The Greens, North Sydney

I used to have dreams of travelling to this place or that, of learning Italian, or writing a book. Now one of my top five dreams, along with sleeping in until 8am, is for a place like The Greens or The Grounds to open within a 15 minute drive of where we live. I mean, a 15 minute walk would be even better, but I don't want my dreams to be pure fantasy.

I genuinely feel that what I most appreciate in life now are brought to life by places like these - alfresco dining where kids can roam and explore, catch ups with friends, fresh food beautifully presented and doughnuts. Especially doughnuts.

Know what I also love? That I have a toddler who eats terrine. I mean guys, come on. I can't help but feeling smug that my kid loves broccoli, sashimi, and can eat a mango seed clean. Of course, now that I've publicly admitted it, Wolfie will probably refuse to eat anything but chips the next time we're out for a meal.

While we are on the subject of public shaming, I'm just going to put it out there and say - if you claim to only eat chicken and hate seafood, you can't then turn around and try my octopus salad and say if you knew it would be like that you would have ordered it. You know who you are. And thus, my honour, I rest my case - you can't claim to hate what you haven't tried.

Everything we ordered was well balanced (that sounds so incredibly snobby I kind of want to punch myself in the face), fresh and zesty - perfect for a hot summers day lunch with friends and family.

Actually, I think I'm inspired to work out how to cook octopus properly.