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| Café Merriweather |
This time next week, we will be well into the marathon,
conquering one kilometre for every breakfast café visited over the last 42
weeks. On reviewing the history of my
posts, it seems so fitting that our concluding run is the same distance as the
very first run we completed back in February. It was all about the food this morning;
however, in standard BOTR fashion I will provide a few details as to our delightful
morning run.
How perspective can change! In February, I was lamenting the early daybreak
starts. The alarm is now rarely required. The expanded crew assembled at 5:30am,
minus the Husband, who declared his coaching ‘job is done’. Milly, the four legged pace-setter, started
out with great gusto, eager to maintain poll position, excited to be leading
her pack an another adventure. Milly, is
a positive symbol of the training regime, resembling a greyhound rather than
the usual rotund state, so often associated with her breed. Jon and Emma accompanied us, ensuring our
tapering was adequate, sharing some final race tips and nutrition advice. Or was it just for the great company and
delicious breakfast?
Our route was a derivation of the signature river loop, commencing
with an easy descent down Dornoch Terrace through to the West End River Cat
stop. From there it was a pretty meander
around the wide loop of the river, past West End markets and into South Bank. We completed a quick circuit around Kangaroo
Point Cliffs and stairs, negotiating the boot camps and fitness groups in full
flight on this demanding stair case. I declined to follow Jon’s advice in clearing
the path by using my shoulder charge technique, introduced the week before. The
return back past the South Bank pools was too tempting for Jon, who, throwing
caution to the wind, took a quick plunge in the recently refurbished lagoon while
I rounded my distance off to 12km. For those of you jumping to conclusions, be reassured,
he did remain fully clothed, and at no time exhibited any Darcy like elegance.
Merriweather Café is well located for the active commuter,
overlooking Musgrave Park in South Brisbane. Our reconnaissance of this venue last week provided
some interesting insights into how the same scene could be interpreted so
differently. I was captivated by the delicious
looking pastries at the front counter (made on the premises) along with an appealing
rhubarb dish, while, strangely, all the Husband could recall was the large
proportion of elegantly-dressed women he declared were breakfasting there? Obviously
this was an ideal location for the BOTR team.
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| Potato and Caramelised onion |
Today, we arrived at
the Café opening of 7am and once again, with our larger numbers, were able to
sample a good portion of a new menu. It
is mostly pros for this breakfast venue. The dishes are on the pricy side but there
is not a hint of pretentiousness with it’s friendly staff and wholesome locally
sourced food. Every dish was fresh and
delicious. Caitlyn’s potato and
caramelised onion and pork belly ($20.50), perfectly crisp. My Green eggs and ham ($19.50) resembled a
terrine of ham hock layered with silverbeet. The chimmi chirri (finally chopped parsley,
oil and garlic) not only broadened my vocabulary but also my taste buds.
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| Green eggs and ham |
Bronwyn’s flat bread with sorrel, hommus and pickled vegetables ($18.50) won
the pretty prize with the pickled beetroot a stand out. Emma’s fruit loaf with ricotta and stone
fruits ($17.50) looked delicious and was respectively enjoyed. Jon chose the more traditional poached eggs
and bacon on sourdough: crispy bacon and perfectly poached eggs rounded the
dish off to perfection. The Café bases its
reputation on good coffee and it did not disappoint the coffee connoisseurs amongst
us. Unfortunately, like too many
baristas who have mastered the indelicate, steam-powered coffee-bean crushing
machine, the time-garnered, simple ceremony of adding hot water to tea-leaves
lovingly nurtured high on the slopes of cool climes let down the character of
the place: at $5.00, it was overpriced and weak.
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| Flat bread |
The Merriweather Café can be forgiven for the disappointing
tea and slightly elevated prices, and as a result of its unique and tasty menu,
location and friendly wait staff, could be a contender for the BOTR top 5. A fitting finalé for what has been a fun filled
and enriching project.
Good luck next Saturday BOTR team! Those early
morning sacrifices over the last 42 weeks have been fun. They’ve helped convert me from a sleep-in
sloth to someone more akin with those always-too chirpy, early morning
running-types who exude a certain smugness about the righteousness of their
lifestyle. Our full range of emotions have
been exercised along the way, with the greatest impetus provided by the feeling
of impending doom around Week 35: it helped
propel us over the ever-increasing training distances so that we can at least look
at the challenge ahead next week with a calm demeanour and a quiet confidence
in our ability to complete just one more run, albeit over a distance for which
our ancestors invented four wheels and attached an internal combustion engine
to them.
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| Fruit loaf |
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| Bacon and eggs |
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