Chocolate fatness in the middle… These sweet words stood out perused the posters and photos around the office-turned celebration room. Although my mind was temporarily occupied with the thoughts of chocolatey fatness, it was actually one of it’s good partners that we were celebrating – coffee. Stefano Manfredi; a man with an impressive biography in the food industry having opened and operated restaurants such as Bel Mondo, Restaurant Manfredi and now currently running Bells at Killcare. Also the proud author of four books and weekly column ‘Seasonal‘ for Sydney Morning Herald’s Spectrum section. Furthermore he developed coffee brand Espresso di Manfredi by Piazza D’Oro for which has been successfully providing coffee culture to Sydneysiders for 10 strong years.

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Impressive awards wall no? And isn’t that the cutest whale hee hee

Wait another sugar hit? … isn’t SIFF over already?

Yes it is but due to my tardiness I still have one final Sugar Hitting at none other than Jonah’s for the notoriously wobbly panna cotta. This humble little panna cotta has received much attention and praise when it first appeared on the blog scene at Taste of Sydney especially when there were even videos made about its wobbliness in all its’ glory. A pleasant drive up north through some windy roads and some residential areas (we thought we were lost :S) but finally the warm illuminated sign of Jonah’s came to light.

We arrived to a warm and welcoming fireplace and was given the choice of having the sugar hit there so of course we accepted! Nothing beats sitting in front a fireplace, munching on a sweet dessert, sipping on a nice hot chocolate and relaxing with some loungey/jazzy music ^^! Now if only they gave us a packet of marshmallows as well hee hee (but then is it a gas fire haha)

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Lavender Honey and Pomegranate Molasses ($20)

It was as good as we remembered from the vanilla ni… I mean, tip to the sweet and sour pomegranate molasses surronding it. The wobbliness is always a pleasant giggle-inducing factor of this dessert as well hee hee. However I wish there was more vanilla flavour at the base of the panna cotta as it was all concentrated at the top. Each bite of the silky smooth panna cotta scraped with the molasses resulted in a initial sweet burst followed by a small zing of sourness which made a beautiful contrast in the flavours. After the sugar hit we had a short look around and it does seem to have a great view that I would like to see during the day to match the already wonderful atmosphere.

I’d hit that Sugar Hit:

Sugar Hit #3 2009 – Sheraton on the Park

Sugar Hit #2 – glass brasserie, Hilton Sydney.

Sugar Hit #1 2009 – Azuma Kushiyaki

Jonah’s Whale Beach

69 Bynya Rd

Palm Beach, 2108

Ph: (02) 9974 5599

Head Chef: George Francisco

FFichiban