I am, you are . . .

. . . we are Australians !

Yesterday was Malc's Australian citizenship ceremony at the Sydney Town Hall hosted by the Lord Mayor. It was a relaxed affair with the Lord Mayor giving a brief speech welcoming the new Australians before handing out the certificates. Each new citizen then posed for a commemorative photo with the Lord Mayor. Friends and relatives were seated at the back of the hall but were encouraged to come to the front to take photos during the handing out of the certificates. Afterwards, afternoon tea was served with Australian favourites such as lamingtons and party pies.

After the ceremony, I took Malc out to dinner to celebrate the occasion. Earlier in the week, I told him that I was taking him to a Japanese restaurant, and he kept pestering me tell him the name of the restaurant. I managed to keep him in the dark for maximum surprise effect (no, I did not take him to Tetsuya's).

The 'top-secret' restaurant was Certo (340 Kent Street, Sydney ph (02) 9299-0506). While the food served is Italian, the chef and the wait staff are all Japanese. Hence, it is a Japanese restaurant!

Semantics aside, our meal was glorious. Upon arrival, we were treated to a complimentary amuse bouche of roasted pumpkin (me) and beef carpacio (Malc), a sign of more good things to come. Malc & I decided to try the 4-course degustazione. First came the antipasto plate of fresh tomato with boconcini cheese (not in photo), frittata, broccoli with toasted garlic and three kinds of shellfish.

The primi piatti was penne with tuna and mushroom in tomato and cream sauce . . . so rich and so good. Malc described it as having a 'rounded flavour' . . .




Next came the secondi, and as it was a Friday of Lent, we had pan grilled snapper served with mashed legumes. The fish was perfect, crunchy on the outside and soft and juicy in the inside.



At this point, Malc and I were ready to wave the white flag, but we could not bring ourselves to miss dessert, which was torta di cioccolata. An Italian version of chocolate cake, packed not fluffy and and more bitter than sweet.

With our extremely full, but satisfied stomachs, we walked happily home, Malc clutching his Australian citizenship certificate.