Bittner and Twisted

Preparation is the key to enjoying any visit to Melbourne -- it can actually make or break your stay.  Here's a little insight into our recent trip and the places we visited.  I have to admit it, sometimes I don't do enough research and things don't work out as I planned, but having a couple of backup options and a wife with an eagle eye helps! First off the rank was lunch after our arrival. We checked in early to The Vibe Savoy Hotel  (keeping close to a railway station is obviously becoming a bit of a thing for me).  The plan was to head up Bourke Street and then to Hardware Lane to check out the Rolld Vietnamese Street Food  franchise.  These guys have been going gangbusters! And so we were heading there to try out their specialty version of Vietnamese coffee. But no...no coffee for us!  It was closed for Easter.  The first place to get their own back at us for closing too! Good thing our t...

The #FarmersMarketChallenge started when I went to the first Wangaratta Farmers' Market late last year (2014).  I thought I would challenge myself and my chefs to produce a dish based on the produce available at the market on the day.   Our first dish was a Harrietville smoked trout and snow pea salad with aioli.  I still remember that it was the sugar snap peas that went in this dish that were the suprise and how sweet and fresh they were.  It was also amazing how long they lasted.  I guess thats what happens when you buy fresh food! At this first market I met Peter Ross.  Peter grows hydroponic tomatoes in Yarrawonga.  I bought a tray of his lovely truss tomatoes and put them on a bruschetta with basil and Yarra Valley Persian Feta.  This dish has stayed on the menu all summer.  Peter now sends us a couple of boxes of his tomatoes each week. It's a similar story with the Harrietville smoked trout.  Seein...

Local Naturopath Sophie Lorback has been blending and selling her own teas under her "Picked to a Tea" label.  We are very excited to have these on our tea menu.  They complement the range of loose leaf teas we have been offering and mean that you'll have a beverage option to help you feel better when the need arises.  Here's a sample of our tea menu We know there are only so many coffees you can have each day.  So we have created the Iced Hibiscus drink.  It is caffeine free and a super refreshing drink made with hibiscus flower (great for cardiovascular health), ginger, a touch of raw sugar with a mint and orange garnish.  As the weather warms up enjoy it late in the day. By now most of you know our Iced Tea.  We make it with the Bluefire blend (orange pekoe tea and corn flowers) muddled with lime and some simple syrup.  One customer who lives in Vietnam thinks it's as good as you can get in Hoi An! ...

The weather is changing in North East Victoria and so has our menu at Cafe Derailleur.  Tim, Jesse, Richard and Shauna have been working in the kitchen to put together some new dishes for lunch. We have an Ancient Grain Salad with Yarra Valley Persian Feta, Dutch carrots, pomegranate molasses onions and currants.  We are using red and white quinoa, burghal and spelt. Our braised goat gnocchi has made way for a gnocchi with Formichi pancetta, broccoli and peas. One of the main changes is that our pork belly sandwich with slaw, sherry vinegar and caraway mayonnaise has come off the menu after starting out when we opened four years ago.  It has had a very loyal following but it has recently been out sold by our pulled pork burger with slaw and lime mayonnaise.  Maybe the pork belly will come back again next winter?  Thanks to everyone for making it one of our signature dishes! We have been experimenting with sauerkraut and some beautiful ...

We had a problem to solve!  Cafe Derailleur has been attracting cycles for over two and a half years with nowhere to safely store those expensive carbon fibre bikes our customers ride. They wanted a rail.  Not one of those racks you see all over the state.  They scratch and damage the frames.  Added to this our nature strip has electricity wires, Telstra phone lines and water pipes running under it.  So we couldn't dig more than about 30 centimetres below the surface without major expense. After giving this problem a lot of thought the solution came to me while walking through the DISC salvage yard in Wangaratta.  Two old Hills Hoists were lying on the ground next to a long piece of galvanised pipe.  Perfect!  At a cost of $25 they were brought home and a metal footing was welded on.   I contacted a builder friend who confirmed the structure will be sturdy enough to withstand the rigors of nature strip life.  He also gave his time...

Cafe Derailleurs first Blog post! We have expanded our breakfast offerings to include perfect poached eggs.  These little bum nuts are from Rameltons in Byawartha (between Wangaratta and Albury) and are certified Free Range. Their chooks are unlikely to have as much range as ours, as today the Wyandotte and a speckled one took a stroll down the street and were found in the neighbours vegie patch.  No damage done... phew. Smashed avocado is on the menu too.  Yep it must be on every cafe menu but there's good reason for that.  There are heaps of health benefits for eating Avocados so I'll leave that up to you to google.  We add mint and some creamy Danish Feta to ours.  You can season it with some Murray River Salt and cracked pepper and squeeze on some cheeky lemon then spread it on our multigrain toast. Speaking of the toast, it has loads of seeds in it and not much white flour so has a great flavour and texture....

Minecraft and permaculture.   Poles apart you think?   Playing one to prepare you for the other?   Minecraft is a sandpit for the software developers of the future, but it’s also a safe learning space with low risks for children to play in.   No killing humans like in Fortnite. At home I talk about composting and so does my daughter – but she does it in Minecraft.   I talk about adding nitrogen to my compost pile with dead animals she talks about being able to trade zombie flesh on the open market for her compost pile. I mentioned that I felt a Blog coming on after she read this article and our ensuing discussion.   Oh no it’s a Blogcastrophe – things crashing together, online, and in words. Us humans will be defined ultimately by how we organize ourselves.   With games like Minecraft that have an innate ability to evolve, grow and give feedback, that have a strong developmental community and an engagement that goes beyond the block bu...