Bellarine Peninsula – round up of newer (and newish) food & wine attractions

 

I concur

Why go: With its sparking beaches, charming seaside towns and an acclaimed – and rapidly expanding - network of wineries, restaurants, cafes and farmgates – the Bellarine is a gourmet destination on the rise. With several interesting new places recently opening their doors, there’s even more reason to visit.

How to get there: A 90 minute drive from Melbourne, travelling via the Westgate freeway towards Geelong, which is considered the gateway to the region. Get there by public transport by taking the VLine train to Geelong (less than 60 min trip with trains every hour) followed by the McHarry’s connecting bus service to the main Bellarine towns of Queenscliff, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Leopold, Portarlington, Clifton Springs and Drysdale.

About the Bellarine

A picturesque coastal region located 90 minutes from Melbourne, the Bellarine Peninsula has traditonally been a popular destination with Melbourne families who flood the holiday parks, hotels and rental houses every summer.

Barwon heads bait shop - ahoy me hearty!

With an increasing number of high profile awards and accolades for its outstanding food and wine offerings, combined with several new businesses opening their doors, the region is becoming the shortbreak destination for an entirely new type of traveller: the foodie.

The most high profile newcomer putting the area on the map is Loam restaurant. Open a couple of years, Loam’s winning combination of superior service, an innovative culinary style and a low food miles philosophy that champions local producers, has seen it attract raves from just about every important food critic and publication in the country including being listed in Gourmet Traveller’s 2012 Top 100 restaurants in Australia (check out this great review from the GT website) as well as being named Regional Restaurant of the Year in the 2012 Age Good Food Guide. With the restaurant having such a strong focus on the bounty of the local area,  after eating there you will almost certainly want to go out and explore the region - and there is a lot to see. I’d suggest picking up copy of the Bellarine Taste Trail from the local visitor information centre (you can also download it online), a touring guide and map which outlines the strong network of wineries, farmgates, restaurants, cafes, provedores, breweries, mussel producers and other culinary riches to be found in the region.

Here’s some of the other new/newish places I discovered during a recent visit:

El Poco Burrito (Barwon Heads)

This new Mexican restaurant was doing huge business the night I visited with my family on a sunny summer’s evening. It’s not hard to see why.With a series of tables at the front, a candle-lit interior (which sets the mood with Mexican icons, artefacts and imagery) and a cute beer garden out the back (complete with its own ‘cerverza shack’) – it has a distinct party atmosphere, boasting a riot of colour and decoration.

The interior sets a passionate mood with candles, Mexican icons and imagery.

Killer margaritas (I particularly recommend their signature frozen ones) and Mexican beer are on the drinks list and there’s a tasty food menu of burritos, salads, tacos, quesadillas, chilli and other south-of-the-border dishes. Kids (or ninos) have their own menu, and the portugese tarts  - not always listed on the menu so make sure you ask – are to die for.

The real surprise for us when we visited was their dessert special of baked sweet potato covered in cream and honey – a new flavour combination that is very ‘moreish’. Unfortunately we ate it so fast I didn’t get to take a photo in time…!

The service at El Poco Burrito was very accommodating to both kids and older people. I visited with two senior citizens, two children under 8 and they were well taken care of – the food arrived quickly and their request for the dishes to not be too spicy was kindly taken into account.

New cellar door & cafe at Yabby Lake winery (Mornington Peninsula)

During my visit to the Mornington Peninsula last month, I discovered that a new cellar door and cafe had just opened at Yabby Lake winery in Tuerong (just near Dromana).

Yabby Lake’s single vineyard wines (chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot gris are the main focus) have quite a reputation. They are stocked in some of the best restaurants in Melbourne, in Qantas Business Class and are they are also making serious inroads into the Chinese market. I discovered their wonderful pinot noir from a recommendation by the sommelier at Coda restaurant when I dined there a couple of years ago.

Set among bushland adjacent to the winery, the design of the new cellar door – decked out in warm earthy tones – is modern but inviting. There’s a small lounge (complete with fire place for winter) and retail area at one end, a smartly designed new wooden bar running through its length, and eyecatching spherical light fittings made from what looks like repurposed industrial wire.

Visitors can while away the hours on the bar stools, the small collection of tables indoors or on the outdoor deck overlooking the vines.

Wines available for tasting at the cellar door are Yabby Lake, Red Claw (another range produced by Yabby Lake) and wines from their sister winery Heathcote Estate.

The one page food menu has great potential to appeal to Melbourne’s inner city foodies. In an inspired move, the winery has engaged hip Asian fusion eatery Chin Chin to design a handful of dishes which, on the day we visited, included Thai red curry with braised beef short rib; organic soba noodle salad and Vietnamese shredded chicken salad. There’s also some appealing snacking options such as the charcuterie plate with house game terrine and a platter of some of the region’s finest locally made cheese from local artisan producers Red hill Cheese and Main Ridge Diary.

Blooming tea - the 'before' shot

Blooming tea - the 'after' shot.

Coffee is by Melbourne roaster Market Lane and they also feature the visually striking Blooming Tea range on their drinks list.  Blooming Tea is made from ‘bulb’ which is added into hot water and opens into a wonderful flower as the tea brews (my before and after shots to the left).

All in all, the Yabby Lake cellar door and cafe is a great new addition to the Mornington Peninsula’s food and wine offering and well worth a visit.

Useful information for visitors – Yabby Lake cellar door & cafe

Why visit: Culinary tourists wanting to get a sense of the great food and wine offerings out there in regional Victoria, the Mornington Peninsula region - which is less than 1 hour’s drive from Melbourne – is a great place to start. The region is known for its cool climate wines, particularly pinot noir, with Yabby Lake one of its most acclaimed producers. The new cellar door and cafe is a great starting point for an afternoon of wine tasting, especially for the time-poor, with two other outstanding wineries, Dromana Estate and Moorooduc Estate, only a few minutes away.

How to get there: Conveniently located a short detour off Moorooduc Highway near Dromana, the Yabby Lake cellar door (located at 86 -112 Tuerong Road, Tuerong) is an easy stop-off on the way down or back from most of the Peninsula’s key tourist areas including Red Hill, Sorrento, Portsea, Mornington and Flinders.

VISITOR GUIDE: The Casual Cyclist’s Guide (Melbourne)

The Casual Cyclist’s Guide (Melbourne)

What is it:  Whether you are a cyclist, a visitor or both, The Casual Cyclist’s Guide (Melbourne) the perfect companion for exploring Australia’s most bike-friendly city whether you are on the road or off it.

Why its a visitor must-have: It’s chatty, amusing and full of information both intriguing and unpredictable: tips, anecdotes, histories, unexpected and quirky facts and most notably , a series of beautifully crafted, highly original itineraries –  covering everything from art, architecture to foodie culture to vintage and vinyl shopping – with hand-designed maps and  stopping points described in loving detail.

Where to get it: Good book stores or buy online (paypal, free postage) from The Humble Vintage website. RRP $20.

About The Casual Cyclist’s Guide (Melbourne)

Designed for those who want to stop and savour their journey, The Casual Cyclist’s Guide is a rare combination of being both useful and great reading material.

The Casual Cyclist’s Guide began its life as a one-page publication produced and written by Matthew Hurst (its author) to complement his bike-for-rent business, The Humble Vintage, which specialised in the hire of vintage, retro and collectable models.

A freelance writer whose gigs include cult e-zine threethousand and Vogue Living magazine, Hurst bypassed using the normal electronic channels of communication and put it out his first newsletter the old fashioned way – on paper (shock!!).

Printed in an old style font with a visual look resembling a newspaper from the early 1900s, Melbourne for Visitors and Casual Cyclists (as it was first called) was affably written, hugely entertaining and contained a colossal amount of content improbably squeezed into its double-sided, multi-folded A3 format.

 

It was picked up by punters with lightening speed, prompting Hurst to begin publishing it regularly (approx one issue per quarter), and charging a modest price to cover his increased production costs.

The casual cyclist...as designed by illustrators Tin & Ed

Of course,  one double sided page was never going to be enough to contain the highly prolific flow of ideas coming out of Hurst. Thankfully, local publisher Hardie Grant recognised the potential, and signed him to write a full length book.

Some of the best itineraries from the original one-page guides are included here, as are the hand drawn maps (alongside some new exquisitely drawn llustratons from Tin & Ed and a stylish-but-uncomplicated design courtesy of Studio Pip & Co), but with many new routes provided by several other accomplished fellow cyclists including chefs, historians, art gallery owners and other writers.

Some of my favourite routes include:

• ‘The Art of the Opening’ – a ‘gallery crawl’ through exhibition openings (also known as the ‘Thursday night crawl’) complete with a list of what you should and shouldn’t say (‘where’s the bar?’) – written by threethousand editor, Age art critic and funny-girl-about-town Penny Modra
• ‘Hidden Heritage’ guides to some of the city’s lesser known historic buildings in the CBD written by noted National Trust and architecture historian Rohan Storey;
• ‘Foreign Sights in familiar places’ or, places in the Melborne CBD that look like a bit of London, Paris, Oman…
• ‘A progressive Italian Feast’ created by high profile Melbourne chef Guy Grossi, owner of restaurants Grossi Florentino, Mirka at Tolarno an Merchant (all of which get a mention here…funny that…)
• ‘In Search of Sake’ – a ride to several acclaimed Japanese venues in the city, includes notes on sake’s history and tasting characteristics
• ‘Boutique Beer Review’ – a beer lovers journey through Melbourne, taking in breweries, gastro pubs and specialist beer bars
• The Road to Sustainable Seafood Laksa – where to find the best Laksa ingredients in Footscray and beyond
• ‘Good Vinyl Hunting’ – a route through the better record shops both north and south of the Yarra river

and

• ‘Nightclubbing’ – self explanatory (“start: with a couple of drinks;   end: with ringing in your ears”)

Everything is better with a monkey..(this is another illustration from the book, cool huh??)

As hinted at by its front cover tagline, (routes, rides, rants and raves’), there’s also much to enjoy beside the cycling trails. Such as Caitlin Mark’s story about how she learned to ride a bike at age 36, why you should never look at yourself while wearing a helmet, what it’s really like to be a bike courier as well as a look at back at the different cycles throughout history (from the Boneshaker, one of the first two-wheeled riding machines, to the Penny Farthing and the development of the pneumatic tyre).

There’s also a lot of practical stuff for cyclists: road rules, roads to avoid and Melborne-specific road hazards (trams are not your friend); useful bike apps, organisations and websites.

CITY ATTRACTION

 The Nutcracker Projection at State Library (until Dec 25, Free)

What is it and why go? It’s an amazing christmas lights show. The Nutcracker Projection is a series of animated scenes from the children’s story The Nutcracker projected over the entire facade of Melbourne’s State Library of Victoria building.  It comes complete with the music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet.

When: 9pm – 12am, until Dec 25, 2011.

Where: 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne. A short tram ride from Flinders St / Fed Square along Swanston street

The City of Melbourne has amped up its pre-Christmas celebrations in the city centre this year and installed a series of beautiful decorations in various parts of the city – hidden in laneways, hanging off or projected onto major buildings and in shop windows. They even created a handy map so you can walk around and discover them all! The big walking point this year is huge, dazzling projections which at night are transforming two iconic city buildings – the State Library and the St Paul’s Cathedral (opposite Federation Square).

Nutcracker Projection at the State Library of Victoria  is the one everyone is talking about.

Here’s a couple of photos I took the other night to give you a taster. For more info about what is happening in the Melbourne CBD in the lead up to Christmas, click here.

All this and it moves...the Nutcracker projection at State Library, Swanston St

Toy Soldiers - Nutcracker projection at State Library, Swanston St

SHOP: TheSupercool – mobile emporium of artist-made and vintage objects

An updated version of the old style peddler – the nomadic vendors of goods that roamed America and Europe in days gone by – TheSupercool is a travelling purveyor of quirky, cool, and frequently one-of-a kind home wares, gifts and general ephemera, both vintage and new.

Among the vintage finds at The Supercool. Orange is so much cooler than black. Especially orange from the '70s..

Why go? if art, design, handmade objects and vintage are your thing, you should shop here! Highly creative grass-roots enterprises are something Melbourne is known for, and this a great example. There’s lots to buy that you won’t find elsewhere. Although its only for a short time in it’s current location, it will be reappearing elsewhere – keep posted of future locations via their website, facebook or twitter.

Getting there: Located at the back of Pope Joan Cafe (a great cafe in Brunswick, make sure you stay for an Allpress coffee or lunch – they specialise in locally sourced produce), its a 30 minute ride on 96 tram from bourke street to East Brunswick.

Describing itself as a  ‘mobile emporium of everyday objects’, TheSupercool is currently trading out of the back of Pope Joan cafe in Nicholson Street, East Brunswick, and will be there until Dec 21.

The stuff at The Supercool really is ...

If you are seeking an unusual gift for that annoying person in your life that has everything, there’s a good chance you’ll find it here – so go! Now!

In sourcing their stock, owners Kate Vandermeer and David Nunez (an Argentinian native)  took inspiration from observing how people merchandise their homes: by picking up things as they go. For those with a penchant for travel, design and art (clearly their target market), this is likely to resemble an eclectic mix of collectables, much treasured vintage items which have been searched for far and wide as well as new individual artist-made goods (often picked up while on an overseas trip). This is exactly what you will find here.

Ever industrious, Vandermeer and Nunez sourced most of their international product while travelling through America, Europe and Argentina on their honeymoon. A lot of their vintage finds were discovered at flea markets in Europe and Argentina  (Vandermeer mentioned the San Telmo sunday market in Buenos Aires as one of her favourites – she has great taste!) while new items were purchased and ordered by local artists they met along the way. In choosing the latter, their focus was on items that were upcycled, left of centre and not mass produced – similar in style to the Australian artists included in TheSupercool mix.

Here’s couple of the locally made items – like everything else here, they are a LOT of fun….

Guitar-shaped fly swatters from Sydney object / design label Page Thirty Three

As is this cardboard cuckoo clock from Micky & Stevie – you can even colour them in (only recommended if you can stay within the lines!)

The great news is that after its stint at Pope Joan,  the owners are planning to take The Supercool to regional Victoria – hopefully to a location in the Great Ocean Road. Follow them on twitter, facebook or via their website to stay updated.(links for all three at the top of this story)

Want to discover more Melbourne-made items?

Check out Melbournalia, a series of four pop-up shops in the CBD (open until Christmas), selling the work of 30 accomplished Melbourne makers from jewellery, textiles and homewares to greeting cards, books, stationary and cycling accessories . Find out locations and more at the Melbournalia website.

L’atelier de Monsieur Truffe – chocolate supreme

 

L’Atelier de Monsieur Truffe

Artisan chocolate maker Thibault Fregoni, owner of cult chocolate retailer and cafe Monsieur Truffe, has opened a new cafe / shop / factory in repurposed warehouse space in Brunswick. And it’s awesome.

Tourism Rating: highly recommended. There’s nothing like it anywhere else. The food and retail offering are high quality, and the factory makes it unique. Will appeal to the more intrepid visitors who see a short tram ride to a less trafficked location as a braggable experience.  Within the same area there are some great vintage shops, local designers and a growing number of great bars and restaurants. Buy presents for friends / family at the shop and the chocolate appreciation classes are a great way for visitors seeking a more interactive experience but they do sell out so make sure you book.

Getting there:  Located at 351 Lygon Street, East Brunswick. Catch the Lygon Street Tram (number 1) from Swanston Street in city.

Service: fast, unobtrusive and pleasant.

Atmosphere:  Unpretentious. Not too noisy. Busy on weekends when you go but its big so not too hard to get a seat.

Patrons:  Locals. Mix of ages – 20s to 50s. The big space makes it very child friendly and both times I visited there were parents with strollers.

The story of L’atelier de Monsieur Truffe…

Artisan chocolate maker behind L’atelier – French ex-pat Thibault Fregoni – is already known among the local fooderati thanks to Monsieur Truffe – his well patronised cafe and shop in Smith Street, Collingwood which opened in 2008. A quick check-in on facebook upon my arrival at his new Brunswick premises resulted in almost instant response from several friends extolling its virtues – there is definitely a lot of love there!

 

shelves upon shelves of chocolatey goodness at L'atelier

 

 

L’atelier is located in a repurposed warehouse space in a part of Lygon Street, Brunswick – a precinct that is rapidly undergoing major change developing from industrial area to emerging foodie and creative area.

Follow the big red door to the land of chocolate

Although on a main road, the signage for L’atelier is – and true Melbourne style – quite discreet and could easily fly under the radar of the average tourist. In order to find it you just need to remember one thing – big red door.
L’Atelier is the realisation of Fregoni’s dream to become the city’s first a ‘bean-to-bar’ chocolate manufacturer. While he is already creating chocolate products on the premises, this new operation will see him actually manufacture it from scratch – from the cocoa bean. The venue is big enough to house not just a cafe (seating for about 50 or so), but a substantial retail space and a factory which is divided from the cafe but still visible to patrons.

 

 

 

 

Even though not fully operational yet, the factory’s shiny vintage machinery (from ‘30s to 50s) is one of the biggest attractions of the place. I could not resist taking a few photos!

 

vintage roasting machine at L'atelier

This huge roller - looks a bit like something you'd find in a 19th century laundry – is used to crush the beans.

The shop area sells all sorts of chocolate fare, a great option for gifts especially with christmas coming up.

There’s handmade truffles ($8 for box of 6, tasting available at the counter), cooking chocolate and cocoa powder, hot chocolate mix, a range of jams and shelves upon shelves of different chocolate bars, with each package clearly outlining with the chocolate type, origin and percentage.

Monsieur Truffe's handmade truffles

truffle tasting

For those who want to know more, Fregoni also conducts chocolate appreciation classes on the premises after hours. Each class gives an overview into the chocolate making process, where cocoa is grown as well as understanding the different types including single origin, single estate and blends.

 

And finally to the cafe. Open for breakfast and lunch, I really like their French-influenced menu (which changes regularly) and their approach – each dish features a diversity of foods and flavours on the same plate – it’s almost like two or three mini-meals in one serving. Among the mouth-watering dishes available the day I visited: Cardamom French toast with sous-vide pineapple, charred mango, sesame and chilli caramel; the Classic Croque-monsieur with whole grain mustard Béchamel, leeks and side salad and also pork belly (braised in a masterstock then deep fried) with accompanying salad of mango, ginger, mint and coriander.

 

 

I tried the Summer Panzanella (an Italian salad made with baked bread, tomatoes, oil and basil), pork and fennel sausage and egg. My dining companion had the delice de Bourgogne (a creamy cheese from Burgundy), with rye toast and an accompanying  salad of organic dried apples, snow peas, shaved baby fennels and – something I’ve never heard of before – breakfast radishes.

 

 

House blend hot chocolate (65% dark chocolate)

The coffee is great but when it comes to hot beverages the must-try really is the hot chocolate – again, it’s all in the percentages.

My friend introduced me to the 65% house brand, which he says keeps the perfect balance of not being overly sweet while not being too bitter. Lower and higher percentages are available, with the specials board usually explaining the different origins of the chocolate on offer that day.

see what I mean....

It’s also worth ordering a pot of tea just for the accompanying milk jug that comes with it. Cute!