We’ve all got to eat so it might as well be good! I’ve been a restaurant critic for almost 20 years, and have been writing a weekly restaurant column in Melbourne’s Sunday Age since 2006.
My approach is to always take a restaurant on its own terms: there’s no point slamming a burger joint because it doesn’t have white tablecloths. I try to be constructive in my criticism and I’ve always got the diner in mind: there are many places you could choose to go. Why should it be here?
When Piquancy owner Mani Waraich discovered he was gluten-intolerant, his mum freaked out.
Every fortnight I head into ABC Radio Melbourne to chat food. Usually it’s with Clare Bowditch but today it was Susan Carland filling in. We chatted about being ...
I thought the name of this smart new Box Hill cafe was odious but then I realised I actually am someone’s second wife.
At first glance, there’s not much about this casual white-guy-Thai restaurant to make you think of an Italian trattoria, a smart city restaurant like Coda or the sizzling openness of a Japanese yakitori joint.
I love a restaurant that shares its intentions the moment you walk in. That’s what happens at the Woodhouse where you come upon beef in dry-aging cabinets right inside the front door.
Amarillo means “yellow” in Spanish and it gels perfectly with the warm sunshiny feel of this new all-day cafe and bar. I’ve been here for morning coffee, when motes float in still air and you can hear the sound of a crisp newspaper page being turned.
Relief isn’t an emotion usually associated with dining but it’s palpable at Riserva. “Finally, we have a wine bar that gets us,” you can hear the locals saying.
I love dropping into ABC Radio Melbourne to chat about food with Clare Bowditch and her lovely audience of talkback callers. This time it was to discuss ...
