Chocolate, Community and Choices

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beetroot brownie || cityhippyfarmgirl

I’ll let you in on a little secret. This place here, is my number one place to eat out. It doesn’t happen often, actually hardly at all really, but when it does…oh it’s bliss. Sheer bliss.

While this blog is not about food reviewing (and never will be) I can’t help but want to stand on my pedestal and shout…”you really should go there!”

Once in that blue moon period when I do go out, I want to go somewhere that holds similar beliefs to me. Going somewhere where the selling points of a dish are “Salmon from Alaska, oranges from Malta, cheese from Turkey and wine to wash it all down with from Italy”. Nope, it just doesn’t cut it for me, I’m seriously not interested. Tell me the bacon is from a small scale farmer a few hours away, the milk is from the outskirts of Sydney, the eggs are organic and the plated greens were grown three metres away in the small backyard. Now that’s going to make me sit up and pay attention.

Also add to it being some of the best tasting food I’ve ever tasted and I will be scrambling for any opportunity to get a table again.

Now when time ticks by and life gets in the way, their cookbook will be tiding me over. The pages talk of how they started, seasonal eating, not wasting anything and community– all topics of which I’ll happily devour every page, (which is includes this rather tasty Chocolate Beetroot Brownie.)

beetroot brownie || cityhippyfarmgirl

Coming back for a moment, to that wonderful C word that I love so much- community. It’s important to me here in blogland. It’s important to me in ‘real life’ and is also one of the big things that has struck me every time I’ve been lucky enough to eat there. (And it really is a privilege to eat out , for anyone!) Community is something that really seems to jump out at you, even just walking down the street. You can tell that this is a close knit area that really looks out for each other, (which also includes famed sourdough legend, Iggy’s just a few doors down.)

Living in a big city, if you are lucky enough to be in the position of choosing to go out for a meal, then considering where your dollar is going just makes sense. It makes wonderful sense. Combine a little chocolate and community in with those choices and you have yourself a pretty great combination I think.

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Tell me, what are some of your favourite community minded places (or books) to eat or hang out at? 

 

29 thoughts on “Chocolate, Community and Choices”

  2. The Ark at Rockpool Retreat, Norah Head, NSW is my favourite. Not only is the food amazing, this place fees like home and it is the centre for so much community passion for social justice issues.

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    • That’s such an annoying feeling isn’t it Jane. I haven’t felt like that for awhile now (probably because the only place we ever go is here.) There must be some good ones down your way though, just hidden.

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  5. I love your Sunday blogs Brydie! This place sounds great. Just like you…eating out is a rarity for us except perhaps a quick sandwich and and a coffee in between chores and drop offs on our ‘town’ days. So, when the time to eat out does finally come it has to be a good experience.

    We do not really have anything similar in Broken Hill, unfortunately. Although two of my favourite cafes are working hard on cooking more wholesome food in small batches rather than the mass produced fare that is very common in an outback country town!

    One book I love which has a lovely sense of community and seasonal/local eating is Kylie Kwong’s It Tastes Better cookbook. Have you seen it? Each chapter focuses on wonderful Australian producers and I find it very inspiring.

    Could you give me a tiny review of the Blue Ducks cookbook? It looks like a good one, and as you can probably imagine my shelves are just crying out for more cookbooks 🙂 x

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    • Jane it’s a cookbook I’ve probably drawn the most from in recent times. The ingredients are things that I generally have on hand, so it’s not a chore to recreate a dish. Saying that the recipes (so far) have been really adaptable as well. I think you and I seem to have similar foodie tastes and I think this cookbook is the closest I’ve had to my kinda cooking but upping it a whole bunch. Jeez, does that make sense??! It’s a good one to make pretty much everything in there, not just sitting pretty on a book shelf anyway.

      I’ll have a look out for Kylie’s one, I do like her wonderful sense of community support.

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  6. Sounds like a tops place Brydie.. Canberra has a tonne of these little gems, we are lucky enough to have access to some of the best locally grown produce and producers, its brilliant. I don’t eat out much tho, mostly because i’m so spoilt by the amazing food coming out of the Press Club kitchen, my breakfast, lunches and some dinners are often some of the BEST food I’ve ever eaten. 🙂

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  7. Austi Beach Cafe and Fireworks Cafe (also at Austinmer) fill the bill down here!

    I just cooked four baby beetroot from this morning’s Produce Market, I think I know what to do with them. 🙂

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  9. Oh that we had somewhere like that nearby. We eat out less and less because I’m fed up eating mediocre food of doubtful provenance or expensive meals that are all show. I just want something simple but beautifully cooked. Meanwhile, we just go to the local pub where the beer is great and the food is basic but honest.

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  10. Well spoken Ms cityhippyfarmgirl! We all need to be aware that our food dollar really does talk. The more we support these small (and usually amazing) local businesses that strive to support local producers, the more local produce we are going to be able to get. They need support to keep producing the best quality produce and that support comes from us. Those brownies looks like heaven…local heaven and are shining almost as brightly as last nights super moon! 🙂

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  11. I love that you love that restaurant. I love it too and I haven’t been there…. real food from real farmers …yay!!! I love Organic Feast Cafe in East Maitland …they use organic produce from the supermarket section so none gets wasted and cook according to what they have …not ‘whats fashionable’. I am also desperately wanting to go to a cafe called ‘Reader’s Cafe and Larder ‘ in East Maitland when calving time is over…that word ‘larder’ just evokes so many wonderful images.
    Something we keep telling farm stay visitors who ask the questions, ‘Why doesn’t farming change….’ – we say ‘it depends where the city people’s shopping feet are going ….then it’s easier for farming to afford to change…’ Thanks for pointing your city people feet in the right direction.

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  13. I’m scrolling through your blog and I can’t believe how many posts I’ve been missing! Like coming home from holiday to an abundant garden in full bloom, so vibrant and plentiful. I will have this window open, and steal a few reads here and there, while enjoying your beautiful photos. In between Chasing of the Twins. It’s lovely to ‘be back’.

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  14. It’s been quite odd transitioning from supporting WA / Australian brands and farmers to my ‘local’ being England instead. It feels unpatriotic somehow, but my new community is here and so my new brand loyalty is too! Plus, of course, air miles from Australia to London are not friendly to anyone or anything.

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  15. It sounds like this is a place I need to put on my ‘must-visit’ list. I do love it when I go to a restaurant/cafe and they can passionate tell you where all their produce comes from – and local is best! xx

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