Bumping into Burch & Purchase, Chapel St Melbourne

After we were fueled with a morning stop at Lb Cafe we continued our walk up and down Chapel St. Something catches my eye - it wasn't a display window with the latest season skirt on display, it wasn't even a belt or new season accessory ... a window full of delicious looking sweet creations, that's what I'm talking about! We wander on in ...



The shelves are lined with all sorts of little packets, and jars, with the pretty pink labels. You can then walk out the back to the epic wall of spice.



... and even get a glimpse into the kitchen where all the magic happens.



Now, you will be forgiven if you haven't heard of this dynamic team before (as honestly, this was our first encounter with the brand) but since our chance bumping into them we have seen them appear on Masterchef and just generally heard fantastic things about their boundary-pushing sweet style. On any given day you will see the showcase full of delights like lego blocks, clouds & chocolate bars as well as little jars of jams, curds and caramel and of course their celebration cakes and my favorite, their sprinkles. We took a bag of the puffed quinoa and malted orange crumble for our flight later in the week to Royal Mail Hotel and it was divine!



Burch & Purchase Sweet Studio
647 Chapel Street, South Yarra
Melbourne, Australia
Open: 10am~6:30pm Tuesday through Sunday
Closed Monday

T: +61 (0)3 9827 7060


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Cupcakes with a chaser of chocolate - Max Brenner on the Gold Coast

So, my darling sister turns 20... one thing that has not changed over the years is her love for chocolate. After a huge dinner the night before, with some delicious cupcakes what better way to follow up the next morning than with chocolate by the bald man. Max Brenner is all about chocolate - the shops walls are lined with all sorts of chocolate mixes, drinks, cups, glassware & sweets with cabinets of hand-made chocolates and then the front counter home to a whole range of chocolate goodies, a warm pot of chocolate for drizzling and a coffee machine used mainly for foaming milk for the various chocolate drinks. The drink menu is a tad daunting, you look above the back wall and the boards are filled with each & every hot or iced chocolate concoction you could imagine - dark chocolate, spiced Mexican chocolate, Danish toffee, marshmallow, coconut chocolate, mint chocolate, hot chocolate with waffle bites & peanut butter iced chockie .... just to name a few! The little sis' goes for a suckao, milk chocolate.



As you can see, one very happy camper! A jug of warm milk and fine milk chocolate buttons sit on a little wooden tray and are added to a little suckao pot, with a tea light candle flickering below. The metal straw has a little spoon on the end, for stirring and collecting all of the melting chocolate. I have the hot chocolate with waffle bites and Mum the Danish toffee chocolate, both divine!

We share a chocolate souffle cake, with chocolate drizzle and vanilla ice cream.



That's definitely our chocolate quota for the day .... now time for a stroll along the coast.

Max Brenner
Gold Coast - Main Beach
Shop 24 Ground Floor, Marina Mirage
74 Seaworld Drive Main Beach QLD 4217
T: +61 7 5591 1588


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Happy 20th Birthday Ally, now let's eat cupcakes...

While we were home recently my little baby sister turned 20... No longer a teenager! Happy Birthday Ally, so glad that we could be there to celebrate your special day.



We made a feast of a dinner, just what the birthday girl requested; Dad's corned beef with mustard sauce, potato rösti & buttered beans. Yum! We'd arranged some gorgeous cupcakes from The Cupcake Parlor in West End. Gooey chocolate fudge, toblerone topper & fairy floss varieties.



Great evening, great company & delicious cupcakes! Here's to many more happy years ahead....

La Granja and Xurreria, Barcelona Spain

Our first visit to Barcelona we had some trouble finding authentic churros. We had read a great little piece on Barcelona Food Girl but after wandering up and down the little Banys Nous several times, it was clear both places were taking an Easter break. On our return, we are eager to hunt them down ... The Banys Nous was then alive, and all the shops were open. We first spotted the Xurreria with piles of fried goodness in the window.



So the deal is, you buy a paper bag full of churros, which are sold by weight. A few euros gets us enough for 2. Then you head next door into La Granja, or the Milk Bar, where they are more-than happy for you to bring in your churros and open on the table. They have an extensive drink menu, so there is bound to be something for everyone. Coffees, liquers, tisanes, tea and of course the hot chocolates.



We both choose a Xocolata Picant. It is thick, rich and spiced with chili and cinamon. We dip the churros into our cups, the sugar that has been sprinkled on the giving a beautiful contrast against the lick of heat from the chili's...

The tiled walls, bright paint, marble tabletops and friendly staff make this a place we could easily spend a lot of time. It might just be a good thing they were closed for the Easter holidays...



Banys Nous
Carrer dels Banys Nous, 3
08002 Barcelona, Spain
933 437 994


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Espai Sucre Dessert Restaurant, Barcelona Spain

Espai Sucre is the work of partners Jordi Butrón and Xano Saguer. They opened in 2000 with the proclaim of being the "only Dessert restaurant in the World". 11 years on, I am still not aware of any other sole dessert restaurants of this caliber. They also provide a consulting service, as well as a range of pastry school classes. We didn't make a booking, but arrive around 9pm. They are very happy to accommodate us, and lead us through the small dining room in the front, past the kitchen, to a small area at the back seating only 6-10 people.



We get a nice little seat with a view of the kitchen. Giant mirrors line the ceiling, so you can see the whole process of each little intricate sweet bite being made. There is a range of menus to choose from, and we go with one of the Chocolate Menu's and one of the Little Dessert Menu's.

The Chocolate menu included 3 desserts & petit fors for 37.5€. There's the option to take matching sweet wines with each course, 4€ for 1 pairing, and 10€ for 3 pairings. Of course we take 3... The first chocolate course is Chocolate with vinegar, strawberries, mint and pepper. There was a mint foam, and hints of pepper in the chocolate wafer, and the strawberry ice was amazing.



The next on the Chocolate menu was truffle mushroom, butter, hazelnut and cocoa. This swayed on both sides of savory and sweet, with a rich earthiness from the combination of butter, hazelnuts and truffle. I could eat this for breakfast ....



The last of the chocolate courses, before petit fors of course, was the Chocolate energy bar, pumpernickel ice-cream, Tanzanie 75% and basil. The bar is made with the Tanzanie 75% covuture chocolate harvested exclusively in Tanzania. It is a blend of Criollo and Forastero beans, which produces a chocolate with spicy & fruit characteristics that is both intense and subtle at the same time. The pumpernickel ice-cream mellows the whole dish, and there is no doubt that we got a boost of energy from this one (although that may just be all of the sugar!).



The second menu we have chosen is the Littler Dessert Menu. This also has 3 courses, with petit fors, and is just 30€. We take another 3 wine pairings with this menu for the additional 10€ as well. The little menu starts off with "Ginger Ale", cucumber, pineapple and tarragon sherbet. The ginger ale is an intense foam sitting in the base of the bowl, there are cucumber and mint rolls and then the sherbet which is elevated with the addition of tarragon.



"Idiazábal" cake with cherry, beet and black beer. Idiazábal is a Basque cheese from the mountains in Spain, made from ewe's milk. The cheese was earthy, and the texture soft like pillows. The cherry and beet in the form of an ice, was sweet and tart and the black beer gave a pleasant, almost dark chocolate like bitterness to the dish.



Hm, I wonder who was doing bacon ice-cream first? We try a bread pudding, bacon ice-cream and pineapple. It's a wonderful finish to a well rounded sweet sensation. The crisp piece of bread really adding to the whole experience of the pudding. The bacon ice-cream was awesome! I could eat that stuff on toast. This dish though, really favored eating each component as a whole, with each part enhancing the other.



The little petit fors selection is delivered to the table on a very cool welded metal stand (Dad, take note;) we may want some of these made some day!) with a couple of little frozen shots. There were cake pops, chocolate florentine, chocolate truffles, short bread, fruit jubes and some cinnamon and almond cookies.



An espresso is the perfect end to our dessert feast. (Dad, also take note of the little welded sugar-compartment box in the background, this too is awesome).



Now, how many occasions after a wonderful meal have you just been dying to go somewhere with an impressive dessert menu and some nice digestifs and coffee? It happens to us a lot ... I think more people around the world should embrace the whole Dessert Restaurant thing. We for one would support that movement!



Espai Sucre
C/ PRINCESA, 53
08003 Barcelona, Spain
T: 932 681 630


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Mid-day Moo Menu at the Omm, Barcelona Spain

Moo Restaurant in the Omm hotel, something a little bit fancy. This 1 Michelin star Gastronomic Restaurant offers a range of tasting menus, but the Mid-day Moo at 45€ is unbeatable! We are super eager, and arrive a little early. We are taken through to the Moovida lounge and offered a drink ... well, it's 11:40am, don't mind if we do. I have a Cava cocktail, & Kim a Hendricks tonic concoction. A little plate of crisps is placed on the table, and disappears in no time.



The mid-day menu menu starts with a progression of appetisers. The first amuse bouche include a mushroom cream, truffled cookie, cheese gougeres and nut bread.



Rabbit with orange & red shiso is the next thing to excite our palate. A little brick of tender, white rabbit meat, with an intense orange reduction, lightly blanched Spring vegetables and baby shiso leaf. There is also a fluff with all the same flavours.



Truffle rock ... arrives to the table and looks amazing. There's a flick of bronze paint, and a black 'rock' sitting on some shining little pebbles.



After we look at it in awe for a while, it is gently cracked open with a fork. It's a very light candy coating, painted with truffle, with a salty, decadent and unctuous cream contained inside. As pleasing on the palate as it was intriguing on the eye.



Foie = ♥. Foie with strawberries is all about textures... There is a smooth foie mousse on the bottom, but with a chunk of fresh foie on top. Strawberries come in the form of jelly, fresh & flakes of the dried fruit. Cracked pepper and a few borage flowers complete the dish.



The next bowl reminds me of a record .... no tunes to be spun, just our taste buds out of control again! Razor clam meat, pork, fresh green baby broad beans, fresh herbs & a bread crisp.



The plate of salt cod is possibly the finest example of this fish we tried in Spain (and we ate a fair bit of it!). The fish was so moist and silky, but still with the salty taste-of-the-sea. The smoked rice, oh wow. So .. much .. flavour! A simple sprinkling again of the little flowers, and a few chive batons finish this delightful fish dish off.



Ah, things served on a piece of slate are just so cool ... A piece of seared white fish with Spring greens. The Spring greens are so vibrant, and again all about the textures. There is a green pea flan, pieces of raw green apple, snow pea shoots and fresh peas and beans.



The food just keeps on coming, which we certainly aren't complaining about, especially when it's suckling pig. A slab of pig, with an earth-shattering crackle and some fresh green leaves.



The dessert is a beautiful ice bowl filled with deep, red fruits. There are some pieces of cake, and a goat's milk ice-cream and a red-berry perfume is poured at the table.



The mid-day Moo menu included mineral water, a glass of wine, and coffee which is accompanied by a little plate of petit fors.



.... and just when we think this amazing, 1 Michelin star lunch extravaganza is over, our server appears back at the table with a box of handmade chocolates. We pick 2 of each, of course;)

This lunch was amazing, if we had more time, or even 1 free night, for the rest of our stay, we would have loved to get back there for dinner.

Hotel Omm
Rosselló 265
08008 Barcelona, Spain
T: +34 93 445 40 00

Monday to Saturday 1:30-4pm and 8:30-11pm
Closed In August


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Hittin' the road with Churros & Chocolate

Churros & chocolate are a bit of a breakfast staple all around Spain. Changing ever-so-slightly as we move through each region. The thinner, traditional churro was served when we were in Zaragoza although the thick spiral ones also made a breif appearance. The Churros in Sevilla are called Calentitos. They are the thick churro that is cooked in a spiral. When they are removed from the hot oil it is quite a spectacle.



We have arranged to meet our good friends Io & H early on this morning, we are driving down to Cadiz. Our contribution to the road trip is a cup of hot chocolate for each of us, and a giant bag of churros. When we order she just asks how many ...... 4 hot chocolate and then the bag of churros is enough for 4. It certainly is generous!



Even with the stop for road trip snacks, we manage to arrive a little early to our meeting place. The smell of the hot chocolates, the sugar, the warm bag sitting in my hands. It's too much. We are waiting a while, as we are sure Io & H are having some navigation troubles .............. We sample a few while they are hot .... and just can't help ourselves.

Lucky their appetites aren't quite as big as ours, they will never know how generous the initial portion was.

Macarons? I'm not too sure ....

We were very excited spotting a traditional little sweets shop while walking around Zaragoza. Kim spotted some Macarons (well, at least we thought they were) in the display window. We popped on in thinking a tray of these would be perfect snacks for our bus ride to San Sebastian. After I got in trouble for touching something in one of the displays, oooops, we get a tray with 8 of these delightfully colored looking sweet treats.



We don't even make it onto the bus before we unwrapped the beautiful little package. We are sitting out the front of Zaragoza bus station and dive on in ........................ to both of our surprise they are not at all macarons. They are soft chocolate centres encased in beautifully painted candy shells.



Kind of like a giant smartie. They were delicious, just not at all what we were expecting ....

Chocolateria La Fama, Zaragoza

Could this just be the perfect breakfast? Fried dough sprinkled with sugar dipped into thick, hot chocolate.



We wandered past La Fama on our first night in Zaragoza, and it was still full at 8pm ... So it seems churros and chocolate can be enjoyed anytime of day. We had our hearts set on wine & tapas though, so we return first thing the following morning. The little churerria is full to the brim, people buzzing in and out - a coffee sipped at the counter with a churro or two, or people lingering over mugs of hot chocolate and mountains of churros if they were lucky enough to get a perch by the bar.



Lucky we were that morning, getting the last available table in the window, right next to where all the magic was happening. 2 hot chocolates & a plate of churros are passed over the counter. Wow! The smell of rich chocolate and the glistening sugar on top of the fried dough sticks .... we dive straight in, dipping the crisp doughnut-like treat into the chocolate.



We savor each bite ... enjoying how decadent a breakfast like this is, but thinking why it should not be done every single morning?! Just as we see a giant wheel of the fatter porra style churro being piped into the hot oil. It's coiled into a giant fried snail of dough, and it lifted out with such care. We catch the eye of the lady behind the counter and she must see the excitement in our eyes ...



She snips off a few pieces of porra, dusts them with sugar, and hands them to us. She warns us they will be very very hot, and we know they are going to be very very good. The temptation is too much, and I figure the chocolate is now cooling down, so dip the porra in and, mmmmm The porra still has a crisp outer shell, but is lighter and fluffy on the inside.



If only we could start every day like this, the world would be a much happier place.



Chocolateria La Fama
Prudencio 25
Zaragoza, Spain 50003

Granja viader - Milk Bar, Barcelona

Quite close to the La Boqueria Granja M Viader is located, Barcelonas oldest milk bar. Started around 1870 and now with the forth generation of the same family running it, it's also famous as being the birthplace of Cacaolat, the popular skim milk and chocolate drink . It's located off Las Ramblas and then down a side ally so narrow that if your not standing in front of the shop you'll blink and miss it.



Wandering in and looking around the place was full but not packed, waiters in black waistcoats glide through the room delivering chocolaty goodness.



Don't wait to be seated, rather seat yourself at the first available table. Little menus on the tables are in Spanish though they have a variety of menus in a variety of other languages if you ask. The aroma of chocolate fills the air and soon it's all we can think about. We both order a suis, which is a chocolate topped with a healthy spoon of whipped cream. Being our first milk bar chocolate experience we had no idea what to expect. The cups are quickly brought to the table - wow, a healthy spoon of cream is right, there's a small mountain of cream preached on the top of each cup.



The danger of it overflowing as it melts prompts swift photos and we dive in with our spoons. Under the cream the chocolate is closer to a thick ganache than a drink. As the cream melts we mix it in to the rich chocolate slightly lightening it. After one cup we are done, so very done, this is about as much as chocolate as one can handle in one go. A few days later we return with our friends Ioanna and Hisashi and this time a Majorcan milk is also in order. The tall glass of milk is mixed with lemon, cinnamon and sugar to create a really refreshing drink.



Funnily enough we never ended up trying the cacaolat. Oh well if Granja M Viader has been around for 140 years we sure it will still be there next time.

Granja M Viader
Carrer d'En Xuclá 4, Barri Gòtic
Telephone 93 318 34 86
Open 5-8.30pm Mon; 9am-1.30pm, 5-8.30pm Tue-Sat. Closed 2wks Aug

Tapac 24, part 2; the lost hours

You can't visit Barcelona without running into some of Gaudi's prolific works somewhere. The most famous being the still epic Sangria Familia church, but having skipped that (epic church = epic ques) and kinda feeling like we should see something more of Barcelona than it's restaurants .. well that and after yet another fine Boqueria breakfast we had hours to fill before we could admire another eatery. We headed up into the hills that border the city to the fantasy garden Park Guell. Originally built by Gaudi as a playground for the rich we wandered round the winding paths all morning, listing to buskers and taking in the views back over Barcelona, it was amazing! To think that he had envisioned all of this in his head is astounding, I guess that's where the genius part comes into it.



After all this walking and artistic appreciation we were soon feeling the need for a little snack or two. Tapac 24 was close (well nothings really close to the garden so it was a cab ride) and we had only had a wee breakfast there before, so a sample of there lunch menu seemed to be in order.

We arrived grabbed a table and looked for the menu, hmmmm seems to be the same as the breakfast menu we had the other day .. we look around, a quick question, ahhh lunch menus come out at 12 - seems we had arrived a tad early, oh well we'll just grab a few things off the breakfast menu to tide us over. I'm just going to interrupt myself at this point to say y'know what I like about Spain? It was becoming apparent to me that you could eat whatever you like at whatever time you like and no one would say boo. You can put Rabo de toro (braised oxtail) on the breakfast menu and someone (us) will order it and it's all good. Amazingly good actually, fall off the bone in sticky finger lickin braising stock, and served in a tre cute little cast iron pan, icing on the cake people.



Our other tider overers were a can of sardines - Spain's canned seafood is not even playing the same game as the stuff you usually see lining supermarket shelves the product is often hand picked and canned only at the prime of it's season. Once you taste the difference you can understand how some Spanish canned seafood can cost hundreds of euros.



Eggs with potatoes and foie - a plate of hand-cut fries, sauteed foie gras and a fried egg smashed over the top, be still my congealing heart. It's a dish that arrives and you know how horrifically bad for you eating something like this will be yet your fork moves with surprising speed to scoop up mouthful after mouthful of pure deliciousness.



We had now lingered our way in to the lunching time zone. Menus were swapped and special boards were being bought out, so was a jug of some sangria like concoction on the table next to us. We'll have one of those please. One of those turned out to be a jug of agua de Valencia, Spanish sparkling wine (cava) with orange juice vodka and gin. Delicious & super easy to drink, maybe even a little too easy.



With the lunch menu in our hands we quickly browsed and in no time at all we had two of the most delectable anchovy fillets I had ever had the pleasure to meet sitting in front of us as well as a plate of grated tomato with sherry vinegar, sea salt and olive oil and some generous chunks of crusty bread for mopping it all up. A long time ago I used to think anchovies were horrible salty fishy things that had no reason for existing. Foolish me. To some extent a lot are that way, but to eat one of the anchovies at Tapac is to treat yourself to a just the right amount salty, just the right amount fishy, whole lot of umami experience.





The McFoie is something we had read about so of course one of those had to be ordered. Start with a small burger bun, fill with beef and foie gras patty, grill in a flat sandwich press till toasty, serve with truffle aoli. Need I say more?







At this point having just ordered another jug of agua de Valencia and feeling like we could still have a smackeral more we eyed up the specials board, proudly written in Catalan. Having even less of a grasp of Catalan than Spanish we randomly picked a few things.



We knew what chimichurri was so whatever's with that we'll have. Grilled beef it turned out to be. Smokey and doused with a herbacious chilli salsa. Heaven.



A plate of crumbed fried thingys were rabbit ribs. Moreish morsels of rabbit meat with a rich aoli for dipping. Once you popped you just couldn't stop.



Calcots are a traditional springtime treat. Grown from an onion bulb, the shoots have soil piled around them as they grow similar to white asparagus. the result is a leek like mild onion that is then charred grilled and usually served with romesco sauce. There is no tidy way to eat them just scoop a little romesco and slurp it down, you may even get a few appreciative glance for embracing the tradition wholeheartedly.



We both knew we were done but we couldn't leave with out one more Tapac specialty. Chocolate with olive oil and salt is not just a Tapac specialty but a Catalan one. In this case the chocolate is quenelles of rich ganache drizzled with olive oil speckled with great Spanish flake salt and topped with a wafer of toasted bread. Chocolaty, salty, crunchy, just delicious.



Sated we made our way out onto the street surprised to find we had lost quite a few hours and that it was now time for siesta. Oh well when in Rome, or Spain in this case.

Tapac 24
Diputacio 269
Barcelona
8am - midinght