To celebrate my upcoming birthday Leslie booked a nice lunch at the Alsahwa Estate's Ethos restaurant, It is located on a lush manicured estate next to a pair of lakes. We were early so we walked around a bit and saw a great egret trying its best to swallow a rather large eel. We headed inside and were given a great table next to the window that looked over the gardens. The menu was extensive but the real bargain was the chef's "Harvest Menu." Described as "designed to invite connection - a shared experience of the best of the seasonal menu, both familiar and unexpected." The unexpected part was the sheer volume of food. The first course was a wooden board covered in fruit, nuts, mortadella, prosciutto, jams, two kinds of cheese and two loaves of bread with a pesto spread and a mixed vegetable spread. A very generous mix of Sicilian olives brought out the twinkle in Leslie's beautiful blue eyes. The second course was fish crudo and a tomato and mozzarella salad with a basil gelato. The third course was "Dutch Carrots," a salad of fresh greens and roasted chicken. We were smart to only eat half of the charcutier board or we would have never been able to eat the rest. As it was we still took away the charcutier, some of the carrots, the bowl of greens and the chicken. We then walked the entire grounds to help with digestion. While studying all of the fellow diners we decided that one table of ladies must have been a book club because we saw two paperback books by her purse. One of the women from this table came over to ask us what we had ordered. She was thinking about having a large dinner party and wanted to order what we had. We ended up chatting for quite some time before she had to return to her friends. Next stop was Montville a quaint mountain town. We strolled through the shops and spoke at length with Priscilla in her art gallery coffee shop. Next we got some chocolates, a cup of ice cream, and wandered about in an Indian decor shop. Another spectacular day.
We have arrived at the far end of the lake
Ethos Restaurant
A stately row of Royal palms
This reminded us of Hollywood Florida
Irises in bloom
A map of the grounds
This egret has something
It is a big eel for sure
Almost swallowed, just a bit left
In Ethos
Peas growing outside our window
Soon all these tables will be full
My lovely dining companion
This would have been enough to fill us both up
Great warm bread
We decided to take the rest of this away with us
The fish curdo and the tomato salad
A fun logo
Australians love their drink, every table had at least some wine and many had cocktails too
We have crocodiles!
The "Dutch" carrots were both orange and purple
Two legs and two thighs for the chicken
We needed a stroll after lunch
Lovely blooms
A fancy duck house
This would be a great venue for an outdoor wedding
Nicely manicured lawn
A big bird bath
A stroll over the bridge
Heading to Montville
The road gets very narrow
A delightful little town
Lots of BnB's
A clock shop
A chocolatier with chocolate frogs
Ducks and Koalas
One hot mama pickle!
We looked over and saw two ladies, each with a small dog in their arms and we decided to investigate
It is very inviting
The artist and her dog
My favorite piece by Pricilla, it made me think that if Gustav Klimpt was an Aboriginal painter this is what would result
Delightful
A decorative man hole cover
This was just decorative
A wooden water wheel
Very old trash bin
This is the Mont, a tasty mushroom that was a favorite of the local wildlife
So to grew fingers
The fingers allowed ti to be able to walk away and not get eaten
A loud squawk and we see this Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Bikers stopping for burgers
A dome building
A big pineapple
