coffee specialist

HOT: Coffee Hit, 81 Church Street, Hawthorn

April 3, 2010 ⋅ 7 comments

One of the pieces of feedback I received from the MEL: HOT OR NOT Reader Survey 2010 was that you wanted to see more reviews from other people. I’m decisive, but I’m not necessary the Gospel According To Joyce. That’s why you’ll be seeing more guest posts soon, from previous guest-posters to newbies. Today we [...]

HOT: Launch of MEL: Heat Map

February 6, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

For those of you who may not have noticed yet, there’s a new little button on the top menu of MEL: HOT OR NOT - MEL: Heat Map. What’s that, you ask? Well, I have been spending my waking hours putting every review on MEL: HOT OR NOT onto a single map. So that means [...]

HOT: Outpost, 9 Yarra St, South Yarra

January 29, 2010 ⋅ 6 comments

Outpost. How much do I love thee, let me count the ways: The open kitchen. MasterChef has shown us that cooking can be theatre, and at Outpost you can have a front-row view of the kitchen goings-on. Great entertainment if you’re eating alone and love food (like me). Oh, and they use Aesop handwash in [...]

HOT: Three Bags Full, 56 Nicholson St, Abbotsford

January 27, 2010 ⋅ 37 comments

Three Bags Full is the latest addition to the industrial chic cafe scene that Melbourne does so well. It comes with good credentials, as it’s run by the same husband-and-wife team (Sarah Foletta and Nathan Toleman) and their business partners Ben and Diamon, who are behind award-winning cafes APTE and Liar Liar. On the second [...]

HOT: Auction Rooms, 103-107 Errol St, North Melbourne

November 25, 2009 ⋅ 10 comments

Auction Rooms is a casual cafe/restaurant set inside the old WB Ellis auction house in North Melbourne. In fact, the long wooden floorboards, exposed beams, distressed brickwork and high ceilings hoisting a series of whirring fans reminded me a lot of the interior of an airy Queenslander home. It seems like the kind of place [...]

HOT: Proud Mary, Cnr Stanley and Oxford Sts, Collingwood

November 7, 2009 ⋅ 22 comments

Lena: Do you really not drink coffee????? Jetsetting Joyce: Um, that’s right. I’m not a true Melburnian. Can you and James please come to Proud Mary with me? It’s reputed to have the best coffee in Melbourne and I’d really appreciate your expert coffee-drinking opinion. James: Sure. I have been coffeeing a bit at Brother Baba [...]

HOT Chat: Alex Hume of Eco Fashionista

October 19, 2009 ⋅ One comment

This week’s HOT Chat comes from Eco Fashionista. Alex Hume chatted to me about fashion, living eco-conscious and being a business-owner with a young toddler. Alex, how did Eco Fashionista come about? Eco Fashionista was launched almost a year to the day my son Max was born. Max’s arrival (and the huge sense of responsibility that arrived [...]