CERES Community Environmental Park is arguably Melbourne’s hippie hub. CERES stands for Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies and it’s a not-for-profit, sustainable urban farm located on the banks of Merri Creek in East Brunswick.

But whether you wear hemp fisherman’s pants or carry a designer label handbag, I think everyone would enjoy a trip to CERES. There’s an organic cafe, shop, nursery, community garden, adventure playground, bike shed, conference venue, function restaurant and organic markets every Wednesday and Saturday.

The CERES Organic Cafe is a great pit-stop for your visit to CERES. A big wooden hut houses the kitchen, which cooks mainly organic food with many of the ingredients coming straight of CERES‘ organic market garden. Seating is scattered around the cafe’s wrap-around verandah, under the plastic marquee or by the shade of tea trees within sight of the kids’ sandpit. Though it’s all pretty relaxed so if you decided you wanted to louche around on a picnic blanket with your kids and pets I think that’d be ok too.

To start – iced dandelion tea ($5). I wasn’t expecting it to come with ice cream but the sweet vanilla scoop was needed to temper some of the bitterness of the tea.

The breakfast menu is very eggs-heavy (there are chooks living on site) with the most interesting version being the Indonesian eggs ($15.60). What came out was a large wholesale selection of brown rice, Asian herbs, crisp salad greens, a sweet soy sauce and a sprinkle of peanuts, all finished with two fried eggs sunny side up.

Poke your knife through the cheerful yellow yolk, cut up the whites into bite sized pieces and then toss the whole lot together with the dollop of sambal for a breakfast that’s hearty, filling and a spice sensation. Having chilli for breakfast is not for everyone but if your stomach can deal with it, I highly recommend this dish.

While I was very full, I was intrigued by the fact that the muffins were $5. I haven’t seen muffins break the $5 barrier in Melbourne before and wondered whether there was a reason they were unusually expensive. A taste test of the milk chocolate and hazelnut muffin revealed that we would have been better off saving our $5 and the calories. Amongst four people the verdict was unanimous – the muffin was too solid and dense for our liking – maybe all that almond meal inside it was what made it such an expensive item relative to everything else on the menu?

Apparently their gluten free orange and almond cake is considered one of the best in town so I’ll be trying that next time instead.

The kitchen is open until 3pm and the lunch menu looks as healthful and appetising as the breakfast options. I will definitely be returning to CERES and the CERES Organic Cafe – it’s a great day out for urbanites wanting to get in touch with their inner hippie.

For other locations where you can experience the country in the city, try the Farm Cafe at Collingwood Children’s Farm.

CERES Organic Cafe, CERES Community Environment Park, Cnr Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East +61 3 9389 0100

Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4pm
Saturday 8.30am – 5pm
Sunday 9am – 5pm

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As a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that (a) I love movies and (b) I love food.

So when one of my local favourites The Commoner invited me to the launch night of their first movie-inspired multi-course menu I could hardly say no. And the theme was chooks! Roast chooks! In the form of Poultrygeist (duh duh duuuuh).

Movie-themed meals may sound like something put on by a theatre restaurant frequented by screeching hens nights but The Commoner is much classier (and tastier) than that. Every second month this year they’ll be offering a special dinner or cocktail food menu – starting with Poultrygeist for February then Claws, Whisky Business, Back to the Butcher, Belicatessen and Planet of the Canapes. They will be available along with  The Commoner‘s standard menu.

So, back to our ghostly feathered friends….

First course were canapes of Ossau Iraty (a French cheese), a sliver of crispy chicken skin and onion jam. Never mind crostini,  just pile everything atop that fried chicken skin! The bites were paired with a cider from Bress, a small winery in Harcourt (apple country) which my friend M enjoyed the most out of all of the matched drinks. So much so she had 2 glasses of the Bon Bon Cider and then snuck in most of my glass as well!

If you feel that five courses of poulty is too much for your stomach, don’t worry it’s not just all hunks of meat on a plate. Second course was a perfectly seared scallop unfortunately overpowered by a rather salty ‘barnyard’ stock jelly, fresh peas and carrot crisp matched with a Mon Redon Cotes du Rhone Blanc.

My favourite course was the third course – Scotch egg with piccalilly [sic], pheasant terrine, spiced duck neck sausage and mustard fruits. The plate was artfully presented and I loved the repetition and alternation of savoury and sweet, savoury and sweet in each mouthful. Despite the presence of not just one but three different meats in a single dish it didn’t leave my stomach feeling hard and heavy, with just enough kick in the fruits and piccalilli to lift the savoury meatiness from the palate. The plate of small bites was accompanied by the  Bress La Gallina white blend viognier, chardonnay and sauvignon.

The main course was a brined and wood grilled quail, pickled butternut, quinoa and date puree.  The Commoner has a wood-burner in their courtyard so their roast meats are not to be missed – and this quail diving head(less) first into the pool of full-bodied gravy was no exception. Expect to roll your sleeves up and dig in with your fingers as the quail’s small proportions and rotund back-end makes slippery work of any attempt to carve it daintily.

Both M and I agreed that the quinoa and date puree were excellent accompaniments to the quail but neither of us much cared for the crunchy and sour pickled butternut. Call me traditional but a simple pumpkin mash would have been perfect.

The main course was paired with the  Bress La Gallina red blend of tempranillo, garnacha and syrah.

To finish, a very rich duck egg brulee with a side pot of tart summer rhubarb and two small rounds of shortbread dusted with sumac. Small but just right and matched with a glass of Pennyweight Gold.

If you want to enjoy the same poultry experience get along to  The Commoner  this month and make sure you book. The movie-themed menus are $60 for cocktail food, $80 for 5 courses, $120 with matching wines. Gather your friends or go for a romantic tete-a-tete on Valentines Day.

The Commoner, 122 Johnston St, Fitzroy +61 3 9415 6876

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What I love about Melbourne is that you can be going about your everyday mundaneness then bam! There’s a brand new cafe/restaurant right on your doorstep.

So it was I was trekking to the bank, chemist and Officeworks when I took a double-take. What used to be the Recreation Hotel has been transformed into Marmalade and Soul, a new project by Raymond Capaldi from Hare & Grace.

The corner building has been scrubbed of its pub roots and a homely country-kitchen style cafe/restaurant installed in its place. Marmalade and Soul will be all-day affair, with a British-leaning breakfast menu, lunch at 12pm then dinner starting soon on Thu, Fri and Sat nights.

It’s not really the done thing to review a premises on its very first day (with the lunch menu literally coming straight off the printer into my hands) so you can take any comments I make with that knowledge in mind.

I never visited the Recreation Hotel but the new fitout is artistic and cute and makes the most of showing off the fresh produce used in the kitchen. Huge wire baskets hold Christmas baubles of red capsicums, lemons and oranges and a bushy bunch of rosemary becomes a fragrant centrepiece.

Wooden spoons are turned into chandeliers (twee but it works) and the sweets display is gorgeous – rosewater and passionfruit marshmallow, fist-sized meringues and jagged bricks of honeycomb jostle for space amongst the cookies and muffins.

The waitstaff were still finding their spots but still the service impeccably friendly – not just serving me the usual glass of water when seated but asking whether I wanted some papers to read when they could see that I had my hands full. Much appreciated.

The lunch menu is curious and not the kind of home-style comfort cooking I was expecting from the restaurant’s name. Besides a selection of ready made sandwiches there are ‘Composites’ and ‘Principals’ –  presumably a split of entree/shared plates and mains. Japanese French, Italian cuisines all take a turn in an interesting and complex-sounding range of dishes – as far away from chicken parma as you can get.

I chose the pave of confit salmon with brown rice, spring onion and green tea broth ($24). The dish was beautifully presented, the salmon sweetly tender and the flavours fresh – but it wasn’t particularly thrilling, just very clean and healthful (great if you’re on a diet, which I’m not). And calling a rectangular piece of seared salmon a ‘pave‘ is a bit of unnecessary pomposity frankly.

So why does Marmalade and Soul still get a HOT? Because my curiosity has been piqued by the avant-garde menu. There are six composites and eight principals, with at least a handful of ingredients and terms I’m not familiar with. From my brief glance at their breakfast menu there are a couple of standout dishes amongst the eggs and muesli including my new favourite breakfast dish, kedgeree. The space is gorgeous and people are friendly and it’s so shiny new it’s not so busy…yet.

 Marmalade and Soul, 162 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy

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Finally the Arts Precinct has a decent place to eat, in the form of My Mexican Cousin.

The all-day restaurant is part of the Melbourne Recital Centre and is a joint project between Savatore Malatesta (St Ali, Plantation)  and Jerome Borazio (The Resurrection, Ponyfish Island). It’s named after St Ali‘s most famous breakfast dish ‘My Mexican Cousin’, so don’t be confused into thinking that there’ll be Mexican food involved in the neo-Creole menu.

I was attending the MusicPlay concerts at the Melbourne Recital Centre for a couple of days in a row so took the opportunity to try most of the typewritten one page lunch menu with Gourmet Chick. It is mostly shared food and comes in different portion sizes, so pre-show you can go easy on the servings and post-show you can satisfy your growling stomach.

I found the food to be a bit hit-and-miss. I can’t vouch for the menu’s authenticity as I’ve never eaten much Creole, so I’m going purely by flavour and texture.  Sometimes things that sounded great on paper didn’t emerge from the kitchen as expected and sometimes blandly described dishes were interesting, original and delicious.

Case in point – Praline bacon ($6) sounded good in theory but not so good in practice. It was like really over-dried beef jerky and we left most of the plate untouched.

The scallop ceviche ($5.50) was not the expected slices of scallop but whole medallions partially pickled. Not sure how it’s possible to ‘cook’ a thick scallop in lime juice, so consider it more of a scallop sashimi with some spicy gazpacho dressing. Worth a repeat visit.

The dirty rice was a Creole-style fried rice ($12), a tasty but oily mixture of rice, ground pork and Creole seasoning which with a bit of research apparently consists of cayenne, paprika, oregano, onion, garlic and thyme.

Make sure you don’t miss the po’boy, a classic New Orleans sandwich. It comes in two sizes ($7 and $14) and half is enough if you want to try other things. It’s a small sub spread with mayonnaise and a seafood stock reduction and piled with juicy fried king prawns and lettuce leaves. A quick and filling meal if the curtain is being raised soon and not something that’s going to make you burp during interval.

For dessert the beignets looked like appetising balls of fried dough but on taking a bite Gourmet Chick suspected that they had been reheated rather than freshly fried. She used to work at a servo cooking doughnuts so she should know! They lacked the tongue-searing just-fried sizzle and the crunchy exterior of a fresh doughnut. I personally didn’t care much for the accompanying sauces either.

On a second visit I had the gumbo and crab egg roll. Again, one hit, one miss. Like the scallop ceviche, the crab egg roll ($12) was a delicate dish, beautifully presented on a narrow platter, served cold, and contained big shreds of crab meat mixed with aioli, Creole seasoning and wrapped in an omelette. Really delicious, especially in hot weather.

On the other hand, the gumbo had the slightly gluey mouthfeel of a lot of cornflour or potato thickener in its base. A cheap stomach-filler nevertheless, as a half serve of gumbo ($7) is all you need for one person.

My coffee-drinking friend who lives nearby assures me the coffee is excellent (as you’d expect from the St Ali stable) and the staff are super-friendly.

My advice for dining at My Mexican Cousin is to select from  the menu carefully (if you are inclined, read the menu’s Creole-pedia for an explanation of the abbreviated codes next to the dishes). If you end up with more misses than hits at least the prices will be reasonable and there’s really no better option for pre or post-theatre dining close by.

My Mexican Cousin, Corner Sturt St and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank +61 3 9686 3389
Mon 7am – 4pm
Tues – Fri 7 till late
Weekends 8am till late

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Carolina is a new cafe in East Brunswick where pram-pushing mums, bike riders and hip young things collide (or sometimes, in my case, I like to think I’m all three).

What was a former Italian shoe store called ‘Invicta’ has been transformed into a casual cafe with all the right elements to appeal to their three-prong target demographic. The owners have kept the shop’s original gold decal on the window so look out for the tiny curbside blackboard pointing you in the right direction.

For the hipsters – a small room with a smattering of tables, a high-walled bar and cosy wooden booths lining up one side. There are cute knick-knacks dotted around, including antique shoe moulds harking back to the premises’ original purpose.

For the parents – walk down the corridor and find yourself in a gorgeous courtyard with a backdrop of reclaimed wood. The spacious setting includes garden beds filled with herbs and vegetables, tangles of trellised vines and overhead, swatches of hessian that pull along wires to create shade where needed. In one corner, a clean little sandpit with toys!

For the cyclists – turn off the Capital City Trail near the bike shop Velo Cycles, take a left down the cobblestone laneway and enter the cafe through the gate for the back entrance. Plenty of space to park your bike or even wheel it in if you’re particularly precious about it.

Now, to the menu. The coffee comes from Seven Seeds and breakfast staples like eggs, muesli and French toast all make an appearance, but with a twist. I tried a half-serve of housemade fruit brioche toasted with poached peaches, a squiggle of orange blossom spiced syrup, a large dollop of marscapone and fresh mint ($6.50 for half, $13 for whole). The bread was quite dense, all the better to soak up the syrup which I would have liked more of. The mint was a welcome addition to a reasonably rich dish.

From the lunch menu, which starts at 11am, I chose the Tunisian-style brik pastry rolls filled with mozzarella, basil and pinenuts ($14). This was served with some summery ratatouille, the slight sharpness an effective foil for the cheesy, nutty, finger-licking oily pastries. I hope that in future they might let you choose one of their wholefood salads as an accompaniment – I particularly liked the sound of organic quinoa, roast pumpkin, apple, snowpeas and tamari pepitas ($9).

There is lots to like about Carolina – both the breakfast and lunch menus are wholesome and inventive, the service is friendly and the setting is wonderful. I’ll be back, pushing a pram or riding my bike.

For other kid-friendly cafes near the Capital City bike trail, try Farm Cafe, Small Block and Squirrel Cafe.

Carolina, 11 Nicholson St, East Brunswick
Tue-Fri 7.30am-11pm
Sat-Sun 8.30am-11pm

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Do you have a brother?

Does he make you coffee? Cook you eggs? Bake you muffins?

If he’s an annoying brother, then he might just do so.

Annoying Brother Espresso + Kitchen is a small new cafe that’s opened on the southern end of Nicholson St village on the corner of Bik Lane. I have no idea about the origins of the name but it’s catchy and I like the on-theme blackboard cartoon that comprises part of the cafe’s decor.

During my weekday visit it was popular with nearby office workers and most curiously, Irish construction workers in fluorescent orange vests! Guess there must be a site nearby and who’s to say that they don’t deserve better than builders tea?

As the name suggests, the cafe specialises in coffee – they roast and grind their own beans and there’s a rotating menu of blends to try. I have it on good authority from Miss Kish that the coffee is excellent! The food menu is a short affair of about a dozen breakfast items made from locally sourced ingredients – eggs, pancakes, muesli – and a handful of ‘lunchie’ things – a steak sandwich, fritters.

I love dukkah eggs when I see them on a menu and this version was two jolly poached eggs sitting atop a tomato and red capsicum chunky salsa, fresh spinach greens and sprinkled with spice mix ($14.50). I don’t usually comment too much about toast  (it’s just a base for toppings a lot of the time) but this bread was remarkable for its inability to yield to a steak knife. Absolutely rock hard and inedible.

I requested a side of buttered thyme mushrooms ($3.50) which was the opposite of the bread – soft, juicy, buttery and moreish. Next time I might go the Tetris instead –  a build-your-own breakfast of eggs done how you like with a choice of sides including the magnificent mushrooms.

For sweet things I had three house made options – banana bread, muffin and cookie. After asking the owner what he recommended I went with his favourite – the raspberry and white chocolate muffin.

As he took my plate away he asked me how he liked my breakfast and I was honest – I said the eggs were great but the bread was really hard and dry. He apologised, explaining that the sourdough was fresh yesterday but had hardened overnight, and then to my surprise when he brought out the muffin on the wooden platter he said that it was on the house. A small gesture but that’s the way to treat your customers – surprise and delight.

The muffin was a just-baked soft and fluffy ending, filled with gooey chocolate and oozing raspberries (and served with a pat of butter. Really? People put butter on top on their buttery, sugary, muffin?). On par with the muffins from Proud Mary, which I consider in my muffin-eating experience to be the best in Melbourne. Muffins that are definitely worth a return visit, gratis or not.

For other great cafes in North Fitzroy, try Mitte and Mixed Business.

Annoying Brother Espresso, 660 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy +61 3 9482 9494
Mon-Fri 7am – 4pm
Sat-Sun 8:30am – 4pm

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New cafes seem to spring up every week in Fitzroy so when a cafe manages to outlast the competition for over a decade you know it must be good.

So it goes with Alimentari.  I remember when it used to be just a crushed little front room but the back room now opens up for a large communal table in the centre and 4 person tables with provided high chairs. All the more space for all the loyal patrons who go all the time for their great sandwiches, fresh salads, take away deli items and hearty breakfasts.

They are also one of the few cafes in the area open on a Monday which means that on our lunch visit it was particularly packed.

The lunch menu has lots of bready options including sandwiches, wraps and piadinas as well as nibbles from the glass cabinet and daily changing salads. Being a hot day I went straight for the smoked salmon salad with asparagus, dill, capers and poached egg ($15) while J ordered the silverbeet dolmades ($8) with a plate of the day’s salad of rocket, nectarines, walnuts and feta ($7).

I don’t normally get too excited by salad but these two combinations are worth a few handclaps. Crunchy fresh greens, a twist of classic flavours as a topping and just a smattering of dressing so no drowned leaves are left wilting on your plate. I would have preferred my egg a little less cooked but that’s a very minor quibble.

Tempted by the hot sandwich of the day we also shared a roll with roast pork with apple sauce and slaw ($10.50). The bread was very much like the Vietnamese rolls used for banh mi – super thin crunchiness on the outside, white softness on the inside – and really you can’t go wrong with a sandwich that contains crackling. A crack(l)ing meal indeed!

If you want to continue the Alimentari goodness past the early dinner hour, the hard-working owners of Alimentari have also opened an excellent night-time venue Gorski & Jones in nearby Collingwood.

Alimentari, 251 Brunswick St, Fitzroy +61 3 9416 2001

8am – 8pm 7 days a week

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In the documentary and cross-cultural love story ‘Banana in a Nutshell’ there’s a funny moment where the Chinese girl and her Anglo boyfriend argue whether cereal is a breakfast food or ‘anytime’ food. It mirrors the kind of conversations that I’ve had with RM before – to me cereal is only for breakfast, whereas he thinks it’s weird to eat noodles in the morning.

This is just a roundabout introduction to say that I LOVE NOODLES and consider myself a bit of a noodle freak. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, I could eat them all day (and for 3 weeks in Vietnam, I did). So when I heard Kokoro Ramen had opened I rushed there, post-haste, to broaden my noodle horizons.

Kokoro Ramen is a roomy ramen joint where the noodles are made fresh on site. The colourful menu is fairly overwhelming with all the possible options (you can even create your own toppings with your choice of broth) so I went straight for the menu recommendation – deep-fried soft shelled crab with the Tokyo chicken and seafood stock base ($14.90).

The bowl that arrived was generous with the noodles and less generous with the toppings – but I guess for under $15 you can’t be expecting too much seafood. At least the crab was juicy yet crunchy, spurting out soup stock at every bite.

But when it came to the noodles and the broth, disappointment set in.

I love noodles that are bouncy and toothsome, with a slight chew and glutinous resistance. These noodles were deadened. One chomp and a nothingness of noodle dough lying in your mouth.

I also found the broth very bland – spoon after spoon I sniffed and slurped, trying to discern some skerrick of chicken or seafood flavours. All I got was a semi-salty murkiness. There was no fragrance, no clarity. And I didn’t have a blocked nose…

On my visit Kokoro Ramen was busy with blue-shirted male office workers in a scene reminiscent of neat Japanese salarymen bedding down for their lunch at their local. And the ramen at Kokoro Ramen is certainly filling and reasonably priced and makes a change from a ham and cheese sandwich, so if you work in the area I can see the attraction.

However, I’m voting with my feet and walking that extra couple of blocks to Ramen Ya.

Kokoro Ramen, 157-159 Lonsdale St, Melbourne +61 3 9650 1215

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Another day, another George Calombaris restaurant opens. That man (along with Andrew McConnell and Chris Lucas) is taking over this town!

But that’s ok, when he’s able to bring consistently excellent food and service to the four corners of Melbourne. He’s got it all covered – north, south, east, central…the only place missing is west (and I’m sure it’s coming soon).

His southside and newest venture is Mama Baba, an Italian/Greek eatery celebrating the heritage of his parents – his Greek mother (Mama) and his half-Italian father (Baba). The focus is all about food, family and that infamous $45,000 pasta extruder so sorry gluten-intolerant diners, I don’t think there’s much here for you.

Happily gluten tolerant, Gourmet Chick, her partner in crime MTV boyfriend, RM and I enjoyed Sunday lunch there a few days after opening. Surprisingly, it was half-empty given Calombaris’ reputation (but I guess it’s early days) and given its hidden away location in a cul-de-sac in South Yarra I don’t think they’d be getting any passing foot traffic. Maybe some referrals from their neighbour The Olsen Art Series Hotel will help.

Despite the semi-empty warehouse feel to the premises we didn’t feel like we had to be hush-hush during lunch. The long length of open kitchen keeps the vibe noisy and bustling. It’s interesting theatre watching the chefs roll out bread dough, roast baby tomatoes and chop onions.

To start we shared some arancani ($7.5) of bolognese and mashed potato, grilled scallops with garlic skordalia and crumbs ($3.50 each) and the parma ($7.50), with varying success.

The parma was the surprising standout, given I’m not a fan of parmas generally. This was more of a American-style slider with an Italiano twist- a small sweet glazed bun filled with jamon, crumbed chicken fillet, some cheese and tomato ketchup and speared with some cutesy Greek and Italian flags.

The grilled scallops were plump and fresh though the delicate marine sweetness was a little masked by the heavy crumbing, while the arancini were not very appetising, though exactly as described – crumbled spag bol mince rolled up with mash potato and fried.

The main pasta menu is split into two section – Greek and Italian. We tried two dishes from each country, again with varying success.

A highlight was the fat tortellini filled with prawn, saganaki cheese and dressed with tomato and feta ($23). It was the perfect light, summery dish for the hot weather outside with a good balance of subtle flavours. My spaghetti carbonara ($27) was a fancy pants version of the peasant staple – slippery spaghetti with calamari, crispy pork bits, maple bacon, a sprinkling of pumpkin parmesan, with a saffron brodo poured over the poached egg wobbling on top, ready for the toss to create the carbonara sauce. It was fun and filling and will be great as a hearty winter meal.

I was less enamoured of the gnudi ($24). The golf-ball sized ricotta dumplings were served with a sauce of burnt butter, honey, walnuts, crispy sage and capers, making for an extremely rich and heavy-in-the-stomach meal. It’s a dish that is better shared – after that fifth dumpling you just want to crawl under the table and sleep.

I also didn’t particularly like the ravioles ($23) as I felt that the weak flavours of the celery and lemon didn’t match well with the heartiness of the shredded meat inside the parcels. Perhaps that combination is authentic Greek? Don’t accidentally order this if in fact you’re wanting ravioli with beef and bone marrow, beetroot, wasabi!

Dessert was a throw-back to hot school afternoon treats. Waffle ice cream cones ($8) were topped with milk and milo ice cream, vanilla splice and crunchy peanut butter and salt, with the latter being my favourite flavour – nutty and not too sweet.

From the dessert trolley we also tried a deconstructed version of the rum baba – the ‘Mum-baba’ and a very rich Ferrero Rocher ($10.50) (sorry, photos gone AWOL). While both were sophisticated takes on classic dessert combinations, I think I would have preferred two simple scoops of that crunchy peanut butter ice-cream instead.

I thought that the food at Mama Baba was generally good and the ambience, decor and service excellent – but out of all of Calombaris’ restaurants that I’ve tried, I feel that Mama Baba is the least strong of them all. Maybe it’s just too early to tell and it has a lot of buzz to live up to, so it’s worth giving the restaurant a chance.

Mama Baba, 21 Daly St, South Yarra +61 3 9207 7421
Monday – Thursday and Saturday 5:00pm – late
Friday and Sunday 12pm – late

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So George Calombaris may not know about the calculation of penalty rates for his waitstaff, but he does know how to run a good quality restaurant. PM24, Hellenic Republic, The Press Club and now St Katherine’s all get my whole-hearted recommendation.

St Katherine’s showcases mid-priced, relaxed, high quality region-influenced food and I think this Greek/Turkish/Middle Eastern hybrid is Melbourne-style dining at its best.

Although you can’t really tell the ethnic influences from fairly plain the street front, the large downstairs dining area is light and bright, with subtle Ottomon accents in the patterned stencilled window panes, the painted tableware and the use of empty food cans emblazoned in foreign languages to house each table’s cutlery and napkins.

On Monday to Fridays, St Katherine’s offers what is possibly one of Melbourne’s best value lunch deals – a 2 course ‘Xpress’ lunch shared between the table for $19.50 a head.

What is on the lunch menu changes regularly but it will involve dishes roasted on the Turkish grill, rotisserie and baked in the wood-fired oven.

First course is the St Katherine’s “bento style” lunch meze, a theatrical stage laying out flat ramekins of various meze – on our visit salty marinated feta, house made hommus with chunks of roasted almonds dotted on top (I’m stealing that idea for my next dinner party) and baby carrots mixed with yoghurt, cardamom, caraway and honey. The dips were delicious smeared on bread though I was less enamoured of the carrots, mainly because the dressing reminded me the smell of ladies handcream.

The platform also contained the pide of the day – ours was spiced lamb mixed with tomato, garlic, parsley and freshened with a squeeze of lemon juice – and on stage left, slices of warm fennel seed bread presented inside a lucky-dip style St Katherine’s paper bag.

Already quite full we were pleasantly surprised by the generous servings of the second courses –  platters of slow roasted free range chicken, the juicy shreds of meat tossed amongst herbs and salad leaves, seared salmon fillets grilled over coal with a simple marinade of fennel seeds and lemon and a sweet rice pilaf of dill, apricot, carrot and toasted pumpkin seeds. The salmon was the most memorable – perfectly seared, a zesty crust and so well matched with the nuttiness of the pilaf.

After two courses you will definitely be full but we couldn’t resist the temptation of dessert – a peanut butter parfait with chocolate sorbet, baklava crumbs and orange blossom foam ($14.90). The dessert takes a sophisticated approach to what are essentially childhood dessert flavours of chocolate and peanut butter and it works. To my surprise, the sweetness of the foam enhanced rather than overwhelmed the other sweet flavours – that hint of fragrant citrus lifted what would otherwise have been very rich chocolate and nut mouthfuls.

The service was impeccable throughout the lunch – the waitstaff were smiling and friendly, were happy to keep picking up dropped toys and seemed well-used to dealing with ladies who lunch to families with kids. They all seemed to really love the fun of the place!

Based in Kew, St Katherine’s may be what you’d consider a local suburban restaurant but my interstate guests and I were all impressed with the the wholesome, appetising food splashed with some fun elements, the high quality of the service and the attention to detail in the decor. Less than $25 a head for a filling and delicious lunch. Kew residents are very lucky!

St Katherine’s, 26 Cotham Rd, Kew +61 3 9207 7477
Mon – Fri: 12pm – 4pm, 5.30pm – 11pm
Weekends 11.30am till late

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Ah summer!

There are certain events that happen every year which really mark the season in Melbourne. Cricket. Tennis. The Suzuki Night Market. Free music in the parks. And one of my favourites, outdoor cinema.

Every year I try to get to at least one summer movie screening under the stars – it’s still a novelty outing for me. Despite growing up in balmy Brisbane, outdoor cinema never really took off while I was living there. I think people were just used to hiding from the humidity inside air-conditioned multiplexes and the thought of sitting on a rug battling bugs to watch an old film didn’t really appeal.

Melburnians are a much hardier lot! Despite the freezing, blustery weather that greeted us for our screening of The Blues Brothers at Rooftop Cinema, it was a sold out session. We wore long pants, jackets, brought a rug and still needed to hire another rug ($5 and totally worth it if you don’t dress up in ski gear, like one movie-goer we spotted).

Despite Melbourne’s unpredictable and at times inclement weather, Rooftop Cinema is a magical experience. Have a pre-movie drink at the Rooftop bar or enjoy burgers, fries and ice-cream from All-Day Burger (courtesy of the folks behind Beatbox Kitchen).

Listen to the sounds of the city’s nightlife rise up amongst the rooftops. Watch the lights of the city glow glamorrously against the fading light.

Then sit back in a deck chair, curl up under your blanket(s) and sing along to ‘Rawhide’ in the ‘mission from God’.

I heart you Melbourne. Thank you for bringing us Rooftop Cinema.

Rooftop Cinema, 6/252 Swanston St, Melbourne

A couple of years ago RM and I had a week’s holiday in Shanghai. We ate ourselves silly in all manner of restaurants, with a particularly memorable dumpling gorge at Crystal Jade which is still my gold standard for dumplings worldwide (well, limited to the dumpling places that I’ve tried around the world).

Shanghai Street Dumpling brings a little bit of Shanghai culture to Melbourne. It’s a tightly spaced, no-frills restaurant that specialises in Shanghai style dumplings, mini buns and a plethora of noodle and rice dishes with most dishes under $10. There are queues outside all the time but tables turn quickly.

For a quick and cheap pre-movie meal RM and I shared some of their must-try dishes – the xiao long bao ($8.80), the shen jian bao ($7.80) and boiled dumplings.

The bamboo steamer of xiao long bao contained eight squat little parcels bulging with piping hot soup and a pork filling inside. The skins were variable in thickness – some very delicate, some a little less so. Evidently they don’t use the Din Tai Fung method of weighing each ball of dough to the exact gram before rolling it out, but that’s not to say that the thicker-skinned dumplings were bad. Just noticeably heavier in the chewing.

As for the filling – oh my! Subtle flavoured pork broth swimming with a gently moulded pork mince inside.

The plate of pot-sticker mini buns came out next, with the bases browned and a nice even dough wrapping a juicy meatball. Eat them with the table-top chilli sauce for an added dimension.

Finally, despite the unglamorous name of ‘boiled dumplings’ I actually loved the chicken filling of these dumpling more than I expected. Very sweet, very juicy and perfect slathered in that chilli sauce again.

If you like dumplings, get yourself in the queue for Shanghai Street Dumpling as soon as you can. You won’t be disappointed! After several disappointing outings to old favourite Hutong Dumpling lately, I’m switching allegiances.

Shanghai Street Dumpling, 342 Little Bourke St, Melbourne +61 3 9600 2250

Mon-Sat, 11.30am-8.30pm

I’ve been eye off the maroon meat slicer in the window of Gorski & Jones since it opened about 2 months ago. It’s a big, shiny, impressive beast atop a long white marble bar and it announces the restaurant’s Italianate roots with no need for dinky red gingham tablecloths and an accordian player.

Gorski & Jones is a handsome establishment serving rustic, affordable comfort food from the folks behind Alimentari (By the way, what is with restauranteurs in the inner north expanding to another restaurant in the same suburb? That’s three reviews in a row now where that’s happened. Next thing you know Andrew McConnell will be opening another resto in Fitzroy…..Wait! The Builders Arms has been bought by McConnell and will reopen in its revamped glory in April 2012.)

The space has high ceilings, a long narrow expanse of burnished mirror on both sides, exposed brick walls and those ubiquitous industrial lampshades and it manages to be spacious and light while exuding warmth and cosiness at the same time.

The back courtyard is particularly inviting being amongst greenery and quiet and they are getting planning permission for streetside tables as well.

The kitchen is half open, half behind the wall and there’s a glorious wood-fired oven taking pride of place. The pantry is piled on shelves in open view so they have nothing to hide – fresh ingredients are core to their cooking.

First thing to note is that the complimentary bread at Gorski & Jones is amazing. Unlike any sort of ciabatta I’ve ever had, it had the lightest and thinnest of crusts (almost to the point of being filo-pastry like) while still having a substantial crunch. As we arrived at almost the start of dinner service the bread came to our table still warm from the oven. Ask nicely for seconds!

The menu is divided into antipasto, entrees, mains, sides and desserts. As we were in a hurry we went straight for the extremely well-priced main dishes – the fish of the day of medium-seared tuna with caponata, a risotto with spanner crab, lemon oil and fennel ($26) and roasted and stuffed spatchcock with quinoa salad ($30) – all accompanied with a side of classic caprese salad ($6).

When our dishes arrived we were impressed with the generous servings and fresh and vibrant presentation of all our dishes.

The fish was cooked perfectly (nothing worse than a dry hunk of tuna steak) and the lively scent of the basil pesto and salty caponata gave the fish a huge flavour kick.

The risotto was declared by D to be ‘one of the best risottos I’ve ever tasted’. Light, yet full of flavour, each grain of rice was just the right texture and not drowned in the richness of butter or cheese.

Wood-roasted meats have a particularly salivating aroma and this spatchcock was no exception. The tunnel-boned, extremely juicy bird was paired with a refreshing pyramid of quinoa, tomato, parsley and red onion. Filling without being heavy and rich.

Our side salad could not have been any better – torn mozzarella, juicy ripe tomatoes and freshly picked basil drizzled with olive oil and with a smattering of salt and cracked pepper.

From the dessert menu I wanted to try the tiramisu ($10) but it couldn’t be taken away as it’s already presented in crystal glasses. Never mind, I’ll definitely be returning to Gorski & Jones. It’s a good value local restaurant with food that makes my stomach growl for more.

For more beautiful photos of this delicious food, check out Melbourne Food Files and Two Munch.

Gorski & Jones, 304 Smith St, Collingwood +61 3 9417 7779

In Fitzroy, it’s another day, another new cafe….

Backstreet Cafe is the new project from the people behind Birdman Eating and it takes some of what’s great about that Fitzroy stalwart and extends it beyond – or more precisely below. More on that later.

The cafe is located in a corner spot in amongst residential premises, though it’s not exactly a ‘backstreet’ as such because it’s right on the popular Napier Street bike path. Prime position is definitely via the street front tables, breezy yet shaded by a wooden trellised roof and an open view of the dining room within. Street side also provides great opportunities for style watching, particularly for the cycle chic ambling past.

The inside decor is almost too sleek for Fitzroy – everything is shiny bronze and black and it all matches :–) I particularly liked the laser cut geometry of the unvarnished wooden floor. Please don’t wear stiletto heels inside ladies!

The daytime menu ranges from traditional breakfast-y options like baked eggs, muesli and porridge but done with a twist, to more lunchtime fare like sandwiches and salads.

If you’re a meat eater then may I steer you towards something cured, smoked or salted. Why? Again, more on that later.

For lunch I chose the Salty Pork Roll with green olive tapenade ($9.50) which was a soft white roll containing slices of porky, salty, fatty deliciousness. The tapenade heightened the saltiness of the sandwich while lending a sharpness and piquancy to every bite. While I wouldn’t hesitate to return for that roll I overheard one of the staff highly recommending the Golden Muffin (sausage, fried egg, scormoza and tomato sauce) so that’s where I’ll be going next time.

For dessert the friendly waitress told me that the avocado brulee was amazing ($11.50). A perfectly crisp burnt sugar lid covered the pot of smooth green-tinged custard and I liked the Birdman Eating-esque presentation of the musical note sheet. A sharp crack with the spoon revealed a distinctly avocado flavoured custard (so slightly odd) but with a hint of citrus and flecked with vanilla bean seeds (so more traditional). I’m not sure whether I’d repeat the experience but it was worth trying.

Other items from the menu jumped out at me – a pomegranate tabbouleh, braised chickpeas, pork and saffron and kassler, grunkohl, toast and sous-vide egg will all be taste-tested at some stage. I’m not sure whether the dinner menu will be the same or not but I’ll soon find out as they’re hoping to open for dinner from next week along with the grant of their liquor licence.

Besides the fact that Backstreet will be opening 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the most exciting aspect of the cafe is down the stairs. Not the toilets to the right, but the providore and meat fridge to the left.

Yes, salivate against the temperature controlled unit filled with hanging house-made charcuterie! Sadly none of the cold cuts will be able to be sold as take away (I did plant the idea of a Fitzroy-based cured meat black market) but in about 2 weeks there will be other items you can take home with you – jars of preserves, tins of anchovies, Calasparra paella rice, homemade sausages and a beaut idea for takeaway lasagne. Basically you pay a deposit for the ceramic dish that the lasagne comes in and when you return the dish you receive your deposit back. Though if it’s a Le Creuset I might just decide to keep it (and forfeit the deposit).

I’m really looking forward to raiding that food store and trying out Backstreet Cafe morning, noon and night. Welcome to my backstreet!

Backstreet Cafe, 152 Kerr St, Fitzroy +61 3 9417 1212
Mon-Fri 7am-10:30pm
Sat-Sun 8am-10:30pm

Thanks to the folks at deliciously excellent Huxtable, Smith Street now boasts its own American-style burger and beer joint.
It’s a small space across the road from the mother ship with a few outdoor tables and continues the Cosby Show theme with the moniker Huxtaburger. Cute!

The menu is short and straightforward – there are no lentils, tofu, fish or chicken burgers to be found. Just a choice of five burgers consisting of a toasted sesame seed bun (of the super-soft kind that I love about filet-o-fish, my guilty food secret) stuffed with a juicy wagyu beef pattie and various accoutrements.

All the burgers are named after members of the Huxtable family, from Bill to Theo to Denise (the hot one). Double cute!

Always a sucker for heat, I picked Denise, a mouth-watering and head-sweating combo of beef, cheese, salad, jalapeno and sriracha mayo ($9). Beware, there are a lot of chillies in that burger!

RM wanted bacon on his burger so went with Theo ($11), not realising that it came with two patties instead of one, thus causing an outbreak of meat sweats on the way home. Unless you’re feeling particularly carnivorous, it may be better to stick with the Huxtaburger ($8) a classic mix of beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese and then add an extra slice of crispy bacon for $1.

We accompanied our burgers with a large cardboard bucket of hot chips ($3), crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I reckon the crinkle cut is the key to their crispiness – more surface area to expose to hot oil.

On a related note if you are going to order sides then my advice is to decide whether you’re going to tackle the burger or the sides first! Once you’re committed to that burger you’ll find yourself clutching a dripping handful of bread-and-meat deliciousness that you won’t be able to put down (or pick up again without making a huge mess).  Mental note – BYO moist towelettes next time.

And we will definitely be returning because, to paraphrase a well-known marketing slogan, ‘The burgers are better at…Huxtaburger‘. My curiosity has also been piqued by the Bill Cosbys tacked onto the storefront next door…will Huxtaburger be extending the burger and beer experience? I think some milkshakes in steel cups and Mom’s apple pie would go down well.

Huxtaburger, 106 Smith St, Collingwood

Tuesday to Sunday, midday till late

Threefold is a casual cafe/bar tucked into a narrow corner space on Flinders Lane and Tavistock Place. You’ll recognise it by the planter boxes laden with fresh herbs at its entrance - a happy  contrast to the soulless vistas offered by its office block neighbours.

It’s a smart establishment that seats mostly business people along narrow benches and small tables which all face the long marble bench stacked with colourful, fresh dishes served in big white bowls and platters.

For lunch the choices range from terrines to tarts to imaginative salads (not an iceberg lettuce leaf to be seen). On my visit I tried the pork belly with a choice of two spring salads ($18.50). Sadly the pork belly did not live up to its good looks – the meat did not fall from my fork as expected, requiring a bit of sawing to get through, and the crackling didn’t crackle and got left behind.

R fared better with pastrami and melted gruyere sandwiched on thick-cut rye with a zingy side salad of apple, radish and shaved cabbage ($13.50). A gourmet twist to the toasted ham and cheese sanga.

I finished off the meal with a small slice of marble cake ($6.50) while R received a very pretty latte made using organic beans from Espresso Syndicate.

Finally, a word on their service. When I wanted to eat at Threefold with a friend with a baby in tow, the staff said ‘no problems’. They reserved a table for us at the front near the door with the most room, helped shuffle chairs and tables around and were very accommodating in the face of a slightly troublesome crowd of pram, shopping trolley, dropped cutlery and dirty bibs.

Threefold is a welcome gourmet addition to the slightly dull, business end of town. I liked the look of the dinner specials up on the blackboard and they open late for after-work drinks on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Much better than getting greasy takeaway on your way home.

Threefold, 381 Flinders Lane, Melbourne +61 3 9614 8194
Mon – Tue:7:00 am-4:00 pm
Wed – Fri:7:00 am-11:00 pm

So the Queen just visited to Melbourne and Princess Mary came to town.

If you’re not royal-ed out, take yourself to visit the Duchess in Spotswood.

Duchess of Spotswood is a cafe is located in an unprepossessing strip of shops near Spotswood station and when I arrived at 9am on a weekend it was easily the busiest place in the street. I’m pretty sure not all of Spotswood had descended on the cafe in the relatively early hours of Saturday morning, which means (like me) people had taken a special trip to try it out.

Was it worth 30 minutes through the Westgate Bridge forever-in-roadworks traffic jam?

Yes.

Because Duchess of Spotswood does something unique with breakfast in the crowded Melbourne breakfast arena.

The cafe is cute, with the outside boarded up windows framing a painted outdoor landscape and the inside all cool mint green and overhung with a crystal chandelier. A very suitable parlour for dining.

Along with their grand moniker the tongue-in-cheek royal references continue in the menu, which is British-leaning with a twist. The regal family tree includes the Queen of the Dam, Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Pork. Giggle.

Eschewing the healthier options I headed straight to the Duchess of Pork, a thick slice of crispy pig’s jowl plus two fried eggs, truffle sauce and sourdough toast ($17.50). The waitress suggested that the hash ($4) was excellent with the dish, so why not?

I liked the tender saltiness of the slab of pork.  I liked the eggs fried just enough to set them and not enough to make them into rubbery frisbees. I liked the decadence of the shaved truffles. I loved the fried crispiness of the hash. The whole dish was like an extreme Atkin Diet start to the day and my stomach approved.

Every good meal should end with dessert. And so I made room for a slice of the just-made Bakewell tart, a triangle of buttery fluted shortcrust pastry spread with blackberry jam, covered with an almond frangipane filling then glazed with more jam. So moist and fruity and seriously delicious.

The service was brisk but friendly and while the staff by no means shunt you out after your meal, the line-up outside at 10am guilted me into not staying for a leisurely newspaper scan.

Because it’s only fair that other people get to take a bow at the Duchess.

My travel to this cafe was made possible thanks to the Holden Barina.

Duchess of Spotswood, 87 Hudsons Rd, Yarraville +61 3 9391 6016

A sunny weekend saw us taking a trip out to the Yarra Valley, armed with a recommendation for lunch at Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander.

Unlike most of the other wineries in the Yarra Valley, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander isn’t located on an expansive piece of green land – it’s just a straight turnoff from the Maroondah Highway into the carpark. The huge steel building is hard to miss, particularly as it’s located in the same vicinity at the White Rabbit Brewery and an outpost of Beechworth Bakery.

The website describes Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander as a ‘grown-ups’ playground’ and it’s a very apt description for the complex. Under one roof you’ll find a bright, buzzy bistro, a bakery and patisserie, a temperature controlled cheese room and cheese tastings at the counter, a coffee roastery and a selection of gourmet provisions for sale.

As a result of the many activities happening under this cavernous space, just be aware that it is very noisy. The concrete interior bounces all of the music, chatter and sound of kids running around to quite high levels.

The bistro menu covers tapas, pizzas, non-pizza main courses with a comprehensive selection of sides, kids dishes, breakfast, baked goods and desserts thrown in the mix.

After watching the pizza-maker working the organic sourdough dough with his well-practised elegant economy of movement and show-stopping throwing technique, our table of 6 decided to share five pizzas and two salads for lunch.

Very quickly we received  our pizzas on ceramic pizza stones 
– roasted 
eggplant, 
barrel-
aged 
feta, 
red 
peppers
 and parsley ($21), roast 
mushroom,
 asiago, 
black
 truffle 
oil, 
roasted 
garlic and 
parsley ($23), spicy 
pork 
sausage, 
buffalo
mozzarella,
 San Marzano
 tomato and chilli
 ($23), Calabrese
 salami,
 San
 Marzano 
tomato, 
oregano
 and 
buffalo 
mozzarella
 ($24) and prosciutto,
 San
 Marzano 
tomato, cravero 
parmesan and parsley ($24), plus two bowls of iceberg, 
witlof
 and 
chive 
salad
 ($8.50).

 The mark of good pizza is the base and these bases were thin yet held the toppings well and had been wood-fired to bring a hint of smokiness. Everyone agreed that the roast mushroom pizza was particularly outstanding. Earthy, juicy mushrooms enhanced by the heady twin aromas of truffle oil and garlic and topped with melted cheese – a culinary perfect match.

For dessert we each had a spoonful of the bread and butter pudding. It was a huge bowl of wintery comfort food satisfaction for just $10.50 and was made with french pastry, marsala soaked sultanas and vanilla bean custard.

My only complaint was that the custard had split by the time the dish arrived at our table. It didn’t affect the taste but seeing a pool of oil in the pudding (and knowing it was going in my stomach shortly) wasn’t very appealing.
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While individually the prices of each pizza were high (when you compare it to say Ladro, Queen Margaret or Espressino), our total bill plus a beer/soft drink per person only divided to $30 a head. A bargain I think for the quality and quantity of food.

If after your meal you’re still up for wine tastings it is available everyday between 10am and 6pm and  if you dine in the bistro you’ll receive 10% discount off any take-home wine purchases. You can take also winery tours daily at 11am and 3pm.

Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander, 336 Maroondah Highway, Healesville +61 3 5962 6111

10am to 10pm weekdays
8am to 10pm weekends & public holidays

Rose Garden may sound romantic but it’s not the sort of restaurant where you’d take a first date.

But go with your friends, your colleagues, your relatives, on your own – it’s that good!

The small no-frills restaurant specialises in cheap, quick Cantonese fare. It’s a favourite amongst international students and office workers during the week, though we also spied curious tourists (it’s the only place on the street with a lineup outside) and families with young children sitting at the outdoor tables.

The menu is vast so as a newbie I suggest you go straight to the Rose Garden Top 10. We tried #1 and #2 –  spicy green bean with minced chicken on rice and fried rice with shredded duck and preserved vegetables respectively. A ridiculous $9.50 each for a huge plate of food.

Both dishes were full of flavour (watch out, those spicy beans are definitely spicy!) and didn’t seem to be too MSG heavy, though I suggest you sip the complementary tea regularly to cut through the slightly greasy feeling which will gather in your mouth afterwards.

Service is almost non-existent. You pay when you order so there’s no messing around with getting bills at the end. It’s quick in, quick out – and darn delicious. I’m returning to try #3-#10 on the Top 10!

For other cheap and cheerful Chinese food in the city, try Gold Star Noodle House, Pancake Dessert House and The Grand BBQ.

Rose Garden BBQ Shop, 435 Elizabeth St, Melbourne +61 3 9329 1560

For the last week I’ve been watching the corner of Gertrude and Napier Streets with interest.

WLG stamped on the walls. Brightly coloured metal chairs lining long tables on the pavement. A dude with an enormous 19th century handlebar moustache working the tables.

The answer? The WLG Wellington pop-up restaurant has landed in Melbourne to occupy salon/bar Rue de Fleurus for 2 weeks only, from 15 November to 27 November.

WLG Wellington pop-up restaurant is a tourism marketing campaign for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It aims to showcase Wellington’s finest locally sourced produce, wines from neighbouring wine regions, restaurants, cafes and hospitality faces beyond a glossy travel agent brochure, by bringing a slice of the Wellington experience straight to our doorstep.

Tickets for the $35 three course dinner have been selling like hot cakes and in-the-know Melburnians have been clamouring for the 50 or so walk-in spots as well. I was lucky enough to be invited to sample the restaurant thanks to Positively Wellington Tourism.

Wellingtonian chefs, sommeliers and hospitality staff have been brought over especially for the pop-up restaurant’s two-week duration. The 3 course menu has been devised with their input – there’s a taste from each chef in the starters tasting plate and a main course choice by each chef ranging from fish to meat to vegetarian. Everything has been brought over from across the sea – even the award-winning Antipodes drinking water.

Your dinner starts with a shared tasting plate to which each chef has contributed.

Tick off the following:

Manuka salt cured lamb shortloin with  beetroot, walnut and balsamic salsa;

Grilled Marlborough scallops, celeriac puree and pancetta crumbs;

Fried goat’s cheese balls with Manuka honey and Kiwi chutney;

Maple syrup smoked Regal King Salmon with horseradish creme fraiche and tiny capers (the highlight for me); and

Pig’s cheek ‘schnitzel’ with roast lemon chutney.

From the choice of five mains I choose  the the pan-fried Cook Strait groper atop a large dollop of lemon potato puree with baby herb salad and crispy fried white bait with preserved lemons by Tom Hutchinson (Capitol) while D had slices of perfectly judged Horopito-seasoned beef with slow-roasted tomato, potato fondant and green beans by Rex Morgan (Boulcott Street Bistro). The other chefs involved are Shaun Clouston (Logan Brown), Jacob Brown (The Larder) and Terry Lowe (Black Barn Restaurant and Vineyard).

For dessert we tried to the two dessert options. The Whittaker’s Dark Chocolate Pavé with fresh raspberries, Manuka honey cream and damson plum coulis was the ubiqutious ‘something chocolate’ on the menu and we both agreed that the Licoricello pannacotta with vodka lime parfait and pistachio wafer was a more exciting dish.  I particularly loved the texture of the pannacotta – smooth, silky and not a hint of rubber at all, plus the sharp hit of 42 Below vodka.

The hospitality staff have been pulled from various Wellington establishments and service is very smooth when you consider that the staff are working together for the first time.

As a marketing and awareness campaign, the WLG Wellington pop-up restaurant is smart and it works. The food is delicious. The wine is delicious. The atmosphere is young and fun and the guy with the handlebar moustache turned out to be our friendly waiter for the night (and can be found at Duke Carvell’s Swan Lane Emporium back home). Who knew that Wellington could be a gastronomic travel destination?

Plus only after dining at WLG Wellington Pop-up Restaurant was I aware that Wellington was only 3 hours away from Melbourne (and Sydney and Brisbane) and considered by Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2011 to be the coolest little capital in the world – two facts emblazoned on the dining room wall in front of me.

Tickets have sold out but there are walk ins available each night and unreserved outdoor seating. Just go!

WLG Wellington Pop-up Restaurant (taking over Rue de Fleurus for a two-week period) 153 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Tuesday 15 November – Sunday 27 November 6pm til late. Closed Mondays

A steak for $1? Too good to be true, I hear you say.

Well, on Thursdays at Hotel Nest they’ve termed it ‘Mad Cow Thursdays’ when premium John Dee sirloin steaks start from $1 for a 125g steak! The catch is that you’re likely to be spending more than $1 as the larger steaks cost more and sides and sauces cost extra.

While the normal a la carte menu is still available on Thursdays the steak deal was just too good to pass up. We opted for 250g steaks cooked to your liking ($5) plus two sides each ($3) and sauce ($1).

My medium-rare steak was cooked to the right degree with criss-cross charred grill marks and it came with fries and green beans. The side portions were on a measly side so I’d recommend ordering three items to properly fill up your plate.

Evidently word about Mad Cow Thursdays hasn’t got out too far yet. On our lunch time visit the airy Greenhouse part of Hotel Nest, filled with basket ferns hung against a white-washed backdrop, was reasonably empty. It’s not the best steak you’ll ever had but for under $15 in ritzy Albert Park it’s a cheap and filling pub lunch.

My travel to this pub was made possible thanks to the Holden Barina.

Mad Cow Thursdays, Hotel Nest, 111 Victoria Ave, Albert Park +61 3 9669 9744

Tue – Thu: 12:00 pm-12:00 am
Fri: 12:00 pm – 1:00 am
Sat: 10:00 am – 1:00 am
Sun: 10:00 am – 12:00 am

To be exact, my thoughts are turning to where to eat at the beach and the coast. And one of my recommendations is Wye River General Store.

As the name suggests, it’s a general store which operates for the citizens and visitors of the tiny hamlet of Wye River. The store combines post office and banking services and stocks daily necessities like milk, toilet paper, Mars Bars and Weetbix.

Yet evidently Wye River dwellers are a particularly discerning lot, as their general store also stocks Istra smallgoods, Martelli pasta and other gourmet items that wouldn’t be out of place in a smart inner city deli.

Even better, attached to the store is a lovely cafe serving hearty, wholesome food at reasonable prices.

The fitout is airy and full of exposed brick, wooden slats and light – very much hallmarks of Melbourne architects Six Degrees. The dining room has a fireplace for cosy winters while the outdoor decks make the most of summer balminess. The adjoning playground means that kids are free to run to and fro, from the swings to the slides to their lunch, lending the cafe a particularly relaxed holiday atmosphere.

The cabinets have ready made sandwiches and salads while the sit-down menu is fairly simple – soup, pizzas, pie and a few main dishes.

RM had the duck and celeriac pie ($16) which came with a side of sweet relish and fresh salad greens. A rustic dish with sophisticated elements, it was let down a little by too-dry pastry though saved by the relish.

My fish and chips ($25) was some of the best I’d ever had. The fish was so incredibly moist and fresh that it was a wonder that the juices didn’t turn the beer batter into a soggy mess. I liked the big fat non-oily potato wedges and the aioli too.

For dessert I opted for an inhouse-made lemon tart from the cake cabinet ($4). While the classic pastry and curd combination was well-balanced, the glistening
curd’s consistency was too runny so that as soon as I broke into the pastry case all the lemony goodness spread like lava on my plate. It was very unbecoming having to spoon up lemon curd :–)

To plagiarise an advertising slogan, Wye River General Store is easy, breezy, beautiful. I recommend driving that extra 20 minutes past bustling Lorne and enjoy the tranquility and excellent food at Wye River.

Wye River General Store, 35 Great Ocean Rd, Wye River +61 3 5289 0247

Miss Marie is a cafe with an inner-city vibe catering to the discerning suburban cafe set.

The first hint of its slightly left-of-centre sense of humour is in small shrub outside its entrance. The hanging child made me take a horrified double-take before I gasped in relief to see that it was only a doll.

Inside the large room is decorated with interesting paraphernalia, including some giggle-worthy vintage advertising signs, interspersed with bright floral arrangements and cheery yellow accents set within the timber tables and in the form of the oversized pepper mills. On the speakers, some old-school tunes – Elvis, The Beatles.

The two page menu lists all-day breakfast dishes on one side and lunch on the reverse. The breakfasts are a roll call of cafe standards – eggs, muesli, toast, hotcakes – while the lunch options are more towards the bready variety, with a few departures into an omelette, pan-seared salmon and a salad on the specials board (or door – pretty nifty idea wall-mounting an old door covered in blackboard paint for listing the specials).

Although it was more lunchtime during my visit I couldn’t resist ordering the French toast ($14.50) consisting of Noisette brioche, maple syrup, grilled banana and bacon.

Look at the size of the serving! I was most impressed by the generous thickness of the brioche and the plate contained one more slice of bread than I was expecting for the price. That’s the benefit of dining out in the suburbs :–)

As far as taste goes it ticked all the right boxes – sticky sweet syrup, cinnamon-y brioche, a smokey hunk of bacon and a nicely mushed ripe banana. I think the bread and the bacon could have benefited from more time in the pan/under the grill for extra crispness and crunch, but that’s a personal preference.

The glass domes of home-made cakes and slices looked really tempting (especially the dark chocolate and walnut brownie $4.90) but given my sugary lunch I thought I’d better ease off on the sweets if I didn’t want to fall asleep driving home.

Miss Marie is a great little local cafe for Rosanna residents. As it’s across the road from the train station I expect that the pre-work crowd come in droves for their coffee and muffins. The coffee is made from 5 Senses beans using a Synesso and my sources tell me that it is fantastic.

Thanks to Miss Rosanna for the tip! My travel to this cafe was made possible thanks to the Holden Barina.

Miss Marie, 45 Beetham Pde, Rosanna

In case you get confused by the ’99 Problems’ emblazoned on the door of number 31 Johnston Street…the address is a cafe called The Mercy Seat by day and a bar called 99 Problems by night. Time-sharing space (and facilities) is such a good idea!

The Mercy Seat serves vegan food that’s not just beans and lentils. In fact, here’s the place to get your fake meat fix! The lunch menu has three ‘meaty’ choices – a Creole Chicken burger, Philly Cheesesteak roll and Blackened tofu mushroom burger. The all day breakfast menu doesn’t contain the same degree of meat fakery – make your choice between scrambled tofu, scrambled pesto eggs and avocado feta smash.

D and I shared the Creole Chicken Burger with extra vegan bacon and cheese ($12) and the Blackened tofu mushroom burger ($10). The food is prepared behind the bar using a simple oven grill and came out promptly (though we were also the first table to arrive for lunch).

Both burgers were very tasty so it’s hard for me to pick a favourite – but I think I preferred the blackened tofu as it was less processed than the ‘chicken’ patty and contained nice big chunks of creamy avocado. That’s the compromise with mock meat – sometimes it’s the choice between taste, texture and processing. I did really like the smokiness of the facon though so I think they should have the option for facon and cheese for all the burgers! Oh and definitely hit your burger up with the bottle of hot sauce if you like some heat.

For sweets they source their brownies, cupcakes and cookies from Box Brownies in Collingwood. The vegan and gluten free peanut butter brownie ($4.50) was amazing! It had an oozy caramel topping studded with peanuts and caramel shards and a surprisingly moist brownie base given no eggs or butter were used. Despite the sugar-coma-inducing description, the brownie was actually not too sweet so it’s easy enough to finish a whole slab on your own :–)

I liked The Mercy Seat – the food is good and cheap, the staff were friendly, the atmosphere and uber-relaxed and they were playing Prince on the speakers.

For more places to eat mock meat, try Englightened Cuisine and Las Vegan.

The Mercy Seat, 31 Johnston St, Collingwood
Wed – Sun: 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

At last count, there were 19 blog reviews of Pope Joan on Urbanspoon. So I’m far behind with my visit and now I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long.

Pope Joan is the kind of neighbourhood cafe for which you’d be willing to travel. Which is why it has found success despite being located in the most non-descript, smoggy section of Nicholson Street. The names behind it probably help draw in the crowds too – Ben Foster (ex-Kent Hotel) and Matt Wilkinson (ex-Circa) own it.

There are lots of different spaces for diners depending on your mood. The front room is cosy timber and houses the most amazing carved lantern from the centre of the ceiling. Through the sliding doors is an undercover corridor of high wooden benches, communal picnic settings, wrought-iron park benches and Astroturf, with a cul-de-sac kitchen garden blooming a giant rainbow chard centrepiece.  The crowd is just as eclectic, ranging from families with young kids to ladies-who-lunch to construction workers.

The menu specialises in breakfast/brunch/lunch options, with a whole section dedicated to eggs proudly sourced from Green Eggs. On my lunch visit I decided to bypass the eggs for a sandwich – it was a difficult choice but you had me at ‘slow cooked’ then ‘pork’ then ‘Cuban style’ ($12). Next time I’m trying the The Cornish: Milawa chicken, stuffing, jalapeno pepper ($12).

On the plate was a fat La Madre ciabatta stuffed with tender roast pork, lettuce, carrot, gherkin and some sort of mayonnaise/aioli. It was a-mazing. Really. I could have had a second one.

But instead I decided to fill up my remaining appetite with bread and butter. Not just any old bread and butter, but two slices of spiced, lightly toasted gingerbread with a pot of smoked maple butter (although I confess I couldn’t taste or smell any smoke or maple flavour).

The cake cabinet presents more temptations from brownies to muffins to cookies. I nursed home a high-topped carrot cake ($4.50) which was very moist and nutty with a sweet lemony cream cheese frosting.

I will be sure to return to Pope Joan – the menu is a step away from standard brunch fare and it’s obvious that they care about the quality of the ingredients they use. They’ve just received their liquor licence for the next door space (to be called Bishop of Ostia) and will be opening for dinner soon.

Pope Joan, 77-79 Nicholson Street, Brunswick East +61 3 9388 8858

It’s been a while since my last visit to Cafe Vue at Heide and this time we decided to try the a la carte menu rather than the Menu du Jour set menu.

On a sunny weekend the cafe is a real drawcard for visitors to Heide Museum of Modern Art. There’s often a queue for one of the indoor or outdoor tables serving a casual, reasonably priced sit-down meal or you can get take away and picnic in the grounds of the sculpture garden.

The a la carte menu lists museum-cafe favourites with a twist. So instead of just a toasted sandwich there’s a duck cassoulet jaffle ($13). The burger isn’t just any meat, it’s wagyu beef ($15). And the famed Cafe Vue lunch box is a little surprise package of something savoury, something sweet and a salad ($15).

The jaffle was declared extremely satisfying, with beautifully grilled thick-cut bread (I dread to think the amount of butter needed to create such a golden crust) encasing a luscious stew that didn’t turn the innards of the sandwich soggy. The burger was also very well cooked with a brioche bun replacing the traditional burger bun.

The lunch box of the season contained a tomato-based chickpea salad (which would have been better warmed through), a spicy dukkah dip with crispy tortilla chips, a small sandwich bun filled with Provencal vegetables and a little tub of cheesecake with a crumbly macadamia top.

A museum cafe is often just a pit-stop for museum visitors but Cafe Vue at Heide is a destination in its own right. It’s a lovely cafe in beautiful, artistic surroundings – a perfect combination for a leisurely lunch.

Cafe Vue at Heide, Heide Museum of Modern Art, 7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen +61 3 9852 2346
Tuesday to Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 9am - 5pm
Thursday to Saturday 6pm - 9pm

I’m not sure whether Mitte is named after the district in Berlin and the German word for ‘middle’ but let’s just say at the outset that there are no German references in the menu, decor or service of this neighbourhood cafe.

It’s in a little hideaway location on the corner of two residential streets in North Fitzroy and serves breakfast and lunches to a loyal local crowd, who sit inside the cosy interior or spread out on the outdoor pavement tables.

I parked myself on the bench on the sunny side of the street and was immediately greeted with a smile, a menu and a request for a drink order. Having puffed my way up the street on my bike the homemade ginger and mint refresher caught my eye ($6) and while I debated whether to have breakfast or lunch at 11am a tall tumbler of icy mixture of ginger beer, fresh mint and soda water arrived. A delicious variation on the ubiquitous commercial soft drinks.

Hedging my bets on the menu, I decided to try the Middle Eastern style meatballs from the lunch menu ($17) and breakfast crumble from the breakfast menu ($10).

The meatballs, an interesting combination of toasted pistachio, fig and spices, came drenched in a rich tomato sauce and were perfect smeared with yoghurt and a nibble of coriander. The Dench sourdough was best used for mopping up the leftovers – you’ll want to lick that bowl clean.

If you like sweet breakfasts (or a lunch dessert) then I highly recommend the breakfast crumble. This would be better termed the ‘anytime crumble’ because I’d eat it at any time of day! The generous bowl of sticky vanilla and cinnamon poached pears and apples topped with a sweet granola crumble and a dollop of marscapone has guaranteed Mitte a return visit.

For other breakfast/brunch/lunch venues in North Fitzroy, try The Green Grocer and Mixed Business.

Mitte, 76 Michael Street (cnr Rowe Street), North Fitzroy

Mon,Wed-Fri 7:30am-4:30pm

Weekends 8am-4:30pm

Fancy a day out in the country? In just 45 minutes from the city you can be out in the vineyards of the Yarra Valley.

One of the most popular wineries in the Yarra Valley is Yering Station. It’s the first winery established in Victoria and is definitely worth a stop for the cellar door/art gallery, produce shop, boutique accommodation, restaurant and small Farmers Market open every third Sunday of the month. 

The Wine Bar Restaurant dominates the grounds and is a lovely place for a weekend lunch on a sunny day. Every table is bathed in the afternoon light streaming from the floor to ceiling glass wall that fronts onto a magnificient view of the Yarra Ranges.

The menu is Mod Oz, with Asian and Mediterranean influences. To start we dipped into the crusty bread and dukkah while waiting for our entrees – tempura soft-shelled Singapore crab, coconut rice, mint and crispy shallot ($24) and glazed duck breast with porcini, eschallot and leek dumpling, tatsoi and port reduction ($24).

The crab was delicately battered and the light crunch combined well with South East Asian influenced ingredients. My duck breast was very tender but the dumplings were not very successful, with a very thick dumpling skin that was still floury in the middle.

A similar heavy-handedness with dough seemed to afflict RM’s stodgy butternut pumpkin and spinach tortellini, which was combined with soya beans, miso and the overpowering flavour of the very pungent blue cheese ($34).

My main was very prettily presented but the quince glazed pork loin was over-cooked. Fortunately the slab of pork belly was pull-apart tender and sat atop an apple rosti with a dab of quince aioli ($38).

Overall the menu read better than the actual execution of the dishes. Given the glamorous location and fine dining feel of the restaurant we were a little disappointed with the imprecision of what I’d consider to be basic cooking techniques like making pasta dough and roasting meat.

However, Yering Station in general still gets a HOT. Why? Basically, the view and ambience of the restaurant is wonderful and it’s the kind of destination that I would bring overseas guests. If you catch the right Sunday you can walk off your lunch with a visit to the small Farmers Market stocked mostly with Yarra Valley gourmet products.

The produce shop has even more opportunities to buy jams and relishes and we finished off our meal with single-serve takeaway tubs of Gundowring icecream sitting in the sun.

So despite the below-par experience at the restaurant, overall you can still enjoy a great afternoon out at Yering Station.

If you want to read more about Yering Station and other locales in the region, check out my previous visit on the NGV Artbus.

The Wine Bar Restaurant, Yering Station, 38 Melba Hwy, Yarra Glen +61 3 9730 0100
10am – 5pm daily
Serving lunch between 12pm – 3pm with extended hours on the weekend and Public Holidays from 12pm – 4pm.

The Commoner is one of my local favourites – great food, reasonable prices, friendly service and lots of different spaces depending on your dining needs, from intimate couples tables to the outdoor courtyard to upstairs private dining room.

My most recent visit to The Commoner was for Sunday lunch. I reckon Sundays are the best days to dine out here – for lunch they have a changing wood roast with sides for $30, the aroma of which entices you as soon as you push open the door. The normal a la carte menu of Modern British fare is also available. For dinner, they have a ‘let us feed you’ no-menu menu for $55/$65 which takes the angst out of ordering by bringing you a series of dishes according to what’s in season and your food preferences. (Actually, the let us feed you option is available any service but Sunday evenings are exclusively no menu.)

The wood roast the day I visited was organic chicken. As we were sitting at one of the large wooden tables in the shaded courtyard I could see the roast being pulled out of the coals of the wood oven. You can’t get fresher than that! The bird was very juicy and the white and red quinoa stuffing soaked up most of the delicious jus lifted from the roasting pan juices. The richness was tempered by a sharp crunchy witlof salad. A healthy, hearty, Sunday roast.

RM ordered the pork, sage and cider sausages with champ and sticky onions ($26). A classic British dish done very well, with fat little sausages resting on a buttery bed of mash.

For dessert I tried the brown ale pudding with salted caramel, just because it sounded the strangest ($12). What came out could have fooled me – it looked like chocolate cake with a pool of sticky butterscotch sauce.  But the extremely fluffy cake definitely contained the maltiness of an ale and the almost savoury flavours were offset by a very sweet caramel sauce. A most unusual dish and worth trying just because you’re unlikely to find it anywhere else.

For other restaurants that do a great Sunday roast, try the Grace Darling or Hellenic Republic for a shared Greek-style version. Where do you go for your Sunday roast?

The Commoner, 122 Johnston St, Fitzroy +61 3 9415 6876

Oh Demetri’s Feast.

If only you weren’t so small. If only your food wasn’t so good. If only your service wasn’t so friendly. If only you weren’t so cool.

Then it’d be easier to visit you all the time.

Demetri’s Feast was crowned Melbourne’s best breakfast in The Age’s Cheap Eats 2010 and that accolade has no doubt brought the crowds in. But I’m sure it wouldn’t have retained its favourite status with the local clientele if the Greek food wasn’t so darn good.

Kat and I visited for lunch one weekday and were lucky to be snag a table just before the lunch crowd arrived. At lunch time there is a daily ‘feast’ consisting of a soup, salads and sandwiches. But the Wild Spanakopita from the standard menu caught my eye – hand made filo pastry rounds combined with wild greens, herbs, ricotta & feta ($10) served with a side of the day’s salad of roasted pumpkin, rocket, onions and feta ($5.50).

This was the best example of a spanakopita I’ve had in a long time. So often it’s a soggy, oily mess, but was a beautifully presented spiral of the lightest, flakiest filo pastry with just the right proportion of filling. It’s a spanakopita worth crossing town for.

We also shared the semolina dusted calamari with ouzo aioli ($16) as our first choice, the crispy whitebait, wasn’t available. It was a moreish plate of lightly fried calamari rings, tender and fresh, though I would have preferred the aioli with more of a garlicky bite.

Their breakfast menu is available until 3pm and what a fantasy of interesting breakfast dishes it contains. Nothing is run-of-the-mill here, with most dishes showing some Greek influence in the ingredients.

If you like sweet breakfasts, the baclava french toast or the semolina pancakes are the dishes to try (each $14.50). We ordered both and each preferred one over the other. I liked the french toast with the bread soaking up a subtly fragranced orange blossom syrup and especially the liberal dusting of crunchy walnuts praline for added sweetness and textural interest. Kat preferred at fluffy pancakes which came with rose jam, pistachios and the same syrup. Both come with a dash of yoghurt which offset the sweetness of the dishes.

Demetri’s Feast states that their food philosophy is, whenever available, to use seasonal, organic and free range products. This attention to the provenance of the produce shone through in quality of the dishes we tried. Combine this with friendly service, reasonable prices and cute courtyard seating for sunny days, and it’s a winner.

PS They are cash only but there’s a NAB ATM right next door.

For other great cafes around Swan Street Richmond, try Pillar of Salt and Espresso 3121.

Demetri’s Feast, 141 Swan St, Richmond +61 3 9428 8659
Tuesday to Saturday 7.30am to 5.00pm
Sunday 8am to 5pm