The weekend after arriving back from Thailand, Dave and I were up for a lazy Sunday brunch somewhere new. We had smashed a couple of the local brekky spots near us (Hardware Cafe, Little Sisto’s) and so after abit of internet research, we decided on Piccolo’s Corner in West Leederville.
‘Twas a lazy Saturday morning and as 10am rolled round, hubby and I made the decision to head into Northbridge for brunch, with a couple of reasons driving us – firstly, the Tuck Shop is one of our favourite breakfast spots, and secondly, that way we could walk into the CBD afterwards to view the Giants (massive marionettes from France). Continue reading
Japanese is one of my all time favourite cuisines – I crave the thought of picked octopus, chilled sashimi and especially love a gyoza or anything torodito. So when one of my girlfriends, Emma, suggested a double date with our hubbies at Sushia on a Saturday night, I jumped at the chance. Funnily enough, Emma and her hubby Brigg first introduced Dave and I to ‘non-sushi’ Japanese about seven years ago with a visit to Halu on Oxford Street so we were looking forward to a comparably delicious meal.
Having grown up just down the road from Hillarys Marina in the northern suburbs of Perth, I spent a lot of time at the original, Irish themed Breakwater Tavern. Back in the day, it was the local hotspot for a cracking Wednesday night session, terrible Friday night karaoke and a great spot to enjoy the vibe of the relaxed marina. (It is also the place where I met my future husband as we worked the bar together, but that’s another story!)
Word of a new breakfast hotspot in town spreads pretty quick around Perth, and before you know it, there are lines out the door and a twenty minute wait at somewhere that has only been open a few months.
This was the case when hubby Dave, my sister Mel and I ventured to Flora Terrace’s Tropico in North Beach on a warm Saturday morning.
As an avid follower of many of the very popular Perth foodie blogs, the Prophet Lebanese Cafe has been at the top of my ‘must dine at’ list for a couple of years now. Located in East Victoria Park, it is on the south side of the Swan River and that, combined with the difficulty in securing a reservation with less than a day’s notice, probably explains why I hadn’t yet made the journey to sample the highly recommended authentic Lebanese cuisine. According to the numerous reviews, this was a red hot restaurant – on the casual and relaxed side – relatively small and with the added bonus of BYO beer and wine. I mean, no wonder it is always booked up well in advance! Continue reading
During the time we were based in Aix en Provence in the south of France, hiking to the top of Montagne (Mount) Sainte-Victoire, was a priority. Looming over the French Departments of Bouches-du-Rhône and Var with a peak elevation of 1,011 metres, Montagne Sainte-Victoire is most famous for its many appearances in the paintings of Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), who could see it from near his house in Aix-en-Provence.
Now, I am not a big fan of hiking, but this was something hubby really wanted to do, and let’s face it, its not everyday you get to hike to the top of a mountain so celebrated! The view at the top would be amazing and after sampling endless amounts of french cheeses and pastries, I figured the exercise would do me good, besides … how tough could it be?
For my 30th birthday, we were fortunate enough to be in sunny San Sebastian in Spain, and high on my list of ‘must do’ dining experiences was the famous degustation at Martin Berasetugui’s namesake restaurant, Martin Berasetugui.
Consistently rated as one of the world’s top restaurants, the restaurant is very exclusive and we had made reservations months in advance. Upon arrival at 9pm for our reservation (we tried to book for 8pm, but they told us nobody dines so early in Spain, so 9pm it was!), we were shown to our beautiful candlelit table right in the middle of the restaurant – best seat in the place!
It was fine dining all the way, from the lovely “two waiter” introductions through to the footstool that was placed at our table next to my chair… for my handbag of course! No placing handbags on restaurant floors in here!
Leaving St Emilion was bittersweet. On the upside, we had tasted (and purchased) an extensive selection of Bordeaux wines; on the downside, we didn’t have enough time to really see the medieval town, explore its underground caverns or venture on a cycling tour of the nearby wineries. But, you live and learn, and the experience of regret as we were leaving certainly solidified my strong preference to never spend just one night somewhere – it is just too much of a tease!
Saint-Émilion is one of those places I dreamt of visiting … a history steeped in tradition, and a thriving modern viticulture industry, including the world’s first UNESCO listed vineyard! Due to a tight timeframe, we only had an afternoon, an evening and a morning in Saint-Émilion – not enough time as I would have liked, but with 8 weeks to explore France, we had to make a few sacrifices in order to spend decent amounts of time in other places.
We arrived in Saint-Émilion from Sarlat et Canada in our trusty hire car, and I will never forget the look of the lush, green vineyards covering the rolling hillside as far as the eye could see – it was glorious! As we pulled up the long road that led to the medieval town centre, we realised with a bit of a shock that there were cars parked on both sides of the road ALL the way around the town! Seems like everyone else had the same idea to visit Saint-Émilion on the same day as us!