The Suite Shenton Park Gets it so Wrong while Must gets it SO right

Dear Management at The Suite,

Some of your service staff are not the friendliest people in the world.

Best,

One

o o o O O O o o o

Dear Management at Must Highgate,

Your staff rock, are friendly, are knowledgeable and helpful.

Best,

One

o o o O O O o o o

OK, where did those letters come from? Well, One and the SO popped in to one of Perth's new "Melbourne style" bars, The Suite on Nicholson Road in Shenton Park for a celebratory drink. The SO had just received a great promotion and it was time for bubbles. Bubbles (French of course) were purchased and it was time to drink them. The Suite was packed and One was on the look out for movement at one of the clusters of couches.

Movement, a group gathers their things, One pounces Friday night style and scores the Couch.

Cue Bitchy Blonde waitress:

BBW: 'Did You know there is a waiting list'
One [shocked]: 'Excuse me'
BBW: 'Did You know there is a waiting list'
One: 'No, I'm sorry I didn't'
BBW: 'There is a waiting list, people are waiting'
One: 'Obviously had I known there was a waiting list I would have waited'
BBW: 'humph' [storms off]

Had there not been a bottle of Laurent Perrier to drink, One would have left at that. And do you think that BBW asked if One would like to go on the waiting list? No, she certainly did not. BBW just stormed off, leaving One to find another (and more helpful) member of staff to put One's name on the all important waiting list.

Fast forward 30 minutes, One and the SO arrive at Must, the bistro isn't too full, the bar is packed but there's a high table. Two glasses of bubbles come quickly, One thinks, well maybe there is room in the bistro. One asks the Lovely Bistro Lady if there is room for a cheeky 2 for dinner. LBL says that she is just working out capacity and asks where One is standing, pointing to the SO, LBL says well you get back to your bubbles and I'll let you know but worst case I can do the bistro menu at your table. Perfect!

So lessons for The Suite, be a bit sweeter in your delivery...

Misty morning but no misty head

One awoke this morning without a misty head for hte first time in the past couple of weeks. One was finally waking up in One's own bed and finally not waking up to an alarm.

It has been a hectic fortnight with a planned trip to Sydney and an emergency dash to Melbourne for work which has kept One on the go go go.

But One did wake to a misty morning, it was beautiful looking out the living room window to a soft sea of white hovering just above the rooflines in the leafy western suburbs. It was so quiet as if everyone had stayed in their slumber with the blanket of mist keeping them tucked right in.

Pottering around aflatofonesown for the first time this month was a great start to the day, uggs were on and One was warm. Then it was out into the fresh air at the Subi Farmers' Markets to do the groceries. the SFM may just be One's favourite market thus far (3 and counting have been trialled), they are more urban than the Freo version and a bit more rustic than the Claremont ones.

As the day progressed, the mist lifted and it was a beautiful sunny clear day with just some touches of cloud off on the horizon. One picked up One's glasses from the optometrists and can now see far and wide without squinting, spent some time in the office (productive but not necessarily enjoyable of a weekend), caught up with Chookie for a coffee in Shenton Park and did a spot of present shopping in Subi.

All round quite a fun day.

Aussie Aussie Aussie with a touch of Scandi Scandi Scandi

Recently while in Sydney on a weekend getaway, One came across a photo of this vintage cake. As you can see, it was an Australian themed cake, complete with little markers for various Australian things, including Crown Princess Mary down in Tassie.

From memory, it is a lemon butter cake with passionfruit icing. It was for MJ's naturalisation celebration.

La Lola

The SO took One to La Lola on Saturday night for a bite to eat. One has been wanting to go to La Lola since One first heard of it opening a little while back. La Lola is the new venture of the former head chef at Bar One which as many know is one of One's favourite haunts.

Bar One is one of those places where the staff are great, the food is great and the fit out is great. Its great all round. One gets what One wants and One is happy.

La Lola is the new kid on the block and a bit like a new parent, all about the ground rules. La Lola's menu kicks off with a set of rules:
1. No bookings or B.Y.O.
2. No separate billing
3. Ask your waiter for the bill which will be brought to your table
4. $25 minimum for eftpos or credit card payments
5. We do not accept American Express or Diners Club cards
6. All food items served on the premises can not be taken away due to health code

Ground rules have their purpose - everyone then knows what they're buying into. The rules are probably also to deal with the Western Suburb WAGs that are likely to be queuing up to get into the hot new thing on Hampden Road. Plus there is barely an inch to move in the restaurant and the rules are probably to keep bums on seats as much as anything else.

The rules are in order of need. Don't try to make a booking and don't bring your own booze. Fine and on this especially cold and wintry evening there is no shortage of heaters out front while One waits to be let in. Unfortunately as this is suburban Perth and not Sydney and so there is no deal with the nearby bar that lets One wander over for a lazy tipple while waiting for One's table to be ready. Luckily the wait was not long and within about 10 minutes One was requested to head through the main dining room and into the Lounge. Which is really just a private dining room down the back of the restaurant. Again, its a tight squeeze and so along with cleaver design tricks (recessed salt/pepper/EVOO/cutlery receptacle) there are the less desirable elements - no backs on half the chairs and being so close to your neighbours you can't help but hear their intimate conversations.

The food is nice, without blowing One away. Good quality Italian trattoria bits. One had a pork belly, sweet and sour onion, mozzarella and radicchio pizza. Nice, but nothing amazing. The SO had a Rabbit Ragu with fettuccine, it was heavy on the pasta and light on the ragu and very very oily.

La Lola - its not for an intimate date night, but it will certainly give the WAGs a great venue for a girls night out (provided they play by the rules).

Man Flu

aflatofonesown has been inflicted with man flu, the worst type of flu known in this universe and probably beyond. The SO is sick, so sick in fact that he may drop dead at any moment.

So not wanting his last moments to be hard, One put the SO to bed yesterday afternoon and trotted off to the chemist for some palliative care supplies. Luckily the pharmacist was familiar with man flu and understood the need to act quickly and decisively. Psydoephedrine as well as a concoction of Vitamin C, Horseradish and Garlic was desperately needed. Although only in small packets, he may not survive through a 10 day course of medication.

The man flu also gave one the chance to let Sali and Peta have their first run. Sali and Peta are a little multi function piece by Marc Pascal that One picked up on a recent Sydney Sojourn from the BGs at CSF. One thought it would be a great to put the SO's butter and marmalade in. It has also come in handy when delivering One's medications to him.

The SO is on trice daily meds consisting of a liquid multi-vitamin, cold & flu tablets and the C, Horseradish & Garlic. Hopefully he will make it through the night.

Farmers Markets

One has a new love. Its not unexpected, but it is new and exciting nonetheless.

Having had a string of holiday flings, One thinks its time to be honest and commit to the new love.

Farmers Markets. There, One has said it now and its out there. In the past two weeks there have been two dates with two different markets, perhaps that makes one a philandering marketeer, but One doesn't care.

The produce is so lovely and fresh and the 'Farmers' generally friendly and charming that One is happy to market around. On top of the produce, Farmers markets tend to have a lot of things in common with living in a small community - rivalries and hushed words in the form of gossip. That's right, gossip and we all know how One loves a good old goss.

Last Sunday morning (after a few too many drinks last Saturday night) One ventured to the South Fremantle Growers Markets slightly hung over but definitely on the lookout for a selection of fresh produce. What One found was delicious coffee and crepes to soothe a sore head and then so many little goodies. The highlight of which had to be the seven seed sourdough bread made by the Kneading Women. Now the gossip at the South Freo markets surrounds the move of the markets from Montague Street to Lefroy Street. Apparently it was something to do with the free loving hippy residents not wanting all the cars parking near Montague Street. Which sounds a bit rich to One, but a few further visits One is sure, will find the back story. Another reason for the return visit is to pull out the gumboots which are the footwear of choice for patrons at South Freo.

Today, One went to the Mount Claremont Farmers Markets, which are on a Saturday rather than a Sunday which One finds slightly more convenient than a Sunday market. Perhaps it is just psychological, but the thought of not having a full kitchen as the new week begins is too much. So having hit up the Mt Claremont market, One walked away with a great selection of veggies as well as some beef and curry sauce. The curry sauce lady from Pickle John and Chutney Mary thought that One looked like a good cook, this perplexes One to some extent, however its obviously a compliment One will accept with open arms. Beef Vindaloo here we come!! Mount Claremont is more of a school fete approach to a market, everything is on the basketball courts rather than the school oval and so gumboots don't seem to get much of a run. However, the lady at the beef stall is great and looks like she should be driving a Range Rover on an Estate in England.

Next week, One is off to the Subi Farmers Markets. High hopes have been set by the fact that there are gumboots in the logo.