An autumn day at Sunnybrae

Our first wedding anniversary was in late March. To celebrate, Nathan decided to actually listen to my complaining for once, and booked us in for a weekend lunch followed the next day by a class at Sunnybrae restaurant and cooking school in Birregurra.

George Biron reopened his cooking school/ restaurant a year ago, after having being closed for 9 years. I am not old enough to have been in the old days, but I had read enough on his blog and by other food bloggers to know that he cooks my kind of food. His emphasis on using local produce, as well as growing his own vegetables (including olive trees from which olive oil is made, a bee hive, and in the future some oak trees with truffle spores!) struck a chord with Nathan and I and our crazy garden experiment, so it was with great excitement that we headed to Birregurra for the weekend.

And what a glorious autumn weekend it was. Wonderful sunny days filled with food. I really could not ask for more! We had a lunch booked for the Sunday and a class on the Monday…

The menu at Sunnybrae is mostly a set menu with very few decisions, starting with an individual entrée, two shared entrees, a main and a dessert, punctuated throughout with the fabulous potato bread. Decisions can be made on the main, and dessert. And at 66 dollars, I consider this an absolute bargain! We were eating from 1230-430ish, punctuated with a couple of walks around the property to build up more room for the next course, and to check out how the vegetable garden was going. This is such a lovely way to spend a Sunday, relaxing and eating and talking with friends and/ or lovers.


When we were travelling in Europe, Nathan had a saying – ‘you can tell how good a restaurant is by the bread they serve’. This potato bread was just beautiful. And we made it the next day at the class. And then Nathan made it the next weekend. Nath made three loaves! So we must have liked it. Nathans version was a rye based version, but George’s white potato bread was crusty yet soft inside, and though not officially a sourdough, had some sour taste and a nice structure.

We had chosen a local pinot noir to drink with lunch and it was perfect for the food – not too strong in flavour – it supported the food rather than overwhelmed it.

As for the food, I won’t go through each course as I did forget to take photos of everything. I did love the use of edible succulents though, such as in this garden salad.

And Nathan (in the middle of a weird succulent obsession at the moment) did get a cutting of this succulent which is doing well in a pot at home.


Seasonal use of pomegranates which I am loving at the moment at home too. And the jamon in this dish was spectacular.

Comfit of duck with ratatouille

Rabbit fillet in hare sausage with a porcini based sauce (I can’t exactly remember the description of this dish but it was fabulous)

Hungarian pancake with poppy seeds

The food at Sunnybrae involves fresh seasonal produce with simple, fresh flavours that really highlight each ingredient. The use of fruit gelato in the desserts was inspired (and I am jealous of the big ice cream maker he has in the kitchen).

We were seated facing the garden and light was streaming into the dining room. A large book case full of cook books made Nathan a little uncomfortable as he saw me getting excited about all the books (he has currently banned me from buying any more cook books until I start using the ones I have more).
We did not need dinner after this lunch. We stayed the night at nearby Forrest, which is in the Otway’s national park area, and has the delightful Lake Elizabeth – home to platypus and other wildlife. There are also 50km of mountain bike trails which we are yet to sample but another trip to this part of Victoria is definitely on the cards, and not just to eat at Sunnybrae again!

The next morning we were back at Sunnybrae at 930am. George made us an expresso and we were introduced to the other folk taking the course that day. It was great speaking to other people who were basically all there because of a love of food.

The class involved making a 4 course lunch which we all ate together at the end of the class. We started with the bread in order to give it enough resting time. George also showed us how he made his tomato passata using tomatoes from his vegie garden, and some preserved cumquats. The class involved George taking us through the techniques but sharing out the actual work which was a good way to try out what he was saying and to build camaraderie between the participants.

We were also directed to plate our own courses in order to get a feel for presentation. I think mine needs a bit more work…

Though the star anise cured ocean trout was beautiful and well matched with an apple and green pawpaw based salad.

The wood fire had been lit the night before and the oven was at the right temperature for us to bake our potato bread- enough loaves for us to take one home and to eat one with our shared lunch that day too.

Again I did not take photos of everything, though we also made a mussel and blue eye stew, a rabbit stew served with a rice pilaf (the rice pilaf was the winner with us and we have been making it at home since), and dessert, a bay leaf scented rice pudding, which I think I plated up a bit better… (and I was impressed with my sugar burning attempt too)…

I love capturing Nathan flaming food up –


And amusingly enough it involved a rather large blow torch (now that we have a small one at home after I complained against the use of large propane burners in the kitchen!).

I spend a lot of my time thinking about food, reading about food and cooking, but I did pick up a lot of tricks from George during this class, and it was good to use unfamiliar ingredients. I had asked George if we could cook game in the class as I have an un-based fear of cooking unfamiliar meats. Since this course I have cooked up a rabbit at home so it did help. Nathan especially picked up some good ways of shaping bread (Nathan being the master bread maker in our household) and we are super jealous of the wood fired oven.

The class is wonderfully informal, and I asked many questions during the day on anything I could think of. Eating the food with some wine and some conversation at the end of the class is a great way to end it. I think I will be back to Sunnybrae during truffle season! And maybe in asparagus season, there was a very impressive asparagus bed in the garden which I am a bit jealous of. Thankyou to George, Angela and Di for a great weekend.

Collingwood Childrens Farm Cafe

We have gone to the Abbotsford convent precinct quite a few times and have ridden around the Yarra river near the children's farm but I have never actually gone in or eaten there.

A couple of weekends ago we were in the neighbourhood and so we strolled down to check out how the community gardens were doing (quite well! better than ours by the looks of things), when we noticed the cafe. It seemed busy and not having had breakfast yet (and it being 12:30pm) we decided to stop in for that favourite Melbourne meal, 'Brunch'. I have to admit, since discovering how to poach our own eggs, we have not been going out for breakfast very much on weekends, but this was very enjoyable.

The seating consists of some big wooden tables, some smaller tables, and some logs scattered throughout the farm (some quite close to the chickens). Ordering is done at the coffee bar and the menu consists of the usual brunchy items like eggs, pancakes and some other items like salads and a plough mans platter. Being big egg fiends we focused on the egg menu. We decided on some slowly baked beans with a poached egg on top and some oven roasted mushrooms with balsamic, thyme, feta, cherry tomatoes, basil, and a poached egg on top. These were served with some lovely toasted and buttered sourdough which we admired (and compared to Nathans latest sourdough attempts). The winning dish was the mushroom dish (which we then tried to replicate the next day, though i think our feta let us down a bit, see photo at end). The coffees were brilliant and the setting just lovely looking out over the paddocks and the free ranging chickens (and one must admit children running around chasing the geese as they do. Everyone has to learn that geese are evil and will steal your food as soon as look at you. Or is that just me and an unfortunate ice cream misadventure when I was 8?). It is difficult to remember you are actually only about 7km from the Melbourne CBD sitting there on a sunny Saturday. Highly recommended.

Sake and Grill Maedaya, Richmond

The first time we tried getting into Maedaya we had just done a yoga class and were starving, and the place was packed, with a half hour wait. So we walked on to the Vegetarian Nirvana down the road instead(which is always a good meal).

Next time lucky it was a Wednesday night and we got bar seats right in front of the grill. Action view!

Maedaya does 'izakaya' rather than the more common Melbourne Japanese model of sushi/ sashimi and noodles/ rice. This means most dishes are cooked on a charcoal grill and consists of marinaded meats and vegetables. Generally you order per skewer. The menu is a big laminated photo type menu (not unlike the TGI Friday menu!) which is useful for seeing what you are getting (but I could not help wondering if this means that this place is similar to TGIF for authentic Japanese?)

To begin with they placed a selection of dipping sauces on the table with some flat bread and told us to taste each one and if we particularly like one we could get it in a larger size. The wasabi mayonnaise was my favourite and though I do not remember the other 4 well, we found that the meats were generally well marinated as it was and did not really need more sauce.

From memory (sorry no photos) we ordered some edamane to start and a wakame and rocket salad (which had just the right chilli kick for me and was really tasty). These came from a 'special tapas' menu that the waitress gave us as a little paper specials menu (and then took away which was a bit annoying as i wanted to try more of this stuff).

We then had pork belly skewers which were naughty but tasty, asparagus rolled with pork belly (similar to pancetta rolled asparagus), marinated tofu skewers, shitake mushrooms, eggplant with miso and soft shell crab (not done on the grill - was deep fried). We also got some rice ($2 each). The cost of each item was between $2-4 with the crab being $6 (my memory might not be super accurate here). What I do know is that the entire meal with some green tea cost about $40 (no Sake for us tonight on a school night, though the list was impressive).

Overall I enjoyed dining here. The dining room fit out is interesting, with dark timbers and some random ropes hanging down one wall. The extraction system over the charcoal is quite impressive as at no point did we feel smokey. Sitting at the bar meant we got food straight from the chef as he cooked it which was nice. There were a few blips with the service and the rice came out a bit slowly but in general it was a really pleasant meal. Just a shame that it is usually so crowded or I would go there more! There is more to the menu than we tried, including some noodle dishes and some more 'main meal' style dishes but I think the grill is the way to go here.

Can someone please explain to me why blogger wont let me have spaces between each paragraph? It is very frustrating!

Bistro Vue

Bistro Vue
430 Little Collins Street

This post is a couple of months late, but unfortunately life gets in the way of these things sometimes. In the cold winter months I had the pleasure of both a cocktail night at Cafe Vue with the girls (Where’s the Beef did the vego version of the same month I was there) as well as a dinner at Bistro Vue with a group of friends. I guess the next logical step is Vue De Monde itself (are you reading this dear husband?)!

The lighting and my camera skills leave much to be desired so I don’t have any really good photos. Hubbie and I shared an entrée and a dessert (and had a main each) and the table finished with a huge cheese plate. I find I can not really fit in all three (or 4) courses at most restaurants, but I want to try so many things, it can get quite frustrating!

The service was great (much better than the service at Café Vue I should add which was almost nonexistent the night I was there) as was the wine we had (which I sadly didn’t take note of).

Styled after a ‘bistro’ it is almost a bit clichéd, with the velvet furnishings and French style furniture. However it still did make me a bit nostalgic for France. I guess I am just a sucker! Apparently some nights there is even an accordion player but luckily not the night we were there.

For the entrée, we had the 2 hour poached eggs with mushroom foam. I had read about this dish before and was curious. It was very very good. The presentation was impressive, with three eggs split in half with one containing the white and the mushroom foam and the other containing the yolk, and the 6 halves presented in a Vue de Monde egg carton! I love runny eggs and have been craving egg yolk ever since having this dish. The yolk is cooked (just set), but very runny and warm, not hot, so the flavours really stand out. The dish was served with bread sticks that you use like toast soldiers to dip into the egg.

For mains we had the wagyu steak with chips (friend in goose fat of course) and the confit of duck. As a side we ordered the brussel sprouts fried with pancetta and chilli. Both wonderful dishes. The steak was tender (and relatively cheap at about 50 dollars from memory) and the duck was probably one of the best confit ducks I have had recently. The brussel sprouts have prompted me to make my own copycat version at home, and covert my brussel sprouts hating hubbie!

For dessert we had the chocolate soufflé. The waitress put it onto the table, used a knife to put a hole in it and then poured chocolate sauce into the hole, causing the soufflé to expand. A nice bit of table theatre, but it also tasted great, worth the twenty minute wait upon ordering it. I wish I had written all the cheeses down but by this point I was a little tipsy. There was a fabulous French blue, a manchego and a French camembert style cheese, as well as another hard cheese which I don’t remember.

All in all a good night and a place I would definitely go back to. I forgot to mention the bread and butter that we were served at the beginning of the night (but sadly not replaced during the meal), which we all loved and made me rue yet again that there are no good bakeries near my house.

Bar Lourhina

Bar Lourhina
Little Collins St

A few weeks ago now, we decided to try our luck on a Friday night at Bar Lourhina. Touted as the Movida alternative, I was surprised at how different the two places are. For starters, we could get in last minute (they don’t take bookings anyway)! It has a real tapas bar vibe, with people there just having drinks from the pretty impressive wine list. We were in the front sofa area for about 10 minutes before we were transferred to the bar, so it wasn’t too painful a wait, plus they had taken our drinks order and we had looked over the menu so it didn’t feel like we were waiting too long. There are also tables, but I think the wait for those were much longer. It was quite noisy in the little room, but had a good vibe, a real Friday night after work kind of vibe.

I was hoping they would be actually preparing tapas in the bar area like they do in Barcelona, but they only prepared the drinks there. Still, the waiters were all very friendly and informative. I don’t remember everything we had now, but the special of baby goat stew was pretty impressive, as was the house made chorizo. The menu is short but the ingredients fresh and put to good use. Nathan didn’t like the olives as they were of the ‘fat’ variety, but I loved them.

The waitress did a very good job talking us out of the churros and into having the panacotta type of dish that had a mixture of candied pistachios and pomegranate over the top, that I am still thinking about. She also talked us into sharing a little glass of black sherry which was pretty amazing.

I was a little surprised at the total bill at the end of the night but I guess with some good wine and sherry the bill adds up. I think the reality of the price of food in general, particularly in restaurants, is finally sinking in, which I don’t have a problem with (as the cost of producing and transporting food has risen) but still surprises me every now and then.

A definitely recommended place, especially if you want a nice Friday night venue for drinks and food with friends.

My perfect Paris night out

L'Os à Moelle

3, Rue Vasco de Gama - 75015

ParisMétro: LourmelTel : 01 45 57 27 27

This was on my list of ‘to go to’ restaurants after reading the lovely Chez Pim’s account of her experiences there. She describes it thus ‘The cooking here is always reliable, with a focus firmly on using pristine ingredients and letting them shine’

Sounds good to me. I was also sold on it being described as friendly and not too pretentious, very important to us.

I had been to Paris once before, many years ago, and had, as many Australians, Americans and Brits have found, some rather poor experiences with the locals, particularly in restaurants and cafes. This time, we were determined to try to get as much out of the experience as we could and so purchased some language cds which we played in the car to try to learn at the very least, the basics.

What a difference this made!

We were able to introduce ourselves and ask for what we wanted in French. Usually our pronunciation was so bad that they replied to us in English (or Spanish a few times, I guess I look Spanish?), but I found them to be MUCH more friendly and helpful. The exception is possibly just a couple of bistros were the invariably male waiters seemed to think we were lesser people as tourists. This was definitely in the minority though and waiters of this sort were usually found in less impressive eateries.

L’Os á Moulle was possibly one of the friendliest places in France we dined at. When I called up to make a reservation, I had consulted my language book and hesitantly said

‘Je voudrais réserver une table pour 2 pour ce soir s'il vous plaît’

The lovely lady on the other side said something in French, which I hesitated at for a while, trying to quickly translate, and she then replied in English! Oh well, at least I tried.

On arriving at the restaurant that night I tried to continue this pretence of knowing French, by replying to our dining neighbour’s ‘bonsoir’ and trying to speak as much French as we could to the waiter. We didn’t fool anyone though. And though they offered us an English menu, we just tried to work it out ourselves. Stubborn? Or just going with it, as I like to think. Plus, we ended up with some interesting things using this technique all through Europe, things we wouldn’t necessarily have ordered…

The menu is a 5 course menu including dessert and a cheese course, for 38 Euros. Each course has a choice of at least 2 or 3 dishes. This was the menu. If anyone can translate it for me and tell me what we ate, I would appreciate it ;) I guess it is a bit small though…

We started with what was described as mussel broth and foam, served in a little shot glass. It had few peas in it and was warm, salty, fishy without being overpowering, and a great way to whet the appetite…


Nathan came up with a theory that you can tell how good a place is to eat by their bread…

They had two different types of bread and both were textured and chewy and crusty. All things the French know how to do to bread. mmmm

The next course was the soup course. The bowls were brought to the table with croutons and herbs, and the waiter poured in as much soup as we wanted. A nice touch.

Cream of asparagus soup



Entrées – oyster with basil dressing

Quail with a cabbage salad that was really good

For mains we had a lovely prime cut of beef, served with mashed Jerusalem artichoke and beetroot ‘chips’.

Unfortunately I was not taking notes and now forget what this cheese was, but it was lovely.

And desserts. The first was a chocolate mouse which was so rich I only needed a few bites. But then again, I finished it so maybe I didn’t.


And poached rhubarb with a fresh raspberry sorbet. Nathan is the rhubarb king and couldn’t stop eating this.

We had a reasonably priced bottle of red from Bordeaux (I cannot remember the details) which went perfectly with the meal.

The service was friendly and there were a lot of locals and cute old couples having their special meal out. It felt a lot less touristy than many of the places in the Latin Quarter were we were staying, and we left full, tipsy and happy. Happy enough to brave going to the Eiffel tower at night to try our chances. It was still busy and so we didn’t go up it (and never got the chance but after the rest of europe, climbing up another tower was not that exciting), but it was beautiful all the same. This was followed by a walk along the Seine and a metro ride home. You cannot really ask for more than that from a night out in Paris…

Luke warm pies

Pie in the Sky
43 Olinda-Monbulk Rd, OlindaPh 9751 2128

I have been wanting to come here for a very long time. I love a good pie, and I love driving up the hill to Olinda and Sassafras on a weekend. This weekend my future mother in law (FMIL) and I went for a drive and a wander through some of Olinda’s overpriced knick knack shops as well as a late lunch.

Now maybe my expectations were too high. I had heard good things. And they had won awards (but which pie shop hasn’t?). We decided to eat in (though it is 2 dollars more a pie) to people watch the weekenders. I had the beef and burgundy and FMIL had the chicken korma. I also went with the spirit and ordered some mash on the side, though it wasn’t really necessary.

So, on to the pie. The filling, was very tasty, the wine flavour is strong and the beef has been slowly cooked till it breaks down into that lovely stringy but juicy consistency. Pastry, nice, holds together, not overly flaky. My pie was hot but not scalding.

FMIL’s chicken pie… was cold. Slightly warm on the outside, but cold. The filling was nice apparently though. She decided to eat it as she was too hungry to wait for a new one. This really is not good enough at 6 dollars a pie. Now maybe we should have got the waitresses attention straight away but they seemed to be having cash register issues and were not really attentive. After our meal, we brought it to the attention of two waitresses that the pie was cold, but were not offered an apology, just a ‘Oh, they should be hot’. Yes, yes it should but it wasn’t. At the very least, our drinks should have been free and an apology offered. I was going to get a takeaway pie (the Guinness beef sounded good) but after that I decided to not go there again. There pies were nice but not enough to have me go back.

There are enough good places to eat around town that we do not have to put up with bad service.

BTW, there is a great new… Pie Blog! That is worth checking out for all those pie fans. They still haven’t reviewed my favourite pie on Highett, but here’s hoping!

Tempura Hajime

60 Park Street, South melburne

Last Tuesday night, I finally got a chance to go to Tempura Hajime. Tempura Hajime first made its appearance in the ‘press’ when reviewed by tummy rumbles, and was subsequently and elegantly reviewed by ed at Tomatom, Jack at Eating with Jack, and esoteric rabbit, and probably more. Then of course, the Age reviewed it, and within a day, the place was booked out for months. I am a very lazy booker of restaurants, I only think to book one week ahead and then when I am rejected, give up. It is usually Nathan who books us in to nice places to eat (usually at my suggestion!), and this was no exception – after I tried twice to get in last year I gave up and told Nathan to do it… and he delivered!

I am not going to go into the details of the food, as the photos and reviews of the above sites are beautiful and made me want to go in the first place. What I am going to say though, is that it is a lovely experience. We had the 6:30 booking – the restaurant only serves 12 people a night (hence the long waiting lists!) and they are staggered so the chef is not rushed (630, 7 and 730pm slots). I liked getting there first, as it gave us a chance to speak to the chef. There was American couple there also, who asked questions like ‘What is a sea urchin’ to which the chef replied by hunting down a book of seafood and showing them a picture! We asked him abut the oil he used (soy bean oil, sesame oil and tea oil) and where he got his supplies (Vic markets and Footscray markets), and he was happy enough to talk with us.

Nath later said that what he liked most about the place was the chef was just a normal guy and it wasn’t stuffy – a bit like being invited to someone’s house for dinner (albeit a Japanese guys house with lots of tempura). It could have gone that way though… there is almost a day spa feeling to the place when you first walk in – dark lighting, candles, a large bunch of flowers, and a ‘waiting room’. The 12 seats arranged around the main stage (the two tempura oil baths and the preparation table) made it feel a bit like a dinner party.

And the food really was magnificent. Simply prepared, the freshness of the ingredients were allowed to shine, and I forgot I had just eaten over 10 courses of tempura as it didn’t really feel as if I had eaten a lot of fried food – it is not overly oily and the tempura is not fried too long, leaving things crisp and fresh. Surprisingly good courses were the baby corn, left quite crispy, and the sweet potato, which upon frying became remarkably sweet. And the oyster. Oh yes the oyster. I am a bit of a purist with oysters, I think they should be eaten with lemon, salt and be freshly shucked. But these were not overcooked so though they were warm and crispy on the outside, the oyster still remained fresh and dipped in the lemon and salt was so good I had to eat it in. little. bites.

And the other good thing about this place? Set menu means I don’t have to go through the agonising process of choosing what to order, and the food comes straight away meaning I don’t have to wait for the food. If only all places were like that!

DOC Pizza and Mozarella

295 Drummond Street, Carlton South

A couple of Fridays ago we decided to go to La Mamas in Carlton after work. La Mamas is a fantastic theatre in carlton which stages smaller and often more experimental theatre compared to something like the MTC - Melbourne Theatre Company (which a girlfriend and I are subscribers to), and also a lot more intimate as it is a lot smaller, so the actors usually make eye contact with you during the performance (which can be a little unsettling at first). The play we saw had one actor, some dolls, a pianist/ violinist and someone doing the lights, but I enjoyed it much more than the latest play from MTC... enough about that! After making plans to see a play, i deviously suggested that we try DOC, as i had read about it on other blogs and was rather interested in trying some fresh mozzarella and some reportedly good pizza...

So after our play we walked into DOC and asked for a table. After seating us, and giving us the menus, they then decided to tell us that we had to be out of there by 830pm. We are fast eaters so this was not a problem but I thought it was a bit strange to tell us after seating us. In the entry there was an old retro ham slicer with a massive ham on it that looked totally edible, and the room is one of those bare concrete walls and floors which while looking nice is not good for sound levels... as the night went on it got louder and louder, especially due to a table of very loud Italians near us.

The menu is printed on a large sheet of paper which on the back has a large map of Italy that points out where different food products in italy come from regionally. We are going to italy next year for our honeymoon so we spent some time planning our trip based on this information...

'ok, first we go to prociutto, followed by mozzarella and oooh, the anchovies and then maybe some parmagianna regiano...'

ok maybe not. Apparently the place is named after the DOC in italy- the Denominazione d'Origin Controliata which is the the Department responsible for setting the standards and controls for the control of cheese and wine and other food products, which is why the menu was focused on where each ingredient was sourced, which was a nice touch.

SO in true me style, we overordered in an attempt to try as many things as possible, seeing as they do not do half and half pizzas or change any toppings. For starters we got a lovely ball of Italian fresh mozarella, and chose as its accompaniment a shaved fennel, blood orange and anchovy salad. There was also the option of cured meats, salads and antipesto type sides but the fennel and anchovies where a perfect match to each other, and the cheese. They were also served with grissini sticks. This was a perfect starter, it was quite large and full of different flavours so it got us ready for the next course. It was also nice to see nathan enjoying the anchovies which he normally steers well clear of. The cheese was lovely, it would have been interesting to try the Aussie version, I guess it will be next time...

For pizzas we ordered a wild mushroom and truffle oil pizza, and a capricossa which had ham, artichokes, olives and capsicum as well as a salad of rocket, pear and pecorino. This was probably too much food for two but Nath always finishes everything up so i never feel too bad about over-ordering. The pizzas are fantastic - thin crisp base the way it should be and the toppings were not sparce but not over the top, allowing you to taste the flavours. Nathan found the truffle oil a bit too strong on the mushroom pizza but to be honest I didnt really notice it. The artichokes on the capricossa was a great touch, reminded me of an awesome pizza i ate in Rome about 5 years ago. Oh god i really want pizza now! The salad was a very large serve and had a lovely honey based dressing which paired well with the cheese. I had a glass of Red wine which I am so sorry to say i cannot rememeber what it was but it was Italian and was a very good match for the food... the waiter recommended it.

The service was swift if not maybe a little abrupt and the room was pumping when we left. The pizzas are a great alternative for i carusi and I wholeheartedly recommend it to all! Hopefully they buy some nice carpets or wall hanging to soften the sound a little but I must say, it is nice to finally have somewhere I want to eat in the Lygon street vicinity...

Ripe, Sassafras

I love living in the foothills. As we speak I am sitting on my deck looking out across the suburbs of Melbourne from my elevated position and listening to the birds sing to each other. Our regular birds include king parrots, lorikeets, rosellas, cockatoos (and unfortunately magpies and carrawongs).

One of the advantages of living here is that on a weekend if I dont feel like making breakfast, a short drive up the hills through the mountain oaks and the filtered light on the curving roads brings us to the little township of Sassafras. I have to confess though that we usually continue up to olinda or mt dandenong (and one fateful Sunday when on the motorbike continued all the way up to Donabuyang, dont ask me how that happened!).

So last weekend, with my mother visiting us and me feeling like a lazy brunch, decided to take a risk and visit Sassafras, seeing as it was so close. I had also heard very good things about Ripe. There have been mixed reviews from the breakfast blog http://thebreakfastblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/ripe-sassafras.html and others on the net, but I was determined to give them a go.

Two doors down from the famed Miss Marples, the little cafe is almost unnoticeable if you aren't looking for it. At the front there are tables outside for those with dogs, and there is also a deck area out the back. Originally we sat out the front but decided to go inside as it was a bit cool, which was a good decision as we got a better feel from the place inside. Inside there is a little deli with delicacies iincluding olives, anchovies, fresh pasta and other delights. I was shoo'd away from buying anchovies as only i like them in this family ;( but I did buy some masorpone filled figs for later (which I love love love). The tables are dark wood and there are interesting relics of old kitchens dotted around the cafe, as well as newspapers and magazines.

Onto the food. i ordered a pea and sweet potato pukara with goats cheese and relish. A little unusual for breakfast but the pukara and cheese were a winning combination and the dish was filling yet not overly so. Nathan had the salmon eggs which were nice but nothing new (and not as nice as mine see previous post). Mum had the poached rubarb with oats, nuts, honey and yoghurt served with fig bread. I think hers was the best breakfast of us all and she enjoyed it (and from the taste i got it was good!). Around us there were some amazing looking pancakes and the cakes looked delish. I am definitely going back!

Many of the tables were reserved and we were fairly early (1030) so found a table ok but for those thinking of going for lunch i recommend booking ahead. There was an interesting menu of baguettes for lunch and they are also quite reasonably priced compared to many places in Richmond! SO if you are looking for a place to eat in the hills, think about coming here...

The Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld

The first time we went to the Royal Mail Hotel, we were on the way home from nathan's parents place past Hamilton and wanted a quick bite to eat. All we got was the soup of the day with some fantastic bread but we liked the place. The architecture is modern but suits its surrounds, a suprisingly bright space in a very small town, a town which boasts its own lawn bowls which elevates it above some of the nearby towns, but still is a very small town.

So after hearing that it had won the best wine list in the Age good food guide, and then seeing the favourable review in Ed's Blog at http://tomatom.com I became very interested in going back and having dinner at the restaurant. Chef Dan Hunter comes from being head chef in Mugaritz in Spain, and is known for using edible flowers in his dishes.

So finally this weekend my chance to go to dinner came up as we were headed to the in-laws place for the weekend. It started well, we had a 730pm reservation, and after leaving work at 3pm (yes it took that long on a Friday night), we got there just in time. Having to still drive another 90 minutes after dinner, we opted not to go for the full degustation, and chose entrees and mains to start.

I got a Spanish tempranillo which was so fruity that if I closed my eyes, I could imagine I was drinking a white wine. it went well with the food though. First a complimentary fennel salad was brought out which was dressed with flowers and what I think was sumac. It was a good way to ignite my hunger, which I must admitt, was already making itself known in the car trip. We also got a choice of 4 lovely breads, all of which were really lovely, particularly the sourdough and olive.

This is where things went a bit weird. We waited a LONG time for our entrees. In fact we didnt get them till 845pm. That is a long wait when you are me (ie, my favourite style of dining is yumcha, no wait, lots of little dishes). When they finally arrived they were small, but really good. I had the yabbie, artichoke and pork dish, which again was dressed with small artichoke flowers and was in a pork reduction. This was really tasty, the first time I have had yabbies I am embarrassed to admitt, and the pork reduction was incredible, as Nath put it, like liquid crackling. mmmm, I would like some now... nath had the smoked tuna broth with shitake mushrooms which was also really really good.

So then, at 930, after a lot of moaning from me, our mains appeared. I had ordered the snapper, and Nath the lamb. Nathan was presented with the pork though. We mentioned it to the waiter who was very apologetic, and after consultation with the kitchen asked if it was ok if he had the pork cutlet, and then afterward we would both get a 'taste of lamb'. This was quite gracious of them I think and so we agreed to this. I also got a free top up of my wine which was nice. The mains were served with brocollini which was refreshing. The snapper was served with a hazelnut sauce, some flowers which tasted like onion, and jeruselum artichoke. It was a nice piece of fish and the sauce worked well. The pork was served with apples and potato I think, and a chocolate sauce, which though a little strange, worked pretty well. The lamb then appeared and this was quite nice, I particularly liked the baby carrots which were served with it. So, we ended up leaving the restaurant at 1040pm, a 3 hour meal for 2 courses. The desserts looked interesting but there was no way we were waiting for it!

Being the snoop I am, I observed that the tables around us were also having to wait very long times. The table next to us had some issue with their beer arriving warm and so got some on the house, but they didnt look too happy. I also noticed that the guy didnt seem to like his beef. Further away, I noticed a table where the fella was taking notes before eating anything. He looked like a reviewer, which was confirmed as Stephen Downes from the Herald Sun later by Ed from tomatom. He didnt look particularly impressed though, but I think they knew it was him as he got walked out the door (which they didnt do for us!), so maybe his wait for food wasnt as long as ours!

SO... a very long winded way to say nice food, but very long service. I understand that it must be hard to get wait staff in the country, but it looked like the folks at the cafe which ajoined the restaurant were getting their food faster. It also looked quite nice (which i snooped on when I went to the ladies). Next time we are passing through, i think we might just go there instead!

The French Corner Restaurant

493a Highett Rd, Highett VIC 3190

I admit I work in highett, otherwise I probably wouldnt have heard of the French Corner. Last year chef Daniel Airoldi (formerly a chef at Jaques Reymond) took over a corner shop site that has been doomed for the last 4 years, with a change of management every year or so. He had a little deli with french cheese and small goods, homemade jams and chutneys and at Christmas time he made the nicest puddings. They did lunch with baguettes and croque mounsiers and madams, and had dinner some nights of the week with a fairly traditional menu of favourites. He also baked his own bread and pastries which were absolutely devine, apparently his original training was as a pastry chef. Oh and he made the best coffee on the strip.

So I was pretty excited to hear he had expanded his business to include a proper restaurant just down the road (at another doomed site which has held a tapas bar and a moroccan restaraunt in the last few years). On Friday I finally got a chance to go for dinner. There is a degustation menu at $99 but we ordered from the menu. Admittedly we went the fairly traditional ordering route at a frnech restaurant, but that didnt mean it was a boring meal. For entrees we shared some garlic snails and steak tartare, both fresh and flavourful. A house made bread was used to mop up the garlicy sauces and I must admitt we ate a little too much of the bread (it was just so good!). At the waiters recomendation we ordered a french red wine which was similar to a Pinot in colour and taste and which the name of unfortunately I have forgotten.

For mains we ordered a cassoulet which is the specialty of the restaurant, and a mussel dish. The mussels were served with a buttery white wine sauce, pomme frittes and a delightful aoli. The serving size was HUGE, probably the amount I normally make for the two of us. They were tender and sweet. The highlight was the cassoulet, which apparently takes 3 days to make. It consists of pork belly, a duck sausage and a duck leg in a harricot bean stew. The long cooking time gives the stew time for all the flavours to meld and the meats were tender and buttery.

We rolled out of the restaurant a little too full for our own good. It was a great meal, at a good price. By the time we left, the place was full, maybe the curse of the doomed restaurant site is over?!