Remedy by Lonsdale Street Roasters, Belconnen

There’s a new kid cafe in (Belconnen) town (centre).

Little Oink Cafe, Cook

Canberra’s known for its local centres. Heck, we’ve even got Parties at the Shops, which revolves around and celebrates them. But some local centres are in a bit of a state of decline (and for still others, that’s a euphemism!). So, it kinda excites me to see a range of new cafes popping up in some of the quieter centres and making a real go of it. Little Oink Cafe in Cook shops is one example.

#HumanBrochure – A Day of Food and Wine

Those of you who follow me may have seen a whole host of posts recently where I’m using the hashtag #HumanBrochure. The reason being: I am one! In Canberra’s 101st year, ACT Tourism put out the call for social media-savvy Canberrans to be part of a huge campaign.

101 Canberrans have been chosen based on the quality of their content, and reach. Some of us are across many social media platforms, including blogs, and others just one or two. We got to nominate one of four available groups: Food & Wine (my group!), Adventure, Family Fun and Arts and Culture.

Throughout the months of May and June, ACT Tourism has organised a whole host of ‘discovery events’, where some of Canberra’s best is revealed to us. In many cases we get to go behind the scenes. Armed with this knowledge, at the end of October we get to invite two interstate guests and one Canberra local for a weekend spent how we choose, but with one special, niche event (still to be revealed!).

In amongst all these excellent discovery events, each group gets a whole day devoted to exploring the region around their theme. Food & Wine was first up – all we’d been told is that the day was starting with coffee, and ending with cocktails and entertainment. The rest was a surprise!

Urban Roast, Belconnen

Since our first visit at Chatterbox we’ve become big fans of Belconnen’s newest and increasingly popular breakfast venue – Boyfriend goes so far to describe it as his local, and the owners and regular waitstaff recognise him. They offer consistent and fast service no matter who you are, or on what day you visit, which is what we enjoy about it. But, we have to branch out, and Boyfriend begrudgingly obliges. Last week we’d spotted Urban Roast on the corner of Cohen and Lathlain Streets with plenty of customers on a Saturday morning, and agreed to seek it out.

The Cupping Room, Civic

The new breakfast (and lunch!) venue everyone’s been tweeting, Facebooking and talking about the last few weeks has been The Cupping Room in Civic. Figuring we had a chance of securing a table in the second week of January in Canberra, we arrive just past 10am to try it out.

Bittersweet, Kingston

You’re all going to groan, but my experience at the Bittersweet cafe in Kingston is, well, bittersweet.