Old school country milk bar

Bingara, NSW, July 2012

Ricey has his sights set on some cows 7 hours west of us so we set off on a road trip last week. We saw so many beautiful old abandoned theatres and cafes along the way. It's so sad that the towns are far from their former glory because they are such beautiful retro buildings. This one had spaghetti on the menu so it was necessary to have lunch there. Peters Milkbar in Bingara, 3 hours west of Glen Innes (where you should stay at the Alpha Motel if you ever go). Old wooden booths, old school counter and big battered milkshake tins. My fingers show 7.5/10 but it was the best meal of the trip, more like an 8.  

Noodles, spaghetti, same thing

The Samara, Ubud, Bali

May 2012

This has got to be one of the most amazing spaghetti experiences I've ever had. The Samara guesthouse in Ubud has literally been placed onto rice patties in the middle of a rural area. You can't drive there, you have to get a scooter or walk along a narrow little path through the fields (they are working on getting golf buggies). It's completely open plan and to my delight, is run by a friendly italian man who has created an authentic cucina right there in the middle of Ubud. After a few meals that 'sort of taste alright but not really', I felt like I had won the lottery. We ate there for lunch two days running and I hopped straight from the pool to be eating bruchetta and amazing spaghetti. Ducks help the rice farmers get the patties into good shape so there must have been 60 ducks next door mucking around doing their thing. The meal was outstanding, I gave it a 9 but it's really a 9.5 (pasta could have been harder) and well over a 10 for ambience. I'll definitely be back to Bali now that I realise it's just Kuta that's overrun with bogans and the rest of the island is amazing. The Samara will be at the top of my list!   

Outdoor dining

The Farm, Mullumbimby, 2012

While I consider myself a professional spaghetti critic, the toughest critics are really my chooks. They can tell what lettuce has been bought from woolworths and what's from the farmers markets. Naturally they prefer the more expensive, natural kind. I've learnt they would rather eat bugs than eat lettuce from woolies! Here they are having some leftover spaghetti from Milk & Honey. I think they agree it's pretty good stuff. They can slurp it into their beaks like old nonnas. I'm not sure what rating they gave it because they only have 3 claws...it wouldn't really be fair to say it was 3/10. The entire thing was gone in 2 minutes though, a sign that it was good no doubt. 

Little Italy San Francisco

San Francisco, June 2011
It's not often that nine friends happen to be in San Francisco on a random Wednesday night. Five of us were about to head to the Napa Valley the next day for a wedding but the others were pure coincidence which was cause for celebration. After heading out to the sticks to 'Tommys Tequila Bar' for some pre-dinner drinks, we found a cute spot in Little Italy. Elicia ate a salad, the boys helped out in the kitchen, the other guests left soon after we arrived and my meal was hot and tasty. 6/10

Hats off to you

A fellow 'Pastafarian' fights for his right to wear a pasta strainer on his head. 

Ugg boots, hot milo and a little grey cat

Mullumbimby, June 2011
Talking about the weather gets old quickly but it's hard to talk about anything else at the moment. When I lived in Dublin my friend used to say 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation'. Meaning the weather is always going to be absolutely ridiculous so it's your fault if you don't have 5 layers with you.  I think I had 4 layers on when we went for Milk and Honey in Mullum on Thursday. We came back and put the fire on which you can see Buttons enjoying here. She sits so close to it I think she'd be medium rare. The spaghetti was freshly made and delicious as always. 6.5/10

Shanghai Airport Spaghetti

Shanghai, China June 2011
Jeez a 5/10 at the airport is alright. I'm not sure if Australian airports would get that kind of score. I was dubious when I saw the kitchen equipment consisted of 5 microwaves but was pleasantly surprised. I'll be back to China again soon and will stop in at Hope Star on my way out.

Mr and Mrs Bund

Shanghai, June 2011

When I visited Shanghai 5 years ago we snuck into the hotel restaurant for a steak a couple of times. We just didn't seem to be hitting the good spots and a particular beef soup with floating bits of cow hair is burnt into my memory. This time around, the food was outstanding. We ate like kings every day whether it was chinese, indian, italian or western food. One special meal was at Mr and Mrs Bund - a well designed restaurant by Paul Pairet overlooking the Bund. The artsy meals were tiny but delicious. The middle picture is little restaurant down some stairs that had cute booths and no english (we had to act out cow vs pig). The bottom picture is Ricey ordering 5 meals ( he only ate 1) at Grape Restaurant - if you go to China, look this one up.

Chopsticks Spaghetti

Shanghai, May 2011

The Chinese are masters of imitation. They can perfectly copy something so well you can't tell which one is the original. Lucky for me this extends into italian food. The Taikang Road Art Centre in Shanghai is a grid of alleyways filled with boutiques, bars, galleries and restaurants. It's so cute, all the shops are miniature and often have little ladders leading up to an upstairs section. After eating Chinese for breakfast we felt less guilty about eating at an italian restaurant for lunch. The spaghetti was clearly made fresh and the sauce was divine. I gave it an 8 in the piccy but it deserves a 9 for sure. We went back again 2 days later.   

Real country folk

Mullumbimby, April 2011

We got a good dose of human contact over easter. One of the highlights was showing our little farm to the real country people - Mard and Ross. The things we squeal over they eat up with a big old spoon. Tales of piggin, roo shooting and thousands of acres of red dirt are a long way from our tea and scones. It was great to catch up and we took them to trusty Milk and Honey which was pounding with Bluesfest people. The standard didn't falter despite the crowds. Mard thoroughly enjoyed her pancetta and pea pasta giving it a 9/10 and my pomodoro was damn fine also - 7/10. 

Sue Ching's Spaghetti

Brisbane base soft-sculpture artist Sue Ching has made her own spaghetti and outdoor BBQ made out of felt. Best thing I've seen in ages. See more here http://sue-ching.blogspot.com/

Don Gato the Cat

Melbourne, March 2011
You roll the dice when you fly Tiger. I chanced it last minute to pop down to Melbourne and surprisingly everything went smoothly. There were other interstaters in town and much merriment followed. As usual I got a little overexcited at the amount of old friends in one place and peaked too early but by now we're all used to that. The next day we headed back to Giz's to inspect her prized capsicum plants. Much to her horror, her bumper crop turns out to be something other than capsicums...most likely weeds. Fertilised, stalked weeds. The best loved weeds in Melbourne I'd say. After this crushing revelation she kindly humoured me to some homemade spaghetti and we sat outside, staring at the capsicums/weeds. I left out some key ingredients to the spaghetti but it was a lovely all the same. 6.5/10

Milk and Honey

Mullumbimby, March 2011
Milk and Honey was brilliant yet again. Close your eyes and think you're in Italy kind of brilliant. With the right balance of fresh flavours, it's certainly making up for a few bad spaghetti's I've had along the way. This particular Thursday was St Paddy's Day. We headed into Byron for a few afternoon pints and this was the perfect way to finish things off on our way back to the farm.  8/10

Home grown, home made

Mullumbimby, March 2011

We often talk the veggie patch talk but to be honest, I know little about it. I didn't think vegetables and herbs would be so fussy. They want to sit next to a certain vegetable, don't like another one, prefer spring, only bloom once, go to flower. It's exhausting keeping up with them. I see why farmers stick to one thing. As a result, Ricey is into all sorts of thing and I tend to focus on one vegetable and make that my prized crop. At the moment it's cucumbers, they literally form overnight - very satisfying. Did you know they have spikes when they grow? As a result, they haven't been nanged on my little creatures. I've also been allocated a citrus tree that I've been pruning. I just want to prune everything in sight but apparently that's a winter thing, pff, so I've been let loose on one tree. We're not even sure what it produces - either mandarins or oranges. Either is fine by me. The pesto for our spaghetti is home made from the patch. Most meals have something from there in them, whether it's a herb, an eggplant, some zucchini, just something little. It hit the spot this particularly evening. 8/10

Hugh Mackay

Lismore, sometime during 2010

There are some really good things in Lismore. Unfortunately the kids spaghetti at The Lismore Workers Club isn't one of them. But that's not what you go Lismore for. Apart from all the 'big shops' we don't have in Mullum, there are also great vintage shops and an art deco cafe called 'Mecca' with old school booths. What drew us there on this particular day was Hugh Mackay giving a speech for the launch of his new book 'What makes us tick'. If you're not familiar with Hugh, he's a social researcher full of interesting observations. Like Seinfeld humour, a lot of what Hugh says is right in front of us everyday but we just don't see it for what it is. He used to come and speak at Clemengers when I worked there years ago. I'm glad we made the journey, even though the Spaghetti was soggy the Workers Club was buzzing. 4/10

Another excuse to eat Coopers Shoot Tomatoes

Since our trip to Spain last May, we've been pestering our spanish friends to send us a traditional gazpacho recipe from their relatives. Rosh and Javier finally pulled through with the goods last night which coincided with our trip to the Mullum farmers markets this morning. With our beloved Coopers Shoot Tomatoes you can either get squishy souping ones or hard ones perfect for bruchetta. The gazpacho was came up really well (not that I have actually eaten it before). We used red vinegar instead of the recommended white which may have been a slight error but it was good all the same. Here's the recipe in Spanish if you fancy making it yourself.

1 Kilo de tomates (rojos y blanditos)

1 cebolla mediana

1 pepino

1 pimiento italiano

1 diente de ajo

1 vaso de vinagre

1/2 vaso de aceite de oliva

Agua (aproximadamente un litro)

Una pizca de sal

Se pelan los tomates y se trocean.

Se pica la cebolla una vez limpia y se trocea.

Se le quitan las pipas al pimiento y se trocea

Se pela el pepino y se trocea

Se pela el ajo.

Una vez limpio y troceado todo, se pone todo en un recipiente para triturarlo con la batidora y se añade el, agua, el vinagre, el aceite y la sal y se bate todo bien, hasta que quede todo liquido. Se prueba. (si esta muy fuerte se añade agua y si esta flojo se pone un poquito más de vinagre y sal).

Booking made for 6:15

Brunswick Heads, February 2011

Somehow we ended up at dinner on a Tuesday at 6:15 and were those people who knew what they were having before the menus arrive. Granted we'd skipped lunch but it was a little too 'we're forty three and drive a station wagon' for my liking. This potentially affected the score, as did the scattering of parsley throughout which I can't help but associate with the 1990's. Mushy pasta didn't make things better but the sauce was tasty. We'll have to go back to this little local spot and give it a second go with a cocktail to start. 6/10

Guest Blogger speaks his mind. "It's not that I'm angry….I'm just disappointed….”

Brunswick Heads, February 2011

I’ve seen a lot in my job as a spaghetti blog photographer. Terrible lows (please refer to “Ewww Shudder” July 2010), quizzical looks from chefs as they hope that 3 fingers is a funky new version of a peace sign as opposed to the tearing down of their nonna’s nonna’s recipe and new dining companions declaring: well, Sophie, I’ll have to make you MY spag bog; to which I interject: no pig and no cheese; and think: let’s give you a 7 to be polite right now.

The rewards for my toil are making the one I love happy and (usually) 2 beers to cleanse the palate, the lion share of a bottle of red and if I’m lucky a cheeky little glass of port to finish with.

I have, however, always hoped that I would be there for the elusive and much spoken about 10. Alas, I was at home on the farm looking after our new kitten, Buttons, while this magical mark was reached amidst much partying in Sydney.

After much ranting about my disappointment, questioning the validity of the score and suggesting that the city smog had a played tricks on her new found country girl sensibilities said blogger has appeased me with my own blog entry so here goes:

Sophie came back from Sydney having revived her youth. Hanging out in large groups, partying until 5am and saying things like “off the richter”. Imagine her disgust when we turned up to a local Italian, Dominic’s in Brunswick Heads, at 6:15pm on a Tuesday. Since it was maybe the second time in our relationship I had suggested we eat pasta her disgust vanished quickly.

Dominic’s is consistent with a lot of the restaurants in our area: low-key surrounds (please see photo-they don’t get too much more low key than a guy with a rat’s tail next to a guy with a mullet) with tasty food due to fresh local ingredients.

My meal was the slow cooked lamb with gnocchi. 6/10.

Guest Blogger Critique Coming Soon

An oldie but a goodie

Brisbane, February 2011

Growing up Ginos was my second kitchen around the corner. Eventually they recognised my voice on the phone and would just say 'see you soon Sophie'. The time it took to get there was aligned with my little parcel of goodness being ready for collection. The perfect arrangement. They even catered for my 21st. Nowadays my loyalty remains but my friends and family have been burnt out. I suspect I made them go there one too many times. There is far too much rolling of the eyes and complaining in order to get my fix. It's nothing against my beloved Ginos, more to get a reaction out of me I suspect. But like smells bring back memories, Ginos reminds me of happy times. Same floor, same tables, same smiling owners and the same taste. I think of Sunday night dinners as a kid when it's still light outside and then boozy nights with the girls back when people could smoke inside and there were plastic plants everywhere. My latest takeaway was as good as always and I look forward to the next. 7.5/10

http://www.ginosrestaurant.com.au/