A Few of My Favourite Things !

We were standing at the counter of Almost French, ordering hot cross buns and almond croissants when our reveries of afternoon tea were interrupted by the entrance of the unmissable Alannah Hill. After ordering half a dozen hot cross buns, she turned her attention to another version of hot buns – you know the ones that come in a pair of cool blue jeans…

She very casually introduced herself as ‘Alannah…Alannah Hill. I’m a designer’. Then quickly moved into ‘You’re very good-looking. I think I’m going to pick you up’.

Completely distracted by the scene playing out in front of us, I could barely respond to the waitress’ question of ‘Is there anything else?’ until Alannah had left her number with the guy and driven off in her black Merc.

Almost French
138 Swan St, Richmond 3121
Ph: (03) 9429 2080
Open 7am-5pm Mon-Sat

On a (now) rare Friday night off, A & I decided to go bar hopping, kind of. We started off at La Vita Buona Cellar, part of the City Sqaure troika along with Three Below and Caboose Restaurant. We sat down with the noisy, after-work crowd to enjoy a glass of champagne and shiraz accompanied simply by french fries with aioli (just to stave off those hunger pangs). After catching each other up on our day, we took a walk down Flinders Lane towards Spring Street when I had the brilliant idea of checking out the Press Club Bar. And what a good thing too! We ordered some drinks (Shiraz & Sauvignon Blanc) and sharing plates from the bar menu and we were delighted with each offering.

It was a struggle to get photos with my camera given the lighting in the bar but these will have to do. The white taramasalata made with creme fraiche came with fried pita bread – so moreish! The dish behind the dip also appears to be served at George’s new Hellenic Republic restaurant – peppered fig on fried haloumi. I loved the peppered fig but, overall, preferred the other two.

I can’t remember how they termed this dish in the menu but it was basically an octopus & boccarone skewer coated with pistachio praline.

We then adjourned to Longrain for some after dinner cocktails (Soho La & Lychee Martini) and yet more little dishes – the son-in-law eggs and betel leaf topped with smoked trout, garlic, chilli, galangal & trout roe. If I thought the lighting at the Press Club gave me difficulties with photos, they were impossible at Longrain…so no images of the food, just memories of deliciousness.

La Vita Bouna
City Square, Melbourne
96547855

Longrain
44 Lt Bourke St, Melbourne
9671 3151

Looking for a child-friendly place for brunch, a friend recommended the Auction Rooms as a great place that had room for a pram. So, we wandered up to Victoria Market, purchasing some groceries on the way, then made our way to Errol St in North Melbourne. Not quite knowing where Errol Street was, we asked directions from three blokes chatting in from of a pub. Two of them, who appeared to have already well on their way to being sozzled, informed us to keep walking in that direction but that Errol Street was 2km away. Fortunately, their estimations were quite a way out and we were there within 15 min., stumbling upon it right after passing Fandango.

My idea of a perfect breakfast – miso soup with silken tofu, fried tofu, carrots, shimeji mushrooms, wakame, one beautifully-cooked still-runny poached egg and a riceball on the side. Ahhh, bliss on a Saturday morning…

Lau’s Family kitchen is quickly becoming a firm favourite with our family. We were celebrating a belated birthday (dad’s) and my brother meeting his nephew for the first time so we made a lunch reservation so that Baby EJ could come along. The service at Lau’s is highly attentive and although I didn’t have a problem with this last time, it was a little suffocating this time. There were so few tables that our waitress (fairly new I think) only had our table to look after. On the whole though, it’s better to have this problem than not being able to attract any of the waitstaff.

The dishes were served in individual portions, again not my preference as I like being able to choose how much of each dish I have. To me, having a chinese meal is about sharing from the dishes in the middle of the table and being given predetermined portions takes away from the idea of sharing. Also, there is a practical aspect that not everyone eats the same amount of food…which is also why I rarely go for degustation menus. Well, apart from those two issues, Lau’s was well-worth the visit. This is what we had:

Oyster with black bean sauce – very tasty & we saw them shucking the oysters at the start of the lunchtime service

Steamed barramundi – just AMAZING. Completely delicate flavours and the most tender morsels of fish I have ever had. We have not gone wrong with their steamed fish yet.

Cantonese beef – tender, tasty flamed-grilled flavour

Mixed vegetables – not oily and filled with fresh vegies that were still slightly crunchy. My favourite cloud ear fungus

Scallops – my least favourite as I found them to be just a tad overcooked. Very subtle flavour

Go at lunch if you to converse with your friends or go at dinner if you’re with boring company. You can smile and nod politely, pretending you’re able to hear everything being said =)

Lau’s Family Kitchen
4 Acland Street
St Kilda
(03) 8598 9880

Seeing as Neil has so eloquently described the bloggers dinner at Jamon Sushi, I thought that I would simply add some photos of the food we had that night. The only other thing that I will say is that A. loves the passion that Charles demonstrates and that I wish I had been able to stay for the soba course.

Wow, I was at Prahran Market on the weekend and heard some fantastic news from the owner of my favourite chocolate store – Monsieur Truffe.

Thibaullt’s stall in the centre of the fruit & veg section is oft-visited and much-lauded by bloggers. The great news for all Monsieur Truffe fans (and for those who have yet to try his truffles – what are you waiting for?) is that a Monsieur Truffe store will be opening on Smith Street in Collingwood. He has started advertising for staff on his blog and the opening is expected to take place sometime in August. The store will stock all the current favourites but will also double as a cafe that serves pastries and host chocolate & wine tasting evenings.

Another chocolate store also opened five weeks ago on Toorak Road near the corner of Chapel St – Ganache Chocolate. It’s reminiscent of Koko Black in its decor and has similar chocolate blocks studded with various fruit & nuts. We didn’t try any chocolates but did pick up a pan au chocolat to go. Their pastries are made by the chef from Le Petit Gateau on Lt Collins St and this version has a raspberry puree smear under the chocolate. Pretty good.

Update: According to Ed’s “Ed lines” in the Herald Sun (29 April 2008), Arno Backes is the man behind Ganache Chocolates – no wonder the similarity to Koko Black then given that he was the second master chocolatier there…

Lau’s Family Kitchen is run like a yum cha restaurant – two sittings per night at 6pm and 8pm. The noise levels are much like a yum cha restaurant too but the service is infinitely more attentive. In fact, if you have been to Flower Drum you will not be surprised by the wait staff to table ratio and they really seem to care about how you are finding the meal.

We started our night off with a few of their entrees. The steamed vegetable wontons with seasonal vegetables were passable but the wonton skin should have been thinner and less chewy. The fried eggplant filled with taro paste more than made up for the sub-par wontons however. You won’t find lamb springrolls on many chinese menus and I, for one, can understand why. It reminded us more of a Middle Eastern pastry like sambousek.

Our mains were served like a banquet, dishes coming out one after another. The steamed snapper was my pick of the night. Divinely tender and light, no bones to deal with – ahhhh! This was accompanied by the stir-fried seasonal vegetables consisting of snowpeas, cloud ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy…fresh and crisp. Many chinese restaurants tend to overcook the vegetables and use too much oil but Lau’s version was perfect.

I was getting pretty full by this stage but there was still the panfried Patagonian Toothfish and Sweet Vinegared Pork Loin. The slow-growing Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean Seabass) is prone to being overfished so the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) closely manages commercial fishing to ensure its sustainability. Aside from wanting to support the protection of endangered species, this fish is tasty enough that we wouldn’t want it to disappear altogether.

We expected the pork loin to be more like a braised dish but it was more like a stir-fry served with a gravy. Too salty for my tastebuds but A. thought it was pretty good.

A huge thumbs up from us for this place. Unbeatable service, lovingly cooked food that is fresh and light, no signs of cornflour thickened sauces here – make your booking now

We stopped for breakfast at Cafe Andiamo on our way home from a long walk along the Yarra River this morning. An order for poached eggs on toast was placed with our waiter but what came out could have passed for hard boiled…

A. says that cafes which cannot cook eggs shouldn’t be serving breakfast. I suspect that Jamie would agree wholeheartedly.

Cafe Andiamo
36 Degraves St
Melbourne 3000 VIC
Phone: (03) 9650 8060

It’s true that Saltimbocca is sometimes also written as Saltinbocca. But the way this is written, it looks like they are just going to sprinkle some salt in your mouth, ‘Roman-stye’ of course!

Salt in your mouth or jumps in the mouth, your choice!

The scene between A and myself as we are walking down Elizabeth Street towards Flinders Street Station:

A: “So how was your day?”
Me: “Busy. I’ve been working on the catering and merchandising for the office launch”
A: “I was going over the invitation list for the launch and wondered if we should send an invitation to S. & H. What do you think?”
Me: “That sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure…..BEARD PAPA!” (stopping dead in my tracks)

I didn’t quite scream those words out but I definitely said it loudly enough for A. to freeze in his tracks and wonder who was about to attack us.

Anyway, the news is that Beard Papa has opened it’s first Victoria store on Elizabeth Street, near the Flinder Street corner. It’s just a shop front actually so it’s more difficult to hear their “IRASHAIMASE!” greeting.

Get there and get one (or twelve)!