Woolworths clearly weren't satisfied with selling imported "artisan" bread all the way from the other side of the Pacific, but also have a diverse range of pastries from Europe. They've been selling them for at least a few months, but I've been slow to write about it.
Confessions of a Rice Bubbles (Rice Krispies) addict
Everyone who knows me well enough to welcome me into their home on my travels knows that I eat one thing for breakfast. It verges on religion. If I stray from the one true breakfast, I am punished with bad moods and heavy stomach (or growling hunger). What's more, perhaps unusually for something so mundane, I'm quite faithful to one brand…
Book discounts aren't always a bargain
Book prices have received a lot of attention in the media in recent weeks as the Productivity Commission returned its recommendations on parallel importation rules, alleged to cause high book prices in Australia. Regardless of your feelings about the issue, it's worth noting that those high book prices are being exacerbated by the very chains that claim all restrictions should be removed.
Airline food before you take off
I'm sitting in the Qantas Business Lounge at Melbourne Airport. The food is designed to prepare you for the inflight experience. Actually, I think the food on my flight might end up being better.
Fresh yeast bulletin
For the bakers among you, I have news of fresh yeast. Coles supermarkets are stocking fresh yeast again after a hiatus of three or four years.
TASTY PRESERVES
Review: The Press Club, Melbourne
Strange. I'm dining fine in Australia, yet the menu isn't French, Italian or Mod-Oz. Some of the staff and chefs speak a cuisine-appropriate language, but are most likely home-grown. The cuisine is usually regarded as meat-heavy and conservative. George Calombaris's very modern food successfully marries cutting edge with Hellenic tradition at The Press Club. It's hard to...
Read more Tue 19 Feb, 2008Review: Interlude Restaurant, Melbourne
What do you do when you find dinner too enjoyable? How is an irritable, jinxed diner like me to cope with a meal which delivers no disappointments and offers barely a scrap to quibble about? I felt embarrassed at how effusive I was. I sat through the meal thinking of all the people I needed to tell. I was dining at one of Melbourne's most avant garde restaurants, Interlude.
Read more Sun 14 Oct, 2007Vanilla slices – glorious, perhaps mundane, quite mysterious

The vanilla slice is one of those standard, humble Australian bakery items that qualifies as "good old" for its longevity and as "humble" because of its modest level of finesse. But there are mysteries in all this (and questions for readers...
Read more Tue 30 Aug, 2011Beprickled stinkpots: My only-moderately-helpful guide to durian

Imagine surviving thirteen nights of durian pong, collecting valuable fruit identification info from a durian seller, and then discovering you failed to write it all down for one's readers' pleasure! I bring you tales of stinkiness...
Read more Thu 04 Mar, 2010
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