GREENHOUSE BY JOOST - sustainably chic

~ Sustainable Luxury ,Sydney Harbor

Covered from head to foot in strawberry plants and herbs Greenhouse By Joost. is an instillation was created and designed by Joost Bakker.   More so a piece of art, this restaurant (a float) is constructed entirely out of recycled, renewable resources. What more? It is entirely self sustainable! On the weekend I pleasure to  meet Joost and experience his flamboyant restaurant.

For as long as he can remember Joost has been driven by reconstructing waste and throw away goods. This Restaurant, albeit quirky, defiantly does not resemble the throw away materials of modern society; it is ultra cool and beautiful!

SPOT FEST: Australian Food and Film Festival

~Eating on the Red carpet~ The spot

Sunday was the Randwick Spot Festival: celebrating the Australian Film and Food Festival at The Ritz. I spent the afternoon soaking up the festive atmosphere, indulging in a delicious spinach and mushroom gozleme and strolling the carpet. There was market stalls, live music, dance performances and of course lots of food. I pick up a stronger emphasis on organic foods: choosing to dine at the Organic Gozleme tent. The lovely Turkish ladies were kneading and cooking up a storm right before our eyes!

Magical Mushroom Pie

~ in my kitchen

I’ve spent a long time dreaming about making this mushroom pie. The thing that stopped me was the weevils that invaded the kitchen. Eating grubs is defiantly not vegan! So after clearing out the old, and stacking up with the new:  I finally made my magical mushroom pie!

MY MAGICAL PIE

Ingredients:

Filling: 

* button mushrooms, sliced

* 50g dried shitake mushrooms (that I   soaked for a good half hour

TOMATO TIME RELISH

~Taking the Garden into my Kitchen

This time of the year is my favorite:  When cherry tomatoes are uber ripe and the plants start drooping with the shear weight!! We have so many cherry tomatoes, that I had the luxury of concocting a cherry tomato relish!

TABLE MANNERS: TO CONQUER DYSFUNCTIONAL DINING tdinning

~Patching Up Differences

 

Yesterday afternoon I fell into a conversation about Food and Friendship. Small differences of opinion are usually irrelevant in a good friendship. BUT dinning out with my non veggie bestie’s can sometimes complicate things!!

Table Manners is the perfect topic for this blog post.  My disclaimer is that I love my friends for who they are, not for what they eat. I wish they were vegetarian for reasons such as animal rights, sustainability and - at least I believe so, their health.  At the end of the day everyone makes there own choices based on personal wisdom and experiences. Also, internalized morals cannot be forced.  So I live my life  setting an example for what I believe in and choose to celebrate achievements rather than obsessing over losses.

DUMPLING MAYHEM!

Location: Yum Cha, Chinatown Sydney



black sesame buns, veggie dumplings and fried gluttonous veggie rice rolls



fried red bean dumplings

I agree with all those vegans who say that Asian restaurants are a great place to find vegan food. Admittedly you often have to avert your attention from the occasional chicken feet and pork belly… But there are a lot of good veggie options and usually they are quite healthy too! I often aim for an Asian restaurant when I go out with my non veggie friends (Good vegetarian restaurants are far and between in Sydney…. Okay so they have a few: but I’m not the type of person who can visit the same restaurant every week.)

REMINISCING RUE DES ROSIERS

  Location: in my heart, Paris

 

 

When I was in Norton’s grocery Bondi Jucntion, I found myself reminiscing over the quaint fruit shops in Paris. Then I found myself lusting for the Israeli food in the Marais quarter especially the falafel plates at L’AS DU Fallafel!

I love to grocery shop without a plan and let myself be inspired by the food around me. So I decided I would satisfy my craving! I simply could not resist sharing this meal with you....