Welcome to Melbourne Foodie. The blogspace of a young foodie with a passion for cooking, fine dining and quality food and produce.
Melbourne Foodie, along with the other sources I write for is my way of casually expressing and recording some of the experiences I have had for others to enjoy. I always welcome any feedback,
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Happy eating,
Jon!
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Bloggers' Banquet (Vegout St. Kilda)
Tonight was the Bloggers' Banquet, organised by food writer and blogger Ed Charles from Tomato. The event was held at the wonderful Vegout Community Gardens in St. Kilda and was a fantastic opportunity for bloggers and aspiring bloggers to catch up, meet each other face to face, try each others food and celebrate a common passion, food.
Vegout is located just opposite Luna Park and is a communal garden patch with a fantastic covered area up the back including a large wood fired oven, barbecue, tables and kitchen area. A perfect spot to meet up, cook and relax for a few hours. It was a great opportunity for myself to put faces to names, and also meet a few new bloggers and learn about culinary sites I have yet to explore.
Anyhow this is just a quick entry, with photos of some of the food that was prepared for the night. Thanks to Ed for arranging the gathering and to everyone who attended for their excellent food and company. It was an enjoyable experience on all accounts. If I had to award a dish of the night it would go to Stickyfingers. Her roasted barramundi was incredibly tender and sensational, as was the perfect porcini risotto and those wonderful roasted tomatoes that accompanied it. My chocolate truffles weren’t too bad either.
It was a great evening overall and it was delightful to see how friendly and down to earth everyone was. Can't wait until the next gathering.
Here are a some photos of the food. For more photos see the album that has been created on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bloggersbanquet/
Above: The woodfire oven @ Vegout
Above: Delicious selection of bread and dips.
Above: Delightful little parcels of haloumi cheese and roasted capsicum baked in the woodfired oven (by Vida).
Above: Amazing spicy barbecue prawns (by Neil - At My Table).
Above: Perfectly grilled vegies:- including pumpkin, asparagus, eggplant and capsicum.
Above: "Mac & Cheese" - with mushrooms - creative and delicious (by Cindy - where's the beef), who also made some lovely little cashew-ginger chocolate drops which I didn't get a picture of.
Above: One of the many pizzas from the woodfired oven.
Above: My humble little offering of pork dumplings/ wontons and some chevapi bites.
Above: The amazing Barramundi by Stickyfingers, sitting on top of a bed of porcini risotto, surrounded by perfectly roasted tomatoes all cooked in the woodfired oven.
Above: Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and finished with goats cheese, and vine ripened tomatoes stuffed with a green olive, garlic and roast capsicum pesto (by goddess). Yum!!
Above: Fresh garden salad.
Above: Strawberries, with a cream and balsamic glaze by Goddess.
Above: A lovely, moist chocolate cake made by Vida.
Above: My Chocolate ganache truffles, dusted in cocoa.
Happy eating all.
Cheers, Jon!
Vegout is located just opposite Luna Park and is a communal garden patch with a fantastic covered area up the back including a large wood fired oven, barbecue, tables and kitchen area. A perfect spot to meet up, cook and relax for a few hours. It was a great opportunity for myself to put faces to names, and also meet a few new bloggers and learn about culinary sites I have yet to explore.
Anyhow this is just a quick entry, with photos of some of the food that was prepared for the night. Thanks to Ed for arranging the gathering and to everyone who attended for their excellent food and company. It was an enjoyable experience on all accounts. If I had to award a dish of the night it would go to Stickyfingers. Her roasted barramundi was incredibly tender and sensational, as was the perfect porcini risotto and those wonderful roasted tomatoes that accompanied it. My chocolate truffles weren’t too bad either.
It was a great evening overall and it was delightful to see how friendly and down to earth everyone was. Can't wait until the next gathering.
Here are a some photos of the food. For more photos see the album that has been created on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bloggersbanquet/
Above: The woodfire oven @ Vegout
Above: Delicious selection of bread and dips.
Above: Delightful little parcels of haloumi cheese and roasted capsicum baked in the woodfired oven (by Vida).
Above: Amazing spicy barbecue prawns (by Neil - At My Table).
Above: Perfectly grilled vegies:- including pumpkin, asparagus, eggplant and capsicum.
Above: "Mac & Cheese" - with mushrooms - creative and delicious (by Cindy - where's the beef), who also made some lovely little cashew-ginger chocolate drops which I didn't get a picture of.
Above: One of the many pizzas from the woodfired oven.
Above: My humble little offering of pork dumplings/ wontons and some chevapi bites.
Above: The amazing Barramundi by Stickyfingers, sitting on top of a bed of porcini risotto, surrounded by perfectly roasted tomatoes all cooked in the woodfired oven.
Above: Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and finished with goats cheese, and vine ripened tomatoes stuffed with a green olive, garlic and roast capsicum pesto (by goddess). Yum!!
Above: Fresh garden salad.
Above: Strawberries, with a cream and balsamic glaze by Goddess.
Above: A lovely, moist chocolate cake made by Vida.
Above: My Chocolate ganache truffles, dusted in cocoa.
Happy eating all.
Cheers, Jon!
Labels: Foodie Events
16 Comments:
Jeepers, didn't anyone else just go to sleep after getting home?! There's already a Flickr group going with more pics. You have a few great ones here.
Thanks for the truffles - I really enjoyed them!
Jon, much as I would love to take credit for that lovely moist chocolate cake, I'm afraid that wasn't me! My contribution was the coconut and lime syrup muffins.
Some kind soul placed a few of your chocolate truffles in my plastic container when we were packing up - I look forward to tasting them with a cup of tea this morning! :)
oopsie Claire. I thought they were both yours. Your muffins were also great, but I don't think I got a pic :-( I am sure someone does though. I have checked most of the others for accuracy though, and simply not stated where things are fromn if I am not sure. Great meeting youb both. I really liked your truffles as well Cindy. Hopefully I am not getting confused again.
I've got a thread going at the flickr site, so people can all tell each other what they made.
I canna make head nor tale of who made what!!!
And Jon, you naughty little scamp, I didn't get a chance to sat tat ta!!!
Can't wait to do it again!!!
Hey John, it's Vida here, the haloumi parcels and chocolate cake were me, plus the eggplant, goats cheese pizza with balsamic chocolate sauce was me too... glad you like them and thanks for posting photos of my food, I feel very honoured!! Vida x x x
Thanks guys. It was a great experience and I would love to do it again. It was really great to meet you all. So true - I cannot remember who made what. I am in the process of uploading my pics to Flickr - have never used it before and am getting confused, still going through the sign in process. Thanks for letting me know of your dishes, and blog Vida - they were all so yummy! Sorry goddess, I tried to say my partings to all. I had to leave fairly early as I was with a couple of friends who wanted to go.
BTW:- Can anyone recommend a great restaurant for Thursday night, where I am likely to get a booking. I want to try something different (city area) - money is not an issue. Current thoughts inlcude: Longrain & Ezard (one of my favourites that I have yet to review).
John, Becco for Italian in Crossley Lane (order the stuffed olives to start)or next door for Gingerboy (Asian), Silks at southbank for Asian (great decor too), Libertine French in North Melbourne, Syracuse in Bank Place for ambience as well as food, Tutto Bene Southbank for best risotto, Grossi Florentino-the Grill for the chocolate soufle... that should give you an idea or two... Vida x x x
Hi Jon and nice to meet you. I'm with Cindy, your truffles were moist, rich and very decadent, just the way they should be. The prawns were mine, if you follow my link, I've posted a little about the night too, including links to the recipes. I have a soft spot for those prawns, it was my very first post, almost two years ago.
Wow Vida! That list should certainly keep me busy for a while. I have been meaning to try Becco for some time so a real possibility there, as is Gingerboy and Tutto Benne (I love risotto). Have eaten at and enjoyed Silks and Grossi's so would prefer to either do something different or special, kind of as a reward. My final exam is Thursday. I am also waitlisted at Vue de monde, so fingers crossed that someone can't make it. Thanks for the tips, Jon!
Thanks Neil. Your prawns were amazing. I will have to try and attempt them one day. Look forward to discovering your blog. Cheers, Jon!
Jon, glad to help anytime... I am no expert but I do try and keep track of what's going on and I certainly know what I like so I can only go by that... Vida x
www.Vidaatpenthouse2.blogspot.com
Hi Jon. Great meeting you. I managed to snaffle one of your lovely truffles before I left, but was too late for your savouries, I think!
I'm sorry to post so late - have just finished work. Great to meet everyone...REALLY. But so disappointed that I didn't get to chat to everyone.
Thanks Jon for the kudos. I'm really ecstatic that the fish went well, but regret that I didn't insist it went in early when the fire was ferocious so that people weren't onto dessert before it came out. Lesson learnt.
I wonder if Veg Out will let us do it there again? It's a great space. I believe that the Collingwood Children's farm also now have a wood oven, amongst the duck and geese pens???
Better head to Flickr and see what's new now....
Jon, your truffles were WONDERFUL - so rich and so soft! At the end of the night we divided up the ones that were left over (a few of your truffles, Cindy's choc ginger clusters and Thanh's lawsuit muffins were a big hit in my office today!). On my way home last night I dropped in to see a friend of mine who tends to eat very simple, plain foods. He tried one of your truffles and loved it so much he SWOONED - he reckoned he'd never tasted anything so rich!! :)
Thank you for your very kind comments all, and I am glad the truffles went down well. My family also loved them. I may post the recipe as they are really simple. Agree with you about the fish Sticky, but it looked so good that there was no way I was going to leave without trying it first, and I am so glad I did. Can't wait for the next gathering - Vegout was a great location.
The truffles were good Jon. I had one and they were really moist.
I can't wait for the next meeting either.
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