By Jorg!!

Let me begin by apologising for being the world's worst blogger (again). I promise to try and be more vigilant from now on!!

H and I went to the newly opened Jorg (pronounced George) on St Georges Road in North Fitzroy last week. The restaurant has only been open a couple of months but judging by the lunch we enjoyed all of the opening bugs have been ironed out. The space - formally a fruit and vege shop - is simply stunning and chefs Michael Smith and Bryce Bernhardt have poured their hearts and souls into creating not only a contemporary, stylish dining space but a warm, exciting menu that encourages plenty of foody conversation with a range of small plates designed to share.

The dining room is beautifully furnished - check out the gorgeous polished concrete floors and 'industrial chic' French light fittings. Even more impressive is the function room at the rear of the building. Light and airy I can envisage it hosting many ubercool parties in the future. One of the first such affairs will be the PinotNow dinner hosted at Jorg on Monday 13th September. To book call 9482 3002.

Another Wild Adventure

Followers may recall my recent blog about dinner at Libertine. Disappointing meal, arguing with friends, doing the splits on Collins Street...

Well, our little dining club met again on Saturday night for a meal at Auction Rooms in North Melbourne. We were much better behaved this time and the meal well and truely met with our expectations. The cafe, situated on Errol Street, is a very cool space offering casual dining and great coffee.

We basically ordered everything on the tapas menu (including some delicious parfait and Mt Zero olives) then a main course each. Four of us ordered the pork belly - sticky and crispy with onion puree, black pudding and baked apple - while T, the non-pork eater, ordered a chickpea lambshank dish that was also very tasty. We all shared a fig pudding for dessert - anything with figs is a winner in my book.

We were all very civilised and no one cried or fell over so we decided to wander up to the Town Hall Hotel for a drink or two. That was when things got wierd.

After a little while 5 became 3 and I sat with my favortie marrieds chatting and laughing. We were then rudely interupted by a very drunk fellow who seemed to take a liking to the only male in our little threesome. In hindsight I can maybe see where the mistake was made, B was sitting with two girls, he's a very snappy dresser...BUT when this drunken idiot grabbed my friend's face and lunged in for a kiss it took us very much by surprise! B's wife and I didn't know what to do, picking different objects up from the table, preparing to throw them at B's attacker. Luckily B had the intelligence and maturity of mind to gently push the guy away, quietly mention to this idiots friends that perhaps they should take control of their mate and return to our little party not to dishevelled.

It was very funny but really, the drunk guy was lucky. My friend is a decent guy and reacted appropriately but I don't think there are too many people, man or woman, gay or straight, who would take kindly to being grabbed like that. If it had been me I would have slapped him!

But it's still kinda funny :)

Seaside Special

Once in a while H has an urgent need to get out of the city. The last time was March labour day weekend. We had a great day at the red hill wineries then spent the night fighting back flood waters!

A few weeks ago H felt the urge again and suggested we head to the Bellarine Peninsula to have lunch at Loam in Drysdale - a restaurant that has been receiving a lot of good press lately. Our booking was made quite last minute and we were really lucky to secure a table in the dining room.

Loam is run by chef and owner Aaron Turner and his wife Astrid. It is a small, intimate dining room overlooking the Lighthouse Olive Grove and Queenscliff. Once we were seated we were presented with a list of in season produce, asked if there was anything we didn't eat and how many courses we would like. We went all out and asked for seven courses (for $90.00, two and four course options also available). In the end we were presented with nine courses - it helps to be in the industry! That same day there were staff from Attica and Pearl also enjoying a coastal Sunday. I think it was just the following Sunday that the entire Attica staff descended on Loam (one of the waitresses is the girlfriend of one of the chefs who works with H so I heard all about it last weekend at the winery).

We were there for five hours, a long, luxurious lunch presented to us by friendly, knowledgeable staff. Astrid was a wonderful hostess and it was lovely to chat to her while H checked out the kitchen and picked Aaron's brain for a moment.

At the end of the meal we were presented with a print out of our courses. Looking around us other tables received different dishes so it was wonderful to be able to remember exactly what we ate...so here's the blow by blow:

1. HEN'S EGG, JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, BREAD CRUMBS, MISO - perfectly slow cooked egg, creamy artichoke, crunchy bread crumbs and salty miso broth made this rich dish a perfect start to our epic lunch.

2. PINE MUSHROOM, GARDEN SILVERBEAT, PINE NEEDLE YOGHURT - This was one of my favourites. Perfectly seasoned mushrooms with the tart yoghurt. Just yummy!

3. KINGFISH, PINK GRAPEFRUIT, WILD RICE, PONZU - very impressed with the ponzu noodle!

4. SAND CRAB, HORSERADISH, NASHI, CAULIFLOWER - I could have done without the cauliflower on this one but by no means did I dislike it.

5. SOUSED SNAPPER, CUCUMBER, SEAWATER CHEESE, MUSSEL - This was to die for. Beautifully cooked snapper. Fresh flavours of the sea, just the sort of thing I like!

6. BEEF TONGUE, GARLIC, HEIRLOOM TOMATO, QUINOA - Believe it or not I had never eaten tongue before. It sort of freaks me out. I think it's the whole 'it's tasting me while I'm tasting it' thing BUT it was heaven. H was bowled over by this one. the tongue was like the most tender beef I had ever tasted. drooooool.

7. VEAL RUMP, SPINACH, PEARL ONION, WAKAME, BLACK GARLIC - I'm not sure about the whole black garlic thing. H is a big fan but I'm not so sure! Having said that this dish was another winner.

8. OSSAU IRATY - RUBBLE - The cheese course, a very interesting version. Great cheese.

9. MANDARIN PEEL, COCONUT, ALMOND, OLIVE OIL - Loved the mandarin peel sorbet but the coconut cream and olive oil powder gave the dessert a slight fattiness that was mildly unappealing.

Overall Aaron and Astrid have something very special here and we will be back...next time we'll make a weekend of it!

I know, I know

I'm slack. It's not that I haven't been doing anything interesting, I have! Lot's of things. I'm just too lazy to be a proper blogger!

So, stay tuned as there are a couple of reviews coming atcha very soon but for now here is an observation I have recently made...

Chefs are emotionally and socially stunted. I have always know this but just had an epiphany as to why - most of them start apprenticeships in their mid to late teens, while their mates are out on the town, being kids, chefs are working really hard, all hours of the night limiting their social interaction.

Therefore chefs never grow up properly. Case and point - on Sunday I went on a trip with H's workmates to Curly Flat winery (by the way GREAT chardonnay, totally bio-dynamic, very interesting)we had a very pleasant day but on the bus ride home they were like wild children, jumping around, laughing at bum jokes (some were pretty funny I guess) and generally behaving like hyped up kids on the way home from a school excursion.

I don't need a psychology degree but they should give me one for this discovery ;)

Slow Down Ploise

Geez, the weeks seem to be flying by at the moment. Only 17 weeks till our trip now so that's good but I can't keep up with my blog!!

Let's see, what's happened in the past week....

Last Saturday night some friends and I went to Libertine in North Melbourne. I think I have mentioned before that I regularly go to dinner with two particular couples, I'm their 5th wheel. They take pity on me as if I was there sad single friend because I'm constantly sans husband. In fact I went to the Husband's restaurant with the same peeps a few months ago (I was banned from blogging about it but I'll just say this....OH MY GOD). Unfortunately last Saturday nights dinner was not so successful. The wine was great and poured very generously but the food was not memorable. The lack of excitement in the food is, in my opinion, what led to a very heated discussion about politics, theology and history, quickly promoting us to the position of Most Obnoxious Table - you know what I'm talking about, sideways glances from other patrons, waiters avoiding us like the plague...the food might not have been great but nor was our behaviour! That was a weird night. After we cooled down and left the restaurant we headed into the city for a drink. I slipped on the wet footpath on Collins Street and did the full splits - my girlfriend F was super impressed, my hips were not...I'm still hobbling a week later!

Sunday was much quieter, brekkie at Collective Espresso (best coffee) and then a late session of the much anticipated Sex and the City 2...more on that later.

The beginning of this week passed without much fuss and on Wednesday I headed down the coast to visit my mum for her birthday. My grandmother came too and the three of us went to see SATC2, yes that's twice for me. Now, I have always been a massive fan of the show, I think it is still relevant and funny, and the first movie was great. It was such a thrill to see the four girls reunited and the storyline made sense. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the new film, i did, especially the second time when I had no expectations and could just enjoy the fashion and funny moments (especially Carrie's gold Louboutins in the opening scenes, THEY BLEW MY MIND) but the story was a bit weak and there were moments when I wondered what on earth the writers were thinking, scenes they completely broke with the cool, sassy nature of the original series.

After the film it was back to mum and dad's for dinner. I have mentioned that not only am I the wife of a chef but the daughter of one too. Dad is halfway through the second year of his apprenticeship and has taken to it like a duck to the proverbial water. He cooked a delicious sichuan pork belly dish which was, in the words of Seinfeld's Poppy 'even more'a succulent than I could have'a hoped for'. But the highlight of the night was the 'Toblerone' dessert (pictured). He's so clever!!

Thursday and Friday were non-events and that brings us back to Saturday. No plans tonight. I attempted to sew a skirt on an old sewing machine a picked up on ebay a while ago but I only got as far as cutting the fabric out last night before I realised I'd completely screwed it up already, oh, did I forget to mention I have absolutely no dressmaking/sewing/pattern making experience whatsoever? So that's on hold for a while!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend (thanks Queenie) and hopefully I'll be a better blogger next week.

OH!!!! H has been shortlisted for the Good Food Guide young chef of the year! VERY exciting!

bad bad bad bad girl

Yes I am supposed to be saving, yes I am going on a fabulous holiday in a few months and should be putting all my savings towards that BUT I have also been looking for a pair of red shoes for a long time.

So I tried these on.

And I felt like Dorothy.

And I put them on lay-by....BAD!!

I haven't talked too much about my shoe collection (read obsession) but I had put myself on a total shoe ban to save for this holiday.

But just picture these boots in London, with boyfriend jeans, and tartan Pepe jeans jacket....CUTE!! How could I leave them behind?

H will yell...

By the way, they are Nude and little Miss M spotted them for me after lay-buying her own pair of HOT boots. The shop is Tienda and it just opened on Victoria Avenue in Albert Park. It's packed with lots of gorgeous goodies!

Guess What.....

I've found heaven, and it was so close to home!!

Earlier this week H came home raving about the best bacon sandwich he had ever had, in fact I believe he said 'best sandwich hands down'! Being the typical picky and annoyingly critical chef that he is (if you've read earlier posts you'll see what I mean) it's unusual for him to eat anything new without having something negative to say so naturally I was intrigued...

As it happened we both had yesterday off - H had his young chef interview at Grossi's and his generous boss gave him the whole day off. Coincidentally I had a work commitment in the city which involved a massive screaming match(yes on my day off, I've really earned my pay rise. PS if you ever get into a screaming match with a crazy person you won't win, they can always out scream you) Once that was over I was quite happy to try on shoes that I can't afford at David Jones for an hour while H finished up, so once we were both done with the screaming and the shoes and the interviewing we were on Bourke Street and looking for some lunch. (FYI, H didn't seem confident, last year they questioned his choice of place of employment, and this year, when he has one of the top jobs in town they just seemed to want to know how his boss runs the business...sheesh!

H was still filled with warm scrummy bacon memories from his first jaunt to our new nirvana, so we whizzed down Little Bourke to the deli-slice of heaven (sorry for the pun), also known as Earl Canteen. We could only wrangle a 15 minute car park so we raced in, H ordered the Pork Belly - crispy skin Otway pork with apple and coleslaw on a crunchy baguette - and I could not look past the Confit Duck, with caramelised wild figs, walnuts, onion jam, radicchio and watercress on perfect ciabatta (half of which is pictured, I munched down the first half before it occurred to me to take a picture...I always do that). It came quickly served by friendly young staff and was scoffed down with 3 minutes to spare on our parking space.

My heaven can be found at 500 Bourke Street (enter from Little Bourke Street, located under Movida) and they open Monday to Friday for brekkie and lunch. Do it!

You can find their full menu at www.earlcanteen.com.au