HOT: Sugadeaux Cupcake Tasting, Provenance Food & Wine, 288 Smith St, Collingwood

Cupcakes are serious business.
And as a blogger who writes a lot about food, I take cupcake tasting very seriously :–)
Hence I jumped at the chance to taste test and provide my feedback on some of Sugadeaux’s new cupcake flavours. About 30 food bloggers and customers of Sugadeaux gathered at Provenance Food & Wine and started [...]

HOT: The Bell Jar, 656 Smith St, Collingwood

Occasionally I have readers tipping me off about places to go and I recently received an email suggesting that I try  The Bell Jar.
So one cold, blustery afternoon I decided to trek up the nether-regions of Smith St (I rarely go past Johnston Street) to have a look. The cafe is quite hard to miss [...]

Melbourne Neighbourhood Guides

Today I’m pointing you to a guest post that I wrote for the free daily enewsletter The Agenda, which delivers the best of what’s new, unknown or inexcusably under-appreciated in and around Melbourne (they also have a Sydney version).
They recently featured a series of Neighbourhood Guides and I contributed Fitzroy. You can read all about [...]

HOT: Wood Spoon Kitchen, 88 Smith St, Collingwood

I just can’t get enough of Japanese food, and it seems the residents of Smith Street feel the same way.
Across the road from Peko Peko and sandwiched between the excellent Wabi Sabi Salon and yet-to-be-reviewed Tokushima is the cute Wood Spoon Kitchen. I was convinced to eat at this restaurant after the excellent rating given [...]

HOT: Friends of the Earth, 312 Smith St, Collingwood

I’ve previously blogged about the fantastic range of dried goods and produce available at Friends of the Earth, but last week was the first time I sampled some of the vegan/vegetarian food served in the laidback cafe.
During the week you can get a mixed salad plate which has a bit of everything heaped on it, [...]

HOT: Las Vegan Bakery & Cafe, 22 Smith St, Collingwood

I’d been meaning to visit Las Vegan Bakery & Cafe ever since they were awarded 2009 Victorian Vegetarian Restaurant of the Year by Vegetarian Network Victoria. I’m not sure how many other restaurants were in contention, but it’s a pretty impressive title nonetheless.
Las Vegan is a small little colourful cafe filled with the kind of [...]

NOT: Mezina Cafe, 176 Smith St, Collingwood

There are heaps of trendy places for breakfast in Collingwood (check out Gluttony It’s a Sin, Proud Mary and Cibi)…and Mezina isn’t one of them.
It looks trendy on the outside – it’s housed inside the ground floor of the refurbished Collingwood post office with a touch of a Middle Eastern vibe in the decor and [...]

HOT: The Social Studio, 128 Smith St, Collingwood

Fitzroy/Collingwood seems to be the hotbed of social enterprise businesses in Melbourne (see my review of restaurant Charcoal Lane), and in late 2009 another one opened around the corner from me – The Social Studio.
The Social Studio is a non-profit fashion studio space staffed by approximately 20 young members of Melbourne’s refugee community and overseen [...]

HOT: Grace Darling Hotel, 114 Smith St, Collingwood‎

There was a time when the grungy Grace Darling was the kind of pub which you’d cross the road to avoid. Now the pretty brick and stone building has been given a good clean-up and on a sunny day you’ll find the pub full of youngsters spilling out on the pavement tables and filling up [...]

HOT: Trippy Taco, 48 Smith St, Collingwood

You want HOT? You got HOT!
At hippy Trippy Taco, you can get XXX HOT. Just pour some of the XXXtra HOT chilli sauce that’s provided at each table on top of your quesadilla, taco, taquito, burrito or nachos. It delivers nose-sniffling, mouth-numbing heat and is the perfect antidote for the drooping summer swelter.

Trippy Taco is [...]