Celebrating Barney

Friday night was Barney's 37th birthday so I surprised him by taking him to a fancy restaurant for dinner. We were both so tired from work and being up early with Myles, so the 45 drive to get there wasn't enticing but I am so glad we went!

We went to a restaurant called Hobarts in Newcastle. Barney heard good things about it and I found out the chef at my work and the chef at Hobarts used to work together. Small world.

For entrees I had scallops with crispy kale, sea grapes and Japanese vinaigrette. Barney had beef carpacio with fennel, avocado puree and horseradish.

For main course I had "3 little pigs" consisting of pork belly, pork roast, pork sausage, cauliflower puree and apple. Barney had confit duck leg with crisp duck tongue and duck neck sausage. They were both delicious!

For dessert we had their signature "Monet" dessert. They put a piece of plastic down on the table and the chef comes over and makes the dessert in front of you, like a work of art.

Once everything is on the plate, the chef pours dry ice over the chocolate shell in the middle making everything inside it freeze.

Once the dry ice settles, she picks up the chocolate shell and drops it, causing it to shatter and all the yummy bits spread over the table. The dessert consisted of raspberry coulis, passionfruit curd, black current gel, chocolate and macadamia soil, cookie crumb, coconut foam, cherry jelly, white chocolate shards, fresh raspberries and blueberries which freeze in the middle, hazelnut ice cream and the chocolate shell. It was divine! We ate nearly all of it but were so full after. It was fun to eat off of the table too.

We had a lovely date night and Myles was a good boy for the babysitter so it was a win win!

On Sunday it was Father's Day here in Australia so we decided to go into Newcastle to the farmers market. The produce, flowers, meat, breads... everything looked amazing. Most of it was organic so it was a bit expensive for us, but we walked away with a pineapple, purple carrots and organic beetroot. We got to sample some beautiful salami and swiss cheese too which Myles loved.

We left the markets and headed to another town to do a bit of shopping and stopped for lunch and a play.

We headed home and just hung out until nap time. We all had a 2 hour nap which was glorious! I went off to church and Barney cooked me a beautiful dinner. It probably should have been me cooking but he loves it and I appreciate it!

Myles and I are so grateful for Barney in our lives. He is a great dad and wonderful husband! We love you Barney!