Last drinks (and lunches)

I'm a little baffled that there's tinsel and Christmas lights about and that the SIFF is over already. But I guess time flies when you're having fun being a glutton. It was almost with a little sadness that I indulged in my last Cocktail of the Month and Let's Do Lunch of the festival. So sad that I might have to go out and console myself with lunch and a cocktail, or something like that.

Rockmelon and pistachio martini from Zeta Bar, Hilton, Sydney

Zeta Bar's cocktail was frothy delight with what I considered an unusual pairing of rockmelon and pistachio. The sweet cocktail of Belvedere vodka and rockmelon (plus other ingredients that the cocktail made me forget) was headed by a distinguished pistachio foam - one I could happily drink/inhale for long periods of time.

Turns out the subdued sweetness of the rockmelon contrasts and matches remarkably well with the noble nut. Zeta's swish bar-people served this up with a super frozen pistachio sorbet, a tiny dish of salted and roasted pistachios and thin pieces of pistacio biscotti - most of which went awkwardly with the cocktail. I certainly see the theme, but it wasn't working for the tastebuds.

Kinkawooka shellfish risotto with vegetables and herbs
from Etch Restaurant, Bridge Street Sydney

I adore the Let's Do Lunch concept, but find it mostly very difficult to work it into the weekday schedule. Long lunches should be part of the normal work day. While I'm at it, I'd also advocate the four-day week; that is, the three-day weekend. I did manage to escape to Etch for lunch on the very last weekday of the festival to have the Let's Do Lunch special of risotto.

Hidden beneath the sea-infused foam (ahh, food trends) was a gathering of the softest, silkiest, smoothest molluscs I've seriously ever tasted - almost like pillows sitting on a sea bed of full-bodied, but not creamy, risotto. The al dente rice was dotted with diced spring vegies, including snow peas and carrot, under the shade of fresh herb sprigs. If the season spring were a carbohydrate dish, this would be it.

And so it's last drinks and a lunch - the stomach says: "Bring on the finale!"