10 Food Questions – Gillian McLelland

Gillian McLelland
Gillian McLelland

1. Food for you is what? Enjoyment.
2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child? Lettuce.
3. What did you have for dinner last night? Fish, chips and steamed vegetables.
4. Favourite restaurant? Coronation Hotel, in its heyday.
5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? Parsley, basil and dill.
6. Local hidden gem? Double Shot.
7. Your favourite food shop? New Farm Deli.
8. What do you hope never to eat again? Tripe.
9. How often do you cook? Every day.
10. Most used cookbook? Mrs Schauer’s Cookbook.

My mother with her favourite daughter
My mother with her favourite daughter

10 Food Questions – Donna McDonald

Donna McDonald author of  'The Art of Being Deaf'.
Donna McDonald author of ‘The Art of Being Deaf’.

1. Food for you is what? Two things – by myself it is fuel; out with my friends, it is an occasion.
2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child? Strawberry ice-cream cake.
3. What did you have for dinner last night? Pan fried prawns, with Moroccan spices, on a rocket and pear salad.
4. Favourite restaurant? Tinderbox.
5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? No, but would like to.
6. Local hidden gem? Byblos at Portside.
7. Your favourite food shop? Clayfield Market.
8. What do you hope never to eat again? Tripe.
9. How often do you cook? Every night.
10. Most used cookbook? Gwinganna Cookbook.

10 Food Questions – Jenny McCown

Jenny McCown
Jenny McCown

1. Food for you is what? Comfort
2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child? Pollo cooked for my birthday. A Persian chicken dish cooked with crunchy rice on the bottom.
3. What did you have for dinner last night? Beef ragu with maize tagliatelle with a mixed green leaf and fennel salad.
4. Favourite restaurant? Kopi Timan at Manuka in Canberra.
5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? Kale, cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, chervil, coriander, garlic chives, broccoli, celery, rocket, spinach, mixed lettuce, eggplant, french beans, silverbeet…
6. Local hidden gem? Gillian’s Cafe in East Brisbane
7. Your favourite food shop? New Farm Deli
8. What do you hope never to eat again? Raw meat
9. How often do you cook? When my husband’s not at home.
Most used cookbook? Internet.

10 Food Questions – Sue Horton

 

 

 

 

Sue Horton

  1. Food for you is what?   Food is about pleasure, generosity and celebration.  I never understand those people for whom food is solely about fuel. Food provides an easy way of being generous with yourself and others.  It evokes memories of good times…what would the Ekka be without strawberry icecreams???  Veal saltimbocca evokes the Milano Restaurant in the 1970s;  laksa always brings back memories of  my first encounter with The Malaya in Sydney in the 1980s;  chilled soups immediately recall those dinner parties designed by Greta Anna; seafood always tastes better from Stradbroke and never has steak been more succulent than at Medium Rare!
  2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child?  Not a birthday cake!  Every year my mother would make me a Bombe Alaska for my birthday.  It was so exciting: the lights would go off and the brandy would be lit….crisp on the outside it was filled with ice cream and strawberries.  It was fabulous.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night? Roast chicken and  red cabbage coleslaw; grilled figs and yoghurt.
  4. Favourite restaurant?  Spirit House for special occasions. Either The Continental Café  or Simpatico for more regular feasting, and  my local café Bellesis for breakfast or occasions where there are diverse tastes, incomes or finicky children.
  5. Do you grow food, and if so, what?  I do not grow food but I have an open invitation to raid the garden of my next door neighbours who have a great selection of herbs.
  6. Local hidden gem?  The Fruit Barn at Dunwich…great coffee, cakes, salads and vegetarian snacks with an unexpectedly wide range of fruit and vegetables and up market delicacies.
  7. Your favourite food shop?  Allsop and England at Coorparoo – organic butcher, great service…always happy to cooperate with my attempts to cook new recipes.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again?  Mass Produced Mud Cake ubiquitous at work morning teas….or white chocolate.
  9. How often do you cook?  I cook every day.
  10. Most used cookbook?  Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion.

 

10 Food Questions – Jacinta Arnold

Jacinta Arnold - gourmet traveller
Jacinta Arnold – gourmet traveller
  1. Food for you is what?  Pleasure and adventure
  2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child? Lamb chops cooked in the vertical grill, very buttery and smooth mashed potato, and beans.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night? Beef with capsicum and banana chilies, rice pilaf with spinach, ratatouille made with home grown eggplant.
  4. Favourite restaurant? Sakura, Highgate Hill.
  5. Do you grow food, and if so, what?  Herbs, eggplant, tomatoes, capsicum,  fennel, spring onion, leek, chilies  lemongrass, potatoes.
  6. Local hidden gem? Raku Japanese Cafe, Boundary Street, West End.
  7. Your favourite food shop? Gabba Fruit Market, Annerley Road, Woolloongabba.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again? Food that I am allergic to.
  9. How often do you cook? Most nights. even when I go out I have to cook for the family, but hey it’s my day job.
  10. Most used cookbook?  At the moment … any of Mr Ottolenghi’s three cookbooks.

 

Justin Livingston – 10 Food Questions

Justin Livingston - elegant retiree and international traveller
Justin Livingston – elegant retiree and international traveller
  1. Food for you is what?  For me is a major part of the enjoyment of life and people. Whether it is eating in with company (my favourite) or dining out in a  restaurant or even dining in  alone – less keen on dining out alone. It is the sharing of one of life’s best experiences, not just taking in the (frequently more than) necessary calories….
  2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child?  My favourite meal was the few times in the year when our mother would roast one of our own truly free-range chickens – a luxury in the 50’s. I have never tasted as good since.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night?  Last night I ate in alone – prior to watching the Serena Williams in action at the Brisbane International.  Sauteed chicken breasts with some rosemary underneath slices of bacon,  accompanied by potatoes and onions roasted together, asparagus and baby marrows – it was pretty OK. Leftovers in the freezer.
  4. Favourite restaurant?  In Brisbane my favourite restaurant would have to be Montrachet. Truly professional with good French food and great personal service. Second would be Anise.
  5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? I don’t grow food on my small balcony here in Brisbane. In my flat in London I grow basil and rosemary in pots.
  6. Local hidden gem? Brot Patisserie on Waterworks Road, Ashgrove. Very good baked on site German bread and wonderful cakes and pastries.
  7. Your favourite food shop? Sammie’s Girl for fish and James Street Butchers for the best sausages.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again?  Brains. Something about the texture and the richness. Otherwise I am pretty much an omnivore. Than you Dad – for a father of the 40’s he had a very broad palate.
  9. How often do you cook?  I cook every day. Evening is my main meal, alone or with company, no difference. Less wine on my own, but no abstinence.
  10. Most used cookbook?  In the past my most used books were Elizabeth David’s. Now I’m spoilt for choice. On my own, I would rarely use a book, but since retirement, I am more likely to use one to try something new. I like Jamie Oliver’s relaxed style of Italianesque cooking, Nigel Slater’s old fashioned English stuff, Nigella Lawson’s desserts – I am lazy about desserts though.

Ten Food Questions….The Cheapskate Date

The Parsimonious Epicurean
  1. Food for you is what?  Adventure
  2. What was your favourite food/meal as a child? My mother’s corned beef.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night? A disappointing Indonesian meal.
  4. Favourite restaurant? Anise
  5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? Tomatoes, herbs and rhubarb.
  6. Local hidden gem? Still looking
  7. Your favourite food shop? New Farm Deli.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again? The disappointing Indonesian meal I had last night.
  9. How often do you cook? Every night.
  10. Most used cookbook? The internet.

 

 

Tom Harvie – 10 Food Questions

Tom Harvie – barefoot eccentric and hairdresser
  1. Food for you is what?  Meditation
  2. What was your favourite food or meal as a child?  Crumbed steak and mashed potato
  3. What did you have for dinner last night? Fillet steak with steamed corn and broccoli
  4. Favourite restaurant? Sakura in Highgate Hill
  5. Do you grow food and if so what? No
  6. A local hidden gem? Pennissi’s at Woolloongabba
  7. Favourite food shop? Balaclava Street shops
  8. What do you hope to never eat again? Kidney
  9. How often do you cook? Every morning and every night.
  10. Most used cookbook? Poppa Rossi’s Italian

10 Food Questions – Bronwyn Fadden

Bronwyn Fadden
Bronwyn Fadden

 

 

  1. Food for you is what? Comfort.
  2. What was your favourite food or meal as a child? Chicken.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night? Fresh snapper and roast vegetables.
  4. Your favourite restaurant? Sakura  at Highgate Hill.
  5. Do you grow food, if so, what? Cherry tomatoes, citrus, pomegranates, herbs and passionfruit.
  6. A local hidden gem? The Hellenic Club at West End.
  7. Your favourite Food Shop? The Green Grocer.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again? Dates.
  9. How often do you cook? Regularly.
  10. Your most used cookbook? The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander.

10 Food Questions – Gordon Bain


Gordon Bain – artist. Stoker’s Siding


  1. Food for you is what?     Comfort, friends and family.
  2. What was your favorite food or meal as a child? Crumbed lamb chops, peas and mashed potatoes.
  3. What did you have for dinner last night?  Organic free range pork sausages with fennel and mushrooms, wilted baby spinach and lentils on a tomato and onion sauce.
  4. Your favourite restaurant? Montrachet in Paddington.
  5. Do you grow food, and if so, what? I have a curry garden with tumeric, curry leaves, kaffir limes as well as parsley, snake beans and tamarillo.
  6. What is a local hidden gem? FatbellyKat at Brunswick Heads.
  7. Your favourite food shop? Herbie Hempels.
  8. What do you hope never to eat again? Roasted heart.
  9. How often do you cook? Three times a day.
  10. Your most used cookbook? Southeast Asian Food by Rosemary Brissenden.