Damien and I have been to Becasse Restaurant, when it was located in Surry Hills on several occasions together, with the most memorable probably being the Five Regions of France dinner which absolutely blew both of us away.

And then just over twelve months ago, Damien went to the Becasse Restaurant in Clarence Street, once again writing a guest entry, concluding Each course presented and tasted better than they sound, with the smoked haddock veloute and foie gras terrine my standout dishes..

We went to Becasse last night for my birthday and, once again, we really enjoyed ourselves, though deep in both our hearts was, perhaps a desire for the old days when Becasse was “our little secret”, before it became the Sydney Morning Herald’s “Restaurant Of The Year”. And unlike last time, our favourite Maitre’d, Georgia, was nowhere to be seen.

I guess what I like most about Becasse is their desire and ability to experiment a little. Hence, for me, it was great to start off the night with a dishes including the canape (puff pastry, tomato and goats cheese), the tomato/tea soup and the terrine of golden beetroot and blood orange with a salad of baby cress and Woodside goats curd cromesqui, where they genuinely sought to combine interesting and unexpected flavours.

A little further into the meal – we chose the degustation menu – there were probably fewer surprises. For the main, for example, we both chose the Wagyu Beef, with other selections including the pork belly with caramelised scallops and pea puree, with all of them being consistently good.

The food and wine were beautifully matched.