hot stuff

A quick congratulations to my friends Jamie Wodetzki of The Breakfast Blog and Ed Charles of Tomato, who on tuesday were mentioned in the UK's Guardian Unlimited online travel section. Their blogs were amongst those cited as reference for those visiting Melbourne, and in case you don't fancy subscribing to the site here is the relevant prose...

Bringing back brekkie

Melbourne resident Jamie Wodetzki is a people's foodie who takes time to think about the little meals. Talking to Yahoo earlier this year, our Jamie lamented, "the pathetic coverage of breakfast by mainstream food critics. All they really care about are those other meals". The Breakfast Blog is his way of fighting back – a selfless pursuit of the city's pre-midday eateries. His new-found status as a breakfast don leads him all over the world, but his focus always returns to Melbourne. Follow this link for his top-rated Melbourne brekkies – all 19/20. Nobody has received full marks yet.

Clandestine tomato

So, we've got the morning-after covered, but what about the night before? Tomato is a prolific Melbourne blog with great tips in its 'bars and pubs' and 'beverage' sections. This post on the Emerald Hill Brewery (20 Ross Street) samples one of the city's clandestine drinking options: "Down the alley on the left is a small nondescript warehouse with a roller door. The only sign of life is a small, lit sign above a door. We arrive at 5.30pm and there are only a handful of people sampling the two award-winning beers on tap, a pale ale and a wheat beer. Soon the place fills up." There are other great tips scattered around the site; this one requires some hunting.

While the back slapping is going on I'd like to announce that I have managed to cobble the vanilla slice blog together over at Wordpress. The header needs a better photo, but that will come in good time. And while The Custard Crusaders probably won't be sampling every day, we will endeavour to plow our way through as many vanilla slices as possible.

There are currently two reviews posted, with the back to back Champion Tatura Hot Bread Kitchen slated before month's end and Glenelg's second placed, Orange Spot Bakery, earmarked for a visit enroute home from our spell in The Barossa Valley in the next week.

http://vanillaslice.wordpress.com/