Lygon street and yummy italian food.

I served an Australian man while I was working at Mazza maybe one month before I came out to Melbourne. I detected that he had a slight accent so I decided to be brave and I asked him where he was from... "Sir, may I ask you where your accent is from...?" I said bravely, I was wanting to try and pick up the difference of a English accent and an Australian accent..."The back of my throat, I am sick.." The man grunted.... His teenage son was sitting across from him and he started to laugh... "forgive my dad," the kid said..."he is from Australia".

I proceeded to tell him that the reason I was asking was because I was moving to Australia soon and was trying to get familiar. The man soon warmed up and it turned out that he was from Melbourne. I completely neglected my other tables as I sat and listened to stories of places that he was urging me to visit. By the time that he left I was even more excited to come here. Before he finished his dinner he wrote a few things down on a piece of paper for me.

I have carried this little piece of paper with me all through my journeys so far, and it has proved to be 100% correct. I have appeared to be so with it and I have even impressed locals with my knowledge of the fun, cool areas I know all about. I wish I could find that man and tell him thank you. If you look at the top of the note (which is front and back) you will see that it says Italian food-Lygon street. That is where we had dinner tonight.

We arrived at about 8pm and set out to find a place to eat. The weird, and not so appealing part of Lygon street, is the store owners that stand in front of the restaurants urging you to come eat at their restaurant. They beg you to look at the menu and immediately try to pull you in. It was very overwhelming. They even offer you free things. Kate and I got whisked away to some restaurant and the woman offered us free wine and appetizers. Weird. (BTW- the wine was Nobilo, my very favorite wine from Mazza...it is from New Zealand and I have been looking for it all over).

We had a great dinner... I had gnocchi with a red sauce and Kate had Alfredo. Mmmmm. We then went and had Gelato down the road. Little Italian restaurants and gelato stores littered this area. It was a great way to spend the evening.