1540: Flight DJ849 arrives into Sydney Meet your Astra Limousines driver for your transfer to the InterContinental Sydney. Delays! The storms in Melbourne means that I don’t arrive until after 5pm for a drinks party at 6pm. 1800: Meet Destination NSW in the lobby of the hotel for transfer to the Hilton Hotel for the Crave Sydney International Food Festival Official Launch Party I meet David Lebovitz in reception together with Helen from Grab your fork and Chocolate Suze and […]
Eat streets
Where to eat on Melbourne’s and Australia’s famous eat streets.
Q&A: Will you support Bread for Good?
Q: Hope you’re having a great Tuesday. I’m a big fan of your blog and just wanted to get in touch about an upcoming campaign you may be interested in. As part of Good Food Month, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald are encouraging restaurants to help make a difference for children affected by the famine in East Africa through the Bread for Good project. I’ve posted some more details below and you can also find out more at www.breadforgood.com.au. […]
Check the Vue at Lui Bar
The view alone is worth it at the new Vue de Monde. Photo: Adriane Strampp In case you hadn’t heard,Lui Bar at Shannon Bennett’s new Vue de Monde at the top of The Rialto is open to all comers. And it is not only worth it for the drinks but the vue (view geddit?) of the traffic streaming through Melbourne at night. The attention to detail and the levels of service at Lui Bar are unmatched in Australia. First you […]
Oysters, ethics and stout
Oysters, once the food of the people. Now if you are interested in various different varieties you’ll be paying up to $4 in restaurants.That’s nearly $50 for a dozen and in my opinion too much. I want to eat them but can’t afford to pay that much.So I will often will buy them at one of Melbourne’s markets (pre-shucked if I’m feeling lazy) for about $1 each. The fact is that unless you are a cashed-up hedge fund manager the […]
The Everleigh: ice cool on Gertrude St
For a very hot country, it is remarkable how little care we give our ice. Sure, you can buy large bags of ice pretty much anywhere, but it’s the kind of ice to stick in a bath or an Esky and chill beer and sauvignon blanc; not the kind of stuff to put in a cocktail. A while back the shiny Japanese ice machines at Match Bar were a revelation. And now The Everleigh, which sits atop the old Dante’s […]
The Estelle: a taste of Basque country in Northcote
A change of direction at The Estelle with chef Ryan Flaherty There a little bit of Basque country foaming away in Northcote, at the relaunched The Estelle, best known previously for the knitted cuts of meat hanging on the wall. How much foam diners in Northcote – or indeed Melbourne – can take is the question that perplexes me. The food (and foam) coming out of the kitchen of the newly installed chef Ryan Flaherty, which was recently bought by […]
Start queueing for Bar Americano
Like its name, the fit out of this latest Der Raum spin-off is very slick and let’s say Americano. That’s slick tiling and panelling. The narrow bar inset with copper. And the fact it’s very very exclusive, allowing only 15 people in at once. That means while you are there sipping you hanky panky (above) behind the shut gate, late coming friends have to wait in the cold with nothing but Melbourne’s smallest artspace, the Twenty by Thirty gallery, to […]
And the KitchenAid winner is…
Win a KitchenAid mixer in the colour of your choice thanks to Kitchenware Direct Songs, poems, pictures. And ideas for parties and blog redesigns (coming soon, which I’ve been saying for two years). It’s been two long months since I launched my win a KitchenAid kindly donated by KitchenwareDirect – with a bit of self interest to promote this blog, my Twitter profile and Facebook fan page. First I’d like to thank everybody who has entered, getting into the spirit […]
Everything you wanted to know about coffee (but were afraid to ask your hipster barista) part 2
Check out Everything wanted to know about coffee (but were afraid to ask your hipster Barista) part 1 I‘m drinking coffee made from beans that are one month old. The beans are from the Bambito estate in Nicaragua. They are arabica, from from a mutation known as Caturra. It’s here in Australia because Nolan Hirte, owner of Proud Mary in Collingwood, brought them back to be followed shortly by 450kg he sourced directly. It’s the big change in coffee locally […]