mediterranean wholesalers, 482 sydney rd, brunswick, vic

i discovered this place nearly 4 yrs ago.  i was living in brisbane & we were holidaying in melb.  i remember being absolutely crazy excited about everything they sold...& more so the excellent prices.  on our 1st visit we left with so much that i had 4 heavy carry on bags for the plane & a fuming husband because i bought so much...i think his words were 'this is bloody ridiculous!'...

with me now living in melbourne and a good 30 minute drive away i tend to visit every 4-6 weeks & buy up...it is nice to be able to load into the boot of the car & not struggle with heavy bags on a plane anymore.

the sydney rd store opened in 1977 & is still owned & operated by the same family. 

the regulars in my trolley range from lavazza coffee, olives, tapenade, spicy salsa, many bags of pasta, parmesan, pecorino, olive oil, balsamic, sea salt, salami, mozzarella, lentils, oo flour, polenta, their house baked bread, biscotti, dried herbs, wine, limoncello...and the list goes on...i do usually get tempted by many other things.  you can also refuel whilst shopping at their instore cafe/pasticceria...

open mon-thurs 9 to 5:30pm, fri 9 to 6:30pm & saturday 8:30 to 2pm...closed sunday.

get fresh at cottontree, shop 10, 1 king st, cotton tree

i love cotton tree!  my parents holiday there almost every year & i have grown to love the happy village vibe that cotton tree offers.  on a recent visit i went in search of a cafe to only find out that it had closed its doors...whilst asking some locals about the cafe i came across 'get fresh'...i instantly liked everything the business offered & chatted with owners nadine & grant imlach who have a background in the produce industry for 14yrs.  they have had the business for 3 yrs now having moved form queenstown nz. 

'get fresh' has a strong focus on locally grown & organic produce/products.  bread & pastries come from award winning dane vanwegen.  they have an on-site kitchen making delicious tarts, soups, salads etc...the locals are all over it!  the shop was buzzing with people filling their baskets full with beautiful produce.  open mon-fri 7-6pm, sat 7-5:30pm & sun 8-3pm. ph 07 5443 3131.

mad mex, 332 brunswick st, fortitude valley

i was invited to attend a lunch with the founder, clovis young, of mad mex at their (first) brisbane store in the fortitude valley mall.  clovis (californian raised & acquainted w baja cuisine) opened the first mad mex store on crown st, darlinghurst in 2007 & since has expanded to have 10 stores (syd, melb & brisbane).  i met clovis along with brisbane based food writer fiona ryan.  clovis talked about the creation of mad mex, the concept, their passion for delivering fresh, traditional & quality flavours...& we then sampled several dishes.  i chose the burrito w chicken, black beans, cheese, rice, lettuce & sour cream - it was delicious, generous & certainly fresh.  fiona ordered the soft tacos & appeared to find them tasty too.  clovis ordered a serving of quesadilla's which i found tasty but possibly a little bit guilt ridden for me.  we sipped on mexican imported soft drinks (mine) quava & fiona had the tamarind.  then i just had to sample the margarita with salt & it was very good...i did expect a watered down version but it wasn't!  clovis then brought out cinnamon churros with chocolate dipping sauce...i indulged in 2 & thought they were very good!  one of the first things i said to clovis when meeting him was that i like mexican but i usually find myself feeling very full & uncomfortable after eating it...after all the above dishes at mad mex i have to say i felt good.  not sluggish or uncomfortable!  clovis said that they use fresh avocados for their guacamole & source/use local produce as much as possible...with other ingredients like the black beans, jalapenos, chillies, seasonings & spices & various beverages direct from mexico.

would i go back?...definitely!  so much so that i tried a competitor of mad mex at sth bank with my family the following day & the whole experience was not a scratch on my mad mex meal!  i did feel uncomfortable after trying the competitor!  i do like various touches that mad mex have too...like the tapatio sauce bottles placed around for customers usage (tapatio sauce is a hot mex sauce that is excellent).  see attached their menu along with their full story & 10 store locations mad mex

yuens supermarket, china town mall, brisbane

spanner crabs

mud crabs

banana prawns

yin choy & pomelo fruit

new zealand green lipped mussels & garfish

yuens is my favourite asian supermarket in brisbane....it is rugged, aisles are cramped & you might likely walk through puddles of fish water (my husbands biggest dislike) but i like it, love the prices & always grab something i didn't need but plan to experiment with....+ my little girls think it is amazing! 

olive grove organics, coorparoo mkts, 296-300 old cleveland rd, coorparoo

my last entry on the coorparoo mkts lands with olive grove organics owned by richard & max mastromichele.....next door to their sisters business "olive grove deli".  they sell only organics ranging from fruit, veg, dairy, preserves, grocery items, eggs, juice...etc.

richard & max have been in the fruit & veg business for many years & now are concentrating on organics.....when i visited everything looked wonderfully fresh with good prices to match.

mad about greek, coorparoo mkts, 296-300 old cleveland rd, coorparoo

billy papas & john karis are behind the business 'mad about greek'......they are into their 3rd week of trading @ the cooparoo mkts & already have a strong following.......& deserving of this!

all locally made using traditional & some modern recipes (billy's greek aunties are doing some of the cooking)......they sell all things greek from sweet to savoury.  some sweets include: honey puffs, turkish delight (flavours of ginger, mint, rose, coconut & pistachio), gluten free choc almond biscuits, gluten free vanilla almond biscuits, dried figs, baklava - including their new tropical or jaffa flavour, almond crescents, semolina custard in filo w icing sugar.....some savoury include: moussaka, dolmades, pastizzi, spanakopita, stuffed tomatoes & stuffed capsicum, yiros, lamb or chicken souvlaki.

billy said his stand-out favourites would be the dolmades & yiros!

certainly worth a visit..........everything looks so fresh & great!  i sampled the jaffa baklava & found it so delicious!