Toasties

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Toasta at Southside Social – Elsternwick – Sunday 17 May 2015 – Lunch

Toasta - Barry (cheddar, pulled brisket, dill pickle, smokey BBQ sauce) and Charlie (swiss, shredded chicken, bacon, basil and walnut pesto, roast capsicum)

Toasta – Barry and Charlie

It is May 2010 and I remember it well because it was my first modern day introduction to a food van. One of my best mates and I had been picked up from LAX by my cousin living in Santa Monica and we stopped in a carpark outside of The Brig on Abbot Kinney in Venice, California. Sascha explained that the food van tweets where it will be and the masses descend, especially on a sunny Sunday for lunch. It was a memorable few tacos for a combination of taste, cost, and of course, the holiday factor.

Five years have passed and now food vans are rife through Melbourne the same way they were in LA back then (and continue to be). The carpark outside of The Brig continues to be popular, and was made even more famous by scenes in “The Chef” which I can recommend as a decent feature film. Even though I love the concept of a food van I don’t get around to many. There are several councils who don’t allow them, and there are many other options on the way to driving to councils that do allow them.
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Today is different because Southside Social is a temporary collection of vans in a carpark for about six weeks in Elsternwick (ending very soon). It is a beautiful autumn day, perfect for eating outside, and because of the collection there is some more infrastructure than you would normally expect (ie tables, benches, toilet etc) as the carpark can be locked up when not operating. There are a few options, but the one we choose is Toasta which Catherine has heard good things about from a friend.
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Toasta serves up several types of toasties that are around $12. They also have some nice homemade drinks such as lemonade. We chose the Barry and the Charlie. The Barry features tender pulled brisket, stacks of cheddar, dill pickle, and gorgeous smokey BBQ sauce. The Charlie has plenty of swiss cheese, shredded chicken, bacon, basil and walnut pesto, and roast capsicum. In common is the salty, buttery taste, enhanced by all the toasted cheese, producing an incredibly flavoursome and guilt ridden experience. While I had chosen the Barry, I actually ended up having a soft spot for the Charlie. Both were a generous sized meals, especially considering the cholesterol!

These types of food van gatherings are getting more popular from Richmond to Yarraville. My suggestion is find out where Toasta is going next and seek it out.

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Superba Food + Bread – LA – Sunday 19 October 2014 – Breakfast

Big Boy Breakfast

Big Boy Breakfast

The sight of a splendid white La Marzocco machine at one bench and a bench full of pastries and cakes at another was enough to momentarily snap me out of some incredible jetlag. We had just arrived in The States with a few hours in LA before getting back on a plane to Boston and my amazing cousin had picked us up and brought us to heaven on earth.

Not one of us had been for brunch this early in memory. We were so early we had to wait until 9am to see a brunch menu. We waited in the knowledge the pastries and cakes would not be going anywhere! Besides, the coffee was enough for now. Really beautiful deep savoury espresso. I was at home on the other side of the world at Superba Food + Bread.

The airy cafe is carefully designed, glass with green frame combining with wooden beams in another version of stripped back warehouse, with plenty of seating outside too. Behind my back I hadn’t noticed how busy it had gotten as we chatted to my cousin. She had earlier spotted Nicole Richie but that was nothing compared to hearing some stories of a famous rock band she met in Nice just weeks before!

We turned to the menu and it is split into toasties, breakfasty things and lunchy things. Sascha chose from the toasties, getting an open scrambled with cheese that she said was great. Catherine had the breakfast sandwich which had a beautiful slow cooked egg, delicious linguica sausage, braised kale, and pain au lait. I almost ordered that too but instead went for Paul’s Big Boy Breakfast.

The big breakfast was two fried eggs, a large piece of sourdough toast, bacon steak, kale, hot sauce and maple syrup. The sauces came separate which was good and the hot sauce had particularly good punch that became addictive with the eggs. The bacon steak was smoked beautifully to get a deep flavour, classing up from the usual.
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The service was helpful and relaxed, and the personality of the cafe was confident – assured of the quality on offer. The pastry chef explained the cakes on offer at the front in detail and I was sold.

It was 10am in LA but late at night in Melbourne so there was no guilt in ordering a sparking wine! As we finished off our glasses we all shared two cakes. The Chocolate Delice was described as decadent and indeed it was with salted caramel oozing out of the chocolate exterior. The Superba Candy Bar was the best though! Layer upon layer of chocolate, soft and inviting, and melting away delightfully with each bite.

On a perfect sunny morning it was easy to see why the crowd had flocked here but I have the feeling that it would be just as inviting on a cold wintry day.

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