As we close out October, Christina and I are in the thick of putting together the latest edition of Hint Magazine, our annual Christmas gift guide and e-mag (of course it’s annual; it’s all about Christmas!).
But this crazily busy time of year hasn’t stopped us having a lot of fun – and taking some time to tell you all about it!
We’ve got some amazing lunch and dinner tips for you this month, as well as some fascinating facts about Uganda when Christina got to meet the Ugandan High Commissioner. We also had our lovely niece visit with her newly engaged fiancee, the annual Balmain Regatta happened and we were once again judges for a national booze publication (this time it was prosecco). And somehow, during all of this, Christina managed to get down south for a girls’ roadtrip!
But here it is and plenty more: October ’25!
Cheers – Jim & Christina xx
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This evening, Christina and I are out in Enmore for dinner and a drink in the Queens Hotel. Usually, we head upstairs to Queen Chow (the modern Cantonese cuisine there is excellent) but tonight we’re sticking near the bar downstairs.
We’re continuing our exploration of the (reasonably) new spice bag trend and Queens has one on their menu.
Spice bags, which originated in a Chinese restaurant in Ireland, are served in a paper bag holding a pile of chunky ‘Chinese chips’, stir-fried capsicum and onions, and crispy chicken. It also comes with a curry sauce like you get in chip shops.
The spice bag here at the Queens Hotel isn’t bad – the chicken isn’t crispy and it’s not really spicy enough, but the chips are great and the corn ribs that have found their way incongruously into the bag are delicious.
For lunch today, we’re in Lilyfield in Sydney’s Inner West. This is Bar 26, the front-of-house for OCD – Otter Craft Distilling. Part of the Inner West Distillery Trail, the spirits coming from this family-run distillery are excellent, but today we’re not just here for the drinks.
Eduard Otter, the distiller here, is also the chef.
One of Eduard’s finest creations here are his pizzas, making the bread from scratch and topping with only the best ingredients. He and his sister Julie have come up with the superb idea of this magnificent lunch special: the panuozzo!
As Eduard describes it, this ‘charcuterie board in a pizza sandwich’, is made with the same dough as the pizza, but baked into a pocket shape. He then stuffs it with bresaola, mortadella, salami, prosciutto, eggplant, sundried tomato, mushrooms, capsicum, artichoke, provolone and pecorino!
All this for $22 takeaway, or, if you’ve got a brain, you’ll pay $30 and stay for one of their no-holds-barred bloody marys as well!
Check out our IG Reel for a behind-the-scenes look at how it’s all made!
This morning, we have some very special guests: we’re having breakfast with our lovely niece Amy and, her newly betrothed, Damon. They’re down from Brisbane for the NRL Grand Final, so we’re making the most of it!
Breakfast, by the way, is appropriately at Dirty Red Cafe in Glebe. Named after the local team (Glebe Dirty Reds) which was formed around the turn of the 20th Century, the Dirty Reds were a foundation team for Australian rugby league. So there.
Anyway, food here is delicious. Amy orders the jalapeno and cheddar cornbread and a poached egg (with bacon) and gives us all food envy, though my bacon egg roll is also outstanding.
It’s Sunday! That can only mean one thing: a Sunday roast!
We’ve decided to come to Paddington – our old haunt and in fact where Christina and I first met and lived together way back in 2000.
The Sunday roast at the Paddington Arms is pretty darn good, though my Yorkshire pudding is a bit overdone. Everything else is excellent though – especially as you can choose from no less than eight different mains including crispy roast pork belly, beef rump and even swordfish. At $45 each though, it is on the high side… especially as our local bowling club does one for under $20.
This evening, we’ve decided it’s time for a sundowner and a game of backgammon by the water. We haven’t done this for a little while, so we take our little Miniroll speaker and a bottle of wine down to the garden. I may or may not have brought a cheeky cigar too.
Today, we’re back at Bar 26 in Lily Field, but this time, we’re not here to eat another panuozzo (even though I really want one). This time, we’re here to be extras for a TV show!
As part of the Inner West Distillery Trail, Bar 26 and Otter Craft Distilling are being filmed for a feature on TV classic Sydney Weekender, so for the price of a pizza or two and some of their outstanding cocktails, Christina and I get to sit in the background and watch how the pros do it.
Keep an eye out for this – it should be airing some time in the new year with the lovely Sally Stanton presenting.
We’re at the Oaks Hotel in North Sydney this afternoon for a new round of booze tasting and judging for Shout’s National Liquor News publication. This is an industry magazine that gives venues and bottle shops info one what to stock their shelves with.
This time, we’re trying out a whole range of prosecco from Australia and around the world. It’s an interesting category, because prosecco is more often than not the most affordable sparkling wine, even though it’s technically a Blanc de Blancs (read our write-up on Blanc de Blancs here).
It’s also a difficult category to judge. By the 23rd prosecco, we’re bubbled out and quite confused, but it’s a fascinating exercise.
Christina has just had her hair done, so, thanks to the artful crafts of Stevie English in Glebe, she’s looking even more beautiful this evening. We’ve met in the dark and moody underground surrounds of Palmer & Co in the city for a cocktail or two.
This used to be one of our favourite bars and we even wowed our discerning American friends with the bar’s lively speakeasy style. Tonight though, things are quite muted and the service is weird. Drinks are still well made though, so at least the staff behind the bar are working their magic. But 4/10 for Palmer & Co this time.
October’s skies have been very pretty this year, but this sunset has to be the best of the month, if not the whole year so far. Everything to the west looks like it’s on fire while to the east, the sky’s still deep blue and purple.
No idea what this means in terms of sailors and shepherds though.
How about this work of art! For the last couple of years, I’ve been tasked with making desserts for dinner parties every Tuesday night. Usually, I knock up a crumble or perhaps an almond cake, but tonight, as it’s one of the lads’ birthday, I thought I’d take things a little further.
This is my take on a French dessert – my apple tart a la Alsacienne. I’ll tell you how I made it… in this year’s Hint Magazine, which should be out mid-November. Watch this space!
Oh, and yes, that’s a little version of the tart in the background. I always try and make a miniature version for Christina to have while I’m out with the boys.
On the ladies’ side of this group of friends, Christina is on a roadtrip with the girls. They’ve gone down the south coast to the beautiful waters of Tuross Heads for the weekend. This is not quite down to the Sapphire Coast, where Christina and I have visited a few times and where the best Sydney rock oysters come from, but it’s still quite a drive.
But the further south you go in New South Wales, the water seems to just get clearer and clearer, and bluer and bluer. Such a beautiful part of the world.
Not far from where they’re staying is the pretty riverside town of Moruya, where Christina and her friends are dining this evening: at The River Moruya restaurant.
With lovely outlooks over the broad fast-running river that gives the town – and this restaurant – its name, The River Moruya offers high-end cuisine that showcases not only the incredible coastline that’s so near, but also the best of the countryside that surrounds the town too.
With entrees like the toasted sourdough with whipped salmon, pickled mussels and salmon roe, and the freshest oysters, and mains like locally caught snapper in a shellfish coconut bisque with mussels and burnt leek, I think the ladies are having a pretty good time without us!
Christina is making a point of going down to the beach at least once every day she’s down here on the south coast. The water’s still cold, but she even ventures in for a swim a couple of times too. Very brave!
L-R: Christina with Her Excellency Dorothy Samali Hyuha High Commissioner to Uganda; Bradford Ochieng from Uganda Tourism and Tiisa Susan Mugwanya from the high commission of Uganda in Canberra
This afternoon, Christina is out on assignment! She’s at the round-table talks at the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills for a tourism delegation from Uganda.
Apart from meeting dignitaries like Her Excellency Dorothy Samali Hyuha the High Commissioner to Uganda in Canberra, the Education, Culture and Tourism Officer in the High Commission Tiisa Susan Mugwanya and Uganda Tourism Board‘s Deputy CEO Bradford Ochieng, Christina is here to photograph and question delegates for Africa Beat.
Africa Beat is Australia’s only travel trade publication focused solely on Africa. They deliver the latest news, updates and reviews from the great continent, and it turns out Uganda has an incredible amount to offer in spite of its diminutive size.
For instance, did you know it has all the Big Five animals even though it’s smaller geographically than the UK? And it’s quite densely populated too – around 51 million. That’s four million more than Spain! It’s home to a phenomenal 10 national parks, the highest mountain range in Africa and is the source of the Nile!
It’s also quite easy to get to Uganda from Australia. Connecting flights from Sydney via Dubai to Entebbe go almost daily.
TL-BR: ex-work boat Sydport; Jim & Michael Petrozzi; Christina and Jim; water jets during the Work Boat convoy
Today is a special day in our local calendar. It’s the Balmain Regatta! Bringing a huge collection of boats from all walks of life together, the day culminates in a party at the Balmain Sailing Club near Birchgrove.
For us, the highlight of the day is right at the start, when we climb aboard the 401 – one of the work boats that’s part of the Work Boat Convoy headed up by our mate Michael. He started this convoy four years ago and it’s grown to the point where it takes over most of the western harbour and has everything from small personnel vessels to floating cranes to huge tugs and historic ships.
Next year, we’re hoping the military will also get involved. Wouldn’t that be a coup… so to speak.
This evening, we’re trying one of Rewild Wines’ new ‘Bagnum’ wines. This Aussie brand is focused on creating wines that are not only sustainably made, but also affordable, and their ‘bagnums’ – so called because you get 1.5 litres of wine like a magnum and they come in a bag – is their latest venture.
I was a little uneasy about this product as I have too many (or perhaps not enough) memories of cask wine from back in the day. This Shiraz isn’t that. I mean it’s never going to be my favourite wine, but it’s ok. It also turns an average casarecce bolognese into a banger of a dinner, so we’ll definitely get through the bag.
Find you Rewild Bagnum at BWS here for RRP $17.99.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this Flavour of the Month and a taste of our October.
Cheers – Jim & Christina xx
