What's On In Sydney

This week
TUE 3-SUN 22 OCT: Art & About
WED 4-FRI 6 OCT: Good Food Month Night Noodle Markets
FRI 06 OCT: Donna Hay demonstration at DJs Market Street
SAT 07 OCT: Donna Hay demonstration at DJs Bondi
SAT 07 OCT: Good Living Growers' Market, Pyrmont
SAT 07 OCT: Ashfield Gourmet Market
SAT 07 OCT:Farmers Market, Ent Quarter
SAT 07 OCT: Orange Grove Markets
SAT 07 OCT: Warwick Farm Trackside Market
SUN 08 OCT: Italian Forum Market
SUN 08 OCT: Strathfield Moon Festival

Next week
MON 9-FRI 13 OCT: GFM Night Noodle Markets
SAT 14 OCT: Festival of Japan
SAT 14 OCT: Castle Hill Farmers Market
SAT 14 OCT: Kings Cross Organic Market
SAT 14 OCT: Ashfield Gourmet Market
SAT 14 OCT:Farmers Market, Ent Quarter
SAT 14 OCT: Orange Grove Markets
SAT 14 OCT: Warwick Farm Trackside Market
SUN 15 OCT: Italian Forum Market
SUN 15 OCT: Concord Street Fair

Rest of October
MON 16-FRI 20 OCT: GFM Night Noodle Markets
SAT 21 OCT: Northside Produce Market
SAT 21 OCT: Granny Smith Festival, Ryde
SUN 22 OCT: Good Food Month Spring Picnic
SUN 22 OCT: Danks Street Festival
SAT 28 OCT: Sydney Food and Wine Fair

Want more diary dates? Don't forget to keep an eye on the GrabYourFork Sydney fooding calendar. Scroll down the right-hand side panel for a list of upcoming events; this is constantly updated with new events as I find them.

Fair Trade Coffee Company, Glebe

EDIT: Fair Trade Coffee Company has closed

The Fair Trade Coffee Company opened in Glebe in late August, the first cafe in Sydney to sell and serve coffee and tea that is only fair trade, meaning Third World producers are actively paid fair prices.



The cafe also has an extensive eat-in menu with breakfast served until 3pm and a range of light meals and daily specials.


Fair Trade Coffee Company front counter

Saffron and I had only popped in to have a quick lunch, but time seems to slow down to a crawl as soon as you take a step in here: the homey wooden tables, the rattan blinds and the cheerful disposition of staff make you feel like you're on a remote relaxed holiday far far away from the city hustle and bustle.


Hot chocolate $3.50


Scrambled eggs on sourdough $5.50

The prices are all fairly reasonable and the service, although not militarily efficient, was enthusiastically warm and accompanied by genuine honest smiles.


Tamari scrambled tofu $7.20
served with seasonal vegetables, tahini and soy linseed sourdough


Garlic and parsley grilled mushrooms $2.50


Savoury spelt crepes with spinach and fetta $7.80



Fair Trade Coffee Company (CLOSED)
33 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Sydney


Tel: +61 (02) 9660 0621

Cabramatta Moon Festival

We didn't get down to the Cabramatta Moon Festival until quite late in the day, when John Street was decidely strewn with assorted litter and squashed remnants of fluoro green and pink silly string.


Pai Lau gate in Freedom Plaza, Cabramatta

There were still plenty of people about, but at this hour there was room to move. There were still mountains of food available too.


Cha gio spring rolls


Cashew nut wafers


Miniature bottles of Squid bran fish sauce

Squid brand! Our favourite! And in terribly cute miniature bottles!


Thumbs up for Yummy House sauces


Sticky rice bundles


Outdoor dining


Laksa


Basil seed drink

One of my favourites.


Obligatory shot of a gozleme stall


Vegetable carvings

The stall was selling carving tools, graters and mandolines.


Vegetable carving in action

They made it look so easy.


Carved watermelon


Phuoc Hau Pagoda stall


Lion dance


This year's Cabramatta Moon Festival was held on Sunday October 1, 2006.

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Cabramatta Moon Festival 2005
Mooncake mania
Snowskin mooncakes and the Chinese Moon Festival
Cabramatta Chinese New Year Festival 2007

Cabramatta - Duc Thanh
Cabramatta - Hung Vuong
Cabramatta - Iron Chef Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Cabramatta - Phu Quoc
Cabramatta - Thanh Binh
Recipe - Avocado shake

Top 10 Sydney Eats for Tourists and Other Rewarding Food Adventures

Beard Papa, Chatswood

Beard Papa: now in vanilla, chocolate and green tea

While we're on the subject of green tea obsessions, I should also mention that we recently sampled the green tea custard puffs from Beard Papa.

The usual tray of samples on the counter saw us all reach eagerly for the little bite-sized mouthfuls of choux pastry filled with matcha custard. It was a delicate taste of matcha within the satiny smooth custard tinted a pale green; a light dusting of matcha powder on the puff's surface added extra flavour and required some post-consumption lip-licking as well.


Beard Papa empty puffs

We agreed that the original vanilla bean flavour was still our favourite, and in a daze of custard-induced anticipation I neglected to snap any pics of the matcha-filled puffs.

We did find out however, that Beard Papa puffs, although baked fresh on site, are baked from frozen. "We get them delivered from our factory," our yellow-aproned server said with a smile.

"From Japan?" asked someone, whose mouth moves faster than their sense of logic.

"Oh, no," she laughed merrily. "Our factory in Sydney!"


Beard Papa kitchen

A helpful sign on site also told us that Beard Papa has only been around for eight years, opening in Osaka, Japan in 1999. Today there are apparently over 280 franchises around the world.


Beard Papa facts and figures

But most exciting? In the the blurb headlined "Good for Your Breakfast!", we are told that "Beard Papa's cream puff contains the dairy goodness of fresh eggs and milk. It gets you started [in] the morning."

Good for breakfast? Ok, you've convinced me.



Beard Papa’s Sweets
Westfield Chatswood
K353a, Ground floor (near General Pants)
1 Anderson Street Chatswood, Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9412 2214

Mon-Wed 9.00am-5.30pm
Thu 9.00am-9.00pm
Fri 9.00am-5.30pm
Sat-Sun 9.00am-5.00pm

1 puff: $2.50
6 puffs: $12.00
12 puffs: $20.00

Related GrabYourForks posts:
Beard Papa's Sweets, March 2007
Beard Papa's Sweets, June 2006
Puffy at Market City, Haymarket Chinatown, July 2007
Puffy at World Square, City, September 2006