Templestowe Living Room

For a lively restaurant and good food out in the absolute ‘burbs, I was pleasantly surprised by Templestowe Living Room. In a bustling strip of shops seemingly out in the middle of no where this restaurant was packed full. The week prior, we had left it too late to get a booking, this week we booked several days in advance for a Saturday night seat. At 7pm it was packed, and when we left at 9pm it was still packed with diners at the later sittings getting their mains.

The daily lamb special, duo of lamb with charred brocollini and a risotto of barley and asparagus was fantastic, as was the lemon brulee dessert (strong lemony tartness). Only downside was the appetiser; the Turkish bread was rather too fluffy and white and the dips were nothing special. Could have saved $5 and gone for the standard oil and vinegar option.

Even better value with the Entertainment Book! Will definitely try this restaurant or area again if wanting a bit of liveliness without going all the way into the city.

Di Palma’s

Was surprised first up by the size of the place, apparently 4 shop fronts? The food was good, nothing mind blowing, duck main was a little dry and veal medallions were really two small schnitzels, although the thyme and parmesan crumb was crispy and had a good flavour. Typical suburban Italian. Maybe a little salty. Highlight was the garlic focaccia to start with, dough had a lovely flavour and texture, made me wish I’d ordered the pizza.

Melbourne International Coffee Expo 2014 (MICE)

So gee, I’ve been slack and it’s been a while!

This weekend I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work at the Melbourne International Coffee Expo 2014. Now let me tell you this – I am a newbie to the coffee world. I only started drinking coffee about a year ago (though I’ve always liked the smell) and I know next to nothing about it.

You might think something like the coffee expo would only be for seasoned connoisseurs but after attending I strongly encourage anyone to go in the future, if they have the time! What an eye-opening educational experience! I learned so much more about coffee and coffee culture than I thought there was to know – most particularly, I started to get an understanding of how much there is that I DON’T know.

I had no idea that there were internationally televised latte art championships, glowing copper insides of roasting machines that looked like some kind of steam punk daydream, people so passionate about coffee they would fly in from around the world to attend and get to speak to renowned baristas and coffee producers.

Of course I am now the proud owner of my very first drip filter, two bags of amazing freshly ground coffee… and let me tell you, even in the bags, through the tiny ‘breathing’ holes, fill an entire room of the house with a wonderful smell – I may need to make it a habit to keep some around, forget scented candles!

Wandering around there were dozens of free samples to be had so be careful you don’t overdose on caffeine and get the shakes! I restrained myself to a mere 2 coffees in a day, but I still had a huge buzz from the combination of caffeine (remember, I am a fairly new coffee drinker) and excitement!

I also found out about a great online community called Yelp – I don’t quite understand how I didn’t know about this already as it is right up my alley, but safe to say I will be involved from now on! Get on it!