But, back to Hobart. It took just over 36 hours for this to become one of my favorite Aussie cities.
I spent the day in another contemporary art universe that I stumbled on by accident. I was walking around the harbour and came across a sign for the last day of "Beam In Thine Own Eye."
Turns out it was part of Dark Mofo event put in by Mona. And it was probably more trippy than the museum yesterday. I've never had to sign more releases forms to enter an art exhibit than here. All 10 or show exhibits were around perception and 4 did their damnedest to distort everything that's logical and comfortable. And one required constant EMTs on standby.
The most bracing (and possible coolest) was Zee. I was more nervous signing this ware than I was to swim with the great whites. 15 people at a time were lead into a room, given instructions to find the rope on the right and if you feel comfortable, roam. The room was probably no bigger than 20 feet by 10 feet. But the moment I stepped in, I couldn't see a single person. Even those 3 feet away. The room was filled with fog and had an unbelievable light setup to take away any sense of three dimensions you know. There were times when I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or shut, if I was walking straight or on an angle or looking up or down. Just completely bizarre. There were other equally mind alerting/thought provoking displays but I finished the day in Anish Kapoor's Massage.
I was sent to this room, and told to wait. The waiting area had all sorts of banging, hammering so I figured it was a play on words. Turns out it was an actual massage. Quiet and serene, with a bright light over head. I was instructed to keep my eyes closed and got a neck, arm, hand and scalp massage. And at the end, they covered my eyes, blocking all light and I'll be damned, I saw bright blue. One, monochromatic color.
And I got all that, including more for only $5.
I spent more time wandering around until dinner when I headed back to Sidecar. What happened after last night was the reason. I got a seat at the bar and it turns out the chef was there filling in. I told him how I came to Hobart to eat at the restaurant and by the end of the night he had made me a Crif Dog and sent me back to the restaurant for more courses not on the menu I ordered. I told him I planned on coming back tonight (didn't plan to eat last night) and after telling him how much I liked the sea urchin and calamari course, he said he'd bring some over tonight for me.
Sure enough, he had a sea urchin course with smoked bone marrow and pickled cauliflower waiting. Not on the menu, or the special list. Bloody addictive. Clean flavours. I had a few other things including some deep cold water local clams that have two abductor muscles because of the temps. Super sweet with a deep friend hot dog bun that turned almost custardy when soaking up the juices.
I was ordering the last course and he said there was also a dessert not on the menu as a thanks for coming down. It was a layered brûléed brownie. Melting hot on top and dense cold on the bottom. Topped with a bit of salt it was highly addictive with the Madeira they included. Great service, friendly people and best of all great food.
I'll surely be back. And with a heads up, sounds like they can pull together some other unique food items for an expanded menu. I definitely plan to take them up on that soon. And most impressive is all that from a simple setup.
Location:Addison Drive,Cambridge,Australia
