Mushroom Mania - Woodfire Cafe Pizzeria

Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by Australian Mushroom Growers for their 2013 Mushroom Mania campaign. Venue was of my choosing, meals paid for and as always, my opinions my own :)

My family rarely eats out as a unit. It's really only for special occasions, such as birthdays. There are several reasons for this. My dad travels a lot, which means he eats out a lot when he's away, so when he's home, he loves to cook and pop open a bottle of wine without the worry of needing to drive somewhere later. My parents generally both think eating out in Australia is too expensive (which it is really, but what else is one to do?) and my brother…well he's a bit of a homebody sometimes and is quite content to spend his evenings sewing away in his room.

However there are always two things I can guarantee my brother will leave the house for, with no special occasion attached. Anywhere that serves Japanese food, or gluten free pizza. 

So when I told my dad that one night I was going to check out a pizza place in Ivanhoe with my brother, that did gluten free pizzas, I was quite surprised when he decided we should all go together! Well, that basically just means more pizzas to eat then, so no complaints there right?

We bundled into the car, crossed fingers that the traffic would have died down already and made our way to the Woodfire Cafe Pizzeria on Upper Heidelberg Road. 

I was quite surprised how busy the little space was on a Monday night, with several large tables, which meant making a booking had been a decent move. 

The restaurant was basic, but quite cute, with a couple of pictures and photos to liven up the white walls and exposed light bulbs. My dad liked the edges around the restaurant, where the menus are propped up, which he used for his glasses and iPhone, to keep them away from the mess that was going to be pizza later!

We started our evening with a couple of mini arancini specials, one plate with bolognese aracini and the other with a pesto combination. We found these needed a touch of salt, and were a little on the dry side, but a good size as a nibble. 

But then it was on to the main event…pizza time!

We decided to get two gluten free pizzas and one with a regular base, as my dad was curious to see what the difference was like. 

I naturally had to get the mushroom pizza, since it's Mushroom Mania month, with truffle oil, field mushroom, porcini mushroom, gorgonzola and fior di latte. Honestly, when I'm out for pizza, I almost always gravitate to a mushroom variety as my first choice. I just love the combination of cheese and mushrooms, it's so naughty, but since the mushies are so good for you, I don't feel as guilty munching away. The mushrooms were so sweet, especially with the generous dollops of fior di latte and were surprisingly not too oily. I also loved that the gorgonzola gave a nice savoury hit in small doses.  

My only complaint in general might be that I found the gluten free base a little bit wet, and had to resort to a knife and fork to at least get the middle of the pizza, but on the plus side, it wasn't too stiff or dry. It's a tricky balance with gluten free bases…

My brother ordered the meat lovers pizza with napoli sauce, mozzarella, shredded ham, chicken, hot salami, Italian sausage, bacon and barbecue sauce. Goodness, it was an absolute meat extravaganza! Loads of toppings, although a bit on the sweet side, probably from the barbecue sauce. Loved the thinly sliced ham on this though..mmhmm. 

Dad decided for the regular base he would order a Porco Porcini 2 pizza (I don't know what happened to number 1), with truffle oil, fior de latte, provolone cheese, Italian pork sausage, pancetta, porcini mushrooms and parsley. It wasn't quite as lavish with the toppings as the other two, but it was still well balanced. It looked much prettier than the other two! 

Dad commented that the regular base had much more texture and flavour to it, that the gluten free base was missing. I had a nibble, and honestly, I didn't think it was that different, but he deemed the regular base superior (which it probably is, I'm just in denial). 

I thought Woodfire Cafe and Pizzeria made for a perfectly pleasant local, with people popping in for takeaways, but having a glass of wine before departing. The pizza bases as mentioned were a tiny bit on the wet side, but the toppings didn't feel too oily or too heavy at all. 

All in, it was a rather jovial impromptu dinner for my family, and we had a great time poking fun at each other, and brainstorming stuff for work (hey, when you work in the family, it happens all the time. Sigh). We ended our night with a quick visit to the supermarket to restock on important supplies (chocolate ice-cream and milo, of course) before bundling home and putting on the documentary about Bill Cunningham.

And just a little reminder for you guys, there's a great little (or big) giveaway going on as part of Mushroom Mania month! Make sure to check it out! Maybe you could use your restaurant voucher on a mushroom pizza too...hmmm?

Woodfire Cafe Pizzeria

91 Upper Heidelberg 

Ivanhoe

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Tomboy

When I was a kid, I was a bit of a tomboy. Hardly surprising, considering today most of my friends are guys and I still find I get along with guys a lot easier than girls in general. Oh that and, I'm a bit of a nerd overall. I think for a long time as a kid I wanted to be more rough and tough than girly…who needs to paint their toenails when you could be wrestling with your little brother's friends. 

But really, check me out here. Look how tough I am and stuff…in my awesomely red pyjamas. 

So I kinda love that Tomboy, a new cafe opening up in Smith Street, is owned and run by girls. It all sounds good. And how could I not visit after hearing about their gluten free goodies…?

Tomboy is a little rough around the edges, got that edge of cool with an assortment of funky wall decals, raw edged tables and utilitarian lights, but also a bit of quirky cute. 

The little place was bustling on a weekend when we popped in and had to wait 20 minutes to get a seat on the communal table. I kind of love how the table looked like it had been well worn, with clamps on the sides and the top, randomly etched, hacked at…have what you will. 



Serious bottle of water yo!

The breakfast menu was short and written on a strip of brown paper adhered to the wall. Pretty cute.

I found service to be a little bit scattered. We were left on the communal table for quite some time before orders were taken. Yeah, I know, it's the weekend, which is generally slow and easy going, but the tummy doesn't wait!

My chai was worth the wait though, beautifully spicy, as in spices, not chilli, and nice and creamy. Brad's latte looked quite pretty as well. 

The knives are so cute and quaint!

Brad went with the egg and bacon muffin with homemade tomato sauce and raclette. Oh man. This is a home run, absolutely full of flavour and cheesy goodness. I immediately wished I had ordered it for myself once I had a bite!

However, I think I needed a slightly healthier option and went for the avocado and fetta smash with mint and toasted seeds on gluten free bread. Firstly, great gluten free bread, perfectly toasted, nice and nutty…then the avocado? Yum. I loved the toasted seeds on top and the mint added a little surprising zest of freshness. Mmm!

I quite liked that the portions were a bit smaller here (with prices that do reflect this), as it was nice to be satisfied and not stuffed after finishing our food. I surprisingly didn't have any sweets afterwards, as I was personally kind of full (ate a lot the night before) and wasn't in the mood to wait too long to get served again. 

We had visited shortly after they opened, so I'm going to assume they were just getting into their stride service-wise and in just generally managing the business, and other than taking a bit of time, service was friendly all around. 

Overall, I loved the laid back and easy going atmosphere at Tomboy and will definitely endeavour to have some of the gluten free sweets next time...

Tomboy

356 Smith Street

Collingwood

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Queen Margaret

I am on an never ending search for gluten free pizza. It's seriously one of those things I'd love to eat more often, but my 'healthy-eating' conscience doesn't really let me. I had pizza twice in this past week and whilst it was delicious, I couldn't help but think it was all going to my hips, whilst I was licking my lips….double time at the gym methinks!

But who can say no to melted cheese on bread…..!

My quest most recently took me to the Queen Margaret Pizzeria in North Fitzroy.

I will quietly admit, one thing that did draw me to the place was the really funky website and all the fun typefaces. It's all quite elegant while being fun at the same time.

Walking through the wooden doors I was promptly punched in the nose with the intense and vastly attractive aroma of the pizza ovens doing their work. Tomatoes, cheese and cooked pizza dough all hung in the air, teasing and tantalising.

I couldn't help in the very clean and open white tiled kitchen, that the chefs all had tattoos on their arms. Rather reminded of The Brix (when Joel Anderson and Daniel Dobra were still there), all these young chefs getting inked!

And although the kitchen was clean and slick, the rest of the outlet had a slightly more gentle feel, warm with the light coloured timber decking out the place. It looks small from the front, but there's quite a large area out the back as well. Although I naturally jumped for a table in the front section of the restaurant where the natural light could still just reach my table…

I had decided to take an alcohol free (although I had one sneaky pot of cider), this week and got the limonata. Seriously perfect and refreshing.

And I may also have had a sneaky sip or two of Brad's 'Stone and Wood' pacific ale. It's a perfect summer beer, with a really tropical and bright flavour. We reckon there were hints of pineapple. Was just missing that little umbrella!

We started with the gruyere croquettes with aioli. Cause. Well. It's has cheese. It is deep fried. It is instant win. Although I wouldn't have minded it to be a bit hotter, I like my croquettes piping hot rather than 'ready to eat' hot. However, it was still quite yummy and delightfully cheesy.

For our pizza, we got the 'Just Magic', with seasonal mushrooms, thyme, pancetta and mozzarella. It certainly looked the part, with slivers of crisp pancetta and well cooked mushrooms enticing us into it's world.

I could have gone with a little more cheese, but I suppose you don't want to overwhelm all the other toppings, loved the pancetta, loved the mushrooms. I wasn't entirely sold on the gluten free base, whilst it was quite springy and lovely, it had a distinct extra…nuttiness or something to the flavour, which distracted me a little from the toppings. It was a bit thicker and denser than I would have liked it, but it wasn't heavy, probably due to the lack of gluten. It did hold together well though I suppose, which is better than I can say for some other gluten free pizza bases I've come across.

But this is me nitpicking and on a whole, I did enjoy it. It is interesting how much one place can differ from another though! I don't think any two gluten free pizza bases have been the same!

To balance out all the cheese between the croquettes and the pizza, we sneaked a salad in. The QM salad with rocket, fresh pear, sliced fennel, shaved parmesan, walnuts and a balsamic dressing. Such a delight! Clean and crisp like the winter breeze on a snow capped mountain. I loved the slight bite of the parmesan to add a bit of pizazz and the caramelised walnuts were a real treat. Was nice to have them not just roasted for a change!

And then! Since if you're already having pizza, you may as well go all the way down the naughty road, so we got the nutella and pear crumble calzone, served with vanilla bean ice-cream.

I very distinctly remember Brad saying "This is probably not good for us". You better damn well believe it honey! Nutella, soft and sweet cooked pears and a delicious outer crust. Yeah, I cheated on the gluten free thing here a little, but who can resist? There's nutella that needs to be saved from in there!

Once nutella had been successfully excavated from inside the calzone, Brad and I bid adieu to the Queen and made our way to Brunswick Street to go watch a couple of bands.

I enjoyed dining at Queen Margaret, whilst the gluten free pizza may not be my number one gluten free pizza, it was still quite tasty. Some of the regular flour pizzas that were served around us did look quite good, with some nice bubbles in the dough and a slightly crunchier looking crust than I had and I would certainly suggest this as a place if a couple of friends were looking for a nice pizza place to hit up together.

Queen Margaret

356 Queens Parade
Fitzroy North, VIC 3068

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Casa Farro

As someone who's gluten intolerant, you think I would really eat excellently.

But I don't, because I'm a bit naughty and will indulge in a nibble of cake every now and again. Or some absolutely luscious bread. And chocolate is also one of my biggest vices. Mmhmmm.

I do for the most part though, stick to a fairly gluten free diet, I'm not so picky that I won't have soy sauce or oyster sauce, or if something is lightly crumbed, I don't always mind having a bit. I however, do not have pizza unless it is gluten free or at least suitable for those who are gluten intolerant.

So there was one day where I decided I was really in the mood for pizza. But I didn't want to eat alone. So I got my family all together and we headed down to Casa Farro.

This was my first visit to Casa Farro but my mother and her friend had visited before and said the pizzas were pretty darned decent.

Sitting in the middle of nowhere on Nicholson, inside Casa Farro is very kitsch and cute, homely, with it's patchworked works and collections of plates and rolling pins all over the place. Cluttered but comfortable, for me anyway.

For something light to share, green beans with fetta and a squeeze of lemon juice. Coming from an Asian family, I would never think to combine beans with fetta, on it's own anyway, and thought it was a really nice refreshing combination.

I absolutely love arancini, so I couldn't go without ordering Casa Farro's version with roasted pumpkin, pea and mozzarella with pressed fennel. Having had a couple of other arancini at other restaurants after Casa Farro, I can very comfortably say, these are some of my favourite. The texture was just lovely, not to soggy, but not too dry either and fairly crisp and firm around the outside but lovely and gooey in the middle. The mozzarella was perfect and I loved how packed full of peas it was as well. Really well done!

Mum's friend ordered the calamari, but had to make a bit of a special order as she was on a strict cleansing diet. So whilst Casa Farro normally lightly batters their salt and pepper calamari, they were very accommodating when we just asked to have it grilled.

And then! And then! It was time for what we were here for, the spelt based pizzas. Spelt is an ancient grain, and although it has very low levels of gluten, coeliacs are still best to stay away from it. However, for gluten intolerant people like me, spelt is perfect! Although if you are coeliac, Casa Farro can cater for you with their wholly gluten free bases as well, just ask!

Our first pizza was the Bianco Anatra, mozzarella, roast duck, slow cooked potato, rosemary, onion ragu, shaved parmeson and a bit of pesto. Beautiful. So beautiful. The base was fantastic, for people who aren't so picky about gluten as I, I don't think you would be able to tell the difference and the flavours on top were awesome. I wouldn't think about putting duck on pizza, but this was delicious, the duck was so flavoursome!

I tend to be quite enamoured by vegetarian pizzas, my favourite from Crust being the veggie supreme. I think it's partially just the good feel factor, as protein on pizza is generally, well, not awesome for you and I think it's easy to get lazy on the flavours and just let the meat do the work.

So since we already had the duck pizza, I also ordered the Melanzane, with napoli, fior di latte, grilled eggplant, roasted zucchini, olive tapenade, red onions and oregano. The veggies were all sliced so finely and flavours balanced wonderfully. It was indeed very inviting and fresh (as pizza can get).

Although I may need to go back to Mr. Wolf to make a comparison, Casa Farro is probably one of my favourite joints for pizza now! Family friendly, friend friendly, good pizzas, what's not to like?

Casa Farro

161 Nicholson St

Carlton, VIC 3053

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