Under the big shed they’ve created a space for small shops and pop up sites called SO:ME Space. It’s filled with clothing, accessories, artwork and bikes – a fun place to browse before or after your market grocery shopping.

Some of the designers include previous blog favourites Wet & Wendy and Skinny Nelson at Jane, plus cool bikes and accessories from Bakerlite and a very eye-catching shop display at Stone Glint and Bone.

SO:ME Space, South Melbourne Market, 322-326 Coventry St, South Melbourne

Wed 9am-4pm
Thurs 5pm-9pm
Fri 9am-5pm
Sat 9am-4pm
Sun 9am-4pm

Happy Bastille Day! While it’s not our national holiday, why not use it as an excuse to pop into new French boulangerie and patisserie Chez Dre?

Right near the bustle of South Melbourne Markets and down a bluestone laneway you’ll find a little bit of pastry heaven. Chez Dre is a large space which makes good use of its slightly awkward layout and lack of natural light by splitting the seating into two areas plus an outdoor courtyard, with a busy open kitchen curving along one side. I also admired the red spray-painted stencil floor which lent the mainly concrete and brick interior a welcoming warmth.

I was hoping to sit down for lunch on my weekend visit but obviously word has got around about this place already as there was not a spare seat to be had and a line up to boot. No matter, I just ensured I worked my way down the pastry cabinet. Total bill $56!

Baguettes: The bread is made in house and is an authentic French baguette – crunchy crust, chewy centre. To leave room for sweets I only had a half-size of the smoked salmon baguette with fresh dill cream ($6.50). While I liked the bread I didn’t particularly take to the filling as it was overpowered by wet slices of  too-sweet pickles. Little cornichons or just capers would have been a better match.

Lemon tart ($7.50): Ooh la la! This is a seriously good lemon tart. A light buttery pastry with a beautiful crumb encased the vibrant yellow curd (not too tart and not too sweet). I liked that instead of swirling the whole tart with meringue there was just a single stripe of soft marshmallow which had been torched quickly on top for presentation.

Yoghurt mousse with apricot jelly ($8.50): This was a set yoghurt mousse with a neat filling of apricot jelly inside and lightly dusted with desiccated coconut. I did not like this cake but I think it just wasn’t to my taste – to me it was eating yoghurt set in to a shape and I would have preferred eating plain ol’ yoghurt.  The pistachio cake base was also quite bland. Maybe one for the non-chocolate lovers out there (though in that case I’d steer you towards the lemon tart).

Chocolate eclair ($7.50): A tube of choux pastry split with a creme patiserrie studded with nuts – an unexpected yet delightful twist on the original. The eclairs come in chocolate, vanilla and coffee.

Chocolate cassis mousse ($8.50): While the chocolate mousse encasing a rectangle of cassis jelly and sponge was delicious, the most delightful part of this dessert was the hazelnut wafer base. No picture sorry, devoured too quickly!

Macarons ($3): When I asked the waitress which macarons to choose, she told me that the passionfruit was very popular and the must-try was the salted caramel. Both of the macarons were amazingly intense in their flavouring and showed good ‘feet’ but were inconsistent in their texture. The salted caramel was perfect in terms of lightness but the passionfruit macaron was too wet and cakey in its interior. The miniature macaron on the cassis had two large air bubbles in it.

Madelaines ($2.50): Fragrant with the heady scent of honey, these delicate shell-shaped cakes would be perfect sweet treat with a cup of tea or coffee.

Croissants ($4.50): Apparently the pastry item to try at Chez Dre is the flaky pastry croissant encrusted and stuffed with almond frangipane. I had that as well as a pain au chocolat. Both croissants were excellent but still not to the gold standard of the croissants at La Tropezienne.

Chez Dre is an indulgent refuel stop after a visit to the South Melbourne Markets. One of the pastry chefs there has assured that during the week it is less packed and it is  a much more relaxed experience – oh, and I have to try the chocolate tart.

Chez Dre recently won ‘Best Bakery Cafe’ in The Age’s 2011 Good Cafe Awards. Have a look at the other award winners here.

Chez Dre, Rear of 285-287 Coventry St, South Melbourne
+61 3 9690 2688
Mon-Sun 7:30-5pm

Melburnians are often tagged as being the shoppers and foodies of Australia, so a pop up shop selling fresh Australian truffles is a most genius idea for our city.

Madame Truffles has set up shop Thursday to Sunday 10am-6pm for the whole of July ie prime truffle season. Simon McCrudden and Bernadette Jenner are the brains behind Madame Truffles and both have other jobs, which makes their wee shop a project of love.

The pop up, in a garage annex of St Ali, has been designed and constructed by Melbourne creatives Greg Hatton and Leila Sanderson. and has a glamorous yet rustic feel to it. I loved the crystal chandeliers hung inside a wall-papered room built of corrugated tin, the lovely flower-bedecked vintage bike and the cute terraniums.

The shop has also been decorated with flowers by Katie Marx including the most velvety deep purple calla lillies.

The shop stocks three types of truffles from Tasmania, Western Australia and New South Wales, each of which has a slightly different aroma to it. The truffles are sold by the gram ($2.80-$3.50) and to make these little jewels go further you can also invest in a truffle cutter imported from Italy. Each truffle come packaged in a glass jar for storage (up to 7 days) and a little tag telling you the name of the dog that nosed the truffle up from the ground for you (my truffle is thanks to Izzie). Gives my little blog of earth a sweet backstory!

I’ve popped my truffle into a jar of arborio rice and will be using it to make the most decadent toasted cheese sandwiches (organic sourdough, gruyere, truffle shavings) and mushroom and truffle risotto.

If you can’t get to Madame Truffles, you can also buy fresh Australian truffles from Fresh Generation at Queen Victoria Market.

Madame Truffles, 12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne +61 430 017 480
Thursday to Sunday 10am-6pm
July only

No doubt many of you have heard of St Ali, the cafe and specialty coffee purveyors who are one of a handful of places responsible for Melbourne’s love affair with ‘third wave’ coffee.

Well, I don’t drink coffee, so this puts me at a disadvantage when a reviewing a place such as St Ali. However, I’m comforted by the fact that there have been lots of good words written about St Ali‘s coffee already (Eat Drink Stagger, Eating Melbourne, Melbourne Gastronome to name a few) so here is my non-coffee-drinker’s guide to St Ali.

First of all, LOVE the space. Tucked down a laneway, away from the often middling cafes on offer on Clarendon Street, the plain whitewashed wall declares ‘we’re so cool we don’t need a sign’. Inside is a high-ceilinged warehouse space complete with retro posters, industrial winches, exposed steel beams and a behemoth coffee roaster taking pride of place in the corner. All that unpolished brick and metal, plus the constant stream of customers, makes it a buzzy, noisy place. Not so noisy that you can’t hear a conversation, but certainly the reverberations of dozens of conversations and the hissing coffee machine can rise to nightclub levels at times.

During my lunchtime visit the place was so busy that the attractive, skinny-jeaned waiters were almost jogging from table to table. Nevertheless, they were super friendly as well as being efficient and the meals were brought out during the lunchtime rush with impressive speed. That might explain the clientele – not just your expected hipster coffee drinkers and young mothers with prams, but also besuited business people from nearby offices.

Instead of coffee I order a Peace & Light chai with soy ($5). Creamy and fragrant and served in a cute pot-bellied saucepan, it was the perfect antidote to the blustery cold outside.

The food menu is surprisingly extensive, covering breakfasty things, a whole section devoted to eggs, pizzas and ‘not just a breakfast chef’ items including my choice, High IQ – roast ocean trout, quinoa, currant, cranberry, mint, pistachios with tahini yoghurt ($18.50). It turned out to be several super-sized slabs of seasoned fish balanced on top of a healthy mix of nuts, seeds and fresh salad leaves. Brain food indeed and excellent value for money.

Desserts were lined up neatly in the counter by the cashier and I choose a neat rectangle of pistachio, cardamom and yoghurt cake ($4) with a side of marscapone ($3). They only had coffee marscapone that day and I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed it as it was too solid and bitter for me – would have preferred the vanilla option. The cake itself with deliciously moist and lightly fragranced with cardamom.

So the moral of the story? There’s lots of love about St Ali, even if you don’t drink coffee. And if you do drink coffee – well, it’s probably going to be a match made in heaven.

• St Ali, 18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne +61 3 9686 2990

Today we have a guest post from the lovely Miss Kish, my blog crush, friend and collaborator. She reviews long-standing restaurant, Isthmus of Kra, from a vegetarian point of view. Thanks Kish!

The Isthmus of Kra is the narrow land bridge which connects the Malay Peninsula with the mainland of Asia. In Melbourne however, Isthmus of Kra is an award winning restaurant that is sibling to reknowned vegetarian restaurant Shakahari. Its just as lavish an affair, if not more.

V and I had been wanting to try this for a very, very long time and it was so worth it.

We ordered the cassava mushroom pillow entrée  – pictured. I’ve never had or seen anything quite like it.  Being from Fiji, I’m well familiar with cassava – I just didn’t know you could do that to it! With it, we also had a “refreshing wasabi herbal salsa”. So mind blowing, the chef kindly prepared us another serve.

To be honest – I did find the options for vegetarians limited – but that’s how you know it’s authentic! However, it was more than made up for when the waiter suggested vegetarian options the chef could prepare for us. I still remember how he said “if you haven’t tried a green curry here, you haven’t tried a green curry”. He was right. The green curry came with a never seen before combo of vegetables and was divine. I feel sad to call it a green curry – because those can’t possibly be the right words for it!

We also had a pad thai, two serves of their soft roti (which I’m not even going to try and make at home #failinadvance). With a glass of merlot and tea, our total bill came to $79.00. Excellent fair for a wedding anniversary dinner = man well chosen.

Isthmus of Kra is special occasion fine dining with excellent service (seriously, excellent). Beautiful interiors and a lovely dinner out. Its been around since the 90s and has settled into South Melbourne with a quiet grace steeped in roots of tradition.

• Isthmus of Kra, 50 Park St, South Melbourne +61 3 9690 3688

Behind a non-descript door in Park Street, a little slice of Tokyo has dropped into South Melbourne.

Tempura Hajime is a tiny restaurant which only serves, you guessed it, tempura. Now I’m not such a great fan of tempura (how much fried stuff can you eat in one sitting?) but the restaurant had come with rave reviews from M and B, my generally non-tempura eating friends, plus a host of other food reviewers and bloggers. Given that the restaurant only seats 14 people around the wooden counter, bookings are hard to come by. So this dinner had been 2 months in anticipation!

There are no menu options – it’s $72 for the tempura set menu. I’d forgotten that my friend M didn’t eat fish or seafood but the staff were generous with providing her with alternatives. Although frankly I thought she was a bit cheated not being able to experience the delicious sashimi…

…..fried prawn (note the cute bird-shaped lemon juice squeezer in the background)…

…seared tuna with avocado and a dab of Japanese mayonnaise…

…scallop stuffed with rich sea urchin…

…whole whitebait….

…and mushroom stuffed with prawn. I like the Harry Houdini moustache of this morsel!

What she did receive was lots of vegetables, including this beautiful leaf. I couldn’t work out whether it was actual leaf, or a precisely cut piece of vegetable in the shape of the leaf. But so pretty!

We also shared a tofu stuffed with chicken (or pork)…

…mixed tempura with rice in a teriyaki sauce…

…and for dessert, a silken yoghurt pannacotta with sweet muscat juice.

Now for the main question – how was the tempura? Given that we’d eaten a series of fried dishes, it was quite miraculous that we didn’t leave the restaurant feeling laden with batter and grease. Tempura Hajime presents tempura at its best, giving dishes an added layer of textural crunch without overpowering the food. In fact, sometimes it was barely discernable. I still remember the asparagus spear we had which tasted of…fresh asparagus.

Tempura Hajime is definitely worth trying once for precise, refined Japanese cooking. While M insisted that she enjoyed her meal, I’m not sure I would recommend it for anyone who doesn’t like seafood. Also, given that the menu doesn’t change too often and there’s no menu choices, it’s not the kind of place that I’d be attending regularly. It’s more the kind of place for a once-off visit. Just make sure you do go at least once, as there’s rumours that the owners are intending to move back to Japan in 2010.

For more high-end Japanese cuisine, try Nobu or Shoya.

• Tempura Hajime, 60 Park St, South Melbourne +61 3 9696 0051

Since returning to Australia after two years overseas, I’ve developed a hypothesis that Australian food trends lag behind the northern hemisphere (especially the US and UK) by 1-2 years. That means that I’m expecting to see a flurry of gastropub openings in Melbourne in the near future (probably macaron specialists and ramen stalls a year after that), which is fine by me as I’m not much of a drinker or big-screen sports fan, so I’m only attracted to pubs which serve good food.

To mark my point, ex-Melburnian and celebrity chef Luke Mangan has returned to open his new gastropub venture, The Palace, in the middle of nowhere in South Melbourne. Given that the location consists of almost no foot traffic and there’s a big-ass picture of Mr Mangan hoisted up on the side of the building, I expect that initially The Palace will be relying heavily on Luke Mangan‘s fame to bring in the punters. Then I imagine the kitchen’s reputation will overtake the name-dropping, because in my view, the food is very very good.

We stopped briefly to check out the bar area (sleek, shiny, a little bit opulent) before being seated for our meal in the dining room. I never went to The Palace before its renovation, but I was a bit disappointed by the fitout of the dining room. I know a gastropub is not supposed to be a challenging environment but the interior design was so staid and safe (muted colours, bare white walls, corporate-reception floral arrangement) that its dullness actually became noticeable. RM and I agreed that reminded us of the uninspiring and forgettable surrounds of a Qantas Club. The one great thing was that the activity in the kitchen was completely open for viewing, making for some fun entertainment.

To the food. Firstly, let’s get one thing straight – don’t go to a gastropub expecting the food and drink to be at pub prices. The menu at The Palace has starters around $15-$18, mains at $30-35 (with three ‘to share’ dishes of barramundi, roast chicken or chateaubriand) and desserts at $14. For me, that’s ok as the menu moves beyond the bangers-and-mash and fish-and-chips standards to more innovative dishes, while still catering for the pub meal traditionalists in its grill menu of meat, meat, and more meat served with veg.

To start, big juicy oven baked prawns served with a slightly spicy mango salsa and roquette salad ($18). RM loved this dish, a perfect summer marriage of lightness and kick with bright, fresh flavours.

My starter was a crab omelette in a miso mustard broth $18). I couldn’t taste much of the miso or mustard in the broth, but no matter, as the omelette was a stand out, a mix between the mint and coriander flavours of a banh xeo and a melting Cantonese oyster omelette filled with large pieces of crab meat. The topping of fried shallots and sesame seed sprinkle gave the eggy fluffiness a nice contrasting crunch.

The barramundi with chorizo, fennel salad and spiced eggplant ($32) was a punchy dish of Spanish/Middle Eastern flavours. It was very good for RM, but not as much of a highlight as the prawns.

My main was a generous portion of pan-fried gnocchi with white asparagus and cauliflower polonaise (a sort of crunchy topping) with truffle oil. I normally avoid gnocchi because you never know whether you’re going to end up with a wad of potato glued to the roof of your mouth, but The Palace ‘s version was one of the best examples of  gnocchi I’ve ever had. Not floury, not sticky and slightly glutinous pellets of potato paired with light spring flavours. 

As I mentioned before, a large focus in the choices of main dishes is meat from the grill. The diners at the next table informed us that it was one of the best steak meals they’d ever had. High praise indeed when you feel compelled to praise your dinner to strangers!

For us, the grand finale was the chocolate fondant with cookies and cream icecream ($14). There’s no picture because as soon as RM dipped his spoon into the centre, a lava of molten chocolate came gushing out. He yelled “Hurry! Hurry! Take the photo!” but in my haste to capture the moment everything came out blurry. So you’ll just have to believe RM when he declared it the best dessert he’s ever had in Melbourne. This from a man who doesn’t generally descend into superlatives when describing food.

Finally, my admiration goes to the smooth kitchen and floor service on only the second day of public opening. No hiccups, no mix-ups, no panicking. Both the food and the service were poised, confident and consummately professional. The Palace should do very well.

For other gastropub recommendations, try The Court House, O’Connell’s Centenary Hotel and The Carringbush.

• The Palace by Luke Mangan, 505 City Rd, South Melbourne +61 3 9699 6410

• Preview of new French hit film ‘French Kissers’ at Palace Como on Tuesday 8 December;
• Aesop shopping night at their QV store on Wednesday 9 December. Join them for some wine and receive a small gift plus 10% off all purchases. Just email melbourne@aesop.net.au to RSVP;
• Made in Thornbury markets are happening 10-3pm on Saturday 12 December;
• Fair@Square fair-trade + ethical festival 2009 at Federation Square on Sunday 13 December; and
• Opening week for Luke Mangan’s new Melbourne gastropub, The Palace. I’ll be the dorky girl taking pictures of every dish.

Somewhere in there I’m also (1) taste tasting a whole lotta mince pies in the name of research and (2) getting my wedding dress fitted. Even a once-in-a-lifetime event can’t make me stop eating!

Finally, a little blast from the past. This was one of my favourite ever Laneway Commissions from 2003 – Safe Between Us by Endra Che-Kahn and Marco Mattucci in Stevenson Lane. The picture of the jammed safe and the Road Runner-esque target on the concrete makes me laugh every time it comes up on my screensaver. Have a great week!

After a brief wander through the South Melbourne Night Markets, C and I found ourselves in a South Melbourne black hole. Both of us were familiar with daytime cafes in the area, but where to go for dinner?

Fortunately, we remembered the gastropub O’Connell’s. This beautifully restored pub is in a quiet residential area of South Melbourne and at 6:30pm on a Thursday night most people were lounging at the leafy pavement tables enjoying a drink and the sunshine. C and I were the first people to settle into the surprisingly starched dining room adjoining the bar, but it didn’t feel silent or stuffy.

O’Connell’s menu ranges from sturdy pub grub to more fine dining options. C and I went somewhere in the middle – chicken and pumpkin sausages with lentils and mashed potato ($26.50), and a large salad of calamari, fennel, watercress and blood orange segments ($28).

My tender calamari had a big kick of spice offset by the crisp salad ingredients. C’s  sausages were almost crumbly in texture, with the pumpkin keeping the whole mix together and lending an unexpected sweetness to the hearty dish. Both of the dishes were generously proportioned and although we were tempted by the dessert menu old classic favourites (chocolate fondant, sticky date pudding, crumble) we couldn’t fit another thing into our satisfied stomachs.

• O’Connell’s Centenary Hotel, 407 Coventry Street, South Melbourne +61 3 9699 9600

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 with him) was the catalyst for me to make a bigger commitment to being “green” – and, ever the keen shopper and fashionista, I realised the “greening” needed to extend to my wardrobe!

As I began to explore whether there was such a thing as “designer eco fashion”, I became so excited about the amazing labels I was unearthing – many of which weren’t available in Australia and in the one shopping destination. If I was going to seek out these chic pieces for myself, then why not share the love and let others in on my discoveries? I believe most people want to be eco-conscious about their lifestyle, but they also don’t want to give up the things that matter – such as style, quality and individuality. And that’s where Eco Fashionista comes in….

With so many fashion designers out there, how do you select the stock for Eco Fashionista?

A lot of brand research lies behind Eco Fashionista‘s collection and the designers must demonstrate serious design and eco credentials.  How they achieve their “eco fashion” mission differs – from using organic, sustainable or vintage fabrics,  eco-friendly production, making small quantities to order or by hand and ensuring fair work conditions. We have given ”eco attributes” to each piece in our collection with these symbols.

Where do you turn for eco-fashion inspiration?

I’ve always devoured fashion magazines, and it’s wonderful to see titles like Vogue, Madison and Marie Claire now turning out green glamour and eco chic issues. I also read the stylish Australian eco fashion magazine Peppermint, and inspiring eco fashion blogs -  Eco Stiletto and Green Lashes and Fashion just to name two. For high-end designers with a conscience, it’s hard to go past Philip Lim (who launched his “Go Green Go” line in 2008) and Stella McCartney.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

Three words have guided me over the last few months  – patience, perseverance and perspective. Having a clear vision of your business and its direction is essential, but equally important is the flexibility to adapt to the challenges that will be inevitably thrown at you. I’ve also had to learn that sometimes I am not the best person for the job! You need to concentrate your energies on your strengths, and in areas where you lack experience or skills – delegate or outsource if /where you can.

What are you wearing at the moment?

I’m wearing one variation of my “home with Max” uniform - Good Society jeans, Sublet Courtney top and  Beyond Skin Tilly floral ballet flats. It’s all about comfortable style these days.

I do love to dress up when I get the chance though! My fiancé and I have a rare dinner date tonight, and I’m looking forward to wearing my Minna Maria vintage print dress, accessorised with a pendant from fair trade jeweller Fifi Bijoux and Ashley Watson’s super-soft recycled leather oriole clutch.

What are your tips for what’s HOT in Melbourne?

We love our morning coffee, and breakfast is really the only meal we go out for these days! Our local favourites are Mixed Business (486 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill +61 3 9486 1606‎) and Palomino (236 High Street, Northcote +61 3 9481 0699) which both make a great soy latte and exude an arty community vibe.

A little further afield, we recently discovered St Ali (12-18 Yarra Pl,South Melbourne +61 3 9686 2990) – a funky converted warehouse with specialty coffee blends and chocolate brioche, yum! Joe’s Shoe Store (233 High St, Northcote +61 3 9482 7666‎) is a very small bar with a whole lot of atmosphere – enjoy a glass of red with pizza from next door at Pizza Meine Liebe (231 High St, Northcote +61 3 9482 7001), along with a game of French boules out the back.

For something more special, we love Cumulus Inc (45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne +61 3 9650 1445) for fine wine and adventurous food in a vibrant setting.