Oliver Brown Belgian Chocolate Cafe - Rhodes, Sydney

Perhaps as a reaction to the many coffee cafes enjoying a healthy growth across Australia, there is an emerging trend now in the presence of a variety of chocolate beverage outlets. Seriously, it all began with Swiss Lindt, Spanish San Churro, Max Brenner and Belgian Guy Lian investing in outlets in harbour city Sydney. Chocolate drinks can be a comfort and soul item, bringing us back to cold mornings or late nippy nights.   The drinks provide a different sensation from consuming chocolate bars or having flakes sprinkled over ice cream.  So when Joyce introduced me to another chocolate chain, I went in with expectations and yet with an open mind. Oliver Brown had three outlets in the northern suburbs of  Sydney, including Chatswood and Top Ryde.

I was impressed with the interior decor at the Rhodes Shopping Centre cafe that we visited. The place was well patronised on a Sunday afternoon, located strategically near an exit to the road and escalators to the upper floor.  The question I always have on coming across yet another outlet is, so what is strikingly different about this latest one?  I saw the small tables, some with leather seats and most with the ubiquitous cafe chair. The counter was rather long and sunlight came through the big clear glass windows. There was a strong emphasis in wood panels. Across the corridor was a typical Coffee Club cafe. There were mochas, milk shakes, fruit crushes, teas, waffles, fondues, cookies, crepes, sandwiches, dips, ice cream, hot chocolates and the unavoidable coffee choices offered on the menu on the wall.  Cakes and chocolate beverage powder were available for sale.  The display had an Euro feel and all the staff members working that day were Asian, most probably university students.

Rhodes has a demographic of Anglo-Celtic, Middle Eastern, East Asian and Indian - many young families, young couples and singles.  This was reflected in the rather busy parade of shoppers passing by outside the Oliver Brown Cafe. The Cafe in Rhodes is open till midnight each evening. Their signature design is Atzec inspired chequered black, green and white patterns, reflected in their wrapping paper and cafe walls.  They fondly refer to themselves as "OB".  We were there after a hefty lunch, so I tried just one signature item from OB - the hot chocolate with crunchy balls and marshmallows. It was a sizable mug, round and squat.  My first dive into the drink was soothing, not overly heavy and supported by those delightful bites into the crunchy bits swirling all over.  San Churro has a rather aromatic taste whilst OB is lighter but uniquely provides its own delivery.

Looking at the mug, it is disheartening to know that there has been a shareholder dispute affecting OB and it has sold its outlets in Top Ryde and Chatswood.  The media today reported that sales for restaurants and cafes have gone up nation wide in Australia, in contrast to department stores.  So no matter what, the story of chocolate and coffee does continue.

Time For A Change

It can be time to change your shower head.
Shower heads, or for that matter, garden hose heads, were initially chosen for a purpose. Once conditions change, let go of the past and move towards the new.   It can be a new design, or you may require a different feel, or the new stuff is just more efficient.

Discover the amazing paw paw baby plant coming out of all the clearing.
The grass may be long and you can unintentionally pull out flora that the weeds have cleverly intertwined themselves with, for protection and symbiosis. Call it a case of collateral damage. Then you see the unmistakable paw paw plant, sturdy and elegant, untouched by this bulldozing of the intruders. How and why did this paw paw come about. Oh yes, you may recall having sprinkled the seeds on a summer's day not long ago, not expecting much but perhaps having a secret desire that some thing may grow somehow. And now the plant is there.

You may never know when you have left a positive impact some how. You never have expectations about this in someone, somewhere. You have forgotten but this other person has not.

How nice when the right size of shovel can remove the debris and unwanted stuff.
Utilise the right tools and approach - and then most things can  fall into place. It may take time or undergoing some lessons to get it just optimal - and then never look back.

Try a substitute and be surprised that it still works, or for the better.
Change a generic product and service and I may find that I may have wool put over my eyes for years. It need not be all bad, for I may instead realise an opportunity of how a good time I have been having all this while.   I emphasise more now on supporting local and independent businesses for my everyday and personal needs - and not to be caught up by the hype of more monopolistic companies.
I love to make substitutions now by selecting new providers in place of those to whom I have  been loyal for so long and they have just taken me for granted.

Make time to replace the toothbrush.
There are things that cannot wait, and I do not mean writing this blog past midnight.  Was it belly size, thinning hair, removing mould, manuring the citrus trees, eating more healthy, going for a run, talking to your neighbours, spending time with your child, keeping in touch with family and more.

Do not over plan, just do it.
Things are best achieved, and most probably progress faster, when I do not over think about it. Or when there are no deadlines but there is instead a passion.  Maybe when my subconscious just takes control and I chip at a brick wall gradually or persistently. Best of all is when I allocate a time, remove all diversions and go for it.  There are things that we can do and fill our unexpected breaks in scheduled tasks.

The best advice I had is from someone who said she cleans the shower glass as well  whilst she is inside cleaning herself.   The worst experience is have someone say I cannot multi-task, when we know we all can!

Let the wind blow away minor things.
I often find discarded wrappers lying hidden under the shrubs and flowering plants in my garden beds. Passer-bys with no civic sense of behaviour do this, expecting others to pick up their mess.
They provide but little irritations, like the weeds that sprout after warm and rainy days. On certain Sundays, my usual delivery of the Sunday Telegraph does not appear.  In the office, the newspapers to my Unit may not arrive on certain days for no reason and I just walk to the bookshop to get them.

I ride with the wind.  It makes me see things in proportion and make me realise there are other things that do matter. It makes me more grateful that important matters are working, like friendship, surviving the traffic risks every day and continuing to enjoy things in life that money cannot buy. I especially value friendships with mates who continue to value me despite discouragement by others and despite the tyranny of distance.  I see this in contrast to the trivialities imposed by the egoism, greed and unplaced pride articulated by others - and it is then easy for me to decide which is trivial and easy to let go, and what is treasured by me.

Make a difference in someone's day.
Today a lovely lady at Bunnings hardware store seemed to pick me out to say a rather enthusiastic hello.  Now cynical me am not sure whether she was doing this as part of her job requirement to engage better with customers, or whether she was genuine to make a difference to my day.  You know - the reason does not matter. The outcome does! 

People can be engrossed in mundane chores, preoccupations and perceptions. A passer-by may be on the verge of saying hello, but is constrained by upbringing, or the reasonable fear that he or she may not get a positive response back, to then proceed to say what is intended. Break the ice and surprise this person.  Okay, they may not respond at all.  Never mind, move on, you may have already made a difference in that other person, no matter how small, no matter how unobserved. Make a baby smile, make an elderly person feel as part of a community. Talk to someone who has to do repetitive chores just to pay the bills. Never take it that I am the most important person at all.

Overturn a pot and relocate stuff from cluttered corners.
Human beings are creatures of habit - and stability. We love to create, commence and begin.  Then, whether it is an idea, a system, an arrangement or a piece of furniture, we relish in this being there, day after day, month after month, year after year.  It can be refreshing to occasionally review, revise and update.  Have fun asking yourself, why not?  I am normally first surprised by the amount of metaphorical cobwebs I find in my assurance and risk management work, and yet when I get home and for my own personal life, I plead guilty of not overturning the mental and physical blocks after hours.

When I get to break free of assumed things set with an advantage long ago, but no longer beneficial, I move into another dimension of fully enjoying new things and a new freedom.  Time to change my shower head!

Chase Oyster Bar - Chatswood, Sydney

Catching up with long time friends is important. To be able to do so with enjoyable dining is a privilege. To have reasonably good food, in relatively quiet ambience, and to also have delightful conversation, is a pleasure.


The Chase Oyster Bar offers more than the name suggests. Chef Paul Della Marta has a wide varied menu that combines both French and Italian cuisine. On the Sunday evening that we sampled his fare, the guinea fowl had run out - I reckoned it must be popular, but was the only game on the menu. Paul's abilities in cuisine dining surpasses the location of his restaurant, next door to a food court and a competitor that thrives on turnover, snacks and different pricing. The location does not fully reveal Paul's promise and delivery, nor positions them for his potential market of his genre.

I was delighted to find attractive pricing for the quality of the food coming out from the kitchen of Chef Paul. Seafood, soups, pates, risottos, salads, pastas, meats, desserts, breads and drinks are made available in the menu. The service by the sole waiting staff that night was efficient and given without fuss. We commenced with a selection of oysters on the shell - Kilpatrick, Thermidor, Mornay, etc. Some of the flavourings used did overwhelm the essentially subtle nature of the oysters. I loved the refreshing texture of the bread rolls, though, with or without butter.

The mains were better. I absolutely loved my choice of the duck roulade. it was not fatty, the inside fillings were just right and the serving was generous. The accompanying carrot and green bean slices were fresh, sweet and appetizing. We had also requested a common plate of stir fried vegetables, which were well done enough to add to my mains. I quickly forgot about missing the guinea fowl once I tucked into the duck. Wendy had a choice of seafood grilled with garlic jus. Daniel had suggested that I should have a beer and I was glad to take him up on that. He had the tortellini with Ausi blue swimmer crab in bisque. I must say my preoccupation with my duck made me forget what Celine had for mains, or was it when another friend Cindy came to say hello with his young daughter after they had finished their meal at the next door New Shanghai Cafe.

Celine did have the same choice of dessert as mine - the unmistakeable test of the cream brûlée, presented with a wholesome surface tarnished with aromatic brown caramelised shades and with a consistent custard feel inside. The strawberry was at the height of current seasonal voluptuousness, in contrast to the mild flavours of the dollop of ice cream placed on the other end of the long and flat serving plate. Daniel had the sesame and green tea flavoured ice cream. Wendy did well with a rather delicate ricotta cheesecake slice, maybe more ricotta than cake.

The night outside hung with a nippy bite in the air, as Chatswood folded into a quiet Sunday's end. Chef Paul had changed into mufti by the time we waved goodbye to him and left. Here was a beam of Euro and modern Australian dining in a suburb increasingly dominated by Asian variations of cooking. I enjoyed a place where there was no rush on your eating pace. I had discovered a refuge where Australian produce and ingredients were utilized to create dishes from continental traditions - and where I could still find the battered fish.

Tonitto's Continental Cakes - Port Kembla, NSW

Tonitto can be a name variation of Antonio.It also refers to an outstanding cake shop and bakery located along the main strip in Port Kembla, NSW. I like the topography and sloping inclinations of this road - Wentworth Street. You may hear the surf from the nearby impressive sandy beach.  It is a Saturday morning, suburban and it feels like any of the coastal towns dotted around the Australian coast - but then I notice the towering chimney from the nearby steel works. Not that this breaks my fascination with the scenery, with shuttered light industrial garages, people scurrying through the wintery windy blast and a day that feels like any other. Tonitto provided me a bright spot that quiet weekend, and I eyed the napoli (left), tartuffi (upper right) and conchilge (lower right) - picture above.  The business is currently managed and operated by Laurence and Loretta Tonitto, carrying on the traditions of Vincent Tonitto, who hailed from Italy and enriched the Illawarra area with his pastry mastery.

Weddings, birthdays, high tea, religious cakes, cupcakes, croquembouche and more - Tonitto's can cater for them.  Many customers that early morning were collecting premade orders in boxes. I reckon it is worthwhile to visit the small but interesting cafe as well, sipping their coffee by the window and watching the world go by. You can  meet Laurence, with a smiling demeanour, surrounded by efficient lady staff who are engaged in what they do at the shop. Tonitto's also has a wide variety of novelty figurines and cake decoration accessories.

You can catch this hint of romance on the footpath as you approach Tonitto's from the west - an etched work of love for a lucky Sonia.  Was this as recently made in 2005?   The suggested romance is then followed up by chocolate, cream and dreams as you enter Tonitto's.

Tortes, mud cakes, biscottis, butter cakes, arancini, horseshoes, croccantini, rumballs, pastine, vienessi, cannoli, zabaglione, sospiri, pies, cheesecakes, bigne, profiteroles, canoncini - the variety available seems endless.  This can be Patisserie Paradiso.  I did not see any gelato though and I hope I am mistaken.  The shop may be relatively small, but it packs more than a punch in quality, design, imagination and love in their creations.  This is a good pit stop before or after you hit the surf nearby.

Tonitto's does make delivery of orders to Fairy Meadow, just a bit north of Wollongong CBD. However I feel it is very worthwhile to bring family and mates on a lazy day to visit the bakery itself - not on Sundays though, when it is a day of rest.

Winter - Dishes, Snacks and More

Flathead batter and chips at  Diggies, North Wollongong NSW

Soy sauced pork belly at Crown Chef Wollongong, NSW

                                   Kucing Claypot noodles at Albee's Kitchen, Campsie, NSW

                                         Home made chicken curry laksa, Balgownie NSW

                                                         Menu at Il Nido's, Balgownie NSW