This week's six top tips for Brisbane foodies - Shake your lei at at Luau, coffee concierge, yet another new bar, online cook's recipe heaven and spit cherries for fun.
Aloha to Ballymore’s Luau
Really, if you squint a bit through the undergrowth lining the banks of Enoggera Creek at Pop Production's Ballymore headquarters, you could almost re-imagine yourself on a lush Hawaiian island. Especially after a cocktail or two.
Pop Productions, the crew who bought the popular pop-up restaurants 'Taquito', 'The Soul Food Project' 'Viva Espana' and 'Bistro Ephemere' to Brisbane are squeezing in one last event before they roll into the new year, based on the 1950s/60s interpretation of the Hawaiian custom of the luau- a shared feast. Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts are optional but I’d suggest the odd lei might add appropriate colour.
According to Pop Production's head honcho Jerome Dalton, this pop up event looks set to be their biggest.
“We're doing kalua marinated pork ribs cooked to sticky, smoky goodness on the barbecue, as well huli huli chicken and taro crisps and a banana flower salad with coconut vinegar dressing. By popular demand we're also bringing back the “Fat Elvis Pie'- an artery hardening combo of banoffi pie with peanut butter cream and bacon bits, from one of our previous pop-ups.”
The pop up will start on Saturday December 21 at 4.30pm and continue until the food is gone. Jerome says it's helpful if people RSVP on the Pop Productions Facebook page so they can get a rough idea of numbers and can cater accordingly.Find Pop Productions at 95 Clyde Road, Herston.
At your service
Living in the 21 level apartment tower above M&A Lane just got a whole lot more attractive with the launch of Stellrossa's concierge service. Would madam like a coffee and pizza on the rec deck now? Yes please.
Stellarossa Espresso Bar joins an ‘A’ list of restaurants including Papa Jack’s, Mighty Mighty and Locandra Osteria and Bar with a coffee blend is crafted specially by Philip Di Bella along with pizza, pasta and gelato.
M&A’s rec deck features a 20-metre pool, fully-grown trees and grassed areas for residents use. “If, whilst they are having a swim or socialising with friends they want a few pizzas or some coffee delivered, we will assist,” says Stellarossa’s Darren Schultz. Sounds like a great idea to me.
Hello Mr Mills
Their food bikes might be on hold awaiting Brisbane City Council approvals but the folk from Street Food Australia have been busy preparing their new bar, John Mills Himself.Developed in collaboration with Bunker and with interior design by Pearler, the bar will strongly support local Australian owned businesses with beer from within 200km, Queensland wines and Australian spirits! There will be six taps and no bottled beer in what could be Brisbane’s smallest bar seating only 21. Find it at 40 Charlotte Street, Brisbane but don’t go looking for it until mid-January when the doors are expected to open.
If you can’t beat ‘em…
The smart folk at Hardie Grant are taking two bites of the cherry by launching Cooked, a premium recipe subscription site that gives members access to 10,000 recipes. It’s designed like an online cookbook which will work seamlessly across all your mobile devices. There’s also some food news and editorial and the ability to create your own collections and see collections created by other users and authors. Who knows? You might be able to check out what Maggie Beer cooked for dinner last night at home!
It’s not the death of cookbooks, just a new way to use them. I can feel a Christmas lunch search coming on…
Cake lover’s heaven
Danger alert! If you have a sweet tooth and love a slice of Black Forest cake a visit to Nundah may now be your nemesis.
Whether it’s an Almond Croissant or Apple Plunder, an Esterhazy slice or Gugelhupf, King of Cakes on the corner of Aspinall Street and Station Road, is the new destination.
Master Pastry Chef, German-born Wolfgang Kelke opened the original King of Cakes store was in 1990 in Taringa as Brisbane’s first authentic German bakery. And they are still the only stores in Brisbane that make their own pretzels.
This week I’m liking – Cherries
While I understand that everyone has different tastes – cherries? What’s not to like about a ruby red, sweet cherry? Well you know who you are but for my money the cherries I’ve tasted so far this season are the best ever. They could even host the Olympics!
The inventive people who are reminding us to give cherries some love this season have reinvigorated the fine childhood skill of cherry seed spitting as a board game. As long as I don’t have to it clean up, I’m all for eating cherries and having fun at the same time.
Can’t remember the last time I saw hopscotch lines on a driveway or kids playing chasey. What about you? Are you up for a game of ‘Spit or Miss’?
Kerry Heaney
Disclaimer: Ed+bK was sent delicious cherries so she would write about them and it worked.