Australia

Sep 12, 2011 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Google buys Zagat, but no coverage south of the Equator

Google has bought gastronomic capsule-review bible, Zagat. From the Google blog: So, today, I’m thrilled that Google has acquired Zagat. Moving forward, Zagat will be a cornerstone of our local offering—delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary)

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Aug 29, 2011 | Post by: Phil Lees 3 Comments

Nectarine Blossoms



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Apr 30, 2011 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Indentured Labour: Camy Shanghai Dumpling House’s secret, part 2

Last time that I mentioned Camy Shanghai Dumpling House, I conjectured that the popularity was due to its open secret status and cheapness. At least now we know where the cheapness comes from: not paying their staff. From the Herald-Sun: Mr Chang worked 13-hour days from 9.30am-10.30pm with only five-minute

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Apr 28, 2011 | Post by: Phil Lees 10 Comments

Your Kitchen Sucks

“I’ve seen enough people not cook well. I don’t want to watch people very pleased with what they’re doing but doing everything wrong…What I found on MasterChef when I was on it, some of the basic things the contestants were trying to do – they didn’t know the basic things,

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Apr 17, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 5 Comments

Trolling as the food writing

Terry Durack over at the Age manages to both pit Sydney against Melbourne and suburb versus suburb by attempting to pick the worst suburb for eating in each city. There is good food to be found everywhere in Australia – it may be behind closed doors or in people’s backyards

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Apr 07, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Sensory Lab, Melbourne

I don’t take coffee too seriously. I’m aware that there are more aromatic compounds in your java than in a glass of wine but I don’t personally seek them out even though I draw a good part of my income from describing tastes to other people. Call it a cognitive

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Apr 06, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Maybe people aren’t drinking it because it tastes like shit

There’s a short article over at The Age mapping the decline of the big Australian beers as a failure of their marketing. Their reason for the fall from grace of VB and Carlton: Image is also one of the reasons why there has been strong growth in mainstream craft beers

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Feb 13, 2010 | Post by: Phil Lees 4 Comments

Sapa Hills, Footscray

There are two generations of Vietnamese restaurants in Footscray, Melbourne. The first emulates the tile-and-mirror-walled, cheap metal table joints of the streets of Saigon. The architecture sends a message that hosing down the walls could be a priority, the hall of mirrors effect suggests that the appearance of being busy

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