Four hours north of the Sydney CBD, you'll find yourself in the sleepy holiday town of Forster, a seaside destination famous for its white sand, crystal clear blue waters and inlets crowded with mangroves. It's also famous for oysters, specifically, Sydney Rock oysters. The estuaries here produce 30 per cent of the Sydney Rocks consumed worldwide and looking around, it's not hard to see why. The protected and calm shallows have been farmed officially for generations (and unofficially for generations more) and the crown jewel of this co-op of farmers is Thirty Three Degrees, a top shelf dining experience designed to show off the very best of local seafood.
After a dip at one of the many pristine surf beaches, it’s time for lunch, a celebration of local seafood. Start by throwing back a dozen oysters with subtle ginger and chili. The bivalves have been plucked that morning from the waters that lap around the jetty you're perched on, so you would be doing yourself a disservice if you skipped this ceremony – you're not likely to find oysters this good year round anywhere else.
After throwing back your oysters, branch out to the tuna carpaccio, motoyaki emulsion (an umami packed grilled oyster sauce) or perhaps a Japanese inspired cucumber salad with prawns so fresh they pop with meaty resistence enhanced by the creamy buttermilk dressing and the brightness of rose-hued pickled ginger. Next up is a warmly spiced local barramundi fillet, heady with anise and cinnamon, on a bed of cauliflower and butter sauce with french style peas. You might be tempted to opt for a classic of calamari with aioli but you're better off saving room for one of the dishes that truly allow the chefs to flex their creative muscles: house cured duck proscuitto and liver parfait or linguini of Balmain bugs, bottarga and crisp sourdough crumbs for texture get our vote.
Frankly, there’s not a lot more that this day needs but there’s no harm in a pod of resident bottlenosed dolphins joining you for dessert, cold poached peaches with Champagne jelly and raspberry sorbet is a sharp and refreshing finish. Well, almost as refreshing as dangling your toes in the water next to resident fisherman trying their luck on the dock.