{"id":2708,"date":"2017-03-22T23:27:05","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T12:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ccls.flywheelsites.com\/?p=2708"},"modified":"2021-04-13T14:16:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T04:16:20","slug":"a-taste-of-sri-lanka-on-the-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/a-taste-of-sri-lanka-on-the-coast","title":{"rendered":"A Taste of Sri Lanka on the Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a major coup for the Coast over the June long weekend, a lucky few were treated to an epic feast by one of Australia’s original celebrity chefs.<\/p>\n

Seasalt<\/a><\/span><\/strong> restaurant at Crowne Plaza Terrigal filled to the brim as chef Peter Kuruvita brought a taste of his home to ours.<\/p>\n

Having worked with\u00a0Neil Perry and Tony Bilson as they made their mark on Sydney’s cuisine scene in the 80s, Peter was part of\u00a0the first wave of chefs that now dominate the most famed kitchens across the nation.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0father of three currently has seafood-focussed restaurants in\u00a0Noosa and Fiji but Peter is increasingly returning to his roots to make his grandmother proud with superb Sri Lankan cooking.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Peter Kuruvita’s taste of Sri Lanka at Crowne Plaza Terrigal. Photo Jac Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

Instantly setting the mood for an exotic feast, the tables are set with candle-lit lanterns that flicker over rich blue\u00a0linens.<\/p>\n

There are no less than eight pieces of cutlery which become decorative the moment\u00a0Peter encourages us to eat with our hands. He jokes that eating curry with cutlery is like making love through\u00a0an interpreter.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Peter Kuruvita joins Dana Chantler and Simon Quick in the Crowne Plaza Terrigal kitchen. Photo: Jac Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

At the start of our three-course feast, Peter says\u00a0that\u00a0his biggest challenge is making Sri Lankan cuisine sexy, because ultimately it’s all about\u00a0curry and rice.<\/p>\n

While he\u00a0endeavours to make the food more presentable, he says he feels his beloved Sri Lankan grandmother’s presence in the kitchen, ensuring he stays true to the\u00a0recipes that have been passed down from earlier generations.<\/p>\n

Following a silky soft, steaming roti, our first entree arrives. The lightly-seared yellow fin tuna with \u00a0spanner crab and coriander gel is certainly presentable but then Peter admits\u00a0it’s the least Sri Lankan of all of tonight’s dishes.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Pork rib curry at Peter Kuruvita’s taste of Sri Lanka at Crowne Plaza Terrigal. Photo Jac Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

The food becomes more interesting as the night wears on with a reinvented pork curry up next. Instead of chunks of pork swimming in a sauce, the meat\u00a0is a thick black rib served on a delicate circle of smoked yoghurt with a smattering of cucumber and herbs.<\/p>\n

The “wild fish curry” also takes on a modern twist with a piece of barramundi\u00a0served on a plate alongside some sweet potato, prawn and a pair of tomatoes.<\/p>\n

It arrives in a puddle of yellow curry sauce but the presentation is more akin to something you’d see in a contemporary Australian restaurant than at your\u00a0local curry house.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Peter Kuruvita’s taste of Sri Lanka at Crowne Plaza Terrigal. Photo Jac Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

We swap out Pinot Gris for Pinot Noir as the final main arrives – a fragrant goat curry.<\/p>\n

The chunks of slow-cooked organic goat are served in a lovely gravy, accompanied with rice and all the colourful trimmings of a classic curry.<\/p>\n

It’s delicious and spicy and even though it’s eaten with a fork, nothing takes away from the sexiness of this experience.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>

Curd and treacle dessert at Peter Kuruvita’s taste of Sri Lanka at Crowne Plaza Terrigal. Photo Jac Powell<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Peter, there are only\u00a0a few types of\u00a0Sri Lanka desserts and tonight, we’re being treated to a curd and treacle concoction accompanied by\u00a0a piping hot glass of cinnamon tea.<\/p>\n

Sitting pretty in a glass with freeze-dried raspberries and pineapple, it’s traditional Sri Lankan fare presented beautifully.\u00a0Mission accomplished, Peter.<\/p>\n

Coastal Chic Tip:<\/strong> Don’t suffer from FOMO when Peter Kuruvita returns for an encore feast with a focus on seafood on October 7 – book now at\u00a0Crowne Plaza Terrigal<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a major coup for the Coast over the June long weekend, a lucky few were treated to an epic feast by one of Australia’s original celebrity chefs. Seasalt restaurant at Crowne Plaza Terrigal filled to the brim as chef Peter Kuruvita brought a taste of his home to ours. Having worked with\u00a0Neil Perry and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[173,1156,53,991,966,1155,98,1154,249,1131,184,1151,1152,1153],"class_list":["post-2708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurants","tag-australia","tag-celebrity-chef","tag-central-coast","tag-chef","tag-crowne-plaza-terrigal","tag-curry","tag-dinner","tag-feast","tag-fine-dining","tag-june-long-weekend","tag-nsw","tag-peter-kuruvita","tag-sri-lanka","tag-sri-lankan-cuisine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6665,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708\/revisions\/6665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centralcoastlifeandstyle.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}