April | 2014 | For Food's Sake – A Sydney Food Blog | Page 2

Mother Chu’s Vegetarian Kitchen is a vegetarian restaurant on Pitt Street in the city CBD. A quick dinner before Madama Butterfly on Sydney Harbour had me looking for a place to have a bite before the opera. Trusty Google brought me to Mother Chu’s. . Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Mother Chu’s is somewhat of a stalwart in the Sydney Vegetarian scene. Joining me today was ‘Madre’, who was originally meant to join me on Meat Free Week but cracked on Day 1 when I caught her nibbling some chicken drumsticks (weak willed). None the less she indulged me by accompanying me on my vego restaurant quest. Surprisingly we ordered with a reasonable amount of restraint, we shared a small bowl of Miso soup, ordinarily I am not much of a fan but this was one of the best Miso soups I have eaten. Mum and I then shared a serving of 3 steamed Dim Sims, filled with tofu and mixed vegetables. These were a bit unusual, initially they have a pleasant taste (when dipped in the accompanying apricot …

If you have ever wanted to experience the culture and flavor of southern Italy but haven’t made it there, then a trip to Via Napoli Pizzeria in Lane Cove is a must! This bustling suburban pizzeria not only serves some of the tastiest (and largest) wood fired pizza in Sydney, the charismatic wait staff ,who mostly hail from Italy’s southern state of Naples, ensure you will have an authentic experience as well.   My family, including fellow FFS bloggers Bianca and Alex, recently dined their with our visiting French relatives. Now whilst they live in the south of France, we obviously share the Italian heritage so their love for Italian food runs as deeps as ours. We told them we were taking them to a pizzeria that specializes in southern Italian staples such as buffalo mozzarella, polpette di baccala (potato and salted cod fritters) and of course wood fired pizza. What we didn’t tell them was to expect to feel more like we had taken them out to a local pizzeria in Naples, rather than …

An overdue catch up brought me to Norton Street, Leichhardt. I had a hankering for a really good burger and Bonarche Burgers fits that bill for me. Alas it wasn’t to be, a sign on the front door telling customers Bonarche wouldn’t be opening until after 2pm. It was 12pm and with Meat Free Week calling my name in two days, I had a hankering for a burger that needed to be satisfied. Café Rodizio, a Brazilian wine bar, sits at the front of the Italian Forum. This once great pillar in the Leichhardt Italian community was virtually a ghost town this beautiful sunny Saturday. My criteria that day was pretty much – Menu/scan/beef/burger/check. The prospect of seven days without any animal ‘meat’ products was particularly daunting, so I felt like I needed to make up for it in the days leading up. After a quick perusal of the menu I settled on the Café Rodizio Sliders – a trio of three sliders Lamb, Beef and pulled pork served with chips and aioli. Unfortunately, none …