Roslyn Grundy

Niigata isn't super popular with tourists, but it actually has a lot to offer. The locals are incredibly nice – it's the only place we visited where people actually struck up conversations, usually wondering why the heck we were visiting. The botanical gardens were a highlight. They're a 20-minute train ride (plus a 20-minute walk) outside the city, in a cultural precinct that also includes an archaeological research centre and a modern art museum. Inside the greenhouse dome, I spotted bananas, finger limes and water lilies. Outside, the autumn foliage display had all but finished but the native deciduous conifers, karamatsu, were spectacular.

We've spent today exploring Nuttari in Niigata, a coastal city on the Sea of Japan. The Nuttari neighbourhood was once a thriving centre for fermented products. It fell into decline but is gradually reawakening. In the morning, we strolled through Nuttari Terrace Street, a strip of old nagaya (row houses) that are being turned into specialty shops, cafes and studios for creatives such as architects, potters and glass blowers. The street is surrounded by shrines and temples with lovely gardens. Nearby is Imayo Tsukasa sake brewery, founded in 1767, which offers modestly priced tours and tastings, and a shop selling sake (and soft serve made with sake lees). Almost opposite is a century-old miso factory selling all kinds of miso-based products. There's even a cool backstreet record shop inside a former sake brewery selling vintage jazz, funk and disco on vinyl.

Look, Monty Don reckons Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa is worth a visit, and who am I to argue? Kanazawans will proudly tell you it's one of Japan's three great gardens. But according to the garden's brochure, it's the only one that combines the six elements required for excellence: spaciousness, artifice, watercourses, seclusion, antiquity and panoramas. It's a garden that celebrates seasonal changes, but the vivid leaves make it especially lovely in autumn. And if you come in November, you can also see the trees clad in traditional yukitsuri – bamboo poles and ropes to protect the branches from the coming snow.

If you want to find me this summer, I'll be in the front yard messing around with plants. This area used to be shaded by a giant, unruly lillypilly hedge and a grapefruit tree (🤢) but now we have the beginnings of a productive garden, including four food cubes (wicking beds) where the lettuces and peas are already going gangbusters.

These petit French cakes are known as *financiers*. Dunno why, but I had a strange urge to make a batch to share with my colleagues at a rally outside Nine in Melbourne on Monday. We're on strike for five days after receiving an inadequate pay offer, which was compounded by an announcement that, despite the company being profitable, it intends to make 70-90 publishing jobs redundant. #DontTorchJournalism @withmeaa

I'm starting 2024 as I mean to go on: eating deliciously. This is Doju, @doju.melbourne , which I've been jazzed to visit. It's the work of chef @mika_chae (yep, cousin of @chae_melbourne 's Jung Eun Chae), cooking sustainable modem Australian viewed through a Korean lens. So that's: [1] Retired dairy cow on a seaweed cracker with desert lime [2] Sourdough marbled with gochujang chilli paste and zucchini butter. [3] LA galbi (beef short ribs) with pickled shiitake, umami-rrific braised kohlrabi with chard and oyster mushrooms; and thousand-layer potatoes with black garlic butter [4] Ice-cream with the nostalgic flavour of injeolmi rice cakes and candied walnuts. Not pictured (because my photo didn't do it justice): the absolutely excellent burnt leeks with a crisp disc of chicken skin, brown butter, and cashew cream. It really was as good as I'd expected. Get on it.

Inspired by Mischa Tropp's guest appearance at @avaniwines , I am resolving this year to add more Keralan spice to my life. Until Jan 7, Mischa will be serving snapper with spicy coconut gravy, ghee rice, and okra pachadi; calamari with coconut and turmeric; a cooling salad of melon, cucumber and green tomatoes; and maybe best of all, masala dosa. All of it goes so well with Avani's aromatic, textural wines.

Looking good tonight, Melbourne. Waiting for Fat Freddy's Drop to drop. #BigSaturday

Field notes from a day out of the office. 1. Australia's largest olives oil producer, @cobramestate grows 2.5 million olive trees on former wheat country in the Mallee. 2. The tin hangar at the end of the landing strip. Snapped simply because I loved it. 3. Green olives and black (and red/purple) olives grow on the same trees - they're just different stages of ripening. 4. Frost can kill an olive tree overnight. It's expensive to run wind turbines to draw warmer air in from above but it's worth it. 5. Freshly pressed olive oil is a good as it gets. It's vibrant and leaves the mouth feeling clean, not oily. 6. Olive oil contains phenols that feel like black pepper on the back of the tongue and makes some people cough. Ask me how I know. 7. Professional larrikin (and talented chef) @mrwilkinsons and Cobram Estate co-founder Rob McGavin. 8. Wood-fired grape and olive oil focaccia for a crowd. Bloody good. 9. Lunch by @mrwilkinsons began with crudites, taramasalata with qukes, fab @bundarraberkshires charcuterie, and burrata with finely diced strawberries (brilliant! unexpected!). So many dishes followed but the taramasalata was the dish of the day for mine. Thanks for having me, @cobramestate . #invitation

Such a magical start to the day - cycling at dawn to Corben Oval for the launch of Skywhale and Skywhalepapa, Patricia Piccinini's sculptures in the form of hot air balloons.

Finally ticked off a bucketlist item: a visit to the Salopian Inn in McLaren Vale, South Australia. It's a stout stone building dating from 1853, today run by Karena Armstrong, who, in her downtime (!) is one of @tastingaustralia 's festival directors. The food is big-flavoured and big-hearted, which I suspect reflects its owner. Highlights of lunch included: 1. Chargrilled line-caught calamari with juicy tomatoes; tomato, chilli and preserved lemon jam; and loads of housegrown herbs. 2. Eggplant dumplings with pickled ginger, roasted chilli, sesame and coriander. 3. Shishito peppers with harissa. 4. Gary the Rooster's nectarine tree tart and South Australian love cake. Karena Armstrong will team up with homegrown talent @chefkanepollard and @benydev from @pipitrestaurant on May 5 for Wasted, a feast in Adelaide's Town Square Kitchen showing how delicious less familiar food can be. It's one of the exciting events scheduled for Tasting Australia in SA from April 29-May 8. Details @tastingaustralia . #tastingaustralia

Foraging close to home. Evening stroll to collect pine needles to mulch the blueberry plants, fennel pollen to make @karen_martini 's tomato and watermelon salad (originally published in @goodweekendmag and available via @goodfoodau ), and blackberries for tomorrow morning's smoothie.