Brb in Melbourne eating half pound chocolate eclairs 😀

OH HAI! That’s just me and my buddy. You may know him. Jacques Reymond, head chef and owner of the three-hat Jacques Reymond – Cuisine du Temps in Melbourne. Just chillin. Heh. Helen and I are at La Brasserie (118 Crown Street, Darlinghurst) for a De Dietrich Bastille Day lunch.

Jacques Reymond sings praises of the De Dietrich induction stovetops and captures the entire rooms attention with his accent and the intoxicating scent of fried shimeji mushrooms.

Salade de Crabe- Remoulade of crab and celeriac with avocado and grapefruit. You know when you’ve made a friend for life when you’ve pre-emptively discussed who was gonna eat what so you can coordinate photo taking of the alternate course! I loved my entree and had managed to attack the mound of crab and avocado before remembering I was supposed to share with Helen.

Pate en croute- Rabbit and pork terrine in pastry with pistachios and onion confiture. I was wary of Helen’s entree as usually I am not friends with terrine but surprisingly I loved this! Studded with pistachios and pretty in pink, the terrine was meaty and delicious with the sweet caramelised onion.

Magret de Canard- Roast duck breast with sweet potato fondant and sauce rouannaise. I love duck. I can’t express how much I love duck. I have dreams about eating duck. And this duck was perfect with freaking awesome crisp skin and the most tender meat evah. The sweet potato fondant was incredible and was sneakily swiped at before reluctantly swapping plates.

Selle d’agneau farci a la forestiere- Slow roasted lamb saddle with wood mushrooms, smoked potato mousseline and sauce madiera. If I thought I was reluctant at handing over my duck I reckon Helen was even more so with the lamb! It definitely was a sight to see, and even more delicious in taste. Melty soft lamb innards and encircled with deliciously fatty skin, how are you not licking the computer screen?

Vincent Gadan, executive chef at Patisse is next up to demonstrate, his cheeky grin winning all the girls hearts in the room.

Oh hai it’s just me and my mate Vincent. Just chillin.

Creme brulee a la vanille; madeleine avec creme diplomat and sabyon de fruits rouge. Oh hellooo dessert platter! Just leave that here with me. I’ll take good care of them…

Last man standing! Dessert is totally my happy place.

ChocolateSuze attended the Bastille Day lunch at La Brasserie as a guest of De Dietrich and Weber Shandwick.

EDIT: CLOSED

Sick of eating fast food and cheese laden lunches at my desk I was totes craving some Thai food with all the miserable weather we’ve been having. Seriously enough with the rain yo! Shortgrain Canteen & Shop (8-10 Hunt St, Surry Hills), sister restaurant of Longrain, has been on my radar for a while now but with the close proximity to the multitude of Thai restaurants in my work hood I’ve left it to lucky last.


The lunch menu changes each day and consists mainly of salads and curries + rice. Pay at the counter and grab a stool, or check out the jars of sauces created by Martin Boetz. Also, props to the automatic bottle of ice water that magically appears.



Massaman curry of beef with pumpkin ($15). I have a confession. I have never ever tried Massaman curry before… hahaha don’t hurt me! I’ve always had issues with beef in curry lol but super glad I finally tried it! The beef was incredibly tender and the buried pumpkin was like finding gold. Perfect ratio of curry to rice and loved the sprinkle of peanuts and lol the cucumber side salad ($3) hit my vegetable quota of the day.



Silken tofu with tamarind and sesame ($12). Now would you look at that! Don’t you feel healthy just looking at it?! That is one glorious mound of tofu! Enough with the exclamation marks! Now Anna and I heart coriander but it did feel like overkill with all that greenery and after a while the sweetness of the tamarind sauce got a bit cloying, would’ve loved a bowl of rice to go along with it.



Fish dumplings with green curry sauce ($15). And then later in the week Frenchie and I trekked over during one of Sydney’s fabulous ‘let’s see how much rain I can dump’ spells. The fish dumplings had caught my eye on the menu earlier in the day but sadly this was not what I was expecting. When I see the word dumpling I just automatically assume wonton-like dumpling y’know? Instead the fish dumplings were more fish nubbins. It was still tasty though the spice level of the green curry nearly killed me in the first bite haha I am chilli fail!



Yellow curry of pork with pumpkin ($15). Suffered food envy and had to steal some pork and hot damn that was delicious pork! Tender and delicious with the not-as-spicy yellow curry. Sadly no desserts on the menu but will definitely be back when the salt and pepper duck makes its way back on the menu. And hopefully by then the rain will stop…

So like, in case you guys don’t already follow me on twitter, remember how I said it was gonna be dangerous working super close to new macaron kid on da block Cafe Cre Asion? Yeah, I’ve er been visiting for 4 straight days now. Oh and in case you can’t find Cafe Cre Asion (21 Alberta St, Surry Hills) it’s right next door to Berta restaurant. And the giant police building.


Day 2 saw me with a second box filled with pistachio and lemonade macarons. They made me so happy I may have done a happy dance.


Day 3 I was sooo close to not buying anything when I took Anna (hihi!) to have a look at my second home but then I spied flavours I hadn’t had before and just had to get them. HAD TO. T-b: cream cheese + wild berry, yuzu, bamboo + black sesame, plum wine.


Halvsies! Super loved the yuzu cos I love sour and tart flavours, wished there was more cream cheese on the cream cheese + berry, the bamboo + black sesame was nutty and the plum wine woahh baby like having a shot hahaha


Aaaaand the reason I was here on day 4: Jamon Serrano and Tasmania Heidi Farm Gruyere Cheese on House Baked Sourdough Bread ($8.50). Lookit the melty cheese! It was calling my nameeee!!!