ExtraVirgin Food & Travel

A little different, this one - just like my guest (and friend) Carmel Ruggeri, an Australian-Sicilian and former restaurateur turned tour guide.  If you listened to the previous ExtraVirgin Food and Travel episode with Rubia Daniels , who bought 3 houses in Mussomeli in Sicily, your interest in the region may well have been piqued.  This episode will answer your questions about this very unique pa...

In this episode of ExtraVirgin Postcards, we visit Nice, on France's beautiful Côte d'Azur. Our guest, Madelyne Prowse takes us on a colourful and delicious tour of her adopted home town; from the seaside promenade to hiking trails in the hills; secret beaches to the best beach bars.  She shares with us her favourite places to eat, drink and how to best experience Nice like a Niçoise.

You've probably seen something about it on the news - Italian towns offering 1 Euro houses for sale. If you were an Italophile, it may have given you pause - the optimist in you imaging a life of long lunches beneath a trellis of vines, before you dimissed the offer as too good to be true.  In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel , we talk with Rubia Daniels ,who spent the grand total of 3 eu...

Our ExtraVirgin postcard this episode wings its way to you from beautiful Byron Bay on Australia's east coast - home to Hemsworths, hippies, and our guest, Georgia Bateman.  A Londoner by birth, Georgia, who had been based in Sydney, came for a weekend, fell in love and never left.  In this postcard, she explains the magnetic pull of Byron - from its laid back lifestyle to superb surf breaks. We h...

Imagine if the view from your workplace was of palm trees and the Coral Sea? That's the good fortune of Nick Holloway, chef-ower of Nu Nu Restaurant in tropical north Queensland . Nick left big-city Melbourne searching for authenticity and found it in spades in this lush, laidback village of Palm Cove , north of Cairns. In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel , we talk to Nick about the uniqu...

It's best known as the home of iconic wineries such as Penfolds and Seppelt , but there's so much more to South Australia 's capital, Adelaide than its wineries (or its churches!) Our local, for this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel's "Postcard" is food and travel writer Amanda McInerney, who shares with us her favourite festivals, walks, restaurants, markets, cultural events and, yes wineries...

If you listened to episode 64 of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel Podcast, "Love in the Time of Covid," you'll be familiar with Monique Ceccato's story.  Not long after that episode went live, Monique and her love, Espen were parted again, separated by the Covid regulations of their respective countries. She, on a plane back to Australia, while he remained in Norway. In this episode we follow up with Mon...

On this episode of ExtraVirgin Food and Travel, our postcard comes from sunny Brisbane. Australia's third largest city has been the home of freelance writer Jennifer Johnston for most of her life. Jen shares with us her favourite walks and cycling routes, its galleries, book stores, the best places to enjoy a cocktail or beer with city views and much more. So, whether you're planning a future trip...

Have you every dreamed about owning a gorgeous country cottage, historic chateau or sophisticated city pad in France?  Suzanna Clarke, a New Zealander formerly based in Australia, has made her home in Fez in Morocco, splitting her time between there and France since 2007 when she bought her first apartment  in Bordeaux. Having just added to her property portfolio with a sprawling country property,...

This episode of ExtraVirgin Postcard wings its way to you from the beautiful tourist hotspot of the Gold Coast, on Australia's east coast. Our guest, Karen Inglis runs food tours from her home suburb of Burleigh, so she's perfectly placed to give us all the intel on the best places to eat and drink. Karen also tells us about the Gold Coast's cool green hinterland and its famous beaches, where to g...

What are the best foods to put in your shopping basket for your health and for the planet? Is it necessary to cut out meat or go organic?  In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel , Natascha Mirosch asks those questions and more, of bestselling author and 'ultimate gentle activist' Alexx Stuart . They discuss how dietary advice (including the food pyramid model) was hijacked and how many farme...

It's one of Australia's most loved holiday destinations - for good reason. Noosa in Queensland, Australia, is home to some of the country's most unspoiled coastal landscapes, with forest-fringed beaches, tranquil rivers, and even one of only two everglade systems in the world.  This postcard comes from magazine editor Deb Caruso , who's called Noosa home for around 20 years. Deb gives us all the l...

Do you want to be a food writer? Do you think you have what it takes to have your food stories published in magazines or newspapers? Or, perhaps you're an instagrammer or blogger keen to polish your food writing skills? In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food and Travel Podcast , Natascha Mirosch talks to Barbara Sweeney, a food writer, former food guide editor, writing teacher and organiser of Austra...

This episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel Postcards comes from  Dubrovnik in Croatia. Working as a tour guide, location scout and photographer, our guest, Ivan Vukovic couldn't be better placed to share the insider secrets of this beautiful medieval walled city on the Adriatic. Ivan tells us about his favourite restaurants, off-the-beaten-track but "must-see" sights and shares lots of useful tips....

Most of us have stayed in an airbnb once in our lives, but have you ever thought about what it would be like to run one yourself? In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel Podcast, Natascha Mirosch  talks with Lucy Cousins, owner of the gorgeous "The Artist's Cottage ," in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney Australia.  They discuss the everything from why you'd do it, to how to do...

Brooklyn-born Jewells Chambers, the creator and host of the award-winning All Things Iceland podcast and YouTube channel met her husband Gunnar when she was in college, more than a decade ago. In 2016, she moved to be with him in his home city of Reykjavik in Iceland. In this ExtraVirgin Postcard, she tells us what it's like to go from living in a city of more than 8 million to one of less than 12...

Do know what a food stylist is and what they actually do? Are you a good cook or is the kitchen a place of trepidation and anxiety? In this epsiode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel,   Natascha Mirosch talks with Lucy Tweed , author of cookbook Every Night of the Week and a professional food stylist who both gives us a peek into the life of a food stylist, as well as offering solutions to kitchen conun...

In this episode of ExtraVirgin Postcards, we visit The Eternal City - Rome. Our guide is Erica Firpo , an Italo-American travel and lifestyle journalist and editor, author and podcaster at ' Ciao Bella ,' who has called Rome, "home" for the past 18 years. Erica shows us around 'her' Rome, pointing out its ancient architecture, history and cultural delights and epicurean riches. She reveals some of...

Konnichiwa! Whether you love Japan or are planning your first visit, you need to listen to this episode! We have not one, but two guests, both of whom have lived in Japan. Amanda Kendle, travel writer, social media lecturer and podcaster at The Thoughtful Travel Podcast was an English teacher in Japan, while Jane Lawson, cook book author and travel writer who also lived there, now leads tours to t...

Our guest on ExtraVirgin Postcards this episode is Noriko Silvester, the owner of a design communication company in Toyko, Japan. Noriko lives in Komae , in the Western section of Tokyo metropolis. It is, she tells us, a very safe, green and peaceful part of Tokyo, famous for its movie studios and the local and international actors who frequent it.   Noriko tells us about a few of her favourite re...

Since the 1950s, Los Cabos , at the very southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, (the original California) has attracted big names from Hollywood.  Today, it welcomes everyone and in this episode, our ExtraVirgin Postcard guest and passionate local, Rodrigo Esponda, shares his tips on this beautiful part of the world. Rodrigo tells us about the rich marine life inhabiting both the Sea...

In this episode of  ExtraVirgin Food & Travel Podcast,   Natascha Mirosch talks with Matthew Evans , a former chef and restaurant critic, turned farmer, restaurateur, author and host of Gourmet Farmer on SBS. An advocate for sustainable food and ethical production, who "wants everyone to eat well," experience has taught him that this starts with what's right under our feet - soil.  Matthew and Nat...

Fuel your wanderlust as we travel the globe, talking to ordinary people about why they love where they live, exploring beyond the guide books and tourist traps to discover local secrets. In this episode, we hear from Dianne Bortoletto in Perth, Western Australia, the world's most isolated capital city.  Dianne talks festivals, food and farmers markets, the kilometres of coastal walks along the cit...

Tasmania's remote location, the unpolluted air, soft, pure water and the exceptional locally-grown barley are helping distilleries make their mark in the world whisky market. In this episode of ExtraVirgin Food & Travel, we talk to master distiller Bill McHenry of McHenry Distillery in southern Tasmania about the process of getting the legendary spirit from grain to glass - from barrel-aging to fo...

Fuel your wanderlust as we travel the globe, talking to ordinary people about why they love where they live. We explore beyond the guide books and tourist traps and discover local secrets. In this episode, we hear from John Hunter in Rugby, England - the town where the famous game was created. John describes a life of country walks on rolling hills, followed by good farm-to-fork food. There's also...