Blue Corn, St Kilda

I recently got to revisit Melbourne for a working weekend and took advantage of the opportunity to catch up with friends while I was there. For dinner one night I met a friend at Blue Corn in St Kilda. Despite having lived in St Kilda & Elwood for many years, I had never eaten at Blue Corn, mainly because of the prices. It's not overly expensive by any means, but it was always out of reach for my student-poverty lifestyle at the time.

I can't believe I waited so long. Blue Corn is AWESOME! My friend convinced me to have a margherita to start - isn't it beautiful?

I ordered the dips, which came with cornbread, corn chips & olives. It was huge, just as Carla had described! I loved the variety in flavours too - from memory the dips were guacamole, tomato/capsicum, hummus, olive & I really can't remember the fifth one. The cornbread was super-fresh & delicious too.

We had dessert at home, which was a mouth-watering bowl of fruit salad with lemon sorbet. In my opinion, the absolutely most perfect way to finish off a gorgeous meal.

I definitely recommend Blue Corn for south-side vegans - in my opinion it easily stacks up to Trippy Taco. The atmosphere is fun and the staff are friendly and laid-back, all in all a great place to hang out for the night.

Blue Corn
205 Barkly St, St Kilda
Mon-Fri 6-11pm; Sat-Sun 9am-11pm (these opening hours are unconfirmed - best to call them to check - 9534 5996)

Mega Cafe Catch-up Part 3

The third & final instalment in my cafe catch up posts from Melbourne. Pretty much all these photos are crap - sorry about that.

This is the avocado on toast at Wee Jeanie. I've blogged about this cafe before, and visited many, many more times without blogging. This meal comes with loads of fresh rocket, a yummy tomato relish & fresh lemon.

I just love this place. The service is always outstanding, it has a fantastic vibe and the coffee is by far the best in the west. Sure, the vegan options are pretty light on, but in the western suburbs you take what you can get. Keep up the good work guys!

Wee Jeanie
50 Anderson St, Yarraville
Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30am-4.30pm

For a quick lunch in the city, it's hard to go past The Organic Food & Wine Deli. Yes, I think they are a tad over-priced, and the service is mostly miss, rarely hit. But since Soul Food in Equitable Place closed down, it's one of the only sit-down places with lots of vegan choices on the menu. My favourite thing here is the tofu burger, but I've eaten it so many times I thought I should try something different. So I did - this is the vegan kashmir pie. It was OK - not as flavoursome as the burgers and heated up in the microwave, which is annoying because it made the pastry go soggy. But healthy, filling & warm. One warning - stay away from the coffee, I've never had a drinkable one here.

TOFWD
28 Degraves St, Melbourne
Mon-Fri 7am–7.30pm; Sat 8am–6pm; Sun 9am–5pm
www.tofwd.com.au

Last, but not least is this small vegan special plate at Gopals. I have a confession to make. I'd never been to Gopals. There, I've said it. I never went in the 4 1/2 years as a uni student. I never went in the 2 1/2 years working in the CBD. Then, 4 days out from leaving Melbourne, I found myself in the city at dinnertime & I decided to take the plunge. Without too much thought I went for the vegan special on the board - about $10 I think - it included a drink & a selection of the vegan items from the buffet plus a dessert. From memory there was a dahl, mixed vegetables, rice & a salad.

This is the dessert - It was some kind of apple/pear pudding. Delicious & just the right way to finish. Gopals is a no-frills place, but the atmosphere is pretty good - especially if you sit at one of the window-tables overlooking Swanston St. The servings are big, the food is healthy & everyone is friendly. I would definitely go back.

Gopals Vegetarian
1st floor, 139 Swanston St, Melbourne
Mon-Sat, 11.30am-8.30pm

I heart my public library

Hmmm, I need to do something about this, it's Sunday again & I haven't posted anything all week, so now I'm playing catch-up again. Definitely more motivation needed mid-week.

I'm putting it out there - I'm a librarian who loves my public library (and yes, I also read books, lots of books). I Love Melbourne Library Service. I have worked in a large public-library system & I loved that job - I loved the people, I loved the fulfillment & I loved the opportunities I had to express my creativity. But, the system itself had its problems (as most bureaucracies do). So I was very excited when I moved back to Melbourne & was able to become a public library customer for the first time as a 'professional' myself.

Here are the things I love about MLS (these are mostly comments about City Library, because that's the branch I use):

• The location is perfect. Right across the road from my office.
  
• The opening hours are convenient. They open at 8am weekdays, so I can go in before work & get everything done before it gets too busy.
  
• The Library Management System is brilliant. I can do everything online - place holds, renew items & suggest new purchases.
  
• It's free. I know - all public libraries are supposed to be free, but most have lots of different fees - for reservations, Internet access & other things - not the case here - they have stuck to the true ethos of a public library service.
  
• The collection is good. They get new titles pretty quickly (at least compared to my old system) & they buy pretty much everything I suggest for purchase.
  
• They send me email notifications. When my reservations are available to pick up & 2 days before my items are due back.
  
• The reservation system is self-service & they have self-checkout machines. This means that when I go in at lunch time & there are people everywhere I don't have to stand in a queue for 30mins.
  
• They have free wireless. Enough said.
  
• It feels funky. The architecture is interesting, the furniture is cool, even the shelving is a little different.
  
• They hold lots of creative events inside the library. Like music & craft markets.
  
• They have a piano in their gallery space that members of the public can come & play. (There are restrictions, like, you have to be able to play :-))
  
• There is a great cafe with awesome coffee right in the foyer

I think that is enough to give you an idea. This is a library that I believe is perfectly set up for people like me - young, busy professionals.

There are a few small things I think they could do better:

• There should be more lounging places. Sometimes I just want a free place to go & sit & read my book & I can't do it there anymore. I heard the manager, Barry, give a talk once; he said they had to remove the lounges because people were falling asleep too often (which prompted complaints from other customers) & they also needed more study space, both reasons I can accept as perfectly logical. Emotionally, though, I prefer libraries with lounges.
  
• The Reference Desk should be downstairs. I understand that it's upstairs with the collection & that moving the library around isn't really feasible, but when I imagine that I'm a new customer not familiar with typical library layouts I know I would find it difficult to locate the desk.
  
• They recently interfiled the Young Adult fiction with the Adult fiction. I read a lot of YA fiction & I'm disappointed that I can't quickly browse the collection anymore.

So, there you have it, my love story about my public library. Seriously, though, there are many, many public library networks in Australia & I think that most could learn something from MLS.

[Photos courtesy of Flickr user Timothy Grieg]

P.S. If anyone feels like giving me a job at MLS I would happily accept. I have been watching for 2 years & haven't seen any librarian positions advertised - not one. The staff must really love it there :-)