February 10, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Ibiza N2 – Mt Lawley

Ibiza N2 Gelato is no ordinary gelataria. The extra special thing about Ibiza N2 is that they are the first place in Perth to use liquid nitrogen (N2) to flash freeze their gelato. The liquid nitrogen forms a large number of microscopic ice crystals in just seconds. This makes their gelato ultra-smooth and creamy.

Kids and adults alike will love watching their gelato being created before their eyes. The fresh ingredients are mixed together and then the liquid nitrogen is poured in, creating huge clouds that billow out of the mixers. Little Chef said that it looks like a witches cauldron! After a few minutes, just like magic, you have freshly churned gelato! Continue reading →

February 1, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Chicho Gelato – Northbridge

Working from home means that I’ve been able to enjoy all six weeks of the school holidays with my Little Chef. After taking him to a show at the State Theatre, we headed right next door to Chicho Gelato for a treat. Chicho, means “Cheeky Kid” in Italian and Chicho Gelato is a little bit quirky too. They create some really interesting flavour combinations and there are around 20 flavours to pick from. Choosing just one or two flavours is a very difficult job!

The fresh gelato is churned daily and be sure to look out for their inventive special too. Some of the deliciously different flavours they have are “lavender and honeycomb”, “rosewater, white chocolate and pistachio” and “mascarpone and rhubarb”. There are more traditional flavours too and also a few flavours of sorbet.

The beautifully fitted out gelato shop has a VERY special feature… a free flowing chocolate tap! For an extra charge, your ice cream can be coated in chocolate sauce, gushing from the tap. Continue reading →

January 21, 2017 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Whisk Creamery – Northbridge

One of our go-to spots for a totally over the top sugar hit is Whisk Creamery. The popular café that started out in Subiaco, has now opened another store on William Street in Northbridge. Little Chef and I had been at Nostalgia Box, a video console museum, for a morning of fun playing retro computer games. Afterwards, we popped into Whisk Creamery for a tasty treat for morning tea, no doubt it would include their speciality – fresh soft serve gelato.

Deciding what to choose is really tricky, especially with that little voice in my head telling me sternly ”think of all the calories!” . The menu also have photos of each creation and it’s very difficult not to want to try everything! There’s indulgent stuffed cronuts, deep fried gelato, banana splits and more.

Little Chef had the “Sneaky Caramel”, $12.40. The cup is brimming with salted caramel gelato, hot honey chocolate fudge sauce in a syringe, chocolate wafer shards and coffee mousse. He gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

I had the “Banoffee Waffle”, $13.50. I don’t have a massive sweet tooth, so I wasn’t too sure if it would be too much, but I really enjoyed it. Super fresh double waffles are smothered in swirls of coffee mousse, a hot caramel fudge sauce in a syringe, fresh banana slices and topped with chocolate fairly floss. The mousse was absolutely scrumptious and so light, so the whole dessert didn’t feel heavy. I would definitely eat it again.

To drink, there’s some wicked milkshakes, iced drinks, tea, coffee, smoothies and complimentary water. Whisk Creamery’s gelato creations are totally naughty – but so worth it!

And here’s a little bit on The Nostalgia Box…

Back in the day, my parents had to drag me off my Commodore 64 or Sega Master System. I loved playing Frogger, Sonic and Super Mario Brothers. So Little Chef wasn’t the only one to be super excited to be visiting The Nostalgia Box, Australia’s first interactive video game console museum!

The museum is found on Aberdeen Street in Northbridge. Half of the museum is a dedicated exhibit to gaming history where around 100 gaming consoles are on display. These date back to the 1970s through to the present day. Some of these machines look like ancient relics and I didn’t actually realise that consoles had been around for that long.

After walking through the exhibit, you can experience playing the classic games in the gaming area. The inviting space is adorned with a vibrant mural of all the gaming favourites of the 1980’s and 90’s. There are twelve consoles set up with games like Duck Hunt, Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot and many more.

One of Little Chef’s favourites was the shooting game “Duck Hunt”. Little Chef and I had a good time trying to beat each other on the two player games like Mario Kart too! My favourite was Sonic The Hedgehog, though I couldn’t get passed the first boss level, so I am a bit out of practice. It has been about 20 years between games to be fair! Little Chef and I also enjoyed Super Mario Brothers, which I revelled in beating him at.

I was surprised to learn that the museum is very popular with adults in their 20s and 30s, but afterwards after re-living my youth via Sonic The Hedgehog, I’m not that surprised. You’re sure to discover some random old games, as well as have many blasts from the past. Nostalgia Box takes you back to your childhood, as well as giving your children a chance to experience gaming the “old school” way.

August 27, 2016 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Gusto Gelato – Elizabeth Quay

Gusto Gelato in Leederville has opened a store at Elizabeth Quay, where you can enjoy your gelato with a stunning view! The small batch gelato is handcrafted by owner/operator Sean Lee who learnt his craft at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy. There are so many different flavour combinations, from strawberry, mango and ginger beer and lime. This chocolate fudge brownie gelato looks pretty darn good!

Not content with just one scoop, Little Chef chose the decadent chocolate fudge brownie as well as the cookie monster – a sweet cream gelato with triple choc cookies, cookie dough and a milk chocolate ganache. As always, the gelato was absolutely scrumptious and smooth.

The gelato is made onsite. It’s natural too, with no hidden nasties, making it perfect for kids (of all ages!). You can view the kitchen where the magic happens through a window. Winter or Summer anytime is a good time for Gelato in the city!

April 6, 2016 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Perth Night Noodle Markets 2016

Have you been to the Night Noodle Markets yet? It’s part of Good Food Month. Last night we checked out this years line up of 20+ stallholders with hawker style eats under the city lights at Elizabeth Quay.

I’d heard how popular the markets are, so as soon as I got there I made a bee-line for Bao Stop which was top of my food wish list. They are a mobile container restaurant based in Sydney. For the uninitiated, bao is essentially a small, soft Chinese bread bun. First in the line, I ordered the bao trifecta ($20). Wow -those bao were jam packed with flavoursome fillings and if you think $20 is a bit steep, I think this dish is worth the splurge. (Left to Right) There’s Peking Duck, Pork Belly and Fried Chicken. I loved them all – the fried chicken had to be my favourite.

The Peking duck fries ($15) were also a must try for me. I would have like the fries to be hotter, but topped with a sweet plum sauce and shredded, crisp duck they were pretty darn fine.

Hoy Pinoy was a favourite of ours from last years Night Noodle Markets. Their smokin skewers are divine, $13 for two. Choose from chicken BBQ’d in a traditional marinade or BBQ pork belly with a banana ketchup glaze. Chef ignored my “no eating before pics” rule, his pork belly skewers were so good!

I visited the lovely Mei at Turban Chopsticks and she has some tasty options for those with dietary requirements. Most of her dishes are vego, vegan and gluten free. The satay “gado gado” noodle bowl is so fresh and vibrant – proving healthy food can be super tasty too! Its brimming with rainbow salad, kale, tofu, coconut milk, tapioca chips, rice noodles and finished with a nicely spiced satay sauce. Yummy! (gifted).

Mei also gave us some sweetcorn fritters to try. The crisp fritters were accompanied by a tomato eggplant chutney and they went down an absolute treat!

Time for something sweet… Black Star Pastry hails from Sydney and I have had my eye on their stunning Strawberry Watermelon Cake for some time (via Instagram!). It’s a scrumptious layered cake made up of almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream, strawberries, watermelon and finished beautifully with dried rose petals and pistachios. It costs $9 and is worth every cent.

Black Star Pastry has teamed up with N2 Extreme Gelato, who have stores in Mebourne and Sydney . Little Chef scoffed their Ferrero Gelato, $9. It has a crisp rice bubble choc top and a chocolate ganache filled syringe. I had a bite and the Ferrero Rocher gelato was spot on.

Not to be outdone, Chef’s dessert was a fancy Nutella covered waffle from Waffle on a Stick. It was served warm and super fresh.

It’s simply impossible to try everything – though we gave it a good go! Other local and interstate vendors include: Dainty Dowager, Low Key Chow House, Apple Daily, Lucky Chans, Bangkok Jump Street, Cili Padi, Roti Road and more. There’s also a few bars scattered around and live entertainment too making for a fantastic atmosphere.

All in all the Night Noodle Markets are a great event. My tip is to get there when it opens to grab a table and minimise queueing. I saw a few people who brought picnic rugs, which is a good idea too. There were a few reservations about accessibility, but with the EQ train and bus stations, the ferry and plenty of parking, the foodie event is pretty easy to get to. Get your noodle on before the Night Noodle Markets end this Sunday (10th of April). See you next year!

For more info visit the Good Food Month website.

September 9, 2015 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Whisk Creamery – Subiaco

My Instagram feed has been brimming with sweet things lately… gorgeous sweet treats that are as easy on the eye as no doubt they are to eat! One such decadent dessert I’ve been very excited to try is the Caramel Sandwich at Whisk Creamery, Subicao. There you’ll find freshly made to order soft-serve gelato “exactly the way Nona’s Nona used to make it”. AND there are no nasty ingredients – there’s a lot to love about Whisk Creamery!

For the uninitiated, cronuts are the love child of a croissant and the humble doughnut. They have the layered, buttery richness of a croissant, coupled with the sugary sweetness of a doughnut and exceedingly scrumptious!

Little Chef and I are NUTS about cronuts – Chef was a cronut virgin and we encouraged him to order the “Caramel Sandwich”. It’s basically silky smooth salted caramel gelato, sandwiched between a fresh cronut, with house made salted caramel sauce and topped with whipped cream and even MORE salted caramel sauce. I had a bite… my goodness, the caramel sandwich is every bit as drool worthy as it looks.

I have to admit – I couldn’t handle the guilt and shared a Ferrero Rocher cronut with LC. The crisp, but light cronut was filled with nutella! Naughty and nice!

Chef and I had coffees too, which are top notch. We’re all huge fans of Whisk Creamery now – on my next visit I’ll be sure to order something of my own!

January 3, 2015 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Gusto Gelato – Leederville

Two years (to the day!) after my stay in Surry Hills, Sydney I still dream about my ice cream indulgence at Messina Gelato on Crown Street. Nothing I’ve tasted in Perth has ever come close. Chef, Little Chef and I were out and about and we happened upon Gusto Gelato in Leederville. The cute little shop, with it’s candy coloured interior, is next to Jus Burgers on Newcastle Street. It had just opened it’s doors, so it seemed like a good option for morning tea – it’s never too early for gelato!

The gelato is handcrafted in small batches – the owner/operator Sean Lee learnt his craft at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy. There are a multitude of different flavour combinations, from cappuccino, strawberry and dark chocolate, the aptly named “Booze and Moo’s” (kahlua and coffee), apple pie and many more. It’s a tough decision. I almost choose the delicious sounding “Gusto” a combo of roasted peanut gelato with chocolate swirl and brownie chunks – after much umming and arring we all opt for some limited editions from the specials board.

Being December, I had the “White Christmas” gelato. Its delicious concoction of white chocolate, shredded coconut, with cherries and white choc rice crispies.

Chef and Little Chef both chose the “Cookie Monster”. Like father like son – they wolfed down the sweet cream gelato, with triple choc cookies, cookie dough and a milk chocolate ganache.

The gelato is made 100% from scratch on site – with NO nasties – perfect for kids (of all ages!). You can view the kitchen where the magic happens through a window. We thought the gelato was scrumptious and smooth and will absolutely be back for more.

April 9, 2014 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Food Photography – my favourite photos.

Something that goes hand in hand with food writing is food photography. I think without the colour and story telling that a picture provides, blogging would be a bill dull. It’s terribly cliché, but so very true, that a picture tells a thousand words. I really love taking photos too. I started out using the camera on my Samsung Galaxy, which served me fairly well, as luckily camera phones are good quality these days. Chef had been talking about getting a DSLR camera, for photographing his food, for a few years. A few months into the blog, I could see the merits of investing in a good bit of equipment. So we chose a Canon 700D.

It’s taken me a little while to get used to it. It’s not as inconspicuous as whipping out my mobile and at first I was a little uncomfortable, thinking I was drawing attention to myself. I didn’t feel comfortable using it when Chef and I went to dinner at Amuse. I didn’t think it would be good manners at an expensive restaurant to start clicking away with a beeping camera. But that’s just me, I probably could turn off the beeps if I knew how! Poor Chef has learnt that he must wait to be told he can eat, till I have a good shot of his food! I do photograph my own dish last, it’s only fair. The chunky DLSR is part of a bloggers uniform and I won’t go dining without it. Wether I remember to pop the SD card in is another matter… Chef just rolls his eyes now, I’ve done that a few times! Whoops!

When I attended the Eat Drink Blog conference last year, I picked up some good tips from the photography session. It also cracked me up that whenever there was attractive food around, a scrum of bloggers would gather, clicking away with there DSLRs! I felt at home. I really love the photo I took at the Mushroom Farm on Day two of the conference.

I really love to eat out during daylight hours, as it obviously brings better lighting conditions. So this has also brought more eye rolls from Chef, as I’ll say something daft like “It’s raining today, let’s go to Bib and Tucker on a sunny day”. The things we bloggers do for a good beach shot…

A few people have remarked that I have a good eye for photography. I just put it down to dumb luck, as I feel there are a lot of things I still need to learn about how to use our camera to its full potential. Looking to the future, I hope to do a food photography class soon.

I love to use Instagram. Last week I added yet another social media platform – Pinterest. Now, I’m still a Pinetrest newbie, so I don’t really know what I’m doing! If you’re on Pinterest be sure to follow me on there too – I’ll be adding my very favourite photos.

LINK>> http://www.pinterest.com/chefswifeperth/

Here are a few of my favourite pics from the last year and you’ll notice that they’re not all of food. Wether it’s edible or a beautiful part of WA, I just love a good photo 🙂

January 11, 2014 by The Chef, his Wife and their PERTH-fect life

Tubs Gourmet Gelato

Little Chef was being ever so patient with me. We were driving here, there and everywhere running errands just before Christmas. I thought I’d reward this with a gelato treat (for him and me!). Tubs, in Guildford, is a locally run company. It opened just over 6 months ago.

At Tubs they make fresh small batch gourmet gelato. All the ingredients are natural, with no nasties – so no colourings or commercial flavourings etc. Their philosophy is all about quality and freshness without compromise. The flavours are constantly changing. On this day we had;

LC had chocolate gelato in a cone, which he gobbled down in no time! I had a sneaky bite and it was so creamy.

I had a tub of berry sorbet, it was scrumptious and so refreshing.

At Tubs they also serve waffles, cake and coffee. Tubs is right opposite Alfred’s Kitchen, so I think a tub of gelato, after one of Alfred’s famous burgers would go down a treat for sure. The Apple Pie gelato is what I’d like to try next time – yummo!