Spitiko "House" Warming

Disclaimer: I was invited to Spitiko's Launch compliments of Spitiko and Harvey Publicity

"This is our home and we are welcoming you to it" co-owner John of Spitiko happily exclaimed as Philip Vakos, new co-owner and head chef took a reprieve from welcoming us, lest he become overwhelmed with all the joyful emotions. 

I don't know about you guys, but I can't think of that many places where you walk in, turn your head right 90 degrees and have your eyeballs pop out of your head and jaw drop at the luscious sight of two…yes…two…whole lambs being spit roasted. 

Is there anything more beautiful?

I was invited to the launch/house warming of Spitiko in South Melbourne, and true to their cause, from the first step in, you feel like you've stepped into someone's house. Love adorns their walls, in the form of framed family style photos and gatherings, fun revels from the tables, with greek memorabilia or brown paper…the latter just inviting you dig into your food and make a mess (which I certainly did). 

I love this series of photos, there's nothing like seeing a moment of joy be captured huh?

I was a little nervous bringing Brad, the last time I was at launch there wasn't a whole lot of food…sure, enough booze, but hardly enough to constitute a meal…and Brad being the metabolism machine he is, generally needs a good full meal, sometimes two, in the evening.

But ah! I hardly needed to worry, in true Greek style, the food was aplenty and generous. My uneducated Greek palate was about to have some serious training…!

Pita bread was pumping out of the kitchen all night, warm and fluffy, it was just perfect. But of course, pita is only half the equation when dips are involved, but fortunately, the dips lived up and surpassed expectations. Aromatic, pungent, hardly the shy flower with hearty doses of garlic. Mmmm! The eggplant one was one of our favourites in particular. 

Lightly fried calamari were a fun little novelty, cleverly made bite sized, so easy to eat while standing, and wrapped in, what looked like, a cone made from a greek newspaper! Just delicious, not too salty, not too oily. Doesn't Brad just have the best long skinny fingers for food modelling? 

These deep fried olives were a fun little nibble, piping hot they were! I thought mine kind of looked like Jack Skeleton's head after I had chewed through it!

We had dolmades, rice, pork and veal and wrapped in vine leaves. My family has had a grape vine growing in our backyard for the past 9 to 10 years, and we used to have a greek grandma who would come by and ask if she could have some of it's big vine leaves to makes these with. She never did bring us any to sample (cue sadface), but fortunately I finally got to try some at Spitiko! 

The dolmades were delicious. I don't really know how to describe them, I enjoyed the subtle flavours of the veal and pork, and the softness and sweetness of the rice. Probably one of my favourite things that I ate all night! It was so light and easy to eat…which makes it a little dangerous…

Beautiful juicy prawns wrapped in crispy rice noodles, whilst I didn't find these particularly Greek, what's not to love about juicy, sweet, crispy and fried?

Souvlaki happened, and like the drunks we were (a couple of gin cocktails will do that to you), we lined up, within the restaurant, which was a bit of an odd notion, watching as the chef assembled them, wrapped them up in paper and popped them out on the bypass….where they disappeared in a flash! Chips too!

The souvlaki was a filling little sucker, we found it was quite salty, especially with the chips in the souvlaki as well…but that's clearly just a sign that we weren't drunk enough yet…surely?

George Calombaris popped by for a little visit too! We all commented how weird it was to see him there, and also see him on the tv screen on Masterchef at the same time! Who would have ever thought I would manage a few sneaky pictures of him on my blog...? 

Before too long, the spit roasted lamb was also carved up and served up. Determined to not have it slip by me, I very quickly jumped onto the first tray that went out to get one for Brad and I to share. Gotta be on your toes at these things! A generous portion (especially after all that we had eaten already), served on a bed of fluffy vine rice, the lamb was just scrumptious. 

Although a small portion of greek desserts, including a delightful little rice pudding, were shared, Pierrick Boyer from Le Petit Gateau dropped off a couple of boxes of macarons for everyone to tuck into as well. 

Oh and a very limited number of mini salted caramel profiteroles, these just made my heart swell and melt at the same time. Just perfection! 

Spitiko really threw a great house warming, and the smiles and joy in the room that night were just infectious. Peeking at the menu, I saw what looked like an awesome 'Feed Me' option, at just $40 per head! 

I really loved what I saw, ate and smelt at the launch party, now that my untrained palate has had a tiny taste of Greek, it's dying to return to find out more....! 

Spitiko

270 Park Street

South Melbourne

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Cavallero and Godzilla Bar

So. I've been totally hanging out to get back to Gorski and Jones to try out dinner. An opportunity arose recently. A Saturday night. A friend's band playing at Godzilla Bar in Clifton Hill. It seemed perfect….

Until I saw the sign that said they were closed for a private function. Curses! But I'll still be back!

This left us in a little debacle. Where to go? Drive down the other end of Smith to some of my other favourites? Or see if there's something closer in Clifton Hill?

Oh well, what about Cavallero? 

So 'forced' into Cavallero were we. /yodamode

With lights low, it's easy to walk by and think it would be closed if you weren't looking at it. 

It's been on Smith Street for a while and thus, is indeed, very Smith Street, cool, kinda warehouse-y but incredibly laid back. Tables and booths at the front, communal and smaller tables at the back (where we were), it was a sparsely decorated, but cosy space to be in. 

This is what Doctor's-to-be (Doctor of Philosophy that is), look like when perusing the drinks menu. Why so serious?!

A comforting White Rabbit dark ale for Brad in this bitey weather and for me…I couldn't tear my eyes from the Lady Grey Martini that graced the cocktail page. As the menu states 'For those times when you should be drinking tea but you really just feel like a martini…' this is indeed your drink. An incredibly strong, lively and aromatic tea-infused plymouth gin, with a twisty punch of citrus. I think more high tea places need to take notice. Possibly just perfect. 

Comfort food seemed to be the prescription for the evening and Cavallero did not let us down. 

A roasted butternut pumpkin risotto with crispy sage, taleggio and truffled honey for Brad. A gorgeous golden colour, with micro herbs sprinkled over the top for a little contrast. Made it look like Autumn. Smelling amazing, it certainly delivered, and was a creamy, dense and rich risotto. The sweetness of the pumpkin was allowed to come through, complimented by the truffled honey. Whilst I was invited for one bite from Brad…I may have snuck in two. Or three. 

I was hoping for something not too heavy, as I had been eating quite heavily in general (but what else is new), but for whatever reason I still decided to have the pan fried gnocchi with gorgonzola, toasted walnuts, apple julienne and green basil cress. 

Ah, how perfect a choice it was though. I loved that the portion wasn't giant or too heavy, the gorgonzola not swamping the delightfully fluffy and creamy gnocchi. But oh, how the mouth swooned to be in a warm blue cheese heaven. Roasted walnuts crunched, in contrast to the pillowy gnocchi and I just adored the sweetness of the apple to add a hint of freshness. 

I was charmed. Tickled. Renewed with adoration for Smith Street. Gorgeous warm food, partnered with friendly attentive service and cocktails perfect for any girly night, I'm excited to pop by during breakfast sometime and see how the place transforms. 

It wouldn't be a crime to have martinis in the morning...surely?

I mentioned Godzilla bar earlier. "What is this aptly awesomely named bar? And why haven't I heard of it before?"

It's in Clifton Hill. It's only open on Saturdays. It's only around for 10 weeks. 

There is no signage. It may be illegal. It probably is. There's a door on a side street with a guy standing outside of it who will open it up if you give him a knowing nod and smile. 

I won't spoil the surprise too much, but at the entrance you're given a candle lit path to follow…around a room that looks like Godzilla has trampled through. Complete with sound effects.

The bar is shitty, but so right. It looks like it could collapse on itself any minute, but it's so good. The drinks are cheap, the bands are free. We were there one Saturday to watch our friend's new band 'Going Swimming' play some punchy, beachy punk rock stuff. They like smoke machines in there. 

It's only around for a couple more Saturdays. So free one up and explore the unknown, have some drinks, bop along to some rock…and get some grub at Cavallero first. 

Oh. And I found the Jesus guitar. HAIL IT'S SHINY!

Cavallero

300 Smith Street

Collingwood

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Godzilla Bar

Rear of 137 Queens Parade

Clifton Hill 

(enter via Gold Street)

Bangkok - Long Table - Hello view!

After two days of running around temples, getting lost on the roads out of Bangkok, riding elephants and getting suits fitted, our third day was a lot more low key. 

Instead, I dragged Brad around to the shopping malls to get my fix of cheap clothes. Teehee! For those who haven't been to South East Asia, 'mall culture' is huge. Whilst in Melbourne, we might head out to a suburb or Chapel Street or Smith Street for a meal…it's not uncommon to head out to a mall to meet up for dinner. 

You're also spoilt for choices for malls in Bangkok. We popped by the shiny and luxurious Siam Paragon to check our the car dealerships on the 4th level….how the hell do you get the cars up there?! And also the random orchid show on the ground level. Was just beautiful!

There was also this outdoor portrait exhibition, showcasing well known designers and models. Loved this shot of Karl Lagerfeld. Crazy but genius.

We also made our way to Platinum Fashion Mall, a massive mall, packed shoulder to shoulder with cheap whole sale price clothing. Seriously girls, no need to bring the boyfriends here, they don't appreciate.

Naturally couldn't resist one of my favourite ice-cream stores, parked right outside Platinum…yaay Rocky Road!

In the evening, we met my friend, Gavin, for dinner. Being a local, we left dinner options up to him and when we found out that his suggestion, Long Table, was only a 10 minute walk away from us, we were psyched!

Although navigating Bangkok's roads in heels may not have been such a good move on my part. Thank god for my man-bag to hold on to….(I love you Brad, really!).

After taking a lift up to level 25 of a rather unassuming business building, Long Table had a shiny, trendy and bright fit out, bright coloured lights all over the bar outside, and a cleaner lighter palette inside, although it does have an air of casual about it, we sat on a day bed, made dining area, with a recessed middle with a table. Kind of like at those Japanese restaurants…just more white…and pleather. 

Brad and I got there a bit earlier than my friend, who was stuck in the infamous Bangkok traffic, so we drank beers, had a heated discussion over how shiny places charge so much more for beer and browsed the menu. 

Thai food is the agenda at Long Table, but with a modern approach and clean and neat presentation. 

Once Gavin arrived, we did a fair share of ordering…and we somehow managed to finish it all between the three of us….

We started with a pomelo salad, something I sorely miss when I am in Melbourne. Fresh, juicy, I loved that the pomelo was all…shredded up (for the lack of a better word). I found the light and crispy pork chicharon on top an interesting contrast and thought it probably didn't need it…but who's one to turn down chicharon?

I naturally insisted on having pad thai. Long Table's version had gigantic prawns (like gigantic!) and delightfully sticky noodles. I wouldn't have minded them a bit sweeter and a little more vibrant in flavour overall, whilst enjoyable, I probably wouldn't recommend them…considering you would be in Bangkok.

Grilled Chiang Mai sausages with crisp vegetables were recommended by Gavin and completely delicious. The little slices were surprisingly spicy and packed a punch in the mouth. Probably one of my favourite dishes of the night!

I forgot exactly which fish dish this was, but I do remembering oohing at how cute it was when presented. It was also very tasty, with a lovely sweet and sticky sauce to go with it…mmm…

I love home made tofu, Chillipadi used to do a great silky tofu which I feel has gone down hill these days. However, here, it was a mouthful of heaven as the slightly caramelised exterior gave way to a smooth, silken tofu that melted into the mouth. And I'm never one to balk away from a sticky sweet chilli sauce...which I may have gotten all over my spoon...then the table...then Brad....but oh well...

It was always amusing taking Brad to meet my friends in Asia. The conversations would always start with me doing the social niceties and chatting and catching up to whatever the other person was doing. The inevitable question of "So Brad…what do you do?" would pop up and I would then happily bow my head down and dig into my meal while Brad and my friend would do the rest of the talking and exchange thoughts on psychology and books to read. 

I was more than happy for this to happen, while munching away on dessert. More sweets for me….!

It was hard to go past something with chocolate and the warm melting chocolate cake with vanilla sauce and cappuccino ice cream fit the bill perfectly. Soft gooey interior which spilled onto the perfectly white plate when opened…and ice-cream.

The raspberries with sesame crisp and passionfruit syrup with vanilla ice-cream provided a slightly more refreshing alternative end to the meal, fun and colourful, tangy and bright. It was essentially a sweet fruit salad with  with a bit of crunch and ice-cream. What's not to love? 

Overall I liked the food at Long Table. Sure, it is dressed up, it's not super, super authentic, and not as cool and street as actually being on the street having cheap grub, but the setting was beautiful and the food really still quite tasty. 

Gavin had to head off after the end of the meal, which left Brad and I to wonder out onto the balcony area, grab another beer or two and enjoy the real selling point of Long Table. The view. 

At level 25, you get breathtaking evening views of the Bangkok skyline. With lazy lounge music pumping out the speakers we kicked back and had a nice quiet finish to the evening…even if you don't come for the food, at least pop by for a scrummy cocktail and the views….

Long Table

25th Floor, Column Building, 48 Sukhumvit Soi 16

Bangkok

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Gypsy & Pig

Whilst Hardware Lane is a landmark for many in the city (for better or worse), these days, Hardware Street, just across the way, seems to slowly be making it's presence better known as well. 

Gypsy and Pig is one of the new additions quietly nestled on the corner of Hardware Street and Little Lonsdale. 

I popped by into this dark, intimate and cosy space with I-Hua, Agnes and Alistair after our visit to Bottega for a demo of the pasta class. Having no booking, we had to be split into two groups, I-Hua and I on one end of the bar and Agnes and Alistair  on the other. 

Ah. It was an amusing night. We'll leave it at that.

Gypsy and Pig is tiny, so you'd be well off to make a booking before visiting as we saw quite a number of people, on a Tuesday night, get turned away after we were seated. Although quite sombre in it's fit out, with lots and lots of black, little piggy memorabilia all over the place adds that cute Japanese touch. 

Deciding to try something different, I had a shou-chu with fresh lime, that I had to squeeze myself and pour on in! I personally quite like places where they encourage a bit of 'DIY', fills up the time while you're waiting for food! 

At Gypsy and Pig, it may not be a far-fetched guess to say that they specialise in pork dishes, with a healthy selection of Kurobuta dishes. すごい！

So we naturally got a serve of the pan grilled sliced Kurobuta with special ginger soy. We got a little bit impatient waiting, as it did take a little while, constantly peeking over the edge of the bar to try and figure out what the chef was doing and when he would start on our dish. The kitchen is a fairly impressive set up though, with only 2 floorstaff, an assistant chef and the head chef, it's a small but obviously tightly run crew.

Ah, and the Kurobuta was so worth the wait! Served with a generous portion of salad, it smelt amazing as it was put in front of us and proved to be gorgeously tender and well…just porkingly delicious. The ginger soy was the perfect addition for the cool weather outside. I-Hua commented that the ginger soy made her think of a Chinese dish, and although I agree, we can't really complain beyond that. 

I am the worst person when it comes to comfort food when it's cold and when I saw the oven-baked potato and pancetta gratin with creamy spicy cod roe sauce and melted cheese on the menu…uh…I think my heart flip flopped all over the floor. 

Almost more intoxicatingly aromatic and inviting than the kurobuta, it didn't take long for us to break through the cheesy top to all the goodness below. This was just everything. One would think roe to be a curious addition, but the saltiness went beautifully with the cheese and potatoes, the potatoes were soft, the cheese was goopy. What more do you need? 

Since we had only indulged in two savoury dishes, we figured we could justify dessert. When we asked the waitress what was in the dessert platter, she just said 'One of everything'. 'A little tasting plate then eh? Let's get that then'.

Oh lord. What the waitress might not have mentioned that it's literally one of everything. Not a taste, not a sized down sample, it was one of each of the dessert dishes on the menu jammed into one plate for pure sugar heaven. 

Creme caramel, almond jelly, cheesecake and a generous scoop of green tea ice-cream and black sesame ice-cream. Heaaveeeeen!

Surprisingly for me, I probably enjoyed the ice-creams the most. I think these days these 'Asian' flavoured ice-creams can be a bit weak, but at Gypsy and Pig, they had beautifully rich and intense flavours. The green tea in particular had the strong matcha powder flavour to it and wasn't as sweet as others I had come across. Mmmmhmmm!

I also enjoyed the creme caramel, silky, smooth and rich. For me, although I like almonds, the almond jelly tasted a bit too artificial for me, although I-Hua quite liked it. Finally, the cheesecake was a bit of a let down considering the quality of everything else. A bit too cold, a bit too hard and not quite hitting the spot. 

I think what I really do like about Gypsy and Pig is that it offers Japanese food, but not in the stereotypical sense. No sushi rolls, no seaweed salads, although I like all that stuff perfectly well, it's refreshing to have yet another facet of this scrumptious cuisine. You also know you must be in a good Japanese place, when the booking next to you are all chattering away to themselves in Japanese. I could've sworn one of them was my Japanese sensei back in high school but I was a little too shy to ask….

Gypsy & Pig

391 Little Lonsdale Street

Melbourne VIC 3000






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