Melbourne breakfast: Tall Timber - South Yarra

I found Tall Timber by accident through suggested pages on Instagram. I knew straight away that this needed to be added to my list and off we went. I love that it's situated in a spot away from the bustle of Commercial Road. We took a seat outside and counted our lucky stars that we go there when we did. Halfway through our breakfast/brunch there was a line forming alongside the perimeter to get in. I get sightly anxious by this and we left shortly after.

The experience was terrific though, the beans are Niccolo and are roasted on-site and the poduce was fresh and appetising.
If you plan to hang around, I'd book yourself in for a facial with incredible skin expert, Christine Clais at  The French Facialist then head over to the Prahran Markets and check out some of the best locally sourced produce Melbourne has to offer. Caribold's in the seafood section has some incredible sushi to try out too - made fresh on the spot and wonderful service!

Gluten-free Cauliflower Pizza

Yep, it's true and it's doable - cauliflower crusted pizza. It might just take that little bit longer, but the results are absolutely worth it. There are lots of recipes out there online and I amalgamated a few that I thought would work well. Tobie Puttock has a recipe in his cookbook The Chef Gets Healthy, but even that one I modified slightly.

Once you've got the base ready to go and cooked the rest is so easy. Have a look online, make sure you buy some quality ingredients - especially the cauliflower, it might be worth waiting for them to be in season, and give it a go!

Lasagne does not have to have meat...

Did you know that lasagne does not have to have meat? Of course you do, but I wanted to give you an example of one we made recently that consisted of pumpkin, lentils, kale. brown rice and ricotta.
Not bad, hey? It was super delicious and we sided this with a spinach salad and home-made saukeraut.

Melbourne breakfast: Top Paddock - Richmond

You know a place has got to be good when:
1) there's a line out the door and people are milling around the outside happy to give up their precious weekend mornings to wait until their name is called;
2) your Instagram feed continuously brings up their incredible-looking ricotta hotcakes from the menu;
3) it shows up in every top listing on Urban List

As much as I wanted to try the infamous ricotta hotcakes, I couldn't go past the trout, which had my name all over it! And honestly, no regrets. This place was great! Despite it being a busy Sunday morning the staff were friendly and accomodating, you didn't feel pressured to rush and leave so they could quickly sit another couple into your booth before the seat had a chance to get cool again. The coffee was exactly to order - I have a bit of a BB coffee order - and they use the beans from Five Senses.

I can see why Top Paddock has got its reputation and why friends and strangers will put it high up on the recommendation list when talking Melbourne breakfast spots.

If you haven't already, do put it on the list and be sure to give yourself that little bit of extra time because there is a guarantee you'll have to wait a little while, and enjoy the scrumptious, Instagram-worthy, locally produced meals that Top Paddock has to offer.

My kind of raw bliss balls

These balls are incredibly easy, guilt-free and raw. I don't usually use any measuring devices, I go with the feel, texture and cheeky test tastes in between.

Ingredients include:

- Activated almonds, macadamia and hazelnuts 

- sesame seeds 

- hemp seeds 

- liquorice root

- star anise

- true cinnamon, ground 

- maca 

- cacao

- carob

- clove

- vanilla bean or organic vanilla essence

- coconut dessicated

- cranberries (optional)

- medjool dates

- ginger

- Celtic sea salt 

- coconut oil 

In a food processor place the vanilla bean, ginger, star anise, liquorice root and Celtic salt, blend into a paste.

Add rest of ingredients, keeping some of the sesame seeds, carob and hemp seeds aside. Use a tamper to assist in bringing the mix together.

Spoon a mix onto your palm and create bite-sized balls. Alternate rolling these in hemp, carob or sesame seeds.

Place in fridge for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Nb: do get in touch if you'd like some guidance on quantity.