My Monthly Chronicles - May 2024

I would find it hard to believe it is June if not for feeling the cold so keenly.  No doubt that is made worse with a head cold that I caught from Sylvia.  So May finished with too much time in bed and on the sofa with my cold. I am happy to report that the month was more interesting than that.  May has been busy with eating out at some amazing places and enjoying cycling around local bike tracks.  The above photo is from the Glass Den.

Glass Den, Pentridge in Coburg
When my sister Chris was visiting from Ireland we searched for a local cafe with impressive food and good coffee.  Sylvia chose the Glass Den in the former gatehouse of Pentridge Prison.  The place has changed since it first opened amid excitement about its vegan offering, but it continues to present beautiful, interesting dishes, even if there is no longer quite as much for vegans.  I was pleased Chris loved the Code Black coffee.  Dublin just does not do coffee like Melbourne!

I had the Glass Den Avocado Rose (above photo) with seasonal fruits, beetroot hummus, roasted mixed nuts, kale, lemon and a drizzle of house dressing on charcoal sourdough toast, with a side order of Persian feta.  It was so beautiful though the lychees were odd.  Sylvia upped the ante in pretty food with Bee in the Garden (top photo): little candy bees enjoyed a garden of honeycomb shaped waffles, yuzu custard, dried orange, seasonal fruits, meringue, vanilla ice cream, oreo dirt, honey and edible flowers.  She also had a beautiful blue pea latte.  My mum had a Korean Chicken Waffle Stack and Chris had a Roasted Pumpkin Salad.  We loved our lunch and it was lovely to catch up.

Historic Pentridge Prison
After lunch at the Glass Den we went for a walk around the complex that was formerly Pentridge Prison and still has many impressive bluestone buildings.  The above photo shows the old walls with the new apartment buildings behind it.  Beyond the bars of the gate is the Coburg Children's Centre.  It amuses me that the childcare centre is in a former prison but actually it is a great centre with long waiting lists (or was when Sylvia was younger).  We also had a quick look at the museum in the old Warders Residence.  It is quite small but interesting.  Finally we walked through the imposing Victorian entrance gates and went our separate ways.  

On my to-to list is a Pentridge Prison Tour.  I was looking at details online recently and got into reading about the fascinating and sad history.  One of the most interesting reads was an article on ‘Losing the Plot: Archaeological Investigations of Prisoner Burials at the Old Melbourne Gaol and Pentridge Prison’. 

Merri Cafe at CERES, Brunswick East
We are long time fans of CERES but it seems ages since our last visit.  Sylvia would point out she has been here more recently than me when she had lunch with her grandfather.  The Merri Cafe (Corner of Roberts & Stewart Streets, Brunswick East) is a lovely place to eat good food before heading off to look at the plants and organic groceries and maybe even wander around the environmentally sustainable space.  Sylvia had a kids cheese toastie plus a ginger ninja biscuit.  I had the vegan sausage roll: lentils, potato and sausage rolls.  The place has changed but the food is always delicious and on the healthy side.

Luther's Scoops, Brunswick
We finally had one of the fruit pies at Luthers Scoops on Blyth Street by the corner of Sydney Rd in Brunswick.  They don't sell them until 5pm so it was a late outing there.  We shared an apple crumble pie.  The lovely flaky puff pastry is made in-house.  The apples are locally grown.  We saw one of the growers bringing in a box of them.  Sylvia loved it.  I really liked it but I had hoped for a short crust pastry, which I really like with an apple pie.  We also shared a scoop of their amazing carrot cake ice cream.

Rays Cafe, Brunswick
I met Faye for a Japanese lunch but Ima Asa Yoru was closed.  So we walked down to Victoria Street to Rays (332 Victoria Street, Brunswick).  It was a difficult choice between pumpkin fritters on tofu cream and the mushroom special.  I chose the latter which had fried mushrooms, broccoli and other greens, tofu scramble, two generous sourdough toast.  I also had a pumpkin fritter on the side.  Faye had the burger and chips.  My meal was really filling and delicious, especially once I requested a small bowl of tomato relish.  We shared an amazingly good slice of toasted and buttered banana bread.  Rays menu with ominvore and vegan sections is great, though the names don't have the same fun of the heavy metal bands inspired names.

Torquay beach
Like last month, I had a quick walk along Whites Beach at torquay before a celebratory family meal.  This time my brother Paul came with me.  Although most of my siblings used to love the beach, now there aren't so many of us who want to go there.  But Paul always is up for a swim if he is about.

Watching: Happy Valley, season 3.  I love watching a police or law show but it is not often that you get an insight into life for the the criminal after they goes to prison.  This season of this amazing drama starring Sarah Lancashire and James Norton is as high quality and full of insights as the first two.

Mothers Day high tea
This year we celebrated Mothers Day with my mother at her house.  My sister was still visiting from Ireland and organised a high tea.  We all contributed.  There was plenty to eat that we brought along: finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches, hedgehog, sponge cake, profiteroles, chocolate scones and a wonderful platter of cheese, pretzels, strawberries, grapes and lolly snakes.  Others did flower arranging or helped take photos.  It was the first time I was together with all my six siblings for a long time.

Political Satire: Sammy J farewells the 'Melbourne Airport Choo-Choo' - the project to building a much-needed trainline to the Melbourne Airport has yet again been delayed.  Sammy J's songs are always bound to give a laugh!

Pickles Milkbar, North Carlton
On my most recent In My Kitchen post I shared photos of wonderful sandwiches we ate which were brought home from Pickles Milkbar in 1008 Lygon Street, North Carlton.  The simple decor reminded me of the milkbars I often visited in my youth.  The pie warmer reminded me of having primary school lunch orders from milkbar of either meat pies or pasties.  The idea of a vegan milkbar would never have crossed our mind then.  I bought a pesto swirl from the pie warmer to snack on before riding home with the sandwiches.  It was hot and the sign warned it had cashews in it so I assume that was why the cheese was rich and delicious.

Trust Makers Market, Rippon Lea
We visited the Trust Makers Market in the splendid grounds in front of the historic Rippon Lea House.  It was busy with the Botannica festival being held alongside with plant sales and the CWA selling tea and scones.  Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time there.  We had to go before we got to explore the rest of the gardens and had no time for the queue for coffee or scones.  We did have a look at the stalls.  We were there to see my sister's peanut butter stall.  Her Frankie's peanut butter is really delicious.

Bilbo Snaggins, food truck
We had some good choices in a row of food trucks at Rippon Lea.  We chose Bilbo Snaggins with the slogan "one hotdog to rule them all" .  The name along was too fun to pass by.  We shared a Merry's Middle-Earth Meatless Dog: Meatless Sausage, diced tomato and salsa, sauerkraut and cheese (optional).  The other choices also had Tolkein names: The Fellowship (the lot), Samwise Sauerkraut, Pippin's Pepperoni Pizza Dog, the Sauron-ator Bacon-ator, Jaundolf the Mexican.  We had to wait 15 minutes but the customer service was great.  Sylvia would have liked the bun to be warmed but it was rather good.

A Community Talk: The reason we did not linger at Rippon Lea was that my dad had arranged for me to attend an Open House Melbourne talk on "Rail as civic infrastructure" at RMIT's Storey Hall.  It was quite interesting to hear about plans for Melbourne's new metro rail stations and how architecture could include pleasing community space.  Sylvia ended up joining us rather than heading into the city where the noisy Pro Palestinian marches were being held.

Miyama, Melbourne CBD
After the talk, when the noise of the Pro-Palestinian protests had moved on, we went in search of Sylvia's choice of cafe.  Miyama in on Level 2 of the Melbourne Central shopping centre near the Lonsdale Street side.  It took us a bit of walking to find it.  By that time my dad had to head home for his train (which he just made after encountering the protests again).  Sylvia and I shared a Matcha Swiss Roll.  I had a very refreshing yuzu spritz and Sylvia had a cappuccino.  Unfortunately we were there too late for their savoury menu.

Son in Law, Melbourne CBD
I really needed some savoury food after Miyama.  We were lucky to find be able to eat at Son in Law, on the ground floor of Melbourne Central, near the corner of Elizabeth and LaTrobe Streets.  It does the cutest food.  I had a crispy fried tofu slice, cucumber and tamarind sauce in a bear faced bao.  I asked for it without chopped peanuts so Sylvia could try it.  She had an uber cute Totoro bao stuffed with a nutella and banana filling.  We enjoyed them and the service.

Autumn leaves:
It is that time of the year with the deciduous trees sporting glorious oranges and russets foilage.  I took of this photo of autumn leaves glowing on one of my bike rides late in the afternoon as the setting sun turned them golden.

Reading: My Place by Sally Morgan.  This memoir from the 1980s has become a classic story of an Aboriginal woman seeking information about her family that was splintered by the cruel Stolen Generations practice of taking children from their Aboriginal mothers.

Acai Society, Coburg
We tried out the new Acai Society (605 Sydney Road, Coburg).  I am not really familiar with superfood acai so this was quite new to me.  I had acai soft serve with granola, bananas, strawberries and a nutella topping.  Sylvia's was similar with pistachio topping rather than nutella and no granola (which the staff thought might have peanuts).  It was ok in small quantities but I ended up leaving quite a lot behind.  Sylvia took her leftovers with her but they are still in the freezer.  Maybe it would be more attractive in the middle of summer.

Old Man Drew, Ascot Vale
We were lucky to go to Old Man Drew (359-361 Mount Alexander Road, Ascot Vale) on a gloriously sunny day.  It is a most beautiful cafe with an amazing garden.  We had vegetable fritters, eggs and French toast between us.  After lunch we loved exploring the garden and rooms with all their creative decorations.  I hope to write more about this place soon.

Interesting weblinks:

You're the guy from Tik Tok: Why this Melbourne train announcer is now a worldwide hit in SBS News, 7 December 2023.

Protests are firing up across our unis: as an academic it is a joy to witness: The Age, 9 May 2024.

The kids who can't: a Four Corners special on "school refusal" (video or transcript), ABC 29 April 2024.

Too Old to Run: the drug grannies - episode 1 and 2, podcast on ABC, June 2022.

In publicising Laura Tingle’s ‘counselling’, the ABC risks giving the bullies a victory by Margaret Symons in the Guardian, 1 June 2024.

‘You’re not going to believe what I’ve found’: Inside the fight to free Folbigg by Tim Elliot in The Age - Good Weekend, 18 May 2024.

My Monthly Chronicles 2024 is a companion post to In My Kitchen May 2024.  These two posts aim to catch up on meals, food and random notes both in my kitchen and outside it each month.  I do not have the time to post as much I would like on everything.  Where time permits I will write up some of these meals that deserve more attention than I can give them here.