we are all clapping, all of the time

Sometimes a girl has to put down her books and go in search of a song.

Fortunately, this girl didn't have to look very far.

Beyond the Bathroom Choir is a weekly singing group for people who just want to sing, whether or not they're great singers. You can come every week or just drop in when you feel like it. We all have a couple of drinks during the evening, meet new folk during the break and learn songs by ear (in four part harmonies).

I think we sounded pretty darn good during our performance at the Sydney Road Street Party last month.



beyondthebathroom.org

The title of this post came from a recent confusion while learning Pharrell's Happy. There's so much clapping in this song. Clapping in time, out of time... But Pippa set us straight. We are all clapping, all of the time. It'll probably be the title of our biography when we're famous singers beyond the bathroom.

coffee : l'atelier de monsieur truffe

l'atelier de monsieur truffe, lygon street in brunswick


new to lygon street and my local area is l'atelier de monsieur truffe (original monsieur truffe you'll find in collingwood) it's a big warehouse cafe and chocolate factory. i neglected to have any chocolate, however, and shall have to revisit. there's a really lovely rustic quality to the place and though it's big it isn't impersonal. kid and pram and bike-friendly. enter via the bright red door in the wall.


my toast and jam was good, served on a big wooden chopping board. my dining companion (the girl who gets hugged by authors i'd like to be hugged by) had a rhubarby crumble, which was served with a little cow jug filled with milk. it was very cute. but the coffee was only ok, with the crema more airy fluff than cream and a slightly gritty quality.

the staff were really nice and i think the cafe is still finding its feet - so i will definitely return, definitely to try some chocolate.

you can find their blog here.

be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand new coat of paint

there are many things i am supposed to be doing. lots of deadlines looming. so...here are some of my procrastinations:

i very much enjoyed watching the eurovision bong (?) contest on the weekend. wonderful costumes, interesting songs, it should have been moldova for the win! what hats they had! or romania! what a smile! head over to the joy of mediocrity, for la dashla certainly enjoyed her eurovision moments and will amuse you.

also look out for her list of 5 books never to read in the midst of a mid mid life crisis.

neither a borrower nor a lender be.

apparently i borrowed this book from my grandfather. i have no idea how long ago, but when he was moving all his books so he could sand down the bookshelf and revarnish it (yes, my very old grandparents get these wild ideas sometimes) he found this note. uh oh.

excellent graffiti that was near my house. apparently this artist gets around, as there is evidence of this elsewhere in melbourne. someone has scratched this one off now. it made me think of childhood, 52-card pickup, circuses and lily, rosemary and the jack of hearts (perhaps the woman with the axe is rosemary?? only with an axe rather than a penknife).

Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled
She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
With men in every walk of life who took her everywhere
But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts -- Bob Dylan

coffee : wide open road

Wide Open Road
274 Barkly Street
Brunswick*

Newish, slightly posher, more put-together, little sibling cafe by the people who brought you A Minor Place. It's really beautifully set out with matchy-matchy salts and sugars (as you can see) and the decor is equally perfect.**

The coffees are perfect too - strong, no bitterness at all, and not too milky. They roast their own coffee out the back. Bliss. Their food is also delicious - a small menu but really really lovely food, complete with croissants and other doughy treats from Fitzroy's Loafer Bread.

Our favourite waiter from A Minor Place now works here so we have to go and visit from time to time, though the original cafe still holds top place in my heart.

Visit their website.

*I've heard whisperings of new slang "NoBRo" = "North of Brunswick Road". Please confirm.

**I feel like, in spite of my love of matching hairclips to socks and shoes to scarf, I'm not quite fancy enough for this place.

coffee : each peach

each peach...doesn't it just conjure delightful images of each peach pear plum by janet and allan ahlberg? 'each peach pear plum, i spy tom thumb, tom thumb in the cupboard, i spy mother hubbard...' all the way until the plum pie in the sun!

it's a very cute cafe up the - what i like to call - berlin end of lygon street (aka the poorer and increasingly hip end) that looks very homey and has a fantastical bathroom with fairy lights and a pink bath.

coffee was very good, a bit too hot but very tasty, and the omelette was decadently delicious (too eggy, said my vegetarian-egg-disliking inner self, but i knew what i was getting into) with cheese and spinach galore. plus, the bread was to die for.

the staff were friendly, but they did forget my coffee and my food and i had to go in and remind them. which is fine, except it's the third time i've been there and the second time they've forgotten us. so i certainly recommend it, but maybe not when you are in a rush, because you never know.

that merry old creek

have been down the merri creek looking for angels*...



i hope they can swim.


*inspired by my sneaky preview copy of sally rippin's angel creek which is an impeccably beautiful novel.UPDATE: i have a written review of this darling book here.

coffee : new day rising

new day rising is a such cute little cafe. have been there a few times now and the coffee is excellent - and cheap.

pleasantly hipster. awesome music.

fabulous menu. please note that coffees are only $3...just $3! (add 50c for soy (grr) but they make it with bonsoy, which is delish)

lovely lovely staff in their teeny tiny space.

221d blyth st brunswick east. right at the end of the 96 tram line, near rrr.

coffee: green tambourine take two

so since my review i have been back to the green tambourine to try the coffee again. it was better this time and i drank it all (it was made by a man, not the girl who made them last time) but it wasn't great. it was scalding hot, slightly bitter, and the milk was not done properly:

the people who work there are very friendly and willing to please. the food looks fresh. people seemed to be enjoying themselves. oh! in particular, this is apparently a pram- and child-friendly place, so that's nice. and they use organic foods so i am sure the eggs are delish.

but the coffee just isn't to my taste. which is all i really care about in a cafe. (oh, and no tv)

coffee : green tambourine cafe

sometimes things aren't bad, they are just not to my taste. and sometimes things are bad.*

i was excited to learn that a new cafe was opening on albion street but didn't get around to visiting until today. it's got a cool name: green tambourine. i like green, i like tambourines.

they have lots of green things on their menu: green eggs and ham, pea fritters...err...other things. the menu is green too. and the tops of the chairs.

but the decor is unappealing, it's almost sterile. it has a real Ikea vibe to it. now, i am a melbourne wanker, but i don't need mismatching chairs, or milk crates (ahh, i do love you, a minor place) but i felt like i was in a a trying-to-be-funky school caf. perhaps once the cafe has had more use it will seem less so, but the place didn't say "welcome" to me.

the staff were friendly, though. until the girl who made the coffees coughed on us when we were paying.


the coffee was awful. it turned up looking all weak. ended up tasting like milk with essence-of-burnt-coffee flavouring. apparently, my friend betsy jane's strong latte was equally as milky. we couldn't drink them.

and then this was the kicker: a flat screen tv. in a cafe. where i am expected to read the paper and do my work and write my novel.

i don't think i'll go back.

a minor place, i am so sorry i cheated on you. but you were closed today. please never close again.

*other people have thought that this place is good. maybe you wanna trust them instead. i won't be offended.
UPDATE: i went back and tried the coffee again, you can read about that here.

a minor place

ah a minor place. my local and my best. the coffee is knock-your-socks-off strong. the food is delish. the staff are lovely (yes, even surly waitress) and i couldn't ask for a better local cafe. this day we had the mumbler - with avocado instead of tomato - and the new york style bagel. it's on albion street, brunswick. a minor place has a website here.

new brunswick cafe: pope joan

this morning the evil sister and i had brunch at the 6-day old cafe pope joan.

it is officially a hipster-free place. however, this made me quite uncomfortable. and i felt pretty uncool. the staff were VERY chirpy and happy and eager to fill our water glasses and take our order. it was so...bizarre. i am used to having to catch my coffee as it's flung onto the table by Surly Waitress at a minor place and being snubbed by all the rude wait-staff at any place in northcote. but - it has only been a week. they'll come around to bitterness.

the coffee was quite delicious. not as strong as you might get at a minor place, but very very nice nonetheless.
i was disappointed to find that the fried haloumi/rocket pesto/dukkah dish (which they had advertised on the postcards delivered to the evil sister's house last week) wasn't available on the menu - but my order of toasted banana bread with rhubarb was very delicious. err, tho it did turn out to be rhubarb cream but it was quite light and it was a-ok in the end.

evil sister had a bacon and egg sarnie which she says was very yummy. she opted out of having HP sauce on it though.

although the chef (the kitchen is in the open) initially shouted NO! when i enquired whether the haloumi dish would make an appearance at all, he was then very funny and grumpy and nice and said there'd be something delicious with haloumi and beetroot coming up. so i'll have to go back...

77-70 nicholson st brunswick east
www.popejoan.com.au <--but this site didn't work when i tried today.

OTTO

i read in the paper the other day (the age, australia day) about a young guy who has designed and built a new stove-top coffee maker. it sounds incredible. the creator, craig heron, wanted to make an espresso-style coffee at his home, but found that most stove-top coffees lack body. his machine OTTO looks beautiful - all stainless steel and you can even steam milk with it.

the article was supported by the east brunswick project's coffee gurus - they approve!

you can read more about OTTO and even order it, here.

ok. bring on tomorrow and some COFFEE. delish.

where is the coffee, you say?

no, i haven't written anything about coffee in a while. BUT. in the past two days i have been for coffee at TWO places.

yesterday i had breakfast #2 at minimo which is situated on the very excellent corner of sydney road and donald street, brunswick. i only meant to go for a coffee, but i got there and the waiter spoke to me in zee loveliest accent francais that i had to order a croissant avec la confiture.

so, my skinny milk latte: the coffee was strong and good, the milk was hot but not too hot and on the whole it was good. the milk could have been creamier (as in, it was a leetle bit bubbly) but that's me just searching for that perfect consistency.

the croissant was delicious. (however, i will write soon about the best croissants this side of paris soon).

then today we went for breakfast at mixed business on queens pde in clifton hill. divine.
coffee = perfect. my avocado and feta on the most grainy tasty toast ever = scrumptious. the mushrooms on toast with goats cheese and rocket? ahhhh i had order envy! must. go. back.

who wants to go with me next week???

the east brunswick project

i've been meaning to rave about this place for a while now, but could never remember what it is called. because i'm a bit of a cafe-hopper, it is really exciting that they are popping up all over the place near where i live. this one in particular serves what is probably the best coffee around.

the east brunswick project has a kind of minimalist, pared back feel. a gigantic coffee roaster and grinder sits in its own glassed-off room and looks beautiful. i think they must run coffee courses and you can buy all manner of machines, doo-dads and thingummybobs.

and it smells so beautiful. you can buy beans; a range of fancy fair trade ones. and the baristas are phenomenal. i know i am a melbourne wanker for saying that, but i love love love their coffees. we'll be walking down the street with our takeaway bonsoy lattes or cappuccinos and just say to each other, kind of breathlessly, "this is the best coffee..."

www.padrecoffee.com.au