Chief Minister Gallagher is playing the obesity card again (everyone else’s obesity is terrible can someone else do something about it) and promising to make tuck shops less competitive but notionally healthier.
If re-elected in 2012 ACT Labor will invest $1 million to make sure public school students have access to the highest quality canteen options.
By [...]

Andrew Barr has been at the 2012 ActewAGL Canberra Regional Wine Show and has sent in the names of the winners:
• Champion Wine of Show – 2010 Half Moon Riesling, Half Moon Wines;
• President’s Award (Most Successful Winery) – Mount Majura Vineyard;
• Most Successful Exhibitor of Show – Barwang Estate;
• Best Dry White of Show [...]

Labor’s recent tactic of announcing very little to tackle very big problems has taken a new turn:
A re-elected, ACT Labor will take more action on smoking by increasing the number of smoke-free public places and provide $800,000 in funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander smoking cessation programs.
New services will be provided for people affected [...]

I spent a marvellous couple of weeks in Sichuan province back in the late 90s and still long to see a Sichuan restaurant in Canberra (or even Australia) serving food anything like what I ate back then.
On top of that I was devastated when, a few months ago, the excellent La Pasa Singaporean restaurant closed [...]

[ 17 September, 2012; 7:00 pm; ] Facebook has word of a Canberra Whisky Club about to unleash itself on the world at an $85 a head event at the Canberra Club.

Monday 17th September the first meeting of the Canberra Whisky Club. Open to all to attend (18yrs and over). The evening includes dinner whisky tasting and talk.

Cost $85 Per head

The meeting [...]

Chief Minister Gallagher has announced that she’s OK with the existing obese population but doesn’t want to see any more:
if re-elected ACT Labor will set a “zero growth” target by of making the current recorded rates of people
who are overweight and obese as the peak of the obesity epidemic in the ACT.
To achieve this she’s [...]

I know what you’re thinking.
Canberra really needs a local musician posing as a tex mex punk in a wrestling mask giving cooking tips distributed as webisodes via YouTube.
See? Just amazing isn’t it?
Anyway your wait is over.
Consider yourself enlightened.

CityNews has word that the new buyers of Darrell Lea have no desire to run a retail operation.
So the Canberra Centre store is closing as well as the ones already gone.
This Sunday is the last day.

Always on the lookout for a sub $10 lunch to review I was intrigued to see the Garema Place stalwart Three Mothers Thai offering $9.90 Special Lunch (not to be confused with Lunch Special we presume).
And always being keen for a Pad Thai I was delighted to see noodly goodness on the discount menu.
Sadly though [...]

The EPIC Farmers Markets are a religion to many of you. So it’s of vital importance to those people that the opening hours are being extended.
So if you want to get in first for the good stuff it’s now a 7:30am start.
Canberra’s popular Saturday morning market, the Capital Region Farmers Market at Exhibition Park in [...]

This in from Teen Chefs:
Merici College, Daramalan College and Stromlo High School produced the talented students who wowed the judging panel of Teen Chefs. Teams consisting of up to four students submitted a three course menu to judges on a budget of $60, incorporating a minimum of 5 vegetables and 2 fruits.
“The level of talent [...]

One of the things I ask my clients when i am reviewing their food diary is are veggies fresh or frozen?
This is a fine line so we’ll consider all the pros and cons for both. I am of the opinion that fresh is always best, but how do we determine that aspect along with [...]

Read it and weep local gourmands.
Aubergine rates a solitary star as the only ACT entry in their “stars”:
One star means there is an element of pizzazz as well as professionalism which raises an eatery beyond the everyday.

WIN News have tweeted that the world famous Yass MacDonalds has fallen afoul of the NSW Shame Register:
Yass McDonald’s has been listed on the NSW Govt’s Name and Shame register. #WINNews 6.30pm
— WIN News Canberra (@WINNews_ACT) August 21, 2012

The full details are online, they’re up for an $880 fine.
[Photo sent in by Bundah_Bloke back in [...]

The Canberra Times has the moderately depressing news that the Florey Dominos is still Australia’s leading pizza vendor, but has gone from global domination to merely being in the top ten.
So all the vicarious thrill of the Olympic Sports program, but much cheaper, and with a pizza.

Great pub food, really great service.

After yesterday’s excitement today the much hyped Guzman y Gomez commenced normal operations.
Even at 11:50 the joint was jumping. They run a clever “take the money first” system which gets you a number which in turn emerges from the kitchen.
They’re definitely staffed up for a rush, probably more than 1 employee per square metre in [...]

This is the line from Guzman y Gomez to the corner of Bunda and Petrie.
And this is the line from that corner towards Reid.

When we walked past at the appointed start time of 11am the workmen were still finishing building the store and the velvet rope was still up.

The kitchen, however, was a hive of [...]

Thanks to Poetix for the tip. Gourmet Traveller’s list of “Great Australian Breakfasts” has a Canberra entry:
21 Black breakfast, Silo Bakery
Silo’s black breakfast is uncompromising in both name and flavour. A dense house-baked rye and grain bread chimes with the deep and earthy qualities of black pudding. Borage flowers and sweet pickled radish add a [...]

Kargrieg The Dwarf has sent this in with the following note:
My wife snapped this with her phone at Aldi (Belconnen Mall) earlier yesterday.
I can’t tell whether this counts as false advertising
Got an image of Canberra you want to share with the world? Email it in to images@the-riotact.com .

The Canberra Times has the unfortunate news that Canberra Milk’s appalling lime flavoured green milk of yesteryear is coming back to convince dog sex enthusiasts of the merits of drinking milk.
Even worse they’re working on a Brumby flavoured milk as well.
Dear Reader, what would Brumby flavoured milk taste like?

This in for your consideration:
DRINK COFFEE – DO GOOD at Rocksalt Hawker, 39 Steps Café & Bar O’Connor and Gryphons Caffe & Bar
When you pop into Rocksalt, 39 Steps and Gryphons today and buy your favourite cup of coffee you can savour it even more knowing you are helping needy local charities. For every [...]

Clubs ACT are letting it be known that they’re most unhappy with scores on doors being brought in for the whole food service industry despite the problems being largely the domain of the asian vendors:
So as of June of last year, only one particular sector of the food industry was responsible for 86% of the [...]

The ABC reports on some FOI work on food safety which shows the Director of Public Prosecutions is getting busy with all the dodgy restaurants clobbered by the Health Protection service in recent times.
The health documents show authorities successfully prosecuted three Canberra eateries under the Food Act earlier this year.
Another 18 prosecution briefs were [...]

Animal Liberation ACT, in conjunction with Animal Liberation NSW has launched a campaign – Australian Pig Farming: The Inside Story following several months of investigation into Wally’s Piggery, a piggery just 20 mins from Canberra.
Please visit www.aussiepigs.com.au to learn more and find out how you can help the thousands of pigs that are subjected to cruelty [...]

The Canberra Times is reporting that the Canberra Centre Darrell Lea is to be the sole survivor of the local four stores as the administrators swing their axes.
The Darrell Lea stores at Westfield Woden, Tuggeranong Plaza and Westfield Belconnen will close by 2pm on Saturday, with most ceasing trade from today.
Only the Darrell Lea store [...]

After you all got very excited about Free Burrito Day we have the bad news it’s been delayed:
Hi John,
We were really looking forward to GYG Canberra opening this week but unfortunately due to unforseen circumstances and a bit of bad luck we’ve had to delay our opening.
Our Free Burrito Day at GYG Canberra will [...]

We dined last night at the Flavours of India Spices and Truffle dinner. When I was told we had tickets to a Truffle dinner I was excited – when my partner said it was at an Indian restaurant, Flavours of India at Phillip, I was cautious and baffled. Surely Indian food and Truffle was too [...]

Walking through Garema Place this lunchtime I realised that what I’d always assumed to be a bollard was in fact a bubbler.
Does it work? I wondered.
Well. Not at first. But eventually I was able to coax a sad dribble out of it.
And then… it wouldn’t stop.
In terms of making bottled water less appealing there’s still [...]

The Tourism Australia website has released a ‘Fact Sheet’ on Canberra’s Bar Scene. Apparently, the greatest compliments one can pay to Canberra bars are that Honkytonks has “Melbourne-like chic interiors” and the Kremlin Bar is “a busy nightspot for hip young things”. No mention of whether the bars were chosen for the listing based on [...]

Ok, at this end of the Festival we’re getting the hang of the truffles-and-food, and truffles-and-winematching thing. The big issue is now making sure that restaurants add enough so you know what you’re eating. We figure that will come, all it takes is for you to say “Where’s the truffle?” when you’re underwhelmed by the [...]

Got a budding whiz in the kitchen at home?
Belconnen Markets are calling for Teen Chefs to take part in their competition.
Teen Chefs competition has kicked off for 2012 and we are targeting all teenagers in the Canberra region to take part in this exciting competition!
Since starting out in 2009, Teen Chefs has encouraged students [...]