I Turn My Camera On

I, like my fellow blog mistress, belong to the cult of the iPhone. I just love that I can take my poorly lit, grainy, shitty photos and with a bit of tinkering can turn them into romantic Lomo snapshots that wouldn't look out of place on a postcard dated 1965. Inspired by Tara's recent post I've just now trawled through my iPhone album, and perhaps rather worryingly I've found a substantial number of shots of half eaten food, drunk and dark photos of me and my beer-faced friends, and about three million blurry shots of my very disgruntled cat. (Make of that what you will, folks.)

If my iPhone album is anything to go by, I seem to spend my life eating, trapping my friends into terrible myspace photos, or else chasing my cat around our kitchen... excellent. But enter one of my multitude of fancypants apps, and suddenly I'm not a food obsessed cat lady, I'm a cool and groovy chick, an epicurean, a frikkin wildlife photographer, and I'm living in some sort of hip pastiche world of pretty cats and italian food. Guys, I'm basically living in this Lady Gaga Clip. Thanks, Steve Jobs!

So what am I doing with all of these photos? Well, given that my food-blogging seems to have doomed me to a lifetime of disrupting meals with a sneaky photo shoot, I've been able to compile something of an iPhone tour of Melbourne eateries. Here are three of the half-eaten best.

This cake looked so amazing that I managed to snap a shot before it was consumed. From The Green Refectory on Sydney Road, their baked goods are amazing. This slice of strawberry flavoured weight gain was huge, huge and delicious.

Bolognese and watermelon granita from Pellegrini's, my favourite little italian in the CBD. This place feels more or less like the above-mentioned Gaga clip. There is even a signed Billy Joel photo above the bar, just to drive home the Italio-American vibe. I love it in there.

Borek from the Queen Victoria Markets. Getting your hands on one of these babies requires queueing, shouldering, and shouting. Fighting through the scrum at the borek shop is worth the effort though, spinach and feta heaven.

And one blurry cat photo, because I'm pretty sure he's going to kill me some day soon, and only this shot seems to convince people...

Food, Glorious Food

The Bouillabaisse - John Olsen

Do you like food? I do. I love food, in fact. I love it so much that it inspires me to pen the odd few words about it in this here blog. I love food so much that the promise of breakfast is what gets me out of bed in the morning, and the anticipation of a delicious dinner is often what gets me through my work day. My love of food explains why, when day after day I watch a co-worker lunch on a tin of tuna in brine and two plain ryvita crackers, I leave our office kitchenette feeling more than a little sad. Food sustains me in more ways than one; it is fuel for my body, a comfort, a creative outlet, a sort of science experiment, and an opportunity for generosity all rolled into one.

I know that Masterchef has laid it on a bit thick with the "food is my passion, my happiness, my LIFE" shtick this year. I know that people get a little sick of Jamie Oliver's ceaseless enthusiasm, Nigella Lawson's coquettish licking of spoons and Gordon Ramsay's... let's call it passion? Passion and swears. I fear that the food-as-entertainment phenomenon is going to run its course in a few years, or worse - reach critical mass until we're chowing down on tuna and ryvitas three meals a day in an act of rebellion against cooking as pop-culture. But food can be so enriching - so elevating, it is so much more to me than an evening of reality television and a glossy recipe book. Here are a few bits and pieces that have broadened my appreciation of food in unexpected, wonderful ways. I hope they do the same for you.

Squid With Its Own Ink - John Olsen

- John Olsen's fantastic new exhibition, Culinaria. Colour and humour and plenty of fishy eyes and squiddy bits. I love John Olsen, I find his combining of abstract and organic very beautiful indeed, and this collection in particular has earned a special place in my heart. From the mouth of the man himself: "Culinaria - The Cuisine Of The Sun. How the sentence excites, rays of optimism, cornucopia and bringing together family and friends, wine and spirited conversation." Just lovely.

- Kumiko Michishita's gorgeous patterns. Peruse her blog. The above is titled "Watermelon and Carrot Juice" and I feel thirsty just looking at it.

- Natalia Hernandez's fantastic new design project, Concoct. Her honours project is all about how we interpret and interact with food. Log in to Facebook to become a fan of Concoct and follow her progress.


- For the Melbournites: The Farm, a community garden over in Brunswick. There are a multitude of community gardens springing up all over Melbourne, even one small one on a patch of median strip just around the corner from my place. There is something quietly revolutionary about urban farming.

- Zingara Cucina, Melbourne's guerrilla restaurant. Read about it here, and catch it if you can.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must go set the VCR for Masterchef...

For Emily, Wherever I Might Find Her

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A few weeks ago Canberra lost one of it's loveliest ladies. Journal editor, inner north compatriot, fellow vego, lover of soft cheeses, poetry, secret passageways and robots, my friend Emily packed it in for a life of glitz and glamour in Melbourne.

We are going to miss her like crazy here. I'm hoping to join her down there one day, but in the mean time I thought I'd share some of my favourite Emily endorsed tracks (right click to download).

Grand Salvo - In the Morning

Dirty Three - Quarantine

Machine Translations - The Zither Player

These tracks are gorgeous - they're landscape art. Thoroughly Australian, subtle and sweet. This girl is on to good things, as you can see. As a small parting gift, my fellow blog mistress has devised some wonderful Melbourne adventures for her - we hope you enjoy.

Books For Cooks – A lovely little shop full of books... for cooks. It’s worth a visit, as is almost every other store along Gertrude Street.

ACCA (The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art) – The slightly peculiar cousin of the NGV, and only a hop-skip-and a jump away if you’re planning to do the Melbourne Gallery rounds. We had an incident with the giant wall of spotlights... very interesting exhibitions indeed!

Double Happiness - This place is 1920’s speakeasy meets Mao era Chinese revolutionary hideout. A little on the expensive side, but the cocktails are delightful, unusual things and the staff have great taste in music. Try the plum martini. Yum.

The Brunswick Green (313 Sydey Road, Brunswick) – a lovely Sydney Road pub, it doesn’t look like much from the front but the beer garden out the back is fantastic. Great on Fridays – full of friendly folk, and the staff will deliver you a pizza from next door, but only if you ask very nicely.

Trippy Taco – amazing Mexican vegetarian restaurant on Smith Street, Fitzroy. The special quesadilla is to die for, and the sweet tamale dessert is killer too. I can’t recommend this place enough. (Also, Matt Preston eats there!)

Enjoy, lovely lady.

Roule Galette

Roule Galette is a teeny-tiny creperie hidden down a teeny-tiny alleyway in Melbourne's inner city. I realised recently that I visit this place so often, I know the menu by heart. I can confidently say that it has become one of my Favourite Places To Be.

Just in case you're not sure you should visit, here are ten excellent reasons to go:

- The Chevre, amazing chevre (a goats cheese) and spinach galette

- Strong, hot coffee of the utmost deliciousness

- Lemon-sugar crepes, simple and comforting

- Orange Pekoe tea, chamomile tea, lots and lots of tea

- Pear Cider. A drink I usually hate, but it is strangely delicious at Roule

- Dollops of butter - these come melting atop more or less everything on the menu

- Retro coloured light bulbs which lend a romantic feel to the whole alleyway

- Accommodating owners who open early on a sunday morning to welcome hungry customers

- Lovely french waiters who humor me politely whilst I photograph them at work

And finally, this lovely little story. "Roule Galette" means Roll Galette. The illustrations are sweet, and if you visit the place yourself, you can pick a copy up and practice your french.

My First Christmas (Lunch)

A Very Merry Picnic

Well Christmas Day 2009 has come and gone, a fact I can scarcely believe, because not only does the passing of Christmas signal the end to another big year, but it also means that I have successfully pulled off my very first Christmas Lunch. That's right people, my lovely lady friend and I were in charge of Christmas Lunch this year, we wrote lists, made a few confused phone calls to our mothers (How long do prawns keep in the fridge? What's the name of that sauce you make? Are they pine nuts or almonds in that salad?) and after a lot of shopping and menu-planning, settled on a Christmas picnic in the park.

Fresh Fruit & Cheap Wine

Veggies ready for the oven

I'd highly recommend the Christmas Picnic idea: for starters we didn't have to prepare much food - just some salads and roast veggies, the rest we bought from the markets. Because we cut down on the amount of cooking required, we weren't trapped in our teeny-tiny kitchens with our ovens pumping all day, and we even fed our stinky prawn carcasses to some very happy local magpies, no cleanup required. The weather was bliss, the park was beautiful, and I didn't have to clean my lounge room in anticipation of an onslaught of guests. This picnic idea? Total winner.

Cold Ham - Poor Delicious Piggies

Cheeeeesee!

The Menu:

- An assortment of cold meats, cheeses, bread and dips bought from Melbourne's multitude of excellent fresh food markets.

- Four big salads (wild rice salad, pear and walnut, tomato and feta, and fruit salad too)

- A kilo and a half of fresh prawns, complete with home made Rouille.

- Roast veggies (the only addition to the menu that required the oven)

- Choc-Ripple Cake (still delicious, even after a rough commute to the park)

- A truckload of red wine, and G&T's in the esky.

I Love Choc Ripple Cake

I'm really pleased at my first Christmas Lunch. The food and drink: plentiful. The fuss: minimal. Weather: Bliss. Plus because we pulled if off, my Lady Friend and I are officially Queens of Christmas, until we either fuck up royally next year, or let our parents take the reins again. How very merry.

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

Last weekend I paid a visit to the fantastic Melbourne Design Markets. I paid a visit specifically to purchase Cookbook, a darling little collection of recipe cards from Melbourne designers Wolfgang & Shlomo, hand printed using the old letterpress at the Melbourne Museum of Printing.

Cookbook is pretty much the most exciting purchase I have made this year. It combines two of my very favourite things, beautiful design and delicious food. Featuring linocut artwork by four talented Melbourne designers, and recipes from local food royalty, the pages of this beautifully printed collection are just so darn pretty, unwrapping my copy set me all aquiver with excitement.

The traditional letterpress printing used to create Cookbook lends each recipe card an organic, textured feel, entirely in keeping with the earthy homestyle recipes inked on each page. I can't wait to try the delicious sounding "carrots cooked in earth with wild onions and clover" - and I'm eager to sink my teeth into the utterly enticing "white chocolate, macadamia and butterscotch tart".

I am completely in love with my Cookbook, and I urge you to get your hands on a copy, if you can (The Narrows Bookstore is the only stockist I can find). All profits go to The Australian Aids Fund, a worthy recipient of your hard earned, and unwrapping your copy of Cookbook for the first time is so totally satisfying, I promise your money will be well spent.

Hail Mary, Full Of Grace

I've just whiled away a few lovely hours at Melbourne's wonderful Abbotsford Convent. I'm sunburnt and a little sleepy, my fingernails are filthy and I *think* I have goat poop on my tights, but poop notwithstanding I really can't recommend this place enough. Historic buildings, beautiful gardens and plenty of lawn space just perfect for spring frolicking! Farmer's markets, food and drink, antiques, galleries, and the Collingwood Children's Farm just next door. Perfect Right? Right.

Best Lunch Ever! Mighty healthy hangover cure from Lentil As Anything - read about Lentil, they deserve your support

Nature. Turns out it's pretty gosh-darn good

Freshly squeezed OJ icypole - totally worth the sticky fingers

View from The Collingwood Children's Farm

Sleepy baby goat, he and I shared some cuddles

Cranky Sheep, don't mess with him

The beatiful Convent grounds

Today was simply perfect. If you haven't paid the nuns a visit recently I urge you to do so as soon as possible.

The Best Big Breakfast (My Favourite Café)

My Favourite

For about a year and a half now The Boy I have been living in what is referred to as Melbourne's Inner North. Right now we're living in a comfortable, pretty suburb famous for - amongst other things - being home to the greater part of Melbourne's underworld. (A recent discovery, somewhat alarming but don't worry Mum, we've got deadlocks on the doors!) I love our suburb, gangland shootings and all, and I think after two and a half years of life in Melbourne I can safely say I've decided now and forever: I'm a Northern Suburbs Girl.

Since moving "out north" I've spent many a weekend investigating the local food scene. Top recommendations include the amazing Il Caminetto pizza place in Moonee Ponds, the famously cheap Laksa King on Racecourse Road in Flemington, and the lovely White Rabbit Record Bar in Kensington. I also love Gerald's Bar on Rathdowne Street in Carlton for a quiet place to drink, and the very friendly Workshop Bar, whilst technically in the city, is conveniently located just off Melbourne's main northbound tram line. But (prepare for a plug folks) perhaps my favourite find, and a place where I have spent many a sunday morning investigating the menu, is an unassuming little café called Pepper.

Pepper's Comfy Surrounds

Pepper is far and away the best spot over my side of town to enjoy a big breakfast. Technically in the west (although a very north west) the café is tucked away on the pretty Pin Oak court in Flemington. The premises used to be a little corner shop, and the original signage above the door announces the place as The Girdwood Hygienic Library, totally charming, especially if your boyfriend is a typography nerd and you like to be lectured about the specifics of font over breakfast. The coffee is fair trade and always tasty, the bacon is crisp and the poached eggs are always just runny enough to ooze over my toast. The menu changes frequently enough that there is often something new to try, and when the place is open for dinner, the back room - complete with open fireplace sparking in the corner - is a very snug spot to enjoy a pizza too.

Bacon and Eggs & Sweetcorn Hotcakes at Pepper

I can't recommend Pepper enough, which is why I've dedicated this very little post to their amazing big breakfast. I think the place must open in the wee hours of the morning because they're feeding people even at the antisocial hour of 7am on a friday, but the staff are chirpy even when it's still dark outside, and who doesn't want to look out at this view whilst scoffing down breakfast at the outset of a day.

The Early Bird Gets the View

Folks, thanks for reading my little plug. For those of you who have asked, it is my favourite breakfast spot. A jewel in the North (western) Crown, if that crown were... made of..... food. Yeah. Go eat at Pepper, you'll frikkin love it.

My Town According To My Tummy

The lovely autumnal month of March 2009 marked the two year anniversary of my move down south to the fair city of Melbourne. In fact, the fifth day of March this year marked the precise day that I said goodbye to my friends and family, enjoyed a last lungful of crisp Canberra air, and then sped through the sky to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, trying not to cry into my handbag as I left my home of twenty years for the proverbial 'big smoke'.

Two years on, and I am absolutely in love with Melbourne, and so glad to have settled here. I can wander through the rabbit-warren like laneways of the CBD without fear of getting lost, I've stopped baulking when confused looking tourists ask for directions - map in hand. I've even adapted to the claustrophobic conditions on Melbourne's train network and in fact, during winter, I quite look forward to the snuggly morning train ride from my house just outside of the city into town. I finally feel like Melbourne is my home, and in celebration of that fact I'd like to share with you my three all time favourite culinary delights from around the city.



Pellegrini's Espresso Bar
66 Bourke Street, Melbourne City

My Dad recommended Pellegrini's as a place to go for excellent espresso coffee. He used to lunch here when he lived and worked in Melbourne a few years ago. The place is somewhat of a Melbourne institution. I don't think the decor has changed since it first opened it's doors over fifty years ago. It feels to me like a family kitchen, a place to feel very much at home. Mama Pellegrini always supplies a large hunk of fresh buttered bread with any order of pasta, and sometimes the coffee is free. Just because. I make a beeline for the place when I'm hungry for some homestyle Italian food. Either that or I'm just missing my own Mama...



Shanghai Village
112 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne City

My fellow blog-mistress and I stumbled into Shanghai Village quite by accident one night, with another couple of dear friends. The menu prices were - to us at least - disarmingly cheap, so working under the assumption that the dishes would be small portions, we ordered an embarrassing amount of food.

At Shanghai Village, a plate of 18 steamed vegetarian dumplings will set you back $6.50, and these are more than enough to feed two people if enjoyed with some rice and a beer. Between four of us we ordered about fifty dumplings, fried spring onion pancakes, some sort of sweet pumpkin dish, and two plates of rice. Tara was so embarrassed at the sheer amount of food at the table that she kept piling it onto one central plate in a futile attempt to make us look a little less gluttonous. Needless to say we ate it all. The dumplings at this place are delicious. Also, the walls are bright pink, the chopsticks are orange, and the jasmine tea is free. The staff don't care if you pour from a goon bag at the table, and the food is ridiculously cheap. It is definitely one of my favourite spots to eat, particularly when I don't have much in the bank. Student heaven.



Madame Brussels
59-63 Bourke Street, Melbourne City

Madame Brussels isn't strictly a restaurant, and it's not strictly a bar. It is a self described 'Rather Fancy Terrace and Public House' named after the brothel Madam who used to run her business from the same end of town during the 1880's. Decked out in pretty pinks and greens, and featuring some very sexy bar staff attired in 1950's style tennis uniforms, Madam Brussels makes me feel like a high society lady every time I visit.

Madame Brussels is the place I seek out when in need of light meal with my booze. Cheese platters, home made paté, scones, and some damn tasty sausage rolls are on the menu. The drinks list is impressive, and the cocktails are amazing. I've frequently coloured my cheeks with the chilled pimms and blood orange punch in the summer, and the warm spiced rum that's on offer in the colder months is delicious too. The place is simply adorable, the view from the balcony out towards the Victorian Parliament is gorgeous, and lets not forget... hot bar staff in tennis uniforms. I challenge any lady to resist Madame Brussels' charms.

So there you have it. In a city that boasts an almost ludicrous number of restaurants, bars and cafes, here are my three favourites. The last two years I've spent down here in Melbourne have been punctuated by deligtful little discoveries such as these three spots. They're each worth a visit, they won't break your budget, and yout tastebuds and tummy will not be disappointed.

Lovely Laneways - St Jerome’s 2009

Last weekend I spent a hot, humid Sunday at Melbourne’s St Jerome’s Laneway Festival. Perhaps the only reason I don’t pick up and move to Greenland during summer is that I harbour a great love for festival season, so armed with a big ol’ bottle of sunscreen (damn my British complexion) and an itch to hear some good tunes, I ventured outside for a day of toe tapping fun.

I’ve heard that St Jerome’s was a mixed experience for many, but miraculously I managed to avoid the queuing, sunburn, and inevitable arseholes that mar most festival experiences, and instead spent a lovely day outdoors in good company, and with great music aplenty. One of the highlights of my day was a truly off-the-planet set from the self described ‘cosmic gods of synth’ Pivot, and I was completely won over by the seafaring charm and hairy good-looks of Port O’Brien. I thoroughly enjoyed a great set from who are, to my mind, Australia’s best musical offering - Augie March - who played a handsome set list featuring most of their heavier material. Something about the humidity and the crowds made the mournful lyric ‘It's hot in the town with its back to the sea, O darling don't put your veil over me’ feel strangely appropriate as the sun set over Lonsdale Street, and I have been listening to this particular track on repeat since Sunday:

Brundisium - Live at PBS Studios 2003 (Augie March, Strange Bird)

Glenn Richards belts out a tune

Of course it’s not a good Festival without an amped up rock act, and with a rollicking, raucous set my favourite Brooklyn based rockers -The Hold Steady - truly delivered. The drug-fucked tragedy of their 2008 single Stay Positive evoked such pathos when belted out live, and Craig Finn, the band's surprisingly nerdy looking lead singer, leapt around the stage with such enthusiasm it was hard not to enjoy every moment of his performance. His final proclamation of ‘We’re All Holding Steady’ was surprisingly moving, elevating their performance above a simple rock ‘n’ roller to something that felt, to me at least, much more profound.

Craig Finn - The Hold Steady

Since Sunday I’ve heard a lot of complaints voiced about the running of St Jerome’s 09. I must admit that claustrophobia and a desire to sit in the shade got the better of me about half way through my day, and I fled the crowds mid-afternoon, just missing an apparently excellent set from Cut Off Your Hands. I was a little upset to have missed seeing one of the festival’s biggest drawcards, but being the ingenious young ladies that we are, my friends and I didn’t let our necessary break from the music get us down, and instead caught a tram down to Flinders Street and held a sneaky picnic on a particularly shady patch of grass. Snacks included fresh baby tomatoes, feta, cornchips and dip, not to mention a rejuvenating (believe it or not) few glasses of cheap (very cheap) wine, drunk from teeny tiny plastic cups that were kindly donated to us by the nice man at Vintage Cellars. It seems that impromptu picnics are becoming a feature of my 09’ festival exploits, (although the feta we ate last Sunday was decidedly more solid than Tara and I’s accidental Adelaide fondue.)

2009 is shaping up to be a delightfully musical year. I admit my gastronomic exploits thus far seem less than appealing, but melted cheese and terrible wine notwithstanding I highly recommend you pack a picnic when you next venture out into the sun.

Listen To: How A Resurrection Really Feels (The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday)