cafes, communication, and more
DVD: Frozen
I’d been looking forward to seeing this for a long while and it didn’t disappoint, though it left me wondering about the parenting values of the parents of the two royals who have most of the running time. The funniest character is a talking snowman, there’s a somewhat empowering message for girls in there amidst the usual Disney princess things. And the songs are very catchy.
Movie: The Lego Movie
Clever kids movie that doesn’t necessarily pass the Bechdel test, but nonetheless entertains for its full duration, and has a catchy song with an upbeat message. A little too scary in places for very small children, but an enjoyable ride.
Ralph Fiennes turns in a great comic performance in this flight of fancy through a surreal story set in a colourful, fanciful, Wes Anderson pre-world-war-two world. There’s a lot of swearing (some would say an anachronistic amount), and some other grown-up content, but to see Anderson’s take on series of action movie tropes is worth the price of admission.
If you’re a fan of any of Anderson’s other work, you’ll enjoy this.
Five Senses coffee. 34 Pitt St, Mortdale. For many years there has been a massive void on Sydney’s Blue railway line in terms of great coffee. There are plenty of places with espresso machines, and no shortage of places with good breakfast options around, but very few that hit the ball out of the park – this is starting to change with Swallow Coffee Traders and Barista Haus in Rockdale, and with Short Black Panther in Mortdale (not to be confused with Short Black in Penshurst).
With all the glass in the front window, it’s no wonder there is so much daylight in side, and combined with the high ceilings there’s a real sense of space. There’s an eclectic range of different chairs and tables, giving the place a rustic character, and the cardboard moose heads and little golden books turned menus are a homey touch.
Coffee-wise, though, it’s serious equipment all the way: Synesso espresso machine and Mazza grinders. I’ve been back three times, and the coffee is consistently good. The espresso has good crema, the milk work is good, and the cold batch brew is light, without too much of a caffeine hit.
The pastries and custom-baked goods (someone arrives with a tray of some kind of baked goods on one of my visits), but there’s a definite expertise with flavours in the rest of the menu. Above, the avocado feta and mint on toast ($8) – hopefully if survives through to the next iteration of the menu.
Blind Man Coffee. 122 Chapel St, Marrickville. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a cafe that was a converted garage. Last time was a mixed-bag (now closed down), but this time they’ve managed to make a blissful retreat from the densely packed street surrounds.
The exclamation marks on the wall show the menus, and it’s a standard La Marzocco churning out the coffees and the chai lattes.
Beyond the grinders, there is a set of shelves with a range of single origin coffees ($10 for 250g), chai, and teas. You can even buy crockery!
The decaf long black comes from its own grinder, and is a well made one (the lattes have great latte art, and are well extracted). Make sure you try the water from the jug – infused with quills of cinnamon.
Food-wise there are toasties (tomato, bocconcini and pesto or egg, haloumi, mushroom and relish. Both are really tasty.
Oh, and the chai is as great as you’d expect from Sticky Chai.
This place is worth a visit, just to experience the atmosphere (but the food, coffee and chai more than hold their own).
Sensory Lab Coffee. 4/495 Princes Highway Rockdale. In a dark alley near the post office is a little taste of a Melbourne laneway-style cafe. Don’t let the milk crates fool you, there are proper chair and tables inside, and boards to eat off. White tiles, elegant typesetting: there’s a particular interior design that they’re shooting for.
A cold-drip rig sits atop the cabinet of cakes and sandwiches, while the La Marzocco sits in the corner churning out espresso.
Decaf is pre-ground, but still tasty, and they know how to make a good espresso. Heartening to see new offerings in Rockdale springing up: it’s looking like a suburb with a growing cafe culture.
Gabriel Coffee. 71/65 Myrtle St, Chippendale. In the middle of the built-up part of Chippendale is a playground, and a large, paved area with some outdoor tables and chairs. A sign says “The Sconery”, an intriguing name.
Step inside, and there’s a coffee machine, a windowed cabinet with salads, and a range of pastries, biscuits and more. Cold drinks are served in mason jars. Coffee is well made. Careful talking to Jason – he talked me into an almond croissant. It was delicious.
The Grounds coffee. 1/226 Rocky Point Rd, Ramsgate. Ramsgate’s latest cafe is beautifully fitted out, and already churning out great coffee and food. You’d like more detail than that? Sure.
The menu is standard cafe breakfast items with an emphasis on high-quality breads – a brioche roll for the breakfast burger ($10), and a breakfast tasting plate ($18) that includes two poached eggs in addition to avocado, feta, olives and prosciutto.
Inside, the counter gives emphasis to the ready-made pastries, like the Nutella-filled donut. When we visit for the grand opening, they have a selection of miniature versions available (two embarrassingly large bites, or perhaps four more reasonable ones), but the full-size version ($4) is somewhere around the size of a Krispy Kreme. There’s self-serve water at the counter, infused with fresh cucumber: very refreshing.
I was skeptical when I read about the “Nescafe Frappe” ($6), but asking around, this is a very popular Greek traditional drink, and it’s expertly made here – the texture is cloud-like: it really can keep the straw vertical. If you’re more traditional in your tastes, the tricked-out Synesso (complete with digital timers for each of the three group heads) is being used to good effect, with expertly made short blacks and lattes.
This place deserves every success.
Movie: Robocop. Reimagining the original Robocop (from 1987) in the modern day, with Samuel L Jackson as a kind of Fox News presenter, Michael Keaton as an evil billionaire, and Swede Joel Kinnaman in the titular role. Special effects heavy, and neither as violent and chilling nor as thorough in its presentation of a world overrun with crime, it’s an interesting one to watch. The ED-209’s have lost none of their fury.
Non-Stop is the latest Liam Neeson vehicle – it’s a thriller / whodunit on a plane. It’s no Citizen Kane, but it is an amusing puzzler with plenty of twists and turns. Julianne Moore is highly watchable, and the other group of people do a sufficient task at keeping the film going. There are a few continuity gaps, but this is very much not something you want to think about too deeply.