Bécasse: Stairway to heaven

Just returned from dinner at Bécasse, so this is just a quick picture post on the meal, mainly so that it can be reminisced about when the memory fades.

Each year, we celebrate his birthday at a restaurant du jour (and I get to choose it!). I tried booking six weeks ahead for last Saturday night, but Bécasse was booked out. Such is the price of popularity. So last week, we went to Felix (in Ash Street, one of my previous visits here). This week, we rocked up to a virtually deserted Westfield shopping centre and ascended the stairway to heaven (long escalator from Pitt St) to Bécasse .

Summary
We had: Five-course degustation ($150 each). There is a choice of 2 dishes for the main and dessert.
Plus: Truffle risotto ($20 supplement) - this was a special, with the truffles from Tarago near Goulburn. You can replace one of the standard entrees with this.
We drank: Kronenburg beer ($10 ea), Sparkling mineral water ($10 pp)

The service: Waitstaff were attentive, friendly, professional.
The atmosphere: not too formal, lovely chandeliers, velvet banquettes ('bonkettes') quite comfortable, small velvet stool for my handbag, moderate buzz of conversation from the other tables, better ambience and more intimate than the previous Bécasse, in my opinion.
The food: Elegant presentation, contemporary flavour combinations, beautifully prepared (natch).

Here are some pictures...

clockwise from top left:

canape: lime mascarpone on puff pastry;

amuse bouche: cauliflower and scallop veloute with carrot jelly underneath

bread: fresh and warm, served with wakame butter with black salt

Also: you can glimpse the "Chef's Table" and kitchen behind the circular peepholes on the wall 

Yellowfin tuna, confit octopus, mandarin, white radish (there's a slice of oyster jelly in there, too)

Hapuka (NZ fish, sourced locally) coddled in squid ink, with mussels (amazing black 'skin')

Mushroom risotto with shaved truffle (I was slightly disappointed that the truffle was not strongly fragrant against the risotto; the pieces seemed dried out?)

Also: the table from which the sommelier served the wines

Forgotten vegetables (swedes, celeriac, kohlrabi, etc) with pork jowl and yabby tails.

This was served on a piece of rock (very Flintstones) and came with a smouldering piece of cedar bark that imparted the smell of smoke. Oh, I just love the smell of woodsmoke!

 

Mains

Glenloth pheasant, boudin blanc with Armagnac jus (very intense flavours)

Wagyu cooked 'a la plancha' with mushrooms and lime/wasabi jus (the beef was amazingly tender)

Pre-dessert: Granny Smith apple jelly, sorbet, marshmallow

Dessert: Silken lemongrass and lime caramel, with passionfruit and vanilla yoghurt sorbet (scattered with edible flowers, so pretty)

My dessert: Chocolate cadeau with salted black cumin caramel. The gold leaf fluttered in the breeze (aka air conditioning), the crunchy base was delightfully sweet.

To finish: petits fours of raspberry macarons and chocolate ganache; tea.

Also: closeup of the bonkette.

Final Summary

A lovely place to celebrate a birthday or other special occasion. There was a slight wait between courses, but the great service made up for this (as an aside, it seemed like the waitstaff were all female apart from the sommelier). The meal was pricey and I'd rank the food below our previous birthday dinners at Quay and Sepia though it was of the same high standard. I'd love to try Bécasse again, maybe a spring or summer menu. Oh, and they gave us a couple of brioche from the Bécasse bakery as a goodbye gift (yum)!

Bécasse is at:
Level 5, Westfield Sydney, Pitt St, Sydney, NSW

Ph: 02 9283 3440