Summary: The story of Portia de Rossi (Ellen deGeneres’ wife) during the time before she met Ellen. The story details her transition from a teenager in Australia to acting on one of America’s most popular shows, ‘Ally McBeal’. Her onscreen person was far from the body-conscious, anorexic, bulimic, distressed young woman who battled daily with food, exercise, and trying to maintain the perfect image.
Thoughts: This just goes to show you can’t always believe what you see/hear/read. Someone who’s life seemed perfect – attractive, rich, famous – was actually experiencing a horrific eating disorder. Her honesty is jarring – if someone so successful can feel so negative about herself, what hope do us ordinary folk have. Her rigid self-control is admirable, albeit for the wrong reasons, but the how and why she ended up almost dying from self-inflicted starvation makes for scary reading, especially as the perceived ‘perfect’ body image for young girls continues to permeate the media.
diners. There were so many menu choices I had trouble deciding – not usually a problem, given my food issues, which usually reduce the options to one. The servings are huge – so turn up hungry or bring a Tupperware container. I had the zucchini and bacon slice, and eyed off the Thai red curry, and the corn fritters (the size of a plate). The ‘light’ option – soup – came in a large bowl, with bread on the side. All were delicious (I managed to sample a few leftovers when the others couldn’t finish their meals). The staff were fantastic, and they’re open every day, so I’ll be back regularly to work my way through their extensive menu. Contact Bodega Cafe on phone 
This is one of my mum’s recipes which I ate regularly as a child, and recently felt I wanted the comforting taste of mum’s home cooking. I was given a bunch of sorrel by a friend (along with some cuttings for the garden – another story) and immediately decided to try and recreate my mum’s soup with the sketchy instructions scribbled many years ago in an old exercise book. Surprisingly (given my lack of real cooking skills), it worked quite well. The taste was almost spot on. But lesson learned – cut the stems off the sorrel and just use the leaves – the stems proved stringy and slightly woody, which makes for an annoying way to eat when you have to keep picking bits of tough grass out of your mouth.
I’ve been here a few times now and tried various things on the menu. During summer one lunchtime a friend and I shared a divine roast cauliflower salad with some sort of sauce that had me licking the plate, and the lamb and lentils, which was also nice, but forgetful, compared with the cauliflower. What a shame it hasn’t been on the menu since.
Ventured in for breakfast one morning, on the recommendation of the tourist info centre, and was delighted with the outdoor courtyard. I can’t remember what I ate because I was completely distracted by a well known TV personality coming in for a coffee. He asked me if I’d finished with the newspaper, and I probably muttered something unintelligible as I passed it to him. I then tried not to stare as he proceeded to have a coffee and chat with his partner, and discussed forthcoming work with his agent on the phone. I wanted to go over to him after and say how much I admired his work and how lovely it was to see him in person, but he was no doubt wanting some anonymity and quiet time and I didn’t want to intrude. But my little brush with fame has kept me going to this day. Ahhh – the joys of celebrity.