Food / Good Food Guide (NSW)
By Matt Shea · Food / Eating out (Bris)
Now you can cook zucchini chips at home, along with more than 100 other recipes that span Hellenika’s 16-year history. Share A A A Books are hard, Simon Gloftis says. And he doesn’t mean cookbooks. Just, any book. “I couldn’t even fathom the idea of how I would do a book. I struggle even now to read and write properly,” the restaurateur says disarmingly. “For me, it was a big deal. It wasn’t a matter of jotting down some ideas. It was like asking me to jump off a building.” Simon Gloftis with the Hellenika cookbook. Courtesy of Hellenika That’s one of the reasons it’s taken this long to produce the new Hellenika cookbook, which will be released October 1. The others? A pandemic and a couple of restaurant openings (Sushi Room and Sunshine, both in 2022).
Food / Good Food Guide (NSW)
Saffire Freycinet makes a mesmerising first impression whichever way you get there.
Food / Tips & advice
From dietitian’s tips to delicious recipes, here’s everything you need to know to help you hit your recommended protein intake every day.
Food / Recipes
A new Adam Liaw bacon penne for your thoughts… plus spaghetti, risoni, linguine and more too, to mix up your midweek tuna pasta (again?) meal rut.
Once little more than an afterthought, hotel merchandise has transformed
Once upon a time, hotel boutiques used to feel like a naff extension of a late-night home shopping network. There’d be a few branded bits and pieces, along the lines of umbrellas, silk scarves, perhaps a notebook. They may have a relationship with some fusty old jewellery brand, likely aimed at guilty husbands needing a consolation gift to bring home to the wife. Hotels positioned themselves as completely separate from the rest of your life – gilded, glamorous and gated – and for the most part you left the entire experience behind once you checked out. But today, hotels of all price points position themselves as “lifestyle brands”, an extension of their guests’ innate style and identity. That means they’re packed with personality: edgy interior design, droll handwritten messages on postcards beside the bed and, of course, a gift shop full of fashion, beauty and homewares that’s more craveable than anything you’ll find in a department store. It’s no longer considered gauche to want to remind people where you’ve been; when hotel merch looks this good, customers are happy to walk the world as a branded billboard. Arguably, no one does it better than the Ace Hotel group. Their secret is in the art of collaboration; they partner with like-minded brands that share the same aesthetic and cultural values to create bespoke pieces that they say “tell stories”. Their Kyoto hotel, for example, recently joined forces with cult LA sports brand Oyster Tennis Club to create a range of T-shirts, sweatshirts and gym towels printed with pretty sakura flowers in time for spring. At their Sydney outpost you can find collaborations with another LA fitness brand, Y,IWO, represented by silky Gold’s Gym-style shorts and sweatshirts.
Whether you’re a regular visitor or it’s your first time, the Japanese capital’s dynamic food scene never fails to surprise and delight intrepid eaters.
The pleasure of dining in Tokyo isn’t measured in absolutes, but possibilities. It’s about the izakaya you stumble across while searching for that TikTok famous tonkatsu joint. It’s about making friends with bartenders and taking their advice on where to get an excellent Sazerac. It’s about having the courage to order unknown pickles, fish species, pig bits and other untranslatable menu items. Like Paris, New York or London, Tokyo would require multiple lifetimes to fully explore, so thinking you’ll be able to see it all in one go is a guaranteed way to drive yourself mad. (For a start, criss-crossing the city by train, which is absolutely the way to go, will take much longer than you think.) Our advice: leave your FOMO at home, book a couple of places if you must, but trust the process, and let the diversity of one of the planet’s great food cities come at you. Should all else fail, rest easy knowing that the city’s legendary konbini have your back (and stomach). These recommendations steer clear of impossible-to-book places in favour of more approachable addresses that capture Tokyo’s many moods, running the gamut of high-end dining, casual deliciousness, tradition and innovation. Commit some rudimentary Japanese to memory and don’t be afraid to use it. But most important of all, be open to possibilities. 9 places to eat and drink your way through Tokyo
A fun and vibrant Argentine experience lands in the CBD.
Numerous cuts from top-quality Australian producers Stockyard and O’Connor are on offer, expertly cooked on the custom-built parrilla. There’s exemplary dry-aged striploin and T-bone, sure, but don’t overlook less-common cuts like the tira de asado – beef short ribs cut across the bone. Straight off the grill, the smell is so intoxicating you can’t help but dive in with your hands and gnaw the bone clean. Even better, add a smear of complimentary chimichurri, which the waitstaff happily replenish whenever you run low. Further afield, there’s a refreshing South American-inspired starter of raw kingfish in a zesty capsicum leche de tigre; split king prawns heavily charred on the grill with ajà molido (a traditional Argentine red chilli) and crisp” capers; and a precisely cooked Margra lamb rump which boasts a nice crust. It’s a confident, well-drilled menu, although as an essential part of a traditional asado experience I’d love to see more offal; I’m promised it’s on the cards once they work out a consistent supply. As the first interstate venue from the Melbourne-based San Telmo Group ( San Telmo , Asado , Palermo and more), there’s a lot riding on its success. Two long-term employees have moved north to lead the team, and both are regularly onsite: Mikey Dalton in the kitchen and Ben Robinson on the floor. It shows how serious the team is treating the expansion. Location also counts for a lot here; this part of the city is having a resurgence, with the openings of The French Exit and Golden Avenue across the road. It makes for ideal business lunch trade during the day, but the dark, leather-clad dining room shifts gear at night. When GT visits, it’s fast-paced and fun, packed with date nights and families.
Read later Melbourne’s bakery boom shows absolutely no signs of slowing – we’ve covered six of these standout new spots in the last two weeks alone. Even the subcategories are multiplying: scrolls are still enjoying their time in the sun , and there’s another addition to the city’s deepening Filipino bakehouse scene . Just don’t call it a fad. These bakers are bringing a level of care to their craft that’s changing the game. “I think fads come and go when you’re not very good,” says scroll specialist Dan Shrimpton. “The aim is to create a product that people want to eat again.” Here are seven that’ll have you heading back for more. You’ll find this cosy space down a tiny CBD laneway, where pastry chef Lalita Punpanawan has set up shop after stints at respected local bakeries including Agathe Patisserie and Falco . Among the homey treats on offer, you’ll find the Cara Cara orange tart, with its rich cream-cheese base, and the truffle bun, a flaky wheel of pastry layered with truffle butter and generously dusted with parmesan. But the standout item isn’t from the food menu: the pudding latte draws on Punpanawan’s background as both a pastry chef and a barista, combining a salted-caramel iced coffee with a soft, springy flan. It’s been a runaway success. “From the day that we started until now, we’ve sold out of pudding every day,” she says. 28 Corrs Lane, Melbourne . The cooking show circuit delivers again: Nunawading’s latest opening comes via Masterchef and Dessert Masters alum Jess “Lemon” Liemantara. You may have spotted her extra-long pains au chocolat , designed to dip into your coffee before each chocolatey bite, on Instagram. They’re joined by a standout black sesame peanut pastry that takes three days to make (at this stage, only Liementara can prep its delicate brittle, crumble and caramel), as well as frangipane-filled almond croissants, cheese-sprinkled truffle and mushroom danishes, and a hoisin pork floss pastry that riffs on a pork bun. We advise heading in early – in its first few weeks, the bakery has been selling around 4000 pastries a week. “The lines take up the whole street,” Liementara says . 10 Market Street, Nunawading . Marishell Evangelista has been selling home-baked trays of ensaymadas around Melbourne for a decade. It started in her home kitchen in 2016, cooking to order for friends and a largely Filipino customer base that she built online. In 2022, she expanded to a coffee-van operation, before quitting her job as an accountant and going all in on a permanent Gipps Street bakery in August. An ensaymada is a swirl-shaped, brioche-like bun made of soft, coiled dough smothered in butter, sugar and cheese. At Mada, flavours include ube; pan de coco, with coconut and brown sugar; and the standout yema, made with a caramelly Filipino egg-yolk custard similar to dulce de leche. The expanded Collingwood offering also includes milky almond Spanish bread and adotilog, a pandesal (breakfast roll) filled with chicken or beef adobo and topped with an egg, sunny side up. 95 Gipps Street, Collingwood .