pizza verde, 62 piper st, kyneton, vic

a weekend day trip from melbourne landed us on piper street, kyneton.  it was windy, cold and drizzling with rain however we wandered along visiting several of the shops and made a 1pm lunch booking at pizza verde.  

from the moment we entered we sat at a corner table with bench seats and felt cosy & at home...the wood burning from the pizza oven made the room smell wonderful and before i knew it i was slurping on a local pinot and selecting from their menu...oh and the girls were given pencils and paper immediately which i always love!

we devoured the following...

rare roast beef with salsa verde & rocket

wood roasted brussel sprouts with parmesan

spinach & ricotta balls with a chunky tomato sauce

kids pizza...ham & pineapple

...& our pizza called diavolo which had tomato, istra hot salami, red onion, fior di latte, crushed green olives, basil & chilli (seriously delicious)

+ mountain goat organic steam ale & a bottle of local pinot noir

the images speak for themselves really...i would go back to pizza verde today...right now!!!
pizze verde

D.O.C pizza & mozzarella bar, 295 drummond st, carlton

a good friend who is married to a florentino husband raved about D.O.C stating that they serve one of the better pizzas they have eaten outside of italy.  i have been meaning to visit and had the perfect opportunity recently with my gorgeous friend arriving into town on holiday with her two children.

we sat at an outside shady table on a warm friday lunch and both were happy that the children could be loud & not disturb the inside diners w their crisp white tableclothes...although we would have been in there in a flash if we didn't have the noisy ones with us!

D.O.C's menu is made up of 5 clear & easy to read/decide components...1 mozzarella bar, 2 antipizza bar, 3 insalatone, 4 pizza & 5 dolce/formaggi.  we headed straight for the salad & pizza choices & with four hungry children we ordered quickly the following...insalatona di radicchio w shaved fennel, mt martha radicchio, D.O.P gorgonzola, vincotta & asked for an extra D.O.P buffalo mozzarella ball + pizza D.O.C san marzano tomato, fresh D.O.P buffalo mozzarella & fresh basil...and pizza capricciosa nuova w tomato, mozzarella, leg ham, mushroom, artichoke & olive...

all devoured in no time at all...my friend & i both sat back daydreaming the children were spontaneously collected by husbands and we could order more wine and chat until the sun set!

you will love D.O.C if you haven't already discovered it (many have!)...opened for almost 3 years...the casual, neat, consise, delicious and un-complicated setting and menu will win you over!...D.O.C is open 7 nights & fri, sat & sun lunch.
doc group own three successful business...D.O.C carlton + carlton espresso & D.O.C mornington...visit their site doc group

prince albert hotel, bettenays, 149 douglas pde, williamstown

in my early 20's (like yesterday!) i worked at a pub in london called 'the paradise'...it's in kensal green.  it was a great place to work, none of the chairs or stools matched, all the dinner plates were odd & they served awesome pub grub.  the bistro was always packed & on sundays locals would come at 11am...read the papers, eat eggs w chips, drink pints & stay until the evening listening to jazz music...  i have almost forgotten about how much my feet hurt at the end of the shifts or the smell of beer sloshed in my shoes...instead i look back & wish i could find a local just like it.  i think i have!  prince albert hotel is just 10mins walk from our little cottage.  it is the kind of place you can visit on a rainy day & enjoy a glass of red or sit in the little garden & have a long sunday lunch.  which is what we did recently.  we ordered several mains...matt had the sage & parmesan crumbed veal w shaved fennel, apple, walnut, rocket & lemon dressing salad (he stated it was seriously delicious), i had the grilled pork chop on a bed of du puy lentils w jus (so wholesome & good), the children shared the free range chicken breast topped w pancetta, mozzarella & napoli sauce, served w mixed lettuce & shoestring fries...also no complaints!

we all shared the one dessert of valrhona hazelnut nougatine, raspberry sorbet & fairy floss...think i may have gotten 1 spoonful before the children devoured it!

we started with a monteiths pear cider (on tap) & then shared a bottle of the jim barry riesling...all for a grand total of just under $100...& we were there for hours...reading the papers, enjoying the sun...

on leaving i booked us in for new years eve... 

 

innocent bystander, 336 maroondah highway, healesville, vic

a recent chilly, windy and rainy sunday was the perfect day to drive to the yarra valley and explore.  no research was put into it, just a spur of the moment decision and we were off...gps said 1hr 20 mins to healesville town centre from our home.

we arrived close to lunch and after driving through the main street we came across 'innocent bystander'.  the place was packed.  a table was quickly sorted out for us and we settled in with a glass of giant steps chardonnay & a glass of giant steps pinot.

'innocent bystander' offers many things under the one roof...a winery - (giant steps & innocent bystander), cellar door, bistro, coffee roasting, beer, artisan bakery, pizzeria & cheese room.  so there is plenty going on in their industrial looking space!

we ordered two pizzas for our table...a classic margherita with shaw river buffalo mozzarella and the other pizza was pink eye potato, taleggio, mt zero olive oil, walnuts & rosemary...very delicious, great pizza bases too.  the housecut (organic dobsons potatoes) with aioli were quickly gobbled up!

matt had a coffee to finish...he claimed it was excellent whilst the girls shared a house baked canele.

'innocent bystander' will be on our list to visit next time we are in the valley...could be breakfast, some more pizza or dinner...all sounds good...see their website for more details...innocentbystander