The Brunswick East Breakfast Morning

A step too soon, and I find myself caught in a light drizzle upon disembarking the tram & early for my Saturday breakfast appointment with FH. Hmm, perhaps a light stroll beforehand (the distance between two tram stops) to warm myself up and see what is in the neighbourhood then.

Ah, here is an interesting looking cafe but not open on weekends. Here is the famed Mi Corazon Tequila bar - peering through its large glass windows, I can see that famous Virgin Mary statue taking centre stage at the bar among all the bottles of tequila and liquors. I see assorted couches and low tables, high chairs and wood tables. Looks like a place for the tequila fan all right; open at night only of course. Here is the newsagency, ooh I better get my copy of the Weekend Age. Mmm, here is a shop with lots of white plastic bottles and looking like a laboratory but labelled Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot. Oooh, bottles and bottles of things you read about in molecular gastronomy books like pectins, powders and extracts, but there are Herbie herbs and European cooking chocolates too. This is such a strange and fascinating little shop. If only it was open on weekends.

Time to walk back to the breakfast venue. Wait, this shop calls itself the Brunswick East Project. It stocks...Padre coffee?! Wait, now I remember, the chaps at Sweet Agora told me their roaster has a shop up this way of town. A glance through the windows. The baristas in brown and black look serious, the customers look serious. The look that says, "I am here for the coffee, and I want my coffee here." I check my watch. Oh I am sure I can squeeze in a short macchiato, especially when the single origin is an intriguing 'Tanzanian Mviwambi AAA'. I perch myself on the high bar opposite the coffee machine, occasionally moving to let the pram-pushing dads go through to the big warm back section of the cafe. The barista confesses that cupping notes for this coffee is yet to come but "it has a slight tartness, like red currants".

You are right, dear sir, it does have the tartness of red currants, but also a mild sweetness, medium body and a good amount of tannin. A very well made coffee I must say, worth a good 4 out of 5 stars.

Oops look at the time, got to run. I open the doors of Hellenic Republic, and the waitress immediately asks me what coffee I want. A medium sweet Greek coffee, thanks. Not that I really need it, but hey I am in a Greek place so may as well.

Not a lot of people on this gloomy morning, so that means some decent service for us and good chatting space. Let us do a bit of dish sharing, seeing that we are both intrigued by the same dishes.
Hmm, a spanakopita with poached eggs and watermelon salad with feta, mint, rosewater and flaked almonds. The pastry is suitably flaky and crunchy, the filling fresh, the poached egg a surprisingly good complement. The salad is refreshing and just very good. FH muses over replicating the dish at home when summer comes around. The whole breakfast goes very well with my just-right Greek coffee. FH reckons the barista looks familiar...

The rain is still falling, the skies are still grey. I suppose it is never too early for some loukoumades. We are the first of the day to order them, which causes a bit of consternation in the kitchen because it was not expecting to make any so early in the day. A little enquiring after an unusually lengthy wait (for dessert that is), and we get served the biggest bowl of the doughnuts I have ever seen. We stare at it, thinking, "surely this is not a normal serve..."

*imagine two Asian girls staring at a large white bowl of doughnuts. Just staring at it, smelling the honey, wondering how we should go about polishing it off.*

Looking at the table behind us, we realise that we have been given a double serve as the staff felt bad about the wait we endured. Well, dig in I say, let us not disappoint the staff.

Alas, we weaklings can only finish the equivalent of the normal serve. Pardon, would it be too much to ask for a takeaway container? No, and they even put a little sticker on it to let you know when the Best By date for consumption is. So cute! 3 stars out of 5? For the service, I give them a bonus .5 star to make it 3.5 stars out of 5 for a comfortable brunch on a gloomy weekend morning.

Tram, there comes the tram. Off we go to our favourite Italian importers cum restaurant Enoteca Sileno to find that elusive salted chocolate bar from Spain - and indeed it is elusive, having escaped our hands by a few MONTHS ("our next shipment will be coming for the pre-Christmas rush")

Those who have been following this blog since inception will notice that the Hellenic Republic has had more than the usual one mention. This is one place that we felt we needed to have more than one go at, seeing how it continues to get mixed reviews and be trapped under the weight of its big brother the Press Club.

In any event, the Brunswick East stretch of Lygon Street is worth exploring if you have not done so before.

What A Charm The 2nd Time Was

When I finally started catching up with AJ on a semi-regular basis, one of the things we did together was attend the inaugural Taste of Melbourne. Back then the first night was pretty civil with the longest queue belonging to that selling the lamb souvlaki, I found a great olive oil company and Lindt was using the event to work out whether it was worth opening a cafe in Melbourne.

This year, the queue for the opening night was so long it spilled into four directions to make sure people would not end up blocking any walkways. Fortunately we, unlike many others, had the benefit of precise planning. With the aid of a map distributed before the doors opened, we worked out our walk route and eating programme. Then the doors opened, and we were off like a pair of rockets. We were focused, we were determined, we knew what we wanted and we were not willing to go through any more long queues for them. The vendors were fresh faced, keen to please, happy to pose for pictures, smiles all around. We were all ready to enjoy the night.
Gawking at big-name chefs who were hovering around their stalls to make sure everything worked well ("Oooh, Jacques Raymond! Hey, there's Frank at Movida, and George at The Press Club, and of course Gary is visiting from the Boathouse"), we set out to share entree-size dishes of:

• Mauritian tamarind cured kingfish and scallops served with green chilli, curry leaf and ocean trout pearls from The Court House (mmmmm),
• black miso cod from Nobu (ooooo),
• pressed duck leg + mushroom miso soup from Verge (oh my gosh good),
• baked Portugese crab from Silks (yuuuum), and
• Turkish delight filled doughnuts, with pine nut sugar and rosewater honey from Maha (honey honey honey).

We picked up cocktails for the equivalent of ten dollars each - yes we did note there were a lot more cocktail vendors compared to last year - as well as lots of ice cream (seriously, Maggie Beer's quince with burnt almond ice cream is INCREDIBLE, and they gave me two serves. For FREE!!!!). I pondered over the idea of ordering the Yarra Valley Punt Road Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Bundle (one bottle each from the 2000 - 2005 vintages; the 2003 has aged beautifully) while AJ had to work out whether the price of South American organic chocolates was justifiable (it was). I also nabbed a large punnet of colourful heritage tomatoes as AJ agonised over Red Hill brewery beer, mussel pots and cheese. We missed the Vittoria coffee gift package giveaway but we were quite happy tasters at the New Zealand wine promotion stand.:P

Then we found a barrel to sit at (another improvement: a lot more seats!) and pondered over what we could do with our last two Crowns as we sipped on our second cocktails. Another look at the menu, another discussion over savoury versus sweet, and off AJ went to get ten more Crowns so we could officially declare Verge's TOM repertoire as most enjoyable by going back to them for a coffee cured ocean trout, roast cauliflower and buckwheat vinaigrette dish. In the meantime, we noted that the dinner queues had gotten considerably longer than when we had just got in, and we were very pleased with our planning.

Back at the barrel, and no coffee to be had as we were out of Crowns & the young Vittoria baristas would only sell coffees for two Crowns. Fortunately we had cash to purchase baby cupcakes...
Thank you Entertainment Card for the 2-for-1 ticket offer, because we like TOM very much. Really Very Much. So back there next year!

The Coffee War Made Me Write This

It is believed that there are three types of Malaysians: the first have a fondness for the unofficial national drink, teh tarik, which is effectively assam tea (low grade is most suitable, the Japanese boss of Lupicia assured me) and condensed milk "pulled" between two big cups to form a foamy concoction suitable for all times of the day. Fans of this drink love late nights sitting under the open sky, drinking in the smells of open food courts and the sounds of Premier League football streaming from the mamak stall. They are happy to gain the extra few pounds that are the side effect of this drink that is an apt demonstration of physics in life, and also happy to point you to the closest best street burger stall & rojak vendor.

The second type drink wherever it is the coolest to drink. They pursue the latest trend drink. Key words are decaffinated, skinny, cream, ice blended, chocolate chips, caramel, hazelnut syrup, vanilla, with...you get the picture. Their wallets are usually empty because their drinks tend to be double or triple the price of normal drinks, and they tend to be hyperactive because they have decided to go for the grande size. No airconditioning, no caffeine. They are sometimes called "the young ones".

The third type drink coffee. They pursue caffeine. They do not care about the environment that it is brewed or served in. What they care about is the aroma & strength of the coffee and the generosity & focus of the staff making it. They will happily taste the coffee from every newly opened coffee shop and pass judgement on the quality of the whole place based on whether the coffee is worthy of word of mouth. They will drink three coffees at three different places to meet three different groups of people in a morning if it is what it takes to get their happy caffeine fixes. These are the exponents of the "kopi tiam" (non air-conditioned coffee shops which usually have multiple stall owners with the shop owner responsible for selling all beverages) who will make recommendations on where to go based on very specific dishes. They are nevertheless unashamed of being seen where "the young ones" go, if only to mock at those sweet and weak drinks while they themselves get their large cups of afternoon Italian-style caffeine.

How do these people relate to the Coffee War, you ask? Well, I just want to make a point as to how important the True Brew article in The Age really is in the scheme of things.

The Melbourne-Sydney coffee war has been going on for as long as the Italians have been in town. In the meantime, the Adelaideans continue to sip on their red wine & Vittoria Gold/Rio Coffee lattes, the Perth folk drink their Little Creatures beers wondering what the East Coast states are on about, and the Queenslanders drink cocktails while laughing at the hot drink states. Darwinians are too busy watching the sunset with white wines & iced desserts in tow, the public servants in Canberra search for something to wake them up wherever they go, and the Tasmanians are huddled trying to make the hot chocolate by the fireplace last as long as possible.

As Justin Metcalf says, coffee is a subjective matter. Much like all other things that we consume. Some people like it hot, some like it cold, some like it black and strong. Some will never drink it, some will follow the crowds wherever they go, some will defend the existence of the coffee bean in modern civilisation.

Really, though, we are all missing the point here. The point is that we actually enjoy the consumption process, whether it is a hot pot of tea drunk alone indoors with a book listening to the wind howl outside or affogatos drunk with friends in a dessert cafe in summer. In such a context, the name of the city becomes irrelevant. All that matters is that nobody chokes on what they are consuming, no fights occurs, nobody feels ripped off and everybody pays up before leaving the table.

& yes, my current Brunswick coffee hangout is Toby's Estate the Sydney invader...

A place I like to go to hide in the city

Sometimes, when I am stuck on the Latrobe side of the city and I am not in the mood for coffee, I tend to crave strange things. Like waffles and hot chocolates. & a free book to read. & waiting staff who will leave me alone to read, to eat, to drink, to sit as long as I like in the place. A French-style sitting settee and light music in the background always helps.

To that end, and in the spirit of my latest phase i.e. what AC calls the "itchy fingers with camera phone" phase, this place has become a favourite especially for winter even though I have noticed the staff are young and enthusiastic but not really good with science (e.g. combining lemon juice and icing sugar directly on the serving plate instead of a separate bowl means you run the risk of ending up with sugar lumps instead of a lemon sauce):
I tend to go for the lemon and white chocolate sauce waffles. Sometimes, if I am not too full, I will also order a java hot chocolate which is done in the San Churro drinking hot chocolate consistency.

Is it about the waffles or the hot chocolate then, you ask? Well, it really is more about the atmosphere of the place. It is rarely full, thanks to all the other places vying for attention in the area, so one is assured of some temporary peace and quiet away from the hustle & bustle of the city. Sometimes you do need a place like this to relax in, especially on Sundays when you are in the city to do things and you end up wanting a place to rest your feet without the hassled expressions or harried tones that plague weekend hospitality staff.

Sit back, relax, smell the teas and hot chocolates, and sink into a good book...

Land of Escagrill, covered in chocolate

Given how late this post is, I shall be short and sweet. I shall even use bullet points!

• My birthday celebrations ended with a white tablecloth, silver dining ware dinner at a restaurant called Escagrill (Mt Alexander Road, a mere five minutes' bus ride away from my street). This was the first time I had ever booked a table five weeks in advance, thanks to a guest's advice, so I was expecting great things (and a bit of pain in my new blue suede high heel shoes).
• I immediately loved the fact that it is split into three levels in the restaurant, with one level discreetly tucked away for parties. The mood lighting akin to that of upper-class New York restaurants, extensive wine list, dedicated white shirted waiting staff with black aprons and the iced display of fresh seafood sprawled across the front of the open kitchen behind a low glass counter all lent to the visual impact.
  
• We all chose to go for three courses from the menu - I shared oyster kilpatricks with two other guests (yes I prefer fresh ones but for the benefit of others I was happy to go for the cooked ones) while others had entrees such as fresh seafood platters (which was bigger than we expected) and king prawns (the boys had to tolerate our jesting over their table manners but their faces told us their mess was worth is). My grilled tuna with red pepper sauce and olives as a main was lovely, as was the seafood papadelle that VL had but the poussin(s) TW and KMZ had looked so succulent.
• Choosing dessert was fun because I had heard so much about the individual bombe alaska but then I got distracted by the chocolate platter. TW convinced me to share one with him right before Fi had a chance to ask me which led to some mock debating :P. In the end our table had 2 bombe alaskas, one tiramisu and three chocolate platters. What a wonderful platter it was, so beautifully composed. We had a lot of fun working out which items best complemented each other.
• To top it all off, the company was great, we all had fun (I know I did) and I received flowers, (more) chocolates & a chocolate tour voucher for two as a birthday package from those there! Least to say, I went home from this dinner a very happy (older) person :)

On that note, guess who is in town?!?!?! I am not a huge fan but hey an extra place to go to (when there are no queues) is always a good thing for competition.

Madam Sousou

This 's a cafe that I 'd like to open one day... For now, I 'm happy just to go there, chat with friends, and indulge with fab foods. And, most importantly, keep its location as a secret :P
As LS and I wanted to order from both breakfast and lunch menu, we went there last Sunday nearly 12.
We had grill breadcrumb pork chop in butter with celaric root salad which smell so nice that a table nearby kept staring at this dish :D The other dish was duck confit in cherry sauce, which 's so..o perfect for deep winter.

The dessert was very aromatic that I don't want to wait for LS to take photo... bread pudding with burned marmalade jam... an actualy name 's longer than this but it 's all I remember >_<

Good Things Come In Mini Packages

I keep forgetting I only have mini muffin tins in my stash of baking utensils, and so sometimes I get to the point of greasing the pan to follow a standard muffin or cupcake pan & then I realise I have to take a risk in terms of baking time and serving displays.

The latest risk that paid off involved olive oil, pecans and no electric beaters (yeah!) from the Australian cook book "a cook's book of decadence: Chocolate Coffee Caramel" -

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celcius. Lightly grease 9 holes of a 12-hole standard muffin tin (I managed to fill 34 mini muffin holes) Sift 215g self-raising flour and 1 tsp baking powder into a bowl. Add 50-5g caster sugar and 60g finely chopped pecans (for those who hate chopping, you can use a mortar & pestle and beat the heck out of the pecans but watch out for flying bits) Make a well in the centre of the bowl. Combine 1 tbsp instant coffee powder with 1 tbsp of boiling water. Add to flour mixture with 1 egg, 185ml milk and 80ml oil (I reckon there is room for creativity here; I used a medium grassy Italian extra virgin olive oil but macademia oil would probably work well too) Stir until just combined. Meanwhile, make a streusel topping by rubbing 30gm butter into 30gm self-raising flour. Add 2 tbsp soft brown sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon & 2 tbsp chopped pecans and mix until combined. Divide the mixture among the holes. Sprinkle with the streusel topping and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The mini muffins were polished off at my birthday morning tea (my workplace tradition is that the birthday celebrant brings in his or her own sweets for the group). They were so popular that when I offered a colleague either a homemade cake or my group contribution toward a birthday gift, the colleague actually thought seriously about the offer and said that he would have to think very carefully about it LOL