What to do after a day of babysitting

It's the school holidays and so every now and then we have the four oldest grandchildren over for a sleepover and a day of togetherness. We deliver them all home at the end of the day, by which time, being pretty old now, we are pretty exhausted. So on the way home we stop at mélissa's for a quick meal. My older son is very derogatory about mélissa's though I have no idea why really. Sure - it is not haute cuisine, but it is at least as good as anything on Lygon Street, or many another trendy inner suburban street, and it is also fast and relatively cheap. We like it a lot. The staff are friendly and efficient, the wine list is short, not too expensive but very nice - my Rothbury Estate Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc was really nice. And the food is really very tasty. And actually it does have inner suburban trendy origins anyway - Smith St. Collingwood in fact, and you can't get much more trendy than that in a grunge sort of way. So the food is Greek fundamentally - though there are other things as well. I often think the entrée menu is more enticing - but anyway yesterday I had a chicken and mushroom risotto which is also not very Greek, but was really good.

And it's yet another immigrant success story. As I said, it started in Collingwood - just a small cake and pastry shop - it's still there - but now there are around half a dozen different outlets - some of which are franchises I think. The sons of the original owners now run it. Not sure whether the one in Templestowe is one of the franchises or not. Anyway 'our' one has been there for several years now and it is always busy - though generally not quite as busy as it was when it opened, when it was packed all the time. Some customers use it just like us for a quick meal, but some make an evening of it. And there is live Greek music too. So what's not to like? The environment is at least as pleasant as our expensive 50th anniversary dinner restaurant.

Whilst we were there a man came and sat at a table nearby and was actually served before us. It might have had something to do with what he chose to eat. Or, I pondered, he may have been a very regular customer. I imagine that there are lots of people who eat out all the time - mostly singles I guess. And who go to the same one or two cafés all the time too. You would think you would get bored with the menu after a while wouldn't you? But then, when we go to Paris Go with my sons, for example, they always eat the same thing. Me I always try something new. With mélissa's my husband tends to choose the same thing. A warm honey chicken salad.

It's family and kid friendly, cheap, good food - there's even a television if you want. What's not to like? It's a winning formula and long may it thrive - at least as long as we are needed for babysitting.