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The Politics of Food
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@CBRFoodie got a special mention in a recent @canberratimes Food & Wine Supplement! thanks to the lovely editor @NatashaRudraCT … and thanks to @rachiperera for spotting it and posting it on twitter 🙂
Chef’s Table at Old Parliament House*
Wow, this review sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience. Grey venue, company, chefs and food all in a few too-short hours. Great story Tara!
Reading back on my review of the Starlight Dinner at Old Parliament House as part of Enlighten earlier this year, you can hear the disbelief in my (writing) voice. The night appeared to have little connection to Enlighten, and we found the use of the venue, and the food, underwhelming.
It’s not very often I get a response to a poor review. But this time, within a matter of days, our group’s been contacted by the people behind the food: Restaurant Associates. They want to really show us exactly what their kitchen – and chef Sebastien Lutaud – are capable of, and we agree to attend a Chef’s Table experience.
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From Neil Doody’s cool blog – Not Quite Silo Bread
This is going on the ‘to-do’ list!
A list of #Canberra food blogs
After a brief chat with a few other Canberra food bloggers I thought it would be worthwhile complimenting my Twitter list of #Canberra Foodies (i.e. people in Canberra who share food stories on twitter – I’ve identified over 234! see the list here) with a reasonably current Canberra Food Bloggers list.
When I started tweeting from @CBRFoodie last year I noticed (after a little bit of research and googling) there seemed to be hundreds of Canberra-based food blogs, but most seemed to have died a quick death. I’m guessing this is because a lot of people try and then abandon the idea of blogging when they realise it can be time-consuming, has technical challenges and it involves occasionally interacting with some very strongly opinionated people. (So perhaps a background in politics may help? 🙂
Anyway – back to the topic at hand. Here’s a short list (only 75 at last count!) of my current favourite Canberra-based food bloggers (in alphabetical order). As you can see I’ve discovered most of these via Twitter or Facebook. More recently I also discovered two relevant facebook groups (which are appropriately moderated to keep the content relevant): Canberra Bloggers Collective and Canberra Food Bloggers. Both are closed groups just for bloggers and both are moderated to keep posts on topic. Even more recently a friend Anna (@eatnik) pointed me in the direction of another ten or so additions to the list which I had missed!
If you know of anyone not on this list please let me know and I’ll update it. After a few iterations I was advised that it would be more sensible to try and keep the list in alphabetical order, so it is alphabetised on the basis of the blog name.
Absolutely Jas @absolutelyjas
Adventures in Winterland by Sharon Trauki @Sharon_inez
A Kitchen Cat Natash (aka A Kitchen Cat) was a contestant on the 2014 Master Chef TV series! here’s a link to the story in the Canberra Times including the cheeky tweet from Rachi Perera which revealed the news 🙂
Andrew and Emelia’s Food Adventures @EVimalasiri
Bake Bike Blog @bakebikeblog
You Berra believe it @LindaSoo
Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things @bizzylizzycooks
Blithe Moments @LisaRobey
Brazen’s (mostly) gluten free adventures!
Café Cat @the_cafeCat
Canberra Gastronome @CanGastronome
Canberra Times Food and Wine (Choose your “location=Canberra”) Current and previous Editors: @NatashaRudraCT and @kirstenlawsonCT
Capital Food Journal @capfoodjournal
Capital Gourmand (Tom moved to London last year but his blog is still excellent) @FreeHugsTommy
Cara Phillips @_caraphillips_
CBR Foodie (me! :)) @CBRFoodie
Charinya’s Kitchen @CharinyaR
Dreaming of Almonds (and a nicer world) @Almond_Dreams
Emiko Davies @emikodavies
Feeding the Sonis https://www.facebook.com/pages/Feeding-The-Sonis/595780520501408
Food Porn journal https://www.facebook.com/foodpornjournal
Food Wine Travel @ChristineSalins
Freak Biscuit “gluten-free vegequarian”
Exploring the taste of language
Good Food Week @GoodFoodWeek
Green Foodie @greenfoodie
Her Canberra @HerCanberra
In The Taratory @InTheTaratory
The Intolerant Chef (not active on Twitter)
Karin’s Recipes and Random Musings
Kate Freeman Nutrition @KFNutrition
Kiriels Kitchen Medieval and Renaissance cooking
Le Bon Vivant @Rachiperera
Love at Every Bite @loveateverybite
Makeitbakeitsnapit @kirsty__young (previously known as ‘In the Kitchen with Kirsty’)
Miss K Licious As Anna (@Eatnik) explained, MissKlicious is Sydney-based but reviews many CBR restaurants and deserves an honourable mention 🙂 she’s on twitter too @missklicious
mnfdblog – maybe about food, maybe not @neildoody
Mouthless Mutters @ezzbez
Mumchic @mum_n_chic
My Canberra Table @girl_who_cooks
My Nutritious Journey @KaseyBateup
Netherleigh @netherleighblog
Nilbarcodefood @nilbarcodefoodNilbarcode
Nutrition In Action @Eucale_Stanes
One Hungry Hen Heidi lives in Cooma, just south of Canberra but spends a lot of time here and blogs and tweets regularly about Canberra food and happenings @onehungryhen
Raving Recipes @ravingrecipes60
shenANNAgans @AnnaJ31
Shrinking Single @shrinkingsingle
Sir and M’Lady Dine Out mainly outside of Canberra but they have a Canberra section to their blog and they’re on Instagram http://instagram.com/restaurantfoodpictures#
Taiwanxifu https://twitter.com/Weekendparent
The Bread and Butter Chef https://www.facebook.com/BreadandButterMum
The Canberran @TheCanberran
The Cinnamon Scrolls @cinnamonscribe https://www.facebook.com/thecinnamonscrolls
The Constance Search For Gluten Free https://www.facebook.com/theconstancesearch4glutenfree
The Food Avenue @thefoodavenue
The Food Marshall https://www.facebook.com/Thefoodmarshall
The Girl Has Sparke @girlhassparke
The Martini Whisperer @martiniwhisper1
The Merrymaker sisters @fithealthymade
The Patient Cook https://www.facebook.com/thepatientcook
The Wooden Spoons https://www.facebook.com/thewoodenspoonsblog
Travel and beyond @TravelnBeyond
Vegeterannean Editor Charlotte is a well-known journalist, publisher and researcher in Canberra writing circles and active in social media on twitter via @vegeterranean and Editia
Woodkitchen by Lucy feihua.cao@gmail.com
Yummy Lummy @garydlum
Also, I have to mention there are few Canberra people who may not be trying to be food bloggers but who share plenty of food stories and Canberra stories and who follow these sorts of conversations very closely on twitter to the point where I think of them as fellow-Canberra foodies (I’ll explain why in some detail in a future blog).
@RichardTuffin … https://www.facebook.com/atrtphotos
@TweetCanberra (aka @JamesTew) … www.raising3daughters.com
@PaulJurak … www.kayakcameraman.com
@martin_o (aka Martin Ollman) …  techosapien.com Â
@gcnelson (aka Greg Nelson) … gcnelson on vimeo
@Honey_Delight (aka Carmen) …honeydelight.com.au
@jaysullivan2 (aka Comedian Jay Sullivan) has a regular blog which I like reading called Dear Weetbix
I’ve also decided to list recently inactive Canberra food blogs (for two reasons, in case I stumble across them and wonder if they’re on my list or not, and also in case they are reactivated and I want to add them again to the master list).
The Canberra Cook Cath hasn’t blogged since 2013 but she’s on twitter at @CathCanCook
Canberra Vegan (last post December 2013)
Fooodgasm (last Canberra-related review January 2013)
Happy Bites (last post November 2013)
Honey and Soy @honeyandsoy (blog inactive since 2013)
Progressive Dinner Party (the last blog entry to this awesome Canberra food blog seems to have been in May 2012 but the author Zoe is still active on twitter at @crazyBrave )
The Papillon Pantry (last post March 2013)
Meet a #Canberra Foodie: Liz Posmyk (@bizzylizzycooks )
Liz Posmyk, standing proudly in front of her extensive library of cooking and food books.
No one who is interested in food and social media in the Canberra region could say they haven’t been in touch with Liz Posmyk, either through her famous blog http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/ Twitter, Facebook, mainstream media, food event or other channel. Liz has been a prolific poster of “Canberra Foodie” news for many years. When our local journal of record The Canberra Times (which has 74 staff on twitter, I think, here’s my latest list: https://twitter.com/Elias_Hallaj/lists/canberra-times-staff-etc) was looking for local cooks who also blogged they turned to Liz, who promptly gave them the names and details of capable cooks/bloggers to interview http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-blogs-finest-20140307-34bgv.html
Let me begin by stating I love Liz’s blog (www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com) . When I started blogging three short months ago I thought “if I do this for ten years I’d be happy to be as half as good as Liz” in terms of content, credibility and sheer aesthetics. If I had more time for food photography I would simply try and copy her best shots. I was surprised to learn recently that she isn’t a Canon or Nikon aficionado (like most professional photographers) but happily snaps away with a Olympus OM-D EM5 (Eileen (@TheFoodAvenue) also uses an Olympus camera for her great photos).
My favourite Bizzy Lizzy posts include: “Canberra Show Postcards and Morsels” http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2014/03/postcards-and-morsels-2014-royal-canberra-show.html and http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2013/02/postcards-and-morsels-2013-royal-canberra-show.html and numerous local festivals and winery celebrations such as this one: http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/2/post/2013/11/postcards-and-morsels-wine-roses-and-all-that-jazz-festival.html\ Liz also has a great synopsis of food and wine festivals across Australia here http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com/events.html which of course also links to the great list of local festivals in the Canberra region via the Visit Canberra website here http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/find/event/food-wine .
You can see from Liz’s blog that she understands how to communicate using great pictures and images (supporting the truism that a good picture is worth a thousand words). I also like the fact that Liz’s passionate advocacy for local food and produce extends beyond cuisine and conveys a deeper cultural experience. Perhaps subconsciously sometimes, she highlights the personal passion for food and culture that many Canberrans share and she herself is a great advocate for our sense of community and ability to share and care for each other.
So Liz, who are you? I’m an old school food writer based in Canberra and was part of the committee instrumental in the establishment of the ACT Writers Centre (no apostrophe).
From 1993-2002, I wrote a popular weekly cookery column in a Canberra newspaper. I earned the nickname ‘Bizzy Lizzy’ when I juggled the role of promotions manager of a 30-store produce market with co-ownership of a leading cooking school, and marketing a line of organic foods (I was headhunted for this role). Working my proverbial off, across a decade I managed a hugely successful program of events that welcomed some of the world’s leading cookery writers and celebrity chefs to Canberra. For four years I also featured as the voice behind The Ten Dollar Dinner on 666 ABC radio with James Valentine and Rod Quinn.
My career has included stints in both the Federal and ACT public service, most recently with DesignGov. In 2012, I received an Australia Day Achievement Award for leadership, innovation and service to the Australian Public Service Federal Department of Industry.
In 2013, I was selected as the winner of the Food Narrative Category of the Best Australian Food Blog Food Writing Competition 2013 run by the SA Writer’s Centre Inc/Food Bloggers Australia. Professor Barbara Santich was one of the esteemed judges, so this was quite an honour for me.
In January 2014, I retired from the APS to concentrate on Good Things, my online journal (or blog), which I founded in 2011. This new-found free time gives me the opportunity to cook to my heart’s content and share my favourite recipes and photographs. It also gives Peter and myself the opportunity to relax and rejuvenate after a lifetime of working hard; and also to travel and explore Australia and its food regions.
Age? 55 and loving it!
Where do you live? In Harrison with my life partner, Peter. I was born in Canberra and have lived here all of my life.
How long have you been blogging? Blogging since 2011, writing about food and cooking since 1993. Honestly, though, I’ve been a writer since early childhood and creative writing was my favourite subject from grade one in Infants School.
Other hobbies? Photography (love snapping macro shots of bees and flowers); cooking (obviously); travel; meeting like-minded people; reading; going to the cinema; gardening; swimming; walking; oh, and playing Call of Duty 2 (I’m a crack sniper, true!).
Apple or Android? Apple imac (27 inch) which is great for publishing.
Car/bus/bike?  Car to get from A to B, and bicycle for pleasure.
Favourite TV show? There isn’t one in particular, though I do enjoy a variety of documentaries on SBS and the ABC (including cooking and travel shows). I also love dramas produced by the BBC, such as Broadchurch and The Escape Artist (recently), as well as Dr Who, Grand Designs, etc.
Favourite devices? As in phone, plaything? My phone, for making phone calls.
Can we take a peek at your home screen? No, sorry, it’s way too cluttered    : ) … <wow, no one else has said no to any of my questions so far! 🙂 >
Most-used app? On my phone? The keypad for making phone calls : )
Favourite social media? Twitter (I enjoy the networking aspect of it and love connecting with people through food).
What’s the first thing online you check each morning? The IN box on my email account.
What do you worry about at night? That’s a very personal question. When I do worry, it’s about things I’d rather not discuss.
Most exciting recent news? An invitation to attend a MasterClass at Red Lantern with Luke Nguyen ahead of his new series Luke Nguyen’s France!
Ideal career? Full time food, cookery and travel writer and consultant. I’m currently living the dream. : D
Recent book you recommend? Wow, there are several, but how about Horrie the War Dog by Roland Perry (Allen & Unwin). It’s the story of Australia’s most famous dog. Oh, and The Dirty Chef by Matthew Evans, the gourmet farmer (Allen & Unwin); and Rick Stein’s memoir Under a Mackerel Sky (Ebury Press).
Recent online video you laughed at? A clip produced by The Checkout team on the ABC. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/thecheckout/ They’re very clever, and so informative! here is one of the interesting and fun snippets from The Checkout  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1SlTy2RAMw&feature=youtu.be It’s not what I call hilarious, but it is interesting and humorous
Favourite food? I love a diverse range of foods, including Hungarian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Persian, Greek, Thai, modern Australian and Italian. Among those cuisines, there are lots of favourite dishes that I cook regularly.
If you want learn more about Liz Posmyk, one of Canberra’s very own Award Winning Food Writers
Follow her on Twitter: @bizzylizzycooks
Follow her blog: http://www.bizzylizzysgoodthings.com
She’s also on Linkedin: au.linkedin.com/pub/liz-posmyk/58/b23/689
Bad Dining? Sunrise Cafe
The Sunrise cafĂ© is worth a visit. Don’t be put off by the dĂ©cor or lack of polish. It’s better value than the McDonalds up the road. My burger, chips and drink was only $7 and, as The Canberran explains below… it’s a cultural experience and window into a bygone era in our city.
A Canberra institution you never knew existed: Sunrise Cafe
Over the years we’ve seen a large number of venues come and go. Others appear to be dyed-in-the-wool institutions who maintain inexplicable popularity no matter how classless or banal they may be. Then there are a sacred few who, through sheer passion, hard work and the dedication of a loyal customer base, survive without many Canberrans even knowing of their existence.
It is in the spirit of this final category we’d like to introduce you to The Sunrise Cafe, the oldest friend you never knew you had.
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Laksa at Noodle Cafe in Garema Place
Enjoyed a delicious spicy $10 Combination Laksa at the Noodle Cafe for late lunch in #Canberra today.
This place is highly recommended. I recently rediscovered it after a recommendation from Eileen (@TheFoodAvenue).
What’s hard to believe is the friendly and quick service one receives for the $10 lunch specials (complimentary prawn crackers, cup with ice for your drink, table service).
Cans of drink are $2.50.
Despite the fact that I’ve blogged about this place already and awarded it two #Canberra Beanies already, I think I’ll be back on a regular basis and slowly work my way through their specials menu!
Impressive list of top 200 #Melbourne Food Blogs
This is a very impressive list and I may possibly not get much sleep over the next few weeks while I slowly read through it.
Have any Canberra foodies recently attempted a similar list of Canberra food blogs? It might be time to try. Anyone interested in a collaborative project?
Tash reviews King Fook, Florey
Pretty soon every foodie (and wanna be) in Canberra will have heard of tash (who blogs as A Kitchen Cat). If you’re not sure who I’m talking about read this: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/canberra-food-blogger-to-star-in-masterchef-20140403-360gy.html
As well as the finer things in life, tash also appreciates a tasty bargain. Here’s her review last year of a hidden gem in Florey (and no, it’s not the biggest Dominos Pizza shop in Australia, which also happens to be in Florey!)
Tak Kee Roast Inn in Dickson
(Three #Canberra Beanies) 
 
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After weeks of prodding from fellow foodie and sympathetic fellow-dad Sir Bungle aka @JohnMalnar I finally dropped into Tak Kee Roast Inn in Dickson Canberra for some Gow Gee.
Now those of you who have been paying attention to the ACT Department of Health notices (or the Canberra times or RiotACT) over the past few years may remember a story regarding some health notices and warnings about food storage and preparation practices at Tak Kee in the past. I’m assured by my friend John, who eats there regularly, that he has never had anything to complain about and the fact the place is regularly packed with people at lunch and dinner leads me to believe they have learnt from their past mistakes and fines.
Anyhoo… I arrived a bit early and unlike my other recent lunchtime reviews, had a toddler in tow. So the challenge was to get some affordable food for both of us. I decided to take Sir Bungle’s advice and order a Gow Gee soup.
My Gow Gee arrived very quickly and I realised I had failed to follow Mr Bungle’s strict advice and had mistakenly omitted the beef brisket form my order. Never mind, my Gow Gee sans beef brisket was very delicious, particularly on a wet autumn day. To feed the ankle-biter I also ordered a small combination fried rice, knowing she liked rice, ham, peas and egg, which I expected in the dish.
It looked great and was bigger than expected. I tasted it (always check for temperature with kids and they don’t like things that are too spicey). It was delicious. I assumed she would love it and put it in front of her. But she tasted a spoonful and decided she didn’t like it. Bloody hell! This may have had something to do with the fact we were surrounded by people ordering all sorts of dishes and I suspect now (wisdom of hindsight) she thought she could be a bit pickey and choosey as well. Oh well, looks like dad was eating rice too!
I had another quick look at the menu, and asked her in my nicest voice “Bubba, would you like some spring rolls?! They are very yummy and you like eating spring rolls!” … which wasn’t as patronising as it sounds because I’ve seen her devour the things repeatedly. She nodded! I ordered a serving of two spring rolls.
By now Sir Bungle had arrived and (not surprisingly for a regular) seemed to make his order through osmosis. It went something like this: “G’day ladies!’ – “Hello Mr, how are you?” – “Good thanks, bit cold today. How are you?” – “We good Mr. You want usual?” – “Yes please! and I’ll have a couple of your pork spring rolls too”. Within a few minutes Sir Bungle had his regular fix.
Sadly for me, the arrival of yet another soup seemed to convince Ms 1.9 that she also needed soup. The spring rolls looked and tasted awesome and no matter how much I coaxed her they were instead enjoyed by dad and Sir Bungle.
Unsurprisingly, Ms 1.9 did end up eating a lot… of my soup. And those tea cups double as perfectly-sized noodle soup bowls for a toddler aspiring to be a food critic.
My experience at Tak Kee was very good. I can see why Mr Bungle raves on about it and why so many people I know have been regulars for so many years. I think the episode with ACT inspectors is well and truly in the past and I’ll happily recommend it as a place to eat affordable and tasty authentic Chinese food.  I’ll give it 3 #Canberra Beanies for value & taste.
Goes without saying, the prices for the Beef Brisket Gow Gee soup and other tasty dishes at Tak Kee are VERY good.
CBRfoodie 