For Fork Sake Rebecca Piraino

I haven’t had a decent foodie chat since giving birth to my third child in February. But, I have been writing a lot. I haven’t been out for a meal in so long, I can’t remember the last restaurant I went to. But I have cooked some epic dishes at home. In some ways, having three children under the age of three has disconnected me from the Sydney foodscape.

So, I am thankful for the Food bloggers I follow on Social Media and I have no choice but to live vicariously through their foodie adventures. I sat down for a chat with Jess Rizk, who runs the fantastic Food Blog, JR Eats.

Jess eats at some awesome establishments that range from your local hole in the wall type café or burger joint, to classy restaurants with Michelin star rated chefs. She provides her followers with first impressions and genuine reviews. We had a great chat about her family food culture and her experience with food blogging. But, the thing that got me in all the feels, was what Jess’s foodie ventures have done for her personally. Jess is so easy to talk to and I instantly felt I could relate to so much of what she had to say. Hearing her experiences makes me ever so grateful for the power food has in bringing people together.

­Every so often, I am lucky enough to make new connections. I feel like the last two years have been the time to bond more with likeminded people.

I can honestly say, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to dialogue so intimately and authentically with a range of people through social media who have kept me sane in times where I would otherwise have felt incredibly desolate. Friends that I don’t see often, some that I haven’t seen in years, distant family and then acquaintance’s. And what I have loved about this dialogue, is that it has quite often begun from a food related post I have shared and henceforth, kept me really active in the kitchen.

Thanks to a lovely mutual friend you might remember from a previous episode, Giulia Pantanto, I have had the pleasure of getting to know a bit about Davide Tonucci. Davide reigns from my Motherland  - a small town outside of Bologna along the East Coast of Italy. He has now lived in Sydney for over ten years. His journey with food is authentic, progressive and poetic.

Following Davide on The Coastal Italian has drawn me to his gorgeous and genuine connection with food, particularly pasta. It is such a joy learning more about Davide, his roots, his work in the hospitality industry and how he turned his experience into an amazing opportunity to do what he loves every single day.

It often shocks people to know that one of the first things I have requested after birthing my children is a fresh prosciutto crudo and provolone panino. There is something about a panino stuffed with deli meats that takes me back to after school hangouts with my paternal nonni and a spread of fresh panini, mortadella and formaggio from their day out in Haberfield. 

When I last travelled to the motherland, I had some standout panini. But there is one that oddly fills me with great joy. This panino was so simple and so divine, I fondly and regularly transport myself back to a blistering hot summer day on a pilgrimage in Rome with 11 of my High School students. We stopped at a paninotecca and I ordered a provolone dolce, zucchini flower and anchovy panino. Oh and an expresso to wash it down, of course. Wow. It was delicious in every sense of the word and I had never had a panino quite like this. Since that day in 2016, I have spoken about the serious need for more specialised paninotecchi in Sydney. Thank the Lord for Dom Ruggeri! 

He established Dom Panino one month after I gave birth to my second son. Right on time, Dom and perfectly located around the corner from my then Concord home. Thank you Dom, thank you. Whipping up fresh panini packed with all the faves, I was in heaven. Sleep deprived with an 18 month old and a newborn, deli meat deprived for 9 months, my dreams had finally become a reality. And now I’m being tortured once again in my third pregnancy, by daily Dom Panino posts. 

But Dom Panino does so much more for me. It transports me to childhood memories – fondly devouring fresh panini with the family on the weekend and being picked on but un-ashamed of my cotaletta and left over porchetta panini in primary school before becoming celebrated for my lunches in High School. My soul rejoices in the opportunity to sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with a guy with whom I have so many nostalgic crossovers, let’s be honest he could be my cousin! Dom is an inspiring individual, someone who really understands traditional food and like me, obviously has an emotional connection to it. I could speak with him for hours on end – he has had one hell of an interesting journey! It is pure bliss to absorb the gorgeous energy and love for what Dom does. I couldn’t speak more highly of him. 

Dom Panino is located on Emily Street in Mortlake – they just celebrated their first birthday and Dom is pulling out specials that have me salivating! I am SO looking forward to my post-natal panino!

​​Food truck culture has been on the rise in Sydney for some time. I distinctly remember my first few Food Truck experiences. Mr Gee’s Burgers and Knefeh Bakery were the first to really have me sold on the food truck experience. But travelling through America and visiting the home of the food truck, Austin Texas, really made me appreciate the food truck movement. 

One food truck that has had a special place in my heart is American BBQ Kitchen. From the first time I experienced lush tender Smokey brisket from these guys at Sydney’s Meatstock festival a few years back, I was transported back to my mini Texan Roadtrip back in 2016. The man behind this delicious smokey goodness, is JR Boukarim. 

This entrepreneurial genius started his journey at Farmers Markets selling homestyle authentic Lebanese food using recipes learned from his mother and Teta. JR has wonderfully evolved within the Sydney Food Truck scene, offering up delicious Fried Chicken through Bird Man and looking to expand his foodie ventures in the not too distant future. Like myself, JR has high expectations when it comes to the hospitality industry. We demand quality and are easily frustrated when Sydney big guns miss the mark time and time again as we both desperately seek a stellar hospitality scene with our Melbourne experiences setting an extraordinary benchmark. 

We come across as somewhat provocative, however this fierce approach comes from our deep love for good quality and authentic food and how the very nature of our being seeks perfection even in our own kitchen. It was a pleasure to sit down with JR and be inspired by his commitment to a journey of constant learning, evolving and pushing boundaries in the Sydney Food Truck scene.

Do you ever come across a person and think, this is a fascinating human? 

Since the beginning of the Sydney Lockdown this year, I continuously came across one particular face on so many of the wonderful food establishments I follow on Social Media. As his face grew increasingly familiar, this lean eating machine, had me intrigued and impressed. James Webb is an absolute joy to follow. He puts away incredible portions of food in an array of food challenges while amazingly maintaining an impressive physique. I had to get to know more about him! After a few months of following him through lockdown, I was entertained and yet unable to contain my sheer jealousy in his consumption levels. 

But, I was also finding myself cheering for him from the comfort of my lounge while struggling through one THICC Cookie. So, I reached out to have a chat with this legend and he was awesome and obliging. James has a beautiful and somewhat ironically balanced relationship with food and fitness and my respect for him grew as our conversation progressed. He’s a great guy with an enviable appetite and you all need to go and watch his live feeds at JWEBBY CAN EAT after listening to our chat about his journey in food challenges. You are sure to gain the appreciation I have for his unique skill.

I am so fortunate to be surrounded by so many incredible foodies who share a similar ethos and passion when it comes to food. But, no one more so than Gabrielle Theo who I have really clicked with over the years and been inspired by on so many levels. Gab is a food lover, a thermomix pro, a fantastic blogger and a wonderful mother to two gorgeous boys. She operated an extremely successful Instagram page (thermo mumma) up until the birth of her second son and consistently reflected a positive space for cooking with wholefoods and the benefits of the thermomix. 

Gab is now back doing what she loves and what she does best, sharing her cooking adventures on _gabrielleskitchen and I am so thrilled to see such passion and flare in her kitchen once more.