brian's blog

Post La Traviata...and a visit to food for thought

Hello my dear readers,

I am strangely feeling relieved that La Traviata is over. Very mixed about it. Those of you who came to watch must have found it v enjoyable. For me, it was a great experience, to work with a super-duper nice bunch of people in the bass section and also with these v experienced singers.

I have been going to the library quite frequently, to increase my meagre aptitude in the Japanese language but also to look at cookbooks. Nope guys, I am not becoming metro, homo nor have I changed my ambition to 'househusband'. My main fascinations are with breakfasts and French cuisine. And amid the books that I have borrowed, here is a fascinating find:

As you can see, the silly library tag is blocking the title. It's called Gentlemen, start your ovens! The title, of course takes its catchiness from a certain arcade game(of which I needn't say). I don't agree with everything in it, but most of the stuff in there is good, including the layout and presentation of the book, which is wonderfully refreshing from all those boring cookbooks published in the 80s and 90s. And that the library should find new ways of tagging items!

On the same day that I borrowed this book, I decided to head somewhere nearby for dinner. Initially, I wanted to eat at Miss Clarity cafe on Purvis St, the dim lighting and tealight(aka somewhat intimate, romantic) setting made a lone guy like me uncomfortable, so I decided to patronise 'Food for thought', which was just nearby on North Bridge Road. Here's the URL:

http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/hello.html



The place was quite cosy. It appeared that they got a lot of stuff from Ikea(Sorry, I don't think v highly of Ikea). The ambience was good and not too crowded for dinner time. There were more comfortable spaces for larger groups but tables for two looked v common. With that I chose to sit at the bar to blend myself in with the open kitchen. The staff were friendly

And this was what I had for dinner:

Yea, the picture quality is kinda bad, but what I had here was a oven steak sandwich with shitake mushroom kernel soup, a bread roll and an ice-lemon tea(not pictured). The soup was disastrous, only to be saved by the juicy slices of shitake mushroom in it and accompanied by an above-average butter roll. The bread was good(ciabatta), with a soft chewy texture.The meat beneath it was good. Salad on the side was alright but meagre in quantity for a bloke like me.

I think the portions were good for me if it were lunch, but this wasn't filling for dinner. The way they presented my sandwich was very refreshing(given that I've ate at hawker centers and kopitiams for the past few days). After finishing my meal, I had a brief and friendly chat with David, whom I believe is one of the owners of the cafe. We chatted about the cafe and Sydney in general.

Chinese New Year is coming around soon and on this note, I just want to wish everyone 'Gong Xi Fa Cai'!! And for those who are still not married, may all of you get massive windfalls of red packets!!! (filled with $$$$$, of course)

posted by brian sim @ 3:15 pm