Geelong Revival offers full‐flavour weekend

THE Geelong Revival Motoring Festival is around the corner and I’ve learnt it’s not just all about the cars, apparently.

If you count the Engines and Beats event on Friday night (held in the Hearne Parade carpark next to the Botanic Gardens) it’ll be a three day extravaganza next weekend, but the main activity will focus on Saturday/Sunday’s festivities trackside along the Western Beach Road. First celebrated in Geelong in 1956, the Revival fest has grown to become as much a community-event, as it is a car-event. I won’t go into the particulars on the quarter mile sprints, fashion awards or family entertainment options, but what I will highlight is some of the global flavour offerings available for hungry onlookers: you can expect 20+ food trucks/vendors who’ll be covering everything from Turkish gözleme to Brazilian BBQ, Vietnamese street food to Mexican bites. No doubt the pubs and bars found along the waterfront will have their work cut out for them too during the event. Fingers crossed the weather holds up its end of the bargain!

 

Torquay seems to be blessed nowadays when it comes to good coffee spots. New(-ish) to me, I enjoyed a cup at Ocean Grind recently, where they’ve combined their roasting warehouse and retail/café offering, creating a neat and welcoming spot for locals. The coffee was quite tasty and their food selection has pastries from La Madre and snacks from Saint Dough Co, the latter producing a brilliant range of cookie flavours (including Biscoff Cookie Butter). Although not on a main drag, it’s a rather pleasant space to seek out, with ample seating both indoors or out. They wholesale to other businesses too, but I’m yet to have seen their beans about, although I wouldn’t hesitate to grab a cup/bag if I saw them around.

Another great cup of caffeine and milk was had at Newtown’s sometimes-forgotten corner café, Newfolk, a few weeks back. I’ve known the (new) owner for years now and he’s always been able to make a decent coffee – he’s last port of call was at Geelong West staple, Sodi – so I have high hopes his new digs will become a success. It’s a cute spot to grab a coffee, although I can’t help but think if the space is almost too cute: the two tiny rooms hold only a handful of tables, putting a real premium on the spots you can place bums on seats. Anyway, I really like the spot and I sincerely wish the team there the very best: get along and support them if you’re in the area?

 

If you’re ever in need of a no-frills sandwich option, The2Men will likely more than satisfy your hunger needs. Their menu is a roll-call of classic (and I mean classic) Aussie combos: you’ll find Vegemite Sanger on Sourdough, Chilli Tuna Bagel and Bacon & Egg on Brioche amongst a comfort-mix of good ol’ sandwich bar favourites. They’re tasty, reasonably priced (I feel) and rather ideal for that quick, no-nonsense lunch bite. The Mushroom Melt on Sourdough, which includes a welcomed addition of brie cheese, is highly recommended (by me).

All local gin lovers out there should be thrilled to learn that the Teddy and the Fox range is about to welcome another sibling to its small gin range. Created at Teddy’s home on the peninsula, Bellarine Distillery has dedicated their Legacy Liqueur to the wonderful contribution its late co-founder, Lorelle Watson, made during the earlier years of the business. She loved botrytised wines styles – ie a sweeter, dessert wine that has used botrytis (AKA noble rot) to shrivel and concentrate grapes on the vine before picking – so what better to mix in some of this with the gin she helped create back ten years ago. Being a gin liqueur, you can have a lot of fun pairing this with your favourite foods or mixers – or over ice cream, like me – but given it has a little more sweetness than the standard Teddy and the Fox, it makes for just a great sipper over ice (or soda if you need a bit of added fizz). Think honey, citrus, balanced sweetness and a more textural mouthfeel: It could very well be your choice of drink for the coming summer.