Greenhouse, Melbourne

Where in Melbourne can you eat a menu written by Shannon Bennett and prepared by Raymond Capaldi and Robin Wickins?
The answer is the luckiest function space in Melbourne; Greenhouse by Joost.
If your not familiar with Joost,... then which designer rock have you been hiding under in Melbourne lately? Joost is the über talented florist/structural artist (in my humble opinion, check out his site for his view) that creates some of Melbourne's most interesting installations.

Tonight, I drank cocktails from thick rimmed jam jars, prepared by the crew at Seamstress and ate canapes from a rickety tins, courtesy of the Vue de Monde associations.
Open for the summer, this interesting space slots tightly into a Flinders St location just before the Swanston St corner. The building looks like it belongs there, but is only open for the sun to shine in for the next few months.
Featuring those newish toilets, were the hand basin water refills the bowl, and a whole lot of milk crates to hold up the stylist cheese displays... (tight budget I guess...;), a sustainably focused building of recycled materials.
I love the open brilliance of the space and the fashionable nature of the design, food and beverage.
Welcoming the warm spring Melbourne weather...

A question I didn't have the balls for...

During my European holiday last year I visited markets all over France, Spain and the UK.

Market images make up a huge component of my holiday flicks (luckily there were a few of PDC and I together - probably at a market...).
Some of these images made it to Eating with Jack, some didn't because they were boring, and some others didn't because I couldn't torture you with them; they were a bit gory on reflection.

But one in particular, I have always wanted to post, as I didn't know what it was and I hoped you may be able to help. The thing is, I now know the answer and it actually quite funny so look away if you need to...

Some time after my holiday, I labeled this image "what is it", the answer I have just discovered is... wait for it... testicles.
The Guardians blog had a funny piece and identifying image of them a couple of days ago.

If only I knew the answer at the time it would have set the pace all day for ball-sy jokes!

Now that I have shared a rather grisly image from my files and I'm sure the vegetarians have already clicked over to Michael and Cindy, here is my favourite holiday market image.

Also fabulously entitled, "toothy smiles".

Poor little buggers I know, but I bet they make great Greek lamb soup or something like that.

The thing about these images, that is not funny, is how removed we are from the raw ingredients in Australia. Rarely would you see such large displays of offal and obvious bits - such as heads - that remind us of the real source of our food. Perhaps if it was more common, we would be more discriminating, respectful and mindful of our decision to eat it.

Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give up meat, but I am becoming more and more aware of the sources of my food and the effects of what I put in my body.
What about the idea that if you were to increase your fruit and vegetable intake by 20% you are likely to lose weight... I can't remember the source, but I know its true for me.
After my holiday this year and a strict diet of 3 meals a day, stuffed to the gills just enough to go and lay back on the beach, I actually lost weight I believe, because of all the vegetables, fruit and seafood. Not breads, meats and dairy, I consumed.
I'm not a nutritionist, but I know that if I am stuffed full of fresh, fantastic veggies and fruit then I don't even think of the other stuff that weights me down and requires more hours at the gym.

It's a good thing that I like my veggies and like the idea of eating more of them, as there are some pretty dramatic lifestyle changes, likely to force themselves upon us with increasing food costs in the future. Some of the ideas are old fashioned yet very embraceable - I planted my little vegetable patch today, rocket again, tomatoes, cavolo nero, and silver beet - others ideas perhaps will take a little getting use to.

Take a moment and read this piece by David Chang (the chef owner, of that impossible to get a reservation at 12 seater in NY, Momofuku Ko) found it incredibly inspiring.

House filtered carbonated water, would you pay for it?

Food miles is a topic that is fairly new to our mind sets, yet I don't know about you but I am now extremely conscious of where goods that I buy come from. I read labels, ask retailers and shop at farmers markets or (try) and grow my own. Yes, perhaps I am going a bit 'green', or maybe I’m just a bit more aware. I have even had installed - at great expense - a water filter onto the sink at home so that I no longer feel justified buying bottled water because it 'tastes' better.

I have recently read a few interesting bits and pieces about bottled water and the ethics of it, so was inspired to share when I read Terry Durack’s latest blog post on the same topic. He explores the shocking idea of being served free tap water happily in a restaurant and, the idea that I really like, house filtered and carbonated water.
It sounds like a smart way for a restaurateur to back up the locally sourced, ethically produced mantra that is more often coming from their kitchens. I think it sounds like an idea waiting for some smart person with a fancy soda stream (remember those!) to make a killing. The restaurateur is happy as they can still make money from the house filtered water, the diner is happy as they get a great, ethically produced reasonably priced product and the environmentalists are happy with less unnecessary freighting.

I think it is a win-win-win.

Another piece I was reading in Dumbo Feather, was an interview with Didi Lo one of the developers of the marketing marvel Another Bloody Water. He was talking about selling rights to his branding and filling ABW bottles around the world with locally sourced spring water… now we are thinking!

What do you think of the house filtered carbonated water?

More importantly, would you support it, instead of buying the import?