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I would love to do what she does. A remarkable and wonderful person.

Need pate.

The best thing about having your own cafe is round the clock access to a AUS $10k commercial coffee machine. I've toyed around with a friends Rancilio but it's not the same. Nothing like the smell of fresh ground coffee in the morning.

I think chains are great for consistent average food. You can't expect it to be fantastic but the food at chains is usually well priced and tasty enough.

I don't like eating fast food or from chains, I prefer the small places, mom and pop run, or proper restaurants. However, there will be times when I'm in an area that I don't know. Or when I'm short on time and I wasn't able to pack a meal. Or after a big night out in the early hours of the morning and I'm starting to sober up and my stomach wants something besides more booze.

That's when chains restaurants really shine. Keep in mind that I live in Sydney and the only thing besides chains that is open at 4am in the morning are kebab places and IMO, I would rather go to a chain for something small than eat a giant dirty kebab,

I wouldn't say I love Maccas, but after working there for 38hrs a week for 6 months I developed this weird craving for a cheeseburger and fresh chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. Before I worked there I had not eaten ANY Maccas for a good 3-4 years. I ate that at exactly 2am everyday for 6 months. It took awhile to get over the craving and even now every now and then I just can't help myself.

When I was working at my old bar job the only place open nearby after 10pm (that wasn't doner kebabs) was KFC. I ate popcorn chicken and chips a few times a week for months. Still like it.

But my absolute favorite that I can no longer have... Yoshinoyas. I LOVED their $5 lunch special beef bowl. It was beef over rice with a green tea and a bowl of miso soup. I would always get an extra raw egg to crack over the hot beef and rice, added plenty of pickled ginger and Yoshinoyas awesome shichimi spice mix. I miss it :(

I've always watched and been involved when my mother or grandmother cooked but it wasn't until my parents opened their own business that I started to really get into cooking.

My mom was a chef by trade and was always an excellent cook at home but when she started working full time and late, the quality of her cooking went down since she started to take short cuts. Things came out of cans, packets, was precooked or frozen. Just didn't taste the same.

So I started to cook for me and my brothers. Mostly self taught and also studied hospitality while in high school, I believe I'm a pretty competent cook now. Certainly better than most people my age.

My mom still has the upper hand on me with Chinese and Thai cuisine but I'm definitely better when it comes to western cooking.

Had this for dinner last night. Old English style sausages from a local butcher, pan fried for color then in the oven to cook through. Mash made with a tamis, cream, milk and a lot of butter. Caramelized onion. Gravy made with veal stock ice cubes.

Cheap and delicious! Especially when sausages and potatoes are on sale.

I'm from Australia and I work at a McDonalds here. The McCafe looks totally different to what we have here. McCafe in Australia is more closer to a traditional cafe, where the barista is more involved in making the coffee (steaming the milk etc). If you're lucky, you'll get a properly trained barista (like me...) and a pretty decent coffee.

The McCafe in the US looks more similar to what we call 'EspressoPronto'. All the drinks come made from the machine and the iced coffees come pre-prepped, all we have to do is either press a button or pour it straight into the container. The coffees are not filled to the top so that customers who get it through drive thru don't have it spilling everywhere as they drive (that's what I think anyway, seems to make sense). I haven't tried it yet but I don't expect it to be the same level of quality as McCafe.