Super fun Melbourne week

Hello! We are freshly back from nine days in Melbourne, where we ate plenty of delicious food and met some very good people. But most of all, I'm just glad I went! I almost didn't go because I was a bit worried about money and am a homebody but thankfully a good friend gave me just the shove I needed. Turns out that 'choosing the bigger life' is very good life advice.

Here are some highlights and places we liked to eat. I'm definitely into low-key and chill places these days :)

Tony was the main reason I was in Melbourne. He had a week-long print making residency at VCA and a place to stay in the city. Luckily, I was able to work out of the Melbourne office for the week, which was right around the corner from him. Every morning we walked to Patricia's for coffee before catching the tram to work. It's a stand up coffee bar with fun vibes, sparkling water on tap and a cute neon ceiling sign.

For dinner, one of our favourite spots was City Wine Shop in the CBD, especially on a night when we didn't feel like venturing far. I was extremely proud of my order - grilled saganaki with wild figs, house smoked salmon with sour cream, lemony meatballs in tomato sauce, and later a spring vegetable gnocchi - all to share. It was also near two good bookshops, the Hill of Content and The Paperback Bookshop, plus Spring Street Grocer for post-dinner gelato :)

Tony was working on a lithographic print and it was so great to visit him after to work to get my head around what he was up to. The process is so intricate and complicated, involving plate work, paint work and the printing itself. Sometimes multiple people are working on the print at the same time. Tony was paired with a master printer for the week to realise his image before the edition was finalised - it's being printed this week!

Visiting the studio gave me a new appreciation of how handmade prints like these can be. Tony's shared more of the process on Instagram including videos if you're curious. Seeing his work made me think of all of the times I've visited his studios, in Sydney, Wagga, Canberra and this time round Melbourne. It is always a nice surprise to see what direction the work is taking.

We both really enjoyed the change of scenery when it came to work, more than we'd anticipated. I found it easier to write and get things done, which surprised me because I love nothing more than routine during the work week.

Another highlight for me was catching up food writers that I work with but had never met. They were the best kinds of meetings too, at pasta bars and cake shops. I met Julia at Beatrix, which had a small crowd waiting for it to open at 9am. It was so hard just to pick one thing but I went with the sponge cake with whipped cream, lemon curd and passionfruit icing. And it was so lovely meeting Heidi for an afternoon picnic in the sun. 

Along with the week of work, we had two weekends either side of our stay which meant we could make it to the KAWS exhibition and cross town for doughnuts. We always find our way to Carlton for pizza, bookstore browsing, drinks, snacks and gelato. This visit I was introduced to the D.O.C deli and pasta bar, where I bought a panettone from Italy to lug home for Christmas.

Not pictured, a trip to Babajan for a Turkish lunch (it's as good as it's hyped up to be - especially the baked eggs with 12 hour lamb shoulder), a blustery 38 degree day, getting lost in Queen Victoria Markets, feeling awkward in a brand new office, and freshly baked Nutella filled madeleines.

I'll leave you with two last things - a post-work park hang out and our first dinner in town - honey and jalapeno pizza at Lazerpig which was noisy and fun. Travelling with Tony was so nice - he took care of all of the navigation, which was one less thing to worry about (I am terrible with directions) and it was nice among all of the busyness to be together for meals and just to chat and be ourselves. Sometimes when I'm on a work trip I feel like I have to be on all of the time or am just hyper-aware so I really noticed the difference doing it together.

P.S Here are some notes from our 2018 Melbourne trip, plus earlier visits in 2017, early 2016 and late  2016!
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Melbourne notes

We had the nicest time in Melbourne, eating lots of great food and checking out a bunch of art galleries - our two favourite things. By the end of the week, I had ditched my watch and make up and was feeling extremely relaxed.

This trip to Melbourne was a tiny bit different because I went with a few pages of recommendations from my new workmates who live there. Just in case you're heading there soon, here's what I loved:

Yum cha + NGV + Carlton



Our first day in Melbourne was pretty perfect. We rolled our bags into Chinatown for yum cha at Dragon Boat, which came highly recommended. It was such a great yum cha spot, and also a good place to fuel up and catch our breath before heading back into the city.

There are two great shows at the National Gallery of Victoria at the moment, and they're both free! My favourite was Julian Opie, which featured bright and colourful video portraits of characters doing very everyday things like walking. The details made the show magical, with the artist capturing everything from the gait of individuals, to the intricate pattern of their lace dress or tattoos. Check out the kids space if you can, even if you don't have any of your own. Trust me, it's super cute (and filled with adults!).

We also both really loved Australian photographer Polly Borland's exhibition at the Fed Square gallery space. It's playful and kind of odd too.

Then it was onto Heart Attack & Vine, which is one of my workmate's all-time favourite bars. It's a really cute space with incredible snacks constantly being made at the counter. We ordered drinks and a selection of mini snacks and had a great time.

For dinner, we went to a new favourite, DOC pizza for the best margherita (they specialise in mozzarella!) and a greens salad which was almost as good. Afterwards we wandered over to Pidapipo for gelato cones with warm nutella, and they were so good we made sure we went again before we went home.

And no visit to Carlton is complete without a stop at Readings, which is my favourite book shop.

Cult places for pastries + chiffon cake + pasta 

Holidaying midweek was especially handy when it came to visiting a hyped up eateries :) We went to Lune Croissanterie one morning and sat at the counter, watching a small army of croissant makers do their thing while nibbling on their handiwork.

The croissants are pretty amazing, somehow sweet and savoury at the same time with just the right amount of flakiness. A little bit of planning went into our visit because my Dad (whose favourite foods include croissants and ice cream) went on a day when the cafe was only doing takeaways. Plus I'd read that sometimes there's an hour-long queue, and assumed it'd be wise to avoid the weekend.

I also made it to Beatrix, a tiny bakery that I've been obsessing over ever since I stumbled across them on Instagram. Especially because they seem to have an insane number of cakes on offer each day. I ordered a giant slice of pillowy orange chiffon cake that came with a tangy icing and some mince pies to take away. Beatrix is in north Melbourne, and a short tram ride from the city (that's if you get off at the right stop!). There's only a handful of seats but they're set up for takeaway, with lovely hard-to-squash cake boxes.

We also had dinner at Tip00, which was the first place I booked after we'd sorted our flights and accommodation. I felt like a nerd, getting in super early but we almost missed out! Apparently Fridays and Saturdays are usually booked out three months in advance, so we went for a late sitting on a Thursday night and had no regrets. Everything from the focaccia bread course to the deconstructed tiramisu was unreal.

Brunswick + Collingwood

Finally, Saturday lunch at Good Days in Brunswick was a shared highlight. Tony ordered the chicken rice and I had the famous noodle salad with lemongrass chicken skewers (you can also get it with spring rolls on top!).

And I also went to Cibi for lunch with my friend Danie, where we both ordered the Japanese breakfast special. The Cibi shop was especially beautiful, stocking everything from ceramics to fancy panko crumbs and different types of seaweed.

So that's it for our 2018 Melbourne trip! I thought my flying days were done for the year but I'll be making a day trip to Sydney on Monday, and then counting down the days til I can pick up my Christmas ham. We're close!

Four days in Melbourne

We had the best time in Melbourne. Being in town for four days meant we had enough time to check out the Festival of Photography, spend time with friends and eat well too :) Here are a few highlights:

Soon after we landed, I jumped on a tram to meet my friend Mei Ying for lunch in Collingwood. We ordered big bowls of pork ramen from Shop Ramen and inquired after the sweet pie of the day. When I was in uni, Mei Ying helped me get a job at the tiny Adriano Zumbo patisserie in Sydney, where she had a dessert named in her honour. I used to read her food blog religiously and she gave me a few pointers for our Melbourne stay.

One of her recommendations took us to Good Days in Brunswick, where we had an amazing noodle salad, which came with a pile of crunchy spring rolls. We tried so many new places this trip, and somehow managed to keep most of our meals under $50.

The next day we headed to the National Gallery of Victoria to check out the Festival of Photography. The Patrick Pound exhibition was my favourite. It was made up of found photographs, curated into unusual groupings. One section featured photos where someone's face had been cut, burnt or scratched out. It was both unsettling and mesmerising.

We were in Melbourne so that Tony could install an exhibition at Nicholas Projects, an artist-run-space in the city. The show opened on Friday night and we were stoked that a few friends from Wagga Wagga and Melbourne could come along.

On Saturday I picked up a box of penguin shaped chocolates and caught the train to my friend Danie's house. She served ricotta fritters and salads for lunch and carrot cake for dessert. We spent hours chatting and I left feeling full of creative energy. It was one of the highlights of my stay.

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were ready for a lazy day. We slept in, had breakfast at a cosy cafe in Fitzroy and generally took our time. I wanted one last look at the Patrick Pound show (there's so much to take in) and then we managed to score a table at Chin Chin, without the usual two hour wait. I'm so glad we went!

Here are two more places we really enjoyed, which Mei Ying directed us to. We ate meatball sandwiches at Spring Street Grocer and came back for the gelato before our flight home (I was still talking about my scoop on the plane!). 

D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella Bar was such a fun place for a late-night dinner, and conveniently close to one of my favourite bookshops. We don't know when we'll be back in town, which makes me glad that we crammed so much goodness into this visit. 

Hope you're travelling well this week! It's pouring here and perfect weather for being home.

Melbourne holiday

We spent the weekend in Melbourne, so I could see Jad Abumrad of Radiolab speak :) We also stayed in a new neighbourhood, visited the David Hockney exhibition and found a great new donut shop. Here's a look:

On Friday we caught the first flight out of Canberra and headed straight to Hardware Societe for breakfast. Next stop was the NGV to see the David Hockney show. It featured his early iPhone drawings - the ones with text were especially funny - and larger iPad studies of England and Yosemite National Park. There were oil paintings too.

This was the last course of my freedom lunch - freshly baked madeleines with lemon curd from Cumulus Inc. Fridays are normally deadline days for me, so it felt extra nice to be having a decadent lunch instead. My watch also stopped working, which made it feel like were were really on holidays :)

We stayed in Fitzroy for a change, in a bright Airbnb that happened to have lots of the same books we have at home and an insane indoor plant situation. There was an all-day diner down the road (one egg dish is served with tater tots!) and we bought the funniest $3 toy for my niece at Third Drawer Down.

On Saturday we went to see my friend Danie who was hosting a DIY gift wrapping station in a laneway, complete with custom designed stamps. It was so much fun! We stamped calico bags and ran into my friend Meiying. She pointed us in the direction of Short Stop donuts, which we LOVED.

Meiying also recommended Rustica Canteen and we enjoyed it so much we went twice - first for brisket and pulled pork sandwiches with excellent additions like smoked cheddar and pickles and a side of spicy potato salad. We went back the next day for salads.

Somehow we managed to pop into seven galleries over three days. My favourites were Gertrude Glasshouse for Australian contemporary art, Australian Galleries for the breadth of its collection and the Philippe Parreno: Thenabouts screening at ACMI, which was beautiful and strange. People sat in a dark room to watch the film and there were foil fish balloons floating around.

And here are a few new things that came home with me. A Monsieur Truffe chocolate bar, a hand-stamped bag, as well as a few new books from Metropolis Bookshop (my favourite) and Paperback. Next time I'd love to try Tipo 00 for a pasta dinner and take the train out to Geelong Gallery. But now, we're back home making tiny preparations for Christmas and I couldn't be happier.

Melbourne long weekend

Hello again :) Are you still in holiday mode? I am! I went back to work last week but it was a short one because we flew to Melbourne for a friend's wedding and happened to find the very best donuts while we were there. Here's a super quick recap:

Melbourne has so many great cafes. First stop was Duke's Coffee Roasters, we also visited Little Rogue and my favourite - All Day Donuts.

We stayed in a fancy hotel (it was cheaper than Airbnb!) and I bought a new dress for the wedding that wasn't black :) Here's a snap of the stunning couple who were relaxed and generous hosts.

We squeezed in a quick stop at the National Gallery of Victoria before it was time to fly home - the Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei show was packed and I especially liked this exhibition and the few David Shrigley paintings we saw. A sneaky tip - gallery cloak rooms are really handy places to leave your luggage.

And a small revelation - I wore Nikes for the whole trip (minus the wedding) and it made the world of difference. It meant we could explore on foot (we walked for 15 kilometres one night, from Brunswick back to the city and then to South Wharf) and I didn't get grumpy once.

It's so lovely to be blogging again, I'll catch you later this week :)