Thursday, May 8, 7:00 p.m.
Members $95, guests $120

Every night, in the heart of Sydney, Australia’s trendy Circular Quay and breathtaking harbor, Aria chef Matthew Moran directs a culinary production that rivals anything on the stage of the spectacular Sydney Opera House next door. As Matthew Evans wrote in Australia’s Vogue Entertaining & Travel, “Aria is a lyrical composition of degustation, location, and sophistication.”

Moran has been cooking professionally for more than half of his 33 years. He grew up on a dairy farm and started working in restaurant kitchens at 15, first at the très French La Belle Hélène in Roseville, New South Wales, and later at Stefano Manfredi’s Restaurant Manfredi, where he was exposed to Italian flavors and techniques.

In 1991, Moran joined forces with Peter Sullivan to open the first of many ventures—the Paddington Inn Bistro. Its menu caught the attention of the highly regarded Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, which awarded the eatery a coveted chef’s hat. Four years later, the pair sold the restaurant in order to concentrate on Morans Restaurant and Café. There, Moran concocted modern Australian dishes that made critics lick their fingers. Morans was named Best New Restaurant 1996 by the Guide, and two years later, the publication awarded the establishment two chef’s hats.

Moran and Sullivan opened Aria in 1999. As usual, Moran took charge of the stoves, and Sullivan, of the front of the house. Two chef’s hats and a Best Wine List in Australia nod from The Australian’s James Halliday later, Aria was on everybody’s must eat list. Writing in Gourmet, Neale Whitaker declared it “a first-rate restaurant serving complex yet accessible Australian food.” Evans described the food simply as “a revelation.”

James Beard fell into cooking as a way to make a living when it became clear to him that the opera career he’d dreamed of wasn’t going to pan out. But Beard remained a knowledgeable and enthusiastic operagoer for the rest of his days. No need to sing for this supper.