Spano's Super IGA Stafford

When it comes to supermarkets, I generally find their food selection to be pretty pedestrian. Very rarely do I find a trip to Woolworths or Coles particularly exciting from a food point of view.

Every now and again though I come across a supermarket that stands out from the crowd. This time it was Spano's Super IGA at Stafford. I'd been to the Super IGA at Stafford before it underwent its recent renovation, and don't remember being particularly overwhelmed. But we were at Stafford on Sunday and ended up doing our weekly grocery shopping there, to save a bit of time. As it turned out we took about twice as long as usual, because I was bowled over by the great range of products which they carried.

To give you an example, next to the meat section was a freezer full of rabbit, duck breasts, emu, spatchcock and crocodile. I wanted to buy one of everything, but settled on a couple of duck breasts. I used to eat duck for dinner pretty regularly in both Ireland and England (where you could always pick them up from Tesco), so I'm glad to see them popping up in Brisbane. I had a chat to the manager, who told me that although they weren't selling a lot of duck, the rabbit, emu and crocodile were flying out the door.

Other delicious goodies which caught my eye (most of which made it into the trolley) were Barambah Organics yoghurt, Byron Gourmet Pies (gluten free), Alli & Rose corn chips (with spinach or beetroot), quinoa and some amazing looking gluten free pizza bases.

If you (like me) are bored with your local supermarket, drive over to Stafford and check out the Super IGA. Although it's not our closest supermarket, I'll be happy to drive the extra distance for their fantastic selection of food. If only there were more supermarkets like this in Brisbane!

Spano's Super IGA
Stafford City Shopping Centre
400 Stafford Road
Stafford 4053
P - 07 3356 3613
W - http://www.spanosiga.com.au/

Brisbane Fine Wine Festival

Just when you thought there could be no more wine events, along comes another one. This time it's the Brisbane Fine Wine Festival, which is running this weekend.

There will be over 600 wines to taste from all over Australia, together with a few international drops. Tickets are $30 for a day session, or $40 if you are attending in the evening.

As part of the program there are plenty of masterclasses being held, all of which involve some kind of food prepared by local chefs. Masterclass tickets are an additional $25. You'll find plenty more information on the website.

Brisbane Fine Wine Festival
Friday 26 June - Sunday 28 June 2009
Mercure Hotel
Corner Ann Street and North Quay
Brisbane 4000
W - http://www.winefestival.com.au/

Katnook Estate Wine Dinner

If you're a wine lover you must be enjoying the plethora of tastings and dinners which are happening all over town at the moment.

I've already put up a post about the Central Otago Tasting which is on Tuesday night, but if you prefer your wines from Coonawarra, then grab a ticket to the Katnook Estate Wine Dinner at Era instead.

Wayne Stehbens, the senior winemaker from Katnook Estate, will be there to guide you through the wines, including the 2001 Odyssey cabernet sauvignon.

Tickets are $110, which includes canapes, a two course dinner, cheese and a few glasses of Katnook Estate vino. You'll need to book a ticket beforehand from Era (the photo is courtesy of Katnook Estate).

Katnook Estate Wine Dinner
Tuesday 16 June 2009, 7pm
Era Bistro
Corner Melbourne & Merivale Streets
South Brisbane 4101
P - 07 3255 2033
E - admin@erabistro.com.au
W - http://www.erabistro.com.au/

Nectar Beer & Wine Specialists

In these days where run of the mill bottleshops like Liquorland & BWS seem to be making an appearance in almost every suburb of Brisbane, I get a real kick out of finding a wine shop that shows a bit of individuality.

Last night I popped into Nectar in West End. It's a pretty small wine/beer shop, but it has a fantastic range. A whole wall is taken up with beers from pretty much everywhere - apparently they stock more than 250 beers. This is definitely the place to visit next time you're wanting to try out a few new brews.

On the wine front, thought has gone into the range, which means there are wines from small vineyards and organic producers. It's great to walk up to a wine fridge and see it full of interesting wines rather than the usual (unimaginative) suspects. I walked out with a bottle of Belgravia sauvignon blanc from Orange for $20. I visited the Belgravia cellar door in Orange a few years ago, but until last night I can't remember ever seeing one of their white wines in a Brisbane wine fridge.

If you're looking for something other than beer or wine, Nectar also stocks French ciders - I'll definitely be going back to try out a few of them.

If only there were more bottleshops in Brisbane like Nectar. Hopefully it will be well supported by all the thirsty West End restaurant patrons.

Nectar Beer & Wine Specialists
114 Boundary Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3846 4655
E - sales@nectarwines.com.au
W - http://www.nectarwines.com.au/

South Bank Regional Flavours

It's cold tonight, so I'll keep this post short and sweet. If I sit at the computer too long my fingers are likely to freeze off, which would probably be the end of the blog.

Anyway, this Saturday get along to the South Bank Regional Flavours event, which features about 80 stalls of food and wine from the Granite Belt, Darling Downs, North & South Burnett, the Scenic Rim and Gold Coast. Sounds like a great way to spend a winter's day.

South Bank Regional Flavours
Saturday 13 June 2009, 10am to 3pm
Little Stanley Street
South Bank 4101
W - www.visitsouthbank.com.au/regionalflavours

When is a sandwich a scanwich?

Looking for inspiration for your next perfect sandwich? Then look no further than Scanwiches. It's a website devoted entirely to photos of New York sandwiches that have been scanned - creating the scanwich.

I'd hate to think what their scanner looks like, but I'm getting hungry just scrolling through the site. The Dac Biet (pictured - 2 types of Vietnamese ham, house paté, cucumber, carrots & coriander on a baguette) looks like my kind of lunch.

Scanwiches
W - http://scanwiches.com/

Central Otago Wine Tasting

This year's Central Otago Wine Tasting is being held at Brett's Wharf on 16 June 2009.

If you're a fan of pinot noir, or New Zealand wine, then I suggest you pop over to taste the wines on offer. Central Otago is probably best known at the moment for its pinot noir. I'm not the world's greatest fan of the Central Otago style, but I love pinot, so I'll be going. I went last year and thought the night was excellent. In particular, it was probably the best food I've ever had a stand up wine tasting. Hopefully the food is up to the same high standard this year.

Participating wineries include Carrick, Amisfield, Mount Edward, Mt Difficulty, Olssens and Sam Neill's Two Paddocks.

Tickets are $30, available from The Wine Emporium.

Central Otago Wine Tasting
Tueday 16 June 2009, 6.00pm to 8.00pm
Brett's Wharf
449 Kingsford Smith Drive
Hamilton 4007

Tickets
The Wine Emporium
P - 07 3252 1117
W - http://www.thewineemporium.com.au/

Cheese Tastes 09

There are so many food & wine events on at the moment it's hard to keep track of them all. The next one to squeeze into your calendar is Cheese Tastes 09.

As you might have guessed from the name, its a cheesy affair. Cheese Tastes 09 is a public event being held in conjunction with the Brisbane Cheese Awards this weekend.

The website proclaims that "the largest range of delicious Australian cheeses ever seen in one location in Brisbane will be available to taste, savour and buy" - sounds like a good way to occupy a few hours.

General tickets are $25 through Ticketek if you buy them before 10 June 2009, otherwise they'll set you back $30. There are also masterclasses during the day, which are a further $35.

Cheese Tastes 09
Sunday 14 June 2009, 10.30am to 4.30pm
Royal on the Park
Alice Street
Brisbane 4000
W - http://www.cheesetastes.com.au/

Made in Africa

For ages and ages I was wanting to visit one of the numerous African restaurants popping up around Moorooka. Top of my list was Made in Africa, an Ethiopian restaurant/cafe.

The food which I ate in Ethiopia was some of the best in Africa. On our travels south through Egypt and Sudan we'd been warned that Ethiopia was going to be hard work, and that we weren't going to like it. Unfortunately that led us to have fairly low expectations for the country. Luckily that turned out to be completely wrong, and I found it to be one of the most interesting and amazing countries in the whole of Africa. The churches at Lalibela (see the photo) are some of the most memorable sights I've seen anywhere in the world - they were carved into rock in about the 12th century.

Food was a big part of the experience. We were lucky enough to eat at plenty of local cafes in the 3 weeks or so that we spent in Ethiopia. It's nice to go to a country where the concept of a tourist restaurant doesn't really exist. Almost every town (no matter how small or remote) had an amazing cake shop, that would also usually serve a range of fresh juices. The avocado "juice" was particularly popular with our travel group, because it was so thick you could spread it on your bread for lunch. Other food that I loved was ful (a thick paste made from mashed fava beans), tibs (tiny pieces of chopped meat often served with chilli) and their excellent coffee, which is served in a traditional ceremony, sometimes involving popcorn. We were also amazed to find excellent pizzas in Addis Ababa. Mussolini marched some troops into Ethiopia in 1936 - fortunately they surrendered during World War II, but there is still a lingering Italian influence in the country (including Ethiopian wine).

I'll spare you from my great memories of Ethiopia, other than to say I was really looking forward to our trip to Made in Africa.

Made in Africa is a fairly sparse looking cafe at the back of the Ranchhold Arcade on Beaudesert Road. Our group was the only occupant of the restaurant on the night of our visit, but we were greeted like old friends by the staff.

The dinner menu is pretty short. There are two appetizers and 11 mains. At least that makes it easy to choose what you'll be eating.

The starters are sambusa (pastry shells filled with lentils, onions, green peppers and herbs - $4.50) or meat sambusa (beef seasoned with spiced butter and mitmit, in a pastry roll - $5.50).

We skipped the starters, and went straight to the mains. As we had a big group, we adventurously ordered one of each of the meat main courses, together with a couple of vegetable dishes.

The main courses are served on a large platter covered with injera. Injera is a spongy bread, made from teff flour. To eat the main meals you tear off a piece of the injera, grab a bit of the food and pop it in your mouth. Cutlery is completely unnecessary. Because everyone is eating off one or two big trays, it's a really social way to eat. I really noticed that we all talked more about the food, just because we were all eating off the same huge platter.

Our mains were:

Tibes Wot - diced beef/lamb sauteed in herbed butter sauce, seasoned with onions, green pepper and rosemary ($12)

Keye Wot - beef simmered in a red pepper sauce seasoned with garlic & cardamom ($10)

Kifto - minced beef seasoned with herbed butter sauce and hot chilli ($12)

Gomen be Sega - sauteed beef, spinach, onions and peppers, spiced with peppercorns and cardamom ($12)

Gomen Wat - greens boiled with garlic and onions ($10)

Shiro Wot - split pea stew ($10)

Yakakilt Wat - green cabbage, carrot, potato, green pepper and onions sauteed in garlic, ginger & tomatoes ($10.50)

Lentil Stew ($9.50) - fairly self explanatory.


My favourite dishes were the kifto, which had a good chilli kick, and the gomen wot, which was a delicious, tasty serve of greens. Each of the mains were very distinctive, which meant we all kept grazing until there was nothing left (including injera).

Made in Africa is byo, so we happily drank a few bottles of wine and beer as the meal went along. There were no wine coolers for the table, but the staff will be happy to keep your drinks cool in their fridge.

Made in Africa is also sells Ethiopian food and coffee, if you'd like to keep the experience going at home.

I can't imagine that too many people in Brisbane have tried Ethiopian food, so if you're looking for something genuinely different for your next dinner, jump on the next bus to Moorooka and grab a table at Made in Africa. I've been back again since this visit, and enjoyed the food just as much the second time. My friends love it too, so it's never hard to round up a dinner party. Sure, the restaurant is fairly basic looking, but you're here for the food remember (James Street - take note).

Made in Africa is also extremely good value for money, so frequent visits won't damage your bank balance. Dinner for eight of us was about $90. Why bother with tasteless fast food, when you can have Ethiopian?

What does all this mean? Tasty, distinctive Ethiopian food, with genuinely friendly service.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Pretty basic
Value for Money - Top shelf
Wine - BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Made in Africa
Shop 8-9 Ranchold Arcade
197-201 Beaudesert Road
Moorooka 4105
P - 07 3848 6759
W - http://www.madeinafrica.com.au/

The Pav Bar

Usually my work buddies and I leave it until the last minute on Friday before deciding to go somewhere for lunch. Unfortunately, by midday on Friday we can almost never get a table at our favourite spots, like Verve or the Exchange.

A month or so ago, after wandering our end of the CBD, being rejected by places that were full, we stumbled into the Pav Bar at the Stamford Plaza. We've gone back a couple of times since, because hardly anyone seems to go there for Friday lunch - which means food comes out in a snap. Plus it's about 200 metres walk from the office, so it's way too convenient.

The tables for the Pav Bar are spread around an open courtyard. At this time of the year, it's the perfect spot for lunch, because you can grab a table in the sun and try to forget it's winter.

For lunch you can order off either the BBQ or snack menu. The BBQ menu covers all kinds of grills, including Gippsland region rib eye ($26), wagyu sirloin ($42), MSA lamb cutlets with minted yoghurt ($25) and haloumi cheese and vegetables skewers with parsley pesto ($21). All of the grills are served with a baked potato ‘Parma’ and an individual side salad.

As you might have guessed, the snack menu is a bit less "grilled", with options like rice paper rolls ($17), thick cut fries with garlic aioli ($8.50) and a club sandwich with Parma ham and chicken ($18.50).

I was craving a steak, so I ordered the 220 gram black Angus sirloin ($23). I'd asked for it medium rare, and it was perfectly cooked. It was a lovely tender steak, and had been seasoned really well. I'm not normally the biggest fan of salt, but this steak had the perfect amount, that really lifted the flavour. The baked potato 'Parma' turned out to be topped with a few slices of good, thinly sliced Parma ham and a creamy sauce - delicious. The Parma ham picked up the slight salt seasoning from the steak. Simple, but so tasty. After I'd finished that, I polished off the generous (and fresh) side salad. If every Friday lunch was like this, I'd never get back to work.

My Friday lunch partner in crime ordered the Angus beef burger, which was served with melted cheese, onion confit, vine ripened tomato, lettuce, cucumber and thick cut fries ($18.50). It's served as a "deconstructed" burger, but you can easily put it back together if you want a challenge - good luck fitting all of that in your mouth at once. The burger and chips took up an entire dinner plate, so you won't be going hungry.

Service was friendly, and we hardly waited at all for the food to arrive. The only downside to the meal was my gin & tonic, which set me back $10. Unless I'm getting Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire, $10 is definitely on the steep side. Next time I'll stick to something a bit less pricey.

Otherwise, the Pav Bar is definitely worth a visit. It's good to sit outside in a relatively quiet environment, enjoying a well-priced, tasty steak for lunch.

What does all this mean? Good prices, good food and a lovely outside courtyard make this a great spot for your next CBD lunch.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Great
Ambience - Lovely, quiet, outside courtyard
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Ok selection, but avoid the pricey spirits
Vegetarian - Limited choice

The Pav Bar
Stamford Plaza Brisbane
Corner of Edward & Margaret Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3221 1999
E - sales@spb.stamford.com.au
W - http://www.stamford.com.au/spb/page.asp?e_page=569758&roomNo=456391