French toast

Baby Cafe & Pizzeria, Richmond

~ culinaldi ~ 2 Comments

I know it’s unusual to go to a pizzeria for breakfast but when the restaurant is the latest offering by the same owner of the recently defunct Pearl Cafe it almost seems like a logical choice after all.

While the hordes are queueing up to get a table at Top Paddock, directly across the road, there are no crowds and table and chairs a plenty. It seems somewhat selfish, but I was secretly glad that the masses were elsewhere and I could stroll into the courtyard at Baby and immediately sit down and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Tables in the sunshine at Baby Cafe and Pizzeria, Richmond
Tables in the sunshine at Baby Cafe and Pizzeria, Richmond

I will admit to trying to find out what dishes were on offer for breakfast at Baby, but the online menu available only showcased the lunch and dinner options. I even asked a friend at work who had breakfast there recently what was available but the only information that I could glean was that Baby had the usual breakfast offerings. So with much anticipation, I waited for the menu.

With so many delectable things to try, my eyes stopped agog at the sight of the word “panettone”. Panettone and I have a very special relationship with each other. This past Christmas, my niece and I had toasted panettone, strawberries and Jalna vanilla yogurt for breakfast (sometimes with a healthy dollop of Nutella). I even made a panettone and strawberry bread and butter pudding for dessert over the holidays (which I think the muchkins and I had for breakfast one day as well!). Occasionally a good friend of mine will give me a little box of panettone as a Christmas gift, which is always received with a happy heart.

Panettone (French toast), mascarpone and macerated strawberries - Baby Cafe & Pizzeria, Richmond
Panettone (French toast), mascarpone and macerated strawberries – Baby Cafe & Pizzeria, Richmond

When breakfast arrived, the panettone was cooked in a French toast style and looked delicious with the strawberries, dollops of mascarpone and syrup drizzled over the top. As I took my first bite, I could only think of one word – Christmas. The sweet flavour of the fruit filled panettone and the cooked strawberries was incredible, mingled with the additional sweetness of the mascarpone and the strawberry-flavoured syrup, it resembled and tasted like Christmas on a plate. As I devoured my breakfast and with the summer sun still shining, I could almost believe it really was December again.

STREAT, Flemington

~ culinaldi ~ 1 Comment

Last year I met some lovely new friends at an Exotic Persian and Middle Eastern cooking class at Spice Bazaar in Seddon (www.spicebazaar.com.au), whom I enjoyed cooking with and getting to know while eating our shared achievements. Since then I have been extremely fortunate to have Oz and Mez supporting my culinary adventures and their enthusiastic and positive comments about my blog.

When Oz suggested that I should be considering STREAT in Flemington for a catch-up and new breakfast destination, it was just a matter of when. After negotiating restricted public transport and new train routes on a national holiday, I arrived slightly late and harried but it was great to see my friends again and relax in STREAT’s warmth and ambience.

After a couple of weeks of selecting savoury dishes, I was in desperate need of something sweet although I did think very long and hard about the Beirut brekky with twice-cooked crispy sumac eggs, fatoush salad, labne and za’atar. After some deliberation, the description of the French toast with fresh peaches, bourbon salted caramel, cinnamon crème fraiche and pecan brittle was too powerful to resist.

French toast with fresh peaches, bourbon salted caramel, cinnamon creme fraiche and pecan brittle - STREAT, Flemington
French toast with fresh peaches, bourbon salted caramel, cinnamon creme fraiche and pecan brittle – STREAT, Flemington

Where do I start? I tackled the fresh White peaches first which were fresh and crunchy; its best to get the healthy stuff over and done with! The French toast was delicious with almost a bread-and-butter pudding type consistency that pulled apart easily. The cinnamon creme fraiche was light and fluffy with the spices permeating occasionally. Whilst I couldn’t detect any bourbon (which might be due to my finely honed Shiraz taste buds), the salted caramel was thick, sweet and delicious. And lucky last, the pièce de résistance was the pecan brittle. In my mind’s eye, I was worried that trying to shatter the praline with my knife and fork was going to send shards flying across the cafe, Pretty Woman style, but I managed to contain everything to my own plate. The soft pecan nuts and the hardened sugar was a lovely combination and perfect for mopping up left-over fraiche and caramel sauce.

Every dish that I saw being served at STREAT looked spectacular and stylishly presented. The hash brown on Oz’s “The Hunter” breakfast (poached eggs,           bacon, mushrooms, carluccio sausage, hash brown and tomato relish on sourdough) looked stunning and I secretly wished that I could make something like that.

STREAT is a social enterprise that seeks to provide homeless youth with a supported pathway to long-term careers in the hospitality industry. They run street cafes in Melbourne where youth get their hospitality training.

http://streat.com.au/food/flemington

I’m looking forward to the next culinary adventure with Oz and Mez with a Barefoot Bowls night and BBQ co-hosted by the Flemington-Kensington Bowls Club & STREAT Cafe on February 21. Check out respective websites for more details.

Cafe Domain, South Yarra

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment
"La Domain" French Toast with brioche, poached pears, maple syrup and pistachio mascarpone - Cafe Domain, South Yarra
“La Domain” French Toast with brioche, poached pears, maple syrup and pistachio mascarpone – Cafe Domain, South Yarra

How do I choose what cafe I go to on a Saturday morning? I have a list of “to do” cafes on my iPhone from things I have seen in newspapers or magazines, or even while on a tram. Sometimes my cafe choice is driven by necessity. I need to be in a certain location at a particular time so I try to combine breakfast with the activities of the day.

Last Saturday, I had to be at work to finish off a few things and then a hair appointment, and looking at my options I thought I would try to go to “The Botanical” near the Domain Interchange, as it was along my tram route. Well, that was the intention …

I had a general idea of where I needed to be and got off at the right tram stop and headed down the street. Seeing a busy cafe, I assumed I was at the right place. Walking inside, I found a place at a communal table and sat down and thought that the place looked more like a cafeteria than a cafe/restaurant, but thought no more of it.

Looking at the menu, my eyes honed in on the French toast and I scoured the description. Sold! Looking around for someone to take my order, I waited and re-read the menu where I saw that I needed to order and pay at the counter … and then I saw the “Cafe Domain” logo … ok, I wasn’t where I wanted to be (put that down to lack of coffee) but nothing was standing between me and the French toast!

I can honestly say that I’m glad that I walked into the wrong place. My breakfast looked amazing when it arrived and I tucked in with gusto after taking the obligatory photo and posting on Facebook. The brioche was thick and I think homemade or locally sourced. The grilled egg mixture was only on the surface of the brioche, which meant that the rest of the dry bread could be used to soak up the delicious thin maple syrup mixture that covered the bottom of the plate. The poached pears were cold were almost an affront to my palate due to the cool weather, but at the speed that I was devouring my breakfast, it didn’t matter.

But the star attraction was undoubtedly the mascarpone and pistachio. Thick creamy texture of the mascarpone and the crunch of the pistachio nuts mixed with the thick sweet brioche was almost too much to bear. As one of my friends commented on Facebook, “Yum!”.

Turned out that I was in the right place at the right time!