Articles written by: Sue Dyson and Roger McShane

Snack Man Brisbane
Brisbane

Snack Man – Delicious Chinese Food

Snack Man – Introduction On our first visit to Brisbane in a number of years, one of the highlights of our visit was discovering Snack Man in Fortitude Valley and the story of the people behind this exciting, busy venue. First the setting. You reach Snack Man from East Street […]

Longjing tea plantation where our leaves were picked
China / Hangzhou

Longjing Tea: An amazing trip to remember

Longjing tea – Introduction Our quest for finding great tea has been an ongoing obsession for many years. Whenever we have been in Asia we have sought out the best tea merchants to explore their offerings whether it be white tea, green tea, yellow tea, black tea, oolong tea or […]

Gelato Messina Brisbane
Food store / Brisbane

Gelato Messina – Great Sorbets and Ice Creams

Gelato Messina – Introduction Gelato Messina is a small outlet just off James Street in Fortitude Valley selling ice creams and sorbets made with care from good ingredients. Gelato Messina is a shop we first became acquainted with in NSW where they now have many outlets. They have also now […]

Ruchotte sign
France

Le Ferme de la Ruchotte – Great Farm Produce

Ruchotte – Introduction La Ferme de la Ruchotte is a gourmet paradise in the hills behind the city of Beaune in Burgundy. The farm is a source of much of their produce which is cooked with skill and flair. Their vegetables are picked fresh from the garden and there are […]

Deep Coffee Marseille
Marseille / Coffee

Deep – Fantastic Coffee in Marseille

Deep in Marseille – Introduction In our story about coffee called The Fascinating Story of Coffee we wrote about how France has been very slow to embrace premium coffee. We proposed a couple of reasons that included their colonial history where many of the countries they occupied grew the less […]

Coffee cherries
Coffee / Articles

Coffee – A Fascinating Story

This story explores the fascinating world of coffee right up to the time that the liquid is poured into your cup and you smell the aromas of the now ground beans and enjoy the taste and the effect of the caffeine entering your bloodstream. But first we must explore where […]

Cartel Brew Bar
Coffee

Cartel Coffee – Great Coffee in Geelong

Cartel Coffee – Introduction Cartel Brew Bar is our ‘go-to’ place in Geelong (and now also in Melbourne) for excellent coffee. Under the leadership of Nathan Johnston the staff are very passionate about their coffee here and always have a freshly roasted single origin variety available. They also serve tasty […]

Switch Coffee Tokyo
Coffee / Japan

Switch Coffee – Strong Coffee Program

Switch Coffee – Introduction Switch Coffee is a small coffee shop and roastery in the Tokyo district of Meguro where you can drop in and enjoy an espresso, a milk coffee or a pour-over filter coffee all made with beans roasted on the premises. The proprietor is an engaging host […]

Bones - Recipes, History & Lore McLagan
Cookbooks

Bones – Recipes, History, and Lore by Jennifer McLagan

Bones – Recipes, History and Lore – Introduction Jennifer McLagan is an Australian-born chef who has plied her trade in Australia, England, Europe and Canada. Her books follow an idiosyncratic path, cleverly concentrating on topics that most other writers avoid. The topics of her books include Bones, Fat, Bitter, Odd […]

Classic Russian Cooking
Cookbooks

Classic Russian Cooking by Elena Molokhovets

Classic Russian Cooking – Introduction Classic Russian Cooking – A gift to young housewives by Elena Molokhovets is a significant book in the history of Russian cuisine and one of the great utilitarian cookbooks of the world ranking alongside Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion, Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery for Private […]