Dani Valent – Writer. Eater. Traveller. Cook.

Nov 12

What might you eat at @rosascanteen?

There’s milky-fresh ricotta crowned with ribbons of blanched asparagus and torn mint.

Outrageously gorgeous grilled calamari is tumbled with capers, endive, parsley and lemon zest.

People come especially for the linguine with pistachio pesto, a key Sicilian preparation.

And you’d be smart to land on the lamb spezzatino, a slow-cooked stew of shoulder and leg, softened and sweetened with peas and potato.

The dessert menu is simple: cannoli (always), gelati (you should), the day’s tart (I had pear and chocolate with a crisp-crumbly semolina base and finally understood the art of swooning).

More in my stories & highlights. ...

Nov 1

Dinner!

Beef with three-pepper miso sizzle sauce and sprouting broccoli.

#chinesefood #stirfry #peppersteak #miso ...

Oct 21

Uttapam topped with egg, garlic shoots, tomato and crispy chilli oil, then drizzled with ghee-tempered mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Uttapam is made from a fermented lentil and rice batter, the same base as for dosa and idli. I ❤️ uttapam!

Recipe on my site. Link in bio.

#uttapam #idli #dosa #indianbrunch #indianfood #indianbreakfast #indianbreakfastrecipes #glutenfree #ghee ...

Oct 15

When Stefano's – 550 kilometres by road from Melbourne or an 80-minute flight in a propeller plane – was named restaurant of the year in the 2003 Good Food Guide, many people were confounded by the idea of a multicourse meal without a written menu. And when they were served yabbies (a freshwater native shellfish more commonly associated with farm kids and dirt bikes than fine dining) – well!

But Stefano's had a modest clarity: the model might be European (a genial stop for wayfarers and burghers), but the food was Australian (why not unmuddy the reputation of a local shellfish?).

Then as now, 30 years into its history, everything is cooked perfectly and presented proudly, but it's humble and unshowy. Portions are moderate but ample. Service is unfussy: tables generally arrive all at once at 7pm, and the tiny kitchen keeps courses synchronised.

The long wine list, lovingly annotated by de Pieri, continues the work of introducing Australia to grapes such as lagrein, piedirosso and the restaurateur's extraordinary collection of barolo, a premium, north-Italian red.

The Victorian food scene has changed beyond measure over three decades, with not inconsiderable credit due to de Pieri, who went on to run a bakery, brewery and cafe in Mildura, promote the sale of pink salt, extol the joys of olive oil and work with the wine-making Chalmers family to promote Italian varietals.

Along the way, Stefano's restaurant hasn't altered much. Produce of the season is sourced and served that day for people who want a bit of comfort and art to accompany their calories.

It's slow food for fast times and everything about it is delicious.

Read my full review via link in bio.

16/20 🎩🎩 ...

Oct 2

Lucked onto staff meal banh mi at @stanleypub_vic 🥰 That Sally Wright only knows delicious.

Love the new look. Excited that there is a produce store on the way. Menu looks smashing. Beer garden is golden! 🫶☀️💕 ...

Sep 27

I'm completely humbled to be awarded @gourmettraveller's Outstanding Contribution to Hospitality Award as part of the magazine's 2023 Restaurant Awards.

Thanks to @hunkies_news and @michaelharden50 for this honour, given in part for the information I synthesised and shared during the pandemic.

I sat in my trackies day after day (month after month 😬) watching press conferences, combing through public health orders, info-matching press releases, emailing government departments, answering queries, trying to find and offer clarity in a confusing and destabilising swirl. Visa holders were a particular focus. I'm still so ashamed of the way the Australian government abandoned people in our community.

Obviously awards were the furthest thing from my mind. It was just in front of me to be done. Success was that we could all hang out in restaurants again! But if I made that strange, hard, murky time easier or clearer for anyone, I am very, very glad.

Backstory via link in bio.

Pic by @parkerblain ...

Sep 25

Pepi & I are taking part in @fareshare_australia's Footsteps Challenge.👣🐾🐾

Our goal is to walk / run 100km between October 2-16. Should be fine, right? 😅

We're raising money for FareShare, which grows and rescues food then turns it into free, nutritious, culturally sensitive meals for those doing it tough in our community. There's never been such high demand for food relief. If you can give (or sign up yourself!) please do 🤗🙌 Any amount is welcome!

Link in bio.
Or fareshare-footsteps-2022.raisely.com/dani-valent-

#footstepschallenge ...

Sep 20

I went on a bingsu adventure in Melbourne.

There are so many versions of this Korean shaved ice dessert...

First stop @nox.monsterbing - cute monsters with choc button eyes 👾
Second stop @meetfresh_australia_nz - Taiwanese ice mountains 🏔️
Third stop @hereisnimbo - a Melb remix of the whole craze with pan-Asian ideas and contemporary flair 🍠

Tripping from shop to shop felt like clubbing but on ice 💃👯💃 Not that ice. This ice. Good clean cold fun. Highly recommend. ✅💯

#melbournecafes #bingsu #bingsucafe #melbournecbd #melbournefun #melbournefood #melbournedesserts #foodie #foodiesofig ...

Sep 20

⚡ Publication day ⚡

Books are usually special. They generally represent a lot of careful, hard work by talented people. I've written and been involved in a bunch of them.

I did less on this co-written book, Salamati, than on my other cookbooks. These aren't my recipes, this isn't my story.

Still, I don't remember feeling quite this swirl of emotions before. Proud, excited, happy, glad. The dishes in this book are so good! I can't wait for you to make Hamed's date omelette and fesenjun and tahchin (oh the tahchin!).

But I also feel fierce and angry: my secret hope for this book is that it brings attention to the stupid plight of Hamed and other refugees living in our community, contributing to it, making it richer.

Hamed - like so many others - is still on a temporary visa. He's not secure in the life he's built here, even though he's a business owner, an employer, a father to Australian-born children, and now - woohoo - an author. He would be in peril if he went back to Iran but it's not even possible for him to travel elsewhere to see the mum he hasn't hugged for a decade.

Australia's new government is onto the immigration mess, I know and trust that. But it's still wrecking people's lives.

Buy the book, for sure. It's beautiful. Smell the herbs, pop the pomegranate. And if you want to write to your Federal MP to ask for #justiceforrefugees as well, that would be awesome.

⚡⚡⚡

It’s finally here! 🤩

Happy publication day to Salamati by @hamedsfood and @danivalent 💫
Reposted from @murdochbooks ...

Sep 6

Night is falling as I turn off the M1. It’s okay though: there are lights aplenty. Hungry Jack’s, McDonald’s, Domino’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Red Rooster, they’re all there, the Sirens of the Service Lane, frying under their beckoning beacons.

I’m not here for hose-down interiors and standardised menus though. I’m here for the little place out the back, past the pokies pub and next to the shisha cave, the one with the spray-painted lightbox saying ‘Munchies’.

Munchies - all heart, so tasty, here for the ‘hood - will celebrate five years in December. It’s a place for approachable food made with care, aiming at comfort.

The staff are locals, mostly working their first jobs, part of a community not just a payroll. The customers are locals, too: parents swinging by after messaging a takeaway order over Instagram, homies sipping from plastic cups full of Ribena and Sprite and wrangling wings and hot sauce while they kick back on the pavement.

Inside, the walls are covered in party pics and memes, and a portrait of Princess Di is on the hero wall alongside rapper Slick Rick. If you’re Anglo, you’re the minority.

Owner John Chinsami’s family background is Fijian-Indian. He grew up in the neighbourhood and worked in local cafes before slinging corporate coffee in the city. When his mates started working at upscale places, he got interested in fancy restaurants too. Jobs at the Vue Group’s Jardin Tan and Burnham Beeches followed, then a restorative stint at intimate farm-to-fine-diner O.My, which is back in the south-east.

Munchies and its $17 fried chicken sandwiches might not seem like an obvious next step from O.My and its $220 tasting menu, but there are similarities in the anchoring in place and the belief that gathering around food can offer safety and identity.

...continues in comments... ...

Sep 2

Paradise!

Iconic Acland Street, St Kilda cake shop @monarchcakes has been here since 1934. They haven't made this four-layer Paradise Cake for decades. Based on a Hungarian recipe and taking three days to make, the resurrection of this old-timey classic is a celebration of heritage and a vote of confidence in a sweet future.

Thanks for sharing, Nikki 💖

Love Life
Eat. More. Cake.

I ate the whole thing.
I went to paradise.

#stkilda #melbournecafes #cake #jewishmelbourne #jewishfood #melbournedessert #melbournedesserts #melbournefood #melbournefoodie ...

Sep 1