I have always been a huge fan of James Bond and I had pleasure of attending a James Bond Themed Cocktail Party this weekend.
I don a beautiful tuxedo and my famous Top Hat (I seriously loved wearing top hats all the time, until my friends advised it was weird if I wore it outside of a fancy dress party setting, so I have now limited its use to those occasions) and make way to a friend’s plush apartment, which on one side overlooks the beautiful eastern side of the harbour and the other side the beautiful city of Sydney.
It’s a party for one of my best friends, whom I have actually known for close ten years from Western Australia. Most of us at the party are from Western Australia, so the discussion is kinda like a 007 movie, we chat about world domination, Aston Martins and the jet-set life. There are no standard girls in bikinis like most 007 movies, although the girls at the party look stunning and all of them could pass-off for a Bond girl. I also meet a guy who is a pilot, so if we need a quick getaway on a jet to pursue an arch-enemy, we have our man.
Caprioska & Champagne & Punch
I alternate between a Caprioskas (The tanginess lime serves as the perfect offset to the sweet sugary syrup) and the lovely champagne throughout the night which suits the Black Tie occasion. The punch is lovely with delicious rich fruity flavours, which when sipped with those cool blue straws remind one of the Californian summer.
Then we tuck into the beautiful canapes… here they are:
Rare Roast Beef with Rocket Mayonnaise and Rocket Leaves
The rare roast beef is soft and has the typical rich roast beef deli style flavours one would be accustomed to, while the peppery strength of the rocket just punches through to provide a lovely flavour pairing. The architecture of this canape is complete with the crunchy mini toast base, which has the dish firing on all cylinders of taste, textures, aesthetics (gorgeous rare red colour of the beef is a sight in itself) and of course interaction of the flavours.
Smoked Salmon blinis
The rich oily salmon flavour just dominates this dish with light creme cheese providing a rich and creamy but balancing offset to the strength of the flavour in the salmon, while the blini proves to be the perfect bed for the beautiful topping. The blini is sweet (sugar brioche-style sweet) which provides an additional layer of flavour to a dish, which is clearly defined by the salmon.
Wagyu pie
It’s a delicious pie with a tangy hot tomato sauce topping. The rich oily fall-apart wagyu meat “stew” which forms the filling proves to be a transcendent dining experience. The pastry casing of the pie has a rich buttery flavour which complements the richness of the wagyu. Its a canape that highlights, elegance, simplicity and perfection can be all used in the same sentence.
Rosemary and Lamb Sausage Rolls
The distinct taste of lamb just oozes from dish, while the herbiness of the rosemary breaks through the strength of lamb flavour to give you that traditional taste which is reminiscent of those lazy Sunday roast lamb & vegetables lunches. The flaky casing completes the experience with the crunchy texture of pastry providing a perfect contrasting pairing to the succulence of the lamb meat.
The Quiches (The Spinach, The Caramelised Onion and The Leek & Gruyere)
The quiche trios are top on aesthetics with the green spinach adding a lovely distinct colour platter amidst the sea yellow. I tried them all, however the caramelised onion quiche is a stand-out. You have the richness associated a standard quiche but sweet onion flavour shines and cuts through the cheese and eggs to make it a distinctive dish.
Tuna with Wasabi Mayonnaise
Similar to the Salmon, the tuna being a nice oily fish, but this is lightly seared, so the texture of the outer part of the dish is firmer while the jelly like centre of the tuna remains succulent as ever. There is a sesame seed coating, which is beautiful and provides yet another layer of the textures, while the strong wasabi flavour comes through but with the dilution of the mayonnaise, the wasabi does not overpower the tuna.
The Three Cheese Arancini
A standard arancini, where the richness of the cheese, the texture of the rice and the golden crunch of the outer coating mixed with the tangy tomato illustrates why this is considered the ultimate comfort food.
So as the evening draws to a close, we move onto dessert…
Cupcakes
The cupcakes are full sugary baked goodness… but there is a special story behind these baked delectableness. In order to win over girl (now wife), before they started dating, the birthday boy was on the phone to her around Christmas time a few years ago closing out a work-related transaction. She lamented to him at being in office and wished she was tucking into some cupcakes instead. He then (a few minutes later) ordered some cupcakes and had them delivered to her office, and well the rest is history… Now that’s some James Bond charm!
Birthday Cake
Then there is the birthday cake, which looks gorgeous.
The Champagne flows, the conversations and laughter also continue and we all agree it was such a fantastic night of celebrations. It really has been a 007 Party, amazing food and alcohol, million dollar views and beautiful people!
1 comment