Master Farter turns 1 (and so does something else)

Just over one year ago we had a new addition to our grizzled old family - my little nephew Alby was born. Alby is the first grandchild for my parents and my sister-in-law's parents, and his arrival was quite exciting for everyone - particularly as it was a somewhat difficult pregnancy and he came out to say hello to us all a little bit before he was fully cooked.

Luckily for him, a healthy appetite seems to run in our family and he's been growing like a champion since that day. He also managed to figure out the whole walking thing before his first birthday, probably in order to get himself to food more easily.

One of the highlights of my trip up to Geraldton over the Easter weekend was Alby's first birthday party. I was beaten to volunteering to make the birthday cake by my sister-in-law's mother, and a first birthday party is perhaps not the ideal environment for a baking showdown so I agreed to bring along some cupcakes. I soon got planning.

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Ho ho ho and a bottle of champers

I kept putting off this post as I've been feeling a bit lazy of late, and been somewhat busy eating, catching up with family and friends, getting heatstroke playing tennis, driving, braving the city for some bargain hunting and constructing an anti-sunlight device for my bedroom consisting of sheets sewn together in a umm.. rustic manner. As you might possibly be aware, today is New Year's Eve, so I thought I should get this written up before the new year is upon me and I'm nursing a hangover and hair of the dog on top of being busy and lazy.

I hadn't spent Christmas with my family for a few years, as Christmas 2007 was spent with my (now ex) boyfriend's family, and Christmas 2008 was spent driving between Montreal and New York city (we did manage to pull over on the side of the road for some delicious goat cheese and turkey sandwiches for lunch), so it was really nice to spend it with them and get some stocking action after two years of missing out. This was also our first Christmas with a baby in our immediate family, and my nephew's involvement seems to validate our continued stocking tradition. Do other people still do stockings? Will I ever outgrow it?

After spending Christmas eve building a gingerbread house and catching up with family, it was soon time for the traditional Christmas Eve seafood gorging extravaganza. This year did not disappoint, with some fine dishes on offer - South Australian oysters with Cointreau, coriander and sweet chilli, smoked salmon, smoked albacore, mango & spinach salad, prawns, crays (ok, technically they're Western Rock Lobsters but we're on a nickname basis), herb crumbed fish and scallop & chorizo rosemary skewers.

Christmas Eve deliciousness, with Dad's hand making the large prawns and cray slices looking like teeny tiny little things

My first plate.. seconds and thirds were enjoyed soon after

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Ginnie Joan's Swanky Speakeasy

It was a hot day. It's always hot in Gero, and today it was blowing more hot air than the mayor on election day. I was sitting at my desk with a pitcher of melted ice, sweating like a hungry fat guy at a hot dog stand where there are only two weenies left.. and he’s third in line. The door squeaked on its hinges and I looked up to see her walking in, the kind of broad that could get a guy into five types of trouble.

"Ginnie Joan's another year old this year, but this time it ain't no ordinary birthday," she said, "We gots to celebrate this one with a bang, and I hear you're the girl to help us do it."

"So what if I am, doll face. I ain't got the time, and you ain't got the dough," I replied, wiping the sweat off my brow and looking around for fall to appear.It was hotter than a $3 radio at an all-night pawnshop but this dame was cool as ice. She reached into her bag and tossed two parcels across the desk before moving to the door, arching her back against the frame "There's plenty more where that came from. You've got two days to get back to me, and keep your trap shut," she said before slinking out.

I picked up the parcels, looking inside and groaning like a cheap plastic chair at an all-you-can-eat buffet. This broad had my number all right - wholemeal pizza dough and freshly made too. I poured the pitcher over my head before picking up the phone and admitting surrender.

When my sister first approached me with her idea of throwing a 1920s/30s themed party for our Mum's milestone birthday this year, I knew it was going to be a night to remember. If you want a cool party organised, just ask my sister (only, you might not want to ask her right now or she might punch your nose flatter than a pancake driving off a cliff). Contrary to the above gumshoe, I eagerly jumped on board and soon we were watching old movies for ideas (watching Kevin Costner in fast forward doesn't make him any less annoying), making many a list and madly emailing each other even more than usual.

Keep your greasy mitts off my Ginnie Joan dollars!

Before too long, invites were sent out to the lucky chosen ones, giving each guest a moniker to use for the evening, and some Ginnie Joan dollars to use in case they need to bribe their way in past The Enforcer (my brother-in-law).

The Enforcer's shift at the speakeasy began early, shifting and moving the usual furniture out of the way to make room for the hired tables and chairs, the "band" and the piano. The band were an unusually quiet lot, but they made up for it by looking the part, framed by red curtains and gold chandeliers. The band and curtains were made by the speakeasy's artist-in-residence, my sister, who also happens to moonlight as a fine little moonshine brewer.

Just some of Ginnie Joan's posters and magazine covers

A couple of pinboards covered in photos of Ginnie Joan throughout the years, and a few photoshop-dodgy-ed up posters later, and we had the swankiest speakeasy this side of Chicago.

The band for the evening, and some Ginnie Joan moonshine

The food preparation began weeks ago, with my sister and I making all the freezable items in advance and storing them safely away until the big day. My sister put in some mammoth baking days for this, and soon we had a chest freezer filled with tasty treats. Cooking the fresh food involved two pretty solid days of cooking before the party, and by Sunday we were knackered but it was totally worth it.

The party was fantastic, with around 60 guests in attendance. I was so impressed by the effort that everyone went to with their costumes! I would love to put up some photos of us all but I'm not so sure everyone would be cool with me sticking their mugs up here so you'll just have to imagine how awesome us ladies looked with our drop-waists and tassels and fishnets and feathers and the men in their dapper suits! I had bought myself a nice feather boa to complete my outfit, but ended up leaving it out in fear of a guest choking on any stray feathers (the mob doc was outta town that weekend).

The night's savoury menu at this lavish juice joint consisted of:

• Selection of cold platters and dips (which I largely forgot to photograph!!)
• Party eggs (also totally forgot to photograph!)
  
• Smoked salmon and caviar blinis (kinda forgot to photograph)
  
• Assorted sushi rolls
• Salt & pepper squid
• Lamb koftas with yoghurt dipping sauce
• Mini quiches - ham, cheese & chives and sundried tomato & feta
• Spicy chicken sausage rolls
• Spanakopita triangles (made with puff instead of filo... don't tell George!)
  
• Spicy pulled pork buns
• Butter chicken pastries
• Mini beef & Guinness pies

No recipes in this post I'm afraid, but perhaps I'll write some up in the near future.

Pastries being warmed, ready to go out on platters to the hungry masses

My only evidence of Party Eggs, and a Caviar Blini

Assorted sushi rolls

Salt & pepper squid, butter chicken pastries, my only evidence of the platters, spicy chicken rolls and the sundried tomato & feta quiches

Spicy chicken rolls, sundried tomato & feta quiches, lamb koftas, beef & Guinness pies and spanakopita triangles

The spicy pulled pork process - rubbed with spices, after being very slowly cooked, pulling it all apart to be put back in slow cooker with homemade bbq sauce, then making the buns!

Spicy chicken rolls, ham cheese & chives quiches, spicy pulled pork buns

We were serving for a good solid couple of hours, before people started admitting defeat and we thought we'd let them rest their bellies in readiness for dessert. The rest period included some entertainment in the form of The Godfather theme being belted out on the piano, and a skit including some of the town's hottest young flappers showing off their dance moves. While all this was going on, my sister and I busily finished off the final touches to the birthday cake we'd been working on for a couple of days by this stage, and arranging the other desserts (provided kindly by some of Mum's sisters) on trays.

In addition to that slice of beetroot chocolate cake that I bought at the Subi Farmers market last week and stored safely away in the freezer for our coeliac guest, the other desserts were:

• Date slice (no photographic evidence at all! Trust me it was lovely!) (thanks Aunty R!)
  
• Banoffee pies, with a twist (thanks Aunty S!)
• Chocolate and raspberry tarts (thanks Aunty T!)

A chocolate tart, and some banoffee pies (mmm gotta love a twist that involves Cherry Ripe)

Now, the birthday cake/s was a labour of love. My sister came up with the overall design, and then got to work making the key component - an incredible fruit cake (man it's a tasty cake... I was lucky enough to score a big chunk to bring back to Perth with me, and every day is a struggle to stop myself from eating the whole thing.) I meanwhile put myself to good use by sourcing all the icing paraphernalia from various cake decorating stores. Of course, there happened to be a statewide shortage in the ready-to-roll icing we wanted, but I just hit up Jimmy the shoeshine boy for the info I needed. For the right price, Jimmy could tell you were to find a needle in a haystack, and where it had been 'til now, and he sure as hell knew where in town had some o' that fondant. (The Yellow Pages and many phone calls may have also possibly yielded the same information).

The cake process began on Friday with the baking of around 70 cupcakes - chocolate in black paper, and vanilla in white paper. We then got onto decorating the fruit cake. Neither my sister nor I had ever used fondant before, so we were incredibly apprehensive and had visions of it cracking horribly as we tried to roll it on and having to cover up our mistakes with lashings of ganache or icing sugar or just doing the Charleston in front of it to distract people. After watching a few youtube videos to get the process clear in our minds, we got started and it ended up being remarkably straightforward! Luckily the cake was lovely and goopy with all the booze in it, so it was quite easy to get the surface nice and level by plugging any little holes with pieces of extra cake before we did the rolling, and before long we had a mighty fine looking fondantified cake.

Making and decorating the central fruit cake

The piano decoration on top of the white fondant layer involved a bit more work, and I was able to put my engineering skills to good use by drawing up a template to cut the black icing to. Once the black squiggle and black keys were in the right position, we made the lines between the white keys with pieces of licorice before adding some black musical notes, placing some ribbon around the bottom and high-fiving each other a few times.

The high-fives may have been a little premature, as we then spent the rest of the night decorating the cupcakes with alternating black or white fondant, and musical notes. We also decorated some cupcakes to spell out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", and saved four in each colour to place some gold candles into.


So, while others were shimmying up a storm outside, my sister and I arranged the cake and cupcakes on the previously prepared cakeboard (made and painted by The Enforcer, I believe, and finished off with the musical score by my sister). It was while doing this that I thought that perhaps we should check if the board actually fit through the door. Mild panic ensued until The Enforcer used his rifle as a ruler and confirmed that it would indeed fit safely through the door. Candles were then lit and the cake made its way out to the lady of honour!


Following much gorging of cake and cupcakes and pies and tarts and slice, there was only one duty left of the evening... selling the post-dinner cigars and cigarettes...

Cigars? Cigarettes? Humectant 420?

Big cheers for my sister for organising one hell of a party, and very big thanks to all who attended and helped that classy broad Ginnie Joan celebrate her birthday in style! Happy birthday Mum!

One hump or two?

The Camel Bar has been open in Geraldton since 2005 but I only recently had my first meal there while in town for my sister's birthday. I've actually tried to eat there before on previous Gero sojourns but have been turned away as the kitchen was closing (how outrageous of me to try and eat lunch at 2pm) or haven't been able to get a table (apparently quite a difficult task on Mondays or Tuesdays as all meals are 20% off). I was therefore not really counting on actually eating there when us five girls turned up for a leisurely Saturday lunch, and was readying myself to run the Gero gauntlet of trying to find somewhere for lunch that is both willing to offer a table and the kitchen is still serving. Happily however The Camel Bar ticked both of these boxes when we got there, so we took a seat and perused the menu under the watchful eyes of many camel statues, toys and figurines.

As well as this somewhat disconcerting camel collection, The Camel Bar has an incredibly impressive beer selection, offering fifty or sixty different brews from around the world. I would have loved to suck down a nice cold La Fin du Monde with my lunch, but instead looked after my flu-recovering body with some nice healthy water for hydration and a not-so-healthy Pepsi Max for some fizzy carcinogenic energy. Given that I was driving it was probably wise to not enjoy a nice cold La Fin du Monde anyway since it is 9% (yep, those Quebecois know how to brew a strong ale).

The menu offers a good selection of pub grub at a reasonable price, which was particularly relevant given how some of us were still feeling somewhat ripped off from our Bella Vista experience the previous night. All the usual suspects are there (steak sandwich, chicken parma, fish and chips etc) as well as a good range of salads that serve as mains. They also have a wood fired pizza oven, and offer a range of pizza choices which I have heard good things about.

Knowing that I would be enjoying my sister's delicious homemade pizzas for dinner that night, I didn't even consider this option and got busy sussing out the rest of the menu. We were all feeling quite indecisive and took our sweet time choosing our dishes, but it was a nice day and there were some interesting bogans and hoons walking and driving past so we were kept entertained during our decision making.

Decisions were finally reached, with both my sister and I choosing the Chicken and Mediterranean Salad "tossed with roasted capsicum, Spanish onion, pumpkin, semi-dried tomato, kalamata olives, bocconcini and honey grain mustard dressing on a mixed lettuce bed" ($19), our cousin M going for the a meatless version of the pizza special of the day with "chargrilled eggplant, roasted onion, capsicum and pumpkin, salami, pepperoni and feta" ($16), M choosing the Grilled Lamb Salad "tossed with mixed lettuces, coriander, tomato, Spanish onion, beansprouts, capsicum and cucumber with a Thai style dressing" ($19) and R getting the Scallop and Spinach Salad of "seared scallops on a bed of spinach, red capsicum, beansprouts with sweet chilli, ginger, coriander and plum sauce" ($21) and also some garlic, herb and cheese pizza ($9) for the table to share.

Garlic, herb and cheese pizza ($9)

Although I didn't try any of this pizza, the mmmms coming from those who did would suggest that it was very tasty. It certainly looked and smelt like a nice simple plate of cheesy, garlicky goodness.

Chicken and Mediterranean Salad "tossed with roasted capsicum, Spanish onion, pumpkin, semi-dried tomato, kalamata olives, bocconcini and honey grain mustard dressing on a mixed lettuce bed" ($19)

The Chicken Mediterranean Salad served with the dressing on the side

My sister and I both enjoyed our salads. There was a generous amount of tender chicken pieces, and the rest of the salad was very fresh. I tend to eat around fresh onion in salads as I can find it a bit overpowering and am concerned at inflicting onion breath on all and sundry, but the sweated onions in this salad were quite sweet and I gobbled them down. I also tend to order my salads with the dressing on the side, as too often I've had an otherwise lovely salad ruined by an overzealous dressing application. I was really impressed by the way in which this was done here, as both the honey mustard dressing (which was delicious) and the balsamic glaze used to finish off the dish were given to me on the side, as well as a little jug of a standard vinaigrette (I had a sniff and promptly replaced the lid... it was a little uh..camelly).

A meatless version of the pizza special of the day with "chargrilled eggplant, roasted onion, capsicum and pumpkin, salami, pepperoni and feta" ($16)

By all accounts the pizza was fresh and tasty on a good, crisp base.

Dressing-free version of the Grilled Lamb Salad "tossed with mixed lettuces, coriander, tomato, Spanish onion, beansprouts, capsicum and cucumber with a Thai style dressing" ($19)

Another fresh, tasty salad. I was lucky enough to have a few of the lamb morsels, and agreed with M that they were both flavoursome and tender. It was surprising that she got so many pieces of lamb in this salad, given that it only cost $1 more than her Bella Vista green salad of the previous night and yet also included coriander, onion, beansprouts, capsicum, cucumber and the lamb. Perhaps the Camel Bar has a little vegie garden and lambery (pretty sure such a word doesn't exist, but it conjures up nice lamby images) out the back. I'm sure camels and lambs could live together in harmony.

Scallop and Spinach Salad of "seared scallops on a bed of spinach, red capsicum, beansprouts with sweet chilli, ginger, coriander and plum sauce" ($21)

In a recurring theme of our lunch, this was a fresh salad with a generous amount of scallops and a well balanced dressing.

So, I'm happy to say that we all enjoyed our meals as well as each others' fabulous company, and can recommend The Camel Bar restaurant for a good, fresh meal at an affordable price.

We had all actually been at The Camel Bar the previous night following our meal at Bella Vista and prior to the rest of the girls hitting the nightclub (I got myself home to a post-goat snack, my fleecy pyjamas and a nice, warm bed) and I can also recommend the actual bar if you're into bad cover bands and feeling like you're a hundred years old as you're surrounded by people you think should be tucked in tight after Fat Cat tells them it's bedtime.

The Camel Bar
20 Chapman Road, Geraldton
Phone: 08 9965 5500
Fax: 08 9965 5588
Email: thecamelbar@westnet.com.au
Hours: Lunch 12-2 pm; Dinner 6-9 pm (20% discount Mondays and Tuesdays)

Bella Vista for my sister

My sister's birthday weekend celebrations began in earnest with dinner two Friday's ago (yes, I've taken a while to get this written) at Bella Vista. I've been a fan of this place for a while now, as it delivers the best coffee in Geraldton (using a special Five Senses blend) and I've enjoyed many a delicious meal lunch or dinner here as well (their crab angelhair pasta dish is crabbily angelic). It is very small and pokey inside, and you need to get a key from the staff to use the dodgy toilets next door (not really the type of toilets you want to visit without backup or a taser), but they are gearing up to move to new and improved premises soon so this decor/space/safety issue should be sorted out soon!

We were all looking forward to celebrating my sister's birthday with some great food and nice wine (well, those of us who were not still sick and thus driving). It is BYO, so with wine bottles in hand we scurried in out of the cold and squeezed our way to our table.

As is quite common at Bella Vista, there was a range of "Entrée - share plates" to choose from, in addition to some main dishes. The selection of eleven entrees included quite a few tempting choices, ranging from the $16.50 "rabbit rillette with pickled vegetables and toasted Turkish breads" to the $18 "pumpkin and coconut soup with crisp chicken, chilli and rice noodle dumplings" to "light panfried bread coated scallops with Asian slaw, peanut and pork sauce and candied chilli" for $22.

The mains only offered four choices which all sounded very nice (well, I admit I wasn't tempted by the grilled eye fillet steak). I was sure my sister would go for the "casselout (yes, that's how they spelled it) of duck confit, slow roasted pork, borlotti beans chickpeas, lentils, cacciatora sausage and side of broccolini" ($36), whilst I was tossing up between the "goat tagine with saffron, dates, Israeli couscous with mint yoghurt" ($33) and the "roasted lamb leg with celeriac cream, roasted kipfler potatoes, broad beans, mint jus and spiced tomato jam" ($35).

The first choice to make though was whether to go for two entrees or one main, seeing as both options ended up costing about the same. My sister chose contrarily to my assumption (she's changed since she turned.. um.... older) and went for the "panfried figs wrapped in pancetta with goats cheese, rocket and mint salad" ($18) and the "glazed pork ribs with hoi-sin honey and chickpea wedges" ($18), her friend R also chose the figs in addition to the "seafood roll - whiting fillet, with a mousse of prawns and scallops wrapped in nori paper with soy-ginger bok choy" ($22), her friend A chose only the "panfried chorizo sausage with lemon, fresh tomato and polenta cubes ($16.50), my cousin and I both went for the goat tagine and my sister's friend M asked for something not on the menu - a simple garden salad in line with her strong-willed adherence to reaching her weight loss goal!

Wine was drunk and conversation enjoyed while we waited, not too long, for our dishes to come out. They all looked very nice coming out of the kitchen, and we got stuck in with gusto. Well, as much sticking in with gusto as one can do when you don't have a great deal of elbow room and you're wearing nice clothes that you'd rather not get goat juice all over.

Panfried figs wrapped in pancetta with goats cheese, rocket & mint salad ($18)

These really were very good, as my sister was kind enough to give me a good taste of the cheesy, figgy, piggy goodness. A great combination of flavours that was bound to work, and which I may have to try to recreate at home. I think for $18 it could have done with more than three figs, but then again I guess it was a decent size for an entrée dish.

Glazed pork ribs with hoi sin honey & chickpea wedges ($18)

Again this dish was enjoyed, tasting as rich as it looked. I had a taste of the sauce, and could have wiped the dish clean with some bread. The chickpea "wedges" were curious, I couldn't quite identify them in the dish but could imagine some poor kitchenhand being told to cut up millions of chickpeas into wedges, with a tiny tiny knife.

Seafood roll - whiting fillet with a mousse of prawns & scallops wrapped in nori paper, with soy ginger bok choy ($22)

I didn't taste this dish, but from memory it was enjoyed by R. At least, I don't remember any complaints!

Panfried chorizo sausage with lemon, fresh tomato & polenta cubes ($16.50)

A was a little disappointed with this dish, finding it far too oily and lacking the promised "fresh tomato". I guess she may have been able to tolerate the oiliness a little better if she had ordered it in addition to something else, but I can certainly understand how it would be overwhelming to eat just this dish for dinner. I have to say though that it was quite impressive coming out. Really, I'm like a child sometimes getting excited at seeing a sizzling hot plate being brought out. It's a wonder I don't have to be reminded not to touch the hot plate as it'll give me owies.

Goat tagine with saffron, dates Israeli couscous & mint yoghurt ($33)

Now, onto my dinner! This smelt and tasted divine, it really did. The flavour was rich and hearty and had interesting depth. Unfortunately, there was about two mouthfuls of meat in the entire dish. The rest was bone, fat and connective tissue. Despite the whole lack-of-elbow-room thing, and the desire to leave the restaurant with my clothes free from goat juice, I actually had to get in there with my hands to try and find some more edible parts once I'd eaten all I could find with a knife and fork. Sadly my fingers were no more successful. My cousin's goat was the same, and we both felt quite disappointed at paying $33 for a dish and being left hungry at the end of it.

Oh, and M's salad, how could I forget the salad! Well, I could forget it because it was a garden salad that looked pretty much like most decent garden salads I've seen before. I refrained from photographing it because I was already feeling like a papparazza, and although it looked like a nice fresh mix of greens, tomato and avocado, I figured it was not worth documenting. Apparently however, it was, as the bill revealed that this salad was worth $18.

Sadly, this feeling that we had paid too much for a number of the dishes tarnished our view of the experience at Bella Vista this night. I would love to have left the restaurant with nothing but the amazing flavour of the tagine on my mind, but I was instead thinking of what there was to eat at home.

So, it's a bit of a mixed review really. Happily, Bella Vista still packs a punch with an interesting menu that really delivers on the flavours, but the prices (which seem to have recently increased) are discouraging, particularly when you're not built with the ability to eat bone and cartilage.

I will certainly be going back to Bella Vista for their exceptional coffees and great lunches (although I am unsure if their lunch prices have also increased), and in all honesty I think the flavours will likely draw me back for dinner, but there are a number of other Geraldton restaurants that I'm now thinking are worth a revisit to try and find better value for my money.

Bella Vista
205 Marine Tce, Geraldton
Phone: 08 9964 2681
Opening hours: I'm sorry, I'm not sure as they seem to change a bit. Will update when I get further information!

L'Italiano aka "that new Italian place in town"

I went out for lunch with my Mum last Friday, a treat that I don't often get the chance to do with over 400 km generally stretched between us. I'd like to say I treated my Mum out to lunch, but I think in fact she treated me. One day I'll be a non-student type and have piles of cash to fling around on my family!

There's a new Italian place in Geraldton that Mum has been keen to try out for a few weeks now, but she hasn't really had the opportunity. Dad "doesn't like pizza" (although there are witnesses to him happily scoffing down my sister's gourmet creations) which, despite there being other things available on the menu, has made him somewhat adverse to going there for a meal. So Mum and I took the opportunity to start off my weekend of reviewing Geraldton restaurants, errr... I mean, my weekend of celebrating my sister's birthday, by leaving Dad at home and trying somewhere new for us both.

L'Italiano is located where many restaurants before it have failed. It's a nice corner block overlooking the ocean, and while the decor isn't exactly overly inviting the view makes it a pleasant spot to sit and eat a meal.

The lunch menu is a pared back version of the dinner menu, and doesn't offer a great deal of choice apart from pizza and pasta. In fact, there are five types of pasta, 21 types of pizza, and that is all. We were a little concerned as we were having lunch with a friend of my Mum's who has coeliac disease, but we were relieved to discover they had some gluten-free pasta in the kitchen - either spaghetti or penne. My Mum's friend was a little disappointed as she would have preferred some antipasti over pasta, but after we were told the kitchen wasn't set up to serve such things at lunch time she chose to have Pasta alla Bolognese ($10). I was also a little disappointed with the menu, as I often like to have a little salad with my pizza and it simply wasn't on offer, so I just went with the Pizza all'Ortolana (tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, capsicum, onions, olives, artichokes, asparagus) ($10) and my Mum went traditional with Pizza Margherita (tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil) ($10).

Pasta alla Bolognese - Gluten-free penne with homemade bolognese sauce ($10)

The spaghetti bolognese looked quite nice, but nothing spectacular and would have benefited from at least a little garnish of some basil or extra parmesan. The serving size was small to moderate. It apparently tasted quite nice, but there was no raving about how great it was.

Pizza Margherita - tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil ($10)

Pizza all'Ortolana - tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, capsicum, onions, olives, artichokes, asparagus ($10)

The pizzas were a decent size - 11 inches - and again looked quite tasty when they came out. The bases were good, not too doughy nor overcooked, and certainly far better than many pizza bases I've eaten out in Perth, but again nothing spectacular and no better than the pizza bases I make at home. Mum enjoyed her margherita, a testament to the sauce on the pizzas, and although I was a little disappointed at the amount of each topping that was on my pizza, I ended up finding it quite a satisfying meal.

The service was quite good, and our waiter went back into the kitchen to check the gluten-free options with the chef as she wasn't 100% sure. I'd much rather have a waiter disappear for a while to check things as opposed to having to send things back to the kitchen after being given incorrect information. I guess this is particularly important for people with food allergies/intolerances as the fact that my dish came with white bread after being told it came with wholemeal (Van's in Cottesloe, though to be fair they were quite apologetic and quick to fix the mistake) is a little less important than someone being stuck on the toilet for the rest of the day or going into anaphylaxis.

As I said, the menu was a bit of a disappointment. You would think that including a few salad options on the menu would be in their interest, given the huge mark-up on salad items and the fact that many people like to have a little freshness with a carb-heavy lunch. They could even have a lunch special with pizza/pasta, salad and a drink to make it an attractive option and possibly sell more product than they otherwise would. The antipasti dish that is currently on the dinner menu would also be a good inclusion on the lunch menu to give a little more variety to the dishes on offer.

The food was not spectacular but was enjoyable and satisfying, and for $10 per dish it is difficult to complain too much! I wouldn't go out of my way to go back, but I think it is fair to say that L'Italiano offer a tasty, affordable lunch option if you're in the mood for some Italian when in Geraldton. They also have a range of gelati on offer that was quite tempting, but we all resisted the urge so I am unable to comment, sorry!

L'Italiano
1 Foreshore Drive, Geraldton
Phone: 08 9964 9291
Hours: Lunch 11am-2pm Wed-Sat; Dinner 5-10pm Tues-Sun

Flying high with hunger pangs

I spent the last weekend in Geraldton to celebrate my sister's birthday, and I actually flew there for a change as I picked up some not-too-ridiculously-priced tickets when Skywest was having a sale a couple of months ago. My e-ticket promised me a meal on both my flights, which seems a little silly as it doesn't take much more than an hour to fly between Perth and Geraldton. Despite the possible silliness, I was of course happy that Skywest would be providing me with blog fodder (though I was not convinced it would be much in the way of stomach fodder).

Skywest "dinner" - dodgy chicken salad, white roll, butter, Cadbury Dairy Milk, water and tea/coffee

My suspicions proved to be correct, as the meal for Thursday's evening flight to Geraldton was a pretty dodgy chicken salad, white roll, butter, Cadbury Dairy Milk, water and tea/coffee. The chicken was that soft briney stuff that is commonly found in school tuckshops, and the salad was drowned in a creamy dressing. I ate the tomato and egg white with some of the bread to keep me going, and saved the choccy to nibble on later. I also stole the Fresh food section out of the copy of the West Australian they gave me to read.

I was lucky enough to have my Mum take my order for dinner earlier last week, so after my parents picked me up from the airport we enjoyed one of my favourite childhood dishes - Mum's spaghetti chicken. Oh Mum, why couldn't you be in Perth last week when I was immobile on the couch?

Skywest breakfast - Sultana Bran, Devondale milk, BERRI orange juice and tea/coffee

My flight back to Perth on Monday was due to leave at 8:45am, but due to the crazy storms hitting the coast most of the day it was delayed until 10:00am or so. By the time we actually got up above the weather and they served breakfast, I was hoping for something decent as my stomach was more than ready for some morning tea (I had made sure to actually eat a proper breakfast when I got up, in case the Skywest breakfast was leftover chicken salad). We were given some Sultana Bran, milk, orange juice and tea/coffee. I quite enjoyed the Sultana Bran, having not eaten it for years, but I left the orange juice. Something about mixing milk and juice in my stomach just doesn't seem right, particularly when travelling in a small plane through crazy storms.

I think I'd rather Skywest didn't bother feeding anyone and just make the fares more affordable. All that brine and dressing can't be cheap, after all.

This time with (l')attitude

I spent last weekend up in Geraldton and finally got myself to the hot new place in town, l'attitude 28. Now, there was much excitement when this place first opened a couple of months ago, and I think during the opening weekend pretty much all of my Gero facebook friends had status updates that were somehow l'attitude 28 related. Unsurprisingly however, everyone's excitement and enthusiasm for this new bar and restaurant seemed to be unrequited. The cocktails are apparently amazing, but heaven help you if you would like some snacks to line your stomach with whilst quaffing them. Some family members went in around 3pm one weekend not long after it opened to sample the cocktails, and were met with much confusion by waitstaff when they enquired about food choices as 3pm is between the lunch and dinner menus. They were eventually told they could choose any dishes off the tapas range of the dinner menu, which left them with the task of choosing between garlic prawns, marinated mushroom or a spanish omelette. Yes, nothing says cocktail glamour like slurping down a bowl of garlic prawns. Surely it would be quite easy to have some options such as Turkish bread and dips, or even chips and wedges on the menu? Sadly the service also left a bit to be desired, as the cocktails had to be chased up before being eventually delivered.

Despite these disappointing experiences, my sister and I decided to test out the new word around town that l'attitude 28 has been doing a good breakfast of late, when after waking reasonably early on Sunday for a possible tennis match (which I was somewhat fearful about given that my sister has actually been having lessons) we found the weather un-tennisable. When we arrived down there however, we were a little concerned as the carpark was completely empty and there was no signage at all to indicate that breakfast was being served. We parked anyway and walked in to discover that yes, breakfast was being served but perhaps was a well kept secret as noone else was in the restaurant.

The decor inside is quite nice and modern, and I later discovered that the toilet situation is pretty cool too. TV screens showing (dubious) music clips kept you entertained both within the bar/restaurant and whilst you were washing your hands (I hope!) in the toilets. Two of the four toilets were "out of order" but I guess this isn't really an issue when you are one of two people in the whole place.

Anyway, enough toilet discussion. The service during this visit was very prompt and very friendly. The breakfast menu is not vast, with only nine options, but covers most bases well and has a couple of more interesting dishes such as savoury French toast and my choice for the day - "Ricotta and Thyme Pancake - served with two poached eggs and portabella mushroom $18.50". My sister chose the "Eggs Royale - Two poached eggs on a muffin with smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce $18.50".

Both dishes were nice, but were let down in a couple of areas.

L'attitude 28 - Eggs Royale

The Eggs Royale were beautifully poached, and the hollandaise sauce - to our surprise - was very nice and seemed to be freshly made. No "eggs benny" sauce here! In fact, it would have been a fine example of a smoked salmon/poached eggs breakfast dish if only it were served with something a bit more impressive than a stock standard English muffin, such as the "rustic toast chargrilled in olive oil" that is served with their scrambled eggs. I can't help but equate white English muffins to a couple of slices of Tip Top Sunblest white sandwich bread, and using such ingredients can lead to annoyance at being charged handsomely for something you could easily knock up at home. Of course, it was clearly written on the menu that the dish was served on an English muffin so we have no cause for complaint here, but it would be a simple way to improve this otherwise very nice dish.

L'attitude 28 - Ricotta and Thyme Pancake

My eggs were also beautifully poached, and the mushrooms were delicious. Sadly however I could only get through perhaps half of the ricotta thyme pancakes, due to their incredibly doughy texture and taste. This was a real shame, as they had such a lovely flavour with the fresh thyme running through them, but there is only so much doughiness you can handle at once. The outsides looked reasonably well cooked, but I can only assume that the pan was perhaps a little too hot to allow the middles to cook through sufficiently or the batter was too thick.

So, both dishes had real potential but were let down by their carb components. Was it still good enough to get me back there to try out the new dinner menu next time I'm in town? We'll see if those tasty cocktails lure me in..

l'attitude 28
291 Chapman Road (corner Mabel St), Geraldton
Phone: 08 9965 3776
Email: cellar@lattitude28.com.au