BRIAN AND JO LIZOTTE
They spend their lives surrounded by good food and great music as the founders and owners of the Lizotte ’ s restaurants , so there ’ s little doubt there ’ ll be something tasty cooking in the kitchen and a few tunes to keep the mood festive and bright throughout the silly season .
Where do you celebrate Christmas and who do you celebrate with ? What is a traditional “ normal ” Christmas Day for you ? We start our Christmas celebrations with all our customers and the artists helping them to celebrate . Then “ our ” Christmas day is spent with our two daughters Sammy and Emelie and family , usually either in Sydney , New Zealand or Tasmania . We spread ourselves around from year to year . Turkey and ham are the mainstay Christmas meats - which do you favour and why ? Each Christmas is so different as our family is so diverse in their cultures and traditions . We often say “ Oh this year we ’ re just going to have prawns and rolls down on the beach !!!” I think this has happened twice in the 27 years we have
been together !!!! We get caught up in the vibrancy and excitement of the Christmas buzz and all that comes with it . There are no real favourites . And it really is the only time of the year where you eat and drink whatever without too much questioning … until about 2pm in the afternoon ! What else is usually on your Christmas menu and what is your favourite festive food to indulge in ? Last year we were in New Zealand and apart from all the usual turkey , ham , pavlova , etc . we had an ocean of lobster all caught from Raglan by Jo ’ s nephew . I have never turned lobster down before but it seriously got to the stage where I couldn ’ t even look at it . Breakfast , lunch and dinner . Lemon and coconut milk marinated fresh fish , carpaccio . A gazillion different salads , veggies , tiramisu , Christmas pudd … oh and just a little bit of wine ! One year in New Zealand we had a hungi . That was interesting . The men got up about 6am to a compulsory beer and shovel to go and dig the hole . Believe me , it is a lot more involved than I realised . The stones had to be the right ones , baskets for the food , the food had to be wrapped in proper cotton cloth and then it had to cook for hours . Do you have any particular Christmas family traditions ? To prioritise it as family time to be with each other , eat , drink and be merry and share the day . What ’ s either your 1 ) most special OR 2 ) craziest ( you choose ) Christmas memory ? Most beautiful memories are when our girls were little and driving to see Christmas lights and decorating the tree and house . Seeing their faces after Santa had been . But there are two most special Christmas occasions that I feel blessed to have had . One was with Jo ’ s dad Bob when he was very unwell with cancer , and we all knew this was his last one . We were in New Zealand with all of his children and grandchildren around him . He knew it , and we knew it . Then just two years ago we were in Tasmania at my brother Michael ’ s with his family and my dear Dad Hank , who we did not realise would be his last Christmas . He was in fine form and he was just so much at peace and loving the day . He passed two months later . I shall be forever grateful that we were there with him for his last Christmas .
If you could make any changes to Christmas traditions what would they be ? I could be really cliché here and say to be not so much about the gifts , but my experience is that this is a natural progression when your children grow up . I don ’ t care for the gifts . I just want to be with our girls and family and friends . If you could invite one extra guest to Christmas this year - who would it be ( dead or alive )? Not one but three : Therese my mum , Hank my Dad and Bob my father-in-law , all of whom are no longer with us . Then every single family member from both sides of our families and there would be more food and wine than any of us could consume . ■
CELEBRATE NEW YEARS EVE AT LIZOTTES !
Start off the New year with a bang and enter A World Of Pure Imagination as Jay Scott Berry , modern-day Merlin works his magic with an elegant , whimsical style that appeals to all ages . From empty hands , objects appear , disappear and transform . This is the art of wonder at its finest .
Enjoy a sumptuous awardwinning three-course meal and share some beautiful local wine with family and friends , then let Van the Man ’ s Morrison tribute help you sail into the new year as 2016 fades away and a fresh new year begins at Lizotte ' s .
With its roots in the highly successful Sydney wine bar circuit of the 1970 ’ s , Van the Man is a must see for all Van Morrison fans , both young and old . For more information and tickets visit www . lizottes . com . au
WHO WANTS THIS EXPERIENCE FOR CHRISTMAS ?
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