeans will be perfect for the occasion. You probably have seen me wearing them before but mainly casually.

This time, however, I decided to dress them up a bit.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know how much I love wearing high heel shoes when going out and my view about the importance of right footwear when constructing your outfit.  True to myself, I'd chosen a pair of black classic high heels pumps by Christian Dior.  These shoes are one of the items I was telling you about earlier, they are quite old but who can throw away a perfect pair of Christian Dior shoes?

The top I am wearing is also one of the oldies that I bought in NY many years ago but since it is hard to pin down what era its belong to, it technically never goes out of style and thus is a keeper.

In fact, the only item that was new in my outfit is a handbag,  an anniversary gift from my husband and since I was getting dressed for lunch to celebrate it, this bag from Furla was an obvious choice.

It was such a warm and lovely day for winter that we were able to stay outside long enough to take some photos of me for the blog .

BTW, as expected, the lunch was sublime.

Till the next post
Anna
xoxo