Now for something completely different: chocolate-flavoured pasta. It was the perfect companion for the rich New Zealand venison I devoured recently at a winemaker's lunch at Gianni's Restaurant in Brisbane city. The venison loin came lubricated with stewed cherries and rosemary-infused oil and was resting on a pile of chocolate tagliatelle.

The memorable meal began with prawns and baby root vegetables served in a shallow bath of verjuice enlivened with mango and cucumber juices. Gianni's has a reputation for producing food of outstanding quality, with substance triumphing over glitz. The talented chefs didn't miss a beat.

I returned a week later for dinner with friends. We ate well.

The food alchemy began with entrées that included a white and green asparagus salad with Spanish ham and truffle oil, avocado with organic yoghurt, crème fraîche and caviar, and prawns with a green papaya salad dressed with mango gazpacho. My companions all elected to have the prawns and were delighted. I had tuna with duck foie gras, an unlikely but interesting juxtaposition of flavours enhanced by aged balsamic syrup. The portions were tiny but the flavours were huge.

My architect friend had a slab of Atlantic salmon with a corn fritter, cucumber relish and horseradish vinaigrette and at the end was just about licking the bowl. His wife, an artist, showed her country roots by ordering the 100 per cent Kobe wagyu sirloin ($45). The sirloin carried the number 506, which we were told related to the amount of marbling. All very scientific.

To finish, we shared a white and dark chocolate mousse with raspberries and an orange-flavoured biscuit.

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