Love

Destination: 2050

Posted on by Eatlovego

No, this is not a post of me yearning to be 70 years old in 2050 but the mere postcode of where the ELG family live; otherwise known as Camperdown. When asked the question of where I live and I say Camperdown, the usual response is “ohhh near RPA hospital…” or “oh, near Sydney Uni..?” Both replies are correct but since residing in the 2050 area for the last 14 months, I now know it is much more than the suburb of both a major hospital and university. Situated in the thriving inner west of Sydney, surrounded by Annandale and Leichhardt on one end, Glebe as you stretch closer to the city and Newtown as you head past the hospital to colourful King Street, it is a suburb that I have come to love with its fabulous places to eat and other haunts to go! So, I feel it necessary to update you on the top 5 hotspots of postcode 2050:

1. Franks 

When Mr ELG and I moved into Camperdown, a friend of mine said that Franks was the local place to go to for pizza. A cheap and cheerful number and she recalled that the price of a large pizza was around the $12 mark. She was not wrong there. A family size pizza is $15. In an old fire station house on Parramatta Road, Franks serves up pizza and pasta to go and I almost always order “Franks Special”. Most nights, people pack the place from 6pm and the weekend lunch slots are equally as busy with family lunches packing the tables. Service is quick and the pizza is hot; a terrific combination most can’t go past and I certainly don’t!

2. Deus ex Machina

Part motorbike shop, part restaurant; this phrase from their site sums them up beautifully “Motorcyles for the postmodern world – silk purses out of sows’ ears.” This place also situated on Parramatta Road but closer to the city screams blood, sweat and tears. Oh and great food thrown in for good measure! Deus is iconic in Camperdown and you will likely find Mr ELG, BIT (baby in tow) and I there on a weekend for their spot-on breakfasts. They do a mean eggs hollandaise with Tasmanian salmon, baby spinach and asparagus. And when I wake with a sweet tooth to satisfy, I order the strawberry and lemon pancakes. Out the back there is the shop selling motorbikes (classics and new), clothes, leather jackets and accessories and if your bike needs a tune-up, there’s also a workshop attached. So don your leathers and get to Deus for a bit of grit, noise and bloody good coffee.

3. Butch

Discovering this place with BIT en route to Mothers group one morning, I bought a quick coffee and returned hours later to feast upon one of their homemade pies after spotting it earlier on. If you have read past posts, you will know about my love of pies and this one went above and beyond. Butch is a bit of a hole in the wall, at the bottom of a terrace, on a narrow street in Camperdown and when the winter chill is about, their cafe is one of the only locals that have a cosy fire burning to warm the hands while their food warms your soul.

4. Chef and the Cook

Ever the foodie on the hunt for the right tools to master my trade, this place hits the mark in every regard. I’m sure many a cook would have been in their kitchens at one point wishing for a utensil that somehow was not in their drawer or repertoire whether it be kitchen string to tie a chicken’s legs together before a roast, a piping bag to ice a cupcake, a peeler that leaves your fingers in tact afterwards or a balloon whisk to get enough air through egg whites. I have always thought to buy kitchen string instead of using the string Mr ELG bought at bunnings that’s blue and dreading a Bridget Jones blue soup kitchen moment and last week I finally purchased some along with some flat scales to accurately measure my ingredients. Just recently Chef and the Cook have also started stocking food for sale and have a wonderful Herbies spice selection amongst other jams, couverture chocolate, coloured sea salt and oils galore. So when you can’t be asked to fight the crowds at Peters of Kensington and need the perfect wooden spoon, head to Chef and the Cook for a great selection of tools and industry advice.

5. Camperdown Cellars

At the end of my street is a wonderful thing; Camperdown Cellars. Now there are bottle shops and then there are bottle shops. Not pretentious with their exhausting range of alcohol, top shelf reds and whites, aged whiskys, Penfold Grange and the best cider ever – I think the owners there must look at me with BIT and think; well frankly I can only imagine what they think! OK let’s get back to talking about the cider. One word; Rekorderlig. Mr ELG first tried this drop at a quaint Balmain pub and came home raving about it as if it was the best thing since sliced bread and well I agree with him as it most certainly is! Refined, crisp and clean; the taste of this cider is heavenly and at $8 a bottle is somewhat on the pricier end but well worth it. Served over ice on any afternoon; it is just a little bit of heaven. With flavours in pear, apple, strawberry-lime and a winter version, I recommend heading to the cellars just for this or to satisfy my other two cravings…there is always Pastabilities and tubs of Ben & Jerry’s in their freezers too. So you now know where to find me at 5pm too on any given day when I have no idea what to cook for dinner and I don’t want to go to Coles.

Now, I know I said top 5 but the new mum in me can’t help but add one more and rave about the bright red and green toystore at the end of my street (opposite the Cellars and across the road from Chef and the Cook)  – Kidstuff. A treasure trove of toys for kids of all ages; it stocks all the big brands as well as the obscure and unique. Whether your child is at rattle stage, building blocks, painting, gaming or just plain playing, you never walk out of this store empty handed. And one of the best things is that they do free wrapping with rainbow ribbons.

So type 2050 into your GPS or catch a bus down Parramatta Road and come visit, come play and always go where your heart desires.

Franks @ 137 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050

Deus ex Machina @ 102-104 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050

Butch @ 130 Church Street, Camperdown NSW 2050

Chef and the Cook @ 28-32 Mallett Street, Camperdown NSW 2050

Camperdown Cellars @ 140 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050

Kidstuff @ 101 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050

Hats off to this one

Posted on by Eatlovego

2009 and what a steaming hot Italian summer it was shaping out to be. The train was just pulling into Naples and Mr ELG and I had finally located our pensione and off-loaded the luggage. Feeling ravenous and with a few tips up our sleeves from the local who checked us in, we go on the hunt for a true Napoli pizza; arguably where it all started for the flat and round doughy phenomenon. Up a narrow alley where Fiats are squashed nose to nose on the pavement, there’s a hole in the wall and a waft of steamy goodness coming out. Six or so men with red aprons are milling around a kitchen as the day has not yet fully started. They hear our Aussie accents and between us, our pigeon Italian language, some pointing and the locals laughing their heads off, we somehow manage to order two large pizzas of which we know that at least cheese will be present. 10 minutes later and the two of us are perched on some neighbourhood stairs, pizza boxes on our laps, salivating no longer as the pizzas live up to all expectations and an eat moment is banked in my memories. I also recall thinking to myself, nowhere could come close to this at home. There’s pizza and then there’s pizza!


Enter Cappello. Situated on Darling Street, Balmain East – past all of the hype and hoopla of the main part of Darling Street. In a quaint sandstone terrace Cappello do a early and late seating; perfect for those that still want great food even though there’s a highchair in your booking and suitable for those duos who are after a bit of late dinner romance. Offering a small menu where each offering hits the spot, I can never go past the homemade tagliatelle ragu and Mr ELG nearly always orders the gnocchi with lashings of gorgonzola. Straying away from pasta, the pizza Cappello make fresh from their woodfired oven is the closest thing I have tried out of Naples. Thin yet still doughy in the middle, crisp with a variety of mouthwatering toppings. Taking the less is more slant in terms of ingredient combinations, you won’t find ham and pineapple here but more gutsy taste sensations where the biggest decision of the night will be “which one?”

If you make it past the pizza and pasta, the desserts will entice, be desired and and again make the choice hard! Not really much of a chocolate fan, Mr ELG seldom goes past Cappello’s chocolate mousse. As for me, the pavlova with poached pairs sitting in a reduced raspberry sauce sends shivers down my spine now as I hark back to when I went to Cappello last.

So while I’d love to own a lear jet and have a tree in the backyard that grows the green ones so I could just swing by Italy more than just once in a while – the reality is just 10 minutes drive away, I can satisfy my cravings born out of a hole in the wall in a back lane of Naples.

Cappello @ 79 Darling Street, Balmain NSW 2041

Wintry waffles and perfect pancakes

Posted on by Eatlovego

After a glorious spate of sunshine in Sydney, we’re back to the last of the winter days  for 2011. As I look out the window and see slanted rain, cool wind and grey skies I can only think about warming my hands around a hot cup of tea and scoffing down a stack of buttermilk pancakes with crispy bacon on the side.


Mr ELG, baby ELG and I recently traveled down to the snow with my sister and her family. On any road trip that includes children, it’s hard not to bring all but the kitchen sink with you and to an observer witnessing us try to load on bag after bag onto the ski tube up to Perisher, I’m sure they would have been having the last laugh! Included in the loaded luggage was the only appliance (apart from the hairdryer) to make the trip – my brother-in-laws trusty waffle machine! As soon as I saw the Sunbeam invention, I started salivating over the thought of golden hot waffles drizzled with maple syrup, homemade hot chocolate sauce and scoops of vanilla ice-cream. As it was unpacked, he explained that he had had to resort to bringing a pancake bottle shake mix instead of carrying eggs up to make his usual creamy concoction.

We raised eyebrows together and this kick-started a conversation over the huge pros always outweighing the cons of the Betty Crocker/White Wings-style powder mixes. At the end of the conversation we both agreed that making your own waffle/pancake mixture from eggs, flour, milk and any other additions was the the #1 preference 100% of the time despite the convenience and ease of the so-called bottle mix on holidays and we were both eager to see how the waffle machine married up to this second-rate powder mix.

In answer to that, it didn’t. The waffles were a shadow of their usual self and the shake ‘n’ bake resulted in soggy smatterings of waffle slivers. And so once we were back in Sydney, my cravings were subsided by whipping up a batch of fluffy blueberry buttermilk pancakes doused with icing sugar and lashings of syrup. Meanwhile I heard that the waffle machine also made a welcome back appearance somewhere in an upper north shore home and we both vowed never again would we succumb to Betty Crocker. Now, where did I put that maple syrup…..?

 


Inspired by Farmer Jo gourmet muesli; decadence emerges on a Sunday morning

Posted on by Eatlovego

On a solo trip to Eveleigh markets one Saturday morning, I walked past the blooming flowers and mountain of meringues, past the grain-fed lamb and skipped over the lemon and garlic oils to find myself in front of a stand of what I initially thought was humble muesli. Farmer Jo was the brand and tubs were stacked up in piles showcasing a couple of different varieties. As a taster, there was a creamy looking apple bircher in tiny cups. As I ate a portion of the soaked muesli I immediately tasted the complexities; the crisp apple flavour with a sour lemony edge. Delicious I thought. However it was the orange and chocolate hazelnut pot of wonder that I walked away with, fascinated by the inevitable decadence that this muesli could bring to my humble mornings. It didn’t let me down and as I tentatively shared some with Mr ELG, I savoured the textures, tastes and fragrance of my morning purchase. I didn’t want the wonder pot to end, with my portions of muesli getting smaller and smaller as the days went on. Unfortunately I couldn’t get back to Eveleigh the next Saturday so the pot sat in my pantry empty. Thankfully the muesli memory lived on.

So this morning with some time up my sleeve as baby rested in his rocker I set out to re-create decadence in a bowl. Using a recipe from this month’s Delicious magazine as a starting point; I was inspired:

ELG’s Sunday decadence in a bowl

2 cups of rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup hazelnuts – roughly chopped

1/3 cup almonds – roughly chopped

1/2 cup golden syrup

1 teaspoon cinnamon

200g dark chocolate – roughly chopped

1/3 cup dried apricots – roughly chopped

Pre-heat oven 180 degrees. Combine oats, pumpkin seeds, coconut, nuts and golden syrup together. Spread over a lined baking tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, turning every five minutes for even colour. Once cool, add chocolate and apricots. Serve with chilled milk.

As I got to the end of my bowl slurping the last remnants, the old Coco Pops jingle entered my mind “Just like a chocolate milkshake only crunchy!” The muesli was heaven in a bowl and what’s even better is there’s heaps left over for tomorrow….oh how I love to eat!

Friday flash: a brownie moment in between autumn rains

Posted on by Eatlovego

Off the back of the wettest May in years and in between the recent Sydney downpours, last week I found myself in the midst of a short and sweet ray of sunshine having a momentous brownie moment. Bought from a newly discovered cafe Store situated on the edge of Camperdown park, this brownie stared me square in the eye and I swear said “eat me now!”

So without further delay, money was exchanged for a Phoenix Cola and Sweet Infinity brownie and sitting on a park bench under a Moreton Bay fig tree, in a ray of sunshine it was a moment to be remembered.

I wonder what moment today’s Sydney sunshine will bring me….Tell me; what will I eat, what will I fall in love with, where will I go?

Store @ 17 Fowler Street, Camperdown NSW 2050

a buttery danger zone just 15 minutes away

Posted on by Eatlovego

At the moment I am often asked “what’s your day like?” Well to be honest, I have never looked at my watch quite so often as around the clock I am responding to a 6-week baby’s needs as he feeds, poos, wees, sleeps and the cycle starts all over again pretty much every 3 hours. The thing I keep telling Mr ELG however is I make good use out of the window. The window of time may only be 5 minutes (if that!) but I am usually effectively doing something with that time and not just sitting idle with my feet up as I used to be able to when time was a-plenty! Now, it’s more like how many things can I do in 15 minutes?

One thing that has recently eaten up 15 minutes of my time is the short and highly addictive walk to La Banette on Glebe Point Road (university end), Glebe. Situated next door to another love of mine; Clipper, La Banette is a quaint yet hustling and bustling patisserie where one (I’m sure I’m not the only one) always has great difficulty deciding on what to buy, how much to buy and what little morsel can I just eat now? Laden on the shelves on the wall are golden sourdough loaves and crisp olive baguettes; lining the shelves at the front windows are mille feuille, chocolate eclairs, lemon pies and creme caramel tarts (just to name a few). Spread across the counter are freshly baked pastries, shiny with glaze and bursting with apricots, apples, plums and cherries. Stocked in the corner are savoury pies and quiches to go ~ for now or tonight in case you work back and don’t feel like ordering takeaway. Coffee can also be ordered which partners any of La Banette’s little delicacies so so well and I have resigned to the fact that it’s a damn fine way to spend 15 minutes!

Oh and the mini pecan pies are delicious with a capital D!

La Banette @ 18 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037

Ode to Kate

Posted on by Eatlovego

On the eve before a certain Kate marries her prince, it was in fact another Kate that was spoken about in excited tones between friends over last weekend’s Easter lunch. In between caramelised poached apples and cheese souffle; conversation had digressed to the treasure trove of online shopping and all of its rewards and bargains to be had. Different websites were tossed about as we spoke about the availability of international brands and shipping costs to us down under and I informed the others about my weekly activities of hopping onto the likes of shopbop, asos or net-a-porter for a fashionista fix that is unlike anything I can tap into locally. Never one for falling in line with high street fashion, I love trawling through these websites to view the alternative.


Recently for a close girlfriend’s birthday; I volunteered to source the perfect present. After much trawling; both online and in-store, I came back to the Kate which was discussed at Easter. This Kate is fashion-forward without being too on-trend. She can be described in many ways but to me; she is bold and colourful, yet always remains classic and elegant and consistently sits on top of my wishlist as an ongoing love. This Kate is Kate Spade. Still not readily available in Australia and with only a small selection popping up in Pink Zebra, David Jones and Papier D’Amour; Kate Spade is quintessentially New York.

The present I eventually found on Nordstrom’s website suited my girlfriend’s tastes down to a tee. It is a clutch that has a “Read all about it” feel to it as it largely resembles Saturday’s rolled up newspaper; yet has full functionality to store all of one’s needs for a night out painting the town red. I fell in love with it the moment I came across it and almost didn’t wrap it up and hand it over! So as one Kate will soon have all eyes on her as she says “I do”, I dedicate this post to the other Kate; Kate Spade ~ who just happens to be yet another love of mine that I simply wanted to share with you.

Page turners

Posted on by Eatlovego

LOL; no, not laugh out loud but Lady of Leisure. That is my serene title at the moment as I wait patiently for the impending arrival of the birth of my baby. I am at that “anytime now” stage so trying to make the most out of my LOL status; whilst doing an array of activities to keep my mind supple and in a non-vegetable state as I wind down from work and try and sit still for longer than 5 minutes. Mr ELG has this strength; I apparently do not.

Since mum taught me to read at the ripe old age of 2, I have always been one to have many books on the go. Never a one-book-woman, I find that books of many genres have always been able to whisk me away from the mundane. I love the imaginary landscapes, the truth of numerous voices, the colours and themes and the many characters that you discover are your best friends, worst enemies or just passer-bys. And if I were ever to be stuck on a desert island and it was a pre-meditated journey so I could take a bag of books with me; this is the list in no particular order (which is also ever-changing):

  1. The Solitaire Mystery, by Jostein Gaarder
  2. Perfume, by Patrick Suskind
  3. The Millennium trilogy, by Stieg Laarson
  4. One Day, by David Nicholls
  5. Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
  6. The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
  7. Prospect Park West, by Amy Sohn

Right now, however in my LOL phase, I am re-reading the finer points of Active Birth Skills, by Juju Sundin and Sarah Murdoch to prepare myself for that L word that I am about to face and embrace. In addition, I have Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua on the go. Through her honest style of writing, I am literally laughing out loud as she writes about the distinctive style of Chinese parenting. This is bringing up memories of my own upbringing and how I am running in the other direction! I discovered my local library last week and have a spy novel on the go too (the secret lives of spies is ever intriguing) and let’s not forget the book club book I was supposed to have finished last month; How it Feels, by Brendan Cowell. Loved him in the TV series “Love My Way” but am finding his style of writing extremely confronting.


However it is the magazine MINDFOOD which takes the cake for the Page Turner award of the moment. Yes, I think I am one of ‘those people’ keeping the print industry alive! The current issue has Rebecca Gibney on the cover and despite my many books that I have yet to finish, I have not been able to put this magazine down since its weekend purchase. I usually flick through a magazine cover to cover and then go back to the articles of interest and feel time slip away. MINDFOOD has found the right balance of food and fashion, editorial and advertising, travel and puzzles, gossip and reality. No longer thinking should I purchase that stripy dress…now thinking about how and where do I subscribe?!!

Addiction to stripes

Posted on by Eatlovego

I was shopping with my sister the other day and she said that everytime she sees something stripy, she thinks of me. We were in Trenery and I had picked up a black and white striped tote bag to look at. I laughed at her but then realised she was pretty spot on.

It’s a fact that most days I am wearing something with stripes. Whether they’re blue and white, black and white, red and white, rainbow striped or multi-coloured; I love the look! Not only do I adore wearing stripes but everything around me also falls in line. My quilt cover is a black and white ticking stripe, my coffee cups are red and white striped, I eat off blue and white T.G. Green Cornishware plates and bowls and whilst in Noosa recently, I bought a collection of shirts for Mr ELG; all stripes of course! Sharing this addiction with Mr ELG, we even had nautical chic as our wedding dress code. Knowing what we’re like, many of our guests interpreted this well, paid homage to our addiction in various ways and subsequently a lot of our photos and memories are filled with all things striped.

So why write about stripes now? Well I have recently come across this divine Karina Grimaldi dress on shopbop and felt the need to share and share alike. I have a similar one only it is 3/4 sleeved and not a maxi and I love the flexibility of jersey, its comfort and feel on the skin and ability to dress it up or down. Still pondering whether I should press purchase and go to checkout…?

 

BEST bircher muesli ever!!

Posted on by Eatlovego

After ordering a great bircher muesli a couple of weekends ago from Clipper Cafe in Glebe; I came home and googled “best bircher muesli recipe”. This returned quite a few responses from different recipe sites such as Taste, Allrecipes.com and bestrecipes.com. Jamie Oliver had a pukka one come up as did Gordon Ramsay. I took a look at most of the pages and started thinking what do I love about bircher? Well, I love its sogginess, non-dry texture and will tend to ask and add milk to get the consistency right. I love grated apple mixed through it although a rhubarb/strawberry compote has worked well too in the past. I love the crunch of nuts also mixed through bircher whether they’re roasted hazelnuts, almonds or pistachios. I love a drizzle of honey for natural sweetness. I don’t mind if there is a scattering of sunflower seeds or LSA stirred through either and I prefer the taste of thick greek yogurt as an added dollop to finish it off.

So with Saturday breakfast not too far off I thought I would enlighten you with what I think is the BEST bircher muesli ever and I have a confession to make; I have made and eaten this three times this week already. Mr ELG also scored it a perfect 10. It incorporates most of my loves noted above with some added extras and is super easy to make the night before and whip together within minutes the moment you wake up. The result is a deliciously scrumptious, textured, slightly tart and yet ever so sweet wholesome breakfast to eat that makes you crave for more as soon as you have eaten the last spoonful and feel good about yourself at the same time!

Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats

Juice from 2 lemons

1 cup of water

2 handfuls of almonds – lightly roasted and chopped

1/2 granny smith apple – grated

6 dried apricots – diced

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon per person

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg per person

2-3 Tablespoons thick greek/natural yoghurt per person

Start this recipe the night before. Mix together oats, lemon juice and water. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Per person, spoon 2-3 large tablespoons of the soaked oats into separate bowls. Divide all ingredients equally and place on top of the oats (reserving some of the grated apple) and mix ingredients together so they’re just combined. Garnish with remaining apple, eat, hopefully love and enjoy!