OK you may recall not too long ago we ran one of our most popular Tasty Tuesday segment EVER, with delightful local foodie Julia Busuttil, whose Hummingbird Cake won many hearts back in May! It’s been a busy few months since we last saw Julia – she has married her dashing fella, Norihiko Nishimura, and though she’s still teaching Italian to primary school kids by day, in every waking moment outside of work Julia is cooking, running foodie workshops, and sharing her culinary skills over at her super popular food blog, Ostro.
This month, Julia adds another string to her bow – together with Nori, who is a chef, she has been plotting to bring some of her most favourite Japanese tableware and homewares to Australian shores. Today marks the launch of Julie and Nori’s online store, MINAMI, which means ‘South’ in Japanese (an affectionate nod to the Southern land where Nori has found his second home).
MINAMI stocks a sweet edit of the most simple, beautifully crafted functional pieces from Japan. ‘We sell beautiful products for everyday life, with a focus on practical simplicity, function and quality’ says Julia. ‘We decided to open MINAMI as we wanted to share pieces that have been crafted with the same values that align with our own food – care, pride and restraint’.
Unsurprisingly, MINAMI centres primarily around the kitchen, though Julia and Nori are also stocking a few of their favourite publications, as well as beautiful Japanese socks, hand-woven towels and stationary. For their first shipment of products, Julia and Nori have selected pieces made by artisans or small manufacturers who specialise in their craft, often using techniques passed down for generations. (You should SEE the ceramics in person, so incredibly delicate and beautiful!).
In the next few months, Julia and Nori plan to release a range of tea towels and aprons created exclusively for MINAMI. They are super excited for their next trip to Japan in early 2015 – meeting new makers, spending time with family and friends and eating really good food! Looking further head, they are also dreaming of combining their shop with their foodie ambitions in the form of a physical space, somewhere in Melbourne…. WOAH that sounds seriously AMAZING…!
We’re pretty thrilled to let you know that Julia and Nori will be joining us this month for TASTY TUESDAY, with a Japanese-inspired menu to celebrate the launch of MINAMI! Pop back at 2pm today for their first recipe… it is going to be a brilliant month!
