Melbourne Series - Gradi at Crown - The Best Pizza in the World

http://www.400gradi.com.au/

It's been a pretty good year for me, both personally and professionally. Earlier in the year I was lucky enough to have travelled to Singapore to compete in the World Contact Centre Awards, where my business did very well.  More recently, I was able to represent this great state in National Awards for my business, where we also did pretty well....  So yeah, its been a good year.  Whenever I travel, I always make it my business to try to check out the local restaurant scene, which included some amazing restaurants in Singapore (see posts here).  One of my favourite places to travel to, especially for the food, is Melbourne, so I used my time recently to continue to check out some amazing restaurants.

My flight into Melbourne saw me arrive at the hotel right on lunch time, so it was only natural that I sought out decent spot to have a quick lunch.  I'd initially thought that the Nobu lunchtime special would be the way to go, but as I was walking through Crown, I'd recalled that a very special new restaurant had opened.  I couldn't remember the name, just that it was a pizza place and that it had only just opened.  It only took me a few seconds to 'Google' the parameters to come up with the name Gradi and as luck would have it, I was only a few meters away.

You might be wondering why I was so keen to check out a pizza place and why it might have left such an impression on me, and it's a good question.  Gradi is not just any old pizza restaurant, it's actually the new restaurant from Johnny Di Francesco 'VPN', who apart from his family hailing from home of pizza in Naples, is also the guy who took out the 2014 title for 'world's best' pizza.  In fact, Johnny is the first Australian ever trained in Naples to the 'Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana VPN' rules and he's the association's Australasian principal, travelling the region ensuring pizzerias are of the highest standard before officially inducting them into the Association.  Quite an honour.

Casual Dining - The Wickham Hotel

http://thewickham.com.au/

If you've visited the Valley over the last twenty years(ish), then you would know about a little corner of the trendy inner city suburb that has an interesting and checkered past.  The Wickham Hotel is well known in the Valley as being a traditional gay venue (LGBTI) since 1996 and it's fair to say a rollicking good time has been had by many an adventurous Brisbanite.  While it's recent past has been dominated by the Big Gay Day and if memory serves me correct, Boy George spinning some tunes on the 'ones and twos', the Hotel has been around for a lot longer.

Originally estabilished in 1885 by famous Brisbane architect Richard Gailey, The Wickham began it's life as the Oriental Hotel and for all intents and purposes was one of the 'grand old pubs' of Brisbane.  It's a pub that SC had spent a bit of time in 'back in the day' when it would be Sunday beers between Ricks Bar and the Wickham Hotel.  The hotel has been ever changing and if you frequent the Valley or drive down Wickham Terrace, you would have noticed that the next incarnation of the hotel has been underway.

We were pretty excited to be invited along with a number of Brisbane bloggers to check out the renovations and get a peek of the new renovations.  Given that the Valley is a short walk for us, we'd taken the opportunity to have a nice easy walk into the Valley for our Wickham experience.  We'd entered through the new 'car park' area, which used to be the Wickham's car park but was not an outdoor dining area.  It was a large space with lots of share dining tables spaced about, as well as some group seating around different sized cable 'barrels'.  It wasn't until we walked through to the main part of the pub that we saw the magic.

Casual Dining Lunch - Marchetti Cafe in Tattersall's Arcade

http://www.marchetticafe.com/

I've talked a lot about my love of wandering around Brisbane and noticing the changes, both big and small.  There have been many, many changes to our fair city in the last twelve months, many of which involve the completion big new buildings, many with food offerings. It's not just the big changes that get me excited, but the small changes, the little additions, the tweaks that, if you weren't paying attention to, you would miss.

One of Brisbane's older arcades is the Tattersall's Arcade, which houses a number of specialty shops that cater to the well heeled of Brisbane, including Longchamp.  I often use the arcade as a short cut from Edward Street to the Queen Street Mall and noticed one of Brisbane's little tweaks a few months ago.  In one of the few vacant spaces in the arcade, a cute little cafe had sprouted, which was very reminiscent of European and Melbourne style cafes.   Owner Michael Makras, owner of nearby Optiko, had spotted an opportunity and teamed up with architect Stephen Cameron to develop a perfect little space for relaxing in one of Brisbane's most elegant arcades.

Tucking away this fact for a future visit, I'd wandered past the little shop numerous times, and each time I'd made the mental note to get along to see what was on the menu.  It wasn't until I found myself with a spare hour for lunch that I'd resolved to get in and check out the Italian diner and bar.  I'll let you in on a dirty little secret though, I'd actually initially been looking to buy some KFC in MacArthur Central before being confronted by a queue that was way too long.  Now, don't ask me why I'd been going to KFC to begin with, I couldn't rightly say, but I did have a hankering for some chicken nuggets.

Tartufo - this time its all about the Pizza

http://www.tartufo.com.au/

A couple of months ago, I started an adventure to try to find the best pizza in Brisbane (see posts here), but after eating a little too much pizza in such a short time, I paused for a moment.  After going without pizza for almost two months, I started to get that feeling in the pit of my stomach that can only be resolved with a dose of pizza.  Not just any pizza, margherita!

So far in my travels, I've had some great pizza with my favourites being Sorellina (see post here) and Beccofino, which to date had been my favourite by quite some distance.  It was time to get some hatted pizza and by that, I mean get some pizza from one of Brisbane's best restaurants, Tartufo.  I've been to the Tony Percuoco restaurant a heap of times and rate it as one of the best Italian restaurants around but it's only been relatively recently that I became aware that Tony had moved into another great love of his life - pizza!

Being a native of Naples, the home of the margherita pizza, following in the footsteps of the most famous pizzerias in the world, Brandi, Da Michele and Trianono Tradition, it was only natural that a pizza oven would grace the floor at Tartufo.  With a view of using only the freshest ingredients of the highest quality, Tony aims to be accredited through the 'Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana' (AVPN), an association dedicated to the protection and veracity of the 'true Neapolitan pizza'.

We'd been trying to get in to see Gone Girl for a couple of weeks, so we'd had a plan to get in to Tartufo right on pizza opening time of 5:30, so we'd have enough time to eat and then get over to the CBD for the movie.  Surprisingly, we were able to score a park on the street, right out the front of the Emporium, the Valley complex where Tartufo is located.  

Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show 2014 - Barilla cooking class with Sammy and Bella

http://goodfoodshow.com.au/brisbane/

One of the big ticket items on the Brisbane foodie calendar is the Good Food and Wine Show, held over at the Brisbane Convention Centre each year.  Over a three day period in October, the foodies of Brisbane congregated and celebrated all things food and wine. Not only is the Good Food and Wine Show an opportunity to sample the amazing produce and wine that Australia has to offer, but is an opportunity for people to get up and close with their favourite chefs and talk to the people who spend their lives bringing the good stuff for us all to enjoy.

I've not been in Brisbane during the show over the last couple of years, which has been lousy timing, but I was definitely around this year and was excited about getting finally getting back amongst it. There was extra incentive, with an invitation to participate in the Barilla pre-show, hands on cooking class with My Kitchen Rules Season 2 winners, Sammy and Bella, to learn how to cook one of their favourite Sardinian breakfast dishes.  Given my status as a person who prefers to eat out as opposed to cook, I thought it might be a good way for me to 'get my hands dirty' and give that cooking caper another try.

The cooking class had been arranged by Barilla, one of the Good Food and Wine Show's major sponsors and was at the Barilla stand.  The class itself was scheduled to kick off at 8am, but I've been getting up extra early lately and found myself wandering into the convention centre just before 7:30.  This had a couple of benefits, I was easily the first person to arrive, which gave me the opportunity to find a great spot to cook from as well as chat to the chefs who would be assisting the class.  It turned out that I'd jumped the gun (oops) a little bit and got booted out of the arena while the setting up was finished off.  By that time, the queue for the class had already started and I was at least able to join the front of the queue and watch it grow and snake along the convention centre floor.

Cheap Eats Lunch - The Charles Bean Bar

The Charles Bean Bar - Facebook

Sometimes I wonder if you can look too deeply into things.  

I've recently been going on solo travels around the Brisbane CBD, looking for great little lunch spots where I can fuel my inner introvert and enjoy quiet lunches on my own.  In most cases, there are heaps of cafes around that you walk by every day and just never step into, it's these types of little eating oases that I'm looking for.

The Charles Bean Bar is just such a place, squeezed into the foyer of one of the CBD's many commercial towers and next door to one of the many popular Sumo Salads around town.  It would be pretty easy to walk by and never notice, and if fact I did walk past countless times without observing.  It was only because I've been recently keeping an eye out for such gems that I even spotted the little cafe on Adelaide Street.

Which brings me back to my opening statement, have I made the right connections?  Charles Bean was quite a famous Australian that not too many people remember.  A schoolmaster, judge's associate, barrister, journalist, war correspondent and historian, Bean was instrumental in the establishment of the Australian War Memorial and of the creation and popularisation of the ANZAC legend.  The Charles Bean Bar is located just across the street from ANZAC square, so in all likelihood refers back to this legendary historical figure......

Casual Dining - Papa Jack's

http://www.papajacks.com.au/

Southern style Americana is definitely the cuisine of the day at the moment and with a huge number of US of A restaurants opening, I thought I'd check out a place that's been kicking around for just over twelve months.  Papa Jack's didn't start the Southern American revolution but it certainly kicked off a second wave.

We'd been attempting to get to Papa Jack's ever since it first opened in the newish M&A Lane that houses a heap of other restaurants, including fellow Southern Belle the Mighty Mighty (see post here). Several false starts and and attempts to get along on really busy nights meant that we checked out every other M&A Lane restaurant before we finally got it together and paid Papa Jack's a visit.  In hindsight, that could have been a huge error!

We had a bit of a choice, go and see new Affleck flick, Gone Girl, or walk over to McLachlan Street in the Valley for a bit of Louisiana comfort food.  It was a tough choice, but we really felt like it was time, so made the twenty minute walk from the CBD and found ourselves on the front doorstep of Papa Jack's.  It's a spot that we've walked by many times on our travels and from the outside, Papa Jack's looks pretty neat and new, but it's a different matter once you step over the threshold.  It was like stepping into a vortex and finding ourselves in swampy old Louisiana.

If you're like us, then one of the must watch shows of 2014 was True Detective with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, a show set in the Louisiana bayou.  It's a brilliant show and some of it's set in seedy bars and while Papa Jack's didn't have that same seedy feel to it, it was un-mistakingly Southern American.  Adding to the feeling was the costumes that the wait staff were wearing and the French American accent of our waiter as he welcomed us and showed us to our seat. Owners Marco and Emily Nunes (who created Woolloongabba bar, Canvas), have faithfully recreated a Louisiana watering hole right in the middle of the Valley.

Breakfast Series - the HUB Cafe Kitchen

http://hubcafekitchen.com.au/

Ashgrove is not an area that I associate as a foodie hub, in fact, I kind of think of it as the start of the 'burbs and the end of the inner city area.  I'm thinking that I might have to reassess that view!  We were invited along to check out new Ashgrove restaurant the HUB Cafe Kitchen and thought breakfast would be ideal.

We're quite familiar with the Ashgrove, we used to live around the corner in Bardon and a long time ago, I lived in the Gap and drove up Waterworks Road every day to get home.  The HUB was located on Stewart Road, just off Waterworks Road and right by the shopping centre.  It hadn't been that long ago since our last visit to the area, when I dropped SC and her regular dining buddies for their Indian Curry nights, of which I am (thankfully) excused.  Annasamara was right next door to the HUB and when we pulled out the front, we were surprised by the flashy looking new restaurant and even more surprised that that little part of Steward Road had developed into a little foodie hub.

The HUB has pride of place once you turn the corner into Stewart Street and it's pretty hard to miss. The heritage listed corner store style cafe and been completely remodelled and has the feel of yesteryear but a very modern fit out.  As we walked into the restaurant, I was impressed with the very contemporary open style kitchen and bar area inside, and the open feeling of the main dining room, which had massive open doors that let the outside in.  We were greeted by co-owner and head chef John Lambkin, whom was impeccably dressed in his chef whites and a cool green apron that all of his staff were wearing.

Vapiano - Italian done the German way

http://vapiano.com.au/restaurants/brisbane/

When thinking of Italian dining, there are a heap of places around Brisbane that come to mind.  I have a couple of favourites that I've visited many times over the years, my current favourite being Beccofino at Newstead (see post here).  Beccofino is not the only Italian restaurant I've visited, there have been many, and in fact, Brisbane has a dearth of Italian restaurants (see my blog list here). There is one Italian restaurant though that I don't often think about, even though it is right under my nose (figuratively).

Vapiano has been in Brisbane for a quite a few years now and is a restaurant that I'd gone to a little bit when it first opened, mainly due to it's unique approach.  Vapiano Brisbane is part of a much larger chain of restaurants which spans the globe and has outlets in Sydney and Melbourne as well as cities like New York and London.  It stretches from Estonia to Brazil; Luxembourg to Mexico; South Korea to Kuwait - there are over 135 outlets around the world.  Forty five of those restaurants are located in Germany.  Germany you might ask?  Yep, the very Italian restaurant Vapiano was created by a couple of guys from Germany and the first Vapiano opened its doors in Hamburg in 2002.

I remember when Vapiano first opened in Brisbane, it was actually kind of hard to get into, there were queues and fairly long wait times.  Nowadays, the restaurant is busy but those halcyon days are long gone, swept up with the restaurant renaissance that has occurred in the last few years in our fair city.  It had been a more than a few years since my last visit and I'd been meaning to get back to Vapiano and check it out for some time.  We just needed the right opportunity and motivation, which we found when heading off to see Spamalot one Sunday evening - it seemed as if the stars had aligned and we found ourselves standing at the entrance in Albert Lane.

Breakfast Series - The Funky Monkey Cafe

http://www.thefunkymonkeycafe.com.au/

Sometimes it feels as if there is a bit of a 'merry-go-round' of cafes and breakfast spots in the Brisbane inner city suburb of Paddington. There are some mainstay cafes that seem to be able to weather the storm, such as the Java Lounge (see post here) and Sassafrass (see post here), and stay around for generations.  Others though seem to just disappear overnight, Eurovida (see post here) and Cockadoodle Cafe (see post here).  While it's always sad to see a cafe shut up shop, it does provide an almost never ending supply of new cafes to check out.

The Funky Monkey is one of the newer cafes that has moved into a recycled business, right where a little chocolate cafe used to be.  Located right across the street from Paddington Central, the little cafe with the cool name occupies the style of Queenslander that dominates Latrobe Terrace, most of which used to be residences.  The Funky Monkey has a name that really appealed to me, who doesn't like a monkey, right?  And a funky monkey?  Well, that was always going to draw me in.

We had no trouble at all finding the Funky Monkey, it's pretty much front and centre in Paddington Central and we were early enough to be able to score a street park.  It was pretty quiet when we arrived and I was beginning to think that our strategy getting to cafes early was robbing us of much needed sleep in the mornings.  With the proliferation of cafes and restaurants across Brisbane, it had been a while since we'd come across a cafe where we'd had to wait, with Shouk being the last (see post here).  Perhaps we needed to be less concerned with not getting a seat for breakfast without a wait...

With practically every seat available, I dithered about looking for the right table to sit at, it seemed as if I was having a 'Sheldon Cooper' moment, but eventually we settled down at a table that had the right ambiance.  It was a beautiful morning, so I wanted to be out of the sun but still have that feeling of openness.  With a name like the Funky Monkey, I was expecting a little more of an eclectic feel but the closest we got was the brightly coloured tables in the cafe, each a different colour and each brighter than the last!  Our table was a bright green...

The Catbird Seat Bistro - sitting on top with a great view

http://catbirdseatbistro.com.au/

A lot is going to be written about Chef James Culberg's new East Brisbane bistro, the Catbird Seat Bistro.  Mainly because it's really good, but also it's literary heritage screams out to be written and talked about.  A phrase coined out of the Great Depression, the catbird seat often is used to describe someone who is in an enviable position.  The phase gained notoriety in the 1940's after a short story by American novelist James Thurber, probably better known for his humorous short stories and cartoons.  The phrase peaked around the time of Peter Sellars classic film, the Battle of the Sexes, a film based on James Thurber's the Catbird Seat, but has largely faded to obscurity.

I usually keep my ear to the ground but I only found out about the Catbird Seat bistro once a twitter follower connected and asked if I'd checked it out (thanks Troy from Awickededge).  Jumping straight online to check out the menu, I wondered how I'd let that one slip by, the menu looked excellent, just the sort of food I really love.  I immediately made a mental note to get along as soon as the first opportunity presented itself, which happened to be the next available Saturday night with my usual dinner buddies, CI&TB.

You might have recognised the name of Catbird Seat Bistro owner and chef, James Culberg.  James has led some of Brisbane's coolest restaurants over the years, most notably Piaf (see post here) and Sardine Tin, which are no longer around. James was also responsible for some of the best meals around that I've eaten while in charge of The Survey Co (see post here) and Aquitine Brasserie (see post here), which are still going strong.  James as made the Catbird Seat Bistro a family affair by partnering with wife Erin, who's responsible for front of house.

The restaurant is located on Stanley Street East in a little strip of shops that is transforming, quite quickly, into an extension of the Logan Road 'Gabba food precinct.  We had arranged to meet CI&TB at the restaurant and arranged our trip to perfectly coincide with our reservation time.  We normally arrive before any of our usual dining companions, but for the second time in a row, were guzumped for the better seats by arriving second, so maybe not such perfect timing after all... There was plenty of off street parking nearby, but we did have a short walk along Stanley Street as we didn't know exactly where the restaurant was.

Spicers Balfour - tranquility near the CBD

http://spicersretreats.com/spicers-balfour-hotel/dining/

One of the finest dining experiences I'd had in a very long time was two hatted regional restaurant, the Long Apron (see post here).  It was my first real exposure to the Spicers Retreats, which have always had a reputation for excellence, both with romantic getaways and fine dining. I guess it makes sense that amazing restaurants would form part of a romantic weekend getaway.  I've normally associated the Spicers Group with regional locations, and have always been perplexed by the Spicers Retreat in trendy inner city suburb New Farm.  When the opportunity arose to get along and check out the Balfour Kitchen's new Pacific-Indo menu, it was a no brainer!

The Spicers Balfour Hotel is just a few minutes from the CBD in Balfour Street, which is on our regular walking path when we saddle up for our weekend walks.  Even though it is within easy walking distance from our apartment, we jumped in the car and made the trip through peak hour Brisbane traffic and found a park just around the corner by the Wilson's Lookout cliffs, which was already a world away from the busy Brisbane traffic.  As we walked around the corner and up to the retreat's front door, we could see that it was an oasis of quiet, right on the city's front doorstep.

The nearly hidden resort on Balfour Street is a huge converted Queenslander and passing the traditional brass plate announcing that we had arrived at a Spicers Retreat, we made our way up the stairs into another world.  We were greeted warmly by one of the many fabulous and well trained staff members, who showed us to our table on what was once the front deck of someone's home, but now a beautifully renovated outdoor dining area.  We were given a couple of menus and brief explanation of the menu, which had small plates for starters, which were specifically designed for sharing.  Looking over the menu, we could see the distinct influences of Indian cuisine.

Biota Dining and Urbane Restaurant - 2 Hat collaboration = 4 Hat success

http://www.biotadining.com/     http://www.urbanerestaurant.com/

Sitting at home, mucking around on my iMac (as you do), I received an email from one of my favourite restaurants letting me know about a pretty special dinner.  I'm normally pretty absent minded and disorganised and good at forgetting about such emails, but this one piqued my interest immediately, it seemed like a once in a generation deal (I may be exaggerating).  It was compelling enough to forward straight on to SC and check that she'd be as keen as I was, with an immediate reply - 'of course'. 

You might be wondering what could garner such interest from a guy that eats out all the time?

2 Chefs - 4 hats - 1 Dinner

Then I read on.  One of the country's best chefs, Alejandro Cancino from our very own Urbane was teaming up with James Viles from Biota Dining in Bowral, who just happened to be youngest ever Chef’s Hat winner at the age of 23.  James has worked alongside some of the world's best chefs including Alain Ducasse and Hans Haas, so it's no wonder that his restaurant, Biota Dining, has been recognised as regional restaurant of the year, two years running.  Alejandro and James are well known for their strong commitment to sustainability and were partnering to design a six course menu, incorporating seasonal botanicals from our own local growers.  It was a meal not to be missed!

I've written about Urbane a few times (see posts here, here and here) which is a testament to how great the restaurant is, but I really wanted to see how two such revered chefs would work together.  I was especially excited about getting along to the dinner, it was petty unlikely that I'd ever find my self in Bowral...  I have to admit, the lure of four chefs hats in the kitchen was too much for me to ignore!

Iceworks - the changing face of Paddington dining

http://www.iceworks.com.au/

I love being surprised.  It's a pretty awesome feeling when you take a punt on a restaurant and it pays off handsomely.  Very early on in my blogging adventure, I started to look outside my normal comfort zone for dining spots, which led me to check out Iceworks in Paddington.  It wasn't just any old night either, we'd decided to take a punt on Iceworks on New Years Eve (see post here).  It was a bit of a departure from our usual NYE dinner celebrations, which are normally at more established restaurants.  Like I said, taking a punt can have a big payoff and in this case, it was a meal that was quite unexpected and one to remember.

As is often the case, things change and we were invited along to check out the changes at Iceworks, which included a new team looking after the restaurant, a new chef and a brand new menu.  Nowadays, it pretty common for restaurants to invite along bloggers and regular diners to check out new menus and provide feedback.  Its a great way to engage and reward regular diners and an excellent way to promote the business, but getting bloggers in can be a double edged sword!  There is a bit of pressure on to get it right and if it goes wrong, there is a potential for it to be very public!

We are quite familiar with Iceworks, we've not only dined there before, but we used to live just up the road and had walked past the location many times before.  For residents and those with great memories, you might even remember when the location actually housed real Ice Works, I'm pretty sure it was called the Ithica Iceworks and did a great job of supplying ice to Brisbane residents. We'd arranged to arrive around 6:30pm, so didn't really have time to walk, which with the warmer wether would have been lovely - but not to be.  Forgetting that there was plenty of parking underneath the restaurant, we parked around the corner and ended up walking a bit anyway!

Cheap Eats Lunch - Hive Coffee and Eat House

http://www.hiveeathouse.com.au/

I was inspired by my trip to the new Bread and Meat Co CBD location (see post here) and wondered what other gems were around the CBD for lunch.  I’m pretty sure there are 100’s of great little spots around our river city that need to be explored and I’m just the guy to do it.  I’ll have my ear to the ground as well as my eyes on the lookout for those great little lunch spots, but I’m keen to hear if you’ve got that special little spot that you want me to visit.

Last week I went and checked out a breakfast spot that specialised in meat and I‘d really enjoyed my visit to The Cutting Board (see post here).  It was at this breakfast that I got a bit of an idea on where to visit next, with the boys from The Cutting Board having recently set up a new venture down my end of the city.  Hive Coffee and Eat House is the sister restaurant and has been up and running for about five weeks in the newly redeveloped food court in the Riverside Centre. 

Hive Coffee and Eat House has The Cutting Board owner Anthony Attard involved in the set up and his influence is clear and, boy, he sure does love his meat!  Both of the ventures he is involved in feature meat quite heavily and for a carnivore like me, that is quite gratifying to see, especially with his liberal use of chorizo.

It had been literally years since I had stepped into the Riverside Centre, which is surprising since I live just up the street and walk by and around the space so often.  The last time I was actually inside the Riverside Centre, it was much more of a traditional food court with a heap of little eating spots that were mainly forgettable.  I was pretty surprised to walk into the space and see that it had been redeveloped to feature fewer dining options, but those that were there were at the upper end of ‘carvery’ and starting to approach restaurant style food.

Cheap Eats Lunch - The Bread & Meat Co. CBD

www.breadandmeatco.com

One of the more interesting casual meals I've had in some time was over at the Bread & Meat Co in Fortitude Valley.  I remember it being quite a chore to get to at the time, but it was definitely worth the wait when I finally did get there (see post here).   I recently learned that the team had opened up a CBD outlet of their popular meat based restaurant and of course I had to get in and check it out.

I have to warn you though, if you’re a vegetarian, then the Bread & Meat Co is probably a place best avoided, but if you’re a diehard carnivore like me, then you might just have found your mecca.  The Bread and Meat Co started its life as a Food Truck in Canada before making its way into the Valley. Owner Royce Crown has taken his experiences in Toronto as well as some other tricks picked up during his time at NYC’s most famous sandwich shop, Katz Deli (see post here), to create our very own Bread & Meat Co, which pretty much became an instant hit.

Being a sandwich restaurant that specialises in meat, the menu at the Bread & Meat Co is very focussed, that is, they do a couple of things, but do them well.  The menu covers most of the best bits of pigs and cows, including BBQ pulled pork, pork loin and belly, as well as corned beef.  I probably exaggerated when I said that vegetarians should avoid the place, there are some salads available, but mainly to offset the massive hit of meat that comprises each meaty sandwich!

I was dining solo for my lunch at the CBD version of the Bread & Meat Co, so I had to judiciously choose my lunch, sure, I could have easily went crazy and ordered one of everything, but then someone else would have been writing my obituary ‘he died with a smile on his face and a meat sandwich in his hand’…..  I was greeted at the front door by a waitress who asked if I’d eaten there before and once I told her I was an old pro, she quickly recommended the Porchetta, pork loin and belly with herb stuffing, crispy crackling and salsa verde on a ciabatta.