Love Freo

I went down to the Bazaar at the Fremantle Arts Center first thing today and was surprised how many people had the same idea. I guess we all wanted to be there in the cooler morning hours, though it wasn’t cool at 9am either. Thankful for the shade of the old trees I wandered around marveling at the beautiful things on sale and enjoying the colourful and arty surrounding. I did end up getting nearly all of my presents, which made my visit not only pleasurable, but also convenient – I much rather do my shopping in the gardens of the Arts Centre than in crowded city malls.

Christmas Shopping at the Fremantle Arts Centre Bazaar

When down there, you should also check out the galleries, where you can escape the heat and admire some amazing pieces. My favourite of the current artists on show is Andrew Nicholls. His detailed drawings are just stunning.

Get Andrew Nicholls' book at the Arts Centre shop

Fremantle Arts Centre
1 Finnerty Street,
Fremantle,
WA 6162.

Ph: (08) 9432 9555‎

I know where I’ll be getting my Christmas presies:

Bazaar 09
5 and 6 December (this Saturday and Sunday)
from 9am to 5pm
at the Fremantle Arts Center

I’m kicking myself that I haven’t been to this wonderful little eatery sooner: I was put off once by their specials board declaring some dish with peanuts, and peanuts have me running for the hills (a severe nut allergy rather than a legume phobia), and I didn’t make it back to  give them a second chance, more fool me.

I love curries, I love south-east Asian curries in particular and now I have finally been to this place I have a whole menu to explore. I was too busy chatting with Michelle – the Love Freo blog-reader who insisted I try this place out – to do anything useful, like write down what my dish was called, or make a note of their opening hours. But I did get this superbly average picture with the Love Freo phone-cam which doesn’t really come close to doing the food justice.

My lamb curry was delicious, rich in flavour, with good quality non-fatty lamb, and cost about 10 bucks, which for Freo is an absolute bargain. The blonde likes a good laksa too, so I’d say we’ll be fairly regular at this gaff.

Delicious food at Cafe 55. The fly on the papadum (not the Cafe's fault) was just an added bonus.

Thanks to Michelle for suggesting this place. People please feel free to suggest any other glaring omissions from the Love Freo food hall. Next week: Hungry Jack’s!

Café 55
55 High Street
Fremantle
WA 6160
(08) 9336 2604‎

Open from sometime in the morning until about 3pm (I think).

Flyer

This looks like fun: On Saturday 17 October the deckchair theatre is holding an auction of paintings, photographs and jewellery of WA artists at Victoria Hall. The auction also features an exciting array of painted deckchairs by prominent and emerging artists like Robert Juniper, Leon Perricles, John Butler and Eveline Kotai. Other donations to be auctioned include signed books and memorabilia from artists including Geoffrey Rush, Eskimo Joe, Joan London, David Williamson and Robert Drewe. The Fremantle Dockers have also donated a jersey signed by all the players!

Still a bit over two weeks away, but hey, why not plan early?

The Great Deckchair Auction
Victoria Hall | 179 High Street, Fremantle WA 6160
Launched by: Adele Carles MLA, Auctioneer: Andrew Gaynor
Saturday October 17, Viewings from 12.30pm, Auction commences at 2pm
$25 for entry, price includes entertainment, drinks and nibbles
Book now online or call 08 9430 4771

Being a bit of a bread nerd I buy my bread only from selected bakers, which are

- The bread stall on the Sunday Farmer’s Market on Montreal Street
- Abhi’s Bakery on South Terrace

Beside having such great products, it seems as Abhi’s Bakery doesn’t seem to care too much about their online appearance. How else could one explain that instead of a descriptive text there’s ‘Lorem Ipsum’ placeholder copy on their website. Come on guys, there must be more to say about your products!

The Blonde and I used to have a curious obsession with Crazy Clarks in South Fremantle. Curious because 90% of the stuff on sale was either crap or broken, the remaining 10% being absolute gems. But we were largely indifferent to it closing down some weeks back, just after the Video-Ezy also popped off. But in its place has appeared this shining mega-shrine to over-lit discount stores, and it’s brilliant. It had such things a lidded bin on wheels (for $30) which I reckon would be v handy, and at the check-outs they had these great mop buckets: the ones where you drop the mop in and step on a lever, and also $30 (their favourite price). Of course they also sell a load of other quite useful stuff, all very cheap (which is my second favourite price).

As their slogan says: “Everyone’s a winner”

The Reject Shop. Opposite Woolies in South Fremantle.

Reject Shop, it's great, especially at dusk

Nice tidy aisles, much fluoro lighting

Open Piano Tuesday

We dropped into X-Wray this evening to test the mojitos and we weren’t disappointed. Limey, minty, sweet, alcoholic. Mixed with flair by the friendly bar-keep: X-Wray is cool. They have a piano equivalent of an open mic night on Tuesdays as well, so that was a bit of a bonus for us, he was great. Unfortunately my video clips (of mojitos and piano playing) won’t upload, so you’ll have to take my word for. But the pianist chap is doing a gig this weekend (well, pretty sure it’s the same guy). Go and check it out, and watch this space for more on X-Wray.

Upcoming gig at X-Wray

Xwray Café and Bar

13 Essex St,
Fremantle,
WA 6160.

Phone: 9430 9399

There is something very charming about the paintings on shop walls, which advertise their goods, like these ones which I saw on South Street, on the wall of an IGA, and in the Freo port area, on the wall of an old warehouse, which apparently housed a flower wholesale at some point in the past. The enterprise is long gone, but the flowers on the wall stayed. It must be very satisfying for the artist to create paintings at such a great scale.

Well you know.

Noodle Thursday @ North Freo Fresh

Noodle 6159,
North Freo Fresh,
98ish Stirling Highway,
North Fremantle.

Phone: 9341 7400

Today saw the first of the new Wednesday Farmer’s Market in the old yard at the Fremantle Markets. Now, there’s one thing I want to quickly clarify: this is in no sense a Farmer’s Markets. Animal meat, dairy produce, raw vegetables and fruit come from farms. Fudge, fresh flowers, fancy bread and fresh pasta do not. This is a Lifestyle market; if you go here looking for piles of cheap farm fresh produce, you will be disappointed.

New Wednesday Farmer's Market, Lots of Nice Produce, Not Many Farmers

Don’t get me wrong, I like to potter around these places as much as the next person, but I did make a beeline for the one fruit stall which had some great looking bananas (not those giant foot long things you get in Woolies) and half a dozen pears. They haven’t ripened yet so I can’t say how they taste. I sampled cheese from the cheese stall (excellent feta, bland Parmesan), some ‘gourmet’ fudge, considered an oyster but thought better of it, then a quick spin past the artisan olive oil and designer bread.

Fancy Bread, Artisan Oil

I didn’t really buy very much, and that makes me worry for this little enterprise. This produce is largely the sort of thing you buy on a Sunday afternoon, when you have time to browse, sample and try. This is not normally the shopping you try to squeeze into your lunch break. That said, there is a great looking fresh pizza stand on the way in, which I think will be a hit once people know about it (they looked great) and the stalls which sell coffee and cakes, or (very reasonably priced) fruit and meat will probably also do well. The others I think might struggle, at least until summer rolls round and the tourists return. Eventually someone will open a stand selling lamb burgers, and they will also clean up.

The market is on every Wednesday from 8am to 2pm at Fremantle Market’s Old Yard. They have a web page that’s worth a look. Check it out, support it, and hope it grows into a farmer’s market that is one day full of farm produce. Cheers.

Fresh Flowers; Organic Meat Van Lurks Behind

Where: The Yard
When: Every Wednesday 8am to 2pm