Oh Oz... first stop, Melbourne

With it's European-style cafes and graffiti-covered alleyways, Melbourne is a historic and charming contrast to beachy and sleek Sydney. Food and drink in Australia is generally pricey but a 5 dollar (AUD) long black coffee is enjoyed in a chilled out table-lined side-street with fellow caffeine addicts and chatter. And caffeine addicts they are... but not in the I-need-my-fix sense. Lattes and cappucinos are favorites and are served in small glasses or white cups and savored over good conversation. The food in Melbourne is great too. Known for it's fairly international cuisine (the Greek community is apparently the largest outside of Athens!), Melbourne is the spot for lots of ethnic or fusion spots. 

  

Friday night a colleague and I ventured to De Los Santos, a tapas place with an old wood finish and golden lighting for a rustic yet warm feel. We sat at the bar and had the gentleman pictured below, who manages, suggest and serve our meal. I absolutely love to a) sit at a bar and b) have my menu crafted by those who know best...the people that work there of course. It makes for a great meal that feels shared ... and was between Evan and me because DUH it's tapas!  We had a few small plates including grilled halloumi, truffle mushrooms misto, spinach and goat cheese salad with pine nuts and plump yellow raisins and chorizo with fried chickpeas. I enjoyed a delicious Pinot Noir to wash it all down. BUT the best dessert I've had in awhile was a perfect end to a lively and balanced meal: warm custard filled donuts in the style of zeppoli with cool yogurt ice cream, gooey honey and crunchy walnuts. The thought right now makes my stomach cry out for more. I will definitely re-create this dessert and it shouldn't be too difficult. The trick is to make a simple yeast dough that's fairly wet and fry large spoonfuls of it until very light golden brown to make sure the inside doesn't cook through - this is the reason for the "custard" style stuffing... which isn't a stuffing at all, but basically raw dough... and who doesn't love raw dough? Ben and Jerry cashed in on this very concept! 

 

Apple and Pear Pancakes with Cinna-butter

Apple pancakes with cinnamon-butter... my greatest takeaway from my high school years as a waitress at a small breakfast and lunch cafe on Long Island, Oak Plaza Cafe. After every shift, I ordered eggs, bacon and an apple pancake with cinnamon butter (a mix of butter, cinnamon and powdered sugar) and it never got old ... and not only because I can eat breakfast for every meal. The trick is to the cut the apple slices into about 1 by 1 cm triangles that are only a mm or 2 thick. Stir them into the pancake butter and fry up golden brown. Make sure they cook through! Then lather in the butter. I could eat this butter with a spoon...and admittedly have, shhhhh. 


I had a leftover pear and apple from my weekly pack lunches so treated my roommates to a variation on this end-of-shift-breakfast-feast at Oak Plaza. I cooked silver dollar pancakes with the chopped fruit and used brown sugar instead of powdered for the cinna butter. I usually won't eat maple syrup anyway on pancakes but some like it and we didn't have so I served warm honey with toasted almonds as a reaplcement. Not a bad way to start your lazy sunday.

Raksha Bandhan

Ruchika, my roommate, cooked dinner for her "brothers" in honor of Raksha Bandhan. On this day, Ruchika ties rakhi (bracelets) on the wrists of her good guy friends who have been like brothers to her over the years here in Singapore. It's an old Indian tradition started back when men used to go off to fight battles and their women would tie rakhi for protection. She invited her bros over for a delicious veg dinner with cauliflower, dal, chapati, and paneer with peppers. For dessert, she made halwa (a pudding made of clarified butter, wheat flour and sugar which is damn good for a seemingly simple mix of ingredients) and a light ice cream made with almonds, cool whip and milk. She also bought soan papdi (my new favorite sweet) which is a layered, flaky Indian sweet that she is supposed to feed to her brothers as she ties the rakhi. Yea, I'm so spoiled...! 

Bund 外滩 This

One of the most touristy parts of Shanghai, the Bund area was absolutely CRAWLING with people on the Saturday night we were there for dinner at Mr and Mrs Bund (http://www.mmbund.com/) for contemporary French cuisine. You can't beat the location of this place with a view of the Bund and the Pudong, or the east bank, skyline. The restaurant decor was quite chic and playful, with oversized chairs lining our long, dramatic table. The windows to the kitchen are bright orange allowing for a warm view of the inner-workings if the sleek and modern workshop.... check it out if you can and are willing to pay an arm and leg (or if your work is... bingo)

Shanghainese

Lunch at Xin Tian Di for real Shanghainese was great. Lots of round tables with spinners in the middle to encourage the sharing of large portions amongst family and friends. Spin me that Shi Yu please, xie xie!