Pizza My Love

Pizza Meine Liebe
231 High Street, Northcote (map)
9482 7001

I'm very sad that CJ (good friend, partner-in-crime and fellow pho/chilli oil dumpling/dirty martini enthusiast) is MOVING overseas on Sunday. One of our last excursions out together was a recent low key evening in Northcote - pizze at Pizza Meine Liebe and then a gig at the Northcote Social Club (to see Hey Rosetta!, a Canadian indie rock that seamlessly incorporated a violin and cello into the usual line-up of instruments).

If you don't know Pizza Meine Liebe, shame on you. It's a great little pizzeria in High Street, and it's one of my favourites in Melbourne (along with Woodstock, Ladro, I Carusi and Pizze e Fichi). Beautiful thin crust pizze with interesting ingredients.


A and P joined us for dinner and the gig. CJ and A shared a large PML Capricciosa ($19.50), which had tomato, mozzarella, oregano, porcini mushrooms, olives and prosciutto. Be aware that the olives at PML are not pitted - CJ nearly broke a tooth chomping in to one!


As usual I was unable to resist ordering a pizza with porcini, but because I wasn't in a meaty mood I ordered a small Haus Special ($15), which also had tomato, buffalo mozzarella, olives, oregano and anchovies. It was great. Isn't melted buffalo mozzarella the best thing ever?


Of the four of us, P ordered the most adventurous pizza - the Tom Cooper ($14) with tomato, mascarpone, chives, red onion, chilli, Tom's smoked salmon and salmon roe. As a rule I don't usually like seafood (not counting anchovies!) on tomato based pizze, but P and I swapped a quarter slice and I decided I liked it.


We also ordered two tasty salads to share: on the left is one with salad leaves, fresh pear, sheep's milk fetta, walnuts and vinaigrette ($9.50) and on the right is the Blue salad with cos leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and a light gorgonzola mayonnaise ($9).


Don't let the picture of an empty table below deceive you: given PML's popularity I would definitely recommend booking in advance! :)

Yellow, tangy and perfect on a 37 degree day

Fritz Gelato
Stall 120, Prahran Market (map)
0414 682661

The Fritz passionfruit, limoncello and Sicilian mandarin gelato flavours...


...are sensational.

The yabbies at Movida Next Door

Movida Next Door
1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne (map)
9663 3038
No bookings, closed Sundays and Mondays


I'll admit that it wasn't until mid December that I finally got around to checking out Movida Next Door. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Movida itself, mainly because they seem to always be conveniently booked out whenever I crave their cured wagyu beef with truffle foam and poached egg (though to be fair I do tend to leave my booking attempts to the last minute).

By contrast, MND has a no bookings policy... but of course this combined with MND's popularity means that it can be equally impossible to get a table there! The night we went, best-friend-K and I had already been to see a show at the Spiegeltent, so it was about 8:30pm and we only had to wait about 5 minutes to be seated.


I insisted that we start with a pair of the Cantabrian anchovies with fresh curd ($4.50 each), having read about them on Eating with Jack. Truth be told, Jack's description of these beauties was the catalyst that finally made me visit MND, so thank you Jack! :)

And yes, they tasted even better than they look.


We ordered b-f-K's favourite, charcoaled asparagus spears with romesco sauce ($11). They were wonderfully smoky and had just the right amount of bite to them... simple dishes like this are such a joy when done really well!


B-f-K ordered a Moorish lamb skewer (which I didn't photograph), but instead I ordered the quail breast stuffed with chicken liver pate ($7), a dish I remembered Lethlean writing about. Just as well it was so small as it was outrageously rich and delicious. We also enjoyed the patatas bravas ($9).


But the dish that really had us waxing rhapsodic was one of the specials: $20 worth of yabbies. They had been split down the middle and grilled with lashings of garlic and parsley. We grabbed them with both hands, squeezed lemon juice on them and happily tore into them, making a complete mess in the process. Most definitely NOT a "date" dish, but boy those yabbies were absolutely sensational.


Yes, worth a second photo. B-f-K and I keep talking about how good they were!


We decided to share a dessert to finish. Having loved the one at Anada, I lobbied for the Crema Catalana ($10). It was very rich and creamy (definitely a share dish, it'd be hard to finish on one's own), but had a really nice hint of cinnamon mixed in with the citrusy aftertaste.


So at the risk of sounding just like almost every other review I've read of the place, I've gotta say that I really loved Movida Next Door. Service was helpful and friendly, atmosphere less pretentious than at Movida. I know which one I prefer, even if it means forgoing truffle foam!

Were ALL the proofreaders at The Age made redundant?

I am fully aware that being stuck at home sick for so long is turning me into a grumpy (and possible senile) old woman, but I was nonetheless exasperated upon reading Fiona Scott Norman's article in today's Epicure to learn that:
- the Melbourne venue smoking ban was introduced on June 31 2007 (think about it);
- outdoor smoking areas are springing up due to the "wilyness" of bar owners; and
- Lily Blacks is apparently in a city laneway called Myers Place.

Grrr!

Best friends are the best medicine: a post in two parts

PROLOGUE: I already mentioned it in the comments section of a previous post, but on Thursday my recovery from illness took a turn for the worse and I am once more sick as a dog (and now have the bonus of a really gross hacking cough). The doctor has put me on a different course of antibiotics... we shall see.

In the meantime, DJ is away for a week in Hobart and I've been housebound and feeling wretchedly lonely and sorry for myself. Thank heaven for my two best friends, who took turns rescuing me today!

PART I: Touch the Torch (11:30am)

Schatzi: "Oh, you poor little Clairelina! I brought you some water ices, they are very good for the throat."

Claire: "Danke Schatzi! I'll put them in the freezer now."

Schatzi: "And now, I take you out of the house for a coffee somewhere cute, you will be very much better with some fresh air and a change of scene."


Torch
178 Swan Street, Richmond (map)
9428 7378

Schatzi took me down to Torch and I had a lovely time hearing all about her recent roadtrip. DJ and I jokingly call Torch "Touch the Torch" because for ages after we moved to the neighbourhood he was under the impression that the cafe's name was Touch (admittedly, the cursive font on the logo - visible on the black coffee cup above - is difficult to read). We're both fans of the place - the coffee is good and the staff are friendly.


Having not eaten anything, I was in the mood for a spot of late brunch, something sweet. I was intrigued by the sound of the cream cheese blintzes with stewed berries ($11.50). The crepe-like parcels contained melty cream cheese studded with sultanas, and were grilled and drizzled with berries. I couldn't finish them but they were SERIOUSLY GOOD.



PART II: Russian Car Smash Pasta (6:00pm)

Best-friend-K: "You poor thing! Well, do you feel well enough to come over to dinner?"

Claire: "K-chan, I feel lousy and I don't have a car... hey how about you come over here for dinner instead?"

B-f-K: "Um, well..."

Claire: "Aw, pleeeeease K-chan! I'm so bored here by myself, I'm going stir crazy. Let me lure you with all the gourmet ingredients I impulse-bought on Thursday at the market... there's heaps of sexy stuff in my kitchen, like um [rummages in fridge]... Black Russian tomatoes! Green olive dip from Delicatess! Pomegranates! Fresh goats curd! Yellow flesh peaches and white nectarines! Plus there's all the fresh herbs in my herb garden, Pimms and we can watch a Clive Owen movie or something..."


Best friend that she is, she took pity on me and drove over. Such was my gratitude, I whipped up a jug of Pimms and lemonade on the spot.


We surveyed the ingredients I'd arranged on the benchtop and decided on a Car Smash Pasta (no cream or tomato-based sugo, you just smash together lots of tasty ingredients with some olive oil to lubricate the pasta), using salad onions, garlic, ordinary tomatoes, Black Russian tomatoes, Spanish olives, baby spinach leaves, torn basil, black pepper and fresh goats curd. It tasted damn nice, if I do say so myself!


RUSSIAN CAR SMASH PASTA

250g spaghettini
2 small salad onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 Black Russian tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small tub Spanish marinated olives
1 big handful baby spinach leaves
1 small handful fresh basil leaves, torn
1 generous dollop fresh goats curd

Using a large frying pan, lightly fry the salad onions using the oil from the tub of marinated olives. Add garlic and cook until onion translucent. Throw in both kinds of tomatoes, then the olives. After a few minutes add the baby spinach leaves and cook for a further minute.

Meanwhile, boil the spaghettini until al dente and drain. Add the spaghettini to the other ingredients and combine, removing heat and adding extra EVOO if the pasta requires further lubrication. Add torn basil leaves, then add the goats curd one spoonful at a time. Add black pepper to taste and serve!

Pearl Cafe, upon closer acquaintance

Pearl Café
599 Church Street, Richmond (map)
9427 1307


I've long been a fan of Geoff Lindsay's cooking, both the food in the formal Pearl restaurant and the more informal bar menu, so I was thrilled six months ago to hear that Pearl Cafe was finally opening, just a few hundred metres up the road from Pearl (ie four minutes walk from my house).

I went along there one weekend morning, looking forward in particular to trying some of the coddled eggs, only to be snootily informed at 11:02am that they were no longer serving breakfast (it stopped at 11) and that if I wanted something to eat I'd have to order from the lunch menu. "Humph, well sod you and your coddled eggs", I grumbled to myself, and didn't return.

Fast forward to several months later and I decided to try it out a second time, going for lunch on Wednesday with K (in Melbourne on furlough from her Top Secret Hush Hush Defence job in Canberra). Upon arrival, I noted with interest that Pearl Cafe now does breakfasts on weekends until 12 noon. Quite right, too!


Somewhat brazenly considering the fact that I'm recovering from illness, I chose the most exotic sounding thing on the menu, the jungle curry of eggplant with "Siamese watercress" (better known to me as kangkung) and bamboo shoots, steamed rice and sour lime pickle ($16).

The dish itself looked great and tasted pretty awesome (I loved the round baby eggplants), but a huge chunk in the centre of the timbale of rice had fused rock-hard and was inedible, no matter how hard I hacked at it with my knife. Boo!


K had the smoked salmon salad ($16) with rocket, red onion, lemon, caper salad dressing and bagel chips. She reported back that she liked the capers but it was otherwise rather unexciting and the dressing was far too oily.


We pushed on and decided to get something sweet as K had her coffee. The olde time nostalgia factor made me choose a miniature slab of the coconut ice ($4), which was a little denser than I like to make it but still pretty tasty.


K's Turkish delight ($4), on the other hand, was awesome. And how great does it look in this picture?!


So there you have it. I'm afraid that I'm still not sold with Pearl Cafe (it appears I'm not alone in finding the attention to detail (ie dishes not cooked properly) somewhat lacking). I find the antiseptic decor a bit off-putting too. What do you reckon - worth one more shot, to try the coddled eggs? Or write it off?