MEL: HOT OR NOT

HOT: CERES Organic Cafe, CERES Community Environment Park Cnr Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:40 +0000

CERES Community Environmental Park is arguably Melbourne’s hippie hub. CERES stands for Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies and it’s a not-for-profit, sustainable urban farm located on the banks of Merri Creek in East Brunswick. But whether you wear hemp fisherman’s pants or carry a designer label handbag, I think everyone would enjoy [...]

HOT: Poultrygeist, The Commoner, 122 Johnston St, Fitzroy

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:59:07 +0000

As a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that (a) I love movies and (b) I love food. So when one of my local favourites The Commoner invited me to the launch night of their first movie-inspired multi-course menu I could hardly say no. And the theme was chooks! Roast chooks! In the form [...]

HOT: Marmalade and Soul, 162 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:00:47 +0000

What I love about Melbourne is that you can be going about your everyday mundaneness then bam! There’s a brand new cafe/restaurant right on your doorstep. So it was I was trekking to the bank, chemist and Officeworks when I took a double-take. What used to be the Recreation Hotel has been transformed into Marmalade [...]

HOT: Spelt Quinoa, 40 Johnston St, Fitzroy

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:31:47 +0000

I think this Sunday Age article is kind of true – in the north there’s yoga for everybody (including dogs), hippies, fixies and all the girls look like they stepped out of frankie magazine. Which is why the shop Spelt Quinoa is perfect for the neighbourhood. This little shop of healthy goodness opened about a [...]

HOT: My Mexican Cousin, Corner Sturt St and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:00:09 +0000

Finally the Arts Precinct has a decent place to eat, in the form of My Mexican Cousin. The all-day restaurant is part of the Melbourne Recital Centre and is a joint project between Savatore Malatesta (St Ali, Plantation)  and Jerome Borazio (The Resurrection, Ponyfish Island). It’s named after St Ali‘s most famous breakfast dish ‘My Mexican [...]

HOT: Carolina, 11 Nicholson St, East Brunswick

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:52:11 +0000

Carolina is a new cafe in East Brunswick where pram-pushing mums, bike riders and hip young things collide (or sometimes, in my case, I like to think I’m all three). What was a former Italian shoe store called ‘Invicta’ has been transformed into a casual cafe with all the right elements to appeal to their [...]

HOT: Annoying Brother Espresso + Kitchen, 650 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:13:52 +0000

Do you have a brother? Does he make you coffee? Cook you eggs? Bake you muffins? If he’s an annoying brother, then he might just do so. Annoying Brother Espresso + Kitchen is a small new cafe that’s opened on the southern end of Nicholson St village on the corner of Bik Lane. I have [...]

HOT: Alimentari, 251 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:00:38 +0000

New cafes seem to spring up every week in Fitzroy so when a cafe manages to outlast the competition for over a decade you know it must be good. So it goes with Alimentari.  I remember when it used to be just a crushed little front room but the back room now opens up for [...]

NOT: Kokoro Ramen, 157-159 Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:00:37 +0000

In the documentary and cross-cultural love story ‘Banana in a Nutshell’ there’s a funny moment where the Chinese girl and her Anglo boyfriend argue whether cereal is a breakfast food or ‘anytime’ food. It mirrors the kind of conversations that I’ve had with RM before – to me cereal is only for breakfast, whereas he thinks [...]

HOT: Mama Baba, 21 Daly St, South Yarra

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:20:09 +0000

Another day, another George Calombaris restaurant opens. That man (along with Andrew McConnell and Chris Lucas) is taking over this town! But that’s ok, when he’s able to bring consistently excellent food and service to the four corners of Melbourne. He’s got it all covered – north, south, east, central…the only place missing is west (and [...]

HOT: St Katherine’s, 26 Cotham Rd, Kew

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:45:12 +0000

So George Calombaris may not know about the calculation of penalty rates for his waitstaff, but he does know how to run a good quality restaurant. PM24, Hellenic Republic, The Press Club and now St Katherine’s all get my whole-hearted recommendation. St Katherine’s showcases mid-priced, relaxed, high quality region-influenced food and I think this Greek/Turkish/Middle Eastern hybrid [...]

HOT: Rooftop Cinema, 6/252 Swanston St, Melbourne

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:59:50 +0000

Ah summer! There are certain events that happen every year which really mark the season in Melbourne. Cricket. Tennis. The Suzuki Night Market. Free music in the parks. And one of my favourites, outdoor cinema. Every year I try to get to at least one summer movie screening under the stars – it’s still a [...]

HOT: Shanghai Street Dumpling, 342 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:30:52 +0000

A couple of years ago RM and I had a week’s holiday in Shanghai. We ate ourselves silly in all manner of restaurants, with a particularly memorable dumpling gorge at Crystal Jade which is still my gold standard for dumplings worldwide (well, limited to the dumpling places that I’ve tried around the world). Shanghai Street [...]

HOT: Gorski & Jones, 304 Smith St, Collingwood

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00:40 +0000

I’ve been eye off the maroon meat slicer in the window of Gorski & Jones since it opened about 2 months ago. It’s a big, shiny, impressive beast atop a long white marble bar and it announces the restaurant’s Italianate roots with no need for dinky red gingham tablecloths and an accordian player. Gorski & [...]

HOT: Backstreet Cafe, 152 Kerr St, Fitzroy

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:00:46 +0000

In Fitzroy, it’s another day, another new cafe…. Backstreet Cafe is the new project from the people behind Birdman Eating and it takes some of what’s great about that Fitzroy stalwart and extends it beyond – or more precisely below. More on that later. The cafe is located in a corner spot in amongst residential [...]

HOT: Huxtaburger, 106 Smith St, Collingwood

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:00:55 +0000

Thanks to the folks at deliciously excellent Huxtable, Smith Street now boasts its own American-style burger and beer joint. It’s a small space across the road from the mother ship with a few outdoor tables and continues the Cosby Show theme with the moniker Huxtaburger. Cute! The menu is short and straightforward – there are [...]

HOT: Helados Jauja, 254 Lygon St, Carlton

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:00:30 +0000

Happy New Year! Hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday break. Apparently one of the best ways to stretch out that happy holiday mood is to continue one holiday habit in your everyday life. With Melbourne’s unpredictable heat waves, one holiday habit I’ll be continuing is daily ice-cream! Fortunately in Melbourne there’s lot of [...]

Cafe Secrets Melbourne for Little Ones Giveaway!

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:16:44 +0000

If you know people living in from Melbourne with little ones who love to eat out, I’ve got the perfect Christmas stocking stuffer for you. Deck of Secrets and Melbourne-based eating out blog Little Eats have teamed up to publish a new Deck of Secrets guide featuring 52 of the best kid-friendly cafes in Melbourne. I have a couple of Deck [...]

HOT: SO:ME Space, South Melbourne Market, 322-326 Coventry St, South Melbourne

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 19:00:03 +0000

South Melbourne Market has moved out the dollar stores and moved in some hip wares. Under the big shed they’ve created a space for small shops and pop up sites called SO:ME Space. It’s filled with clothing, accessories, artwork and bikes – a fun place to browse before or after your market grocery shopping. Some [...]

La Madre Bakery Giveaway!

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:00:55 +0000

Following on from my carb-fest at La Madre Bakery recently I am excited to offer a giveaway of a selection of La Madre‘s new Christmas range! The sweet and savoury treats come presented in a reuseable cookie tin and inside you’ll find a sample of: Vanilla Snowflake Shortbread made from Heilala Vanilla vanilla paste and topped [...]

HOT: Threefold, 381 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:00:40 +0000

Threefold is a casual cafe/bar tucked into a narrow corner space on Flinders Lane and Tavistock Place. You’ll recognise it by the planter boxes laden with fresh herbs at its entrance - a happy  contrast to the soulless vistas offered by its office block neighbours. It’s a smart establishment that seats mostly business people along narrow benches and small [...]

HOT: Janet de Neefe at Books for Cooks, Rice Queen, 2/231 Smith St, Fitzroy

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:00:11 +0000

I’ve written previously about the great author events that specialist cookbook store Books for Cooks run. They are becoming so popular that they’ve started moving certain events out of their store – too many books and people to fit into a small space! While the non-store events are generally not free, the great thing is [...]

HOT: Malmaison at Paris to Provence Festival, Como House and Garden, South Yarra

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:42:03 +0000

A few weeks ago I attended the Paris to Provence Festival as the end stop of the Melbourne Tweed Ride. It was a bright sunshiney day and perfect for strolling around the grounds of Como House eating and drinking French delights, doing a spot of shopping and apparently a great opportunity to pull out your [...]

HOT: The Design Files Open House, 40 Little Napier St, Fitzroy

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:58:06 +0000

What’s better than a pop up shop? A pop up house! Melbourne design blogger extraordinaire Lucy Feagins has brought her blog The Design Files out of the interwebs and into real life. With the help of The Project Agency’s Esther Navarro-Orejon, Lucy has turned a swoon-worthy Fitzroy warehouse conversion into an even more swoonworthy display home [...]

The Casual Cyclist’s Guide to Melbourne Giveaway!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:00:40 +0000

I am a big fan of Melbourne-based bike rental company The Humble Vintage and the limited edition hand-drawn maps coming out of it called Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists. Now author and entrepreneur Matt Hurst has written The Casual Cyclist’s Guide Melbourne, a book bringing a fresh perspective to cycle routes in Melbourne interspersed with articles on cycling tips, [...]

HOT: Beechworth Bakery, 316 Maroondah Highway, Healesville

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:00:48 +0000

I didn’t realise that the Beechworth Bakery had stretched beyond to town of Beechworth to other parts of the state – but it’s pretty handy that there’s one in Healesville. Beechworth Bakery  prides itself on being ‘Australia’s greatest bakery’. That’s a tall claim! But it is an old-fashioned bakery filled with old-fashioned  British style bakery items [...]

HOT: N. Lee Bakery, 62 Little Collins St, Melbourne

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:00:13 +0000

Summer’s here, the sun is out! (Well, not today. But it’s Melbourne so the weather could change by lunch time.) Instead of eating your lunch at your desk, why not stroll down to Little Collins Street to N. Lee Bakery? Join the fast-moving queue of office workers, grab a $5.50 Banh Mi and eat your [...]

HOT: Melbourne Tweed Ride 2011

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:00:48 +0000

Tally-ho ladies and gents! Thanks to some Sunday sun, a group of about 50 well-dressed cyclists gathered for the annual Melbourne Tweed Ride. Tweed wearers and vintage-stylers rode out from Federation Square along the tweedy brown Yarra River to Como House, which was hosting the Paris to Provence Festival. We got many amazed glances, friendly waves and [...]

HOT: Duchess of Spotswood, 87 Hudsons Rd, Spotswood

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:00:43 +0000

So the Queen just visited to Melbourne and Princess Mary came to town. If you’re not royal-ed out, take yourself to visit the Duchess in Spotswood. Duchess of Spotswood is a cafe is located in an unprepossessing strip of shops near Spotswood station and when I arrived at 9am on a weekend it was easily [...]

HOT: Giant Steps Innocent Bystander Winery, 336 Maroondah Highway, Healesville

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:00:18 +0000

A sunny weekend saw us taking a trip out to the Yarra Valley, armed with a recommendation for lunch at Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander. Unlike most of the other wineries in the Yarra Valley, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander isn’t located on an expansive piece of green land – it’s just a straight turnoff from the Maroondah Highway [...]

Comments (0) - Read and Add your own Comments