The Hardware Societe, Melbourne

Sleep-ins. They are not supposed to exist in the Empty Fridge holiday schedule. Not even when your flight arrives Melbourne at 10pm and your roam the streets until you find a wine bar than make friends with a bottle of red until 4 in the morning.Why are sleep-ins the enemy? Because in most cases they make you miss the breakfast menu.

I love sleep more than anything but when in a different city where there are streets to roam, I feel a bit guilty for not being out and about. This shits Demos to tears and this is the reason why we have never had a "relaxing" break. I try to fit in as many activities as humanly possible. 

After few late night cheeky drinks at our favorite Melby rooftop bar Siglo.. we stumbled back to our temporary hotel home and ready made bed. I already had my heart set for Breakfast at Hardware Societe.

And then the unthinkable happened. We didnt forget to deactivate our alarms. There were no noisy hotel neighbours. The curtains blocked out sunlight. The pillows were ridiculously comfortable. We slept in, and I missed my Hardware Societe breakfast menu. 

After a short stroll to Hardware Lane, we found that 11:59 am was close enough to midday so ordering some of their sweet homemade ciders were totally acceptable. A glass of pear and another glass of apple - these ciders were so refreshing. We were able to miss the early breakfast crowd and perch ourselves on the barstools by the busy kitchen.

As this was a weekday, Breakfast was on from 7:30 am to 11:30 and then its lunch all the way to 3pm. Now try and say no to an empanada on a chilly morning.

Brother Baba Budan, Melbourne

Coffee. We all know it and we all love it. With so many different types and combinations everyone has a favourite. Everyone loves coffee just ask them. If they don't... shoot them, they are clearly zombies and have lost all cognitive ability.  Drinking coffee is one of the more pleasant life experiences one can partake in as we  did at Brother Baba Budan in the beautiful city of Melbourne, synonymous with all things good. Especially coffee. 

There is nothing better than having the time to sit back and enjoy a cup of freshly made hot coffee, maybe even a bit of a sweet pastry. I'm a firm believer that coffee time should never be rushed. With nothing but time on our hands whilst on holiday mode and meandering through  Melbourne town we thought that a visit to Brother Baba Budan was warranted to get off to a good start to the day. Having been told that it was the place to have the best coffee in Melbourne we thought that it would be a crime not to visit. Didn't really need to twist my arm really but it had a cool name. 

Located in what can be described as adventure wear alley (because of the large amount of mountain climbing/trekking clothing stores around), Brother Baba Budan is quietly tucked away next to a lane way with walls covered in awesome graffiti. Blink and you will miss it. A small and cosy space with jars of cookies on display and where chairs adorn the ceiling. Pretty cool is what I say. Being a work day we were able to get a space and order our coffee staple, the piccolo latte. I owe this coffee selection to a close friend of mine who introduced me to it back in the days of university and have been drinking it since. Small enough to be served nice and hot and with enough milk to still deliver that caffeine punch. One of the favourites to drink when wanting to take in the surroundings. No cappuccinos here at the Empty Fridge, take your chocolate milk elsewhere. 

Brother Baba Budan is the sister cafe to Seven Seeds and is the name of the monk who smuggled the said 'Seven Seeds' to bring coffee to the world. Luckily he did because i'm sure the majority of the world would barely be able to function without. The coffee we had admittedly was very very good, one of my all time favourites. I don't profess to be a coffee snob but it was hard to find any fault. Not overly bitter, strong and flavoursome and made by a barista that clearly knows how to make coffee. With the team behind Seven Seeds running a cafe, roasting, research and tasting centre it's no surprise that the coffee at Brother Baba Budan is so good. 

Fog Bar and Restaurant - Prahran, Melbourne

Its never a relaxing holiday with us Empty Fridgers. My poor other half - he knows that there is no sleeping in, no lazing by the pool and no romance as such. Demos and I have travelled together on mini breaks but we have NEVER had a romantic holiday getaway by the beach. Although we blame the lack of a beach body, the palm trees we usually chase are those that line Rodeo Drive. Which is why we are off to Melbourne for this Easter weekend. One short plane ride away and your at the beck and call of wonderful rooftop bars, wonderful basement bars, late night wine bars and umm.. wineries. Im not going to lie, its a fun place for your favorite boozehounds, well that and there's plenty of dining gems to discover to.

Now a while ago, I had to fly to Melbourne on a day trip to work. I came up with strategies - yes, strategies. Im a strategic planner - when it comes to food of course, and most of my trips away do involve a high level of obsession as to where to eat. Needless to say, my flight got delayed (Of course I booked the earliest flight to fit in two breakfasts..) and when I left to go to lunch - i had walked all the way down Chapel St only to find that I left my wallet in the office. 

Thank God for interstate friends who rescue sleep deprived disheartened eaters. We get to Fog and immediately I knew that this was exacly the place I wanted to be. Distincly cool interiors, a hip and not so corporate crowd (okay, it was a school night) and a beautiful bar.

Vino's and Veuve - oh my!

Fog has a very large dining area as well as an outdoor section, which I was told, get filled to the brim on weekends. Its such a lovely space, roomy and well laid out. To orientate us Sydneysiders, its just off the Prahan side of Chapel Street, on the very uber cool Greville Street. This place is super sleek, shiny black laquered columns - very sexy.. but now what about the food?

We started with the Spicy fried calamari with hot sauce, fire roasted peppers, chorizo and garlic aoli ($22). I was a bit apprehensive when I saw hot sauce, but im currently trying to build my tolerance from spicy foods. Some people exercise, I tame my tastebuds. My strategy was to dunk it in the tangy garlic aoli to cut the fire, but suprisingly I was able to tolerate it. The calamari was cooked perfectly, not ruberry and dusted with a light spicy coating. The serve was also generous enough to start off two hungry diners. 10 points for Fog.

A Cooking Class with South Australia's finest Chefs - Sydney Seafood School, Pyrmont

Its an exciting time for the dining scene in South Australia with plenty of creative juices flowing from up and coming young chefs taking the local produce new levels. We were lucky enough to learn first hand from chef Cole Thomas, Callum Hann, Lachlan Colwill and Emma Shearer as well the best produce South Australia had to offer.

Scallop with Squid Ink Soil, Trout Roe and Fennel puree

The venue for the evening was the Sydney Seafood School above the Fish Markets in Pyrmont. It is a very modern cooking theatre, complete with TV screens focusing on the preparation bench, where you can see in detail each demonstration taking place. Its like being back at Uni all over again for us Empty Fridgers, complete with fold away tables only this time we were attentive and well behaved students. Not even the Barramundi skin wallpaper could distract us as we wanted to pick up on any techniques and skills on show.

Sardine Spring roll and Chef Cole Thomas at work

 Exciting stuff is happening within the dining scene in South Australia and Chef Cole Thomas enthusiastically tells us about some newly opened restaurants. He is the Executive Chef of Hentley Farm at the Barossa Valley and also owns Cullenetic and the Adelaide Central Market Kitchen. Cole is all about innovative cuisine has a strong focus on optimising quality focus. He tells us of a dish he has developed a dish which involves levitating a small piece of tuna at the table giving new meaning to "flying fish".

Cole prepares a deep fried Spring Roll with macadamia nut pieces, apricots, capers, cabbages and a sardine fillet. Chef Cole has directly worked with producers in South Australia to shine some light on the under-utilised species of fish readily available. The sardines are just that, as well as flavoursome and an interesting addition. A Scallop entree is also prepared and Chef explains that the variety produced in South Australia is smaller but more dense compared to the water-pumped American counterpart. The scallop is served with squid ink soil, trout roe and a fennel puree. Both starters were interesting dishes showing how a mix of unlikely ingredients can be mixed together to produce great flavours, much like what is happening with the food scene in South Australia. 

Chef's Emma Shearer and Lachlan Colwill were up and ready to go for the next demonstration. The duo work together for the Trim Hospitality Group, The Grace Establishment and the Manse Restaurant where Lachlan runs the kitchen operations and Emma heads up the dessert pastry menus and is the Senior Pastry Chef. Lachlan also runs Sparrow Kitchen and Bar in North Adelaide. Emma demonstrates tonight's dessert which is a Barossa Vache Curd Mousse, Meringue, Lime Curd and Freeze Dried Passionfruit.

Vache Curd is produced by Barossa Valley Cheese Company and is similar to goats curd but uses cows milk instead. It takes two days to make the curd - one day for fermenting the milk and then another day for the curd to set. It was a good thing that both chefs were working together to make this dessert as Lachlan spent the whole time whisking the lime curd over the stove. The result is an interesting and loosely constructed cheesecake dessert with contrasting textures and flavours. The soft vache curd mousse adds a strong tart flavour, which contrasts the crunchy sweetness of the meringue. The freeze dried passion fruit scattered on top packs a vicious punch of unexpected flavour also.

Callum, everyone's favourite Masterchef runner up contestant hails from the Barossa Valley and was here to represent. Pairing up with Lachlan; the pair proceeded to demonstrate how to carve up a duck, showing techniques that can be applied to other winged creatures. The large duck we are working with tonight is from Waechter Dux, a free range duck far within the Barossa Valley. The ducks are on a special Barossa grain diet and lead a happy life roaming the farm fields. 

 The duck breast meat was to be part of the dish we would be recreating later in the evening. Lachlan demonstrated with ease how to carve out the breast from a full duck. In a nutshell the wings and legs are extended and the bones broken and cut off. Any joints are used as an indication of where to cut through the skin folds. Lachlan made this look very effortless, however this might not be the case when trying it at home. We were then showed how to cook the duck breast, pan frying it until golden and then popping it in the oven for 8 minutes to finish the job. Meanwhile Callum was showing everyone how to concoct the swede puree we would all be cooking later in the evening. 

 After the lesson in poultry carving we were presented with a big Kingfish. More specifically it was a Hiramassa Yellow Tail Kingfish, farmed by Cleanseas in South Australia. Lachlan was explaining that the quality of the fish is amazing because the flesh is not damaged or bruised. It's the perfect fish for sashimi because it is fleshy and full of flavour. 

He procees to then explains to us how fresh this partucular fish is with its firm texture, glossy sheen and as morbid as it sounds - the bright red blood. After a "gutting" demonstration, Lachlan expertly slices the fish along its spine from the base of the head working right down to the tail. With surgical precision, he produces a fine piece of boneless hiramasa fillet and proceeds to slice it into bite sized pieces. 


And now, it was our turn to re-create these delectable dishes.

 The second part of the Seafood School was the fully equipped modern kitchen. We were assigned groups and provided with the recipes to recreate the Kingfish and Duck dishes demonstrated earlier. Our group of five consisted of Bridget aka The Internet Chef, Carmel aka @CarmR, Bianca from the PEPR team and this Empty Fridge duo. Teamwork was cruicial in getting the two dishes underway and everyone was given a component of each dish to complete.

Sky Lounge, Felix & Dada - A rather boozy evening in Hong Kong

So as you might have guessed by now, here at the Empty Fridge we happen to enjoy having a drink or two. You can even say that our second persona is that of the Empty Liquor Cabinet. No we don't have drinking problems despite evidence to the contrary. It's purely coincidental that our drinks bill always costs more than food. All jokes aside though going out to bars for a drink and some snacks is a very enjoyable past time and what better place to go and indulge in that past time than Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a truly remarkable place. Everything is open until late and there is a constant hustle & bustle even in the late hours of the morning when you are stumbling around looking for the next drinking spot. One of the great things is that there lots of very nice hotel bars. We decided to start one such evening at the Sky Lounge at the top of the Sheraton Hotel. Arriving early at 8 we got a good table with panoramic view of Victoria Harbour and decided to have some Bollinger to kick things off. What better way to start our first night in Hong Kong with a bottle of champers - doing 'Strayas Bogans proud. Don't worry, we got some tapas too. Don't call AA yet. Thanks. 

People enjoying the panoramic views and Asia's biggest light show while listening to the Sheraton's 80's inspired sound track and voice over narration. All that jaw dropping neon splendour.

Some of the small fare we ate to take the bite out the champers and prepare our stomach for the onslaught ahead. Croquettes and some Wagyu beef.

Sky lounge has a very interesting take on the traditional dim sum menu - but instead of dumplings and spring rolls, they serve a more mediterranean tapas selection. They also have a fun cocktail list with customised drinks that relate to your chinese zodiac sign. This was a perfect venue to experience the iconic and electrifying lightshow that lit up the Hong Kong Skyline and Victoria Harbour.