EAT > Fujimaru, Osaka

Osaka is well known for its street food, with 222 listings in the Michelin Guide (3 for 3 star, 9 for 2 star and 80 for 1 star) you know that they are serious about food. But what about wine, well that is a little harder to find, especially if like us on…

ByEd ItorApril 4, 20240Comments

CAFE > TOKYO

CAFE > Verve Cafe, Roppongi Hills

Over in Roppongi Hills right next door to the excellent design store ‘Living Motif’ you will find an outlet for the popular Verve Coffee (and roasters) chain. Here they do an excellent range of pour over coffee’s (some of them are quite specialised and they are priced in line ~¥1,500 for a…

ByEd ItorApril 1, 20240Comments

DRINK > TOKYO

DRINK > Mikkella Bar, Shibuya

Sharing the same space as the About Life Cafe (read our review here) in the evening they pull down some venetian blinds that cover the coffee shop and pull up the venetian blinds that open the bar. The rest of the space is the same… It is tucked in a back street of…

ByEd ItorMarch 30, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Bistro Gitan, South Yarra

It had been more than a year since our last visit to Bistro Gitan, a restaurant that was our local for so long, was suddenly not so local given our move across the city and living more of our lives in the country. Bistro Gitan is one of a group of restaurants run by the…

ByCrispyMarch 25, 20240Comments

DRINK > TOKYO

DRINK > Gen Yamamoto, Tokyo

You have eaten an omakase (degustation course) before but have you experienced an omakase cocktail bar? Probably not. With only 8 seats this bar has a slightly reverential experience as cocktails are elevated beyond mere libation to fine palate experiences. You have to make a reservation (at least a week in advance) as…

ByEd ItorFebruary 15, 20240Comments

CAFE > MELBOURNE

CAFE > Wall Two 80, Balaclava

Known to most as simply ‘The Wall’ the cafe opened in 1998 as a simple hole in the wall. A place where people largely consumed a latte or flat white sitting on the pavement and eating turkish toast with the always delicious ‘jam lady jams’ and fought over the newspapers. Fast forward twenty…

ByJames CampbellFebruary 6, 20240Comments

CAFE > SYDNEY

CAFE > Paramount Coffee Project

When it comes to coffee royalty Mark Dundon of Seven Seeds is pretty close to the top. He started with St Ali in South Melbourne (a coffee roaster, cafe that has grown significantly) and then Seven Seeds a coffee roaster and cafe, Brother Bada Budan, Traveller and the Paramount Coffee Project which has…

ByLulu MasterdonFebruary 6, 20240Comments

CAFE > SYDNEY

CAFE > Room Ten, Potts Point

Llankelly Place runs parallel to Macklay Street and only a few years ago it would have been way too seedy for a fancy coffee or breakfast bar, but after all of the change in Kings Cross you are more likely to be run over by a real estate agent in a Range Rover than you…

ByJames CampbellFebruary 6, 20240Comments

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