If Only You Were Here!

Above you will find me welcoming you to the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, otherwise known as my home. My playground, if you will.

I’ve got to admit that I have a big, silly, embarrassing crush on Fitzroy. I wish everyone just “got”  what she’s all about straight away. I think Fitzroy is a place you have to know to appreciate, but once you spend a days together she becomes your best friend in the whole wide world. If we could get friendship bracelets we would (she’s just a bit too “big” for that but please don’t tell her I said it).

Photo comes courtesy of Jackimo Postimo.

Ice Cream is Upon Us All!

Guys! The day is basically here and ice cream is upon us all! Expect a lot of exclamation marks in this post; I apologize in advance. Gelato Messina will finally open up in Melbourne tomorrow, Thursday November 14th to be exact! And what a beautiful date that is.

The magical wonderland is located on Smith Street in Fitzroy. That is approximately exactly a two minute bike ride and an eight minute walk from my house. CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW GIDDY I AM! I am paralyzed with excitement!

Coincidently I’ve been in Sydney for work this week, and you better believe I grabbed a salted caramel scoop in a scone my first night up here, rain falling, cold wind thrusting and all. I’ll go again tonight to keep the momentum going. But! I really just can’t wait to fly back to Melbourne, buy my first full tub, take it home, and enjoy the extraordinary flavors of Messina from my very own couch!

Hahaha. Remember back in the beginning of July when I nervously asked Messina if they could please open up in Melbourne? Who would have thought it was that easy!

Gelato Messina
237 Smith Street, Fitzroy

If You’re Wondering Where to Get a Snickers Milkshake…

There’s a little place in Fitzroy that makes the best milkshakes in this part of the world, in my humble (but correct) opinion. What I like most this little place is that I really have to work to get my milkshake and I have the option to play sport while I enjoy my milkshake as to work out all those extra calories I really didn’t need, but desperately wanted.

Red Triangle is the name, and pool is the game. You may have known about this dimly lit pool hall located on Argyle Street off Brunswick Street since it’s been up and running since 1977. If I had to guess I would say they have never undergone a big makeover; It’s all part of the charm though.

If you haven’t made your way up those 3 unsteady flights of wooden stairs, wondered if that closed door is the right one, and commented to your date (great place of a date!) (if you’re good at pool) how cool the oversized chess board to your right is then you must go*!

Going to a place like Red Triangle may seem intimidating, or at least it was for me. I thought I needed a leather vest with my initials on it, a smoking habit or to be cast in Sons of Anarchy. What a silly girl I was to think that! The interior fits that setting, but the people inside surely don’t! The staff is friendly and encouraging. If you are a beginner at pool, they will help you pick out the best table, stick size for you, and give you some hot tips. They also don’t get annoyed with me when I take 3 minutes longer than everyone else to choose my milkshake flavor. And I thank them for that because it’s a hard decision which you do not want to get wrong. Tiramisu, Hot Jam Donut, Cherry Ripe, Snickers, Twix. I mean, that’s a tough bunch of options to choose from.

I’ve gone with the snickers milkshake every single time so far, but I swear one of these days I’ll try something different. Probably on our next rainy day date, which cross my fingers is coming soon. The weather is on board for Monday… Jack?

* It’s probably best to go of a cloudy rainy day as you will truly be seeing no light. The windows are covered with black fabric. But! definitely still pop in on a sunny day because they do take away milkshakes!

Red Triangle 

110 Argyle St, Fitzroy, Melbourne

Open 12pm – 2pm every single day of the year (impressive!) 

Alimentari Literally Means Good Food

My parents came and went to visit me in the blink of an eye. They arrived last Friday and left Monday. It was too short, went too fast, and too much fun.

One of the things I love most about my parents visiting, aside from physically  hugging them, is that they come prepared with their own lists of cafes and restaurants to try! There’s one place they brought to the table this time around that I am actually upset I didn’t tell them about. My mom was reading the Quantas magazine sometime during her 24-hour plane ride to Melbourne. In one of the articles Neil Perry shares his three favorite breakfast places in all of Melbourne. At the top of list was Alimentari.

I was upset with my parent’s blind recommendation at first because it is approximately 4 minutes walking from my house. I should have been the one taking my parents there! I would have been a hero. I take the tram past it every day, I get my flowers next door every weekend, I’ve window shopped at Wilkinsons and Kent nearby a ballion times, I’ve even shopped at their very own grocery store! I’ve just always thought that big, dark building on the corner of  Brunswick St and Greeves St. was a deli called Delicatessen, what with the deli style counter at the front featuring everything from delicious sweet treats, to an abundance salami, take away lasagna, to bottles of anchovies. You wouldn’t know there was an entire room at the back unless you went in.

Anyway, in we went. And, oh, how authentically delicious it truly was. Jack and I got the poached eggs with hollandaise sauce with bacon and spinach, cooked perfectly. My mom ordered the french toast, which she immediately deemed the best french toast in all of Melbourne and vowed to never order them anywhere else again. My dad got the poached eggs with salami, tomato and sausage, and I was slowly dying with jealousy.

I guess at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter who finds out about a place like Alimentari. I guess it just matters that we did find it and got to enjoy it. But I’m only guessing.

Cake Wines Pop-Up Bar in Fitzroy! Lets go!

I can very easily forget how draining winter can be. I can still remember the days when I was excited for the gray season. I’ll wear a beanie everyday, I thought. I’ll wear my boots with all my different Happy Socks! I’ll switch it up between turtle necks and scarfs, I’ll layer up, and maybe my hair will stay straight for once!

I regret even thinking that now. Especially because half my Instagram feed is of friends from home in the US in their bathing suits complaining about how hot it is. I dream of summer dresses, riding my bike, the beach, a corona, painting my nails bright orange, being in the mood to wear color, and actually running around the botanical gardens like I say I will.

One of the only thing that is keeping me going is that Melbourne has so many great events going on during winter. I really can’t help but want to go to everything! My favorite (and literally closest to home) is Cake Wines Pop-Up Bar in Fitzroy!

Cake Wine came down from Sydney and set up shop in a romantic little spot down an alley way in Fitzroy for the month of August. With only 3 more weekends of events planned I urge you to follow them on Facebook straight away and plan a night out. Bring some friends (or me), buy a bottle of wine (the shiraz is splendid), and order the delicious and filling cheese plate. The venue is homey, warm and comfortable; it really feels like you’re at a friends home and, being the wonderful friend that she is, she’s gone above and beyond to make the night enjoyable for you.

Cake Wines is working with workshops by Dumbo Feather, mixing it up bands (Alpine! tonight!) and DJs, film screenings, and The School of Life’s seminar How to Have Better Conversations.

Unfortunately, you can’t buy bottles of Cake to take home with you. I tried. But you can quickly pop by The Evelyn next door where they happily supply the label. Buy in bulk, why don’t ya! It’s the weekend after all.

My Local, Our Local, Min Lokal

Contrary to popular belief, finding somewhere you can call My Local Place is not an easy thing. Keeping a local is even harder. It’s all about a give and take relationship. Goodness, relationships are tough.

Jack and I are really lucky to have so many great cafe’s literally surrounding our apartment building. Min Lokal was the last of them we tried. It’s so homely and comfortable that it almost seems too much like a local’s local. The type of place you go in and know you’ll definitely be catching up with the staff and both of you will be more than happy with it.

We were intimidated by that type of relationship though. We’re always intimidated when we’re not sure if people remember us or not. There is no right or wrong way to act in those situations. I usually end up seeming overly friendly and excited. And the worst part is bringing up a subject you caught up on last time and realizing they have no idea what in the what you’re talking about. It just gives me the chills. You can’t blame them though they are having these type of relationships with the entire neighboorhood, and we have to be okay with that.

So we’ve kept going for breakfast, but have always kept our distance from the staff. A hello always, a joke here and there, but never more than a few solem glances hoping maybe they’ll make the first move. After a few visits though we decided enough was enough. I made a huge move, and introduced them to my parents when they were in Australia. We told stories about how I came to find myself in Australia, how Jack and I met, and how we ended up to be neighbors. They probably (definitely) had no idea how much it meant to Jack and I.

I thought we might be pushing the My Local title on them too hard after that day, so we chilled out. We avoided the delicious baked eggs, the addicting flat whites, and the fresh orange juice. Until a couple of months later when Jack suggested we go out to breakfast, which I always say yes to because breakfast being his idea happens once every three months.

It was all happening though. That day Min Lokal became our local, not because we realized anyone could technically say that since the cafe’s name is Swedish for My Local, but because going in felt like visiting a friend. We went early enough so that the crowds were still about an hour away, their cool selection of music was still on low volume, and a game of trivia out of the weekend newspaper was being had. Jack and I could handle trivia. We could handle this relationship.

While their bakes eggs are a reliable and a constant gem of a dish, I put my brave tummy on and tried something not so adventurous, but new. It’s now my favorite breakfast plate of the moment: poached eggs with fetta and chili oil. Simple and easy is sometimes best, I’ve heard many people say.

I’m really not sure where this relationship will go, but I can honestly say I’m very happy about the stage we’re in now.

Always Blame the Gym Next Door.

There’s nothing to get you to change your work out regimen like getting up early for breakfast, right? That’s a tricky question. Because the only time that truly happens is if you wake up early to not eat breakfast or you plan have that breakfast at Industry Beans.

Industry Beans is hard to ignore. I came across it for the first time last summer, as I was making my way to the Rose Street Market. An unforced double take to notice the open black wooden panels fencing in the patio area and I was a goner. It’s kept me going back for two reasons: the breakfast is delicious and it makes me want to be a better person. Truly.

You probably don’t know this about me, but I’m a stay-at-home(orwork)-wannabe Melbourne barista. The type that competes at the Melbourne International Coffee Exposition. When I get up early to make my morning coffee I dream about the latte art I may produce. Maybe a dragon this time, maybe a heart, a swan, mickey and minnie mouse holding hands, maybe a perfectly round dot, but all I ever seem to make is… nothing. Sometimes I get the silhouette of an octopus, but Jack says that’s only what my brain wants to see. I bring this up because Industry Beans houses expert coffee training facilities for baristas. Can you believe it? It’s all happening right under my nose. I feel like the waiters can see the intimation and jealousy in my eyes now. They know I want to be one of them. I want to understand the training textbook posing as a coffee and food menu. I also want to smirk at the people who don’t know or appreciate that Industry Beans roast their own coffee in house. I want to have the knowledge to pair my coffee, which I know came from an exotic region, with an adventurous plate off the food menu. But I can’t.

And every time I go in with the intention of choosing that adventurous plate consisting of perfectly toasted bread, lots of eggs, and possibly hollandaise sauce, I end up with something like the semolina porridge or the steel cut oats. I blame the CrossFit gym next door.

You feel a little guilty, sitting there in an outdoor patio with the heater placed perfectly over your head, having just received your beautiful flat white watching the hard working, grunting, and moaning CrossFit goers getting their shit done. That’s about the time I think back to my week and realize all that exercise I planned to do starting monday, seriously this time, never happened.

Thank goodness the porridge is amazing, because there is no way I’m ordering anything unhealthy in front of those maniacs next door. One of those maniacs is now Jack. He was so inspired and awestruck he started a few weeks later. He’s completed his beginner courses and has moved on to the real works. And while I’m a very proud girlfriend, I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet. I suspect one or five more visits to Industry Beans and I’ll give it shot.

Gorski and Jones Nominated For Best Tuesday Night Date Spot.

It’s a really exciting time now that the Those Who Eat Out During The Week Awards* are on! If you weren’t thinking of voting for Gorski and Jones to win in the category of Best Tuesday Night Date Spot in all of Collingwood then read this before you vote.

From my experience, at Gorski and Jones you’d usually spend a good 10 minutes searching through the menu trying to find a dish out of the many outstanding options. You’d probably also spend some time playing with the flame of your small candle or reading the subtitles of the black and white movie being projected on the white wall. I knew better than to waste time. I was there for Tuesday $35 pp wood roasted sucking pig and spent the time allotted for menu searching commenting on how incredible it was that the pre dinner bread not only came with olive oil, but also ricotto cheese.

For some unknown reason Jack and I (probably just “I”) thought two servings of the sucking pig with the apple and fennel salad wouldn’t be enough. So a long with my red house wine, we ordered roasted veggies on side. Delicious roasted veggies which I could have eaten by themselves.

Now, for the real stuff. I’m not sure what’s behind roasting the of a sucking pig because I have never and probably will never roast one, but I do think this Gorski and Jones’ plate is extremely delicious and exciting. It’s the type of dish that makes you dance in your seat, if you’re comfortable enough with your date, and he/she is not a vegetarian, that is. Jack and I have been together for nearly two years and are both non-vegetarians so we romantically waltz through dinner.

If you can’t take my word for it and feel you HAVE to go try it for yourself then do! It’s Tuesday. How convenient! Maybe even mention how your a judge and potential voter for the Those Who Eat Out During the Week Awards. You might get a second serving of the Ricotto and bread. Yum!

*I can’t link the website where you vote for these awards, because there isn’t one. But mark my words: one day there will be!

The Truth Always Comes Out: Breakfast Thieves

You may or may not have noticed a plate of food in my post Friday so I’ve conveniently placed above this sentence.

The plate was born from the minds of the very clever* people at one of my favorite weekend spots: Breakfast Thieves. The plate in question is called The Breakfast Chain and features soft boiled eggs, cheesy soldiers, a delicious cup of granola and fruit yoghurt, and a small but satisfying amount of apple crumble, all served on a cute, round, wooden chopping board. It’s a great option for breakfast. I dare say, it’s the PERFECT option if you are the kind of indecisive person who would like both sweet and savory in their meal.

I can keep on digitally high five-ing myself on my food decisions, sure, but only I would know what was really going and I couldn’t live with it. The truth is it wasn’t me who ordered The Breakfast Chain. It wasn’t me who had the breakthrough. It was Jack. Jack Post. The person who doesn’t care about food, per se. The one who didn’t really understand what this meant. The one who wasn’t like Dayyyuummmmm.

It was, and this isn’t another digital highfive, the first time Jack has ordered a thousand times better than me. Most of the time we both order about an 8 on a scale from 1-10. Then there are times I may beat him by a point or 5, but never has he scored so much higher than me that the scale completely shatters. I know what you’re thinking, The Breakfast Chain can’t be THAT great. Well, in my opinion, it’s even better. But the score really comes out of comparison to what I ordered.

See what I mean? I’m a failure, an inposter.

In addition to all of Breakfast Thieves’ cleverly named dishes (Thieves on the run, The Pain Perdu, The Leprechaun), they also offer a build-it-yourself section that I feel the public (or just me) should only be able to use if they’ve passed a written test and obtained a license. I had no idea what I was doing and was way to nervous about how everything would add up. I admit it’s no one’s fault but my own.

I’ve finally moved on though; I’ve congratulated Jack and made notes of the two lessons learned.

1) Maybe one day I’ll learn, but for now I’ll let the chefs take care of thinking up my meals.

2) I’ve purchased a new scale and will never let Jack break it again.

* Chalkboard quotes. Clever. Free wifi. Even better.

South American Backpacking Trip Anyone?

I’ve only found one Venezuelan restaurant, Cruzao Arepa Bar, in Melbourne conveniently located on Brunswick Street two minutes away from my humble abode. Said restaurant sadly closed down a few months ago leaving me devastated and extremely homesick. I had to do something and do it quickly. No one likes a sad girl mopping around begging to be hand fed an arepa.

So after weeks of online research I finally walked by Sonido on Gertrude Street.

And if you are walking by Sonido you will know it, not from the restaurant’s name quietly planted in yellow next to the door but you’ll just feel the atmosphere. You’ll notice the colorful umbrellas, the teal colored walls flowing outside and the music making it’s way to your ears.

Step past the beautiful glass door of Sonido and you’ll leave Melbourne to enter another place completely. That place is something in South America. Where exactly? You’ll get to choose! Because Sonido doesn’t just take you to Colombia, it takes you on a month long back packing trip around South America (hopefully you’ve saved up enough money to skip the hostels). Arepas the Venezuelan way, empanadas the Argentinian way, ropa vieja the Cuban way, coffee the strong way. Tribal masks, plants, fruit baskets hanging from the wall, porcelain animals, travel books, records holding, old shoes, mismatched chairs, stuffed dolls, an organized hoarders dream. It feels like home there, especially since they feature the open kitchen of my realistic dreams.

Sonido was the first place I was going to take my parents when they came two weeks ago for their second trip to Melbourne. When they told me they couldn’t come anymore I thought it was a trick so they could later surprise me. But now that the time has passed and there’s no mistaking the fact that they never showed you’ll probably find me drowning my sorrows in Sonido’s Guanabana.