People love Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar. It’s because of the atmosphere and the 1950s charm. It’s a great place to hang out and watch the top end of Bourke Street go by – as long as you are not eating or drinking coffee. If you have anything more ambitious than a glass of water (alcohol isn’t served) you’ll be disappointed because the food and the coffee are also both stuck in the 1950s. But the place is packed, so why would […]
Author: Ed
Cibi: a cafe and a gallery by any other name
Cibi: try the green tea muffins Cibi is a cafe that thinks it’s a gallery. Actually, it is a gallery and regularly holds openings to launch the various (mainly kitchen) products it imports (mainly) from Japan. Housed in a modern warehouse building on Keele St, the Cibi space features a large open kitchen and grunge cafe mixing found objects and mismatched tables and chairs with a minimalist feel – if that makes sense. It’s the brainchild of former architecture nut […]
The wonder of Arzak
Restaurants are fickle things with short life spans. Even the most successful often close at their peak. But, in this world, Arzak Restaurant in Spain’s San Sebastián has been a constant since it was established in 1897. And what is more remarkable is that, four generations later, it is still in the Arzak family’s hands and has held a prestigious three Michelin stars since 1989. Today, the latest generation of Arzaks in the kitchen is Elena, who works in tandem […]
Shades of brown at The Spaghetti Tree
Fresh fish doesn’t smell. The seafood crepe ($17) at The Spaghetti Tree smelt acrid, of ammonia. I didn’t even want to taste it and one mouthful was enough to put me off the food for the evening. It was awful in smell, taste, texture and presentation and left barely touched by the three of us. An awkward yeast infection was mentioned and before even the garlic bread ($6.50) could arrive, halfway through our mains, the seafood crepe was renamed the […]
Bompas and Parr’s art of jelly
Meet the jellymongers, Sam Bompas and Harry Parr. The old Eton College pals have taken the UK party scene by storm with their flamboyant jellies, bow ties and jelly-stained trousers. Whether it’s flooding the ground floor of a stately home to make a giant cocktail navigable only by boat, or inspiring the world’s top architects to make jelly, the jellymongers recently also enchanted Melbourne with their brightly coloured, often alcoholic, and very wobbly creations. They whipped up funeral jellies for […]
Simple beetroot, carrot and goats cheese salad
A salad fit for @tammois’ pagan house burning tonight. One of the secrets of good cooking is to know how to pack flavour into a dish. In the bad old days of my childhood the school dinner lady boiled the crap out of beetroot and doused it in some kind of industrial vinegar. Needless to say I hated this particular root vegetable. But now I’ve come to love it. First, I don’t cook it but roast the beet, which concentrates […]
Everything you wanted to know about coffee (but were afraid to ask your hipster barista) part 1
New on the block – the “magic” at Proud Mary. Check out part two of this post. It’s complicated now ordering a coffee. No sooner do you think you have a grip on all the current vogue brewing methods and another one lands on the scene. In my case the latest ones to enter my vocabulary it’s the Trifecta (coming soon) and the Magic (see definitions below). No longer are the options just espresso-based but there a plethora of new […]
Defining Irish fare
It’s butter. Rich creamy butter, the product of Ireland’s rich emerald green pastures, that excites Rachel Allen, the woman who put Irish cooking back on the map, and who recently visited Australia as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. “I always come back to dairy.” says the TV chef, cookbook author and champion of local artisan produce. “I love our butter. I love our cream.” Then there’s the seasonal foods. “That meal, the last of asparagus, the first […]
Curry: At lunch with Atul Kochhar
Spice crusted scallops, grape and ginger dressing You can’t beat a good curry. The question is in Australia, where can you find a good curry? Some 15 years ago there were hardly any curry houses and even though now they are spotted around everywhere, few offer a really great dining experience. Usually what we are served is anonymous cuts of meat in generic curry sauces heated up to order. It’s miles away from the wonderful dining experiences of other ethic […]