suburb

Dinner by Heston

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Dinner

As I’m sure you’re all aware – because wow was there a lot of (justified) fanfare and excitement – last year the Fat Duck was in Melbourne for several months while its premises in Bray were being renovated.

(Side note: here I’m going to drop a link to my post about our visit to Fat Duck in Bray – look at those terrible photos though!)

But the Fat Duck couldn’t stay in Melbourne forever, and once it moved back to Bray, the space it occupied was changed into Dinner by Heston, a more casual, relaxed eatery. Unlike the Fat Duck, Dinner is ala carte, and serves dishes that are modern interpretations of historic British food.

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Amaru

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Heirloom tomatoes cooked with Marron head sauce

You know how they say you should always say yes to an opportunity?

Well, on a smaller scale, you should also always say yes to “do you want to come to xx restaurant?” because even if you don’t know what on earth your friend is talking about, you’ll probably still have a good time.

Yes, that’s how we ended up at Amaru with Haz, Gaz and Thanh, several days after the restaurant opened. It took me a while after agreeing to lunch to join the dots – Amaru is the first restaurant of Clinton McIver, who had a stint serving degustations at the Clayton Bowls Club (and who also worked at Vue de Monde).

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Lume

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Beef cheek

It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal like the one at Lume.

They opened in South Melbourne a few months ago, bucking the trend for casual, shared dish restaurants, instead serving a long (LONG) degustation filled with adventurous and unique dishes.

Alastair and I went to lunch at Lume with Haz and Gaz at the beginning of November. At the time of our visit, it was $140 for a 15 course meal (I believe it’s now $165). Upon arrival we were seated in the (covered) courtyard out the back, which was filled with natural light and had a wall of greenery.

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Hash Specialty Coffee & Roasters

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Hash kitchen

Disclosure: We attended and had breakfast courtesy of Hash Speciality Coffee & Roasters and Zilla & Brook.

There’s nothing quite like a Melbourne brunch, and although I no longer keep up with the latest Melbourne cafe openings (who has time? money? energy?!?) it’s still nice to experience a new cafe every now and again.

A couple of months ago, Alastair and I were invited to breakfast at Hash, located in Hardware Street in the city.

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Asparagus Experience

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Asparagus box

Disclosure: We attended courtesy of Australian Asparagus Council and Prahran Market.

Hello!

In case you haven’t noticed, the days are getting longer, it’s getting warmer (FINALLY), and asparagus is back in season. And back when the season just opened, Alastair and I went to an asparagus farm to see how they’re grown and processed.

We all know that I love stuff like this, so despite the fact that it was an even earlier start than the mushroom farm visit, I was all enthusiasm.

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Estelle Bistro: Sunday roast lunch

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Estelle Bistro

I haven’t visited Estelle in a while, and since our last visit it has had a make over and become Estelle Bistro. The bistro is more casual than the original and the fine dining has been moved next door to ESP.

I noticed on their website recently (long story as to why I was on their website, but it involved a not very good truffle dinner at a completely different and unrelated restaurant) that Estelle Bistro were holding Sunday roast lunches (3 courses for $50 with a glass of wine). Well. I like Sundays and I like roasts, and I like them even more when someone else is cooking, so roped our friends Maz and Daz for a catch up lunch, deliberately selecting the pork themed lunch.

We were seated in their outdoor dining area, which is completely enclosed and has a wall of edible plants in pots. It was also a sunny day and very pleasant out there.

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Prahran Market + Mushroom Mania

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beginning

Disclosure: We attended courtesy of Australian Mushroom Growers and Prahran Market.

On one Saturday recently, Alastair and I trotted up to Prahran Market at 7.30am.

Now, I like markets and all, but I don’t like them so much that I’d be there that early on a weekend. But I like mushrooms, so the reason for the early start on this particular day was a visit to a mushroom farm – Bulla Mushrooms.

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Machi

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Machi

Alastair and I had an impromptu date night one Thursday a while ago. I ended up working late and Alastair offered to come out and pick me up so I wouldn’t need to PT home in the dark and the rain – awwww.

On the way home we stopped on Inkerman St for a quick dinner. There’s a few options on that strip, and we decided on Machi, a Japanese restaurant.

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