Blog

It was on a typical Spring morning in Alexandria on the 7th of November 2000 when Sohani and I crossed our fingers and opened the front door to our tiny 20 seat café. We dragged out the milk crates for those wishing to dine al fresco on Copeland Street, turned on the coffee machine and lit the stove waiting for our first customer to come through the doors and be introduced to the Bitton charm. It was a terrifying moment – we had left our high paid corporate careers to take this plunge.  People thought we were crazy ...

Cooking your own food at home is one of the simple joys of life and has a great deal of economic and health benefits for you and your family. However, kitchen waste is a big contributing factor to the overall amount of waste we generate as a society, putting pressure on us to re-evaluate our behaviours while cooking so we can work towards something a little more sustainable and set a good example for our children.

Is it just me or does there seem to be a lot of negative media currently circling around the hospitality industry? Do you feel it? Do you listen?  Does it influence the choices you make?

French food and wine is at the core of everything we do which is why we were delighted to recently co-host an evening with our friends from Bottli. Here's a look at the event when we tasted and discussed some sensational boutique wines and enjoyed some matching canapes from Bitton.

My favourite part of being a restaurateur is the incredible people I meet every day.  I love learning their stories and I love learning from them.  Two of the amazing people I have met are Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory. Through my very inquisitive questioning (you'll know what I am talking about if you've ever been on the receiving end of it) I found out that they run a company called the Impossible Institute. Kieren is a global thought leader in commercial creativity and Dan is an expert in behavioural Strategy. I love this shit (excuse the French). Step forward a few years and many takeaway coffees later and they have very kindly included me in their newly released book, Forever Skills - the 12 skills to future proof yourself, your team and your kids. Here is the short version of what this fascinating read is all about and of course, how they use Bitton as an example of 'nurturing your community'.  

I first met Rachael Finch in 2009 when she entered a competition at Bitton. She won a private cooking class with me! How lucky am I?! Coincidently Rachael was in the midst of preparing for Celebrity Masterchef and she is a self confessed 'foodie'. On the back of the #tenyearchallenge we thought it would be fun to revisit that time and ask Rachael a few questions about her food journey so far. 

And just like that another year has passed!  It was a year of hitting milestones and we are ready for a HUGE 2019. Take a look at our month by month 2018 wrap up and make sure you send us your Bitton wish list for next year!

As a chef, Japan was a country I longed to visit. I was and still am amazed at their knife skills and simple but fresh food. Since 2018 is a BIG year for birthdays  - I am turning 50 this year (I know I look so young) and my mother-in-law is turning 70, we thought let’s do a family trip to Japan to celebrate these milestones.

Japan has been one country that I have not heard one bad word about. Actually on the contrary, people of all cultures rave about this country - mindfulness, food, temples, beauty, trains, organisation, markets, skiing and the list goes on.  As you can imagine the bar was set very high for us!

So did it meet our expectations?……. Well read on and find out!

Has anyone else noticed Australia's current fascination with all things French?  Our guest blogger is Matilda Marseillaise, a French woman living in Australia who regularly keeps us informed about anything French happening in our city. Who better to discuss why it is that we are so intrigued by French culture.

Children’s eating habits are one of the most talked about topics amongst parents and one of the most frustrating. Agreed?! So why is it all so hard? Why can’t we get children to try new things? Where are we going wrong?