Pellegrini's

Cheap Eats 2006, a decade on

November 16, 2016

Our Cheap Eats project has mostly been about revisiting places we blogged way back in the day, but we're also using it to visit some long-overlooked Melbourne stalwarts. When we needed a quick dinner up at the Parliament end of the city, it seemed like the perfect excuse to finally visit one of Melbourne's institutions: Pellegrini's. It's been trading on Bourke Street since 1954 and by all reports very little has changed in 62 years - there's a wooden board listing different pasta dishes, scrappily decorated walls and staff chatting away in Italian. 

It's charming enough, but the bar seating is a little awkward in a group of four. The staff were reasonably helpful taking, us through the vego dishes - the choices are pretty simple: pick from one of a handful of pasta options and then choose either pesto or napoli. I ordered the ricotta ravioli with the napoli sauce (~$18). It was fine - very basic and quite old-fashioned food, served without much care for its presentation - but satisfyingly huge and tasty for all of that. 

Cindy went for fettucine with a pesto sauce (~$18). As with the ravioli, this was nothing fancy, but the pasta was fresh, which is the key for such a simple dish. The servings were huge, and the half a white roll we were each served on the side seemed like an unnecessary carb boost. 

I'm not sure how I feel about our Pellegrini's visit. It's obviously a hugely nostalgic experience for many Melbournites, with an unpretentious vibe that seems almost entirely unchanged since Italian food was impossibly exotic. Without that connection though, I'm not sure it really measures up - the food is a little uninspiring and when you're paying nearly $20 for fettucine with some pesto stirred through it, it really needs to be amazing. On the plus side, everything happens super fast - our food turned up almost immediately after we ordered it - so it's good if you want something hearty but you're in a bit of a hurry. The watermelon granitas we all ordered to drink (~$3 each) were tops too. 

Looking over the brief review in our 2006 Cheap Eats Guide it's clear that Pellegrini's have just kept doing their thing over the past decade, right down to the old dude flirting with the women customers. Prices have gone up a bit - from $12-$14 in 2006 to roughly $18 these days, but otherwise they're just doing what they do. It's not somewhere we'll visit often, but I'm still glad it exists.

The rest of our night was spent at the quite wonderful Hush event at Melbourne Music Week - a series of wonderful bands playing short sets around Parliament House. It was pretty special.

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There are lots of positive reviews of Pellegrini's - see Espresso and Matcha, Linnie Eats all the Food, Melbourne Food Baby, It's an Expensive but Delicious Habit, Tempting Palates, The Melbourne Local, Meetoo, Let's Get Fat Together, The Epicurean of Southbank, The Juliet Report, Gastronomical Ramblings, Sweet and Sour Fork, Mochii Eats, Kran and Nina, Gastronomy Gal, Simon Food Favourites, What's for Tea?, Spatula, Spoon and Saturday, The Melbourne Local, Jack Ate the Beanstalk, Melbourne Coffee Review, The City Gourmand, Craig on Toast and Spaghetti Blogenese. 

A few people have been much less impressed - there are pretty negative reviews on Adventures with That Fooodie, The Escort and the Thief, Storytelling, First, Melbourne Patron, Suntown Sunbird, New International Students, Let Me Feed You Melbourne, Melbourne Culinary Journal and Tomato.

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Pellegrini's 
66 Bourke St, Melbourne
9662 1885

Accessibility: There's a small step up on entry and a pretty crowded interior. You order and pay at the bar. We didn't visit the toilets.

Alfio's

Update 18/06/2023: Alfio's is now closed.

February 19, 2015

Cindy's been working more or less non-stop since before Christmas so when I had a work-related reason to visit Sydney for a few days, we decided to sneak in a lazy long weekend, combining some Sydney-time with a trip out to the Blue Mountains. On our first night in town together we put ourselves in the hands of some friends who know Sydney's food scene a lot better than we do. We wanted something veg-friendly, a bit special, but not ludicrously expensive. The came up with Alfio's - a restaurant in the back streets of Leichhardt, run by notorious Sydney food hipsters who specialise in inventive pop-up dining. Score one for local knowledge.

The setting for Alfio's is an old Italian restaurant that closed down a few years ago and has been reclaimed for however long Alfio's runs for. It's a classic trattoria vibe - right down to the murals on the wall. Alfio's only opens Thursday-Saturday each week and the menu changes every day - a shifting mix of 5 or so courses, based on whatever ingredients the crew have rustled up from their various local suppliers. They're happy to cater for vegos, but I think vegans or coeliacs would have a tough time of it. It's cash only, BYO (no corkage) and heaving with people - you'd be well advised to book ahead.

First up was this mixed plate of grilled veggies, olives and pickles. We picked happily at it while enjoying the excellent wine that our friends supplied.

Then came this combination of fresh figs, chives, dill, mint and parsley with goats curd and a fig balsamic vinegar.

This was probably the dish where the seasonal, fresh produce ethos of Alfio's shone through the most impressively - the figs were sublime, and were perfectly accompanied by the creamy cheese and fresh herbs. 

Next up: grilled smoky eggplant with lemon juice, garlic and herbs, served with sourdough that had been smeared with more garlic.

We all politely shared out equal portions of this, but inside I assume everyone had the same urge that I did: to just grab the plate and shovel all of this into my mouth. Somehow we all resisted.

Perhaps seeing that civilisation was about to crumble, the restaurant served up individual plates for our next dish: freshly made ravioli filled with ricotta and served with cherry tomatoes, peas, basil and olive oil. Simple, but effective.

The final savoury course was roast broccoli with white beans, hazelnuts and a generous amount of grated parmigiana cheese.

Again, this isn't an overly complicated dish, but the ingredients and execution were just spot on. There are a couple of shared plates in the background here as well - a pepper ratatouille and a sugar snap pea and almond combo, both of which hit the spot nicely.

The final course was dessert: some lightly poached peaches with a rosemary cookie crumble and ricotta panacotta.

This was a stunner - up there with the figs for best dish of the night.

Alfio's is a very impressive undertaking - for $50 a head you get an amazingly generous meal, loaded up with ingredients that burst with flavour, combined thoughtfully and prepared perfectly. There only real downside is the noise - the place is popular and not designed with acoustics in mind, so you'll find yourself yelling most of the night. That grumble aside, Alfio's promises a fun and affordable night of great food - get in before they wind it up and move on to the next project.

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the unbearable lightness of being hungry, Dear Asparagus and Does My Bomb Look Big in This? all have rave reviews for Alfio's.

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Alfio's
71 Renwick St, Leichhardt
02 9560 2447
menu changes daily - $50 for 4+ courses
http://www.alfios.com.au/

Accessibility: There's a step up on entry into a dimly lit, fairly crowded interior. It's full table service. The toilets were gendered and narrow.

June 19, 2011: Little Deer Tracks

Update 15/06/2023: Little Deer Tracks is now closed.

Coburg's bringing the cute cafe culture! ElegantGourmand kindly pinged us when he dined at newly opened Little Deer Tracks, north of Bell St. Though I didn't care for the twee name, I wasn't going to turn my nose up at an all-vegetarian cafe. Michael and I took to the Upfield bike path the following weekend to check it out.

Italian-style restaurants are rarely places to excite vegetarians (pasta in napoli sauce or risotto with suspiciously-sourced stock, anyone?) but this menu has plenty of "ooh, I want that!" options - crumbed and fried fennel with lemon aioli, a warm beetroot salad, eggplant balls, even the standard risotto looks good! (It's made with broad beans and saffron.) Impressively, all the cheese is rennet free. On the face of it there's not a lot for vegans, but the kitchen will adapt a number of items on request... and they've got vegan lamingtons in the cake display, so there's that. I think there's been a lot more vegan interest than they expected on opening so hopefully the range will only improve over time.

The other pleasant surprise was that The Quince Poacher spotted us and said hi! She's one smart cookie, posting her thorough review in advance of The Age's coverage.

I tried the gnocchi with Red Hill blue goats cheese, rocket and walnuts ($17.50) from the specials board. When it arrived, I thought it looked pretty gluggy. Happily it was not - the gnocchi pieces were quite light and held together just enough, the cheese had that bit of bite, and the walnuts provided some crunch. Even if it wasn't gluggy, it was enormously rich. I would have been a happier luncher if I'd had, say half or two-thirds the quantity of gnocchi with a big handful of peppery rocket on the side. But it's not the done thing, is it?

Michael had the less-typically-Italian black bean pie with mash and broccoli salad (aka steamed broccoli, $14.50 all up). This got two thumbs up - excellent pastry with a good meaty filling and simple sides that complemented the feature food well.

The staff were very friendly and informative, even chatty. They've got everything to be cheery about - this is a very pleasant eatery, in a neighbourhood with an increasing demand for such things, offering a vegetarian menu that will appeal to many omnivores besides. We'll certainly be back, in cycle-friendly weather.

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Little Deer Tracks has already been reviewed by The Quince Poacher.

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Little Deer Tracks
44 O'Hea St, Coburg
9354 3449
veg lunches $7.50-17.50

Accessibility: This cafe has a flat wide entrance. The furniture's a little crowded up front but there's more space behind the counter (and I think enough room to get, say, a wheelchair or pram through). Service is all at the table. ETA 15/01/2011: see Marilyn's further comments below regarding accessibility - looks good!

July 4, 2009: Cheesy arancini with lemon mayonnaise

The next wintery recipe submitted to our giveaway turned up as an email rather than a comment - Megan sent us arancini with lemon mayonnaise. Stuffed with butter and two kinds of cheese, deep-fried and topped with that mayo, they provide immense short-term pleasure while probably taking a year or two off your life. In a bid to counteract the richness, I served them up with sauteed rainbow chard (so pretty! and not actually bitter!) and whole portobello mushrooms.

When I read that I'd be stuffing these risotto balls with cheese, crumbing and deep-frying them, I was prepared for trouble. This is exactly the kind of food I prefer to order from a cafe than cook for myself. I was astounded at how easily it all came together - the rice balls actually held their shape, and though the crumbing stages were messy, my arancini continued to hold their own in the bubbling oil. Nevertheless, they do take some effort - you'll need time and patience to pull these off unscathed.

It was actually the mayonnaise making, which I've done before, where I came unstuck. It just would. Not. EMULSIFY. I've previously learned that this can be a problem in humid conditions (see: the Potato Salad Incident of the Cairns Christmas in '06) but it seems unlikely to have been my problem here in dreary dry Melbourne. After some whinging and foot-stomping and declining Michael's suggestion that we "just use it as it is", I was about to dispose of my 'mayonnaise' when Michael suggested adding some cornflour. It seemed crazy and unlikely but why not try if it's getting tossed out anyway? A pinch of cornflour into the food processor did actually thicken up this mess of a mayonnaise, and we went ahead and poured it over the arancini. With a very acidic edge, it had just the flavour (if not texture) to complement that gooey, cheesy centre.

Pssst - if you're vegan and have made it this far through the post, have we got a reward for you! Coming very soon are recipes from a recent vegan dinner party, in three delicious installments.


Arancini with lemon mayonnaise

(halved and adapted slightly from a recipe sent by Megan, though it also appears on cuisine.com.au)

mayonnaise:
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and white pepper
dash of cayenne
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons boiling water

arancini:
400mL vegetable stock
150g arborio rice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
150g parmesan
50g mozzarella
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
30g butter
1/4 cup plain flour
1 egg white
100g breadcrumbs
oil for deep-frying

In a food processor, thoroughly blend together the egg yolk, mustard, salt, pepper and cayenne. With the blade still going, slowly pour in the oil, cross your fingers, and hopefully the mayonnaise will thicken. Add a pinch of cornflour if you are absolutely desperate. Blend in the lemon juice and boiling water, then refrigerate the mayonnaise.

Bring the stock to the boil in a medium saucepan, then add the rice, salt and pepper. Bring it all back up to the boil, then simmer the lot for 15 minutes. Set it aside to cool.

Grate half of the parmesan, then stir it and the parsley through the cooled rice.

Slice the remaining parmesan, mozzarella and butter into 8 cubes each. Lightly squish one parmesan, one mozzarella and one butter cube together. Spoon out roughly an eighth of the rice mixture and form it into a ball around the cheese glob. Put it on a plate and and repeat the process to make 7 more arancini.

Set the flour, egg white and breadcrumbs out in shallow bowls. Dredge the balls in turn through the flour, then the egg white, then the breadcrumbs.

Heat the vegetable oil at least an inch deep in a saucepan. Deep-fry the arancini in small batches until golden, shifting them around with tongs for even cooking. Rest them on absorbent paper until they're all ready.

Serve the arancini with the lemon mayonnaise poured over or on the side as a dipping sauce.

July 2, 2009: Red wine lentils on polenta

Once we'd tried the giveaway-winning soup I decided to start trialling entries from the top with Elizabeth Bennet's red wine lentils. Not only are they winter-appropriate, but she explained that they're especially fitting for the shift from June to July: "Italians eat lentils and sausages (or cotechino) on New Year's Eve to bring luck and money in the coming year. Since it's nearing the end of the Financial Year, why not try it to ensure riches come tax refund time?"

Liz didn't leave a precisely measured recipe so I'm not sure how close this rendition is to hers. I couldn't track down fresh sage and crushed up some dry leaves instead, and this seemed to work out fine. Though I think Liz meant for us to plonk several sausages on top of the lentils, we were down to our last two home-made sausages in the freezer so I chopped them up and stirred them into the saucy lentils. And as for the sauce itself, it was lovely though I'd be tempted to reduce the volume of stock next time. Regardless, it soaks gorgeously into the cheesy polenta.

Red wine lentils on polenta
(based on directions from Elizabeth Bennet)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2-3 sticks of celery
2 x 400g cans lentils, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 cups 'beef' stock (I'll use less next time)
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves, crushed
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
2 large vege sausages
1L water
1 cup polenta
3/4 cup parmesan, grated

Bring the oil to medium heat in a frypan, then saute the onion and garlic in it for 2 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and saute for a further 5 minutes. Stir through the lentils, wine, stock and herbs and simmer the lot until the lentils are tender and the sauce has reduced a little.

Pop the sausages under the grill, turning them once or twice, until they're crisp on the outside but still tender in the middle. Slice them into generous chunks and add them to the simmering lentils.

Bring the litre of water to the boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in the polenta, ensuring there are no lumps. Reduce the heat and continue whisking the polenta for 10 minutes. Remove the polenta from the heat, stir through the parmesan and allow the polenta to stand for 5 minutes.

Season the lentils and polenta to taste. Scoop polenta mounds onto plates and top them with the red wine lentils, garnishing with a few extra parsley leaves.

April 6, 2009: Tempeh lasagne

When I first suggested lasagne for dinner recently, Cindy plied me with more options than I could begin to take in. I opted for the first on the list, the eggplant lasagne rolls, but I had my eye on the tempeh lasagne that Anni and Heikki over at Tofu for Two raved about. It's a different beast to the eggplant rolls, going for a much meatier and more traditional filling. The tempeh soaks up the salty and smoky flavours from the soy sauce and liquid smoke and, by the time it's all been mushed together with onions, garlic, tomatoe sauce and basil, you've got yourself a filling that would satisfy even the meatiest meat-eater. The vegan version of the white sauce was also a success, with the nutritional yeast and lemon juice giving a bit of flavour to an otherwise fairly plain nut-based mush.

Between the white-sauce and the filling, there's a fair bit of work involved (it helped that we had some tomato sauce leftover from the eggplant rolls), and if I were doing it again, I'd probably up the tempeh filling a bit and cut down the amount of white sauce. Still, this was another astounding success, and satisfied us both for days of delicious lunches. So within two weeks we've gone from having no particularly exciting lasagne recipes to having cooked up two of the most deliciously satisfying lasagne recipes known to man. And they're both vegan! I'm still trying to decide which one is my favourite - we'll have to make them both again to help me choose.

Tempeh Lasagne with Cashew Cream Sauce

250g lasagne sheets

The tempeh filling
2 cups tomato sauce (we still had some of this left from last time)
2 finely chopped onions
200g tempeh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Chop the tempeh into tiny little mince-sized cubes and then heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the cubes for around ten minutes - they should start turning golden brown.

Add in the soy sauce and liquid smoke and fry until the liquid has either been soaked up by the tempeh or has evaporated.

Take the tempeh out of the pan and use it to fry up the onions for ten or fifteen minutes - until they're completely soft and delicious. Add in the basil, the tomato sauce and the seasonings and simmer for as long as it takes you to make the cashew cream sauce. Once you're almost ready to build your lasagne you can throw the tempeh back in and stir it through the tomato sauce mix.

Cashew cream sauce

3 tablespoons nuttelex
1/4 cup flour
1 cup cashews and 100ml oat milk
900 ml oat milk
1/3 - 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt

Blend up the cashews with the 100ml of oat milk in a food processor to get a thick paste.

Melt the nuttlex in a saucepan over medium heat and then add the flour, whisking it through the butter. Fry for a few minutes, whisking almost constantly and then gradually add the rest of the oat milk while whisking to keep everything as smooth as possible.

Once all the oat milk is in the saucepan, bring the mix to the boil and simmer for ten minutes or so - until it all starts to thicken up a bit. When it's almost as thick as you want it, add in the pre-ground cashew cream and the yeast flakes and stir everthing together well. Simmer for another five minutes or so and then finish things off with the pepper, lemon juice and salt.

To create your actual lasagne, layer up the two sauces with lasagne sheets - we went with a fairly ad hoc ordering - I think the main thing is to put some of the tempeh mix on the very bottom and to finish things up with the cashew sauce on top. As I said earlier, I'd rejig this slightly next time so that we have more of the tempeh and a bit less cashew cream - we were spreading the tempeh pretty thin by the time we were on our last layer.

Once it's all assembled, bake in a 200 degree oven for about half an hour - until the top layer browns nicely.

April 1, 2009: Eggplant lasagne rolls

When it comes to food, Cindy and I are hopeless pre-planners. So most work-days at around midday we'll start an email exchange about 1) what's for dinner and 2) who's going to buy which ingredients on their way home. On Wednesday I started things off with a vague suggestion that we try some sort of lasagne. In about fifteen minutes Cindy had fired back an email with links to no less than seven lasagne options. After much pondering, I settled on this one from VeganYumYum, at least in part due to Pip's ringing endorsement.

It's hard to overstate how great this meal is - the pine nut paste that coats each lasagne sheet is stunning - its rich flavours really permeate each little roll. We opted for the standard eggplant filling, but there are countless ways you could tweak the basic idea (I'm keen to up the vegie quotient with some mushies and maybe pumpkin next time). There's a fair bit of work in the recipe, but none of it is very difficult and if you're vaguely organised you won't panic and end up with pasta sheets sticking irrevocably together. Still, minor mishaps aside, this was our second outstanding home-cooked meal for the week. After a few weeks of laziness I'm feeling really reenthused about this cooking lark now.

Normally I'd just link to Lolo's recipe and trust that it will be there forever, but with something this good I'm taking no chances:


Eggplant lasagne rolls

6 sheets of lasagne
1 large eggplant
olive oil
salt
pepper
2 cups tomatoey sauce (we used this one)
1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup pine nuts
1 tbs water
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1/2 tsp salt

Peel the eggplant and slice it into long skinny strips and then sprinkle the slices generously with salt and pepper.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant strips until well-browned. You'll need to do this in a few batches, and the eggplant will soak up the oil each time, so you end up using a fairly substantial amount of oil. Trust me, it's worth it - you get deliciously tender eggplant strips at the end of it all. Besides, olive oil is good for you, right?

In the same pan, toast the pine-nuts until they brown (but be careful - they go from nicely toasted to burned in no time).

Stick the pine nuts in a food processor and grind them up. Throw in the water, lemon juice, dried Italian herbs and salt into the food processor and process them into a delicious paste.

Now you've got your key ingredients together, quickly cook the lasagne sheets in boiling water until al dente and then lay the strips out on a baking tray or chopping board.

Now it's assembly time: smear each lasagne sheet with a teaspoon or so of the pine nut paste, pile on a few of the eggplant strips and then loosely roll the sheets up.

Place the rolled sheets in a baking dish, pour the tomato sauce over, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and then bake for around twenty minutes - until the breadcrumbs look like lightly browned parmesan.

October 27, 2008: Baked zucchini and 'bacon' risotto

Safeway in Carlton has stopped selling a whole bunch of fake-meat products, so when Cindy stops by Allergy Block for something, she inevitably walks out with armfuls of ridiculous soy products. This week it was fake bacon, and she already had a meal in mind - a baked zucchini risotto with bacon on top thanks to Patricia at Technicolor Kitchen. The idea of a baked risotto suits my lazy cooking style perfectly - all the non-stop stirring required for a standard risotto means I can't wander aimlessly around the loungeroom while dinner's on (or that I can, but dinner ends up ruined). This is much easier: mix everything in a baking dish, bake, stir and serve.

Now I'm no risotto purist, but this came out as well as any stove-top stir-a-thon risotto that we've tried to make before - the grain's stocky and tender, the zucchini flavour spread deliciously throughout and the salty fake bacon strips adding a bit of texture on top. The whole dish was maybe a little on the salty side, but that's probably down to our lazy powdered stock as much as anything else. For an easy and delicious pile of comfort food, this is a weeknight winner.

Baked zucchini and bacon risotto
(a vegged up version of Technicolor Kitchen's recipe)

2 cups arborio rice
5 cups vegie stock
60g butter
500g zucchini, chopped into little half-moons
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1-2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt and pepper
145g soy bacon rashers

Preheat the oven to around 200 degrees.

Mix together the rice, stock, butter and zucchini in a baking dish, cover and bake for around half an hour. The risotto mix comes out of the oven quite liquidy, but thickens up pretty quickly once the cheese is stirred in and it starts to cool a tiny bit.

Add the parmesan, salt, pepper and parsley and stir for a few minutes until everything starts to thicken up.

While the risotto is cooking fry up some thinly sliced strips of fake bacon to drape artistically across the clumps of risotto you dish up.

October 4, 2008: Brunetti XII

Update 27/1/2019: Brunetti is still trading, but has moved from Faraday Street into a huge custom-built space inside Lygon Court.

   

In their last hour before departing, we introduced Marie and Stephen to Brunetti. Not having yet lunched, Michael and I shared a foccacia patata. It was $5 very well spent - large and warm and bready with a hint of salt, rosemary and olive oil softness.

   

We didn't waste too much time before hitting the cake display. For Michael, there was a cherry Danish (~$4.50) and a coffee calling out. It tasted almost, though not quite, as good as it looks.

   

I fell for one of the fancy numbers - I didn't quite catch its name (it had such a soft, breathy voice amongst the din of sweets on show) but I think it's called Alcazari and goes for about $6. It starts with a thin but firm layer of flourless chocolate cake, then features a white chocolate mousse with caramelised almonds and a couple of dark chocolate flourishes. The mousse is really quite impressive; while other delicacies deteriorate from kitchen to plate under the Brunetti model, it retains a featherlight texture with its richness. It's probably a bit more than you or I should try to handle on our own, so bring a friend for this one.

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Why yes, this is the twelfth time we've blogged Brunetti. You can read all of our accounts here.

September 9, 2008: I Carusi II

   

I arrived home in time for dinner on Tuesday night, though not really in time to shop and cook for it. Thus, Michael and I headed to I Carusi for pizza - given the freezing drizzle that Melbourne 'welcomed' me with, I needed a reminder of the finer things this city has to offer.

I Carusi's looking a little slicker out front than last time (professionally painted signage!*), though their MO remains unchanged - high quality mid-price pizzas and accoutrements. Michael generously allowed me to choose the two pizzas we'd share, and I tried to reciprocate by picking some toppings I knew he'd particularly like. Up top there is the Broccoli ($13): "in bianco, fior di latte, broccoli, lemon, chilli & parmeggiano". The freshness of the ingredients made it great, though the uneven distribution of the chilli created a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

   

This is the No. 26 ($13.50): "gorgonzola, sauteed leeks, fior di latte, in bianco". So rich, soooo good. I am starting to get the hang of these pungent cheeses! The only disappointment was a slightly burnt crust - the ugly shadows my photography cast do not account for all of that darkness around the edges!

   

I probably wouldn't be subjecting you to these terrible photos at all, except that this time I ordered dessert. This is the dark chocolate and strawberry dessert pizza ($12). I'm generally a little wary of dessert pizzas - a chewy, bready crust is no match for some buttery pastry as far as I'm concerned. But I Carusi did it well. Fresh from the oven, the base was soft and not too thick or rich - a fine vessel for the dominating gooey molten chocolate.

*Edit 21/09/08: Actually, the signage probably isn't new at all - I just caught sight of it in full daylight and it's as cutely uneven as ever.

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You can read about our previous visit to I Carusi here.

May 10, 2008: Cafe Italia

Update 27/1/2019: Cafe Italia is permanently closed.

On Saturday night we had a spontaneous meet-up with my aunt Carol and family friend Jens for dinner and a movie. We floated Thai, Vietnamese and Indian as options, but Jens had a hearty appetite and a preference for Italian so I suggested we try to get a table at Cafe Italia. Set in a laneway away from the spruikers on Lygon St, it still has no trouble attracting diners through its closed doors. In summer the open courtyard is delightful and in winter the same area is snugly closed up, housing just as many people.

Cafe Italia's menu is adequate for vegetarians if not inspiring. There's bruschetta or dips to start, plenty of side dishes, four pasta plates and a pizza on offer. Disappointingly the mushroom risotto is made with non-vegetarian stock, but the waitstaff are clued up enough to know that kind of thing. (On a previous visit a waiter offered, without any provocation from me, to find out what kind of stock was in the soup of the day. I was impressed.)

We concentrated on the main courses but it took very little coaxing from our waiter to have us start with a pizza aglio (sliced garlic, sea salt, rosemary and olive oil, $6.50). It was the perfect portion to share amongst the four of us; so hot and fresh and salty, leaving me appetised and keen for the next round.

Michael ordered the agnolotti (jumbo spinach ricotta pasta with napoli sauce and shaved parmesan, $19.50). While he enjoyed it, he was disappointed that it didn't quite fill him (and at that price). Before I was half way through Michael was already casting scheming eyes over my plate!

It was full of fettucine pesto (fresh basil, pine nuts, a touch of cream and cheese, $17.50). While it was a bit oily, I couldn't get over the soft tenderness of the pasta - one of the best I've ever eaten. (Between my meals here and at the Corner, I may have to rethink my skepticism of restaurant-prepared pasta.) Even so, I didn't mind sharing a bit with Michael since it left open the possibility of dessert.

In particular I'd heard good things about Cafe Italia's tiramisu ($10.50) and bullied Carol into sharing a piece with me. It was the real deal, and the ideal pick-me-up before embarking on our late movie session.

I wouldn't strongly recommend Cafe Italia to an adventurous vegetarian, particularly given that Shakahari is only a short walk away. The menu doesn't offer any surprises and the prices are a little steep. Yet the food and surrounds are a world of quality away from the Lygon St hussle. It's a pleasure to share it with carnivorous company.

Address: 56-66 University St, Carlton
Ph: 9347 0638
Fully licensed
Prices: veg mains $16.90-19.50
Website: www.cafeitalia.com.au

March 26-30, 2008: Queensland cuisine

It's been about six months since we last visited Queensland and I felt a little tug to return, so we set aside 5 days at the end of March to visit as many of our family and friends as we could.

We began on the Sunshine Coast on Monday and were comforted with the home cooking of Michael's mum Robyn: tea and fruit cake shared with Nan and two uncles, then miniature pies filled with pumpkin, pine nuts and feta for dinner.

Thursday was my mum's birthday, to be celebrated at my childhood home of Redcliffe. Dining in the outer suburbs has come a long way since Sizzler! There's now a lovely Italian restaurant on the foreshore, where I gobbled up gnocchi in sage butter. Then, wonder of wonders, a new Indian takeaway and grocery just metres away! Frozen flaky breads, shiny serving dishes, discounted DVDs, and a few ground spices I haven't even been able to locate in inner Melbourne. I hope Redcliffe's ready for them.

On Friday afternoon we moved on to Brisbane and amused ourselves for a few hours while everyone we knew finished their working week. The city's exclusive Andy Warhol exhibition was worth a look, and then we revisited our old haunts around West End. Past two of my former homes, fondly remembered restaurants, the video shop I loved, noting which businesses along the main street were new and what they had replaced. We finished the evening with an exquisite Turkish feast and wine; catching up with my dad, his wife Anne, and a childhood friend I hadn't seen for almost eight years.

The consumption climax was Saturday night, a cocktail party in celebration of L's birthday. With her partner S, sister L2 and a few other friends, we shook and stirred our way through Bellinitinis, Moscow Mules, Mimis, Sex On The Beach, White Russians and Chocolate Martinis. As we slept them off, the resident possum helped himself to the plate of cocoa left outside and added his own garnish to the cocktail book.

By Sunday morning, we could do little more than drag ourselves to the Little Larder for nourishment. I bypassed the naughty banana bread with cinnamon yoghurt for the sunny shades of avocado, tomato, wholemeal toast and an ocean of juice - the same zesty combination offered at Tom Phat. I was revived, though only just enough to propel me to an inflight nap.

Melbourne sure feels like home, but Queensland's got a lot more than nostalgia to recommend it. I knew how many people were worth going back for but the food took me by surprise!

February 29, 2008: Oyster Little Bourke

Update 31/12/2014: Oyster Little Bourke was rejigged into a new restaurant Mezzo Bar & Grill in 2010.

Thanks to Jo-Lyn's enthusiasm, this year we took advantage of the Food & Wine Festival's Restaurant Express. For the duration of the festival, many of the city's top restaurants offer a two-course lunch with a glass of wine for only $30 per person! I was most pleased to read on the website that every one of these set menus would include a vegetarian option. This promise was backed up by Oyster's staff when Jo-Lyn phoned to make our reservation there. Melbourne Foodie Jon! thoroughly enjoyed the more carnivorous end of Oyster's set menu earlier in the week so we entered with some anticipation.

When Michael, Jo-Lyn, Mike and I arrived at our table the day's lunch special options were already printed and set out for our perusal. All of the entrees and mains involved meat but, as he placed our napkins on our laps with a flourish, the front-of-house manager assured us that there was a vegetarian risotto available to us, incorporating gorgonzola and caramelised almonds - yummo! I had seen the "gorgonzola dolce risotto, caramelized almonds, grape vincotto" on their online a la carte menu and was looking forward to it.

However, the waiter who took our order was less confident. When Michael requested the vegetarian option he responded, "So that's the fish, then?" Uh, no. Michael wanted the vegetarian risotto, and so did I. And this is what we got...

It was filling, and it was quite tasty. But there was no gorgonzola or caramelised almond about it, so we were both a bit disappointed. On the other side of the table, Jo-Lyn was relishing her gnocchi with some kind of meat ragout and fish-skeptic Mike was impressed by the piscean option.

Next up was dessert for Mike, Michael and I. However, Jo-Lyn had ordered an entree and a main for her two courses and it was strange to see her digging into an enormous pork chop while the two Michaels were presented with their cute little copper pots of tiramisu. This dessert was the highlight of the meal, one of the best renditions I've tasted.

I had the trio of sorbets - chocolate, vanilla and raspberry. They were... just good, y'know? On a par with what I'd buy from a gelateria on Lygon St.

It was great to experience one of Melbourne's swankier restaurants at a budget price, but it should come as little surprise that a restaurant named Oyster has an inconsistent ability to cater to vegetarians. While the tiramisu was memorable, I don't think I'll be pulling my wallet out for the full a la carte treatment any time soon.

Address: 35 Little Bourke St, Melbourne CBD
Ph: 9650 0988
Fully licensed
Price: lunchtime festival special $30
Website: www.oysterlittlebourke.com.au

February 14, 2008: Vege2Go

Update 27/1/2019: Vege2Go is now trading as a seller of pre-made meals and snacks rather than as a restaurant or cafe.

Vege2go opened in Brunswick less than a fortnight ago with a disproportionate amount of internet buzz. Their shiny website, myspace and Facebook presence (?!), and tendency to leave bloggers crazy-enthusiastic comments no doubt helped. Consequently they've already been reviewed by Kiki, UM and FoodieFi. We don't have a lot to add, but here's a few notes.

The Good:

• A bright, happy interior with all meals on display and incredibly friendly, helpful people who'll serve them to you.
• Fast and cheap - a full stomach will only cost you $10 and 5 minutes of waiting.
• It's the most nutritious-looking fast food I've seen in yonks - a rainbow of beautiful salads and no glistening oil in the hotbox.
• Pesto mushrooms.
• All vegetarian, with a number of gluten-free and vegan options.
• Pesto mushrooms.
• Did I mention the pesto mushrooms?

The Bad:

• Foods that have been loitering in a display case inevitably don't have the greatest texture. For example, my calzone was reheated in a sandwich press and as a result had a hard, chewy crust.
• The flourless chocolate cake really lacked flavour. What was all that brown, if not cocoa?

The Ugly:

• While Vege2go touts its dedication to vegetarianism and the contribution this makes to sustainability, we had to rely on plastic cutlery even while eating in. (We got real plates, though, and a real fork for dessert - weird, huh?) This also necessitated a hands-on approach to devouring the calzone.

Vege2go offers the kind of food we like to make at home, and I think we'll be better off continuing to make it at home. However it's an excellent alternative the multitude of fast foods out there and on that basis I'm hoping they'll make a killing (erm, so to speak).

Address: 452 Lygon St, Brunswick East
Ph: 9384 6200
Unlicensed
Price: vege meal $8.95-$13.95
Website: www.vege2go.com.au

November 3, 2007: Asparagus ravioli

Another Saturday morning market meant I couldn't resist the lure of cheap organic asparagus, and Fiber (of 28 Cooks) had just the task for it: filling ravioli. The filling is bulked up with protein-rich tofu, has its flavour filled out with grated cheese, and gets that spring sass from, you guessed it, lemon zest. Only I subbed out the lemon zest for finely chopped preserved lemons.

I was planning to use Heidi's tomato sauce recipe over these ravioli but the markets provided an alternative: 4P Organics pasta sauce. My enormous $10 jar of the roasted vege variety was sweet, thick and chunky.

Fiber's recipe makes use of wonton wrappers to make reasonably large ravioli, and I wasn't a big fan of them. I found it incredibly difficult to push all the air out as I sealed them, creating chaotic shapes when I boiled the critters. Then there's that sloppy, kinda slimy texture they have. Not my thing, but Michael loved them. I was happier with my second strategy on the leftovers: stuffing the filling into cannelloni tubes, pouring over the sauce and some cheese, then baking the lot. It's a fine filling for a cool spring night.

For the recipe, head on over to 28 Cooks.

February 8, 2007: Asparagus and fennel risotto

After the fun of the markets, it was back to home-cooked food on Thursday night. With some leftover risotto required for Cindy's Friday night soup plans, we scanned our various recipe books for something delicious sounding. Ken Charney came through with the goods, with an asparagus and fennel concoction. It's nothing too complicated, but the combination of fennel, asparagus and the bite of chilli and pepper made for an enjoyable meal. I've still yet to completely master the risotto cooking technique, meaning the rice ended up a tiny bit crunchier than is ideal, but this still turned out quite successfully.

Asparagus and fennel risotto
1 litre vegetable stock
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped finely
300g asparagus, stemmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 red chilli, chopped finely (with gloves on, if necessary)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper

Heat the stock in a medium saucepan until it's simmering nicely.

In a bigger saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and fry the onion and fennel for about 5 minutes, until they're soft.

Add the asparagus and cook for another minute or two and then add in the sugar, the chilli and the rice. Stir everything together and raise the heat a little and ladle in about a cup of stock, which should resume simmering almost immediately.

Stir everything together, and keep stirring while the stock simmers away. Once the stock is absorbed, add in another 1/2 cup and keep stirring. Repeat this process until you're almost out of stock. Add in a generous amount of salt and pepper and keep stirring.

Once the last bit of stock has been absorbed, remove the risotto from the heat and stir through the cheese and another dash of pepper if you're feeling adventurous. Serve it up with a pile of salad and a glass of wine.

January 30, 2007: Penne with roasted eggplant, peppers and parmesan cheese

A quick scan of the pasta section of The Bold Vegetarain Cookbook on Tuesday morning turned up this fairly delicious sounding recipe. Cindy and I aren't averse to eating eggplant, but I don't think we'd ever roasted it before and that, along with the promise of pine nuts and cheese, was enough to make this recipe our meal for the night. Of course I didn't really read the recipe in the morning and so I was a little surprised that it all took so long to prepare. Luckily, it was mostly worth it, with the blended eggplant and capsicum sauce and the fresh oregano making for a tasty meal - of course if I'd remembered to tip the toasted pine nuts into the mix, it would probably have been even better.

Penne with roasted eggplant, peppers and feta cheese*
*we replaced the feta with parmesan, mainly because we had a good sized chunk of parmesan in the fridge, but I think it was probably a better flavour to combine with the other ingredients anyway.

500g eggplant (I used 3 smallish eggplants, but I've no idea how much they weighed)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 roasted red capsicums
300g penne
1/4 cup crumbled parmesan
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh oregano
fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

The first, and most time-consuming, step is to roast the eggplants. Pre-heat the oven to about 200 degrees and pierce each eggplant a few times. Place the eggplants on an oven tray and stick them in the oven, turning occasionally. After about an hour the eggplant should be very soft - it will basically collapse if you give it a gentle squeeze. At this point, it's done. Take the eggplants out and let them cool.

In the meantime, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until they're lightly browned. When they're done, set them aside somewhere, but don't forget all about them.

In the frying pan, cook the onion and garlic in half of the olive oil for about five minutes, until it's lightly browned.

By now, the eggplants should have cooled, so you can cut them in half and scoop out the delicious innards (the cookbook, strangely, calls this 'the meat').

Combine the eggplant innards, the peppers, the onion and garlic and the rest of the olive oil in a food processor. Just pulse them a few times, you don't want a completely smooth paste, rather a nice chunky consistency.

At this point it's pasta cooking time - everyone probably has their own methods for cooking pasta, so I'm not going to be too specific. If you like salt or oil in your boiling water, then go right ahead. When the pasta is almost ready, gently reheat the chunky sauce in a frypan or saucepan. Once the pasta is done, drain it in a colander and combine it with the sauce. Stir in the cheese and oregano, season with salt and pepper and top with a splash of the lemon juice.