The Vegie Bar, Fitzroy: old school charm with a modern vegan outlook

The Vegie Bar is an iconic vegetarian restaurant in Fitzroy that opened in 1988.  It was there when I moved into a student shared house in Fitzroy soon after and the Brunswick Street foodie scene was emerging.  I wrote a brief post about it within weeks of starting my blog in 2007.  Since then I have been many times.  Every time I plan to write a more comprehensive post with better photos.  So today I have some reflections and a collations of photos, mostly previously shared my blog. 

The Vegie Bar has moved with the times to offer more modern plant based and gluten free options but the menu still includes some of the original wholesome dishes that justify indulging in a slab of chocolate cake from the tempting display cabinet.  I still love eating there with sunshine streaming through big windows into the large warehouse and remembering the good old days of Brunswick Street.

Many restaurants had just one vegetarian dish on the menu in the early 1990s when I went vegetarian.  I could eat out but I was always the person who knew immediately what I would order because there was so little choice.  It was exciting to go to a vegetarian restaurant where I could order anything off the menu.  (I fondly remember Lord Lentil in Rathdowne Street in North Carlton.)  These vegie restaurants generally had wholesome menus that offered dishes from an eclectic range of cultures including Indian, Mexican, Asian and European.  

There is an old Vegie Bar menu from the early 1990s online that that offered just this sort of food.  The Mostly Greens, Mexican burrito and Mee Goreng are still on the menu today.  Other items on this old menu that remind me of old school vegetarian restaurants include rice balls, dahl, tofu burger and nachos.  Other items are similar to those offered at the Vegie Bar today: curries, stirfries, pasta and pizza and a salad bar. 

 

The Vegie Bar has moved with the times and updated its offerings to reflect modern trends.  Today its menu is all vegan with some dishes offering a dairy option.  In the 1990s you would occasionally encounter textured vegetable protein or seitan in a vegetarian restaurant but not the range of vegan cheeses and mock meats on the menu today.  Like many other places, the Vegie Bar menu has retained some wholesome dishes but added more processed vegan meats and cheeses and fancier ingredients.  Vegan duck, kimchi, edamame, vegan fior di latte, chickpea crisps, yuzu and sriracha would have bee pretty rare in the 1990s.  It is always interesting to see what is on their menu.  There have also been a few niche ventures in the nearby streets such as the Girls and Boys vegan gelato bar and the Transformer fine dining vegetarian restaurant.

2007: Dahl and pizza
This photo is from 2007 post on the Vegie Bar.  E enjoyed the duo special with the chickpea dahl, lentil dahl, brown rice and and roti.  I chose the Italiano pizza from the specials menu.  It had pesto, napoli sauce, baby spinach, spanish onion, sundried tomato, olives, pumpkin and mozzarella cheese.  Good food, good times but not so much good photography!  I also noted in December 2008 that I had the Mexican burrito which I found huge.

Chocolate cakes
The next time I mentioned the Vegie Bar on my blog was in 2009 when my daughter Sylvia was a baby.  I took her there to meet my friend Yav and had an indulgent slice of chocolate cake while Sylvia slept despite the noisy music.  I have a particular penchant for chocolate cake at the Vegie Bar.  I remember stopped there on the way home from work when I lived in Collingwood in the early 2000s and loving a comforting slab of chocolate cake.  The photo above is from April 2014 when I was shopping in Brunswick Street and stopped in at the Vegie Bar for an amazing huge piece of chocolate cake to eat while I read my book.  In 2024, I managed to resist the "sumptuous layered chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache & toasted almond flakes.  Served warm".

July 2014: Vegan nachos
In July 2014 I had an amazing plate of Vegan nachos and a green kale smoothie.  I wrote that the meal had "Heaps of corn chips, salsa, black beans, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream and jalapenos.  It could easily serve 2 (ie I could not finish it).  Nachos can be a bit dry but these were full of vegies and sauce and were really satisfying."

June 2017: Miso, mushrooms and sourdough
I next mention the Vegie Bar on my blog in June 2017 when I stopped in for a quick meal while reading Wonder by R. J. Palacio.  I had the vegan Miso, Mushrooms and Sourdough off the specials menu which was described as "Asian mushrooms, silver beet & cabbage wok tossed in a miso sauce, served on pumpkin sourdough w/ macadamia feta" for $15.  I remember writing somewhere about not liking it as much as I expected.  I am not a big fan of mushrooms as the star of a meal.   I suspect I wanted more macadamia feta and less mushrooms on the lovely pumpkin toast.

September 2017: Watermelon poke bowl
I took Sylvia to lunch at the Vegie bar.  There is a second room after you enter from the street.  We sat there at a window bench enjoying the warm sunshine at the start of Spring.  I was very excited to be able to order the Poke bowl with watermelon chunks, cucumber, carrots, avocado, edamame, alfalfa sprouts, pickles and brown rice with a slice of lime.  It was delicious with lots of different textures and flavours.  I love the way the watermelon looks a bit like salmon but tastes so much better. Sylvia was less impressed with her margarita pizza with tomatoes, vegan cheese and basil as it was not like the pizzas she was used to at the time.

September 2017: Charcoal juice
At the same visit I had a black juice of activated charcoal, filtered water, maple lemon, and passionfruit.  I think this might be the only time I have had a juice with charcoal.  It had a slightly gritty texture but I really liked the juice combination and the colour.  However I was not so keen on the passionfruit seeds that got stuck in my straw.  (I have notes saying it looked like a bottle of dead flies.)  I think this was one of the in-house juices that they would pre-bottle but I am not sure if they still sell these.  Their current menu has juices such as Clean and Lean: watermelon, apple & cranberry; Immunity: orange, apple, carrot & ginger; and Energiser: Apple, celery, cucumber & mint.

Late 2017: Vegan big mac and fries
This Better than a Big Mac was really excellent.  I remember being able to say really quickly "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickled onions on a sesame seed bun" when it was a challenge on Maccas adverts in my childhood.  It is decades since I had a Big Mac and I never want to eat one again but there are times I wish they were vegan.  So finding a burger that is really similar but with vegan cheese and patties was such a great nostalgia trip.  Of course these are indeed better than a Big Mac.  Kudos to the patties that were excellent.  This is high praise in a world where vegie burgers are often disappointing.  I was raving in happiness. The sweet potato fries were also lovely but I wished I had ordered regular potato fries to complete that trip down memory lane.

September 2018: Dr Strangelove soda
When ordering my Better than Big Mac and fries I would like to think I also had fancy cola.  However I suspect it was the choice of E.  (My notes don't mention his meal).  I have had both the Dr Strangelove smoked cola and ginger beer.  Both are excellent with lots of flavour but not too much sweetness.  The bottles have gorgeous steampunk illustrations on the labels..  These sodas used to be in a lot of local cafes but are less common of late.  I love that I can always find an interesting sparkling soda or kombucha at the Vegie Bar.  On my most recent visit last year I had a lovely yuzu cola in the Caroline's apple cider vinegar drinks range.

July 2019: Better than Big Mac and fries
I had dinner with my friend Faye on a cold wet weekday night.  The sort of night I expect no one else to want to go out. But it was packed and we could only find a couple of seats on the communal table.  We both had the Better than a Big Mac: "Two house-made 100% no-beef patties, special sauce, iceberg lettuce, vegan cheese, pickles & onion in a three-part brioche bun. Served with golden potato fries. $18"  It wasn't quite as amazing as my first time.  The burger patties seemed slightly mushier with less structure.  But it was so fantastic.  I really love a burger I can pick up and eat, and it does imitate the iconic Big Mac of my teenage years.  We also had wonderful crispy rice balls with satay sauce.  But it was too filling for us to have room for dessert.

2019: Vegie spag bol
I have just the photos  but no notes from this visit in 2019.  My vegie spaghetti bolognaise was probably vegan and I think it might have had lentils  and vegetables in the bolognaise sauce.  I remember that it was very satisfying and delicious.

2019: Margarita pizza
At the same visit Sylvia had the Margarita pizza with tomato, vegan cheese and basil because she lacked my excitement at all the interesting menu options. 

30 December 2020: old school Vegie Bar dishes
Again I have no notes on these dishes I shared with a friend at the end of 2020 when we were all excited to be able to eat out after Covid lockdowns.  Strangely enough these dishes look like the sort of food I might have had in the Vegie Bar in the 1990s.  For starters we had the rice balls and spring rolls.  I think my friend had the Mee Goreng and I had the Laksa.  Great hippy food from nations all over the world.

October 2024: Zen bowl
My latest visit to the Vegie Bar was last year.  I had the Zen Bowl: Chilled ramen noodles, miso-sesame dressing, avocado, braised shiitake mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, wakame, edamame, cucumber, kimchi & togarashi.  ($29)  That dressing was so good with all those vegies, tofu and noodles.  My lunch was a little spicy with the kimchi but really delicious.

October 2024: Strawberry, kiwi and chia pudding
On this same visit, Sylvia had decided to have a burger at Lord of the Fries over the road.  (Maybe her spidey senses had twigged that the branch of the LoTF franchise was soon to close down.)  But who can resist the food in the Vegie Bar!  She had a vegan strawberry and matcha chia pudding from the dessert cabinet.  It looked so gorgeous.  Sylvia loved it though the coconut yoghurt was not great (but she is not really into coconut milk either).

This is not a complete list of my visits to the Vegie Bar.  I wish I had taken more photos and notes over the years.  Yet I am glad to have these ones to give an overview of good meals at a favourite vegie restaurant that is full of so many good memories.  I hope it is not too longer until I return to the Vegie Bar.  I end this post as I started 2007 post on the Vegie Bar, with a view out the window to the old fashioned post box and beyond across Brunswick Street and down Rose Street.

The Vegie Bar
380 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
Open: Mon-Fri 11.30am-9pm, weekends 11am-9pm
www.vegiebar.com.au

Chocolate tahini banana bread and a story about 'vegan' chocolate

This Chocolate tahini banana bread fits into the wholesome category of cakes.  It is strangely moreish despite being minimally sweetened.  I suspect it is not for everyone.  For me it was heavenly!  I loved it so much I dreamed about a good life where I baked a loaf every week to snack on.  This is not surprising, given that chocolate and tahini is one of my favourite flavour combinations in baking.  

After falling love with the Miso maple banana bread recipe that we adapted from Erin Lives Whole, I found a Healthy chocolate peanut butter banana bread on the same site.  I love peanut butter but don't bake with it due to my daughter's peanut allergy.  By way of necessity, I have discovered that tahini makes a great substitute for peanut butter.  Sylvia is not a fan of tahini any more than she is of peanut butter but she is more accepting of it being part of baking in our kitchen.  (I only use peanut butter for sandwiches and toast in our kitchen.) 

So I tried a chocolate tahini version of the banana bread.  It made the kitchen smell amazing as it baked.  My self control with a freshly baked cake is not great so I had a taste of it soon after it came out of the oven.  It was ok.  Then later when I had a slice of the cooled cake, it was amazing.  So so good!  This is one of those times that the room temperature cake is better than when it is warm.  Perhaps this is due to the minimal sweetening from banana and maple syrup. 

My first attempt at this banana bread was fairly close to the recipe with tahini instead of peanut butter and a chance to use my black cocoa instead of regular cocoa powder.  It uses oat flour so it is wheat free and it could be gluten free if you are able to find gluten free oats. It made me wonder if it could also be a good vegan bake, given that tahini and banana are often listed as substitutes for eggs in baking. 

The second time I made this bread I tweaked the recipe to be vegan by adding more tahini, chia seeds and water to replace the eggs.  Sylvia had made it clear she was not a fan of this recipe.  So it seemed a good opportunity to invite a vegan friend for a cuppa.  Again it smelled amazing as it baked but I knew to bake it enough in advance that it had cooled before Jo came over.  I used chunks of Lindt dark chocolate instead of the choc chips.

Just before Jo arrived, I thought I should just double check that packed of Lindt 78% dark chocolate.  I have been eating this instead of Lindt's 70% dark chocolate as I enjoy the added intensity.  I have used the 70% chocolate quite a bit in vegan baking.  I was surprised to find that the 78% chocolate has milk fat.  Reading up on line to see if this was the case for the 70% I found that the Lindt 70%, 85%, 90% and 100% all are vegan.  I cursed the chocolate gods for embarrassing me like this.

It would have been easier to fein ignorance and serve it up without a word.  But I figured I should respect Jo's veganism and fess up.  She was very gracious and ate the cake despite my rookie mistake!  (She also reminded me that it would have been different if there had been a dairy allergy involved.)  We both enjoyed the cake with a cup of lovely hot yuzu tea from a powder that I bought in a Japanese grocery.   The cake sliced well but was crumbly when we bit into it and needed a plate to catch the crumbs.  Perhaps the recipe could do with tinkering or maybe it was that the oat flour lacked the gluten of wheat flour.

This Chocolate tahini banana bread is great to make as an everyday treat and would be great in the lunchbox (but mind the crumbs especially if you are eating at your computer).  It is pretty easy to make.  In fact I am quite amazed by my notes of the day in March that I first made it: "went for an early bike ride, helped with online schooling, had a cuppa with a friend at a local cafe, drove to South Melbourne for lunch (where I was surprised at the noise of the Grand Prix), and drove to Northland Shopping Centre to get a new watch battery and buy bed linen to replace a worn and ripped sheet, then home to housework, dinner and baking."  Now that it is almost winter with chilly mornings and dark evenings, I just want to bunker down at home with a hot drink and a slice of this cake.  I hope to make it again soon!

More recipes combining chocolate and tahini in baking:

• Chocolate and black tahini cut out biscuits (v) - Green Gourmet Giraffe
• Chocolate chip tahini blondies - Anna Jones in The Guardian
• Chocolate tahini banana pudding - BBC Good Food
• Chocolate tahini cookies (v) - Green Gourmet Giraffe
• Chocolate tahini maca bliss balls (gf, v) - Green Gourmet Giraffe
• Tahini halva brownies - Where's the Beef
• Vegan tahini brownies (v) - Lazy Cat Kitchen
  
  

Chocolate tahini banana bread
Adapted Erin Lives Whole

• 2 large mashed bananas (~1 cup mashed)
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp water
  
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or 100g chocolate chunks
  

Preheat oven til 180 C or 350 C and grease and line a loaf tin (mine is 13x22cm or 5x9inches)

Mash bananas and then mix in the tahini, chia seeds, maple syrup, water, vinegar and vanilla.  Stir vigourously until well mixed.  Gently stir in oat flour, cocoa, baking power, baking soda and salt, followed by choc chips.  The mixture will be a loose batter that is easier to pour than to spoon.

Bake 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out in clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the tin (in my case 55 minutes).  Best eaten cool.

NOTES:

I make the oat flour by blending in a high speed blender.  When I make oat flour out of 1 cup of rolled oats, it make more than 1/2 cup oat flour.

If you want to make this recipe with eggs, 2 eggs can replace the chia seeds and 2 tbsp water and the tahini should be reduced from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup.  I really loved the vegan version but found it slightly more crumbly than the one with eggs.

I have found quite a difference between using Cadbury dark choc chips and Lindt 78% dark chocolate.  The choc chips add quite a bit of sweetness, much more than the Lindt but the latter adds more intense chocolate flavour.

If you want the banana bread to be vegan, check that the chocolate is vegan.  I was surprised to find that Lindt's 78% dark chocolate had milk fat even though 70%, 85%, 90% and 100% blocks are vegan.

On the Stereo:
Those were the Js (Live) - Sammy J

Gnocchi with broccoli pesto

Today I bring you a gorgeous green meal.  It is also quick to put together.  As I seem to spend my life looking for green meals and easy dinners, this is just my sort of dinner.  It suits all seasons but I liked it for the change of season because it has the bright colours and flavours of summer and the stodgy comfort of winter.  A meal of looking back and looking forward.

This was a meal to make after work when energy is low.  I blended the broccoli pesto in the a jug with a hand held blender.  This was quicker than the high speed blender but I also think it was preferable to have a bit of texture in the pesto.  I added lemon which weren't in the original recipe on taste.com.au because it needed brightening.

The first time we made the gnocchi was when there was no baby spinach in the supermarket.  I was shocked to find the refridgerated section with the packaged greens was empty.  The packaged spinach I was after had been recalled due to due to a contamination recall.  Fortunately this is a pretty flexible recipe.  We used edamame instead of the spinach.  (See above and below photos.)

The pesto was great no matter which vegies get used.  It is so good with the gnocchi.  With the broccoli I find it more substantial than most pesto.  I had lots of pesto left over both times.  It was great to add to stews and sandwiches but the broccoli meant it didn't last too long without that overwhelming brassica smell.  I think it could probably be frozen if you are not going to use it within days, but i have not tried it. 

The taste.com.au recipe called for mint in the pesto.  I really wanted to try it.  Mint grows like a weed in our garden.  It is one of the plants that seeds easily and can be found cosying up to other pot plants.  Unfortunately Sylvia does not like mint in her meals so it is hard to find an opportunity to use it.  Mint and peas go together so well that I hope to try this dish with mint some day.  She preferred the pesto with basil but it does not grow so abundantly in the garden nor is it great quality in the shops outside its season.  When we could not get basil, we made the pesto with parsley which grows well in our garden and is easy to buy in the shops.  There are many options.  I would also love to try this pesto with some nuts but I will need to do this when Sylvia is not about. 

This dish is so flexible.  As well as options for the pesto, there are many serving options.  We tried it with goats cheese and also with our favourite tofu bacon.  There are many options: parmesan, pinenuts, nutritional yeast flakes and fresh herbs.  And while I love all these, I really love how it looks with all that green vegies and herbs.  This is set to become one of our favourite recipes in regular rotation.

More gnocchi recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

Baked gnocchi with radicchio, gorgonzola and walnuts
Beetroot Gnocchi with Pea Pesto
Cauliflower, zucchini and butter bean gnocchi
Gnocchi with Mexican corn (v)
Gnocchi with pesto and asparagus (v)
Panfried Gnocchi with Cauliflower and Peas
Truffle gnocchi (v)
Walnut and tomato pesto with gnocchi, broccoli and feta  

Gnocchi with broccoli pesto
Adapted from taste.com.au
Serves 4

500g potato gnocchi
1 cup (120g) frozen peas or edamame
60g baby spinach leaves

Broccoli pesto:

200g broccoli florets
1/3 cup (25g) finely grated parmesan
3 spring onions, sliced
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1/2 cup basil, parsley or mint
juice of 1/2 a medium lemon
seasoning

Serving options: parmesan, goats cheese, tofu bacon

Make the broccoli pesto: Chop and cook the broccoli until al dente for about 1 min in the microwave.  Add remaining ingredients and blend.  I used a tall jug and a hand held blender.  Check seasoning.

Bring salted water to the boil in a large saucepan.  Add peas and gnocchi, cover and heat on high heat until the water boils.  Drain and mix with pesto.   Serve with parmesan, goats cheese or tofu bacon if desired.

On the Stereo:
Being the first female rabbi of Australia's largest Jewish congregation, featuring Jacki Ninio on Soul Search, ABC National radio podcast.

My Monthly Chronicles: April 2025

April was a month of public holidays, school holidays and annual leave.  Time for outings, catching up with family and friends, and so much to do around the home.  It was also a big month of politics with Australia's federal election campaign.  We enjoyed some Easter themed fun, fancy cafe meals and shopping trips.  It is a sign of how busy we were that we booked to see a taping of Charlie Pickering's The Weekly at the ABC studios and forgot to go there (sorry Charlie).  There was plenty else to entertain us but I would have loved to see the satirical current affairs show live.

I have written more about the month in In My Kitchen: April 2025.  In addition I spent time in April writing longer blog posts on our favourite places Tylers Milkbar in Preston and Coburg Farmers Market.  We have been to both places so many times that there was a lot to share.

The above photo is of our Shadow and a couple of neighbourhood cats hanging out in our back lane.  Shadow loves spending time there, especially when I take my bike out that way.   The cobblestones really shake my bones when I ride along the lane but I appreciate that they are a nod to the history of the suburb.

Guard cat

On a trip to Fitzroy we saw a house with a sign on the gate saying: attention: chat de guarde.  It amused us to watch the "guard cat" at the window with his watchful eyes on the neighbourhood.

Lune Bakery, Fitzroy

We were in Fitzroy to try the Easter specials at Lune Bakery (119 Rose Street).  Sylvia had the Hot cross cruffin with mixed spices, dried fruit and candied peel.  It was topped with a traditional cross and filled with brown mousseline, which seems to be a fancy sort of custard.  You can see in the photo all the croissant layers and the creamy filling.  Mine was the Chocolate hot cross cruffin which had cocoa choc chip croissant pastry with a chocolate mousseline and topped with a cocoa cross.  These were amazingly delicious riffs on the traditional hot cross bun that showcased the croissant baking and flavours that we love at this popular bakery.

Hot cross bun turtle pendant

Easter was a great opportunity for Sylvia to wear her hot cross bun turtle pendant that she bought a year or two ago.  She loves to wear lots of jewellery and often added in this pendant into the mix in April.

 Political advertising

This was the most memorable political advertisement of all those I saw on walls.  It was not in the best of taste but it was clever.  For anyone who does not know Australian political history, Harold Holt was a prime minster who went for a swim in the 1960s and was never found again.  To tell anyone to "make like Harold Holt and take a swim" is a veiled insult.

Brotherhood of St Lawrence op shop, Brunswick

I was sad when the Brunswick Brotherhood of St Lawrence op shop moved from a sprawling warehouse on Barkly Street to its current site at 145 Lygon Street.  The old place was the sort of op shop I went to in my student days.  Actually I think I did go there in my student days.  Although it had a glam corner, it was mostly no frills and lots of furniture.  I loved looking through all the old furniture and imagining the possibilities.  I am sure I could find something in my house from that place. 

Then they moved to a smaller place without half a warehouse of old tatty furniture.  It was a shock to see the new digs when they moved but now some time has passed I can cope with it.  You can see in the photo that it is a bit more glam with the fancy archway and cool clothes and guitars hanging from the ceiling and there is a fancy round display table when you come in the door.  My favourite area is the bookshelves with the comfy couch.  We were there recently and I found myself a giraffe plate to use as a key holder.  (You can glimpse it in the background of a baked goods  photo in this month's In My Kitchen.)

Centre Place, CBD

Centre Place in the city is such a cool lane to walk down in the city.  It has changed since I used to go there and check out Kinki Gerlinki (such a good name for a clothes store) and have brunch at Cafe Issus and head upstairs for a meal at Hell's Kitchen.  

Yet it has a similar vibe with the light streaming down the narrow bustling street.  Though Kinki Gerlinki and Hell's Kitchen are still there they are not my sort of places any more and the street art is no longer so impressive by the entrance of the Centre for Adult Education (which is no longer there), on a recent stroll I was quite taken by the chocolate baking at Mork and that ShanDong MaMa has a mini restaurant there.

Seedling, CBD

While in the city, I had lunch at Seedling (275 Flinders Lane).  I had a vegan fritatta with Cowboy Style Rice Salad and Broccoli Quinoa Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing and Pomegranate.  I was surprised to see that the menu boasted it was a 100% gluten free kitchen.  I don't remember that last time I visited.  But it certainly is a good place to get healthy vegan and gluten free food.  I really loved the vegan fritatta - it was warm and squidgy with vegetables through it.  I had a relaxing solo meal reading about Tim Rodgers from You Am I in the Big Issue.

Easter chocolates

Not long before Easter, I went shopping for a birthday present.  I decided to look for chocolates and at this time of year, it is hard to avoid all the Easter specials.  It was a surprise to see how much chocolate prices have risen since I last looked at fancy chocolate shops.  A more pleasant discovery was how gorgeous the chocolate were.  Koko Black had a wonderful range of chocolate Aussie creatures.  The hollow Pip Platypus was so adorable but at $44 for 210g of sculpted milk chocolate left me gobsmacked!  Whereas I was delighted by the painted shop window at the corner of Degraves Street with Australian gum trees at the top and bunnies and eggs down the bottom.  A lovely blend of old world tradition and celebrating our local culture.

Fisherman's Beach, Mornington

I ended up buying some Haighs chocolate to take to the birthday party at o take to a party at The Royal Hotel in Mornington.  After the party, Sylvia wanted to go to a Mornington op shop.  I dropped her off to shop with her dad while I went to walk along Fisherman's Beach and admire the coloured beach huts.

Kerry Greenwood died in April.  She was best known for her 1920s Phrynne Fisher mystery novels that were made into a television series.  Many years ago I remember seeing her talk on the historical research that went into her writing.  It made me all the more impressed when I read her novels and watched the tv show.  She made a great contribution to Australian historical fiction with a strong female heroine.

Flowers at Joe's Market Garden, Coburg

April brought some lovely mild Autumn weather for riding my bike along the Merri Creek Bike Track.  I often ride past Joe's Market Garden and was vaguely aware it was an organic farm linked to CERES in Brunswick.  I found myself admiring rows of flowers in the field.  I stopped and had a walk to look at them up close.  When I spoke to someone working there I found that there was a pick your own bunch of flowers for purchase on weekends.  I meant to return for this but was busy.

Mile End Bagels, Brunswick

After hearing Sylvia rave about Mile End Bagels (1 Wilkinson Street, Brunswick) after her two visits I was keen to try it.  When she told me about having the Easter special hot cross bun bagel with a spiced cream cheese filling, we made a time to go.  I was very sad that by the time we arrived, they have sold out of the Hot Cross Bun bagels.  Instead I had the number 11:  Beetroot, avocado, cashew cream cheese & rocket. and Sylvia had the number 4: Avocado, chive cream cheese, tomato, pink salt & chilli oil with an a iced strawberry matcha.  They were excellent.  They weren't the chewiest bagels but really nice especially the everything bagel seasoning.  

It was a popular little hole-in-the wall lunch spot in an industrial laneway off Albert St.  We had our bagels on the small seating space and then went on our way with Pulp's Mile End (from the Trainspotting soundtrack) playing in my head.  

Tylers Milkbar, Preston

We had an Easter visit to Tylers Milkbar (656 Plenty Rd) for their Easter egg hunt and brunch.  It was quite busy and I just wanted something light.  After all we had won a brownie each after finding a couple of the Easter egg picture on the local egg hunt.  I had a small breakfast quiche with a puffed pastry shell and a buttered hot cross bun.  My HCB was vegan so it had a pink cross to differentiate it from the regular hot cross buns.  As always we had great food and enjoyed the vibes of the place. 

Easter Quiz

My dad has been doing Easter egg hunts for his grandkids for many years.  However they are getting older.  He changed tack this year and did an Easter quiz instead.  Every kid that did the quiz got a chocolate Bilby (the pink one in the above photo).  The kids still got a generous amount of Easter chocolate from their aunts and uncles.

Easter Sunday lunch

I had a lovely Easter Sunday lunch with my parents and a smaller family group than usual.  I took along a nut roast to have with salad and roast potatoes.  It was lovely but the nut roast was a bit dry.  (Sylvia was not impressed with the nut roast I left for her Easter lunch with her dad).  For dessert we had a pavolva with peppermint crisp and a berry baked cheesecake made by mum, peanut brownie cupcakes made by my sister Fran and Easter rice crispy nests with mini eggs that I made.  We ate well!

Tin Pot Cafe, Fitzroy North

We took E out for his birthday to the elegant Tin Pot Cafe (248-250 St Georges Rd).  E had the ALT: Avocado, Lettuce and Tomato with mayo, Sylvia had fried eggs on toast with feta, and I had the Grilled Haloumi Plate with tzatziki, sourdough toast, lemon wedges, salad leaves and a tomato mint avocado salsa.  I really loved mine which I ate by piling haloumi, salsa and greens on the toast.  The haloumi was perfectly golden grown and crispy.  We loved gazing around the beautiful room with green walls, a big vase of flowers, old furniture, mirrors and bric-a-brac.

Mini Me Mango cafe, Bundoora

Following a dentist appointment, we had a lovely lunch at Mini Me Mango cafe (24 Scholar Drive).  Sylvia had an iced matcha and the Banana Bread French Toast: Cinnamon banana bread French toast, served with fresh strawberries, apple slaw, crumble crumb, berry sauce, vanilla bean ice cream, whipped matcha & taro mascarpone, maple syrup ($21.50).  This was one of the best dishes in the month.  

My meal was very nice but not as amazing as the French Toast.  I had ordered from the display rather than the menu.  The spinach, sweet potato and feta fritters came as a couple and were much bigger than I expected.  The beetroot, pumpkin, tomato, cucumber, salad greens, quinoa and feta salad went well with the fritters but I was too interested in sneaking mouthfuls of the French Toast and also the lovely haloumi chips that we had on the side.  We were very full and took home leftovers.

 
Remembering Catherine of the Cate Speaks political blog

I was pleased to discover a Tumblr blog called Blatantly partisan party reviews which had more detailed information on parties/candidate's positions.  This led me to finding Something for Cate, which also reviews political parties/candidates.  This latter site made me happy to see that they had taken over where Catherine (of the delightful Cates Cates food blog) wrote her Cates Speaks blog on political parties and candidates.  I discovered these just as I was missing Catherine's political insights since she died a few years ago.  Thanks to these people who help share information about the convoluted world of political parties.

In the news: 

It was an intense month of news with Donald Trump's tariff war in the global media and the Australian federal election closer to home.  One of the interesting moments in the latter campaign was opposition leader Peter Dutton back-pedalling on his policy to end Working from Home when it turned out it was not a vote winner.  Trump was a shadow over our election but his election in 2024 also made us reflect on the difference between our systems.  We have compulsory voting, preferential voting and we vote for a local member to represent us in the federal parliament with the ruling political party electing the leader who will be prime minister.

My list of links below has some very intense articles and some lighter ones.  I hope this is something for you there:

It's Liberation Day - Whoopee!  (a satire on Trump's Liberation Day) by  Terence Mills in The Australian Independent Media Network, 1 April 2025.

What Donald Trump's dramatic US trade war means for global climate action, in The Conversation, 3 April 2025.

Abigail Disney: ‘Every billionaire who can’t live on $999m is kind of a sociopath’ by John Harris in the Guardian, 7 April 2025.

Pulp unveil their first new album in 24 years, BBC News, 10 April 2025.

On doing the same inadequate shit over and over again until the end of democracy by Dave Milner in The Shot, 11 April 2025.

The rise of end times fascism (far right USA), by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in The Guardian, 13 April 2025.

Sexy covetable hot cross buns: Australia's obsession with Easter treats: in The Guardian, 15 April 2025.

Albanese claims victory in Vegemite fight as Canada concedes spread poses ‘low’ risk to humans, in The Guardian, 19 April 2025.

As Dutton’s election campaign implodes, Albanese is allowed to coast and voters end up the losers, by Amy Reimikis Substack (Pyjama Politics), 22 April 2025.

Over five decades, here's how the voters have shifted away from the major parties, by Casey Briggs in the ABC News, 24 April 2025.

Street art in Melbourne: Preston

Last year I took quite a few street art photos around Preston.  When I saw a lovely piece of artwork last week, I decided it was time to collate as many of my Preston street art photos as possible, dating back to 2014.  I could not find a few but there is plenty of colour and imagination here.  Above is one of my fave artworks from the walls of Jackson Dodds cafe.  Another bird - a parrot - can seen below.  Enjoy.

 The bike rider on a wall at Northland, 2014.

 An angel at Northland, 2015.

Above and below - a couple and bird art, 2017.

I get a laugh every time I pass this old Real Estate business where someone has painted the words Secret Agents.  It is so Get Smart.  (below)

Below are photos from  2024 (around Gilbert Road, Plenty Road, the Nevoliany Scopia Social Club at 1 Miller Street, Circus Nexus on Chifley Drive)

This last photo was taken just days ago on the wall of Newlands Primary School.  It is so beautiful and immersive.

More posts with street art from the inner North of Melbourne:

• Street Art in Melbourne #2 Ann Street, East Brunswick
• Street Art in Melbourne: Brunswick 2024
• Street Art in Melbourne: Coburg III 
• Street Art in Melbourne: Coburg VI 
• Street Art in Melbourne: Northcote 2023