Every time we find something foodie, new and exciting in Australia, we get very excited. And it seems there’s always something going on here in Oz.
Recently we’ve discovered the delicious virtues of raw vegan chocolate, a new way to know when your wine’s at the right temperature, an amazing hand-made hot choc and chai and the promised land of finding top notch Aussie craft spirits.
To tie in this whole extraordinary culinary quest, we’ve also planted a Romance flag in a brand new raw vegan restaurant everyone needs to try.
Here are our latest 5 Foodie Finds
Grounded Pleasures drinking chocolate and vanilla
Grounded Pleasures, a family-run business in country Victoria, produce a super indulgent range of hot chocolate, chai, vanilla and organic panela.
We love their Noir Drinking Chocolate and the vanilla beans in their own test tube packaging is very cute.
We can’t wait to try more of their drinking chocolate – I’ve got my eye on the chilli choc they do and I think Mrs Romance might be ordering some Tahitian vanilla chocolate any minute.
Grounded Pleasures offer free shipping Australia wide on orders over $60… I think we can manage that!
Pana Chocolate guilt free choc
As you might have noticed from its title, Pana Chocolate makes chocolate! But this stuff is a little different.
Pana Chocolate make choc that’s not only dairy free, gluten free, soy free, refined sugar free and vegan, it’s also incredibly tasty. Which is amazing. To be so free from – well, everything – and still taste as opulent as this is the saintly task of a miracle worker!
I used to be allergic to dairy when I was a kid, so I couldn’t eat chocolate. Reduced to surviving on raw carob, I can only imagine how excited my younger self would’ve been if I’d had this deliciousness at my hungry disposal!
Nip of Courage the spirit of Australian spirits
Nip of Courage represents some of the best Australian micro-distilleries in the country. The whiskies, gins, rums and other spirits on these guys’ portfolio are just incredible. You can trust me on this – I’ve tried them all!
We’ve been friends with the husband-and-wife-team Kathleen and Jarrod, who run Nip of Courage for years now, but they’ve recently taken their distribution business to the next level.
You can now buy small quantities directly from Nip of Courage via their online store. You don’t have to be a bar, restaurant or bottle shop.
Taylors Wine taking the guesswork out of wine temperature
There’s always been a lot of discussion in the wine community about what temperatures different wines should be served at.
Some of it makes sense – wine that’s too warm will just taste of alcohol, wine that’s too cold will just taste of fridge. However, some if it is just snobbery.
Taylors have produced a set of labels for one of their wine ranges that reacts to temperature. A bit like those excellent if a little unflattering Hypercolor T-shirts of the early ‘90s. The labels tell you exactly when your wine’s at the right temp.
Here’s a bit more information on what temperature your wine should be when you drink it.
The Plant Gallery raw vegan and tasty
I never thought raw vegan food would ever taste all that great. I imagined lots of seeds and crunchy, uncooked vegetables and not much else. Wrong again.
The guys running the newest restaurant to open at Bondi Beach – David and Juan Carlos – are set to challenge all these preconceptions.
The food coming out of this very relaxing, non-lecture raw vegan restaurant is nothing like I was expecting. How the food looks and tastes makes you really wonder if it really is raw or vegan. It is of course.
Here’s our full review of The Plant Gallery.
Have you discovered any foodie finds recently? When was the last time you had a meal that made you go ‘wow’? Tell us about it in the comments!
A gin masterclass, an end-of-summer festival and fun with a drone - Mr and Mrs RomanceMr and Mrs Romance
[…] Here’s a bit more that we’ve written about Nip of Courage. […]