Sunday 29 July 2012

Two Birds One Stone, South Yarra

It appears cafes occupy different spaces south of the river.

In my initial search for Two Birds One Stone this (fecking cold) morning, I walked straight past its shiny glass facade and brightly illuminated interior looking for a nondescript warehouse down a nondescript alley. Although I don't have an issue with the industrial look, this makes for a nice change - there's an airy and spacious feeling with plenty of soft lighting and a light-oak-based fitout. I loved the main light fixture at the counter which resembles an organic chemistry stick diagram. E, R and L - my breakfasting companions who don't study science - greeted this observation with nonplussed expressions.

But enough of inedible objects.

The food at Two Birds One Stone is generous, beautifully presented, and most importantly, absoutely delicious.

R and E, continuing their tradition of ordering the same meal, both opted for the 'One Stone', which consisted of eggs, mushrooms, avocado, haloumi, house smoked corn and tomato relish ($17.5). Below is R's version with poached eggs, and the camera-shy multigrain toast poking out a timid corner.


For those curious cats out there, the 'Two Birds' breakfast is a carnivore's heaven, with eggs, bacon, tomato, pork chilli and fennel sausage, mushrooms and tomato relish ($18.5). No doubt most guys probably still consider that insufficient in the protein stakes, though.

L ordered the most visually attractive dish of the table: Smashed avocado and feta with capers, tomato, radish, red onion and dill ($15.5), and an additional side of mushrooms.


For moi, the Roasted field mushrooms, toasted house made brioche, Meredith feta and watercress ($15.5), which I boosted to epic proportions with a perfectly poached egg and avocado. The slightly sweet brioche toast was a lovely foil to the tangy feta. But that was nothing compared to the mushrooms, which embodied mushroom juiciness, texture and umami flavour to perfection. I'm getting all wistful just thinking about them...


For my next visit, I'm bringing a sweet tooth (either own or borrowed is fine). The sweeties cabinet was stocked with srumptious bites such as decadent flourless cupcakes with lucious quinelles of chocolate mousse icing while the Housemade bircher with honey poached pears, pistachios and cranberries on the breakfast menu looks amaze.

Based on the excellent coffees, one might hazard a guess that this cafe is a mighty good stone with which to kill both your coffee and food cravings in one fell swoop. Seems a lot of others have had a similar idea though - be prepared to wait. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as you're likely to be seduced by the lunch time offerings (think salt cod and poato fritters, braised lamb with crumbed peas and feta...)!

Two Birds One Stone
12 Claremont St
South Yarra
Mon-Fri 7am-5pm, Sat-Sun 8am-4pm
http://www.twobirdsonestonecafe.com.au/

Sunday 22 July 2012

Cookie Cornucopia

I made cookies today.
By this, I mean eighty cookies (give or take a few).


This baking frenzy was the result of a few recent happenings:
  1. Purchasing a lot of French AOP butter at the recent Simon Johnson sale. I'm not going to specify the quantity because that will probably cause your arteries to seize up and nobody wants that.
  2. Discussing - at great length, and to fairly impressive detail - the question, 'If you were a cookie/biscuit, what would you be?' Try it: it's surprisingly fun.
  3. A genetic/social/imagined predisposition to doing things ludicriously over the top. The last time I did something of this scale was probably my birthday smörgåsbord, after which I swore I'd never do anything like that again. I guess we all betray ourselves in the end...
Anyway, I swear this time, I'm not doing anything like this again. The amount of incidental cookie dough and butter I ingested is probably illegal in several countries. I'm pretty sure my evening run was powered purely by cookie.
 
I digress. Here are the cookies, in no particular order:

Passionfruit melting moments
I discovered custard powder (yes, such a thing exists!) is actually pink. Luckily, these melting moments turned out a more natural colour. 

Chocolate and sour cherry shortbread
Sour cherries aren't really the prettiest member of the dried fruit family, and, let's face it: dried fruit aren't really that visually attractive to begin with. However, they do make for a delicious contrast to a rich, sandy, chocolatey biscuit.

Peanut and almond cookies
I nabbed this recipe from a Donna Hay magazine; that woman is a styling legend, turning the ordinary almond into decorative cookie centrepiece. Am I being sarcastic? I'm not sure...
(Note the apples placed strategically in the background to deceive passersby into thinking this cookie is healthy.)

Monte Carlos
This recipe is from the Sydney Morning Herald - coconut cookies with a vanilla bean buttercream and  raspberry jam filling. I found the buttercream on the sweet side, so I neutralised it with a thicker than usual slather of raspberry jam. Problem fixed slash masked.


Cranberry and pistachio shortbread with white chocolate drizzle
I got lazy and stopped taking nice photos of my cookies.

Last week, I also made some orange shortbread with candied peel and fresh zest. Drizzled with dark chocolate, naturally.
 
Okay, self-indulgence over. I promise to next post pictures of food made by actual professionals, and duly documented in an amateur manner.

Final point to ponder: what cookie are you?

 




Sunday 15 July 2012

North Side Brunching & Lunching

I could provide you with a myriad reasons explaining my absence over the last couple of months: hectic uni assignments, too many wild nights clubbing, abduction by extraterrestrial life forms, hand-raising an orphaned unicorn...but I'd be lying.

The honest truth is I'm friggin' lazy. No surprise to all of you who know me well.

But let's skim over my shortcomings and get to the food!

1. Beatrix, North Melbourne
I am a Beatrix zealot. I follow their Facebook page with more interest than is normal or healthy. Which explains why I ended up with this hunk o' deliciousness. The 'Wanda' ($13.5) - consisting of smoked salmon, creme fraiche potato salad, roast tomatoes, watercress and crispy onions - really hit the spot.


G, who was dragged along, opted for the wild mushroom option, the name of which I have forgotten. The cheese was unbelievable, of the rich, intense, gooey, conversation-stopping, eye-popping variety. Sadly, this photo doesn't really do it justice.


A gingerbread hula-hoop ($3) to finish!


And then, just when I thought I'd had my fill of Beatrix baked goods for the forseeable future (i.e. two weeks max.), the Elvis cupcake ($5.5) made an appearance. I duly came to pay my respect to the King: a banana buttercake base, topped with peanut buttercream and shards of crispy, smoked bacon praline. Lived up to the Melbourne food blogosphere hype.


2. Middle Fish, Carlton
Stopped by for a quick lunch to mentally and physically prep for a five-hour prac (gaaah). Caramelised pork belly with greens and a fried egg ($14.5) was a wise choice: morsels of salty, sweet, fatty goodness and a still slightly gooey egg yolk perched atop a perfect mound of rice, perfect for soaking up sauciness.


3. Gingerlee, Brunswick East
So A - my med friend, whose natural habitat appears to be KereKere - and I have been planning to go here for what seems like an age. But then inevitably, I get sick, or A is hungover and brunch dates are postponed. Until WE MADE IT HAPPEN (last week). We stuck to what are arguably Gingerlee's 'signature dishes': I opted for the Baked eggs with beans, stewed tomato, coriander and yoghurt, while A had the Syrian sandwich with rhubarb, pistachio and star anise yoghurt (around $17 each).



Servings are prettttty generous for the beans, and A praised the toast's ability to maintain integrity  despite assaults from various forms of deliciousness (thumbs up!). Coffee was solid.


4. Wide Open Road, Brunswick
This place is the cafe du jour, which I'm not 100% in agreement with. The food is solid, the coffee is great, the staff friendly, the fitout relaxed and spacious (thank goodness, because the exterior of this building has a facade only a mother could love)...but I just think it's missing that extra factor. R and E, being of the vegetarian persuasion, both opted for the Lightly scrambled eggs with multigrain toast, truffle oil and avocado, in place of the usual smoked salmon/free range bacon options ($14.5). I went for the Smashed peas, topped with pecorino cheese, goats cheese, crispy pancetta and lemon ($13); they certainly give you a shedload of peas, not that you'll hear me complaining.



5. Milkwood, Brunswick East
Coffee and cake with my history-lovin', vampire-adorin', Beatle-dotin' friend P was in order, so we met at our equidistant safehouse, Milkwood. The baked goods here are supersized and delicious. P nabbed the last slice of a luscious Banana cake, cloaked in cream cheese frosting ($5), and I opted for a massive Chocolate lamington ($5). Perfect accompaniments to great, and sometimes ludicrous, conversation.



Expert cross-sectional dissection to reveal raspberry jam innards.


The next two destinations are extreme north side brunching, by which I mean I was actually in Brisbane. Still counts.


6. Gunshop Cafe, West End
The food wasn't up to usual standards when I visited, but hopefully it's just a rare occurrence rather than the norm. Potato fetta hash cakes, spinach, tomato and herb sour cream ($16.5), and Berry French toast ($18.5) were selected as stomach satisfiers on this occasion.





7. Lady Marmalade Cafe, Stones Corner
When up in Brisbane, C treated me to a lovely lunch at Lady Marmalade, a cute and kitsch (in a good way) cafe. C had the 'Gringo' baked eggs with wagyu, chorizo and black bean ragu, herbs and fetta ($13.5), and I was seduced by 'B-HAL-T', a bacon, haloumi and tomato cousin of the BLT ($11). Both pretty amazing, judging by the halt in gossip when the food arrived. Also, note the epic peacock toothpick; as I suffer from hoarder tendencies, it's actually sitting right next to me as I type this.



Phew! Seems I'm a bit rusty at this bloggin' shiz. More posts to follow soon...

P.S.: Happy Bastille Day for yesterday! Hope you had some delicious French food; La Belle Miette's milk chocolate and passionfruit macarons certainly added some love to my day!