Pizza Meine Liebe is found in what is fast becoming a rather boho hip part of Northcote. The place itself is retro quirky in a milk bar-ish kind of way - mismatched crockery, laminex surfaces, vinyl/wooden seating, old school counter tops and fitout. You’ll need to make a booking as this place fills fast on a nightly basis - two sittings, at 6pm and 8pm (grr…starting to dislike this worrying trend of two sittings and revolving customerhood). That being said, it gave us the perfect excuse to move on to the Wesley Anne for a brew (or two) afterwards.

But back to the food.

With four hungry mouths at the ready, we decided the best way to sample what was on offer was to order four smalls and have a quarter each. Pizza’s were staggered in their arrival, which is a good thing considering our table was TINY (or should we nicely say intimate?!? ;-)). Either way, the pizzas were bloody fabulous. Thin tasty crust, non-greasy/oily and fantabulous toppings. I so hate that pre-cut ham and salami crap used by most pizzerias. It is good to find long shavings of prosciutto, or hunks of buffalo mozzarella. And basil - actual full leaves and not the dried desiccated stuff. Mmm…this place has got it going ON.

First up was the Queenslander **cough Hawaiian cough**, a tomato, mozzarella, speck and roasted pineapple combo. As you can plainly see in the photo above, the pineapple is the real deal - hefty chunks cut straight from the fruit and not out of a can. The speck was nicely crisped on the edges too, offering a beautiful salty smoky flavour. Mmm. Did I mention how good the crust was?

Second was the Streisand (get used to the quirky names here), which was topped with seasoned potatoes, asparagus, rosemary, caramelised onion and a cheese (though the type escapes me!). This white style pizza was absolutely moreish - the double play of carbs just a match made in heaven as far as I’m concerned.

The Ozzi payed homage to the Aussie, with a twist. Tomato, mozzarella, speck, and egg, with the addition of chilli and peas ?!?. This one got a few votes for best pizza of the night. Personally, I am torn - they were all bloody good for different reasons.

The final of the four was the Buffalo Margherita - a mix of tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and speck. Absolutely gorgeous in it’s simplicity.

A shared chocolate and cherry pizette with vanilla ice-cream was a wonderful way to finish off the meal. The thin pizza dough was crimped into a little casing which housed a wonderful melt of dark chocolate (perhaps with a dash of nutella?!), topped with halved dark cherries. A big dollop of good vanilla bean ice-cream (I’m suspecting Jocks) melted deliciously alongside.

Service for us was friendly and efficient on the night, though I have heard some grumbles that it can be sketchy at times. But I didn’t experience this - so I give them a thumbs up.

Further news to hand - they are planning to open a take-out only venture in the next four to six weeks, which will be located only a few blocks away. The menu will be different from Miene Liebe though - simpler and more traditional. Let’s just hope pre-cut ham is not part of that simplicity!

This year I was extremely honoured to be invited to EG’s Reunion Dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The dinner is traditionally held on New Year’s Eve and is one of the most important Chinese holidays. Families get together to consume a number of dishes that promote prosperity and longevity for the forthcoming year. As you can see from the image above, EG’s Mum totally excelled herself - her skill and knowledge of the ingredients is super impressive!

For starters we had fresh shucked oysters with lemon care of EG’s Grandma. They were huge plump things - and a lovely way to start the feast.

This dish is called Leng Puah, which is a cold dish. It consisted of thin slivers of green lipped abalone, sliced orange cuttlefish, ribbons of jellyfish and sliced calamari cooked in black soy sauce. This was actually my first abalone experience, and I commented to EG (unoriginally) that I thought it tasted liked chicken. But I then found out it had been poached in chicken stock - so I wasn’t half wrong!

Hai Som Arp was an earthy savoury stew of sea cucumber, duck and bamboo shoots. The duck was meltingly tender, and the sea cucumber an interesting lesson in gelatinous textures (another first for me). Unfortunately the mental picture of a certain Jackass stunt inhibited my enjoyment of the sea cucumber somewhat.

Kari Kueh was a chicken and potato curry swimming in the most divine coconut broth/gravy. It was so full flavoured and fragrant, and I was in absolute heaven just spooning it on to plain steamed rice. I could have eaten the whole bowl - but my faulty gall bladder probably wouldn’t have stood the onslaught.

So instead of eating the whole bowl of curry, I turned my attention to the stirfried vegetables. A healthier alternative

The raw salmon was presented two ways - Japanese sashimi style (pictured above), and Lo Hei, which basically means “stirred up”. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of this, but it was presented as a bowl of sliced raw salmon mixed up with slivers of ginger and coriander leaves, and dressed in dark soy and sesame.

Just some julienne of ginger, cabbage and coriander, which was used to garnish and flavour various dishes.

This was another sea cucumber dish, this time sauteed with leeks and prawns. The braised leeks lent a lovely sweetness overall.

Finally, was the Hokien Mee, a signature dish of EG’s Mum. Egg noodles, rice vermicelli (bee hoon) were stir fried with scallops, calamari, mussels, prawns, chye sim (green veg). The dish should be semi-wet (ie. not completely dry) , which is obtained through the use of a mild anchovy stock. Noodle dishes are usually eaten for longevity, and as I wanted some of that longevity (which is the excuse I’m using for my gluttony), I had two bowlfuls :-).

For dessert we had mango tart (which I made, but forgot to take photos of in my haste), mango cake and agar-agar jelly. We also snacked on love letters and small pineapple cakes.

The day was absolutely wonderful. I met with EG’s grandparents, an aunt/nephew from Singapore, two of his cousins, and his parents (who I have met a number of times now). I felt so privileged to be invited to this special family event (and gifted with some red packets), and to experience something that is completely different from my usual realm of experience.

I hope the Year of the Pig is a happy, healthy and fortunate one for EG, his family, and to all of you as well. Keong Hee Huat Chye!

A little lunchtime decadence in celebration of Valentines Day, especially as EG and I work so close together. And the rain held off just long enough for our tryst…phew!

So I packed a little picnic - an assortment of sour dough rolls, olives, pickles, rolled prosciutto piccante, hot sopressa, home grown tomatoes, lettuce, tzatziki / vegetable crudites, artisan cheddar, aqua minerale and a half bottle of Moet (drank from plastic tumblers no less). Dessert included some Haigh’s dark chocolate hearts, sweet words and a quite a few kisses

My life is so much richer for knowing you EG - you inspire and fill me with passion. But I’ll continue this one with you later…

You just gotta love a place that has Ribena and Horlicks on the drinks menu. How kooky crazy is that? Well, that is the kind of kookiness you’ll find at the contemporary Asian fast food eatery Dessert House. As the name implies, you can get a good dessert here (in the form of filled crepes). But this is more a quick eats place - somewhere to satisfy your rice and noodle cravings.

The venue has only been open a few months, but it has already attracted a loyal following of customers. You can pretty much walk past at any time of day and find it packed to the rafters. The fit out is brand spanking new - nice banquette seating, comfy colourful chairs, bright interesting paintwork and detail. Upstairs has a completely different feel, and I think they borrowed a few ideas from Gingerboy - the use of dark wood, Starck-like polycarbonate seating, reds, blacks and browns. But dang it would be nice if they had air conditioning up there!

I went the grilled lemongrass chicken, served with a bowl of upturned rice and a fried egg. Not that the main components were bad or anything, but one of the best things on the plate was the little pile of green onions - they were amazingly tasty and added a wonderful flavour to the rice.

EG went one of the house specials, which was a crumbed pork chop in some sort of sweet chilli sauce. As you can tell, this was deep fried goodness to the extreme. It is obviously trying to live up to the fast food mantra

You’ll pay $7 to $10 for a rice/noodle main, and a few dollars more for Ribena (or your drink of choice).

This is another recipe inspired by the “are your Macleans showing” Bill Granger. Such a simple and tasty summer dish, heady with fresh herbs, chilli, sweetness, saltiness and sourness. As is my want to do, this recipe is a variation on the original. A very similar recipe can also be found here.

Poached Chicken
2 chicken breasts
4 cups of water
1 thumb sized knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
3 spring onions

Dressing
60ml lime juice
60ml fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon palm sugar or caster sugar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 asian shallots (or 1/2 red onion), finely chopped
2 small red chilli’s, finely chopped (remove seeds if you don’t want the heat)

Leafy bit
1/2 to 1 iceberg lettuce, shredded coarsely
1/2 bunch coriander leaves
1/2 bunch vietnamese mint
1/2 bunch thai basil
Beanshoots / sliced snow peas / cucumber slices / whatever you fancy

Place the chicken fillets into a pot along with four cups of cold water, ginger, spring onions and peppercorns. Bring to the boil, and once done so, reduce to a simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool somewhat in the poaching liquid (BTW, don’t throw out the poaching liquid. You can make an excellent pho style noodle soup with it).

Mix all the dressing ingredients together until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Slice the chicken across the grain into 5mm strips (or shred if you prefer). Set aside.

Get yourself a large platter and artfully arrange the lettuce and herbs on top. Place the sliced chicken on top of that, and then spoon on the dressing. You could perhaps sprinkle with roasted peanuts or fried shallots - whatever takes your fancy. In this instance we kept it relatively plain and simple. But damn, it was good!

Some people think it weird that I travel far for food. But heck…why not? And when you can experience such beautiful simplicity like a meal at A La Grecque, then the drive there is the least of your worries (the drive back having tried to restrain oneself from getting blind on their wine list is the only other difficulty!). So I would suggest an overnighter or some strong restraint if you venture down this part of the coast.

Run by Kosta of Kostas of Lorne fame, this easy Greek/Mediterranean restaurant sits on a hillside in Airey’s Inlet that drops steadily down to the ocean below. It misses out on most of the view though - but the sea breeze and welcoming hospitality of the staff sure makes up for it. On the day of our visit, the sun was shining warmly, the breeze was cool, and there was no other option but to sit outside on the grass, the shade of an umbrella keeping most of the UV from us.

First up for me was a hearty slab of grilled Kefalograviera with a pear and fig chutney. The chutney was certainly flavoursome and sweet, but I much prefer this dish with just a strong squeeze of lemon juice and a hunk of complimentary Greek bread (which was damn good!).

For mains I went the lamb keftethes (meatballs), potato fourno (baked and herbed) and yoghurt cucumber salad. As you can see it was a simple dish - but bam, it all tasted bloody marvellous. The lamb was tender and nicely spiced with garlic and parsley and the taste of a charcoal grill, the potatoes roasted as only the Greeks can do, and the yoghurt cucumber salad a nice tart compliment.

Along with this we ordered a roast pumpkin, baby spinach, pine nut salad with a ras el hanout dressing. This was just an absolute winner of a side dish - one which I shall try to replicate at home.

As with most patrons at A La Greque, Kosta will probably swing by your table and have a chat and make you feel welcome. And so he did with us - making the whole experience a lot more personable. Time just seems to slow down when you come to this neck of the woods. So just sit back and enjoy the good things in life.