{"id":24535,"date":"2013-07-05T09:57:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-04T23:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/?p=24535"},"modified":"2015-03-25T08:43:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-24T22:43:01","slug":"restaurant-review-spice-up-your-senses-at-sixpenny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/restaurant-review-spice-up-your-senses-at-sixpenny\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant review: Spice up your senses at Sixpenny"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A well-known weak spot of mine is a good degustation. And when I say good, I mean good enough to lick your plate afterward, no matter who\u2019s looking.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
And what better excuse than my birthday to inspire dinner at one of my wish list restaurants: Sixpenny<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nestled into an unassuming street in the Sydney suburb of Stanmore, it\u2019s no wonder people rave about this place. With minimal signage, it\u2019s a local\u2019s secret.<\/p>\n\"<\/a>\n

The hardworking chefs have a patch in the Southern Highlands where they grow the seasonal produce that ends up on your plate. They also have a vege patch out the back of the restaurant where they grow most of their herbs (not unlike other Sydney locals, The Grounds of Alexandria<\/a> and Three Blue Ducks<\/a>).<\/p>\n\"<\/a>\n

The restaurant itself is decked out in minimal, Scandinavian furnishings. On an Autumnal Tuesday evening, the place is full.<\/p>\n\"<\/a>\n

My visit is a whirlwind of new tastes for me. The wine pairings take drops from all over the world, and aren\u2019t just limited to wine. The 2011 Fukuchiyo Shuz\u014d \u2018Nabeshima\u2019 Sake<\/em> is my first foray into this alcoholic delight and I like it.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t get me started on the food. Each dish is cooked by a different chef and Mr LML and I feel very spoilt when they individually approach the table to explain their creations.<\/p>\n\"<\/a>\n

At $135 for 7 courses (or $210 with matching wines) it\u2019s a venue fit for splurging \u2013 which is exactly what birthdays are for.<\/p>\n

My favourites include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 House-made salt and vinegar chips with herbed yoghurt <\/em>\u2013 very simple, but the flavours remind me of growing up on Smith\u2019s chips; a memory that I don\u2019t exactly dislike.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Roasted heirloom carrot with mascarpone, toasted cheese curd and bitter leaves<\/em> \u2013 vegetarian dishes don\u2019t often blow me away, but this is a definite stand-out.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Gently seared bass groper with nettles and rye butter <\/em>\u2013 the freshness of the dish and gentle combination of flavours make this one a winner.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Pumpkin cooked in mead with a white rice ice cream <\/em>\u2013 we have five desserts (yes, you heard me right \u2013 five!) and as less of a sweet tooth, I enjoy the savoury flavours of the pumpkin in this dessert.<\/p>\n

\"<\/a>

Cucumber salad with finger limes<\/p><\/div>\n

\"<\/a>

Roasted heirloom carrot with bitter leaves; mini English muffin with prosciutto<\/p><\/div>\n

\"<\/a>

Crab, silky macadamia and camomile<\/p><\/div>\n

The attentive staff get top marks for overhearing it\u2019s my birthday and throw in a surprise birthday cake. By this stage however, my pants are beginning to split at the seams and I have to call it a day.<\/p>\n

Sixpenny has officially wowed me with its paddock-to-plate philosophy, attentive staff and the incredibly well-paired wines. Now, just to find an excuse to go back…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/h2>\n

What\u2019s your favourite Sydney restaurant for a special occasion?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\"Sixpenny<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A well-known weak spot of mine is a good degustation. And when I say good, I mean good enough to..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":40330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[3411,2845,3298,62,3300,3412,3413,451,3414,3415,106,2775],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24535"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40331,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24535\/revisions\/40331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.co.nz\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}