where's the best in 2023?

   

Vola Foods

With another calendar year's posts wrapped up, I've reviewed and updated our where's the best? page and noticed a few themes along the way. Firstly, we've bid farewell to too many beloved veg*n businesses! Kale Mary, The Origin Tales, Fina's, Power Plant and Sable all shut up shop in 2023, while Transformer is pending transformation. We're also sad to lose the veg-friendly neighbourhood nook, Theodore's.

The sandwich trend I noted in 2022 has continued into 2023 and I couldn't be happier, blogging Take Two Bagels, Egglab, Good Days Hot Bread, Banh Mi Nights, and current fave Pickles Milk Bar. For the weeknights that we couldn't be bothered cooking dinner, we leaned on two Master Lanzhou Noodle Bar venues, Shimbashi Soba, Vola Foods, and Eat Pierogi Make Love. We're lacking a go-to vegan brunch, but had noteworthy morning meals at Tyler's Milk Bar, Two:Bob and Fenton. It's also the year that Michael acquired a car, and that has enabled adventures to Midori by Tao's, Vegie Bowl, Easy Vegan and Mietta. For 2024 I've put Gloria back on my to-blog list: we're regular customers, their menu has evolved, and I reckon they're selling the best vegan desserts in Melbourne right now.

   

Darwin

We did our share of air travel as well as car travel in 2023, visiting Hobart, Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney. If all goes well in 2024 we'll be venturing even further.

In our home kitchen, there's been lot of Hetty Lui McKinnon recipes and a few family favouites. Crispy caper & slow-roasted tomato pappardelle and vegan bolognese take a while to come together but the rewards are high; Michael has made double-batches of the bolognese countless times to share with sick friends. A gnocchi broccoli tray bake with lemon & cheese or artichoke roll is much faster to pull together and just as satisfying to eat. My champion sweets were oaty ginger crunch and lebkuchen.

I did a big cookbook clear-out in 2023, giving away what I could and donating the remainder, and I've still got a dozen books on notice for me to focus on in 2024. And then, of course, there's the hundreds of online links I've bookmarked! Hopefully it'll make for a fun mix of retro recipes and new approaches on the blog this year.

   

An artichoke roll