Bather's Pavilion

When I googled "Sydney's best brunch" a year ago, the resounding winner was Bather's Pavilion.  Not having a chance to figure out a 3-hour chunk of time when I could cab or bus all the way up to Balmoral Beach, I was resigned to knowing it was the best without actually backing it up with experience.  Until this week!  Meagen and I had 3 free hours between a late-morning meeting and afternoon reviews, so we sped up there as quickly as we could.  The landmark building was established in the late 20's to accommodate beachgoers in the fashion of the day.  It still has a charm that would be hard to find many other places in the world, a mix of old-fashioned elegance and sunny frivolity.  Layer that with a world-class chef whose restaurant also has a casual cafe and it's a pretty special place.  I ate a summery, smooth gazpacho with sliced cucumber and micro radish shoots plus a cool roasted tomato, eggplant and greenbean salad topped with baba ganoush.  I loved the roaring garlic in the eggplant spread.  It made the fresh vegetables taste that much sweeter.