Category Archives: Places we like to shop at

In tune in Yarraville

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Feedback Cafe, 31 Ballarat Street, Yarraville. Phone: 9689 1955

Bad impressions can linger.

Feedback Cafe has been around for what seems like forever – certainly as long as we’ve been in the west and hanging out in the village, and certainly long before we’d ever heard about food blogs.

Management changed about five years ago but we’ve been slow to re-frequent the place.

We didn’t have what you’d call rotten times at Feedback back then, but a certain charmlessness in both food and service terms meant the place fell into the “prefer others” category.

Following more regular visits in recent times, a beaut lunch Bennie and I enjoy there has us wondering why we haven’t made Feedback Cafe our Yarraville home base all along.

The music really, really helps.

Those recent visits have mostly been made to a soundtrack of greasy, swinging, rocking old-school ’40s and ’50s rhythm and blues.

For our Monday lunch, Bennie and I are serenaded in a different way – by troubadour Michael Hurley.

Hurley is part of a brilliantly crazy musical tribe that also includes the Holy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick.

Fully embedded in American music traditions, but always standing slightly, hilariously, magically apart, this whacko crew also includes my good Kentucky pal Gary Sisco.

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During our lunch, I Facebook message Sisco to tell him we’re enjoying his mate Hurley while dining and that the music-crazed Feedback crew have even been known to enjoy a Holy Modal Rounders-themed week.

Now THAT’S cool.

Sisco had his own album, Sisco & Pals the End of the Trail, released through the Jeffrey Frederick website a few years back.

The album is still available there, as are heaps of other releases by these folks.

The site is chockers with memorable, incredibly funny hair-raising tales of the tribe’s history by Sisco and others.

And like Sisco, I reckon the 1976 album Have Moicy, featuring Hurley, Frederick and the Rounders, is an outright masterpiece that stands with the very best Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry or any other American genius you can think of has ever come up with.

OK, on with the food!

The feedback lunch menu (below) has a decided American south/south-west slant without getting too precious about it.

That’s a bit like the way the decor and general atmosphere go their own slightly scruffy, comfy lived-in way in a nice contrast to the increasing hipster-sheen of Yarraville and Seddon.

The staff, too, have that slightly scruffy, comfy, lived-in look. (Joke!)

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As I did on my previous visit, Bennie orders the pulled pork po’ boy with slaw and chipotle BBQ sauce ($10).

It’s fresh and crunchy, and he likes it, but hankers for a more robust BBQ flavour.

And he frankly, rudely ogles the popcorn chicken po’ boy a lovely gran is attacking at an adjacent table.

It DOES look real fine!

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My hillbilly chilli of chipotle, stout and puy lentils with corn chips and sour cream ($11) is unlike any chill I’ve ever had.

There’s no red beans, for starters!

But with the sour cream, a lesser amount of cheddar and some salsa, the beautifully cooked lentils make for a satisfying lunch.

The corn chips are the same quality brand we always have around home – that’s a good thing!

After a couple of stupendously fine cafe lattes, I remark to Bennie as we amble up Ballarat Street that my beverages have completely alleviated my back pain.

That’s not true, but they’ve sure made it more bearable!

(PS: I saw the Holy Modal Rounders live on Haight Street, San Francisco, in 1977!)

 

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Ponds gelati scoop

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Mio Dolce, 89 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds. Phone: 9326 0402

Our post about gelati in the western suburbs brought forth a number of responses, both here and on Facebook.

Thanks to those comments we have at least one solid lead to follow-up.

But several things seem plain …

There are people in the western suburbs who love gelati.

There is gelati in the western suburbs for them to thrill over.

But the western suburbs will never be Carlton or even the CBD.

And thank heavens for that!

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In the meantime, having gelati on our minds leads to us checking out a beaut Puckle St business past which we must have walked a gazillion times without taking much notice.

Puckle St is a bit like that …

But Mio Dolce turns out to be a cosy, homespun and old-school Italian bakery and gelateria.

Sure, they do sandwiches and a few hot things, but the heart of this place are gelati and biscotti.

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We like it that they only do half a dozen or so gelati flavours, with none of them being unusual or particularly exotic.

I enjoy my very big $4.40 cup of caramel, Bennie digs his cone of donatella … sounds like a turtle to me but it’s apparently a mix of chocolate and hazelnut.

My cafe latte, too, is fine.

But Bennie finds his banana milkshake too sweet to handle. Could be a sign this lad is maturing, eh?

We ogle the range of biscotti, slices and other sweet treats.

We see, among others, crostata, almond bread, almond crescents, ameretti, vienesse, romanini and florentines.

We grab a bag of “mini-romanini” to take home.

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As you can see, the $5 price makes this a pretty good deal when compared with the prices of similar products at our local supermarket haunts.

 

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2013 in review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

The busiest day of the year – with 2573 views – was when Nina Rousseau’s story on “Zone 2 dining” ran in the Epicure section of The Age. As a precaution against being ribbed over being a western suburbs blogger who just happened to write about non-western suburbs subjects, I posted “Westies abroad …”!

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 200,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 9 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The Consider The Sauce Top 10 for 2013

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The life of Consider The Sauce is so rich and multi-facted that naming a yearly Top 10 in an attempt to choose and rank our best meals, eateries or experiences of 2013 has proven an impossible task – or maybe I’m just a wuss.

So here is a reflection on our 2013 with a selection of wide-ranging highlights:

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1. The Westies: Dishes of Distinction

A year’s planning culminated in an incredibly intense but enjoyable November, which in turn finished in a picnic and awards presentation that were simply brilliant.

So much hard work did we do but it never really seemed arduous.

Thanks to everyone who supported this Consider The Sauce/Footscray Food Blog initiative.

We’ll be back bigger and better next year!

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2. The Consider The Sauce Feasts

This year CTS hosted three feasts – at Hyderabad Inn, Vanakkam and Dragon Express.

We loved meeting so many fellow food hounds and we especially thank the three retaurants involved for being so generous and welcoming.

There will be more of the same in 2014, though the format and other arrangements may well change.

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3. CTS sigmature dish: Biryani

How much do we love this Indian dish of supercharged rice and its bells and whistles?

Very, very much!

We find it impossible to choose beyween the equally fine versions served by the aforementioned Hyderabad Inn and Vanakkam.

Our firm suggestion is you try them both for yourself.

The biryani at Dosa Hut is a blast, too.

West Footscray rules!

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4. CTS signature dish: Burgers

If biryani is the thing for CTS Senior, burgers are it for CTS Junior – and mostly I’m happy to indulge his passion.

The above rendition, eaten at the Spotiswoode Hotel, was pretty good, but Bennie continues to wistfully reminisce about the jalapeno-inflamed beauty we had at Chase Kitchen, also in Spotswood.

We also enjoyed fine or good burgers at Junction Beer Hall and Wine Room in Newport, Sri Murugan in Werribee and Mama Bear in Flemington, and from food trucks Mr Burger and Dude Food Man.

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5. Rickshaw Run

We had an absolute ball volunteering for this tasty, rolling romp around Footscray central.

And we’ll be fronting up for more of the same at next year’s Rickshaw Run, which will be held on February 7, 8, 9 and 10, when for the first time it will be under the management of our wonderful and wise friend Lauren, of Footscray Food Blog fame.

Volunteers will be required, so why don’t you join us?

Lauren’s contact details are here.

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6. Spicy Corner

Sadly, Bennie and I have visited this lovely Tullamarine Sri Lankan joint just once for a sit down meal.

But I am thrilled that Friday takeaway lunches of their simple, always delicious food have become part of the weekly routine for myself and a goodly group of my colleagues at the Airport West office of my current gig in the journalism world.

I am looking forward to a whole new year of weekly curry hits from this place – especially as, if that situation does indeed eventuate, it will mean I am still employed!

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7. Racecourse Road, Flemington

It may not have the same cache as Melbourne’s other, more famed foodie precincts but we love a trip to Racecourse Road.

It’s not a particularly attractive area and the parking can be tricky.

But it packs a surprising punch when it comes to the quality and variety of its offerings.

Our fave remains the lovely welcome and terrific Malaysian-based food to be found at the Grand Tofu – they do a killer laksa!

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8. Longest Lutheran Lunch at St Matthews, West Footscray

This was a wonderful Sunday event at which CTS was made to feel very wlecome.

Bennie’s more formal association with Pastor Cecil has ended, but we certainly hope we “stay in touch”!

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9. Beyond the west

As ever, CTS enjoyed a number of non-westie eating experiences during the year – even if trips to the CBD have become an outright rarity.

Among the more noteworthy were our brekky on opening day at the swish new Brunetti’s in Carlton and a swell Saturday lunch at Weasel’s Garden Cafe in Richmond.

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10. Best decor

Without  a doubt Afghan Master Kebab in Sunshine!

The meat’s a treat, too!

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11. Bennie

The junior but no less important member of the CTS team has finished primary school and embarks on his high school adventures next year. More pertinently to this summary, he continually throws himself into our foodie adventures with gusto and is a top-rate companion in every way.

Thanks, mate!

Interesting bits …

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Consider The Sauce’s pals at Raw Materials are throwing open their doors at 148 Cowper St, Footscray, for open days on Saturday and Sunday, December 14 and 15, for open days.

Their “shop” will open for business and there will be free tastings, refreshments and a paella for people to sample.

More details here.

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The Fun in the Aussie Sun Festival will celebrate Australian multiculturalism at Flemington Community Centre, 25 Mt Alexander Road, Flemington, on Saturday, 21 December, from 11am 50 3.30pm.

As well as sports and cultural activities, there will be – yes! – food stalls and traditional African coffee.

More details here.

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Some recent online research (meandering) has alerted me to the existence of Anthony Ang’s blog Beautiful Altona

According to this story by my colleague Goya Dmytryshchak, he started his blog as a reaction to a shock jock saying former PM Julia Gillard lived in a “rat hole”.

I have yet to find any foodie coverage on Anthony’s blog, but I did enjoy his post about the pending sale of the former Gillard abode – and particularly his inspired, thoughtful, entrepreneurial but nevertheless slightly whacko list of ideas that could profitaly accompany the real estate action!

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Another of Goya’s stories at the Maribyrnong Hobsons Bay Weekly covers the advent of paid parking at Altona’s new IGA in Pier St, Altona.

As someone who grapples with parking all over the west, this all seems a bit strange to me.

One can sympathise with traders who offer free parking – especially on premises so close to a train station – being frustrated with their spaces being hogged on an all-day basis by non-customers.

But there must surely be a better solution than the one devised here – offering free parking for the first hour but requiring patrons to display tickets – and then slapping them with a fine if they don’t!

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One of our favourite westie food haunts, Vanakkam, has a swish new look.

Vanakkam was the subject of a recent and yummy story by our very good pal Lauren of Footscray Food Blog in the Footscray Life “Signature Dishes of Footscray” series.

As well, Vanakkam was the venue of the rice-laden and in every way delicious second Consider The Sauce Feast.

We love the Vanakkam biryanis – and specially the $10 Tuesday nights – but as Lauren’s post indicates, there’s lots more to be had.

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As time rolls by, the amount of spam, promotional offers and emails from publicists CTS receives continue to increase.

But in terms of misreading what we’re about, they do not come any more comical than a recent approach to do an interview with a celeb foodie “seeing as health & beauty and products are topics of interest to you”!

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Meanwhile, in Yarraville …

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… a substantial revamp is underway at Alfa Bakehouse with, according to the sign, the likely result being a much broader approach than has previously been the case.

Bits and pieces

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So how’s this for an eye-grabbing sign in Racecourse Road, Flemington?

Nope, can’t say I have … tried camel meat, that is.

Right next door, in the Grand Tofu, I ask Suzanne if she has.

Nope.

In fact, she seems surprised there is even such a sign gracing the halal butcher shop right next door.

What the Grand Tofu, Suzanne, Stephen and their crew do do is serve up a sperb chicken laksa.

Look, I’m quite fond of the two more famous Malaysian eateries just around the corner.

But I don’t like queues and they’re always so busy.

The Grand Tofu is frequently busy, too – but the staff always find time for a bit of a chat or at the very least a warm welcome.

Which can’t always be said of the competition.

And then there’s that chicken laksa (oh my!) – and much more besides.

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Providorable is lovely foodie haven in Williamstown – you can read about it here.

Providorable proprietor Kelly recently posted the following on her business’s Fcebook page:

“Good morning everyone, I’m feeling this morning I need to write this post. I think a lot of the local shop keepers this week would say that things are looking brighter for Xmas sales after a very quiet winter. I urge everyone to support local business. Supermarkets are trying to shut down small business, this is where you get the personal service with product knowledge, not in a supermarket. Also, WHY have the council allowed two farmers markets per month in Willy? Do you realise that now there are two it takes business away from your local shops that are the ones that pay the rates & rents to make strip shopping be still available? Have you questioned any of the stall holders at farmers markets about where some of their products come from? There are genuine items being sold but some are not from their own farms being sold direct to public. Yeah, have one a month but why 2 every two weeks … you go and buy fruit and veg, it affects your local fruit shop, same as butcher, dog treats, coffee shop, jams and relishes etc etc. PLEASE SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS. By this market being there every two weeks, you are supporting outsiders who don’t pay the huge rents and rates we pay. OK rant over lol and enjoy your day. Williamstown has wonderful shops and fantastic shopkeepers. Keep us all in willy for years to come please.”

What do you think?

We’re quite fond of visiting farmers markets.

But in truth we rarely buy more than a coffee and maybe a snag or other eat-on-the-spot treat.

Fruit, vegetables and other produce?

Hardly ever.

But we do enthusiastically support and enjoy the hell out of our local shops and delis, be they in Williamstown, Altona, Seddon, Footscray, Sunshine or beyond.

Bagels – the hole story in Caroline Springs

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Rosen’s Bagels

Say bagels, and most people would do as we do and think of, say, New York or Philadelphia or Europe.

Yet while Michael Rosen originally hails from Los Angeles, bagels are a big part of his Jewish heritage.

As he says simply on his website: “I grew up eating bagels.”

For many years making his own had been a hobby.

But when he moved to Melbourne with his Australian wife a couple of years back, and settled in Caroline Springs, his bagel-making took on more of a cultural imperative.

There are bagels available in Melbourne, but as far as either of us are aware, none at all in the city’s greater west … save for those being generated by Michael’s new business.

“I wanted good bagels near me,” he says.

As well, he was coming into regular contact with a variety of US expats, Jewish and otherwise, who were likewise feeling profound bagel deficit.

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It took him the best part of a year to get into the righteous swing of bagel-making in a new country – there has been much testing and experimenting to learn how to produce an excellent bagel using different water, flour and oven.

But now he’s flying.

His regular gig is in the IT industry, and of necessity that can and will remain the case for the time being – he’s in no great hurry to go the full bagel.

But he is having a ball, all the while treating his bagel business in a smart and professional manner.

Putting his bagels on a more professional footing is bringing its own challenges.

He has forged a working relationship with his local Caroline Springs bakery, Let’s A Loaf, so has had to get to grips with working with more dough and much grander cooking facilities.

Bennie and I love hanging with him for a while in his Caroline Springs home as he talks bagels and bakes us up a superb batch.

Michael uses nothing but organic flour.

Also into the dough go fresh yeast, malt, salt and water.

Michael shows us how he breaks the dough mound into smaller, weighed segments and then deftly hand-rolls them into fat strands before – hey presto! – joining the ends.

Looks easy, no doubt takes many hours of practice!

It’s this hand-rolling that helps make Michael’s bagels even more magical – each is an individual with its own irregularities.

The bagels Michael will bake for us today, however, have been “maturing” in the fridge overnight.

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In small batches they are boiled for about a minute in water to which about a tablespoon full of barley malt syrup has been added.

It’s the boiling that gives the bagels their sheen, and the syrup that gives them their caramel colour.

From there, the bagels are left plain or dunked in poppy or seasame seeds, or a mixture of both with granulated garlic and onion.

Then they’re baked for about 20 minutes.

Demonstrating bagel versatility, we enjoy the bagel “pizzas” Michael has made for us as a late lunch snack, but we buy some cream cheese and smoked salmon on the way home for a more traditional and lovely bagel dinner.

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It makes us very happy that such an earthy, life-enhancing and ancient tradition is being continued right here in our west.

A list of current stockists of Michael’s bagels can be found on his website – here.

They include a mix of joints that sell bagels unadorned and cafes/eateries that are selling the bagels as prepared sandwiches of various kinds,

In the west, they include Scudela, Pepper Cafe and Wee Jeanie.

Michael is also making and selling cream cheese-based “schmears” to enjoy with his bagels – they come in plain, green onion and dill, and smoked salmon and chive flavours.

Michael will be at Williamstown Farmers Market, at Robertson Reserve, corner Cole and Hanmer streets, Williamstown, next Sunday (October 27) from 9am-1pm.

Rosen's Bagels on Urbanspoon

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Breaking news: Kenny joins modern world, takes notes using mobile device.

On tour with Lauren

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One of the most profound of the many pleasures of bringing you Consider The Sauce has been our friendship with Lauren of Footscray Food Blog.

She’d already had her site up and running for about a year by the time we came along but she was sincerely welcoming right from the outset.

Since then, we’ve enjoyed countless laughs, more than a few meals and been a constant source of advice and support for each other. All the while discovering there can be a lot more to what we are doing than merely running a website full of reviews.

Many of you will be aware Lauren has been running food tours of various kinds in and around Footscray.

At first, these were under the auspices of the CAE, but today’s snack/street food tour of Footscray was part of the council’s Discover Footscray Tours program.

The plan is for Lauren to see out the year in terms of her already scheduled commitments before going out on her own.

And the sharing spirit continues … in some ways we are blogger competitors, yet it never seems that way.

So the idea, as it stands, is for me to inherit her CAE gig come the new year.

She’s done such a grand job for them, they were eager to have a ready-made replacement. And Lauren, bless her, had no hesitation it putting my name forward.

So there you go – early 2014 will likely see us both leading groups of happy food hounds around yummy westie neighbourhoods.

Still, it’s going to be a steep learning curve for me, so I am eager to glom as much information and advice from Lauren as I can.

So as future tour guide, hungry foodie and fervent westie, it was a pleasure to join Lauren’s other punters today.

They included our mutual pal Nat Stockly as well as regular readers of both our blogs, such as Cynthia, Sian and Michael.

Lauren was a lovely and very informative guide, and everyone had a fine old time.

I don’t want to give too much away about the actual stops made and food consumed – except to say that even an old hand such as myself was surprised to find the most glorious burek in the most unlikely of places!

Lauren’s tours are recommended – even to those of you who reckon you’ve got a good handle on our westie food.

New Year post-script: After much contemplation, I have decided against being a tour guide for the CAE. Instead, I will be focus on more and better CTS Feasts, the Westies (of course!) and hopefully other exciting projects! But please do check out Lauren’s tours.

Great $5 pizzas – worth the drive to Tullamarine

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Pasta Al Dente, 18 Assembly Drive, Tullamarine. Phone: 9335 1944
Eiffel Tower, 12 Assembly Drive, Tullamarine. Phone: 9330 2588

Comments are one of the truly great things about blogs – something that sets them apart from regular websites, unless they have active forums incorporated into them, and in most cases regular media, including newspapers and their online versions.

It’s great to get such feedback – and sometimes that feedback is immediate. It’s immensely gratifying to know what you’ve written means something to someone somewhere!

It’s also often fascinating to see how the comments on any particular blog post evolve, the twists and turns they take.

And – this is the really cool part – the comments often come in the form of reader tips.

We love that and often follow up on them.

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So it was when CTS regular Lou commented on the post I knocked out about finding lunch at my new Airport West work venue.

Lou asked: “If you’re in Tulla for a while, a write up on all the wholesale food places near assembly drive would be great. I hear there is a fine deli, a pasta outlet, and cake shop at least, but have never made my (short) way down the ring road to check them out!”

It’s only as I navigate myself towards Assembly Drive, with a few missed turns along the way, that I realise I have been this way before.

But that was long ago – when Bennie was just a baby.

I wear Consider The Sauce goggles these days, so places and people can look quite different.

What I find at Assembly Drive is some really good stuff.

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Pasta Al Dente is somewhat inaccurately named. Oh sure, there’s stacks of dried and frozen stuffed pasta all over the joint, but there’s also regular grocery lines and good deli and bakery sections.

But anytime around lunchtime, as I immediately discover upon entering, Pasta Al Dente is all about pizza.

Lots and lots of pizzas, freshly baked and served at $5 a pop to a neverending stream of customers.

There’s some pretty good-looking rolls/sandwiches, arancini and suchlike, but I don’t observe anyone having anything other pizza.

Some of the pies go straight out the front doors, others stay to be consumed at the single high, long table.

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My wonderfully irregularly shaped pizza (second top photo) is real fine, chosen from a list of about 11.

It’s not heavy on rampant flavours – nor should it be, with the toppings amounting to the basic cheese and tomato joined by mildly flavoured ricotta and spinach – but it’s as fresh as can be, emitting steam when the cardboard box is opened.

Oh dear – those cardboard boxes.

I understand the physical restrictions that probably make these containers an unavoidable business decision on the part of the place’s management, but still … one cardbaord box for every $5 pizza sold; that’s a lot of cardboard boxes!

Finally, the price tag makes me wonder anew why there is such a vast price differences between most classy Italian thin-crust pizzas and, on the other hand, Lebanese pizzas. I know we’re talking different kinds of businesses with different kinds of overheads and pricing.

But still … $20 and $5 – that’s a BIG difference.

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After my terrific pizza, it’s time for some shopping. Nothing heavy duty; just green olives, some biscotti, a few cans of tomatoes – and I’m keen to see how this house brand lasagne shapes up on the plate, given I am way too lazy to make it myself.

When I wander a few doors down the road to an even more inaccurately named house of pure Italian-ness, I realise I should’ve saved my biscotti money.

Eiffel Tower sells pizza and good-looking focaccia, too, but as the intensely pleasurable yeasty, vanilla-laden perfume tells my nostrils as I enter, this is a serious baking house.

They’ve got all the bases covered, too, from epic wedding cakes and lollies to heaps of high-quality biscotti and cream-filled goodies such as canoli.

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Cheap?

Oh yes!

I’m all filled up, so am disinclined to pursue the matter, but I’m told a slice of the cheesecake in the top right of this photo costs $2.50.

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I do, however, pay $2.50 for a fine cafe latte and 50 cents each for two biscotti mouthfuls of joy, one of them an intensely chocolatey semi-gooey flavour bomb.

So what else is there on Assembly Drive?

All within walking distance of the two businesses discussed above are discount liquor and clearance outlets, an OK fruit and vegetable place and a cheese factory and shop. There may be other food-related places in adjacent streets.

But Pasta Al Dente and Eiffel Tower alone guarantee we’ll be back this way soon.

Besides, Consider The Sauce gets a real kick out of finding food on industrial estates!

 

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High points at Highpoint

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Fish Pier, Highpoint Shopping Centre. Phone: 9318 8277

Cupcake Central. Highpoint Shopping Centre. Phone: 9077 4542

Despite the fact we found the array of outlets and services available in Highpoint’s new food court a bit of a mixed bag, we have been enjoying our visits there.

The more recently opened fashion precinct adds a touch of undeniable class, even if the many shops therein are unlikely to ever see any of our money.

In the food section itself, we’ve bought meat and boreks from the rather classy butcher.

And if other chores and purposes take us to Highpoint, we’re more than happy to do our dinner shopping – and even a stock-up shop – at the very well stocked fresh produce store.

My one serious reservation about the new food area has been the lack of interesting places to eat.

There’s now an Italian-style panini/focaccia/sandwich place that looks like it may be worth checking out, although the salads on display look rather shopping-centre dreary.

In this setting, Fish Pier is also well stocked with fresh seafood.

It’s a pity, perhaps, that the place’s eat-in assortment is tucked around on the side, as on the basis of my lunch it’s well worth considering.

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At $10 or thereabouts, my fish and chips would be a perfectly OK lunch; at the special promotional price of $5 it’s an outright bargain.

The chips are fresh and hot but only average.

The flathead fillet is much better – a winner!

The panko-crumbed calamari rings ($1 each) are not freshly fried for me and are thus a bit tired on it, a bit soggy and chewy.

I could do without the salad bits and pieces.

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Like Fish Pier, Cupcake Central is part of a chain.

But forget about that; forget, too, the shopping centre location.

This is a stylish cafe space I’d be happy to spend time in just about anywhere.

Especially as my $3.30 cafe latte is outstanding.

My salted caramel cupcake ($4) is about 30 seconds of sticky decadence, although I do end up scraping off about half of the creamy, cloying topping.

All sorts of other sweeties, especially of the Italian variety, are always going to have bigger place in my heart than cupcakes, but this is a top spot.

See earlier stories about Highpoint here and here.

 

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The art of biscuit making in Yarraville

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Miss Biscuit, Yarraville.

Miss Biscuit is Julia.

And Julia is Miss Biscuit.

But the Yarraville baker is a whole lot more – her day gig is as a speech pathologist and she’s mum, along with her husband, to kids aged 13 and nine.

Yet there’s no doubt she’s loving the “other” role she is forging for herself as creator of beautiful, intricately decorated biscuits.

What started as a hobby became a business in November last year.

“As I gave them to people, they started asking, ‘Can I buy some?’ – and I’ve just been taking it from there,” she says.

The timelines between family life, making batches of dough and the icing of biscuits tend to be on the cramped side, but Julia is enjoying every challenge her new gig is throwing her way – even if the business if far from being, as yet, a prolific money generator.

“I love it,” she proclaims with enthusiasm. “I love making and icing the biscuits, dealing with customers – all of it.”

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On the day Consider The Sauce visits, Julia is not icing any of her creations, but you can see plenty more of her incredible handiwork at the Miss Biscuit website or Facebook page.

In the local area, her biscuits are stocked by Cup & Bean on Wembley Avenue and Providorable in Williamstown.

The football jumper biscuits will be on sale at Flemington market on Sunday, May 26.

There’s little profit, Julia says, in wholesale, so that’s mainly a matter of exposure. Most of her sales come from online.

Unsurprisingly, much of those are sales are generated by kids’ activities or parties, but she has also supplied goodies for anniversaries and weddings.

The biscuit bases are created from a simple dough of butter, flour, vanilla, eggs and baking powder.

The dough aspect of her 200 or so biscuits a week is cheap and quick – it’s the icing process that’s more pricey and time-consuming.

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She uses standard food colourings in her icing, having found the more “natural” products simply don’t have the vividness required.

She says it’s not an issue for almost all of her customers.

Incredibly, given the intricacy of her biscuit designs and aside from some skill as a gardener, Julia makes no great claims to being the “creative sort”.

“I can’t draw a circle!” she says with a laugh.

She does use a projector to help with some of her designs.

Meanwhile, you can bet Bennie and I will be springing some cash to try Julia’s forthcoming Jake and Finn Adventure Time biscuits!

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Charcoal Fusion

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Charcoal Fusion, 300 Point Cook Rd, Point Cook (Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre). Phone: 9394 8509

Put aside bias against shopping centres and malls in the eternal search for foodiness.

Because outside our truly inner west haunts such as Yarraville, Footscray and Flemington, where there are older neighbourhoods suitable for hosting food enclaves, there ARE no older areas to play that role.

In places such as Point Cook or, say, Caroline Springs, food outlets have to go somewhere and it seems the only place they can go is the local shopping centre.

(Alfrieda St and surrounds in St Albans seems to be a notable exception to this truism.)

That’s what I’ve been telling myself for the past couple of years.

But the simple fact is it’s been more a theory than something I’ve found to be true in adventures that have taken Team Consider The Sauce across wide swathes of the inner and outer west.

But at Sanctuary Lakes Shopping Centre I find, to my delight, vindication for my theory.

Not only do I find the target of today’s outing, a swish, newish Japanese joint called Charcoal Fusion, but also – nearby – not one, but two Malaysian places.

Charcoal Fusion? Sounds like a chicken shop, eh?

It’s not – it IS a full-range Japanese restaurant with skewers at night (that’s where the “Charcoal” bit comes in) and teppanyaki.

But today I’ll be enjoying the much more homely and smaller lunch list that has various don/rice dishes and noodles such as yakisoba (list below).

In a bid to drum up some lunchtime trade, these are being offered at $8 instead of the listed $12.

On the basis of my lovely lunch, I reckon this is a red-hot bargain.

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The lovely and welcoming manager/owner, long-time Point Cook resident Jenny, started her new venture inspired by the lack of eating-out options in the area.

She agrees business people such as herself have little option when it comes to location in such an area.

And with this territory comes myriad challenges and restrictions – Jenny, for instance, must adhere to the general opening hours for the centre as a whole.

Miso soup is not listed but my request for it is cheerfully and agreeably met.

It’s super, especially at $2 – quite dark, deep of flavour and hiding a good amount of seaweed and tofu in its depths.

My curry don with crispy chicken is also very, very fine.

The curry is a deep khaki, sticky and studded with tender potato pieces. It’s a classic curry, Japanese-style, with a chilli hit that manages to be both low-key and pleasingly intense.

The crispy chicken is rather profoundly uncrispy. But it is also unoily, delicate, freshly cooked and delicious.

The salad bits are dressed with a sesame concoction. I discard two rather tired slices of cucumber and find the rest go real swell mixed in with the spuds in the curry gravy.

The accompanying mound of rice is topped with pickled ginger that is red rather than usual pink, and nicely chewy instead of outright crisp.

I love a bargain lunch – and even at the full whack of $12 this would fully qualify.

 

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Raw Materials – all aglow with foodiness!

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Raw Materials, 138 Cowper St, Footscray. Phone: 1300 305 129

Raw Materials founder Andy Gray is adamant the story – my story – should in no way, shape or form be about him.

“It’s all about the product,” he repeats several times as he shows me about the company’s Footscray premises – warehouses, shop, studio, cooking and demonstration spaces, offices.

Words such as family and community also feature prominently in his running commentary.

He displays a profoundly uncanny knack for crab-walking out of view whenever he senses my camera may be at risk of coming to focus on him.

Nevertheless, it’s impossible not be carried along by his boundless enthusiasm as he brandishes favoured products we pass and extols their virtues with true fervour.

I’m right at home – being here is the Consider The Sauce equivalent of a tour of the Louvre with a true believer as my guide.

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Started in 2002, based at Docklands, Raw Materials these days supplies more than 3500 outlets across Australia, as well as places such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Andy works on the premise that “small fish taste sweeter”, so Raw Materials specialises in supplying “small, independent groceries nationally”.

You’ll not find Raw Materials-sourced goodies at the likes of Coles or Woolworths, despite approaches having been made from those quarters.

The small but fascinating shop area is open to the public, but the gist of the company is to be found on the shelves of small businesses all over the country.

If you loyally shop at a good local deli or providore, then you are almost certainly buying some products supplied by Raw Materials.

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Raw Materials stays clear of the coffee field on the fully understandable grounds (!) that there are many fine specialists in that area doing a fine job.

That aside, the Raw Materials repertoire is as stunning in its range as it is in its dedication to quality.

The split between imported and Australian products is about 50/50.

They range from pulses, luscious candies and chocolate, oils and Spanish ham to smoked and cured Yarra Valley Charcuterie meats, and sauces, condiments and beverages of a bewildering and colourful array.

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Among them are beautiful hand-crafted knives by Peter Lorimer, some made using bones from “found” dead bush animals.

These knives are so special, so individual that Raw Materials does not sell them online – a personal, hands-on familiarity is a requirement of purchase.

According to the Raw Materials website: “The handles are made from recycled pieces of native New Zealand timbers, and decorated with brass, paua or black pearl, which means each knife is unique. Peter uses Austrian D2 steel, a high-carbon steel with a low chromium content, which means that the blades can be very hard without being brittle.”

Check out the Raw Materials website here.

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Sourdough Kitchen

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Sourdough Kitchen, 172 Victoria St, Seddon. Phone: 9687 5662

Writing about Sourdough Kitchen quite soon after it opened, it was observed with pleasure here on Consider The Sauce how quickly the bakery/cafe had become a fixture in the neighbourhood.

That seems so much more true today, almost two years’ later.

Especially on a day on which the first real taste of winter has arrived; the chill outside puts an extra glow to the companionable warmth inside.

As ever, there is congestion around the serving counter as those waiting to order, those waiting to pay and those arriving or departing mingle.

Equally as ever, the always terrific staff handle it all with grace and aplomb.

I feel a little guilty at monopolising a table for two when the place is so busy. But only a little, as two other tables are likewise occupied.

We’ve become regulars here – though not as regular as many, I suspect.

But we’ve learnt to keep in mind the laudable sourdough ethos.

The pizza slices were our faves for a long while. But sometimes it seems the toppings are overwhelmed by bases that can be hard work.

Likewise, the quality fillings of the various sandwiches can seem to stand in the robust shadows of their bready bookends.

We still enjoy these things, but sometimes a lighter touch is desired.

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Happily that is no problem at all, as Sourdough Kitchen has long since expanded its repertoire to encompass not just sandwiches but also breakfasts and more.

There’s always a salad and a soup on, along with various other lunchy items.

Today, for instance, the blackboard menu offers a steak sanger and a meatball dish, both for $15.

I opt for a serving that could be brekky, could be lunch – sardines on toast with olive tapenade, tomato salsa and Meredith fetta.

I’m familiar with the matching of sardines and tapenade, but I can’t recall previously experiencing salsa and/or fetta being thrown into the equation.

How does it work?

Blimey, it’s an unreal flavour explosion – tangy, oily, salty, brilliant.

Perhaps it could be argued my lunch is a mite light on for $15.

But sardines are so rich, be they canned or fresh, that even a fan such as I can easily appreciate restraint in terms of quantity.

My cafe latte is perfection.

What are your favourites and regulars at Sourdough Kitchen?

 

Brunetti

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Brunetti, 380 Lygon St, Carlton. Phone: 9347 2801

If there had been a red carpet and VIP list involved, we wouldn’t be up the first or on the second.

Nevertheless, we reckon we’re smack bang in the middle of a bona fide Melbourne event – a happening packed with buzz and delight.

It’s the opening day of the ultra-swish new Brunetti and we’ve fronted for breakfast.

So have a lot of other people; everyone, staff and customers alike, is revelling in the moment.

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We know there are those who never had much or any time for the previous Brunetti incarnation in Faraday St, finding it too slick, flash and imposing.

For them, the new premises are likely to be even more problematic – because the new Brunetti is huge, taking up almost the entire space of what used to be Borders and running from the Lygon St entrance to the more formal restaurant space at the Drummond St end.

In between there is everything you’d expect – gelati, pizza oven, biscotti, pastries, cakes and more.

And a raised caffeine hub with two gleaming monster machines already doing grand business.

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Our semi-regular Brunetti visits have almost always been about mid-week gelati treats, takeaway biscotti or breakfast, and doubtless that will continue to be the case.

We’ve never had much truck with the more substantial fare, though it seems it may possible to pursue those avenues in the new place with more ease and perhaps even greater quality.

Because there is a lot of comfortable seating spread along the length of the premises.

The place will still be a madhouse at peak times – in our experience, that means any weekend after about noon in spring or summer.

But there is no denying the spaciousness and style of the new place – it’s like the old Brunetti on steroids.

If you loved Faraday St, you’ll likely love Lygon St. If not … run!

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It’s a special adventure so I let Bennie off the leash – he enjoys not one but two apricot Danish pastries at $4.10 each. They’re fresh and hit the spot.

His two hot chocolates are slightly better than good but don’t send him into raptures. Same thing goes for my two cafe lattes.

My toasted ham, cheese and tomato is a $9.50 dream that has me issuing moans of delight.

Really, it’s hard to imagine how a toasted sandwich could be better – excellent bread uniformly, perfectly toasted; great tasting ham; gooey melted cheese.

When Bennie has a taste, the cheese strands stretch from his sandwich-holding hand to his gob until they snap and bounce happily off his chin.

 

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The Rusty Fox

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All smiles on opening day – (from left) Rusty Fox crew members Jennifer Galea, Kim Scott, Rebecca Creighton and Manuel Santeiro.

The Rusty Fox, 501 Macaulay Road, Kensington. Phone: 9372 1218

It’s very early on opening day for the Rust Fox, a brand new and ultra-chic “old-style provedore and locally driven deli” on Macaulay Rd.

As such, we’re happy to leave a closer examination of the food available – both eat-in and take-home – for another day.

Which isn’t to say we’re not tempted by the list we spy that includes, among other lunchy and brunchy items, Vietnamese chicken coleslaw and a simple sandwich of leg ham, cos lettuce, cheddar and Dijon mustard.

But we make more than do with a very excellent cafe latte, a hot chocolate and a couple of crunchy, buttery chocolate and walnut cookies.

Bennie’s hot chokkie adventures can range, often within a single week, from magnificent to thoroughly unmemorable. So we’re happy to report the Rusty Fox is very definitely of the former category.

The Rusty Fox fit-out is a true delight, capped off by a number of murals by street artist Kaff-eine.

We enjoy our beverages and munchies in the back garden space.

Front of house has a single table in the window area and a number of stools cuddling up to the servery/bar area.

Between the eat-in menu, the blackboard list of available meats and cheeses, a refrigerated area containing soups and the like, and a wall adorned with house-made condiments and other tasty items, it seems the Rusty Fox crew have put a lot of thought into making the best use of the space available to feature a lot off high-class foodiness.

 

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Nathu’s Sweets & Cafe

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Nathu’s Sweets & Cafe, 126 Watton St, Werribee. Phone: 9741 6622

Samosa sandwich?

That’s a new one on us!

We’re told it’s a Gujarati specialty.

There’s two kinds of chutney – mint and a tamarind number – each spread on one of two slices of plain white slice bread. (I suspect anything heavier or more politically correct simply wouldn’t work.)

And there’s another kind of seasoning we’re told has something to do with chick peas.

Whatever – our $3.95 sanger is a delightful winner.

So unexpected, so delicious!

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Nathu’s has been open only a few months and is a welcome new addition to a stretch of Watton Street already liberally dotted with Indian and other Asian eateries of various kinds.

But based on our lovely sandwich and our other, more predictable luncheon choices we’ll be back real soon.

It’s done out in typical cheap ‘n’ cheerful Indian cafe fashion, although at first glance it appears to be a sweets specialist, with mouth-watering trays of the ultra-rich Indian variety on display.

But with lunch appetites humming, we zero in on the savoury/snack side of the menu.

This numbers more than 20 items, including dosas, bhel puri, idlis, parantha and rice ‘n’ dal.

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I order chole bhature … because I almost always do.

Besides, it’s a real keen way to guage a place’s general, all-round prowess.

This example ($9) is brilliant in every regard.

Fresh, light, ungreasy breads that emit steam when torn asunder.

Really good and plentiful chick pea curry of mild spiciness.

Nice spiced yogurt

Even the red onion slices mixed with fresh green chilli and a light touch of commercial pickle are quite a cut above the unadorned, blunt onion slices that often accompany this dish.

Hot stuff!

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And we order gol gappe ($5.95 ) out of curiosity and because this is the only the second time we’ve seen them served in Melbourne.

These, too, are super.

The “gols” are super crisp, leaving us to pour in the tamarind broth served on the side to join the potato, chick peas and chutneys awaiting within.

They’re gone in a flash!

We grab four pieces of malai (dark) gulab jamun in syrup for home and depart happy as can be.

Nathu's Sweets & Cafe on Urbanspoon

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Good Friday in Footscray …

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No rest for the buskers who have made the ANZ corner their home for the past month or so.

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Not much action in the mall itself, though.

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But Little Saigon Market is rocking.

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And so is Nhu Lan.

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Sapa Hills is one of the few Vietnamese establishments not open.

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A satisfying lunch at Huy Huy.

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To finish, an excellent cafe latte with Tim & Jane – and a quick skim of the suburban press that doesn’t get delivered to our joint.

Getting pickled in Kyneton …

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Emelia’s The Saucy Australian, 20a Piper Street, Kyneton. Phone: 5422 2020

Having talked to Emelia by phone several months previously – seeking, and failing to discover, the seasoning of pickled onions that were a highlight of a Flemington ploughman’s lunch – it’s a pleasure to meet her in person.

It’s just as much a pleasure to get “the tour” and discover over the course of an hour or so the history, life and times of the company started 15 years ago by Emelia and her husband, Ron.

One surprise is to discover that the company’s endeavours extend beyond the pickles, sauces and condiments I had expected – there’s pies being made today to join a range that also includes soups, casseroles and pates.

But these fresh items are only sold locally – from the shop that itself has only been in operation for the past three years.

How does Emelia talk about her company, its many products and her pride in its success?

With relish, of course!

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The numbers are impressive.

“We’re Australia’s most awarded condiment producer,” Emelia proclaims. “And all our products are completely chemical and gluten free.”

The company currently supplies its 49-product line to about 2000 customers all over Australia – and not one of them has the words “Coles” or “Woolworths” as part of their name.

These days all orders are handled by Australia Post.

Before that, though, Emelia and Ron hit the road big time.

“We spent three weeks on the road and then two at home for five years,” Emelia says. “We did that for five years, covering 100,000 kilometres a year.”

It’s that sort of hands-on approach that remains the bedrock philosophy of the company, although these days Emelia does it all by telephone, staying in touch with customers she has gotten to know so well.

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Wherever possible, she uses locally grown produce, including fresh herbs, some of which she grows herself.

The onions – typically 3000 kilograms in a three-month period – come from Swan Hill, Tasmania or South Australia.

The chilli content comes from Bundaberg in the form of a fresh puree.

The spotlessly clean production, bottling and cooking area looks like a small factory but is also recognisably a kitchen.

The onions are topped and tailed by machine, but other than that there are no conveyer belts and the like here – everything, including bottling, is done by hand.

I can attest to the excellence of the steaming hot and fresh chicken and mushroom pie Emelia provides me for lunch.

Thanks to Emelia, Consider The Sauce has a gift pack of Old-Fashioned Pickled Onions, Piccalilli Chilli and Lincolnshire Chutney to give to one lucky reader.

First person to email me – the address is on the site and not too hard to find – is the winner!

Emelia’s products are sold by Pompello in Seddon and Parade Deli in Williamstown.

Or you can order online at the Emelia’s website.

Thanks to Emelia and her crew for putting up with my many questions and incessantly clicking camera!

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Meals on wheels? Still rolling!

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Two years after our earlier story, I’m delighted to report that our very own “vegetable man” continues to do the rounds.

Today he brings me a choice of tomatoes, about three different kinds of peppers and spuds (he pronounces them “po-taht-oes”).

His name is Boris, he’s Macedonian but when he came to Australia he was from what was then known as Yugoslavia.

He travels from his farm near Daylesford every couple of weeks, visiting by turn Yarraville and Moonee Ponds.

He tells me his door-to-door vegetable biz is a marginal proposition at best, with fuel costs being a significant factor.

But he seems to profit from his business in a non-monetary way.

I know we do!

Today I grab a bag of sweet peppers and superbly irregularly shaped tomatoes – not the sort of thing you see in supermarkets!

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