Snacktastic - Melbourne Restaurants and Bars - Eat Drink
From morning to midnight and back again, EAT/DRINK is ThreeThousand's guide to cafes, bars and restaurants in Melbourne. We know the best coffee because we drink 20 a day (each), we know the good restaurants because we can't cook, and we'll tell you where to find hidden bars and other places that still let you smoke so that we can ask you for a cigarette when you get there. EAT/DRINK is as voracious as our appetites and a much better filter than our livers, which stopped working a long time ago. Email your EAT/DRINK suggestions to: talk@threethousand.com.au
Arvo Tea
Sunday Reed may no longer be around to host her infamous afternoon teas, whiling away the hours in her heart-shaped garden, sipping on home-brew chamomile, but she lives on in the rolling green landscape of Heide and the gardens that she so artfully planted. Through the tomfoolery of time, Sunday and I could not have met in this life, however it is possible to become acquainted with her through the Food and Wine Festival's Arvo Tea.
Celebrity-Non-Chef #1, Beci Orpin
Beci Orpin is a national treasure. Her folk-art inspired artwork adorns clothing, stationery and accessories aplenty through her Beci Orpin and Tiny Mammoth labels, as well as gallery walls. She is the proud mum of Tyke and Ari, loves good food, is a mean op-shopper - and now she's ThreeThousand's first ever Celebrity-Non-Chef.
Baker D. Chirico Pop-Up
Just when you though Crossley Street couldn't get any better: up pops a pop-up. You have to be wary of pop-ups these days though. Most of them use the fear of a ‘closing date' to jolt you into buying something average. But this couldn't be further from the case at Baker D. Chirico's Pop-up, which looks amazing - and tastes as good as it looks.
Travelling edible plants
In what might be an uncharacteristically rad offshoot of the Guerrilla Douchebags, someone in this city is sending small edible plants on unpredictable journeys. With a note that reads "Where are you going to take me?", they are our green-obsessed society's version of the baby on the doorstep.
Kura Yakitori Bar
Snacking is actively discouraged in us from a young age. Rustling in the pantry at 4pm for chips, chocolate bars (or cooking chocolate if desperate) we were told to wait until dinner or, worse, "Eat a piece of fruit".
"Mum?"
"What?"
"F*ck that!" we seemed to say, squirming on the couch as Pringles rubbed another salty chip into our wounds every ad break.
The 5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
There is a mythical creature in the land of baked goods. It's the not-hard-to-follow, not-time-consuming, and delicious cake. Thanks to Vexta, it seems to have been found, and get this - you don't even need an oven. ‘Baking without an oven?' you say. ‘Shut up.' No, totally. It's a single serve chocolate cake that's ready in five minutes.
Cafe d'Afrique
Since moving to Footscray I've done my best to fit in. I eat Pho at all the right restaurants, spit paan on street corners with my South Asian fellows, and dismiss hardworking drug dealers with a cheerful dip of the head whenever the good ship Heroin steams down the dusty arcades and alleyways.
So why do I feel like a coloniser pressing into the Heart of Darkness each time I take a seat at my favourite haunt the Cafe d'Afrique? You may find deceptively grim the tiled interior of this Eritrean stalwart.
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