It’s been three years since I last wrote about a dining experience at Brisbane’s Aria, where I found the food, and river-front views, and all that to be, you know, tolerable.

Ok that’s a lie. I loved it.

As such though, I had great expectations to love it again this time around, because things only get better with age, right? Apart from Germaine Greer.  

Sometimes though, setting the bar too high is the perfect way to be disappointed, so there is always a bit of a risk involved with the return visit to a much loved restaurant.
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How did Aria’s fare fare this time around? Let’s find out. 

While there’s nothing technically wrong with the standard bacon and eggs on a Sunday morning, it can start to feel a little same-old, same-old each week.

​Yes I try to spice up my life by switching from fried eggs to scrambled eggs now and again, but lately even a poached egg hasn’t been quite cutting it.

Enter Freja’s. 

Located in trendy Wilston Village in Brisbane’s inner-north, Freja’s Cafe has an all-day menu that is nothing if not outlandishly creative. I’m talking beef cheek and macaroni croissant, confit garlic waffles or panna-cotta with your granola. 

But do these plates of art translate into tasty tidbits? Let’s take a look. 

There are two things I truly love- eating out for dinner and my toddler.

​Sadly, both of those things don’t always go hand-in-hand. Nothing strikes fear into the heart of someone standing behind a white table cloth as the sight of small sticky fingers.  

As such, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with finding kid-friendly restaurants so that my mini-me and I can both enjoy an (early) night out.

Luckily for us, Italian Street Kitchen has migrated from Sydney to Brisbane, bringing with it ridiculously tasty food, an affordable menu, and a fun family-friendly atmosphere.

Does it really feel like a little slice of Italy in the inner-city burbs?

Let’s find out. 

The Brisbane ‘burbs is an unlikely place to find a celebrity chef restaurant, but it’s here you’ll find Billykart Kitchen, founded by Ben O’Donoghue of Surfing the Menu fame. 

​Restaurants owned by celeb chefs have a lot to live up to. We’ve seen their insanely drool-worthy foodie creations on TV, and we expect something similar on our plates in real life.

As taste-ovision is yet to be invented, we decided to head out west to try out some famed dishes for ourselves.  

Was the meal primetime quality?

Let’s find out. 

​The cornerstone of Christmas celebrations is food and bad cracker jokes about deer. Festive feasting though is what mainly brings together friends, families and even foes (I acknowledge that those labels can be interchangeable with the same person).

However, not everyone is lucky enough to know when their next meal will be, with a staggering 3.6 million Australians experiencing food insecurity in 2017. This is a 10 per cent increase from the previous year, meaning that the need for food relief is escalating*. 

I’ve been incredibly lucky to eat some fantastic local food throughout the year, and now is a chance to give back. If you feel in any way similar, pledging a packet of food is a great way to provide.

What are the best items to add to your trolley? 

Let’s take a look at the most needed foods that charities are asking our help for this Christmas.
*Source: Foodbank Hunger Report 2017

​Style. Design. Functionality. <insert dramatic pause> Integrity.

These key tenets of architecture are difficult to read in anything other than the voice of Kevin McCloud.  

It’s no surprise then that Brisbane’s Base Architecture has embodied these principles in a new basement cafe/bar under their offices in inner-north Grange.

Quincy’s is a café by day and a bar by night, and boasts an array of cocktails made entirely with Australian spirits. Integrity indeed.

Let’s find out  what else is so bespoke about this place, and if the owners are in by Christmas. 

Being served tiny plate after tiny plate of food is one of my favourite ways to get full… but I degust.

As the number of dishes add up, so too usually does the price. There are affordable degustation options available around town though, and we decided to try one out.
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The Euro in Brisbane city offers a signature six course degustation for $95, just keeping it under that magic $100 mark. 

Is it still worth getting that stretchy (but fashionable) outfit on for? Let’s take a look.

The warmer weather has brought along with it flowers in bloom, comfy t-shirts, and the obligatory question: "what on earth happened to our diets over the colder months?" 

Two Brissy ladies keen to help out with health habits city-wide are Emma and Alicia from Genki Milk Co.

I happened upon them during their first week at the Jan Powers Markets in Newfarm, and was instantly drawn to their thoughtfully crafted array of almond milks.

Genki almond milk tastes completely different to the almond milk you buy in a longlife carton in the store, mainly because store-bought almond milk contains an embarrassing 2% almonds, while Genki Milk is comprised of a whopping 20% almonds.

That means more delicious creamy almond goodness, less chemical nasties.

​Actually in Genki Milk's case there are no chemical nasties at all, with the girls ensuring no non-food fillers, stabilisers or additives make their way into their artisanal milk creations. This does mean you have to drink your almond milk within a few days, but good luck keeping these tasty drinks in your fridge for that long!

We had a chat with Alicia and Emma to find out why they're nuts about the humble almond. 

Small, dark, nondescript doors that lead to a staircase are generally mysterious in either an exciting or a foreboding kind of way. 

Maybe it was all the black paint, or maybe it was because it was next to a topless bar (you know the one), but when I got to the entrance of Greenglass, I felt a little apprehensive. 

There was the promise of good food though, so upstairs I went. 

Let's see what was inside. 

Coffee is like a liquid hug for your brain.

So my brain was feeling very loved indeed when it (and the rest of me) was invited to be Campos Coffee's guest taster this month, for some single origin beans from Papua New Guinea's Barioda Estate.

I was lucky enough to try these special beans before they hit the shelves, and I also got schooled on what it takes to make a macchiato more moreish. 

Does this grind really deserve its own 30 days of fame? Let's find out.