james test

January 2016: B'stilla has been closed, replaced by Enquire Within (run by the same people) a restaurant that will reinvent itself once a year.  June 1, 2015 Moroccan restaurant B'stilla recently held a one-off vegan dinner to coincide with an exhibition of Julia Deville artworks. Rosalie was quick to organise a table of keen diners and I happily signed on for a seat. At first glance our table looked cramped and out of the way, but it proved perfectly cosy for sharing a conversation right across the table and we had no trouble attracting the staff's attention throughout the night. The kitchen had prepared a multi-course vegan meal for $45 per person. All we had to do was alert them to extra dietary requirements (which they handled expertly) and pick some drinks! I skipped over the matched drinks and other alcohol, mightily pleased to see a couple of mocktails on offer. My house made rosewater lemonade ($8) had a strong rose perfume that overwhelmed the mint garnish but b...

After breakfast we browsed the Chapel St shops. Doof and Michael bought the only shirts they tried on: meanwhile I selected four different items, sending the shop assistant back for a second size of one of them, eventually rejected them all and bought a Devo figurine instead. However I could hardly be a picky customer once we hit the Prahran Market . We bought punnets of strawberries and raspberries within seconds of entering, and they proved to be the cheapest (99c), sweetest, juiciest strawberries so far this season. The charming French man at the Monsieur Truffe stand courteously laid out the origins of all his cocoa products, along with toothpicks and samples. Doof and I didn't need too much coaxing to choose a small packet each, and as we turned to go, Monsieur Truffe urged us to refrigerate our treasures since they're preservative free. As we looked over the fresh produce and organic dairy Michael lamented that we didn't have a recipe to shop for, but it was a h...

Update 31/12/2014: Cafe Varda has closed, replaced by Luck Thai . Our vague plan to entertain Doof on Saturday morning was to go for a wander along Chapel Street. The first step, however, was to find some breakfast. A quick scan of Cheap Eats gave us a few options, and the description of Cafe Varda as "a comfy slipper in the heart of stilletto land" struck a chord. The menu and setting were very much comfy slipper material, so much so that I was slightly concerned that the food would be cheap and greasy. It was certainly cheap, but the chef soon convinced us that it would make our tastebuds "explode" and we settled in. The chef's enthusiasm was infectious and when Doof ordered a short-black, he rolled up his sleeves and promised to make a special, velvet coffee - like real Italians drink (he even made one for himself to prove the point). Doof was suitably impressed, although after the build-up he really couldn't have reacted any other way. The menu focu...

This weekend Dad and Anne were back in town to celebrate Anne's sister's birthday, and we arranged to meet them for lunch near the birthday girl's South Yarra home. They introduced us to the Lawson Grove Shop, a cute little place tucked away in a residential area with a "milk bar" street sign pointing the way. The espresso machine, organic breads and gourmet jams are evidence that this is more a trendy cafe; the professional clientele in their designer weekend clothes, scanning the newspapers, confirm it. The only trace of old-school milk bar is a shelf of assorted groceries in the back corner. Lawson Grove Shop offers a short but attractive list of eggs on toast with a range of extras, a toasted sandwich, fruit, muesli and pancakes, then two extra specials on the blackboard: a high proportion are vegetarian. Michael and I had been craving a cafe breakfast that morning and we were happy to see that breakfast was on the menu for lunch. Michael picked Shanghai e...