restaurants and cafes

HOT: Melba Mannequins, Melba Restaurant, The Langham Melbourne, 1 Southgate Ave, Southbank

June 28, 2011 ⋅ 3 comments

Melba Mannequins is the twinning of my two loves – fashion and food. The name of the event comes from experiencing lunch at the Melba Restaurant at The Langham while beautiful models parade fashion around the restaurant. Thanks to The Langham, I attend the first sold out Melba Mannequins event which featured the Autumn/Winter collection [...]

HOT: Duckfest, The Provincial Hotel, 299 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

June 28, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

I am an unashamed omnivore – my favourite meat is duck, followed closely by pork. So when I heard that a Duckfest was being organised at The Provincial Hotel, how could I say no? The dining room at The Provincial has an earthy stone-set warmth which is a fitting backdrop to the rustic European style [...]

HOT: Cacao Green, 258 Swanston St, Melbourne

June 26, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

The landscape of Swanston Street changes so often that it’s hard for me to keep up. Even the areas of the street that I’ve passed a thousand times are a blur of noodle shops and fast food outlets such that I’ve never noticed Cacao Green, a store near the corner of Lonsdale Street which opened [...]

HOT: Slowpoke Espresso, 157 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

June 21, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

This time last year it seemed that Smith Street was the place to open a cafe or restaurant. Funky eateries launched one after the other and the punters flocked to the slowly gentrifying grunginess. This year it seems that maybe it’s Brunswick Street’s turn, with two new openings within a short space of each other [...]

HOT: La Parisienne Pates, 290 Lygon St, Carlton

June 16, 2011 ⋅ One comment

In the middle of Italianate Lygon Street is a Francophile foodie paradise. Charcuterie La Parisienne Pates is a white, bright storefront housing a long refrigerated counter full of smallgoods made by the owner/charcutier Stephane Langois. The shelves are also groaning with stocks of French food items like mustard, vinegars, jams and teas. There is a [...]

The Age Good Cafe Guide Awards 2011

June 14, 2011 ⋅ 3 comments

The results of The Age Good Cafe Guide Awards 2011 were announced today and I’m glad to see that some of my favourites have made it along with some new names that I’m keen to try out! Best Coffee – Seven Seeds, Carlton. Guess I’ll have to rope along my coffee-drinking friends to try it [...]

HOT: Eat Drink Man Woman, 413 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

June 13, 2011 ⋅ 5 comments

On the site of the much maligned Retro cafe on Brunswick Street is a new project from Daniel Schelbert, the short-lived head chef from Hare & Grace. The dingy saggy couches and stained ripped vinyl chairs have been replaced with sleek marine palate of black, cream, gold and blue. The expansive space is dominated by [...]

NOT: Julio, 171 Miller St, Fitzroy North

June 2, 2011 ⋅ 8 comments

Last week The Age’s Melbourne Magazine published its list of top 30 Melbourne cafes. Obviously such a list is going to create some controversy but as I scanned the names I nodded in agreement with most of their choices. Then I got out my diary to make a note of the cafes that I had [...]

HOT: LuxBite, 38 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

May 31, 2011 ⋅ 8 comments

A few months ago I lost my head at a charity auction for Twestival and placed an outrageous winning bid on a macaron tower by LuxBite. Fifty macarons, all to myself! *mwah-ha-ha-ha* There’s been a lot of hoo-hah about macarons in Melbourne and the consensus from the blogosphere seems to be that South Yarra dessert [...]

HOT Chat: Benjamin Roberts of SKAPA BILDA

May 27, 2011 ⋅ One comment

I recently visited the Portobello Bride Boutique Wedding Market with two of my about-to-be-wed friends and was enraptured with the work of SKAPA BILDA. Who knew you could create such gorgeousness with paper! Todays’ HOT Chat is with Benjamin Roberts, one of the principals of SKAPA BILDA. Thanks Benjamin! Benjamin, tell me a bit more [...]