Chez Dre

There are times when I loath working regular business hours (i.e., Monday to Friday). It is impossible to get to a post office and the nicest weather always seems to fall on weekdays. But when the weekend comes around and I have two free days to do... whatever I want, every other hassle seems to melt away.

Sunday perfectly embodied all the things I love about weekends. Dan and I leisurely rode to the South Melbourne market, bought delicious food for the week, grabbed some lunch and cruised around. I was carefree, felt like I had all the time in the world and got a healthy dose of (fun) exercise and fresh food.

So let's start at the beginning...

Microbreweries Showcase

You might have noticed a little thing called the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival happening lately. While Dan and I have been pretty slack in taking advantage of the Festival, I do feel happy to say I attended at least one event - the Microbreweries Showcase.

Held in The Atrium at Fed Square, a vast of array of breweries showcased their boutique beer. It gave people an opportunity to try these beers and even meet the brewers (for $25).

The event ran from 4.30pm - 8pm, but I didn't arrive til 7pm. One hour was definitely not enough time, so you'll have to forgive me for my lack of notes or complete coverage. Just consider this a tiny snapshot from the Microbreweries Showcase.

Señoritas

Last week I added another Mexican Restaurant notch on my belt - Señoritas. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that Melbourne diners have fallen in love with Mexican cuisine and how disappointed I am that I haven't been to all these emerging restaurants yet.

Señoritas opened in Meyers Place on Friday 9 March 2012. Knowing that the first week for any restaurant can be a little shaky, I hadn't openly planned on visiting yet. But a mid-week catch up with a friend, Shane, and no plans for dinner, saw me slowly gravitating towards Senoritas. Before I knew it we were inside agreeing to wait 40 minutes for a table... provided we could drink margaritas while waiting. 

Brunetti

When I entered Brunetti for the first time, I was like a kid in a candy store. With so many delicious looking treats on display, my every sense was in overdrive. My eyes couldn't seem to stay focused on one thing, whirling around in their sockets, I was unable to contain the odd exclamation of excitement.

Josie Bones

Meat and beer... mmm what a wonderful combination. Dan, Karin and I thought there was no better way to start the weekend than with meat and beer. Now where can someone get crackling and 100s of beer options? Josie Bones of course. Hidden among the many restaurants, cafes, bars and retail outlets along Smith Street in Collingwood, Josie Bones can be identified by its unmistakable pig trotter door knobs.

As there is a no bookings policy for groups less than 8, we had to rock up and hope the wait wasn't long. Luckily, we didn't have to wait at all. We were propped up against the window looking out onto Smith St and handed a lengthy beer menu. A beer bible.

Befitting of its location in Collingwood, there is a definite industrial feel inside. Wood, brick, darkness. And a picture of semi-erotic skinned rabbit positioned behind the bar reminds everyone what Josie Bones' culinary focus is all about - meat.

Lunch favourites (takeaway)

Working in Melbourne's CBD, I'm surrounded by an abundance of cafes and restaurants. While I try to pack a healthy lunch where possible, I do enjoy leaving the office to stretch my legs and grab a bite to eat.

Here are my five lunch favourites (takeaway) for the start of 2012.

Grind in the city
Located in Centre Place, this small cafe offers a range of wraps, focaccias and other food stuffs (e.g., fruit salad & pastries). Grind is a favourite of mine mostly because of the variety and quality of the food, but the staff make it a pleasant experience. Recently, I grabbed a couple of extra foccacias for a road trip and they double-bagged and packed them for me - so nice!

I recommend... the lamb wrap.

Coda

Have you ever jumped onto gumtree, searched for a housemate and found someone amazing? I have, and two years on we're still housemates and great friends. Having been crazy busy with work, dates, exercise etc... we hadn't spent as much quality time together. So last week, my housemate (Tegan) and I decided to treat ourselves and bond over a lovely dinner out.

We met in the city thinking that we'd definitely find a spot somewhere. Starting at Chin Chin, it was an hour and a half wait for a table (at 6pm on a Wednesday). Then Yu-u, just around the corner, didn't have any spots til 8pm. We started to feel disheartened. So we turned our attention to Coda, sneakily hiding in Oliver Lane, and... victory! Two seats at the bar, which even had hooks for our handbags. It was almost perfect - though Tegan did comment that the heat from the kitchen (located just behind the bar) was a little uncomfortable. But once we had a glass of wine in our hands, any issues were long forgotten.

In fact, once we had our wine, we were so busy catching up that the waiters decided to stop asking us if we were ready to order - they were very polite about it though.

Xpressomondo

The new year has brought about some new routines for Dan and I. Mostly notably, we're exercising after work almost every day, which involves a combination of netball, footy training and time spent at the gym. As our gym happens to be in the middle of the CBD, we figure we've got the perfect excuse reason to explore nearby restaurants. Often still in our sweaty gym gear and feeling buggered, we don't tend to venture any where too classy though.

Recently, we headed down to Degraves Street knowing there would a plethora of options. When we arrived the street was bustling, so we sat where we could find the first free table outside - at Xpressomondo.

If you've never been to Degraves before then it might be hard to imagine. It is a laneway in Melbourne's CBD that runs from Flinders Lane to Flinders St. A row of tables run along the middle of the strip and cafes/restaurants make up the bulk of the shop fronts around it.