Breakfast Series - Chow House

http://www.chowhouse.com.au/

Another Saturday morning rolled around, but this one was a little different.  An early personal training session meant there was time for leisurely breakfast, a treat that normally is deferred to Sunday mornings (often depriving us of choices).  With the world at our feet, figuratively not literally, we decided to head into the Valley for a breakfast at the Chow House.

One of the funkier looking venus on James Street, Chow House is the Phoenix 'rising from the ashes' of the James Street Bistro.  Not that there were new owners, but more of a strategic move to freshen up a spot that hadn't really changed in a long time.  A move that seems to have paid off considerably! I'd never been to the previous incarnation, although I'd often wondered about it, and thought it was finally time to check out the space.

The Chow House is a fairly informal dining experience and is inspired by the street stalls of all exotic parts of the world, but mostly the Asian continent.  The menu reflects the use of the finest local seasonal produce and is prone to regular changes but regardless of how often, the menu always reflects its Asian inspiration.  

Feeling a little pooped from her PT session, we drove the short distance from our apartment in the CBD to James Street - yeah, I know, it's not that far to walk but we didn't want to waste any time either.  We were worried about parking, which can be quite unpredictable on a Saturday, but we were in luck, scoring a park (paid unfortunately) just around the corner in Robertson Street - which left us with a walk of only twenty metres - it was a great park!

Festival Series - Gerard's Bar launch of the James Street Food and Wine Trail

http://www.gerardsbar.com.au/

There is so much cool stuff going on in Brisbane it really is hard to keep up with it all.  July has seen the fun that was the Good Food Month which included the Night Noodle Markets as well as the annual Regional Flavours festival at South Bank.  The fun and frivolity doesn't seem like ending anytime soon with the third annual James Street Food and Wine Trail kicking off from the 31st of July to the 3rd of August.

The James Street Food and Wine Trail is a way to share in the celebration of all that is food and wine from one of Brisbane's top food precincts.   There will be fresh produce stalls, cooking demonstrations from live pop up kitchens, tasting corners and family fun zones to tease and tantalise the tastebuds and excite the soul.  Run by the James Street collective of bars and restaurants, the Food and Wine Trail is an event not to be missed.

You can check out the details here

Cheap Eats - Ribs and Burgers

http://ribsandburgers.com.au/

If there is a way to catch people's attention, Ribs and Burgers certainly figured out how to do it.  The offer of one free hamburger a week for a whole year for the first 100 customers certainly got my attention, and that of my blogger buddies too.  Given that the offer was mid week, there was never any chance of me winning the prize but I hear that the queue on the opening was complete madness.  I guess I could have called in sick but that would have been irresponsible!

Even though I couldn't get in and wait in the queue for free burgers, the fact that a new burger joint had opened up in Brisbane was always going to pique my interest.   Of course, it wasn't long before I made my way to James Street to check it out.

I've always liked hamburgers, lets face it, they are the food of champions but it wasn't until I went to New York last year that I really got a taste for the traditional American (Gringo) fast food (see post here).  Ever since then I've been on a crusade to find Brisbane's best burger and I've had some beauties but the standard against which I've been measuring my burgers is Howzat Burgers in the CBD (see post here).  In fact, since I tasted my first Howzat Burger, I've pretty much eaten it every week!

Ribs and Burgers first opened in Sydney's Neutral Bay in 2011 and since that auspicious date has gone on to open another nine burger joints, Brisbane being the most recent.  The latest in a series of burger joints to open up in Brisbane, Ribs and Burgers aim to be different by considering themselves a boutique casual dining restaurant instead of a chain restaurant.  In doing so, they plan not to saturate the market with heaps of franchises, but choose select locations that increase the value of the brand.

Bee One Third - Neighbourhood honey

http://beeonethird.com.au/

One of the things I love about blogging is that I've had some amazing opportunities come my way which have led to some super interesting situations.  So when an email arrived for me one day marked 'An invitation to something special', it was an opportunity that was way too good to pass up.

I'd recently been in Melbourne on a foodie safari and while we were wandering around, we'd come across a sustainable living 'green fair', which was pretty awesome.  There were a range of speakers on sustainable topics, but one that got us to stay still long enough to listen was about bee collectives and how cities around the world are now creating bee hives.  The speaker went on to mention that the diversity of pollen in a city far outstrips the level of pollen in farms.  Apparently there is a bee collective at Federation Square in Melbourne where the honey collected has been tested for over 200 pollen types.

Fast forward to my invitation that was too good to pass up and I was off to visit one of Brisbane's burgeoning bee collectives - Bee One Third.  The day was meticulously planned out with a group of bloggers where we would get to tour the beehives on top of the Gerard's building, before heading over to Jocelyn's Provisions for a 'deliciously honeyed' morning tea, followed by a demonstration of a honey extraction.  I was pretty excited.

The Mighty Mighty Cue & Brew - a mix of southern style in the big smoke

http://mightymighty.net.au/

Every Saturday morning we walk off to get our weekly groceries from James Street Market.  Yeah, yeah, I know that you're thinking 'sure mate, you eat out every night', but I assure you I do eat at home sometimes and when I do I get my groceries from The Standard over at James Street.  But that's not the point of this post, it's more about the journey I take to get to James Street each Saturday morning.  As part of the walk, we wander down McLachlan Street, which has been dominated for some time by construction work.

It's a funny thing when you watch a construction site go up.  At first there is the big mess that is created, usually as a result of someone digging a dirty big hole in the ground.  Not long after the trucks have carried away all the dirt, more trucks start to turn up with building material and things start to take shape.  At first, things happen so slowly you don't notice much change, but as sure as night follows day (or is it the other way round), you start to notice a building take shape.  I couldn't tell you how many times we wandered down McLachlan Street and speculated about the building.  Sure, we could have gone to the web site, but that would have spoilt the fun of our guessing games.

Then one day, you notice it's looking a little different, maybe even a little finished.  Amazingly, this all happened over what seemed to be about eighteen months and one day, there it was, it was finished.  What started out as a hole in the ground became a fully fledged building.  What was better was what lay beneath the building, a shiny new laneway with restaurants and shops, but mostly restaurants.  M&A laneway was born and it was time to finally check it out.

Tinderbox Kitchen - a great space in James Street

http://www.thetinderbox.com.au/

It's an exciting time in Brisbane, there are new restaurants opening up weekly and there are now more options than ever before to get your dinner fix on. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep up the the pace of the new dining spaces across Brisbane and I often don't come across a new restaurant until it's not new any more.  In some ways I'm luckier than most, I have a network of fellow bloggers that help me keep in the loop and I occasionally help them out with a new spot I've come across.

One of the reasons why I love writing my blog is to let others know about the cool new spots that are worthy of their dining dollars.  I'm often encouraged by the feedback I get from my readers about how much they enjoy reading my blog and how it's their main source of finding out what's going on around town.  It makes me want to go out and check out more exciting and new spots, just so I can pass it onto my readers.

Just when you thought the James Street precinct couldn't get any more exciting, a new dining spot has sprouted up, and while not off the beaten track, it is tucked a way just a little bit.  The Tinderbox Kitchen has recently opened it's doors just behind it's big brother and perennial James Street favourite Harveys Bar and Bistro.  I first came across the name when one of my Blogger buddies shared on the interweb that she had just had an amazing meal, which of course got me pretty interested.  I certainly love amazing meals.

Bucci - The Italians invade James Street

http://www.buccirestaurant.com.au/brisbane/

I never really thought of Brisbane having a big Italian population or having a large number of Italian restaurants, but I've had to revise my thinking.  While we are not in the same league as Melbourne when it comes to Italian dining spots, they have over eleven hundred, Brisbane has almost three hundred, which is way more than I would have expected.

I've walked by Bucci so many times I have lost count.  It's on the way from my usual fresh food shopping spot at James Street.  Yeah, I know that you're questioning whether I eat at home, but I occasionally do and it's with fresh food from the Standard at James Street.  So, walking by Bucci early on a Saturday morning a heap of times has piqued my interest quite a bit but it wasn't until a few months that I saw how insane the restaurant can get in the evenings.

During the week I felt like some pasta or risotto, so I booked us in for a 6:30 sitting for dinner and neglected to tell SC what time dinner was, thinking she would easily be home in time.  As the clock started to tick towards 6:15 I started to get a bit nervous about our booking and after texting to check how she was going. As I started to call the restaurant to change the booking time, SC walked through the front door and I could immediately tell it had been a hectic day at work.  With some gentle urging, SC changed in record time (for a girl) and we were off to Bucci and just made our booked time.  I love living in the city!

Breakfast Series - Campos Coffee Fortitude Valley

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Campos-Coffee-QLD/153995937964087

There was a time where a cafe like Campos Coffee would have been the centre of my universe.  Back when I was completely addicted to the oh-so-sweet nectar of the gods.  How times have changed and the only reason I have come back to Campos is as a Food Blogger and to sample their well loved and ever changing breakfast menu.  It's OK, I can actually walk into a coffee house now and not be tempted by the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee or the almost irresistible smell of recently roasted coffee beans.

When and why I stopped drinking coffee is a story for another time but suffice to say that Merlo, Campos and di Bella were well known to me.  The Valley is not only a mecca for coffee enthusiasts but also has an extremely high concentration of cafes and restaurants, so to forge a reputation as a great food destination as well as (arguably) the best coffee around is no mean feat.  Campos is part of and very much separate to the James Street precinct in Valley and has had a checkered past with its well known neighbour.  I am sure everyone remembers the parking debate that led to a wall being erected to separate Campos from the rest of the James Street Market area!

Campos is possibly one of the busiest spots in the Valley to get coffee or breakfast, so SC and I got up nice and early to make sure we could score a great seat.  I can confirm that 7:15am is a great time if you don't like queuing or waiting for your breakfast at Campos.  When we first arrived down the slightly dodgy looking lane off Wandoo Street, there were a number of Campos staff waiting to greet early risers such as ourselves and lead us to comfy inside seats.  I should mention that it's only the entrance to the lane that is slightly dodgy looking, once you get past all of the delivery trucks, the rest of the lane leading to Campos is pretty cool, with some great street art.

Gerards Bistro - Even at the Best new Restaurant things can go wrong

http://www.gerardsbistro.com.au/

There seems to be an increasing instance of restaurant shopping in Brisbane.  Restaurant shopping is where people book into several restaurants on a busy night, usually a Friday or a Saturday night, then decide on the day which restaurant they will go to.  This usually happens when there is a group of people involved, so the potential loss for restaurants is huge when people don't turn up.  This was such a big problem in Melbourne that many restaurants are moving to a no reservation policy.  Not cool.

We experienced the results of an environment where restaurant shopping happens at one of the better restaurants around town last weekend, Gerard's Bistro.  Restaurants are forced to call people who make reservations for confirmation and if they can't get onto you, the assumption is made that you won't be turning up and your booking is cancelled.  In hip new restaurants like Gerard's, the spot is filled up pretty quickly.  So picture this, we turn up for our 7:30 reservation for TB's birthday dinner, which has been booked months in advance and are told that we don't have a booking.  Pretty disappointing indeed, but  what was worse was that TB was made to look and feel silly with the question asked 'Are you sure you're not confused?'

We had all been to Gerard's many times and were a bit incredulous that this question would be asked, damn you restaurant shoppers, but after some investigation were told that we did have a booking but it was cancelled in the afternoon, after they 'called' TB and she cancelled the booking.  I'm not sure who was called, but the fact that we were all standing around at our allotted booking time should have been an indication otherwise.  I'm not sure who was called but it was not us and we were left with a conundrum, wait at a very busy Gerards for a table to open up or look elsewhere.  Right, look elsewhere in the Valley at 7:30 on a Saturday night, not likely.