suburbs

HOT: Poultrygeist, The Commoner, 122 Johnston St, Fitzroy

February 8, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

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 [...]

HOT: Marmalade and Soul, 162 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy

February 7, 2012 ⋅ One comment

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 [...]

HOT: Spelt Quinoa, 40 Johnston St, Fitzroy

February 6, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

I think this Sunday Age article is kind of true – in the north there’s yoga for everybody (including dogs), hippies, fixies and all the girls look like they stepped out of frankie magazine. Which is why the shop Spelt Quinoa is perfect for the neighbourhood. This little shop of healthy goodness opened about a [...]

HOT: My Mexican Cousin, Corner Sturt St and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank

February 3, 2012 ⋅ 3 comments

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 [...]

HOT: Carolina, 11 Nicholson St, East Brunswick

February 1, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

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 [...]

HOT: Annoying Brother Espresso + Kitchen, 650 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy

January 31, 2012 ⋅ One comment

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 [...]

HOT: Alimentari, 251 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

January 30, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

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 [...]

NOT: Kokoro Ramen, 157-159 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

January 25, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment

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 [...]

HOT: Mama Baba, 21 Daly St, South Yarra

January 22, 2012 ⋅ One comment

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 [...]

HOT: St Katherine’s, 26 Cotham Rd, Kew

January 22, 2012 ⋅ One comment

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 [...]