Quotes from Melissa Leong

For me, a big part of anxiety and depression was not knowing how to say 'no' and wanting to please too many people... part of this process is learning to draw the line and slow down.

The great thing about discovering all the food treasures that Box Hill has to offer is that most of them are packed into an area small enough to wrap your arms around.

As a food writer, it's my job to know each and every cuisine on this planet as well as I can.

If there's somewhere that in no way resembles Eastern Europe, it's Australia.

I believe in being able to reserve things to yourself. That's the way I was brought up.

A restaurant open for less than a month is many things, but an institution it most definitely isn't.

I'm a big believer in digging deep when I travel to a new place.

I live a very straight forward life and my job is public, my life isn't. That's a very clear delineation I've made from the beginning and will always tread that line.

For many of us, milkbars gave us our first taste of the concept of saving and spending, treats and indulgence.

I have a confession to make: my name is Melissa Leong and I am a former food blogger.

It's hard enough for most restaurants to create and present a single menu that makes sense to the diner, let alone two.

It's hard to comprehend a hot brunch menu without a shakshuka.

No matter where you live in the world, the contribution that Chinese migration has had on food culture is undeniable.

To be considered part of the fashion zeitgeist is fun, but it will never steal my focus from my qualifications as a food writer, presenter and communicator.

When you think about a post-swim snack at the local pool, you'd be forgiven for thinking ham and cheese toasties, finger buns and red frogs before cassava fries, arepas and Latin tunes.

I have an affinity with Mediterranean cuisine. Spending a few summers in Italy, France, Spain and Turkey, there's something brilliant about freshly caught fish, slashed, scattered with a few herbs, a squeeze of lemon, a slug of good olive oil, then thrown on a grill.

I do love fashion as a mode of self expression, and I appreciate it for being wearable art.

From hearty beet-red borscht and soft, pliable pierogi dumplings to dill-scented pickles and hearty braises, the food of Eastern Europe - that is The Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Poland, Georgia and their close neighbours - is tasty stuff, but it's never really taken off in Australia in any significant way.

Every so often, the hospitality industry gives us a champion - a bright spark that lights up a room and makes everyone feel that little bit extra special just by being around them. Simon Lay - aka. Charles Bronson from the East - was such a man.

I love any of Rick Stein's television productions - the way he speaks about food is with such love and respect.

I believe in spirituality more than I believe in religion. But I like the idea of there being something bigger than us. What that is, I can't say for sure.

India's obsession with food and its cultural importance in nourishing not just the body, but community and spirituality too, goes some way to explaining why Indian home cooking is hard to beat.

My journey into the world of work after that was a bit more piecemeal than I would have liked, and it took a while to find the place in the world where I truly felt I belonged.

It's about learning how to slow down... I think this Covid environment that we're in there's a lot of sadness and a lot of pressure going on in terms of the uncertainty, but what it is teaching us or forcing us to do is appreciate the small things: be grateful for a slower pace of life.