The spoils of summer are coming

Hands up those who are craving a long, hot summer.

I know we should always be appreciative of the rain (some dams in our local/surrounding regions are still less than 50 per cent full) but I can’t help but get a little excited by the sight of the sun and arrival of some warmer weather. The warmth seems to bring a renewed interested in what’s happening out and about in our local hospitality scene, with the who/where that’s offering something new – or at least different – to try, always top of people’s priority list. With this in mind, I’ll try my best to whet your appetites over the coming couple of weeks with a few of the more recent finds I’ve made.

Betty’s Coffee Geelong is a welcome addition to the top-of-the-hill end of Moorabool Street, serving pretty good black and white caffeinated versions in a small, yet likeable space. Their sweet/bagel selection is rather good also, and everything happens in a timely, quick-friendly manner: a major plus for the hospital/professional businesses surrounding the cafe’s Myers/Moorabool location. It’s a yes from me (and I didn’t even mention the Jed Bews factor).

 

Entering its 26th year, the Geelong Wine Show kicks off next week, offering the chance for our region’s best wineries and producers/negociants to pitch their most recent releases against those of their peers, in this annual celebration. I don’t really like to think of this event as a competition as such – I feel wine shows shouldn’t be thought of as just scoring and winners – with it being an opportunity for a small industry of likeminded producers coming together to benchmark their local products collectively, and learning and growing with/from one another. But yes, there are categories and points are awarded, with certain wines outperforming others to take home medals of gold, silver and bronze, and some that even receive special recognition awards of Best So and So variety, or the like. It all gets very serious actually: there’s an expert judging panel who taste flights and flights of wines blind (eg not seeing their labels) and then use a grading system that examines the merits of each wine. Sound like a tough job? Well, it actually is, even if that sounds surprising to many: if anyone can accurately describe the difference of 49 shirazes with a 15-minute window (ie without having their palate completely drained of all taste buds) then hats off to them. Anyway, the annual show also brings about a chance for us regular wine folk to taste all entries at a public event held at The Gordon’s Davidson restaurant on Thursday, November 13. I recommend this opportunity to anyone interested in tasting through a large spread of the wines/wineries found throughout Geelong’s Bellarine/Moorabool/Surf Coast wine regions.

 

And although there’s not a lot to discuss yet, it’s been made clear that one of Australia’s largest hospitality groups has its eyes set firmly on Armstrong Creek and the development of a 450-plus patron venue to cater to the supercharged growth of this surrounding area. Australian Venue Co is one of the biggest pub players in the country, well known for opening hotels that stick to strict formulae when it comes to its food/beverage/entertainment offerings. I’m sure it’ll be a success, let’s just hope it isn’t a cookie-cut version of their other 200-plus nationwide venues, and can give a little bit more soul to an otherwise hospitality-lacking set of suburbs.

 

The awards for The Age’s Good Food Guide were announced a couple of weeks back and I feel a well-deserved mention should be made for those in our local area that received notable recognition. Firstly, Tulip in Geelong West is now the only Hatted restaurant in the greater Geelong region, scoring one Chef’s Hat. A few other local eateries came close, but nothing that stood out

enough to earn this coveted accolade. The Bellarine unfortunately missed out altogether in terms of Hats (although again, a few came reasonably close) while the Surf Coast managed two noteworthy entries with Samesyn 2.0 (Torquay) and Ipsos (Lorne) receiving two hats and one hat, respectively. Birregurra champion, Brae, retained their 3 Hat status (one of only four restaurants in the entire state to achieve this) while the restaurant’s manager, Alex Casey, was recognised with the Service Excellence Award, highlighting his – and the restaurant’s – exceptional attention to detail when it comes to the guest experience. Well done all!

Finally, if you’re in need of a good listen, the latest episode of The Local Palate podcast is now up online (Spotify or Apple). I speak with Hugo T. Armstrong on his life’s journey of pulling together some of Geelong’s more memorable events and festivals. He also gives me some insight into where you need to be this summer to experience the best of what Geelong has on.