In Melbourne, a city full of food and obsessed by coffee, I cook, I eat, I share the good news and the bad. essjay eats

Archive for 2009

Warm Tomato, Red Onion & Chick Pea salad

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Day after Boxing Day BBQ – we’re getting more confident with the BabyQ and felt that we could give some of the fabulous steak from Largo a decent send off. I grabbed some rump steaks from Simon that had been dry-aged on the bone since 7th November and we put together some salads. So easy […]

Coffee in the time of heat (or Seven Seeds Part 3)

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

On my way to the Vic Markets this morning I was in dire need of a coffee. This hot weather has made it hard for me to keep my caffeine intake at the required level. Yesterday I grabbed an affogato from Cavallini on Queens Parade. I was too late for a “Toby Coffee”, but I […]

Embrasse

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

For a bit of a special treat, we decided to visit Embrasse, which has been “on the list” for a while now, but you know, Mugaritz and Paris got in the way! (darn them!). I’ve never been a real fan of the site Embrasse occupies in Drummond street, not now, and not when it was […]

Markets: North Melbourne Farmers’ Market

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

North Melbourne Primary School now hosts a “Farmers Market” on the first Sunday of the month. I missed out on the last Abbotsford Convent market, so was kinda hankering for a market morning – and the boy lives walking distance to this one, so I was quite looking forward to it. I do hope this […]

Travel: The macarons of Europe

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

I tell myself (and others) that the purpose of the overseas trip was to see some new things, experience some new things, eat a few Michelin stars and chill out. Reviewing my photos from the trip, I can’t ignore the shear number of macaron photos I took. I have decided to put them all together […]

Go Slow with Holy Goat

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Have you even eating Holy Goat cheese? Perhaps you have run into Anne Marie and Carla selling it at one of the Farmer’s Markets around Melbourne? They are opening their farm in Sutton Grange as a slow food event. “Ever wondered how a certified organic dairy goat farm, with cheese production, really works? This slow […]

La Luna Bistro – Carlton

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I’ve eaten at Adrian Richardson’s Carlton Institution many times, but I’ve only had the steak once before. I generally get tempted by the kid or the suckling pig well before I get to the steak list. But, tonight I was on a mission, to eat steak. That doesn’t quite explain while all three of my […]

Eating: Chicken, Coriander and Leek Dumplings

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

I’m cleaning out the freezer and so the plan today was to cook chicken. I defrosted some Lilydale breasts and some wonton wrappers (the crap that accumulates!). The Gasworks Farmers’ Market brought us baby leeks and coriander to round out the filling, and the Prahran Market Tour from a few weeks ago turned up some […]

Breakfast at Cavallini

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Robert Coco’s Cavallini bakery is a brilliant addition to the Queens Parade strip. I doubted the place could bare one more bakery (in fact one has closed recently) but Cavallini is of such high quality, folks come from miles around the sample a leek, proscuitto and taleggio tart and some of Toby’s decent coffee. I […]

The Cheese is Here! Part 04/09

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

“Tuesday is Cheeseday” but thankfully not Mainland Cheese. This is my second delivery of Bruny Island Cheese. I read a few pre-emptive tweets on the way home, there’s the white box waiting for me when I get there. Inside … Left to Right: Ring-in Woodfire Toasted MuesliCow’s Milk FettaWoodfired oven roasted nutssaint: surfaced ripened “soft […]