A little birdy told me some time ago, “Next time you’re in Auckland, you gotta check out Bambina Cafe on Ponsonby Road”. Being accustomed to folks giving me there top geographical restaurant picks, I didn’t think too far into it at this point.

It wasn’t until i caught a snigger on the bluebirds beak that the inqusitive side of me delved deeper, ” Is it pretty good?” I baited my birdie.

“Let’s just say, it’ll be a trip down memory lane.” Hmmm, another cheeky grin and I begin to imagine myself walking into this popular Ponsonby eatery and been confronted by skeletons of kitchens past as 15 of my 20 years of cheffing had been undertaken in the bellies of Auckland kitchens.

“Trust me, just give it a try.” Never one to turn down a challenge, I filed Bambina away as a curious must try.

Fast forward 6 months and I find myself on a Chilly Auckland morning driving down Ponsonby Road on a recent trip home to New Zealand. With rumblings of bellies coming from the back seat of the car proving too hard to ignore, we secure a main road car-park and make our way to Bambina cafe.

Our attempts to sit outside and partake in the Ponsonby Road sport of people watching are dashed thanks to a bone chilling wind that is presently sweeping down the road. We set up camp inside the cafe to the relief of those in our party that weren’t dressed for the wintry blast and take over a couple of tables along the banquet mirrored wall.

A large blackboard on the opposing wall contains the menu and a huge communal table hosts newspapers and diners alike.

Hmmmm, that communal table in birch coloured wood looks awfully familiar…

We are quickly offered table service, to which I announce that coffees are required as medicinal necessities. Within a few minutes welcoming cups of steaming brew are placed in front of us which are deliciously good.

The crema and steamed milk is voluptuous, creamy and float almost suspended within its crockery confines. The taste of the coffee is smooth and elegant and a shining example of boutique coffee roasters Allpress Espresso’s commitment to producing a superior accessible and consistent product.

I scan the blackboard menu to get a  snapshot of the kitchen’s style and food ethos. Toast and preserves, muesli,  scrambled eggs and your choice of sides ~ The dishes don’t strike me as anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until my attention drifted past the obligatory offerings that  I got that funny, familiar forgotten feeling.

Ricotta hotcakes, Corn fritters with bacon and roast tomato…?

They say that imitation is the hugest form of flattery and looks like Bambina has taken some  advice in this area.

Having worked as head chef for Bill Granger for a couple of years in his iconic Sydney establishment ‘Bills’, I can spot a Bills take on a menu  a mile away, and from the looks of the communal table and several menu arrangements, the team behind Bambina are just smitten with Bills.

I had to chuckle to myself as we placed our order for scrambled eggs with bacon, Ricotta hotcakes and Corn fritters. Three Bills classics coming straight up to which my dining companions being only more than too happy to oblige.

The food was quickly dispatched to our table, and we dug in after snapping a few photos for prosperity.

The scrambled eggs looked sensational! The sunshine yellow eggs were piled mountain high a top a couple of thick slices of granary bread.

Now I’m not about to say that Bills invented scrambled eggs, as almost every breakfast menu in the Western world probably has scrambled eggs in some way,  shape or form. It is within the confines of Bambina and its obvious adoration for things “bills” that I order the eggs as a worthy comparison.

Bills scrambled eggs are so famous, they have been described in the New York Times as being ‘as gentle as the breath of an angel’, and folks flock from all around the world for a plate of them.

I loved the scrambled presentation at Bambina, as when I was plating up this dish whilst at Bills, it was blasphemy to serve the eggs on top of the toast for risk of the toast becoming soggy.

We always served the eggs on the plate followed by slices of sourdough off to the side to prevent potential liquid cross-contamination. The kitchen at Bambina throws caution to the wind and in a gutsy move serves the scrambled like Everest. Works for me!

Like the pristine waters of Lake Tekapo in New Zealand’s South Island, looks incredible from the outside, but stick your toe in the water and your liable to get frost bite ~ My scrambled Himalayas did not deliver on taste. The generous serving could have done with a sprinkling of  salt flakes during the cooking process  and the egg mixture needed some additional substance and less stove time to achieve Scrambled perfection.

Call me a scrambled egg purist, but after cooking 200+ servings a day  for a couple of years, I have become somewhat knowledgeable on this breakfast egg cooking technique.

The hotcakes with yogurt and fruit were placed in front of Mr5 who oooohed with anticipation. I was glad that he had wanted them, as they were child-like in portion despite the hefty NZD$14.50 price tag.  Three thin pancakes sat piled on the plate, topped with a dollop of yogurt and few pieces of fresh fruit.  Some of the fruit in question were oranges with skin still attached, not the most appropriate way to serve a fruit salad, nor were they seasonally sweet either.

I was unable to detect any ricotta in the hotcakes but they were a good example of a pancake none the less. They had a delectable crisp exterior and had they been fluffier and the portion more acceptable for the price they would have been a great dish. Bambinas take on the hotcakes with fresh fruit and yogurt a nice healthier alternative to Bills butter and honeycomb soaked gems.

The corn fritters with bacon, roast tomato and spinach was a near mirror image of this famous Bills dish, with the flavor being similar all but a tad doughy. At Bills, we would try to jam as much freshly shucked corn into each fritter as humanly possible. It should only have the lacy whisper of paprika spiced batter holding all that corn together ~ making it a veggie packed early morning treat.

So it is with a full belly and a table of  content diners that I mull over my findings. Yes, there are some very blatant and obvious copies of some Bills classics, like the corn fritters, hotcakes and communal table. But it is within the execution that differentiates these two establishments.

Bambina is an icon of the cafe scene in Auckland and has been serving the inner city faithful for many years in its current  location.  For that alone, it gets a well deserved medal for longevity in the fickle New Zealand market.  Their food requires polish and is somewhat lacking in x factor but the coffee, service and surrounds make up for its short comings.

With food we are all imitators of some kind. Taking inspiration from a meal we ate, a recipe we read or a restaurant we admire. Bill Granger himself takes inspiration for his cookbooks and restaurants from his peers and multiple dining opportunities that present themselves when you carry celebrity clout.

It is within the execution that our individuality speaks volumes and the little subtle touches that makes a dining experience memorable.

Good  coffee is art.

And I’m not talking about a picture of Elvis frothed out in milk and creama on top of your vanilla hazelnut  half strength decaffeinated mocha-frappa-soy- cinno either.

To make a good coffee requires a delicate balancing act of beans, barista and machine. So many variables come into play when you discuss these three major aspects that coffee making has become. It is really a scientific art form of the highest level.

Lest we forget the other important and vital aspects that go into a decent cuppa Joe, like location, consistency, service and price.

Does such a place exist that can tick all the magical boxes? Thank fully yes.

Sydney folks and visitors alike can be assured in the knowledge that our caffeine needs are being well catered for in the heart of the Sydney corporate and shopping district.

In a tiny street side kiosk behind the majestic Queen Victoria Building in the Sydney CBD sits a  gem of a coffee joint, that is so small you can’t even swing an analogue in it.

Espresso on York sits on the windward  corner of York and Market street, and is owned and operated by Tony with the skilful assistance of Barista Roberto.

Roberto’s ability to turn out consistently top quality espresso is only matched by Tonys foresight to keep prices at the most reasonable I’ve seen in Australia to date which is, wait for it… $2.00.  Could this be the best coffee in Sydney?  I’m convinced it is.

This is a no nonsense purists establishment who require their coffee the way god intended it. Freshly roasted and expertly crafted. There are no tables here, no magazines to linger over and no chance of a free refill. You stand, you order and you inhale.

Never one to waste an opportunity, I like to order myself a doppio which comes first, followed by a flat white. I enjoy the doppio whilst waiting for my flat white to be created.  And Tony knows exactly what I order and how I like it despite seeing hundreds and hundreds of faces everyday at his kiosk.

I shot the breeze with Roberto as he deftly twists and turns with hand movements so precise and exact. He doesn’t waste a millimetre of energy as the ground coffee gets tampered with a flick of the wrist and milk jugs are tossed into position with the ease of an acrobat.

“It’s all in the Extraction Bridge,” he tells me with a smile as I watch mouse tails cascading from the silver espresso machine.

Having worked in restaurants all my life and having access to many wonderful espresso machines and skilful baristas, I know it’s more than just extraction which produces such masterpieces. It requires love and care for your craft and a commitment to producing the best product whether it’s your first cup of the day or the 600^th.

And if you want to talk about skill, Roberto tells me he has a passion for photography as well. So I ask him if he would like  to take a few photos for the article I want to do on Espresso on York.  The results are the stunning  shots that you see here amongst this post. Coffee porn anyone?

Want to see more of Roberto’s work? Check out his Flickr photostream and follow him on Twitter and  to taste Roberto and Tony’s handiwork, just one small gold coin will get you the best coffee in Sydney.

Tony and Roberto of Espresso on York

So tell me, have you had your caffeine fix today?

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Peter Georgakopoulos from "Souvlaki For The Soul"

and asks him Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Food blogger profile

Website: http://souvlakiforthesoul.com/

Twitter : @souvlakiman

My name is Peter Georgakopoulos and I live in the inner city of Sydney. I’m originally a Melbourne boy born into a Greek family. Hence the reference to souvlaki in the title of my blog.

I’m very lucky I get to travel for a living as this has allowed me to see and eat a lot of the world!! Travelling can be fun but it can also be taxiing on the body so I love it when I can chill at home with a nice meal, a glass or two of red in front of the TV wearing a pair of trackies!! Bliss…I tell ya! Oh! And I also have a wicked sense of humour too!

When I first started Souvlaki For The Soul I had no idea which direction it would take or where it would lead me. I now find myself being invited to private masterclasses with famous chefs, cooking with exotic ingredients on tropical Thai islands and photographing restaurants and food commercially. Food and travel photography is an area I’m hoping to expand on even more and am hoping to make a new career out of it.

Blogging has also been a good education tool too. It has taught me a lot. I’m a firm believer that one should never stop learning. I try to learn something new every day. I’m also grateful for what I have and try to say thanks. Oscar Wilde was once quoted as saying ”We are all lying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Well I can tell you, the stars I can see are covered in a dark couverture chocolate!

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Penny aka @Jeroxie

and asks her  Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Web URL - http://jeroxie.com/addiction
Twitter – @jeroxie
Facebook – addicitiveandconsuming
Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeroxie/

I am a project manager in a digital agency by day. I love my day job but prefer to be in the kitchen, markets and amongst food all day. My weekend schedule is always packed with food/drink related activities.

I love visiting farmers’ markets and finding great local produce. I love the aroma of a hard working kitchen. The spices, the herbs, the pounding or grinding sound of the mortar and pestle. I love to show off exciting produce and ingredients to passionistas. In pursue of learning different techniques and cultures from food bloggers around the world, International Incident Party (http://jeroxie.com/addiction/international-incident-party) was founded. It is a monthly themed based event that allows food bloggers to showcase their skills, culture and creativity.

I love eating out and sharing our dining experiences with fellow food lovers. We have a done a couple of crazy journeys. We hoovered through 19 bowls of ramen with 7 others in one afternoon, searching for the best bowl in Melbourne. Just recently, I co-hosted a blind tasting event and ate banh mi from 11 different places to find the best in Melbourne. And now, we are scouring Melbourne for restaurants that serve duck banquets.

I love to travel, and when I do, more photos are taken of food and drinks than castles and temples. I feel that more knowledge is acquired through eating and drinking than reading history from a book. The more I travel, the more I discover that I don’t know and the more I want to carry on this journey.

Jeroxie (http://jeroxie.com/addiction/) has become an invaluable repository for our stories, triumphs and failures in the kitchen, as well as eating and travel experiences. If you are in Melbourne and love to join us in our food adventures, please do drop me a note.

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Emma Stirling from www.scoopnutrition.com

and asks her  Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Website: www.scoopnutrition.com

Facebook: The Scoop On Nutrition

Twitter: www.twitter.com/EmmaStirling

Jennifer Lam from www.jenius.com.au

and asks her  Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Website: http://jenius.com.au/

Facebook: Jenius.com.au

Twitter: @Jenius

Alex from Eat- Drink-Play

The Internet Chef Talks to Alex Adams from

and asks her  Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

Growing up in a small country town in the outback meant dining out options were limited, as was cultural diversity. I knew one Asian person, her name was Anita and she owned the Chinese shop.

Luckily my European mother was a wonderful cook. In our backyard was a vegetable patch and chickens free to roam. My mother educated me about fresh produce and organic food. She was the queen of dinner parties and our kitchen was always filled with mouth-watering aromas.

At 18 I moved to Sydney to pursue my dreams of becoming a writer. Alone, I also discovered an exciting new world of culinary delights. I tried food from all over the world, made friends and was amazed by laksa and rice paper rolls, now staples in my weekly diet.

Four years later, at 22, I found myself not writing but wearing a suit and living the corporate life. It was also around this time I started looking at food differently. I became very fussy about what I ate. I avoided dining out and food became a source of energy for the gym rather than a pleasure of the senses.

In early 2009, in the midst of the GFC, I quit my corporate job, bought a ticket to Europe and left a week later to reconnect with my roots. It was here I fell in love with food again. I remembered what life was all about. Living meant eating and eating meant sharing meals with the people you love.

I visited family I’d never met before in a tiny village north of Athens. Food was such a big part of their lives and they were so happy despite having few of luxuries I took for granted in Sydney. Every meal was an occasion, tables full of delicious food, ancient furniture, bright smiles and belly wobbling laughter.

Food was a sign of love and affection. One evening my aunty started crying at the dinner table because I did not eat meat. It was as though I’d rejected her love. Seeing this level of emotion attached to food made me realize that my happiest memories growing up had all involved food. And yes…that night I ate meat.

I returned to Australia with renewed passion. I moved out of my ‘Bondi Bubble’ and into Darlinghurst, the heart of Sydney’s food scene. I vowed to make the most of every eating experience. The gym will always be there but sharing great food with friends is something you need to capture when you can.

Inspired by this I started a blog called Eat Drink Play to share my foodie experiences. I thought if I shared others would join me. And they did…there’s a huge foodie following out there and blogging made me feel a part of that community.

Searching for ways to connect with food lover’s offline I started Secret Foodies in April 2010. Inspired by guerilla dining in New York and Melbourne I wanted to create an exciting way for people to try new food, visit new places and make new friends. I also wanted the chefs and owners behind the food to get involved and share their passion.

There are enough fabulous cooks and knowledgeable food critics. I don’t pretend to be either. I am merely a facilitator of an environment where people can share their love of food. I want people to experience the same genuine warmth they enjoy when they share meals with friends and family.

There are many things that inspire me to blog about food. This is the beginning of my story and I’m sure there is plenty more to come. You never know what will happen but one thing’s for sure…we all love to eat, drink and play.

Food blogger profile

Website: Eat-Drink-Play and Secret Foodies

Twitter: @MsDarlinghurst

Facebook: Secret Foodies

For Alex Adams, founder of Eat Drink Play and Secret Foodies, food is all about the people you share it with.

Inspired by this idea, Alex looked for ways to connect outside the everyday. With a passion for sharing her inner city lifestyle with like-minded people she set out to create a space for local foodies… and Eat Drink Play was born.

Under the alias of Ms Darlinghurst, Alex began to document her adventures, as she and her friends unearthed Sydney’s hidden gems.

Eager to include others in her culinary escapades, Alex launched Secret Foodies earlier this year. Meeting monthly at surprise venues across Sydney, the ever-changing team of undercover foodies reviews each restaurant while making new friends.

A natural born social butterfly, Alex’s career has spanned writing and public relations to corporate sales. When she’s not blogging and organizing events, you’ll find Alex riding her BMX around Darlinghurst, taking photos and making videos of the weird and wonderful around Sydney’s east.

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Lorraine from NQN

The Internet Chef Talks to Lorraine Elliot from

and asks her  Just one Question…

“What inspired you to blog about food?”

I started blogging in the first place  because I had a very dry job as an online media strategist in advertising with very little creative outlet and my husband saw that I wanted to be more creative so he suggested that I blog-it was an emerging medium and he saw potential in that.

As I have a very obsessive nature and always have, food was always one of those things I was absolutely obsessed with from an early age. When I decided I wanted to blog, I knew that it was going to be about one of my three great loves: food, beauty or fashion. I thought about it and food was the the thing that I thought about most during the day.

The other two I loved but when I’d catch myself daydreaming it was always going to be about food. And if you’re going to blog about something, you’d best do it on a topic you’re absolutely smitten with!

Lorraines Fav Food St. Honore Pastry

Food blogger profile

Website: Not Quite Nigella

Twitter: @notquitenigella

Facebook: Not Quite Nigella

Lorraine Elliott is the founder of the popular food and travel blog Not Quite Nigella. A former Advertising Media Strategist, she began the blog in September of 2007 after repeated suggestions from friends and family. The blog features a new story every day with stories alternating between a cooking story, restaurant review and store visit. She also conducts interviews with chefs like Fergus Henderson, Donna Hay and Bill Granger and writes special features and behind the scenes stories on how food is made. There are also a number of travel stories as she crosses the globe finding interesting places to eat. Her blog receives over 120,000 unique readers per month and over 320,000 page views per month making it the largest food blog in Australia. Since then, the popularity of the blog has given her the impetus to take it full time which she has been doing since January 2009.

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His wish ..” is to help everyone to create a strong sustainable movement, to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook  again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity”

A must watch..

The beloved pork has suffered harshly in the last few years ~ with the terror that surrounded the Swine flu, and peoples  assumption that you could “catch” the swine flu from eating pork meat… False on all accounts! Pork has taken a hammering.

I grew up eating pork. It was a part of my weekly diet and came in abundant forms of thick juicy pork sausages, pork hock soup, bacon bone boil-ups and tender pork roasts. Pork crackling was always a treat fought fiercely over by me and my siblings.

One question I am frequently asked when doing cooking classes and demonstrations is how to achieve sensational pork crackling on the Sunday roast ~ to which I now have the definitive answer!

photo by gurms

I was fortunate enough to have recently spent time in the test kitchen of Electrolux Australia, where we probed the question of how to attain crackling success.

4 pork roasts, 4 pieces of pork fat and 4 different ovens later ~ the answer to the age old question of good crack is as follows.

Tip number 1

When choosing your pork for roasting, do so from a reputable meat supplier. The more in-depth knowledge that your butcher has over the beast they are selling, the better. Why? The best cracking comes from a female pig ~ so you want to secure your pork roast from a sow.

The female pig meat tends  to be sweeter than her male counterpart and also  have more fat under the skin ~ which is perfect for crackling!

Tip number 2

When choosing your pork roast, avoid purchasing meat that comes from intense farmed piggeries, but rather choose free- range and if possible organic. The meat will be more tender and relaxed and level of fat will be higher. Due to public demand, the pig breeder has been breeding pigs with less and less fat, so the meat is less tender and forgiving and the crackling harder to get right.

Tip number 3

Choose a pork roast with a good amount of rind still attached, and preferably start the following recipe the day before you intend to dine.

Pork Crack~ling

DAY ONE ~ preparation

Lay the pork roast on a chopping board, skin side facing you. Taking a sharp knife, make 5mm incisions in the pork fat ~ slicing down lengths ways. Cut the slices as close together as possible.

Lay the pork loin on a wire rack, skin side still facing upwards and pour 3 cups of boiling water mixed with 1/2 cup of glucose syrup over the fat. Pat the pork dry with a paper towel, and leave uncovered in your refrigerator overnight, as close to the fridge’s fan as possible to help the pork to dry out.

DAY TWO ~ time to roast

Remove the roast from the fridge at least 2 hours before you intend to cook it so it comes up to room temperature. Massage vegetable oil into the rind before seasoning  well with sea salt flakes, rubbing  the coarse salt into ALL the grooves you had previously sliced into the meat.  Try and get as much salt as you can into the grooves.

Preheat the oven on Fan Bake to 240 C/ 460F

Place the pork onto a wire rack with a  roasting tray underneath to collect  any drips and cook the pork  on 240C/ 460F  for 20 minutes before turning the oven down to 220C/ 430F and roasting  further.  The amount of time needed for roasting is dependent on the size of the roast and whether the roast has bones or not.

The rule of thumb is to allow 40-60 minutes per kilo, but a better way to determine when the roast is ready is when it has an internal core temperature of 71C / 160F and the crackling is good and CRISP! If you haven’t got a meat thermometer ~ it would be a worthwhile investment!

Allow the pork to rest on a wire rack, covered with aluminum foil for 20 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!