Tina’s Foodie Blog

I’d been looking forward to a week at home, starting each day with a coffee from my Rancilio Sylvia before venturing out into the world; and then Sylvia went and got sick and I had to take her to the vet.

While at the ‘vet’- Dibartoli coffee centre in Bondi Junction, we got to chatting about great cafes near St Peters and one of the guys there recommended Coffee Alchemy, a coffee house in Marrickville who roast their own beans. I went there the next day and had a delicious coffee and was determined to go back. I did read on their website that they close at 2pm but somehow in my caffeine deprived state the next day, I forgot. So I found myself coffee-less. Luckily I took a wrong turn on the way home and found the Petty Cash Cafe, whose coffee rivals that of Coffee Alchemy, or was that just to do with the sunshine on Enmore park and the balmy smell of summer in the air? Either way, I’ve found just two of what I’m sure are many more great local cafes to discover…

Oh yeah, and Sylvia is all better too

I seem to be living off beef pho at the moment, and my favourite right now is phd Vietnamese restaurant at Marrickville, only $9 for a delicious takeaway dinner, yum. I’m also hoping to try Yen For Viet a few doors down soon as every time I walk past they’re packed. We tried to get in one night without a booking and they were fully booked, so will have to plan ahead for that one.

My Saturday bliss started with bottling a batch of preservative free Heffeweizen at The Beer Shed, followed by a scrumptious burger at Paul’s famous burgers.

So I’m about to move to St Peters and am looking for great cafes/pubs/restaurants in the area…I’ve already heard about the Town & Country Hotel:

http://townandcountryhotel.com.au/

I’ll be on the lookout!

Have you seen Murdoch Produce’s new website? I’ve been using this fruit and veg supplier for work for a few years now but just discovered the website in the last few weeks. Nice job guys, I especially like the market update of what’s in season, what’s most expensive at the moment etc…

I watched all four available episodes of Gourmet Farmer last night on the SBS website. Now I am hanging out for Thursday night 7:30pm for episode 5. I haven’t felt that happy and contented watching a TV program for a while. There is something satisfying about watching a city boy give it a go at farming and country life. Matt Evans is also more personable than I expected. Whatever it is, the shows have been put together with consideration and respect for farmers and how hard they work.

Some have complained that GF glamorises the ordinary. But for people who don’t live with acres of land, a thriving kitchen garden, and chooks out the back, it isn’t ordinary, it is fascinating. It is also the knowledge that one would probably fail if you set out to do something as crazy as expect to create a farm that is financially stable with no experience. Somehow though, with the support of local farmers and a humble attitude Matt manages to be hopeful, and at times successful, which is what makes this show so Australian and a pleasure to watch.

I hope this show does well, cause this city girl still has a lot to learn about farming.

Today I couldn’t resist hot chips at the beach, with a generous splash of vinegar and drizzled carefully with tomato sauce. There’s something about steamy hot weather, sea salt in the breeze and sand underfoot that makes me crave that rich salty goodness. Sorry there’s no pic, but I’m sure you have your own memories to conjure up.

Thursday 26th June 2008

So, now that I’m back in Sydney I have a few photos to add for some of the posts such as the cooking class in Thailand, and the blindekuh restaurant in Zurich (though only from outside of course!) and once I have caught up on stories from my trip I hope to continue the search for all things good and tasty in Sydney, which was the initial aim of the blog