Coffee Roasted on site in Summer Hill

Bean Tampered

This Coffee Shop is located at 1a Lackey St, Summer Hill.
This little shop is one you might easily walk past and miss, tucked at the end of Lackey St, right near the train station. Run by an Italian family, the antique roasting machine sits right in the middle of the shop and seems to be roasting away most mornings. You can enjoy your coffee there, with a selection of treats. I recommend trying the fried ricotta pastry. But, you can also take away a bag or two of beans, which I do every month. They will even tell you when the bean will peak in flavour! I am afraid I have had to abandon all my Haberfield/Five Dock coffee bean suppliers in favour of these guys. Worth a look, smells divine.

Hand made Chocolates in Five Dock

Christophe…ses chocolats

This Chocolate Shop is located at 269 Lyons Rd, Five Dock (near Brent St).
Christophe Roose moved to Australia in 1989, after studying in Belgium to become a fully qualified Chocolatier-confectioner-glacier. He was head chocolatier for Bellefleur in Sydney for 12 years. He then began this Five Dock business in 2000 manufacturing and running a wholesale business with his wife, Debra and subsequently opening a retail showroom.
Roose has also has taken up the move towards single origin chocolate i.e. the sourcing of cocoa beans by chocolate-makers similar to the way winemakers source grapes.

When you enter the showroom you become overwhelmed by the perfume of the chocolate. They turnover a huge range of different chocolates. I can certainly recommend the candied orange with dark chocolate, the orange oil heart shaped chocolate, the milk chocolate ganache and the grand marnier truffle. The dark chocolate was all single origin from Venezuela and the milk chocolate was all single origin from Java. This is a fabulous place to buy chocolates for a special gift or occasion.
They wholesale to chocolate shops around Australia, so my Perth friends, you can find these chocolates at Barker and Hale, 24A Napolean St Cottesloe. Be sure to ask for Christophe's chocolates only.

Meats and Smallgoods in Haberfield

Gojak Meats and Smallgoods

This Butcher is located at 117 Ramsay St, Haberfield.
David Gojak is the son of a Slovenian butcher. He opened this butchery in 2009, but has owned and operated his Burwood butchery now for 19 years. You will notice an aroma as soon as you walk in the door, it's the waft of the Oregon woodchips he uses to smoke smallgoods. He does daily hot roasts, from pork with crunchy crackling to rosemary-wrapped lamb. There is also the presswurst, tonguewurst and black and white pudding, and the various sausages he makes himself with real skin, no short cuts here. Now while I haven't tried some of these goods I do regularly buy the ham and bacon. He smokes these himself, adding very little preservative. And you can taste the difference.

Lebanese Dips in Croydon

Mixed Business - Take away

This Mixed Business is located on The Strand in Croydon, near the intersection with Paisley Road.
These dips have been recommended by my Greek friend who makes a great dip herself. "But if I must buy them", she said, "this is the place to go". This Mixed Business is a family run business. Walk straight in and head to the back of the shop where you will find the fridge. Inside you will find tubs of their own home made homus, babaganoush and garlic dips. There is also a packaged yoghurt dip which is outstanding. A warning: the garlic dip is very strong but sensational. I have served all of these dips at birthdays and church functions and have had everyone asking me where I got them? These are the best dips I have ever bought.

Turkish Dips - Surry Hills

Erciyes Restaurant - Take away or Dine in

Erciyes Restaurant is located at 409 Cleveland St, Surry Hills.
There is a lot of competition for the best take away Turkish or Greek dips in town. This place is hard to beat. I highly recommend their freshly made homus, babaganoush and garlic dips. They range between $5 to $7 per tub. While you are there, pick up the fresh plain turkish bread they make on the premises. At $3 each, it's great value (they are very long).

Fruit and Veg - the Italian way

Frank's Fruit Market - Haberfield

Frank's Fruit Market is located at 94 Ramsay St, Haberfield.
Frank and his wife have owned and run this shop now for over 30 years. This is fruit and veg shopping the old way. He only stocks produce in season and is a fountain of knowledge on the subject. While the shop may look small, don't be deceived, it is packed with produce and there is more out the back, just ask.

Look for the "local" tomatoes especially the ones he calls the "best". These are grown by his mates. They are very sweet, and the small ones are fed as "lollies" to the toddlers. These tomatoes give the famous "Johnny's Love Bites" a beating, and they are cheaper. Frank does occasionally sell the Johnnys. Frank is a tomato expert and keeps all the ones you'd expect as well as san marsano, ox-hearts and truss.

Other unusual produce worth noting are the zucchini flowers, cavolo nero (black cabbage), large broad beans in the pod, and jars of Mudgee Raw Honey. The honey is excellent and I have three connoisseurs at home who will not eat any other brand.

A word of warning, this shop is packed on Saturday mornings. Try another time (Saturday afternoon or any weekday), so you can actually talk to Frank.

Classic Italian bread from the shop with no name

Cassaniti Bakery - Italian bread

Ok, what I mean is that there is no signage whatsoever. I only recently found out this bakery has a name after frequenting it for five years. It is located at 153 Ramsay St, Haberfield. Such is its popularity that on any given Saturday it has a queue that extends quite a few metres down the street. Keep an eye out for the baby brioche rolls, wood fired breads of many shapes and sizes, bags of their bread crumbs, flat ciabatta rolls, baby pizza, baby bread rolls and their soup bowls made from bread. I have yet to find a bakery that can match this one in terms of value. The bread is amazingly cheap and always good.

Yet another great example in Haberfield of a family run business delivering quality produce.

The best ravioli

Duccio Gelato - Pasta and Gelato Supplies

Duccio Gelato is located in an industrial stretch of Five Dock's Queens Road, 92 Queens Rd.

As I have Italian parents I rather fancy I know quite a lot about ravioli. I have yet to find pre-packaged ravioli in this country that comes close to either my mother's or my own home made versions. I have tried them all. However, by complete accident, I stopped in at Duccio one day to buy gelato for my boys , and noticed the hand written plastic containers with no labels in the freezer. Two varieties only. I took home the spinach and ricotta tubs. The big test is the quality of the pasta, and it is beautifully soft in texture. These are the best ravioli. A word of warning, the ravioli don't break in the water if you treat them right. You should not cook any ravioli too vigorously, drop the temperature a little once the boiling point is reached. Also, once cooked, do not tip into a colander, scoop each one out of the big pot into a colander. By the way, this is a family business and Mr Duccio makes the ravioli himself.

Dumplings in Ashfield

Shanghai Nights - Dumpling Restaurant

This restaurant is located in the inner western suburb of Ashfield, at 275 Liverpool Rd. I have been told by many of my Chinese friends that the dumplings here rival those of Din Tai Fung, and they are the broth filled variety. I tried to get in last Sunday but it was packed. It is much cheaper then its city friend and parking is on the street or nearest side street and free! Stay tuned for updates on this one

Dumplings in the City

Din Tai Fung - Dumpling Restaurant

This restaurant is located in the city upstairs in the World Square Shopping Centre at Shop 11.04, 644 George St.  It is of Taiwanese origin, specialising in xiaolongbao (small steamed buns, which we call "dumplings").

The dumplings are soup filled and the trick here is to take a delicate bite from the top, then drink the soup out of the dumpling. Most important is that you eat it while it's hot for maximum flavour and texture. They are worth the effort, I have never tasted a dumpling that can compare with these. To give you an idea of how good they are, even my five year old could not be persuaded to give up on them, despite the temperature of the soup. Though I have made many trips to this restaurant I still can't go past the steamed pork dumplings, but other combinations of fish, prawn, crab and vegetarian mixtures are also available.