Australia's finest gin makers are on their way to The Boatbuilders Yard for a one-day celebration of that most sensational of spirits. Juniperlooza is a home-grown gin festival that should in no way be confused with Junipalooza (spelled with an 'a'), which is a totally different thing. We know it's confusing, but are you really going to complain about Melbourne having two events dedicated to gin? Yeah, we didn't think so. Held on Saturday, November 18, Juniperlooza will showcase some of Australia's best gin. There'll also be food to help line your stomach, DJs and live music, and special talk + taste sessions to fill your brain with gin wisdom. Hopefully you can still remember it the next day.
If you're going to fork out an arm and a leg for candy bar concessions, the food may as well be good. That's the thinking behind the Coburg Drive-In Food Truck Festival, which after tantalising our tastebuds late last year is back in time for the whole summer. On selected date from January 7-30, you can sit back in your car and enjoy the latest Hollywood releases while chowing down on delectable offerings from Melbourne's leading mobile food vendors. Trucks on site include Sliders on Tires, Toasta, Taco Truck, Yogurddiction and The Brûlée Cart, whose popcorn-covered salted caramel crème brûlée feels perfect for the occasion. Get ready to break your New Year's resolution diets with an entire month's worth of in-vehicle dining.
Suzuran in Camberwell is unlike any takeaway sushi place you've ever been to, for not only does it serve fresh and inventive sushi for a quick lunch or a hearty dinner, but it is also a Japanese market with a huge range of imported Japanese products. Suzuran prides itself on having the most extensive range of Japanese food and products available anywhere in Victoria, whether it is cooking ingredients or a quick snack, that brand of sake or beer you can't find elsewhere or everything you need to make the perfect at-home ramen. When ordering takeaway eats, the chefs will also make the food right in front of you, which is always one of the joys of Japanese dining as the theatre of Japanese cooking is second to none. This place is famous among Japanese food aficionados in Melbourne and is considered one of the most authentic offerings in the city. One of the specialties here is the uni (sea urchin), and if you've been too nervous to try it in the past, then be sure to give it a go here first, as it is consistently delicious and prepared to perfection. The sushi sets include nigiri with salmon and prawn, while the nigiri vegetarian is perfect for those who avoid meat. Other options include eel, cucumber, pickled radish and fermented soybean, as well as the classic salmon or tuna.
When you're trying to settling on viewing plans for an evening — any evening — there are almost as many ways to pick what to watch as there are movies and television series vying for your attention. One of the easiest options? Working your way through award-winners, whether you know you've already seen and loved plenty of them, you've been meaning to catch up with a heap or you just want to discover what all the fuss has been about. 2023's first excuse to pack your streaming queue and stack your cinema visits based on a Hollywood organisation is the Golden Globes, aka the Hollywood gongs that always kick off each year — and honour both films and TV series. Taking place on Wednesday, January 11 Australian time, the 2023 awards handed out trophies to many of 2022's absolute best on the big and small screens, giving you quite the list of things to watch and/or rewatch. Whether you're keen to hit the silver screen to catch a filmic gem, stream a stellar flick or binge your way through an excellent series or two, here are 15 of the Globes' best winners that you can check out immediately. (And if you're wondering what else won, you can read through the full list, too.) MOVIE MUST-SEES EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Imagine living in a universe where Michelle Yeoh isn't the wuxia superstar she is. No, no one should want to dwell in that reality. Now, envisage a world where everyone has hot dogs for fingers, including the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon icon. Next, picture another where Ratatouille is real, but with raccoons. Then, conjure up a sparse realm where life only exists in sentient rocks. An alternative to this onslaught of pondering: watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, which throws all of the above at the screen and a helluva lot more. Yes, its title is marvellously appropriate. Written and directed by the Daniels, aka Swiss Army Man's Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, this multiverse-hopping wonder is a funhouse of a film that just keeps spinning through wild and wacky ideas. Instead of asking "what if Daniel Radcliffe was a farting corpse that could be used as a jet ski?" as their also-surreal debut flick did, the pair now muses on Yeoh, her place in the universe, and everyone else's along with her. Although Yeoh doesn't play herself in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she is seen as herself; keep an eye out for red-carpet footage from her Crazy Rich Asians days. Such glitz and glamour isn't the norm for middle-aged Chinese American woman Evelyn Wang, her laundromat-owning character in the movie's main timeline, but it might've been if life had turned out differently. That's such a familiar train of thought — a resigned sigh we've all emitted, even if only when alone — and the Daniels use it as their foundation. Their film starts with Evelyn, her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's Short Round and The Goonies' Data) and a hectic time. Evelyn's dad (James Hong, Turning Red) is visiting from China, the Wangs' daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) brings her girlfriend Becky (Tallie Medel, The Carnivores) home, and IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdra (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween Ends) is conducting a punishing audit. Then Evelyn learns she's the only one who can save, well, everything, everywhere and everyone. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Michelle Yeoh), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Ke Huy Quan). Where to watch it: Everything Everywhere All At Once streams via Binge, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER Black Panther: Wakanda Forever isn't the movie it was initially going to be, the sequel to 2018's electrifying and dynamic Black Panther that anyone behind it originally wanted it to be, or the chapter in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe that it first aimed to be — this, the world already knows. The reason why is equally familiar, after Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer in 2020 aged 43. At its best, this direct followup to the MCU's debut trip to its powerful African nation doesn't just know this, too, but scorches that awareness deep into its frames. King T'Challa's death starts the feature, a loss that filmmaking trickery doesn't reverse, no matter how meaningless mortality frequently proves when on-screen resurrections are usually a matter of mere plot twists. Wakanda Forever begins with heartbreak and pain, in fact, and with facing the hard truth that life ends and, in ways both big and small, that nothing is ever the same. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler (Creed) like its predecessor — co-scripting again with Joe Robert Cole (All Day and a Night) — Wakanda Forever's emotional tributes to T'Challa and Boseman hit swiftly, after the former's tech-wiz sister Shuri (Letitia Wright, Death on the Nile) agonises over not being able to save him. In a swirl of song, dance, colour, movement, rhythm and feeling on par with the first instalment, but also solemn, Wakanda erupts in mourning, and the film makes plain that the Black Panther audiences knew is gone forever. A year later, sorrow lingers, but global courtesy wanes — now that the world knows about the previously secret country and its metal vibranium, everyone wants a piece. Such searching incites a new threat to the planet, courtesy of Mesoamerican underwater kingdom Talokan and its leader-slash-deity Namor (Tenoch Huerta, Narcos: Mexico). The Atlantis-esque ocean realm has vibranium as well, and it's not keen on anywhere else but Wakanda doing the same. If Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, Gunpowder Milkshake), Shuri and their compatriots don't join Namor to fight back, Namor will wage war against them instead. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Angela Bassett). Where to watch it: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. RRR The letters in RRR's title are short for Rise Roar Revolt. They could also stand for riveting, rollicking and relentless. They link in with the Indian action movie's three main forces, too — writer/director SS Rajamouli (Baahubali: The Beginning), plus stars NT Rama Rao Jr (Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava) and Ram Charan (Vinaya Vidheya Rama) — and could describe the sound of some of its standout moments. What noise echoes when a motorcycle is used in a bridge-jumping rescue plot, as aided by a horse and the Indian flag, amid a crashing train? Or when a truck full of wild animals is driven into a decadent British colonialist shindig and its caged menagerie unleashed? What racket resounds when a motorbike figures again, this time tossed around by hand (yes, really) to knock out those imperialists, and then an arrow is kicked through a tree into someone's head? Or, when the movie's two leads fight, shoot, leap over walls and get acrobatic, all while one is sat on the other's shoulders? RRR isn't subtle. Instead, it's big, bright, boisterous, boldly energetic, and brazenly unapologetic about how OTT and hyperactive it is. The 187-minute Tollywood action epic — complete with huge musical numbers, of course — is also a vastly captivating pleasure to watch. Narrative-wise, it follows the impact of the British Raj (aka England's rule over the subcontinent between 1858–1947), especially upon two men. In the 1920s, Bheem (Jr NTR, as Rao is known) is determined to rescue young fellow villager Malli (first-timer Twinkle Sharma), after she's forcibly taken by Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson, Vikings) and his wife Catherine (Alison Doody, Beaver Falls) for no reason but they're powerful and they can. Officer Raju (Charan) is tasked by the crown with making sure Bheem doesn't succeed in rescuing the girl, and also keeping India's population in their place because their oppressors couldn't be more prejudiced. GLOBES Won: Best Original Song (for 'Naatu Naatu' by Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj). Where to watch it: RRR streams via Netflix. Read our full review. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN In The Banshees of Inisherin, the rolling hills and clifftop fields look like they could stretch on forever, even on a fictional small island perched off the Irish mainland. For years, conversation between Padraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell, After Yang) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson, The Tragedy of Macbeth) has been similarly sprawling — and leisurely, too — especially during the pair's daily sojourn to the village pub for chats over pints. But when the latter calls time on their camaraderie suddenly, his demeanour turns brusque and his explanation, only given after much pestering, is curt. Uttered beneath a stern, no-nonsense stare by Gleeson to his In Bruges co-star Farrell, both reuniting with that darkly comic gem's writer/director Martin McDonagh for another black, contemplative and cracking comedy, Colm is as blunt as can be: "I just don't like you no more." In the elder character's defence, he wanted to ghost his pal without hurtful words. Making an Irish exit from a lifelong friendship is a wee bit difficult on a tiny isle, though, as Colm quickly realises. It's even trickier when the mate he's trying to put behind him is understandably upset and confused, there's been no signs of feud or fray beforehand, and anything beyond the norm echoes through the town faster than a folk ballad. So springs McDonagh's smallest-scale and tightest feature since initially leaping from the stage to the screen, and a wonderful companion piece to that first effort. Following the hitman-focused In Bruges, he's gone broader with Seven Psychopaths, then guided Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell to Oscars with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but he's at his best when his lens is trained at Farrell and Gleeson as they bicker in close confines. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Comedy, Best Screenplay — Motion Picture (Martin McDonagh), Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Colin Farrell). Where to watch it: The Banshees of Inisherin is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO Guillermo del Toro hasn't yet directed a version of Frankenstein, except that he now has in a way. Officially, he's chosen another much-adapted, widely beloved story — one usually considered less dark — but there's no missing the similarities between the Nightmare Alley and The Shape of Water filmmaker's stop-motion Pinocchio and Mary Shelley's ever-influential horror masterpiece. Both carve out tales about creations made by grief-stricken men consumed by loss. Both see those tinkerers help give life to things that don't usually have it, gifting existence to the inanimate because they can't cope with mortality's reality. Both notch up the fallout when those central humans struggles with the results of their handiwork, even though all that the beings that spring from their efforts want is pure and simple love and acceptance. Del Toro's take on Pinocchio still has a talking cricket, a blue-hued source of magic and songs, too, but it clearly and definitely isn't a Disney movie. Instead, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is an enchanting iteration of a story that everyone knows, and that's graced screens so many times that this is the third flick in 2022 alone. Yes, the director's name is officially in the film's title. Yes, it's likely there to stop the movie getting confused with that array of other page-to-screen adaptations, all springing from Carlo Collodi's 19th-century Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. That said, even if the list of features about the timber puppet wasn't longer than said critter's nose when he's lying, del Toro would earn the possessory credit anyway. No matter which narrative he's unfurling — including this one about a boy fashioned out of pine (voiced by Gregory Mann, Victoria) by master woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley, Catherine Called Birdy) after the death of his son — the Mexican Oscar-winner's distinctive fingerprints are always as welcomely apparent as his gothic-loving sensibilities. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Animated. Where to watch it: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio streams via Netflix. Read our full review. ELVIS Making a biopic about the king of rock 'n' roll, trust Baz Luhrmann to take his subject's words to heart: a little less conversation, a little more action. The Australian filmmaker's Elvis, his first feature since 2013's The Great Gatsby, isn't short on chatter. It's even narrated by Tom Hanks (Finch) as Colonel Tom Parker, the carnival barker who thrust Presley to fame (and, as Luhrmann likes to say, the man who was never a Colonel, never a Tom and never a Parker). But this chronology of an icon's life is at its best when it's showing rather than telling. That's when it sparkles brighter than a rhinestone on all-white attire, and gleams with more shine than all the lights in Las Vegas. That's when Elvis is electrifying, due to its treasure trove of recreated concert scenes — where Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) slides into Presley's blue suede shoes and lifetime's supply of jumpsuits like he's the man himself. Butler is that hypnotic as Presley. Elvis is his biggest role to-date after starting out on Hannah Montana, sliding through other TV shows including Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, and also featuring in Yoga Hosers and The Dead Don't Die — and he's exceptional. Thanks to his blistering on-stage performance, shaken hips and all, the movie's gig sequences feel like Elvis hasn't ever left the building. Close your eyes and you'll think you were listening to the real thing. (In some cases, you are: the film's songs span Butler's vocals, Presley's and sometimes a mix of both). And yet it's how the concert footage looks, feels, lives, breathes, and places viewers in those excited and seduced crowds that's Elvis' true gem. It's meant to make movie-goers understand what it was like to be there, and why Presley became such a sensation. Aided by dazzling cinematography, editing and just all-round visual choreography, these parts of the picture — of which there's many, understandably — leave audiences as all shook up as a 1950s teenager or 1970s Vegas visitor. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (Austin Butler). Where to watch it: Elvis streams via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Read our full review. THE FABELMANS "Movies are dreams that you never forget," says Mitzi Fabelman (Michelle Williams, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) early in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans. Have truer words ever been spoken in any of the director's flicks? Uttered to her eight-year-old son Sammy (feature debutant Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord), Mitzi's statement lingers, providing the film's beating heart even when the coming-of-age tale it spins isn't always idyllic. Individual pictures can come and go, of course. Only some — only some on the Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and West Side Story filmmaker's own resume, in fact — truly stand the test of time. But as former concert pianist Mitzi understands, and imparts to her wide-eyed on-screen Spielberg boyhood surrogate, movies as an art form are a dream that keeps shining in our heads. We return to theatres again and again for more. We glue our eyes to films at home, too. We lap up the worlds they visit, stories they relay and fantasies they inspire, and we also add our own. To everyone that's ever stared at the silver screen in awe, The Fabelmans pays tribute far more than it basks in the glow of its director. Because everyone is crafting cinematic memoirs of late, Spielberg adds this tender yet clear-eyed look at his childhood to a growing list of self-reflective flicks; however, he's as fascinated with cinema as a dream-sparking and -making force as is he with fictionalising his own tale. Slot The Fabelmans in alongside James Gray's Armageddon Time, Kenneth Branagh's Belfast, Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths from the past year or so, then, but don't merely consider it Spielberg jumping on a trend. Focusing on Sammy's film fixation, including as a teen (played by Gabriel LaBelle, The Predator) and as his fragile family hops around the US following his computer-engineer dad Burt's (Paul Dano, The Batman) work, this is a heartfelt, perceptive and potent movie about how movies act as a mirror — a vividly shot and engagingly performed one, too, complete with a pitch-perfect late cameo — whether we're watching or creating them. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director — Motion Picture (Steven Spielberg). Where to watch it: The Fabelmans is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. SMALL-SCREEN STANDOUTS ABBOTT ELEMENTARY The Office did it, in both the UK and US versions. Parks and Recreation did so, too. What We Do in the Shadows still does it — and, yes, there's more where they all came from. By now, the mockumentary format is a well-established part of the sitcom realm. Indeed, it's so common that additional shows deciding to give it a whirl aren't noteworthy for that alone. But in Emmy-winner Abbott Elementary, which is currently streaming its second season, the faux doco gimmick is also deployed as an outlet for the series' characters. They're all public school elementary teachers in Philadelphia, and the chats to-camera help convey the stresses and tolls of doing what they're devoted to. In a wonderfully warm and also clear-eyed gem created by, co-written by and starring triple-threat Quinta Brunson (Miracle Workers), that'd be teaching young hearts and minds no matter the everyday obstacles, the utter lack of resources and funding, or the absence of interest from the bureaucracy above them. Brunson plays perennially perky 25-year-old teacher Janine Teagues, who loves her gig and her second-grade class. She also adores her colleague Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ray Donovan), the kindergarten teacher that she sees as a mentor and work mum. Actually, Janine isn't just fond of all of the above — she's so devoted to her job that she'll let nothing stand in her way. But that isn't easy or straightforward in a system that's short on cash and care from the powers-that-be to make school better for its predominantly Black student populace. Also featuring Everybody Hates Chris' Tyler James Williams (also The United States vs Billie Holiday) as an apathetic substitute teacher, Lisa Ann Walter (The Right Mom) and Chris Perfetti (Sound of Metal) as Abbott faculty mainstays, and Janelle James (Black Monday) as the incompetent principal who only scored her position via blackmail, everything about Abbott Elementary is smart, kindhearted, funny and also honest. That remains the case in season two, where Janine is newly single and grappling with being on her own, sparks are flying with Williams' Gregory and James' Ava can't keep bluffing her way through her days. GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Quinta Brunson), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical or Comedy or Drama Television Series (Tyler James Williams). Where to watch it: Abbott Elementary streams via Disney+. THE BEAR First, an important piece of advice: eating either before or while watching The Bear is highly recommended, and near close to essential. Now, two more crucial slices of wisdom: prepare to feel stressed throughout every second of this riveting, always-tense, and exceptionally written and acted culinary series, and also to want to tuck into The Original Beef of Chicagoland's famous sandwiches immediately. The eatery is purely fictional, but its signature dish looks phenomenal. Most of what's cooked up in Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto's (Jeremy Allen White, Shameless) kitchen does. But he has taken over the family business following his brother's suicide, arriving back home after wowing the world in fine dining's top restaurants, and nothing is easy. Well, coveting The Bear's edible wares is across the show's eight-episode first season — but making them, keeping the shop afloat, coping with grief and ensuring that the diner's staff work harmoniously is a pressure cooker of chaos. That anxious mood is inescapable from the outset; the best way to start any meal is just to bite right in, and The Bear's creator Christopher Storer (who also directs five episodes, and has Ramy, Dickinson and Bo Burnham: Make Happy on his resume) takes the same approach. He also throws all of his ingredients together with precision — the balance of drama and comedy, the relentlessness that marks every second in The Original Beef's kitchen, and the non-stop mouthing off by Richie, aka Cousin, aka Carmy's brother's best friend (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Dropout), all included. Carmy has bills to pay, debts to settle, eerie dreams and sleepwalking episodes to navigate, new sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Dickinson) mixing up the place and long-standing employees (such as Hap and Leonard's Lionel Boyce, In Treatment's Liza Colón-Zayas and Fargo's Edwin Lee Gibson) to keep happy. Every glimpse at the resulting hustle and bustle is as gripping as it is appetising — and yes, binging is inevitable. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Jeremy Allen White). Where to watch it: The Bear streams via Disney+. Read our full review. EUPHORIA From the very first frames of its debut episode back in June 2019, when just-out-of-rehab 17-year-old Rue Bennett (Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home) gave viewers the lowdown on her life, mindset, baggage, friends, family and everyday chaos, Euphoria has courted attention — or, mirroring the tumultuous teens at the centre of its dramas, the Emmy-winning HBO series just knew that eyeballs would come its way no matter what it did. The brainchild of filmmaker Sam Levinson (Malcolm & Marie), adapted from an Israeli series by the same name, and featuring phenomenal work by its entire cast, it's flashy, gritty, tense, raw, stark and wild, and manages to be both hyper-stylised to visually striking degree and deeply empathetic. In other words, if teen dramas reflect the times they're made — and from Degrassi, Press Gang and Beverly Hills 90210 through to The OC, Friday Night Lights and Skins, they repeatedly have — Euphoria has always been a glittery eyeshadow-strewn sign of today's times. That hasn't changed in the show's second season. Almost two and a half years might've elapsed between Euphoria's first and second batch of episodes — a pair of out-of-season instalments in late 2020 and early 2021 aside — but it's still as potent, intense and addictive as ever. And, as dark, as Rue's life and those of her pals (with the cast including Hunter Schafer, The King of Staten Island's Maude Apatow, The Kissing Booth franchise's Jacob Elordi, The White Lotus' Sydney Sweeney, The Afterparty's Barbie Ferreira, North Hollywood's Angus Cloud and Waves' Alexa Demie) bobs and weaves through everything from suicidal despair, Russian Roulette, bloody genitals, unforgettable school plays, raucous parties and just garden-variety 2022-era teen angst. The list always goes on; in fact, as once again relayed in Levinson's non-stop, hyper-pop style, the relentlessness that is being a teenager today, trying to work out who you are and navigating all that the world throws at you is Euphoria's point. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama (Zendaya). Where to watch it: Euphoria streams via Binge. OZARK In 2022, Julia Garner schemed her away into New York's upper echelons in the instantly addictive Inventing Anna, playing IRL faux socialite Anna Delvey — and won the unofficial award for wildest accent on TV, too. She didn't end up nabbing a Golden Globe for her part, despite being nominated; however, the acclaimed actress hasn't been going home empty-handed at awards ceremonies. The reason? Fellow Netflix series Ozark. The Assistant keeps picking up Supporting Actress gongs for the crime drama, for her blistering performance as Ruth Langmore. When the show started back in 2017, Garner wasn't in its top-two biggest names, thanks to Jason Bateman (The Outsider) and Laura Linney (Tales of the City), but she's turned her part into an absolute powerhouse. Ozark's focus: a financial advisor, Marty Byrde (Bateman), who moves from Chicago to a quiet Missouri town — yes, in the titular Ozarks region — after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong in a big way. That's a significant shift for his wife Wendy (Linney) and kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz, What Breaks the Ice) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner, Daredevil), but it doesn't see Marty change his ways. Instead, more laundering is in his future, as well as crossing paths with Ruth, who hails from a criminal family. Across its four-season run, Ozark has always been lifted by its performances, which is unsurprising given that Bateman, Linney and Garner are all at the top of their games. It's a masterclass in tension, too, and in conveying a relentless feeling of dread. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical or Comedy or Drama Television Series (Julia Garner). Where to watch it: Ozark streams via Netflix. BLACK BIRD 2022 marks a decade since Taron Egerton's first on-screen credit as a then-23 year old. Thanks to the Kingsman movies, Eddie the Eagle, Robin Hood and Rocketman, he's rarely been out of the cinematic spotlight since — but miniseries Black Bird feels like his most mature performance yet. The latest based-on-a-true-crime tale to get the twisty TV treatment, it adapts autobiographical novel In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption. It also has Dennis Lehane, author of Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River and Shutter Island, bringing it to streaming. The focus: Jimmy Keene, a former star high-school footballer turned drug dealer, who finds his narcotics-financed life crumbling when he's arrested in a sting, offered a plea bargain with the promise of a five-year sentence (four with parole), but ends up getting ten. Seven months afterwards, he's given the chance to go free, but only if he agrees to transfer to a different prison to befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser, Cruella), and get him to reveal where he's buried his victims' bodies. Even with new shows based on various IRL crimes hitting queues every week, or thereabouts — 2022 has seen plenty, including Inventing Anna, The Dropout, The Girl From Plainville and The Staircase, to name a mere few — Black Bird boasts an immediately compelling premise. The first instalment in its six-episode run is instantly gripping, too, charting Keene's downfall, the out-of-ordinary situation posed by Agent Lauren McCauley (Sepideh Moafi, The Killing of Two Lovers), and the police investigation by Brian Miller (Greg Kinnear, Crisis) to net Hall. It keeps up the intrigue and tension from there; in fact, the wild and riveting details just keep on coming. Fantastic performances all round prove pivotal as well. Again, Egerton is excellent, while Hauser's menace-dripping efforts rank among the great on-screen serial killer portrayals. And, although bittersweet to watch after his sudden passing in May, Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark) makes a firm imprint as Keene's father. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Paul Walter Hauser). Where to watch it: Black Bird streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. THE WHITE LOTUS Lives of extravagant luxury. Globe-hopping getaways. Whiling away cocktail-soaked days in gorgeous beachy locales. Throw in the level of wealth and comfort needed to make those three things an easy, breezy everyday reality, and the world's sweetest dreams are supposedly made of this. On TV since 2021, HBO's hit dramedy The White Lotus has been, too. Indeed, in its Emmy-winning first season, the series was a phenomenon of a biting satire, scorching the one percent, colonialism and class divides in a twisty, astute, savage and hilarious fashion. It struck such a chord, in fact, that what was meant to be a one-and-done limited season was renewed for a second go-around, sparking an anthology. That Sicily-set second effort once again examines sex, status, staring head-on at mortality and accepting the unshakeable fact that life is short for everyone but truly sweet for oh-so-few regardless of bank balance — and with writer/director/creator Mike White (Brad's Status) still overseeing proceedings, the several suitcase loads of smart, scathing, sunnily shot chaos that The White Lotus brings to screens this time around are well worth unpacking again. Here, another group of well-off holidaymakers slip into another splashy, flashy White Lotus property and work through their jumbled existences. Another death lingers over their trip, with The White Lotus again starting with an unnamed body — bodies, actually — then jumping back seven days to tell its tale from the beginning. Running the Taormina outpost of the high-end resort chain, Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore, Across the River and Into the Trees) is barely surprised by the corpse that kicks off season two. She's barely surprised about much beforehand, either. That includes her dealings with the returning Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge, The Watcher), her husband Greg (Jon Gries, Dream Corp LLC) and assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson, After Yang); three generations of Di Grasso men, aka Bert (F Murray Abraham, Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities), Hollywood hotshot Dominic (Michael Imperioli, The Many Saints of Newark) and the Stanford-educated Albie (Adam DiMarco, The Order); and tech whiz Ethan (Will Sharpe, Defending the Guilty) and his wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza, Best Sellers), plus his finance-bro college roommate Cameron (Theo James, The Time Traveller's Wife) and his stay-at-home wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy, The Bold Type). GLOBES Won: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television (Jennifer Coolidge). Where to watch it: The White Lotus streams via Binge. Read our full review of season two. THE DROPOUT Dramatising the Theranos scandal, eight-part miniseries The Dropout is one of several high-profile releases this year to relive a wild true-crime tale — including the Anna Delvey-focused Inventing Anna, about the fake German heiress who conned her way through New York City's elite, and also documentary The Tinder Swindler, which steps through defrauding via dating app at the hands of Israeli imposter Simon Leviev. It also dives into the horror-inducing Dr Death-esque realm, because when a grift doesn't just mess with money and hearts, but with health and lives, it's pure nightmare fuel. And, it's the most gripping of the bunch, even though we're clearly living in peak scandal-to-screen times. Scam culture might be here to stay as Inventing Anna told us in a telling line of dialogue, but it isn't enough to just gawk its way — and The Dropout and its powerful take truly understands this. To tell the story of Theranos, The Dropout has to tell the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley biotech outfit's founder and CEO from the age of 19. Played by a captivating, career-best Amanda Seyfried — on par with her Oscar-nominated work in Mank, but clearly in a vastly dissimilar role — the Steve Jobs-worshipping Holmes is seen explaining her company's name early in its first episode. It's derived from the words "therapy" and "diagnosis", she stresses, although history already dictates that it offered little of either. Spawned from Holmes' idea to make taking blood simpler and easier, using just one drop from a small finger prick, it failed to deliver, lied about it copiously and still launched to everyday consumers, putting important medical test results in jeopardy. GLOBES: Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Where to watch it: The Dropout streams Disney+. Read our full review. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON In its very first moments, House of the Dragon's opening episode delivers exactly what its name promises: here be dragons indeed. Within ten minutes, the Iron Throne, that sprawling metal seat that all of Westeros loves fighting about, also makes its initial appearance. By the time the 20-minute mark arrives, bloody violence of the appendage-, limb- and head-lopping kind fills the show's frames as well. And, before the debut instalment of this Game of Thrones prequel about House Targaryen's history even hits its halfway mark, a brothel scene with nudity and sex is sighted, too. Between all of the above, the usual GoT family dramas, squabbles over successors and power struggles pop up. Of course they do. House of the Dragon was always going to check all of the above boxes. None of this can constitute spoilers, either, because none of it can come as a surprise. Game of Thrones' fame and influence have become that pervasive, as have its hallmarks and trademarks. Everyone knows what GoT is known for, even if you've somehow never seen this page-to-screen franchise yet or read the George RR Martin-penned books that it's based on. After green-lighting a different prequel to pilot stage, scrapping it, then picking this one to run with instead — and also making plans to bring novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg to TV, working on an animated GoT show, exploring other potential prequels and forging ahead a Jon Snow-focused sequel series — House of the Dragon is the first Game of Thrones successor to arrive in streaming queues, and it doesn't mess with a formula that HBO doesn't consider broken. Its focus: the Targaryen crew 172 years before the birth of Daenerys and her whole dragon-flying, nephew-dating, power-seeking story. Cue silky silver locks aplenty, including cascading from King Viserys I's (Paddy Considine, The Third Day) head as he takes to the Iron Throne over his cousin Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best, Nurse Jackie). She had a better claim to the spiky chair, but gets passed over because she's a woman. Years later, the same scenario springs up over whether the king's dragon-riding daughter Princess Rhaenyra (Upright's Milly Alcock, then Mothering Sunday's Emma D'Arcy) becomes his heir, or the future son he's desperate to have, or his headstrong and shady younger brother Prince Daemon (Matt Smith, Morbius). GLOBES: Won: Best Television Series — Drama. Where to watch it: House of the Dragon streams via Binge. Read our full review. Top image: HBO.
When Vivid Sydney kicks off winter, the city instantly gets brighter. And, come Friday, May 27–Sunday, June 18, the popular event might just beam a little stronger than usual — returning for the first time since 2019. Vivid Sydney's 2022 lineup certainly boasts plenty of highlights — and more than 200 events in total. Sticking with all that eye-catching light, to begin with, there'll be more than 50 luminous installations dazzling the city, including two particularly spectacular attractions by the water. The first, Sydney Infinity by Oracle Liquid, is a water sculpture in Darling Harbour that'll feature 12 80-metre-high water shoots, plus a Sydney-inspired soundtrack by DJ Peewee Ferris. And the second, at Walsh Bay, will see a 100-metre floating Light Walk pop up for folks to mosey along. Vivid Sydney will also host First Light, a Welcome to Country celebrating the Gadigal people and Country on Friday, May 27. And, Our Connected City by Mandylights will literally shine new light on the city's landmarks via 150 searchlights, which will illuminate the CBD with ribbons of light from the Sydney Opera House all the way to the northern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. [caption id="attachment_851810" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dan Hong and Mike Eggert, Destination NSW[/caption] In something completely new for 2022, Vivid Sydney will throw its first-ever Vivid Sydney Dinner, taking place at Merivale's Ivy Ballroom and hosted by Justine Clarke. The lineup spans Ken Done, Julia Baird, the Vivid Sydney Brass Band, James Morrison, Ngaiire, Virginia Gay and Kate Monroe, plus food by chefs Dan Hong and Mike Eggert. On the talks part of the program, American filmmaker Aaron Sorkin is headed to Sydney to discuss the intersection of politics and drama, as seen so often in his work. Also among the big names getting chatty: musician, artist and actor Troye Sivan, who'll talk with Lillian Ahenkan (AKA Flex Mami); and US journalist Gretchen Carlson — one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2017) — who successfully sued Fox founder and CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment and has since worked tirelessly to change legislation that silences the victims of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, Vivid Ideas Up Late will pop up at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Australian Museum, the Powerhouse Museum and the National Maritime Museum, hosting free nights filled with talks, performances, fashion, music and food. Music-wise, Vivid Sydney is no slouch, either. For starters, Vivid Live at Sydney Opera House will feature Paul Kelly, Thelma Plum and Ash Naylor during a gig dubbed Time And Tide: Four Decades of Song; Sampa The Great's new show An Afro Future; and Berlin-based piano star Nils Frahm performing Music for Sydney. Over at the Carriageworks precinct, the all-female Japanese rock band Chai will be hitting the stage, as will Estonian rapper Tommy Cash. Baxter Dury is bringing a splash of London disco to the CBD, and rock 'n' roll meets psychedelia at Spiritualized's taking over Luna Park's Big Top. Vivid Sydney 2022 will run from Friday, May 27–Sunday, June 18. For further information and tickets, head to the event's website. Top images: Yarrkalpa — Hunting Ground (2021), by the Martu Artists and Curiious with soundtrack by Electric Fields and Martu Artists (inspired by Yarrkalpa — Always Walking Country, 2014), Destination NSW (first image); For Sydney With Love, by Ken Done on Customs House, Spinifex Group (fourth image); Future Natives, by Chris Daniel, Destination NSW (fifth image); Convergence, by Mandylights, Destination NSW (sixth image).
The annual Melbourne Food & Wine Festival — Victoria's biggest and arguably greatest food and drink fest — is returning in 2025 with another stacked lineup of experiences. All in all, over 200 different food- and drink-filled events have been squeezed into the ten-day festival, which is running from Friday, March 21–Sunday, March 30. The World's Longest Lunch will once again kick off the festival, this time led by Curtis Stone. He's based in LA these days, but will be returning to Melbourne to lead the massive three-course communal feast, which takes place along a 600-metre table in Kings Domain. A couple days later, we then get to experience another iteration of the World's Longest Brunch, this time led by Julia Busuttil Nishimura. But unlike previous years, this version won't be set up along another long table outside at Kings Domain. Instead, you'll spend the morning moving throughout the Botanical Gardens, dining at three different locations. The first stop is at Tecoma Lawn, where brunch-goers will sample Julia's cinnamon buns, lemon mascarpone tart, and chocolate and almond pasticcini. This is followed by a selection of savoury bites at Taxodium Lawn and a grazing feast at The Alto. There'll even be a huge cake station at this year's World's Longest Brunch, which has carved itself out as the cooler, younger version of the World's Longest Lunch. But these two headline events are just the beginning. You've then got the Global Dining Series, which sees 20 international chefs, drink legends and producers descend on Melbourne for a heap of takeovers and collaborations. Most notably, Daniel Calvert from Sézanne — currently ranked number one in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants — will be joining Dan Hunter at Brae for two intimate services. London's much-celebrated St John and Brat are also running their own residencies, bringing a taste of British fine-dining to Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_842980" align="alignnone" width="1920"] World's Longest Lunch[/caption] Some of the city's top bakers and patissiers are also joining forces again this year for the Baker's Dozen pop-up, which will be taking over Fed Square on Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30. No need to traipse all over Melbourne to find your favoruite sweets — they'll all be in one place for this hugely popular two-day event. This year, you'll stop by and find treats from To Be Frank, All Are Welcome, Antara 128, Lumos, Baker Bleu, Kudo, Lulu & Me, Mietta by Rosemary, Madeleine de Proust, The Flour Melbourne, Monforte Viennoiserie, Raya, Tarts Anon, Lune, The Invy Baker x Urbanstead, plus special guests AP Bakery (from Sydney) teaming up with local bakery Iris. But pastry fans don't just get to celebrate during these two days. Throughout the week, you can also pop over to Melbourne Quarter to try cardamom buns and other sweet treats from Richard Hart's pop-up bakery. His cardamom buns are world-famous, and you can usually only find them at his bakery Hart Bageri in Copenhagen. [caption id="attachment_981421" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julia Busuttil Nishimura by Kristoffer Paulsen.[/caption] Three free events are also on the agenda for the 2025 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, with over 3000 free bites up for grabs across the week. First, you can drop by Emporium's Dim City for free dim sims that have been reimagined by top chefs Rosheen Kaul, John Rivera and Eun Hee An. Something Saucy then sees the crew from Super Norma give away bowls of their hugely popular pasta down a Melbourne laneway. And lastly, Taco Truck founder Raph Rashid is teaming up with Tom Sarafian to create a mashup of Mexican and Middle Eastern eats that are also all free. A lot of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival events can be pretty expensive, so it's a huge win to see these free events included in the lineup. Regional Victoria is also getting a shoutout this year, with over 30 events taking place beyond Melbourne. This includes a long lunch run by some of Murrindindi Shire's top hospitality teams, brewers and winemakers; a luxe dinner championing fermented food and bevs at Healesville's Giant Steps Wine; a Macedon Ranges winemakers lunch; and a big bush dance out at the Gippsland Jersey farm. We've touched on a heap of events here, but this really is just the surface of what's on offer. As always, we highly recommend you dig through the festival's website to discover more of what's on offer — and book out your faves before tickets sell out.
While we all need to look after our mates on a night out, there are occasions when you know you need to make a hasty, unnoticed exit before the night gets ugly. Ghosting, the smokebomb, the Irish Goodbye — call it what you want, the subtle art of disappearing before your mates even realise you're gone is a skill. Whether you're an expert escape artist or you can't depart without catching the eye of a few, all you've really got to do to pull off a great ghost is queue up that Uber and get to the front door of the venue. We've put together a list of the easiest and hardest places to ghost from to help you out. You can thank us later. [caption id="attachment_520249" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Leah Hulst.[/caption] EASY: COLLEGE LAWN HOTEL College Lawn in Prahran has long been the sort of place you'd want to wander down to on a Sunday afternoon to sink a few pints and maybe watch a game. But when that afternoon turns to night, and you realise you've got work in ten hours or so, College Lawn also has you sorted for ghosting. Surrounded by main roads so you can access your escape vehicle in a jiffy, the large venue also has enough rooms and different areas you can sidle off to and make your exit from. You'd even be able to hop over the fence at the back without anyone noticing and calling foul. EASY: THE CARLTON CLUB The Carlton Club is another large, sprawling venue that encompasses enough random bits and bobs to distract your friends from your exit. Lead your group into the room with animals on the wall, get them to stroke said furry wall, then take your cue. They'll probably spend a fruitless few minutes looking for you before assuming you're on the palm rooftop bar or something and stop worrying. EASY: HOWLER Howler is the sort of place where you're not really sure if you're in a bar, a club, an art gallery or a ping-pong tournament facility. With all of that going on — music, theatre, fringe shows and storyslams — it should be easy enough to blend into the background, pretend you're doing an art piece and scamper. Or you could win huge at a game of ping-pong, do a victory lap and then never come back. EASY: MADAME BRUSSELS Madame Brussels has the benefit of the good old distraction technique, too, but this time it's of a different sort. All the staff here just look so swish when they're done up in their finest tennis whites, your mates will find themselves wondering where you even buy tennis skirts from, and what exactly Pimm's is as they sink another jug of it. Then voila, you're a distant echo and on the way to water and bed. EASY: THE RETREAT The Retreat arguably has one of the best beer gardens on the north side of town — perhaps even the whole of Melbourne. It often plays home to some noise-heavy bands playing their hearts out, so you summoning an Uber will go unnoticed amongst the loud guitars and smokers. It's a busy place and it's got your back when you need it; just duck around the enormous tree out the back and slip out easily. HARD: GERALD'S BAR Gerald's quaint, cosy interior is a prime date setting for a romantic night of red wine and pasta. However, when it comes to group hangs, the one entrance is very obvious and the warm lighting and close quarters means it'll be unlikely your actions will go unnoticed — the rule of thumb is that the smaller and sweeter the bar, the easier it'll be to hear your mates yelling, "Oi! Where ya going?" and the jig will be up. HARD: LOOP ROOF Loop Roof is an excellent summer night cocktail spot high above the Melbourne skyline, but it's also a tricky spot to escape in a hurry. It may seem all fine and dandy to start with when you've ordered your Uber and downed the rest of your drink. But when you realise that there are five flights of stairs you have to contend with and your balance isn't so hot tonight, that facade fades fast. You make your way down bit by bit, and listen out for your ride. Just tell 'em you're only one flight away. HARD: MARION WINE BAR Marion, Cutler & Co.'s neighbouring wine bar by the same owners, is another place you'll want to bring your Tinder date to so you can impress them. It's new, trendy, long rather than wide and all done up in minimalist white and brick. This makes for an A+ cool wine bar experience, but has D+ ghosting capabilities, considering everything you do will be more noticeable thanks to the narrow entrance, bright white walls, small tables and huge windows. But really, you shouldn't be ghosting on a date unless the situation is dire, so stick to catching up with friends here who'll understand when the night turns and you need to run. HARD: SUN MOTH CANTEEN Sun Moth Canteen is one of those small places hidden away in Melbourne's underbelly of cobblestone laneways — good for the secretive 'find it yourself' culture that our city enjoys, but bad for those hoping to make a quick escape into a waiting car on a main road. Also, if you happen to glance at the food menu and see that there is fried bread on it, good luck to you. Your inner carb fiend might just take the reins and forget about leaving. HARD: YAH YAH'S Yah Yah's is a mainstay in late-night joints that keep kicking 'til daylight comes back around. At this 'weekend club for zombies', don't be surprised if you find yourself still there as the next door café kicks into gear for the morning rush. Smokebombing from a place as resolutely banging as Yah Yah's is nigh impossible when there's a dance floor and tunes of such prowess, so ghosting here is something you may try, but quite possibly fail at. The entrance is also right next to the dance floor. Not helpful.
For years, the Queen Victoria Market's night series has set two very different scenes — one of spiced mulled wine and barbecue smoke for its winter season, and of balmy evening air and sangria during the summer months. But what about the in-between seasons? Are we expected to go to restaurants on a Wednesday night? It appears the answer is, no, not anymore, as the historic marketplace prepares to launch a new spring edition of its popular hump day offering. The Hawker 88 Night Market sets out to fill that Wednesday night gap, and will for six weeks this spring, from September 19 to October 24. Riffing on the bustling hawker markets of Southeast Asia, it'll serve up a riot of flavours from across the continent, as imagined by 20 of the city's most popular vendors. From rich Indian curries and Filipino barbecue to Korean-style pork belly and Japanese karaage — if it's authentic, Asian street food, it'll probably make an appearance. Different weekly themes will give you the chance to explore various cuisines of the region alongside traditional entertainment, demonstrations and cultural experiences — get set for K-pop performances, noodle making masterclasses and plenty of karaoke. The lineup includes a Filipino Festival, a Mooncake Festival, a Bollywood Festival and even a Durian Festival if you're partial to the famously stinky fruit, although the exact dates are yet to be released. And while sangria isn't likely to be on the cards, you will find a swag of sips designed to complement Asian fare, including an exclusive H88 lager from newcomers Brick Lane Brewing Co.
More and more of Melbourne's top hotels are opening up their luxury pools to the public — like W Melbourne, which runs bottomless food and drink deals poolside every Sunday. And the latest to join the fold is Melbourne Marriot Docklands. Yes, access to its pool will cost you considerably more than your usual public pool (it's $50 for the whole day), but you get to truly escape the crowds and enjoy sweeping views across the city. But you don't just get access to the stunning outdoor infinity pool, which is always heated to a comfortable 28 degrees. During your visit, you also get use of a complimentary towel, plus access to the sauna and rooftop lounge bar. And if you come as a duo, you can grab the Pool Day Pass package for $120, which includes pool access, a large pizza to share and two cocktails. There's even a great happy hour deal running daily from 4–6pm, with the team slinging $12 Aperol Spritzes throughout the two-hour window. There are certainly worse places to be on a hot summer's day. But do note this deal is only available on weekdays — we recommend you time this visit with a little annual leave.
Berlin is a city that's constantly evolving. But despite the change, one thing will remain true – the German capital will always be cool. Yes, the days are gone when Berghain youths could pay a mere Australian $150 a month to rent a loft-like penthouse we could only dream of, but don't let the Berlin locals tell you that that means the city has been gentrified. The anarchist vigour that was born out of a city in political and economical shambles for the last 60 years lives on, and the middle finger to the man attitude in Berlin is present in almost everything. We asked an actual local to show us where we should spend our time in Berlin to ensure an unforgettable experience. If you've been thinking about booking that European holiday, do it now. Swapping your Australian winter for a European summer is a great way to make your 2017 something to look forward to. In partnership with Topdeck, here is the first instalment of our Less Obvious city guides. Episode one: Berlin. [caption id="attachment_589108" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @streethaus via Instagram.[/caption] PACK A PICNIC AND HEAD TO KORNERPARK Hidden in Neukolln, Berlin's answer to Fitzroy in Melbourne or Surry Hills in Sydney, Kornerpark is a pretty breath of fresh air compared to the suburb's usual grungy surrounds. Pack a picnic and enjoy the views of manicured flora while people-watching the local cool kids who hang out in this palace garden-esque retreat. On Sundays there's a free guided tour of the art gallery that overlooks the grounds. [caption id="attachment_589109" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @mr.akman via Instagram.[/caption] VISIT A GALLERY IN AN OLD RAILWAY STATION For all the contemporary art lovers out there, the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum boasts one of the best collections of Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys and Keith Haring you'll find in Berlin. The former railway station was turned into a gallery in the mid-90s and its architecture is just as impressive as the artwork inside it. Entrance to the main building and temporary exhibitions will set you back €14 but with over 10,000 square meters of gallery space the bang is well worth the buck. As with all museums and big city attractions, avoid going on the weekend. Instead, get in first at 10am, the earlier in the week the better. Still check out some of Berlin's street art though – there's a reason it's so famous. [caption id="attachment_589113" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @burgermeisterberlin via Instagram.[/caption] TRY A GERMAN BURGER AT BURGERMEISTER Berlin has a slight burger obsession. For the true enthusiasts, make your attempt at getting through a patty three thumbs thick at The Bird near Schonleinstrasse train station. Or, brace yourself for the omnipresent line at Berlin Burger International (BBI) on Neukolln's Pannierstrasse. The true Berlin burger experience can be found at Burgermeister on Shlesisches Tor in the original hipster town of Kreuzberg. It's underneath the train station built into what used to be public toilets. Yum. Nowadays It's totally sanitary and arguably the best burger in town. Don't forget to order chilli cheese fries on the side. [caption id="attachment_589220" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @olamajaw via Instagram.[/caption] FLY A KITE AT TEMPELHOFER FELD There are over 2,500 public parks and gardens in Berlin but Tempelhofer Feld is undoubtedly one of the most unique. A functioning airport until 2008, the city of Berlin eventually claimed back the space (it's 386 hectares) and turned it into the number one BBQ destination for Berliners in summer. Grab a kite, dust off your skates or bring some beers and a frisbee to enjoy the ultimate Berlin park experience. Whilst you're in the area walk through Schillerkiez, one of Berlin's most covetable living destinations, get a burger and Augustiner beer from one of the many restaurants, cafes and spatis (small milk bars that sell alcohol) that you'll discover walking through the streets. [caption id="attachment_589225" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @___feede___ via Instagram.[/caption] DRINK FREE WINE? AT WEINEREI In a city where beer is often cheaper than water, it's not hard to drink on a budget. Even still, a pay-what-you-want wine bar has its appeal. In the yuppie happy suburb of Prenzlauer Berg you'll find Weinerei. Dodge the prams and start-up entrepreneurs and head straight to the wine bar run by Bavarian and Argentinian connoisseurs Jurgen Stumf and Mariano Goni. There are three different locations but the Forum Cafe & Weinbar is easily the most popular. Get tipsy in atmospheric candlelight and when it's time to move on, use your discretion and pay what you think you owe in a small money box left at the bar. [caption id="attachment_589120" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @markthalleneun via Instagram.[/caption] DEVOUR SOME MULTICULTURAL FOOD AT MARKTHALLE NEUN (MARKET HALL 9) Bringing all the multicultural food flavours you can enjoy in Berlin together under one roof, Markthalle 9 officially reopened in 2011, exactly 120 years after its first opening. Inside the huge hall, there's a Breakfast Market held every third Sunday of the month or the Naschmarkt (snack market) held once a quarter with all the snacks and sweet delicacies you could imagine. Your best bet though is Street Food Thursday. Get there early at 5pm to avoid the huge crowds and struggle with the agonising decision over what to order. British pies, Thai tapioca dumplings, Mexican tacos, Allgäu cheese spaetzle or Nigerian FuFu? It's a delicious smorgasbord. Don't worry if you can't make it on either of those special days, the market is open every day of the week. ENJOY AUTHENTIC GOZLEME AT THE TURKISH MARKET For a true local's experience, take a stroll along the Turkish Market on Maybachufer canal every Tuesday and Friday. Everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to flowers to yards of fabric is on offer at this sort-of farmer's market. It's organised by the Turkish community living in Berlin (the city is home to the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey), and the produce is fresh and unbelievably cheap. Snag a carton of avocados for under €5 (seriously) or grab a freshly baked spinach and cheese gozleme and join the crowd of impossibly cool kids listening to the busker who sets up shop at the end of every market. [caption id="attachment_589134" align="alignnone" width="1280"] @chrisfosterrr via Instagram.[/caption] SAVOUR RARE TABLE SERVICE AT NATHANJA AND HEINRICH At the end of bar-laden Weichselstrasse in Neukolln you'll find Nathanja und Heinrich. With the typical Berlin bar vibe with raw walls, exposed brick and mismatched furniture, Nathanja's is equally as great for an afternoon coffee as it is for an evening gin and tonic. Order first and pay later, at this bar they often play the blues and even offer table service, a rare occurrence in Berlin. Like almost all places that serve alcohol in the city, smoking inside is allowed after 9pm. It's a popular local hangout so make sure you arrive before 8pm on weekends to grab a table. Visit Europe (including Berlin) with a Topdeck trip and make 2017 a year to remember. Book early (that means now) and save up to $999.
Overcoming systemic discrimination, both in the music industry and society more broadly, Indigenous hip hop artists are the vanguard of an exciting new era of Aussie hip hop. In the words of politically-conscious rapper Briggs, star of the ABC's Cleverman and Black Comedy: They're growing up fast, they're growing up tough, They're giving back everything they never got as a pup, And if they want something, you're giving it up, If they want something, you're giving it up. It's tempting to say that Indigenous hip hop is undergoing a renaissance of late, but it wouldn't be entirely accurate — the scene has been strong for years, it's just that now it's finally starting to get the attention it deserves. One initiative responsible for this greater recognition is Klub Koori, a regular showcase of emerging and established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians produced by Koori Radio. So, before they storm the stage on Thursday, July 7 at Carriageworks and with NAIDOC Week in full swing, we thought we'd introduce you to some Indigenous artists who are coming up fast and coming up tough. Oh, and they do want something: the throne. JIMBLAH Hailing from the Larrakia Nation in the Northern Territory, Jimblah sums up the paradox of 'traditional' (read: predominantly white) Aussie hip hop when he raps: "I see your fans, they're a bunch of racist kids, so who's to blame?" While there are few examples of overt racism in the local scene there is a definite racist undertone — so much so that those paragons of Aussie hip hop Hilltop Hoods felt compelled to write a whole song about it. Jimblah's fiery pull no punches lyricism — highlights include: "Australia just look what we made here/From slave ships to Great Britain's blood on their hands/Understand the royal fam, flying the flag/Unlawfully stands a generation unlawfully here" — has seen him garner significant critical acclaim. LADY LASH A Kokatha/Greek woman from far western South Australia, Lady Lash is a generic anomaly. Combing equal parts jazz, hip hop and soul interwoven with powerful storytelling, her music pushes sonic boundaries in profoundly beautiful ways. Having taken out the Victorian Indigenous Performing Arts Award for Most Promising Act and The Age Music Victoria Award for Best Indigenous Act with her debut album Crystal Mercy: The Fisherman's Daughter, Lady Lash is set to release her third album Therapy Tapes later this year. NOOKY 2016 has been an exciting year for Yuin Nation rapper and @IndigenousX host Nooky. Taking out the Australia Council Dreaming Award at the National Indigenous Arts Awards not only came with prestige but also a very tangible $20,000 grant towards developing his debut album. Signed to Briggs' label Bad Apples Music and having collaborated with Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas (after a chance encounter and cypher at The Block in Redfern), it's safe to say that his debut album is being hotly anticipated. It seems as though it's only a matter of time before Nooky blows up, so get on board early. TASMAN KEITH Splitting his formative years between inner city Sydney and Bowraville in the bucolic Nambucca Valley, Tasman Keith's music reflects these contrasting locales, combining sun-kissed beats with an effortless flow and lyrical dexterity reminiscent of early '90s East Coast hip hop. Having burst onto the scene in 2015 with his debut single 'B You', Tasman, the son of legendary Australian hip hop pioneer Wire MC, pays homage to his Gumbaynggirr heritage while epitomising the thoughtful, soulful sound that seems to be emerging in the local scene. At just 18 years old, Tasman Keith is definitely one to watch out for. Klub Koori is happening at Carriageworks on Thursday, July 7 at 7pm. Tickets are just $10 +BF.
This article is part of our series on the diverse highlights of NZ's Canterbury region, from city to snow. To book your Lake Tekapo trip, visit the 100% Pure New Zealand website. If your mental picture of New Zealand is all lush greenery, snow-topped mountains, vast lakes and clear skies, then you'd most likely go nuts over Lake Tekapo. The place is the idealisation of pretty much everything associated with New Zealand by way of landscape: a small town surrounded by the Southern Alps and sitting on the bluest goddamn lake you've ever seen. The water in this lake is not to be understated — it's pure magic. It shimmers like it could clear your head, cure your ails and turn you into a mermaid all at the same time. Mermaids aside, Tekapo is must-see for travellers driving through the South Island (it's less than three hours from Christchurch and Queenstown), and it's an idyllic place to stay too. The lake's obvious potential for water sports and its proximity to the nearby Round Hill ski area makes it a popular destination all year round, but time your stay correctly (that is, outside of school holidays) and you'll find a small, quiet town with enough going on to keep it interesting. You could spend two days in Tekapo just gazing out over the lake, but this small township becomes an oasis in winter with plenty to eat, see, do and take in. Got two days in the area? Here's how you should spend it in Tekapo. DAY ONE Midday: Air Safaris flight Tekapo is halfway between Christchurch and Queenstown, so no matter where you're coming from on the South Island, you can make an early start and arrive before noon. If the weather's clear, the first thing you'll want to do is book yourself in for an Air Safaris flight. It's a little bit pricey, but if you can do it, it's amazing as all hell to see the landscape from the vantage point of a light plane. They'll fly you over Tekapo, through the Godley Valley and right over the top of the Southern Alps. Flights depart every hour and last for around 45 minutes. It is totally dependent on the weather, so it's best to book on the day when you know you'll be able to see more than a few feet in front of you. [caption id="attachment_227858" align="alignnone" width="1024"] andrewXu via Flickr[/caption] Afternoon: The Church of the Good Shepherd The best thing about the Mackenzie region is that it has so much salmon swimming through its canal system that it's super fresh pretty much wherever you get it. Grab some salmon sashimi to go from Kohan (unsurprisingly Tekapo's only Japanese restaurant) and head over the canal to the Church of the Good Shepherd. The church is tiny, and — with that backdrop — is highly Instagrammable. It's usually open for prayer and admiration during the day if you want to head inside (just eat your salmon beforehand). [caption id="attachment_227862" align="alignnone" width="1024"] andrewXu via Flickr[/caption] Evening: Stargazing at Mt John Light pollution is one of those things you don't notice until it's gone, and at Tekapo it's practically nonexistent. Due to its isolation and terrain the area has an unusually high number of clear days and, as part of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, the town is restricted in how much light they emit. You know what that means? You can see the stars! They're unusually bright from wherever you are in Tekapo, but the best vantage point is up at the Mt John Observatory. Access to Mt John is restricted at night, so you'll have to book a tour with Earth & Sky to get up there. On a clear night they'll point out what's up there and you'll get to look through their telescopes and pretty much geek out on astronomy. If you're really lucky, there might even be some Aurora Australis action. But, let me emphasise: really, really lucky. Night: Dinner at Rakinui Tekapo is primarily a tourist town, so there are a heap of places to stay. If you're looking for something that's fairly new, comfortable and not a hostel (it is only two nights, after all), Peppers Bluewater Resort ticks all the boxes and has some rooms that face right over the lake. If you're staying here, head to their restaurant, Rakinui, for a late post-stargazing dinner. Their homemade bread is incredible and they also have a regional tasting platter if you're keen to sample tastes of the Mackenzie region. DAY TWO Morning: Walk up Mount John A chilly morning walk might not sound like your idea of a holiday, but it will be once you get up the top of Mt John. So grab your gloves, scarf and beanie (as well as a walking trail map that you'll be able to find at your accommodation) and head outside. You can either drive to the walking track, which starts at Tekapo Springs, or just walk (it'll just add on an extra half an hour or so). From here you head up on a pretty steep track through the larch trees, which flattens out soon enough to take you around Mt John and up to the summit. On a clear morning the views are amazing — the water looks even bluer from up there and you can see all the way over the surrounding lakes and the Mackenzie Basin. This is definitely a spot where you can take an extended breather, contemplate nature, meditate etc. When you're done, you can take the same route back down (around 2 hours all up) or via the lake shore track, which is almost twice as long. Midday: Brunch at Run 77 After every good walk comes a good breakfast, which is precisely why Tekapo has Run 77. Those assuming a place like Lake Tekapo wouldn't be home to a quality cup of coffee will be pleasantly surprised, because Run 77 rocks it. The cafe doubles as a deli and food store, and dishes out a mean brunch by anyone's standards. Choose from things like their homemade muesli, fresh banana bread served with walnut jam and grilled banana and their eggs Benedict with local Aoraki hot smoked salmon. Plus, they have a cabinet full of scones, slices and muffins for your sweet tooth. Afternoon: Tekapo Springs Now you've walked uphill and had a big brunch, it's time to take off all your clothes. This might sound crazy (and it sort of is when there's snow on the ground), but sliding into the hot pools at Tekapo Springs is exactly what you never knew your body needed — you've just got to get from the change rooms and into the water in your bikini first. Sounds difficult, but what's waiting for you is three outdoor pools filled with toasty warm natural spring water at 36-40 degrees. So, don't worry, you won't be freezing your whatever off for very long. You can top this off with a skate on their outdoor ice rink, but we're more inclined to suggest a go in the sauna and possibly even a massage at their day spa. Actually, we insist on that last one. Evening: Dinner at Tin Plate After you emerge from the day spa in a daze at sunset, you probably won't be able to find you way home. Conveniently, Tekapo Springs offer a free shuttle service back into town on request, and they'll drop you wherever you like. For dinner and a glass of wine by the fire, slink into Tin Plate Kitchen & Bar. The newest addition to Tekapo's main drag, Tin Plate has only been open since the start of this year's ski season, doing pizza, pasta and piada — an Italian pita bread served open with toppings like chorizo and prawn or artichoke, capsicum and blue cheese. Wine is available by the carafe, Three Boys Pilsner is on tap and your bed is only a short walk away. That's the beauty of Tekapo.
Melbourne hospitality folk are getting better and better at finding weird and wonderful locations for bars, and Goldilocks is no exception. This particular watering hole is found four levels above a Chinese restaurant at the top end of Swanston Street. Enter via the restaurant, fend off the eager wait staff and take the elevator up. As you step out, it's a world apart from the bustle of below. Calm, dark, sophisticated. Something about it, just like its namesake nursery rhyme would have us believe, is just right. The team is headed up by bar manager Lou Dare (ex Amelia Shaw, New Gold Mountain, Double Happiness and briefly Kodiak Club) and, only weeks after opening, they are seemingly on top of the small, yet considered, menu that is all about local produce (they make exceptions for things like Bourbon — but who wouldn't?) The cocktail offering features an ever-changing selection of six cocktails. And, like most venues, they'll whip you up something else if nothing takes your fancy. Try the Drunken Chicken Sazerac, with Hennesey VS, Peychaud's bitters and chicken fat-washed ginger syrup ($18) or, for something with less poultry, go for the Tea Time — a mix of West Winds Gin, St Germaine elderflower, 'Gone Surfin' Tea Syrup', lemon, grapefruit and floral bitters ($20). The wine and beer list stick to the small side as well. For bubbles go for the Bottega Prosecco ($11 glass) or, for white, try the Tomich Hill Pinot Grigio ($10 glass). The Hedonist Shiraz ($13 glass) is one serious red and a whole lot of woman, and beer drinkers can go Australian with the Mountain Goat Hightail Ale ($10) or the Murray's 'Dark Knight' Porter ($10). The food menu is picnic themed and offers small bites and sharing platters. Bites might see truffle butter popcorn ($8) or three little pig sliders ($15), while the sharing platters offer larger dishes like Chicken Little — Katie's Fried Chicken with dill pickles and three bear sauce ($18) — and Miss Muffet's Curd cheese selection (p.o.a). Goldilocks was fussy, but she sure knew when something was just so right.
This March, the National Gallery of Victoria hosted a symposium to accompany the opening of its splendid 200 Years of Australian Fashion exhibition. Industry insiders, curators and commentators reflected on the question: 'What is Australian fashion?' — something we did too. It was a masterstroke on the part of symposium organisers to include the designers behind cult Melbourne label DI$COUNT, Cami James and Nadia Napreychikov. A more obvious choice would have been to invite the Australian scene's currently reigning faces — think Young Turks, Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales of Romance Was Born. Nevertheless, James and Napreychikov provided a level of insight about fashion that would come as no surprise to fans of their long running blog — but could have surprised a few industry figures. Why? Why has DI$COUNT been so popular with their fans, but has been left out of so many Australian fashion conversations? We took a stroll through 200 Years of Australian Fashion to find out where this bold, highly original label sits in the Aussie design landscape. THEY LEAPFROGGED FASHION WEEK AND MADE FRIENDS WITH THE INTERNET A stroll through the NGV's seriously delightful exhibition reveals just how varied Australian fashion, particularly in the late 20th century, has been. As a result, the NGV symposium panel members were hesitant to spout generalisations. For James and Napreychikov, the notion of defining DI$COUNT in terms of national boundaries would be especially wrongheaded. Even before the pair had finished their studies at RMIT, they were receiving and disseminating ideas about fashion in a global context (thanks to that wonderful beast, The Internet). This interweb-fluency can probably account for DI$COUNT's rapid international success, despite the label having leapfrogged certain channels traditionally traversed by up-and-coming Aussie designers, such as presenting at Australian Fashion Week and being picked up by one of the big two department stores. Indeed, given the nature of James and Napreychikov's designs, it's possible that avoiding the beaten path was a wise move. The spiciest part of the symposium came when the two designers noted (with appropriate disdain) that their wares have been featured in every international Vogue magazine — save the Australian edition. If only the symposium's audience (myself included) had had the cojones to question Vogue Australia's deputy editor, Sophie Tedmanson, who was a member of the next session's panel, about this curious oversight. Then again, the omission by Australian Vogue (which seems to be in competition with its US counterpart for the title of Most Soporific Vogue) is unsurprising. The heavily sequined, badass imagery with which DI$COUNT has made its name is a world away from Australian fashion's Serious Designers — think Dion Lee, Toni Matičevski and (since his Spring/Summer 2015/16 collection) Michael Lo Sordo. There's no doubt that the work of these designers is exquisite, intelligent, and entirely deserving of the local fashion media's attention. Still, one wonders why there isn't room for coverage of both the beautiful and the brash in our local mags. [caption id="attachment_566976" align="alignnone" width="1200"] YouTube.[/caption] AUSTRALIAN VOGUE HASN'T FEATURED THEM, BUT THE ART AND MUSIC WORLD HAS It's a relief that the Australian art world has picked up the local fashion establishment's slack.Within the NGV's exhibition itself, DI$COUNT is represented by a truly gorgeous trompe l'oeil beaded bodysuit, originally worn by Kimbra at the 2012 ARIAs. An adaptation of the piece was later created by James and Napreychikov for Katy Perry. The bodysuit is DI$COUNT at its exuberant, witty and glittering best. Perry's version (which the popstar wore on her Prismatic tour during renditions of 'Birthday') included sweet smiling balloons on her boobs, cake on the cooch and DI$COUNT's trademark (ahem, more on that later) eyes on the hips. The ready-to-wear DI$COUNT line includes pared down versions of such couture-level creations. The label's loyal following and impressive sales come despite the few concessions made in their designs to the traditional notions of wearability that RTW supposedly demands (see for example the currently-stocked high cut briefs entirely covered in hand-sewn sequins). Densely sequined garments constitute some of DI$COUNT's most recognisable designs. Of course, figural representation in beading isn't exactly new in western fashion history, and antecedents to DI$COUNT designs can be found in the work of Elsa Schiaparelli, Patrick Kelly, Geoffrey Beene, and Gianni Versace. Apart from their inherently satisfying tactile qualities, sequins bring to the table a lot of fashion baggage concerning conceptions of bad taste, camp and luxury. Crucially, these are ideas that James and Napreychikov have given plenty of thought to, and as designers they're really more Leigh Bowery than Bob Mackie. Incidentally, there was a moment during the symposium when James and Napreychikov mentioned that they will eventually move on from sequins. NO! [caption id="attachment_566979" align="alignnone" width="1280"] MTV.[/caption] THEY'VE BEEN ROYALLY RIPPED OFF The problem, of course, for designers who focus on surface decoration (including beading and print) is the ease with which your ideas can be ripped off. This happened to James and Napreychikov most famously when Miley Cyrus (who had previously been a conspicuous DI$COUNT fangirl) performed with dancers at the 2015 MTV awards wearing evil eye-emblazoned costumes that MTV itself initially attributed to the Australian label (spoiler: they weren't DI$COUNT). This wasn't the first time that James and Napreychikov had dealt with this kind of thing. In 2010, the label twitter-slammed celebrity jack of all trades, Ruby Rose, for designing a pair of studded denim shorts for her Milk & Honey Collection, which bore a remarkable resemblance to a DI$COUNT pair she herself had previously worn. A more cynical designer might have seen the Miley episode as an opportunity to gain valuable media coverage. Similarly, other labels might have judged it unwise to publicly accuse Ruby Rose of plagiarism, given her status as one of the few Australian celebrities who will even dip their toe in the pool of experimental fashion. Instead, James and Napreychikov's response to Cyrus' performance, via Instagram, included the lines, "The one thing you can't TAKE and get away with is someone's IDENTITY. We know it might be risky for us career-wise to comment on this, but if we didn't, it would mean that we stand for NOTHING." The highly manicured world of fashion seldom sees such raw emotions put on display for all to see. THEY KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON, RIGHT INTO RIHANNA'S WARDROBE Creative souls generally recover from such unfortunate incidents ("It is much more disheartening to have to steal than to be stolen from,"), and, indeed, James and Napreychikov continue to go from strength to strength. (Rihanna's wearing of their YOU DON'T OWN ME/ I WILL NEVER FEAR YOU dress, has to be one of the most moving pop culture/ fashion moment of recent times). That the NGV recognised DISCOUNT, firstly by including their work in the exhibition, but also, and perhaps more significantly, by including James and Napreychikov in the symposium, elevated the discourse of Australian fashion. Despite the fact that their designs don't adhere to mainstream notions of elegance and beauty, James and Napreychikov are both extraordinarily talented and earnest about the very idea of fashion as an intellectual pursuit. So put em on your cover, Vogue, yeah? Get a good dose of DI$COUNT in Kimbra's video for '90s Music'. Top image: Miley Cyrus for DI$COUNT UNIVERSE by Terry Richardson.
Get ready to pick your jaw back up off the floor, because the World Press Photo Contest have just released their winning images for 2016. Back for its 59th edition, the yearly photographic collection regularly leaves us gaping at the mouth — and this year is no exception. Right at the top with 2015 Photo of the Year is Australia's own Warren Richardson, with his poignant picture of a man passing his baby through a fence at the Hungarian-Serbian border. He beat 82,951 submissions by 5775 photographers from 128 countries for the top prize, while also taking out first prize in the Spot News category. After almost six decades of beautiful and devastating photojournalism, the WPP contest continues to be one of the world’s most important platforms for art, journalism and humanising the headlines. The exhibition travels the world each year, although sadly it won't be making a stop in Australia in 2016. Take a look through some of the landmark images that caught the eye of the WPP judges; from a Tibetan Bhuddist ceremony in rural China to a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter being treated for burns in Syria, to one of those epics #sydneystorms rolling over Bondi. With many of the photographs documenting the more saddening news headlines, they’re often not easy images to look at, but it’s the work of these photojournalists that wakes up an otherwise ignorant world. Hope for a New Life, Warren Richardson (Röszke, Hungary) 2015 Photo of the Year + First Prize Spot News, singles "I camped with the refugees for five days on the border. A group of about 200 people arrived, and they moved under the trees along the fence line. They sent women and children, then fathers and elderly men first. I must have been with this crew for about five hours and we played cat and mouse with the police the whole night. I was exhausted by the time I took the picture. It was around three o’clock in the morning and you can’t use a flash while the police are trying to find these people, because I would just give them away. So I had to use the moonlight alone." The Forgotten Mountains of Sudan, Adriane Ohanesian (Sudan) Second Prize Contemporary Issues, singles "Adam Abdel, 7, was severely burned after a bomb was dropped by a Sudanese government Antonov plane next to his family home in Burgu, Central Darfur, Sudan." Bliss Dharma Assembly, Kevin Frayer (Sichuan, China) Second Prize Daily Life, stories "A Tibetan Buddhist nomad boy in Sertar county. Tibetan Buddhists take part in the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly. The last of four annual assemblies, the week-long annual gathering takes place in the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar and marks Buddha's descent from the heavens." IS Fighter Treated at Kurdish Hospital, Mauricio Lima (Hasaka, Syria) First Prize General News, singles "A doctor rubs ointment on the burns of Jacob, a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter, in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, at a Y.P.G. hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka, Syria." Storm Front on Bondi Beach, Rohan Kelly (Sydney, Australia) First Prize Nature, singles "A massive 'cloud tsunami' looms over Sydney as a sunbather reads, oblivious to the approaching cloud on Bondi Beach." La Maya Tradition, Daniel Ochoa de Olza (Colmenar Viejo, Spain) Second Prize People, stories "Young girls between the age of 7 and 11 are chosen every year as 'Maya' for the 'Las Mayas', a festival derived from pagan rites celebrating the arrival of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain. The girls are required to sit still for a couple of hours in a decorated altar." Neptun Synchro, Jonas Lindkvist (Stockholm, Sweden) Third Prize Sports, singles "Members of the Neptun Synchro synchronized swimming team perform during a Christmas show in Stockholm, Sweden." See all the 2016 World Press Photo Contest winners and finalists here.
With the end of the year come lists in which we can wrap up 12 months into a neat little package, and 2014 thankfully has been an uncommonly good year for publishing. Some of the most interesting and articulate books published in recent memory emerged in the last 12 months. What follows is our selection of some of the some of the best. Read them deeply, and furiously, with all the extra sunlight the summer affords. A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING BY EIMEAR MCBRIDE A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing follows an insistently insurrectionary young girl from childhood in rural Ireland through to her mid-twenties. The book has acquired the beginnings of its own literary mythology: it took Eimear McBride six months to write and nine years to find a publisher. In short, it’s a book that does what it does with complete indifference to the needs of the book market. And that makes it utterly unique, and a heretically, dangerously beautiful book. The story loosely follows the young woman’s relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. But the plot is not as important as the mode of expression. The language, while difficult to compare to anything else, is forceful, jagged, bearing close resemblances to the writing of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce. The result is a book that tears you apart, which feels completely and overwhelmingly necessary. Get A Girl Is a Half Formed Thing from Booktopia. THE EMPATHY EXAMS BY LESLIE JAMISON The Empathy Exams is arguably the best and most culturally pivotal collection of essays published in recent memory. Beginning with the author’s experience as a medical actor, paid to perform symptoms for medical students and then grade their responses, Jamison’s essays focus on how we understand the pain of others: how, and if we should, care about one another, the ways that empathy can be tested, how we confront pain both real and imagined. In writing which is both precise and vulnerable, Jamison’s essays in The Empathy Exams cover poverty tourism, bewildering marathons, reality television and incarceration, the fundamental thesis of which is that we are experiencing a very specific cultural moment: an urgency compelling us to feel. Get The Empathy Exams from Booktopia DEPT. OF SPECULATION BY JENNY OFFILL Jenny Offill’s second novel, Dept. of Speculation charts the course of a steady and then gradually precarious marriage through curious fragments of prose. The narrator, like the writer, lives in Brooklyn, falls in love, marries, has a child (it being Brooklyn there is both yoga and bedbugs). Over the course of the marriage there are jobs and dinners and sleepless nights; the plot is not really the point here. What makes Dept. of Speculation important is the language — gorgeous, enthralling, moving quickly while it commands your attention. I read Dept. Of Speculation in one sitting, over three hypnotised hours. When I got to the end of it I crept into the bedroom, nuzzled against my boyfriend who had been quietly checking his email, and wept — to his immense confusion – for a solid 20 minutes. Get Dept. of Speculation from Booktopia AN ELEGANT YOUNG MAN BY LUKE CARMAN An Elegant Young Man was published at the end of 2013 by Giramondo — arguably the most interesting Australian publishing house at the moment — with a particular interest in supporting literary culture in western Sydney. An Elegant Young Man does precisely that, imbuing the streets of Liverpool and Penrith with the poetry of Dylan Thomas and the dark ennui of Dostoevsky, but going further than that, making something uniquely his own, a distinctive literature to reflect contemporary Sydney. The book comprises eight interlinked stories, all narrated by 'Luke', who hails, like Carman himself, from the suburb of Mt Pritchard. Luke is adrift, unsure whom he represents, shifting between bluster and hesitation in a place where the lights from police helicopters wake children from their sleep, where kids in gang wars crush the roses on the front lawn. An Elegant Young Man deserves to get Carman much more attention than he has so far been afforded. Get An Elegant Young Man from Booktopia THIS HOUSE OF GRIEF BY HELEN GARNER On Father’s Day 2005, near the town of Winchelsea in rural Victoria, a car ran off the road and plunged into a dam. Robert Farquharson, the man driving the car, escaped unharmed. His three sons — who he was in the process of returning to their mother, from whom he had recently separated — they all drowned. The ensuing court trial spanned the best part of the decade, resulting in three life sentences for murder. This House of Grief presents the theatre of the courtroom: how we grapple with truth, what justice looks like, what a person means by their words and by their actions. Helen Garner is without question one of Australia’s greatest living writers, and arguably our best writer of nonfiction. And this book is some kind of masterpiece. Get This House of Grief from Booktopia THE BLAZING WORLD BY SIRI HUSTVEDT The Blazing World is Siri Hustvedt’s sixth and newest novel, returning her to the territory of New York’s art world. The story is set in the years before and after 9/11, and follows an ageing, brilliant, occasionally unruly artist named Harriet Burden, who orchestrates an elaborate hoax on the art world she entitles ‘Maskings’. Over a period of five years she holds exhibitions of work using the 'masks' of different practising male artists to expose the art market’s gender bias. The hoax is eventually revealed. Mayhem ensues. The Blazing World is pieced together from multiple sources; there are critical essays by art scholars, interviews with art dealers, reviews of exhibitions, diary entries and written testimonials. It is without doubt one of the most innovative and unsettling books published in the last year. If you are interested in art, in women, in New York, then, please, read this book. Get The Blazing World at Booktopia THOSE WHO LEAVE AND THOSE WHO STAY BY ELENA FERRANTE In September the third book in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series was published: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. For those who are new to Ferrante, it’s best to begin at the beginning, with My Brilliant Friend. The Neapolitan books (of which there are an uncertain number, although so far three have been published) follow the story of a life-long friendship between two women, Lilia and Elena, growing up in an impoverished neighbourhood in 1950s Naples. Their lives converge and diverge, and in doing so they encompass personal truths about family, friendship between women, desire, and the political and economic realities of Italy and the rest of the world as it stumbled through the mid-20th century. Ferrante’s writing is sinewy, scaldingly direct. Her books ransack you. If you aren’t reading Elena Ferrante you are missing out. Get Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay at Booktopia WHAT WE SEE WHEN WE READ BY PETER MENDELSUND Peter Mendelsund’s What We See When We Read is a friendly and shyly philosophical, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading — precisely how we visualise stories from reading words on a page — from one of America’s very best book designers. It explores a simple but confounding question, one the author wrests from literary theorists and transforms through beautiful imagery redolent of X-Acto knives, drawing tables and the very best design books you can find. It’s fascinating, beautiful and filled with news you can almost use. Get What We See When We Read at Booktopia READ HARDER: FIVE YEARS OF GREAT WRITING FROM THE BELIEVER EDITED BY ED PARK AND HEIDI JULAVITS Read Harder collects some of the finest essays from the last five years of The Believer magazine, which, it’s reasonable to argue, is one of the best magazines anywhere. Read Harder features articles by Nick Hornby on his first job explaining England to Korean businessmen, Kent Russell on self-immunisers in Wisconsin, Molly Young on the Hollister experience, Rebecca Taylor on her time acting in no-budget horror movies and Francisco Goldman on the failings of memoir to deal with personal tragedy. “If you sincerely investigate it, every detail hides reason, and any environment is far more sophisticated than our senses can appreciate,” former Washington Post reporter Monte Reel writes in a survey of Victorian explorer manuals. This is the sentiment that unites the pieces in Read Harder, in what amounts to a primer for the best contemporary non-fiction writing being written. Get Read Harder at Booktopia 10.04 BY BEN LERNER 10.04 was arguably the most ‘hyped’ book of the last year. Lerner, ordinarily a poet, published his first novel, Leaving The Atocha Station, in 2011, and 10.04 takes off where that book leaves off. 10.04 inhabits a weird liminal zone between maybe-true and maybe-not-quite-as-true. The narrator bears every resemblance to a writer who has published the same short stories and poetry in the same magazines as Lerner. 10.04 isn’t strictly a work of fiction; it’s much more interested in the changes in cell metabolism or air pressure or whatever it is that turns life into art. Sometimes it can feel a little like a big practical joke at the reader’s expense. But if you want to know where the English language was at in 2014, 10.04 is the book to read. Get 10:04 from Booktopia
Shake away the Monday blues and show off your film knowledge at Lido's Swinburne Film Trivia Night. If you know the score on Scorsese to Spielberg, you'll have no trouble at this specialty film trivia night, which asks questions via picture puzzles, music rounds and more. The session kicks off at 7pm and will run for just under three hours. There's also a bar and an extensive menu to keep hunger at bay. Entry is only $10 per table of four to six people. Prizes include a free ticket and poster for every member of the team in first and second place, and a choc-top for every runner up.
Have you ever wished you could wash down all that spicy hot pot with an ice-cold beer out in the open air? David's Master Pot branch in Glen Waverley recently redid it's beer garden located at the rear of the restaurant, making it one of the only of its kind in Melbourne. After choosing your favourite ingredients from the open fridge, follow the neon signs to the cosiest outdoor area, full of gas heaters and artificial grass. Our tip is to try the signature stir-fry spicy pot - it's a dry version of their famous soup base that uses over 20 kinds of Chinese herbs and spices for a fiery kick. Remember to ask for a complimentary bowl of steamed white rice for a match made in malatang heaven. There are also snacks to complete the meal at David's Master Pot, including steamed eggs, crispy pork belly and special sour spicy potato noodles. Wash it all down with a house cocktail or a Tsing Tao beer while deciding which dessert to order - rice cake with brown sugar or sticky rice noodles. Appears in: Where to Find The Best Hot Pots in Melbourne for 2023
Every year in May, the biggest names in cinema descend upon the French Riviera for the Festival de Cannes. The glitziest and most prestigious film festival on the face of the planet, the 12-day event is a maddening mix of art, commerce and fantasy, where auteurs rub shoulders with A-list celebrities and masterworks light up the screen. This year's Cannes Film Festival featured a number of notable titles, including new efforts by some of the most fascinating filmmakers working in the medium today. Below, we've assembled a list of five exciting features we hope to see in Australian cinemas before too long. It's an eclectic mix, ranging from social realist dramas to violent thrillers set in the world of high fashion. And no, there's not a single superhero in sight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEPQ9FYU0U I, DANIEL BLAKE When making a list of must see movies out of Cannes, the winner of the Palm d'Or seems like a pretty good place to start. The award for the best film in competition this year went to I, Daniel Blake, an unaffected drama about working class people caught in the dysfunctional British welfare system that reportedly reduced much of Cannes to tears. Of course, even if it hadn't won, the fact that was directed by master filmmaker Ken Loach would be enough to earn it a spot on this list. The 79-year-old's movies are notoriously depressing, so consider yourself forewarned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH-srjX2H1c THE NEON DEMON Nobody shoots violence with quite the same lurid style as Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. The man behind Drive and Only God Forgives, his latest film is being sold as a similarly bloody thriller about an aspiring model caught up in the cutthroat world of LA fashion. The cast is absolutely stupendous, with Elle Fanning supported by Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks, Bella Heathcote and Keanu Reeves. The trailers and promotional images, meanwhile, make the whole thing look utterly insane. Basically we're expecting either a work of genius or a hot mess. Either way, we can pretty much guarantee it won't be dull. IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD Anyone who saw Mommy knows that a new movie from Xavier Dolan is definitely worth getting excited about. It's Only the End of the World follows a terminally ill young writer as attempts to reconnect his family before he dies. The reviews out of Cannes have not been particularly strong. Actually, they've been kind savage. Still, after a run of great films that also includes Laurence Anyways and Tom at the Farm, we're willing to give the 27-year-old director the benefit of the doubt. Plus with a cast that includes Vincent Cassel, Lea Seydoux and Marion Cotillard, how bad could it possibly be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Rxj9-RfRs THE HANDMAIDEN The Handmaiden is the new film from South Korea's Park Chan-wook, the genre-bending genius behind Oldboy, Joint Security Area and Thirst. After making his English-language debut with Stoker, Park returns to his native tongue with this stylish sapphic thriller set in 1930s Korea, about a pickpocket posing as an heiress' maid in order to steal her fortune. As with Neon Demon, the film's trailer is both gorgeous and nuts, which of course just makes us want to see it more. Here's hoping we'll get the chance before too long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-o5I5UWBh0 THE SALESMAN The final film on our list shapes up as rather more subdued, but that doesn't mean we're looking forward to it any less. The Salesman is the latest effort from Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, who won an Oscar for A Separation before travelling to Paris to shoot the similarly exquisite The Past. His new film sees him return to Tehran, and follows a couple whose lives are thrown into chaos after a seemingly random assault. Capable of weaving unbearable suspense from the simplest and most relatable of domestic situations – while at the same time shining a critical eye on issues of social inequality in modern day Iran – Farhadi is for our money one of the most gifted directors alive. Keep your eyes peeled for an Australian release date.
Located within Hotel Fitzroy, Ichi Ni Nana Izakaya is the kind of Japanese restaurant where the food, which is exceptional, isn't the only star. The restaurant itself is huge, with the stunning courtyard being the jewel in the crown. In summer, there is nowhere better to sit and soak up the ambience over a plate of sashimi with a Japanese beer, while in winter or rainy weather, the glass retractable ceiling spreads across, and the leafy ambience is just as potent. On busy nights, which is most, the place is absolutely humming, but with all its little nooks and crannies, they'll manage to seat you somewhere with an element of intimacy and privacy. The service here is friendly and professional, and you'll never feel hurried along. To start, we recommend the spicy cauliflower covered with homemade hot sauce or some of the crispy Japanese-style tacos — think fillings like lobster salad, slow-cooked pork and salmon tartare. If you're more into baos, look no further than the slow-cooked pork bao served with light and tangy coleslaw. For a main, share a sushi and sashimi platter that comes jam-packed with all the variations you can imagine or get on the freshly grilled yakitori. Wash it all down with a Japanese beer, a few cheeky glasses of sake, or a Japanese-inspired cocktail to make the most of your trip to Fitzroy's Ichi Ni Nana Izakaya. Purely traditional Japanese cuisine this is not. Yeah, the sushi — some of the best in Melbourne — is kept classic, but most of the options err on the side of contemporary. The chefs at Ichi Ni Nana Izakaya (of which there are always many buzzing around the kitchen) play around with unusual flavour combos and mix and match cuisines to create real crowd-pleasing dishes. And while the restaurant is technically only on the ground floor, when the main dining rooms book out, the team sometimes opens up the secret rooftop terrace. This mostly just happens on weekends, so be sure to ask about the rooftop when booking. It is a true Melbourne hidden gem. Appears in: The Best Sushi in Melbourne
This spring, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will host an extensive retrospective by renowned South African photographer David Goldblatt, as part of the Sydney International Series. Running from October 19 until March 2019, David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948–2018 will dive deep into the life and work of one of recent history's most legendary photographers, covering a career of more than sixty years. Goldblatt is best known for his portrayal of South Africa's tumultuous history, especially surrounding apartheid. As the photographer's first major retrospective in the southern hemisphere, the exhibition will feature Goldblatt's most famous photo series, along with early vintage prints, never-before-seen footage from his personal collection and a new feature-length documentary. As MCA Director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor OBE explained, "visitors will discover an extraordinary artist whose documentary eye has not strayed from the complexities of his country of birth, but resonates with other global histories (including Australia's own) through narratives of race and racism, and industry and the land." The Sydney-exclusive exhibition is the first major retrospective of Goldblatt's work in the southern hemisphere. The exhibition was also the Goldblatt's final project before his death earlier this year. Images: David Goldblatt, A plot-holder, his wife and their eldest son at lunch, Wheatlands, Randfontein. September 1962 (3_4907), 1962. Image courtesy the artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg © the artist; David Goldblatt, Shop assistant, Orlando West, 1972. Image courtesy Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg and Cape Town © The David Goldblatt Legacy Trust.
Tired of grimdark superhero movies and so-called comedies starring a dead-eyed Adam Sandler? We all love a good movie, but sometimes the good ones can be hard to find – especially if you're relying on the latest Hollywood blockbuster at your local multiplex. Luckily for Melbourne movie lovers, this city is full of awesome venues that are committed not just to recent releases but the very best retro films as well. From the freshly resurrected Astor Theatre to brand new spaces like The Lido and Grey Gardens, and ever popular outdoor options like Rooftop Cinema and Shadow Electric, here are our ten favourite locations for enjoying vintage flicks on the big screen. And may heaven help you if you start texting in a single one of these hallowed halls. THE ASTOR THEATRE The crown jewel of Melbourne cinephelia, there's nowhere quite like The Astor. After years of closure scares, Palace Cinemas have taken over management; breathing new life into the art deco picture palace while retaining all the features — the double bills, the atmosphere and the beloved choc-ice ice creams — that make the theatre so unique. The carefully curated two-in-one sessions range from Hollywood classics to little-seen cult curios plus a smattering of recent releases — and rumour is they've got an all-night movie marathon planned for later this year. If nothing else, you have to pay a visit to meet Duke, the newly adopted Astor cat. ACMI Amid the bustle of Federation Square lies a cinematic oasis. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is your premiere destination for hard-to-find gems, with retrospective seasons often programmed around a particular director, actor or theme. If it's not showing in one of their two cinemas, try searching for it in the Australian Mediatheque archives. A visit to the gallery spaces downstairs is always a treat (the current David Bowie exhibition is a must). ACMI is also home to the Melbourne Cinematheque, a weekly members-only film club dedicated to screening rare and significant films in their original format. CINEMA NOVA If you're looking for the best of foreign and independent cinema, you needn't go any further than Carlton's Cinema Nova. Their commitment to screening titles that the major chains won't has long made them a favourite with Melbourne's film loving community (as has their ridiculously cheap Monday ticket prices). The management have dabbled with retro and cult fare over the years, and have recently begun programming a selection of older films under their Nova Iconic banner. Nova is also Melbourne's home of Tommy Wiseau's disasterpiece The Room, aka the best worst movie ever made. KINO Tucked away in Collins Place, Kino's comfy seats and well-stocked wine and espresso bar make it the perfect setting for a weekend matinee. Screening 3pm every Sunday, the Vintage Classic's program offers a welcome respite from the barrage of mindless blockbusters, with iconic titles such as Citizen Kane, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Blade Runner reminding us just how good movies can be. As a plus, entry is only $10 (or $8 for members), making this one of the best value tickets in town. THE LIDO The newly opened Lido on Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn is fast making a name for itself as a must-visit movie destination. The decor (a mix of art deco and uber-modern), the food and drink options (dumplings, cheese platters, local wines, plus a Huxtaburger downstairs) and the diverse range of programming (blockbusters, foreign films and exclusive indie releases) are all big ticks in their favour, but it's the retro lineup that really has us salivating. Every Saturday at midday, a different Hollywood classic whirs through the projector, with a repeat showing the following Wednesday morning. Friday nights, meanwhile, are reserved for the creepiest horror films imaginable, courtesy of the gorehounds at Monsters Pictures. ROOFTOP CINEMA Come the summer weather, there are few things more relaxing than getting together with a few friends and catching a movie under the stars. Melbourne has no shortage of outdoor cinemas where you can while away your evenings, but none are more beloved than the one atop Curtin House, smack bang in the centre of the CBD. Grab a drink from the bar and a snack from one of the food vendors, then stretch out in a deckchair and let the movie play. BEN & JERRY'S OPENAIR CINEMA Nothing says summer like a trip to the beach — but why just go swimming when you can catch a movie as well? This pop-up cinema in St Kilda is a regular haunt of ours — especially on Sunday, when they hand out free Ben & Jerry's ice cream by the scoop. Get there in the afternoon to reserve a spot close to the stage, where they've got bands and DJs blasting out music until the sun dips below the horizon. Once it's dark, the inflatable screen flickers to life with a great lineup of movies both new and old. The sound of waves adds a little extra ambiance (and it doesn't get much better than watching Jaws mere metres from the sea). SHADOW ELECTRIC Located in the grounds of the Abbotsford Convent, Shadow Electric is a bandroom, bar and outdoor summer cinema all rolled into one. Grab yourself a meal from the champions at Lentil as Anything, and then work it off with a few rounds of table tennis. As for the movies themselves, we tend to have the most fun when they play something really off the beaten track (we won't be forgetting '70s sleaze-fest Massage Parlour Murders for a long, long time.) For the less adventurous, they tend to stock up on plenty of '80s and '90s nostalgia, from The Big Lebowski to Stop Making Sense. SPEAKEASY CINEMA After spending the last few years popping up here and there, this lovely little boutique film club appears to have finally found a permanent home within the walls of Grey Gardens, Fitzroy's newest, coolest gallery, performance space, screening room and cafe. The programming here is wonderfully esoteric, with recent highlights including a screening of Thai existential masterpiece Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives with a live score by 30/70, and a retrospective of seven short films from Czech animators Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek. Image credit: Tom Ross. SCREEN SECT Held every Monday in the band room above Bar Open, this Brunswick Street movie club is the refuge of Melbourne's most dedicated film nerds. A new program is announced each month curated around a specific theme (last May, for example, the focus was prison films). Honestly, the screening space leaves a bit to be desired, but the movies themselves are invariably terrific — as are the impassioned (occasionally drunken) post-film conversations in the beer garden out the back.
We've all heard tales of scaling Mount Everest – of the resilience and fortitude it takes to reach the highest point on Earth. But like so many other epic stories of man versus nature, it turns out the truth is a little bit more complicated. For every climber to make it to the summit, a team of Sherpa guides haul gear, food and oxygen up and down the treacherous terrain, risking their lives to help foreign visitors tick an item off their bucket list. Australian documentarian Jennifer Peedom is no stranger to the mountain or the Sherpa community, having worked as a camera operator on numerous Everest documentaries including the Discovery Channel's critically acclaimed Everest: Beyond the Limit. But in 2014 she returned to make a different kind of Everest movie, one that explored the growing tensions between the Sherpas, their employers and their wealthy Western patrons. Of course, Peedom couldn't have foreseen was what took place that year on April 14. An avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall claimed the lives of 16 guides in a single day — and suddenly all that resentment boiled over. The footage Peedom captured makes for some of the most incredible and uncomfortable viewing you'll experience in cinemas this year: a tense, troubling doco about industrial action at more than 17,000 feet. After considerable attention on the international festival circuit, including a win for Best Documentary at the BFI London Film Festival, Sherpa is now screening in select cinemas around Australia. In the lead up to the release, we spoke to Peedom about her intentions in making the film, delved into the uncomfortable whitewashing of Everest narratives, and discussed what needs to change on the mountain going forward. SHERPA ISN'T A FILM ABOUT CLIMBING EVEREST "I had access to the Sherpa community, and when you're a filmmaker, access is everything," explains Peedom. "When you're looking at what stories you want to tell, you often look in your own backyard, and I was looking right under my nose at a story that I knew pretty well, and felt needed to be told. It wasn't about going back to Everest — that was the last thing I felt like doing. But I felt really motivated to tell this story." "Ultimately it's an industrial dispute film. I never set out to make a climbing film. It was always a film about a people, and a culture, and an inherent conflict within a relationship. Everest was the backdrop. The ascent of Everest formed the spine of the story through which we could explore those tensions. And then when the avalanche happened, that became a different vehicle to explore those tensions." DISRUPTING THE HERO NARRATIVE For all the movies made about Everest, it's rare to see the Sherpa depicted as anything other than bit players. "It doesn't suit our ego," says Peedom. "It doesn't suit that hero narrative to say that someone carried all my stuff through the icefall, my oxygen was carried all the way to camp three, and I only had to carry the one bottle I was using, and blah blah blah. So much of the work, and so many of the risks, are taken by somebody else." "I spoke to this American guy who said that on average, five or six people are employed to get one person to the summit. That's kind of embarrassing to admit. People don't want other people to know that. And maybe it's a female perspective, but I just got sick of all these men taking credit for what other people had done." WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE? "David Michôd — the guy who directed Animal Kingdom, who is a really good friend of mine — said that what he loved about the film is how morally complex it is, and that was something that we worked really hard to achieve," says Peedom. "It would have been much easier to make goodies and baddies, but it just didn't feel honest. It would be wrong for me to say that everyone who goes to climb Everest is an idiot, because it's not the truth. Not only that, but it would be irresponsible, because the Sherpa community rely on that income." "One of the Sherpas says at the beginning of the film that everyone used to do the work together, the foreigners and the Sherpas. But now the Sherpas do all the work, and I guess that's what needs to change. Foreigners need to go with their eyes open. Don't bury your head in the sand about the fact that you're asking other people to take risks on your behalf. Be cognisant of that, and put pressure on your expedition leader to make sure they have proper insurance, and to make sure they're not carrying triple loads. And if the worst does happen and a Sherpa is killed, you probably do have a responsibility for his children's future and his family." https://vimeo.com/139654857 Sherpa is in cinemas now. Read our full review here.
Over the past twelve months, Concrete Playground's film critics have watched a truly obscene number of movies. Blockbusters, indie titles and arthouse flicks from around the globe, if it's been projected onto a screen anywhere in this country we've gobbled it up – along with approximately ten truckloads full of popcorn. And while there are certain films we'd much rather forget (looking at you Fantastic Four), there have also been plenty of great ones. Presented in alphabetical order, here are our ten favourite movies of the year. AMY Amy, by director Asif Kapadia, is an overwhelmingly tragic and absorbing portrait of the life (and death) of famed jazz singer Amy Winehouse; a documentary steeped in disquiet because, just as it was with Kapadia's previous film Senna, you know it ends in a crash. With its remarkable catalogue of personal videos, voicemails and recording sessions, Kapadia has crafted an extraordinarily moving tribute to a prodigious talent whose life seemed somehow unavoidably foredoomed. - Tom Glasson Read our full review. BIRDMAN Filmed like a play but choreographed like a dance, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman is a cinematic ballet, one where the way the story is presented is just as critical as the story itself. Narratively, its chronicle of redemption is a simple one, but like all good tales the simplicity of plot is offset by characters possessed of deep complexity. This is a film that almost commands repeat viewings, if only to marvel at its mechanics – and yet Birdman offers so much more than form. Darkly comedic, intellectually challenging and emotionally confronting, it’s a tantalisingly original piece of cinema that rightfully garnered multiple Oscars, including the top gong, at this year's Academy Awards. - TG Read our full review. EDEN If you're thinking about French electronic music, then you're probably thinking about Daft Punk. Writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve understands this, and doesn't shy away from their success in her portrait of the scene during the early 1990s. In fact, they're the counterpoint to the struggles endured by Eden's main character, Paul (Félix de Givry), as he chases the same dream over the course of two decades. Suffice it to say, he doesn't quite enjoy the same trajectory as his helmet-wearing friends. The film does, however, offer an astute account of trying and not quite succeeding that's equally hopeful and realistic. - Sarah Ward Read our full review. EX MACHINA Before Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson found themselves on opposite sides of the good-versus-evil divide in Star Wars: Episode VII, they battled over something else in the sci-fi realm. In Ex Machina, artificial intelligence and a humanoid robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander) spark a clash between Isaac's tech company CEO and Gleeson's computer programmer, after the former invites the latter to help test his newest creation. One of the best modern appropriations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ever made, Alex Garland's directorial debut is precise and probing in its themes, visuals and mood. - SW Read our full review. INSIDE OUT Pixar gets back to the top of their game with this wonderfully inventive tale set inside the human mind. Like all the studio's best movies, Inside Out can be enjoyed by just about anyone, with plenty of cerebral grown-up gags mixed in with the animated slapstick. It also features some of the most gorgeous visuals they've ever put up on the screen. But it's the film's emotional intelligence that earns it a spot in the Pixar pantheon alongside Up and Toy Story 3. Not content simply to make us cry, director Pete Docter instead examines why we cry, delivering a poignant life lesson that applies no matter how old you may be. - Tom Clift Read our full review. LOVE It's two and a half hours long, full of graphic sex and the whole thing is shot in 3D. In case you couldn't guess, Gaspar Noe's Love won't appeal to every taste. But even those who hate it would be hard pressed to deny that it's one of the most daring movies released in quite some time. Say what you will about his apparent predilections, but Noe is clearly a master of his craft. And if nothing else, Love is worth seeing just so you can argue about it. Is it a scathing critique of misogyny and male insecurity, or is it guilty of those very issues itself? Ultimately, you need to see it to decide. - TC Read our full review. MACBETH Few filmmakers can take something as distinctive as Shakespeare and turn it into a creation that feels wholly like their own. Justin Kurzel might follow in the footsteps of fellow Australian Baz Luhrmann in achieving this feat, although his Macbeth has little else in common with everyone's favourite version of Romeo + Juliet. In the Snowtown helmer's hands, the tale of an ambitious soldier willing to do whatever it takes to become king is stripped down to its most bleak and brutal elements. Yes, it rages with sound and fury. Yes, it's moody and brooding, both in emotion and in its aesthetic. Yes, Michael Fassbender steals the show in the title role, though Marion Cotillard threatens to do the same in every scene she's in. - SW Read our full review. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD In an era when most blockbusters follow the same predictable path, Mad Max: Fury Road charts a course in a very different direction. A barebones narrative forms the basis for the film, essentially a two-hour car chase through a bizarre desert wasteland, where warlords rule with an iron fist and flamethrowers double as guitars. Director George Miller makes fantastic use of practical effects, crafting action that is both bombastic and possesses a genuine sense of danger – something that films loaded with CGI often struggle to achieve. And that's to say nothing of the movies' unexpected feminist streak, with Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa stealing the whole film right out from under Max's feet. - TC Read our full review. SICARIO Since the beginning of the Mexican Drug War in 2006, it’s estimated more than 100,000 people have been killed in cartel-related violence. Sicario (Spanish for ‘hitman’) is a gritty, confronting and appropriately brutal examination of the US’s complicated and often deleterious engagement with this conflict. While its doleful theme of ‘this is just how things are’ doesn't deliver anything particularly new on the topic, Sicario showcases two powerhouse performances from its leads — Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro — and delivers a relentlessly tense, immaculately constructed piece of cinema from start to finish. - TG Read our full review. THE LOBSTER If you were going to get turned into an animal, which one would you choose? This line of thought pops up in The Lobster, although it's actually one of the least interesting things about the English-language debut of Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. The writer-director behind Dogtooth and Alps, Lanthimos uses a light sci-fi premise and a high-profile cast to ponder society's obsession with pairing people off, maintaining monogamous relationships and adhering to an amorous status quo. The result is a savagely funny yet heartbreakingly tender film that also features what might be the most memorable use of Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue's 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' we've ever seen. - SW Read our full review. Honourable Mentions: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Magic Mike XXL, Mommy, Tehran Taxi.
Divided into two floors, this slim little eatery gets quite a workout every night of the week. Don't come expecting a quiet night out — you'll be severely disappointed. As with any popular spot, a short wait is standard at Samurai. Larger groups can squeeze into one of the upstairs rooms, while downstairs is designed for smaller parties or pairs. The waitstaff here are appropriately friendly and efficient, matching the no frills, buzzing vibe of the interior. Samurai provides consistently familiar Japanese fare and dessert. The menu flavours are simple but we guarantee the dinner box special will be pleasantly warming and hearty enough for everyone. Of the soup options, the humble miso is by far the most enjoyable. For entree, the classic gyoza are the common standout choice — or take the road less travelled and go for one of the more interesting bites like takoyaki (octopus balls). The relatively small menu ensures choosing mains is a simple matter, with the unpretentious chicken curry and udon varieties clear favourites among locals. We highly recommend copping the extra dollar to upgrade your drink to a green tea milkshake or two scoops of green tea ice cream. The flavour is rich and smooth enough for die-hard Japanese diners, but not too overpowering for those unfamiliar to the taste. Do note there is strictly no alcohol or BYO allowed in the venue — but with drinks like these, you won't have much time to lament the no booze policy. Lively and loud, Samurai is always packed full with hungry patrons looking for casual dining and reliable, humble Japanese classics. Image credit: Tristan Kenny via Flickr
Social Enterprise Free to Feed knows better than most, the power that food has to connect people and communities. It regularly works with its culinarily gifted participants to run dinners where people from all backgrounds can come together to better understand the experiences and needs of refugees and people seeking asylum. Money made during these nights also feeds right into supporting those within said communities. The latest Free to Feed venture comes in the form of The Story Table — a dinner series that spotlighta the voices and experiences of refugees and individuals seeking asylum. The first dinner — named 'Beyond Arrival' — is taking place on Friday, October 18, and will be led by led by Bahaa — a refugee from Aleppo — and Thae — a Karen woman from Burma. Guests will enjoy a large pescatarian feast, featuring dishes like sabzi polo and baked tamarind fish. Tickets for the dinner are going for $85 a pop, or $45 for low-income earners, students, and people from refugee and new migrant backgrounds. [caption id="attachment_939899" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Biddle[/caption]
The minds behind Northcote's Tinker, Collingwood's Terror Twilight and Smith Street sandwich spot Hi Fi made a foray into the inner-northwest when Convoy — a bright daytime diner overlooking Queens Park. Convoy boasts a retro-leaning, timber-filled fit-out by female-led practices Studio Esteta and My Friend Tom, with a spacious streetside deck and garden and plenty of natural materials used throughout. The cafe is plating up both familiar favourites and new imaginings. It's expectedly creative and considered — you might find smashed avo on toast with pickled carrot and black olive caramel; cinnamon scroll pancakes with cream cheese icing and orange zest; or a steak frites roll with herb butter and mustard mayo. The kitchen's take on eggs benedict is also a fave of ours. It features a toasted Turkish roll topped with ham off the bone and apple and fennel slaw. You've also got the Turkish eggs that have been elevated with sujuk and a bright lemon yoghurt. Along with your usual coffee options, you'll find a range of shakes and smoothies including the enlivening green smoothie with spinach, banana, mango, passionfruit and honey. Or you can amp up your day with something from the cocktail list, where classics like mimosas and bloody marias sit alongside a rose martini and a 'Wake Me Up Before You Coco' with tequila, Aperol, triple sec, coconut milk and lime. Images: My Friend Tom. Appears in: Where to Find the Best Breakfast in Melbourne for 2023
For most people who grew up in Australia, primary school excursions left you thinking that Canberra was all about politicians and roundabouts. Years later, that concept couldn't be further from the truth. Over the past few years, Australia's capital city has had quite the food, drink and cultural revolution. Spend a weekend in Canberra and you can wander through breweries, eat at spectacular restaurants and cafes and stay the night at what we think is one of Australia's most beautiful accommodation spots. To ensure you go beyond the excursion favourites, Questacon and Parliament House, here's your guide to spending a weekend in Canberra as a food and wine loving adult. From pristine beaches and bountiful wine regions to alpine hideaways and bustling country towns, Australia has a wealth of places to explore at any time of year. We've partnered with Tourism Australia to help you plan your road trips, weekend detours and summer getaways so that when you're ready to hit the road you can Holiday Here This Year. Under current COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, there are restrictions on where you can go on holiday. Bookmark this for when you can explore once again. [caption id="attachment_750222" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Barrio via VisitCanberra[/caption] EAT AND DRINK After cruising up the Hume Highway, you'll want a refuel in the form of a damn good coffee. Get started at Highroad on the corner of Cape and Woolley streets. Run by boutique roastery Ona, this specialty coffee house serves a mean cup of joe as well as inventive cafe fare — think kimchi waffles with gochujang butter, prawn toast benedict and corn bread french toast. It also has a diverse selection of wines and craft beers from local and interstate breweries. Meanwhile, Barrio is a Braddon cafe dedicated to simple and high-quality coffee and food with a seasonal and local focus. It makes its own nut milk and, for breakfast, you can expect stroopwafels, marrow butter with fried egg and shallots on sourdough and rye with avocado and togorashi seasoning. When you're ready for a mid-morning treat, head to Braddon's Scandi-inspired Rye. It has brews from Sydney's specialty coffee roaster, Five Senses, and a lengthy food menu, with dishes such as dutch baby skillet pancakes for breakfast and a range of smørrebrød (Scandinavian open sandwiches) for lunch. Better yet, it serves breakfast cocktails, too. Then, get yourself to Silo Bakery and Cafe in Kingston. Collapse onto a wooden banquette before starting on the hard bit — making your choice from the massive array of freshly baked cakes and pastries in the cabinet. If you're vegan, get your sugar fix at Sweet Bones back in Braddon. [caption id="attachment_613859" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Bar Rochford[/caption] While in Braddon, visit Bentspoke Brewing Co, a microbrewery and taphouse combining beer with bicycles — it works, trust us. More than 21 brews — from the much-loved Crankshaft IPA to How's It Gosen tropical gose — are on tap at any one time. For more Canberra craft beer goodness, make tracks to Capital Brewing Co. Situated within the city's new creative hotspot, the Dairy Road District, the expansive brewery and taproom is the first permanent home for Capital Brewing — who had previously been gypsy brewing across several sites in Sydney. And it has a taproom like no other, with a massive outdoor area, lawn games, a cubby house and Brodburger food truck. Come lunch or dinner, some of the tastiest Italian in the ACT is found at Italian & Sons. This fun-loving place champions old-school warmth and traditional regional cooking. Dig into duck and porcini gnocchi or take your pick from the simple pizza menu. Speaking of pizza, be sure to drop by Mama Dough pizza shop — this teeny-tiny venue slings incredible woodfired pizzas cooked in an impressive imported pizza oven. If you can't score a highly coveted seat, order a pie to take away. [caption id="attachment_751448" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Rebel Rebel by Nathan Harradine-Hale[/caption] Craving a more upmarket feed? There's a bunch of hatted restaurants in Canberra, offering unique and refined fare. We suggest stopping by Aubergine, where head chef Ben Willis is lauded for his local produce-driven wonders. Make a long afternoon or evening of it and take your time over the seasonal tasting menu. Or, you could check out refined all-day diner Rebel Rebel, in the New Acton precinct, led by chef Sean McConnell — the corn and manchego croquette with prawn head aioli is a must-order. Later on, if you're looking to kick back in a small bar, try Amici on Northbourne Avenue. The deli-cum-wine bar has an excellent selection of vinos, plus cocktails, cheese, meats and hand-stretched pizzas. If you're keen for something a little more dark and mysterious, try Bar Rochford for a quiet glass of wine among the vinyl and pot plants, or Molly for a speakeasy atmosphere in a former bank vault lined with booths. [caption id="attachment_700170" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Yayoi Kusama at NGA[/caption] DO No visit to Canberra is ever complete without a wander through the National Gallery of Australia's enormous space and epic works. There's always a temporary exhibition that draws crowds, such as the upcoming Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London. The permanent collections are equally worthy of a visit, with Yayoi Kusama's Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens, James Turrell's Within Without Skyspace and Urs Fischer's candle sculpture, Francesco, all housed within the gallery's walls. [caption id="attachment_760510" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mount Ainslie via VisitCanberra[/caption] Once you've got your culture fix, it's time to get outside and stretch your legs. Check out Canberra's hilly surrounds by visiting a local lookout — Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain (home to the Telstra Tower) are among the most popular. If you're keen to beat the crowds, try Red Hill in the south or Mount Pleasant, where you'll find the grave of General Bridges — the only Aussie soldier who died in Gallipoli to have had his body returned to his homeland. You can find more walks to conquer around Canberra here. If you're in the mood to splash some cash, the Braddon precinct is packed with specialty stores, including the excellent one-two punch at 27 Lonsdale Street of boutique bottle-o Blackhearts and Sparrows and high-end ceramics label Bisonhome. [caption id="attachment_735917" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ovolo Nishi via VisitCanberra[/caption] STAY One of Canberra's most design-centric stays is Ovolo Nishi. The award-winning hotel is a self-described 'collaboration with designers, artists, artisans and fantasists'. Each and every one of the 68 rooms is unique and categorised according to feel: choose from Cosy, Snug, Original, Creative or Meandering. What they have in common is their references to the quintessential Aussie bush. Think clay walls, beds made of recycled oak, oversized rain showers, found objects and artworks. [caption id="attachment_763127" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Little National by Nathan Harradine-Hale[/caption] Another designer option is QT Canberra. This 205-room hotel hinges on the fun and unexpected, featuring tongue-in-cheek political references. Walking into the dark, marble-lined lobby, you'll notice famous world politicians portrayed in left-of-field, neon-lit portraits, as well as a TV screening major historic moments. Some rooms come with views and Lake Burley Griffin is just a stumble away, as is the well-stocked hotel bar. To stay in compact comfort with a sleek, New York-style aesthetic, book in at Little National. This conveniently located, 120-room hotel is fitted out with rich timber furnishings, has cracking city views and, quite uniquely, is situated on top of a car park, right next door to Parliament House. It has a 24-hour lounge and library with a roaring fireplace in winter, plus guests have access to a nearby gym, two day spas and a wellbeing centre. Whether you're planning to travel for a couple of nights or a couple of weeks, Holiday Here This Year and you'll be supporting Australian businesses while you explore the best of our country's diverse landscapes and attractions. Top image: Bentspoke Brewing via VisitCanberra.
Life on the streets of Melbourne is tough for bright-eyed, bushy-tailed restaurants. New eateries appear just as quickly as they disappear — a reflection of Melbourne's high expectations for quality food, organic atmosphere and something uniquely special. We're a difficult crowd to impress. So if a restaurant can stay busy and bustling for over 30 years, they're clearing doing something right. Whether it's a distinct atmosphere or authentic, rich cuisine, these are the restaurants Melburnians have been visiting (and revisiting) for decades. Image: France-Soir by Brook James.
Listen up: Listen Out is back for its 11th year and, after first announcing its dates and venues, it isn't slouching on the lineup front. The just-dropped bill for the touring festival boasts 21 Savage, Skepta, Tyla and Flo Milli among its hip hop and R&B names. On the electronic side, John Summit and Sub Focus feature. Yes, the list goes on from there. Fans of 21 Savage, Tyla and Flo Milli — and of Teezo Touchdown, Jessie Reyez and Jazzy, too — should be especially excited. When they each take to Listen Out's stages this spring for the fest's 2024 trip around Australia, they'll be hitting the country for the first time. Among their company, Lil Tjay, Lithe, Folamour, The Blessed Madonna, Cassian and Disco Lines are just some of the fellow acts that'll have festivalgoers in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth dancing. With Groovin the Moo announcing its dates then cancelling, and Splendour in the Grass sadly doing the same, everyone's plans for 2024 have been missing a few music festivals. But Listen Out is aiming to buck the trend, locking in its return for September and October. Adelaide's Listen In is also taking place this year, and has similarly just unveiled its lineup. 2023's fest was Listen Out's most successful in terms of ticket sales ever, and the crew behind it are hoping to continue that trajectory. Something that might help: turning the fest into a 16-plus event, age-wise, which is a first for 2024. As the roster of names on the lineup demonstrates, the festival's focus is staying true to its niche, filling its stages on electronic and hip hop artists — both international and local talents, too. Four stops are on the Listen Out agenda: Caribbean Gardens in Melbourne, HBF Arena in Perth, RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane and Centennial Park in Sydney. If you've been worried about missing the NRL final in Sydney and the AFL final in Perth thanks to Listen Out's dates, the fest has news there: at both legs, there'll be screens showing the football. Listen In, the condensed version of the fest with a smaller lineup, is headed to Ellis Park in Adelaide. It'll feature 21 Savage, Folamour, Jessie Reyez, John Summit, Lil Tjay, A Little Sound, Skepta and Theodore Kittens. Listen Out and Listen In 2024 Lineups: Listen Out: 21 Savage Skepta Lil Tjay Tyla Flo Milli Jessie Reyez Teezo Touchdown Lithe John Summit Sub Focus Folamour The Blessed Madonna Cassian Disco Lines Jazzy Koven Conducta A Little Sound Ben Gerrans AK Sports Foura B2B Tom Santa Miss Kaninna Djanaba Soju Gang Melbourne: Yo! Mafia Sixten Kelly T J-OK Perth: Sammythesinner Janeethevirgin Dr Pepper Bodie Brisbane: Trance Mums Jacob Tompkins Mikalah Watego Melanin Mami Sydney: Dayzzi Malfunkt x Banno Bodego Collective Bella Backe Listen In: 21 Savage Folamour Jessie Reyez John Summit Lil Tjay A Little Sound Skepta Theodore Kittens Triple J Unearthed winners + more [caption id="attachment_957218" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] Listen Out and Listen In Australian 2024 Dates: Friday, September 27 — Listen Out Melbourne, Caribbean Gardens, Wurundjeri Land / Melbourne Saturday, September 28 — Listen Out Perth, HBF Arena, Mooro Country / Joondalup Sunday, September 29 — Listen In Adelaide, Ellis Park / Tampawardli (Park 24), Kaurna Country / Adelaide Saturday, October 5 — Listen Out Brisbane, Brisbane Showgrounds, Meanjin / Brisbane Sunday, October 6 — Listen Out Sydney, Centennial Park, Gadigal Country [caption id="attachment_957226" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957221" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Venn[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957224" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mitch Lowe[/caption] [caption id="attachment_957228" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anna Warr[/caption] Listen Out and Listen In's 2024 season tours Australia in spring 2024. For more information — and for tickets from midday local time in each city on Thursday, June 6 — head to the festival website. Top image: Sam Venn.
Located within the marvellously opulent Block Arcade, The Tea Room 1892 (formerly the Hopetoun Tea Rooms) projects class, decadence, style and fun — with lavish wallpaper, impossibly attractive cakes and five-star service. This is one of the premier high tea experiences in Melbourne, and having opened way back in 1892, it is the oldest in the country. This is old-world fun steeped in nostalgia. Think fine bone china, hanging chandeliers and opulent mirrors with belle-epoque and art-nouveau influences. The high tea experience here comes served on an elegant three-tiered stand and is curated by head chef Indika Rajapaksha. The savoury offerings change every now and then but may include a quiche Lorraine, roast beef sandwiches with pickled gherkins and mayonnaise, tea room pinwheels with Tasmanian smoked salmon, avocado and dill, chicken liver patés and a vegetarian quiche. It is rounded out by an assortment of signature petit fours for something sweet, as well as fresh fruit and freshly baked scones with triple berry jam. High tea comes with a choice of either tea, coffee or soft drink, while alcoholic beverages are available at an extra cost. [caption id="attachment_939324" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Robert Blackburn for Visit Victoria[/caption] There are separate breakfast, lunch and drinks menus, too, with brekkie including French classics such as croque monsieur, brioche de raisin, fresh berry crepes with whipped cream and omelettes. For lunch, enjoy entrecôtes, crispy chicken leek salad, a seafood linguine with sautéed prawns, scallops and fresh fish, as well as a side of fries. If you need something to quench your thirst, the drinks list at The tea Rooms 1892 includes an assortment of coffees, as well as iced drinks such as moccas and fresh juices. The organic tea list is impressive, with flavours such as Bolivian Green, Darjeeling, Goji Acai, Lemon Myrtle and Ginger and Organic Mint. If you're planning for your lunch to get a little boozy, there are sparkling, white and red wine options, including a buttery Yarra Valley chardonnay. [caption id="attachment_939323" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jesse Hisco for Visit Victoria[/caption] Top image: Robert Blackburn for Visit Victoria
From the owners of Melbourne's most beloved Greek restaurant, Stalactites, Hella Good is the takeaway souvlaki joint of your dreams. With three locations across Melbourne that are always busy, we can only hope they keep expanding — as it really is hella good. The menu is as long as your arm, so we can't go through it all, but the reason you've clicked on this is because of souvlaki, so let's start there. Rolled in warm pita bread and stuffed full of lettuce, onion, tomato and homemade tzatziki sauce, the souvlakis make the perfect lunch or dinner. Options include the Kotter with marinated boneless chicken, fresh from the spit; the Terry with a veggie and feta fritter, tomato, onion and cucumber; the Harvey with boneless chicken and marinated lamb (our pick); the Arnie, with just lamb; and finally its vegan option with a veggie fritter and homemade hummus. They're all amazing and if you're not vegetarian you will still love the veggie options. Elsewhere on the menu are mains, including snack packs with chicken and lamb gyros, hope chips and pita bread, as well as naked souvlakis with both meats, topped with lettuce, carrot, cucumber, tomato, onion, feta, olives and homemade tzatziki. Hungry yet? Snacks and sides include spanakopitas with baked spinach, feta and herbs in a crispy pastry, and the fritters or hot chips on their own. If you're after something sweet to cap off your Greek odyssey, try the baklava finger pack with walnuts and honey or the rice pudding which is dusted off with cinnamon. Hella Good also offers a catering service, slinging truckloads of souvlakis at offices and parties across the city.
The pod bay doors have opened on Sydney's space-themed cat cafe. Named Catmosphere, this new food 'n' feline venture is home to fifteen cats in total, all of whom reside in style and comfort on the second story of a refurbished terrace on Fouveaux Street in Surry Hills. There's Deckard (named after Harrison Ford in Blade Runner) and Leeloo (Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element) and Fuzz Aldrin (you get it) and a particularly striking black cat named Darth Beauty. Personally, we're smitten with Ewok. The cat's room is separated from the food service area by special airlock doors — a council requirement, although it does fit quite nicely with the space age vibes. The cats, for the most part, seem unperturbed by our presence, although one or two of them eventually saunter over in the hopes of getting a pat. Still, it's safe to say, it's us fawning over them, and not the other way around. Catmosphere Sydney is owned by Thomas Derricott and his partner Wenee Yap, who were inspired after they visited the original Catmosphere in Chiang Mai, Thailand. After returning to Australia they set up a Facebook page to gauge community interest — and the community didn't disappoint. Local cat-lovers were soon falling over themselves to volunteer their time, while their IndieGoGo campaign raised more than $40,000. Derricott and Yap also struck up a partnership with the World League Protection of Animals. As a result, the cats at Catmosphere are all rescues — and while they themselves aren’t up for adoption, Derricott does hope visitors to the cafe might be inspired to foster a furry friend of their own. So now that they're open, how does it all work? Visitors to Catmosphere Sydney can pay $20 to spend an hour with the cats, a deal that also comes with a complimentary coffee and cat shaped cookie. A maximum of 15 people are allowed in the cat room at a time, ensuring the feline-to-human ratio is never more than 1:1. Downstairs, the cafe is run by Yun Xia, who previously managed the cafe in Kinokuniya. According to Derricot, the plan is for Catmosphere to provide a quality food and beverage experience independent of the cat theme, to ensure longevity once the novelty starts to wear off. Hence the menu, which features smoothies, teas, juices and barista-made Karmee coffee alongside handmade cakes and a wide selection of gourmet sandwiches. Even if you're strictly a dog person, it's hard to go past roast pork and sesame mayo on brioche. Catmosphere is located at 66 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills. For more information, opening hours and to book your very own cat cuddle session, visit www.catmospherecafe.com. Images: Andy Fraser.
The Victorian government have officially begun their push to become the first state in the country to legalise medicinal marijuana. Delivering on a pledge made during the last election, the Andrews government yesterday tabled a report in parliament by the Victorian Law Reform Commission. Among its recommendations: a licensing scheme allowing for the production of medicinal cannabis, for the purposes of treating serious illnesses including cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDs. "During the election we committed to legalising medicinal cannabis for use in exceptional circumstances, and we’re delivering on our promise," said premier Daniel Andrews in a statement that accompanied the announcement. "I’ve seen first-hand how medicinal cannabis can change people’s lives. This landmark reform means Victorian families will no longer have to decide between breaking the law and watching their child suffer." Now before you start celebrating too hard, we should make clear that this isn't the same as legalising pot for everyone. Under the report's recommendations, licensed cultivators will be able to produce legal cannabis products, including oils, sprays and capsules, which will be available at pharmacies to patients who have received authorisation from a specialist doctors. Smokable marijuana will also remain illegal — so keep your homemade bongs in your sock drawers for the time being. Still, progress is progress — and this is especially great news for people suffering from the kinds of chronic pain and illness that marijuana use can help alleviate. Assuming he can get a tick of approval from the federal government, Andrews expects to make medical cannabis available by early 2017, with children suffering from severe epilepsy expected to be the first to benefit. Via The Age. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Chandon's splendiferous estate, 40 kilometres of gloriously car-free rail trail and piles of valley-grown local produce — the Yarra Valley, one of Victoria's favourite wine regions, is only an hour west of Melbourne, but it could well be the Garden of Eden. And you can plan your stay any way you like. Find some posh lodgings with a fireplace and spa, dig in deeper than a wombat and get a bunch of local bottles delivered. Or, put your adventurer's foot forward and go exploring. There are enough cellar doors to keep James Halliday on his toes, lazy long lunches to be indulged in, rainforest-ringed waterfalls to sit by and spectacular lookouts to dream from. Together with our Victorian road trip partner RACV, we've put together a guide to a perfect weekend in the Yarra Valley and Healesville. And don't forget — if you're planning on having a drink, make sure there's a designated driver to keep you safe on your travels. [caption id="attachment_581983" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Chandon[/caption] EAT AND DRINK Wine is a very good place to start in the Yarra Valley. The hardest bit is deciding which wineries to give your time to. At one end are the big-names with whizz-bang cellar doors, like Chandon, where you'll learn the ins and outs of French champagne and try some drops that aren't sold anywhere else. At the other end are boutique operations, where the focus is on small batches and exotic varieties. One of the most interesting is Yarra Yering, founded in 1969 by an eccentric graduate with a PhD in plant physiology from Oxford University called Dr Bailey Carrodus. Meanwhile, at Serrat, husband-and-wife team Tom and Nadege Carson managed to create James Halliday's 2016 Wine of the Year (one of the estate's many accolades) from just three hectares. Also worth sampling is the Giant Steps range, sold via its pop-up cellar door [caption id="attachment_581988" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Supplied[/caption] A stumble down the road is Four Pillars Gin. Established in 2013 by mates Stuart Gregor, Matt Jones and Cameron MacKenzie, who were on a mission to put Aussie spirits on the map, this distillery is now a household name in both home and professional bars all over the country. At its recently renovated headquarters, you can have your own private tasting and try new experiments before they hit the shelves. For excellent country pub fare, slide into a wicker chair in the high-ceilinged dining room of the Healesville Hotel. During the week, casual, hearty meals are on the menu, but, come the weekend, fine dining takes over. For a more holistic dining experience, head to No. 7, a winery, cellar door, restaurant and event space that champions emerging winemakers and a series of progressive tasting menus to match the minimal-intervention wine list. [caption id="attachment_581989" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Adrian Patino[/caption] Want to create your own spread? Head to the Kitchen & Butcher, a charming deli where you can stock up on a range of produce sourced from local makers, including small-batch jams, relishes, pickles and preserves, granolas and spiced nuts all made on site. [caption id="attachment_581990" align="alignnone" width="1280"] TarraWarra Museum of Art.[/caption] DO Now that you're all loaded up with wine and cheese, let's get moving. Start easy with a wander through the TarraWarra Museum of Art. The permanent collection features works by Brett Whiteley, John Olsen and Albert Tucker, among others, while the temporary exhibitions bring names like Judy Watson and Pierre Huyghe to town. Also worth popping into is YAVA Gallery and Arts Hub, which provides a platform for local artists across a range of disciplines. If you're more interested in living things, swing by the Healesville Sanctuary. Here, you'll get to meet dingos, koalas and mountain pygmy possums (you'll want to take one home, be warned!). There's also a world-first interactive platypus show and a walk-through aviary, where you can hand-feed a parrot. [caption id="attachment_581991" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Martin Bull[/caption] Keen to get more active? You're in luck, because Healesville is a cycling mecca. Mountain bikers might know it as the starting point of the Bicentennial National Trail, which finishes 5330 kilometres later in Cooktown, Queensland. You don't have to go the whole way, of course — it's easy enough to make a day trip out of the first section. For road bikers, the classic ride is the Panton Gap climb. But an easier, traffic-free route is the 40-kilometre, Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, which takes in rolling farmlands, stretches of forest and, most importantly, pubs, cafes and wineries. There are walks a-plenty, too. To see lyrebirds, get started at the Badger Weir Picnic Area just seven kilometres south of Healesville, where you'll find three easy, half-hour tracks. Another nearby option is the idyllic Maroondah Reservoir Park. Its short trails include the one-kilometre Lookout Track and 1.4-kilometre Henderson's Hill. [caption id="attachment_581998" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Mountview Estate[/caption] STAY For a truly luxe escape, check into Mountview Estate. The expansive property boasts sweeping views of the Yarra Valley, as well as a design that combines Balinese and Mediterranean aesthetics, not to mention one of the more impressive infinity pools you'll see anywhere in the state. Looking to woo your boo? Head to Myers Creek Cascades and cosy up in one of its secluded cottages. You'll find Myers Creek Cascades a few kilometres north of Healesville, encircled by lush, wild forest and singing cascades. The interiors are designed to merge seamlessly with their surroundings — think timber cathedral ceilings, low lighting, log fires and picture windows. If you're planning on going absolutely nowhere, this is the spot to choose. Also found just outside of town are Lyrebird Cottages. These stunning, free-standing one-bedders are made of mud brick and timber, and are set on ten acres of forest and landscaped gardens. The views over the Yarra Valley are panoramic — on a clear day, you can see all the way to Melbourne. [caption id="attachment_581996" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Airbnb[/caption] Or, a snug, old-fashioned stay is on offer at this revamped Miner's Cottage, listed on Airbnb. There's room for just two and you and your plus one will be cosying up in front of a log fire and kicking back in an outdoor spa, with Healesville only a short walk away. Travelling with a crew? You could try nabbing this charming three-bedroom farmhouse which sleeps up to six and is set on 13 acres of garden, farmland and orchards. Just don't get into fights over space in front of the fireplace or who scores the first soak in the spa bath. Road tripping this summer? Make sure you're covered with RACV. Top image: Sergio Sergio (Flicker)
Longrain has still got it. After serving up contemporary Thai eats on Little Bourke Street for over 15 years, it really hasn't lost its shine. If anything, this beloved Thai restaurant has only risen up the ranks in the city's dining scene ever since Scott Picket (founder of Estelle, Matilda and Pastore) took over in late 2020. He didn't change much, keeping the same team in place and only tweaking small parts of the menu. Longrain's original formula always worked — it was Covid and leasing issues that led the original owners to step back from the business. These days, you'll still dine within the converted horse stables in the downstairs dining room and grab drinks upstairs in the huge bar, Longsong. [caption id="attachment_909618" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Squadrito[/caption] Food wise, big flavours and generous portions of classic Thai dishes (that have been given a slightly glammed-up twist) remain as well. The team isn't reinventing the wheel here. They're simply serving up some their favourite dishes from regions across Thailand. There is also a big focus on sharing. Grab a bunch of plates from the a la carte menu, setting yourselves up for a feast, or opt for the banquet option. For Longrain's banquet, you'll get roughly nine dishes (varying in size) for $89 per person. The menu changes relatively regularly, but you can expect the likes of fresh oysters in a roasted red chilli nahm jim, scallops with shrimp floss (served in a edible betel leaf) as well as bloody good caramelised pork belly. This bad boy has it all going on — being sweet, sticky, fatty, crunchy and tender all at the same time. [caption id="attachment_909617" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Squadrito[/caption] From the a la carte menu, the yum kao tod is also a standout. Crispy rice, pork mince, ginger, mint, coriander, chilli and peanuts are all mixed together in this flavour bomb of a dish. Scoop it all up with a salad leaf, squeeze on a generous amount of lime and make a proper mess of it all. We also highly recommend getting around the dessert tasting option. The team will deliver an assortment of five different sweet treats to the table on a big lazy susan. Spin it around the table with your mates, scooping up a few bites of each dish. It will always change, but you can expect some housemade sorbet and gelato (with Thai flavours) as well as a few more intricate desserts that'll certainly impress. Pair the whole experience with some great vinos that have been chosen to complement the vibrant Thai food and your set for a great night out. There is no official wine pairing, but the waiters will gladly recommend a few of their favourite drops by the glass so you can taste your way through the impressive offerings. While Melbourne's Longrain is a somewhat of a fine diner, you are encouraged to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. It does an excellent job of striking the balance between being fancy and refined while still being laidback and fun. [caption id="attachment_909619" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alex Squadrito[/caption] Top image: Eugene Hyland Appears in: The Best Thai Restaurants in Melbourne for 2023
Melbourne's summer festival calendar scored a wild and wonderful new addition: Can't Do Tomorrow is taking over the warehouses of Kensington's famed underground space The Facility with a ten-day festival of music, discussion and art. The new festival promises to be immersive, eclectic and entirely thought-provoking. The lineup includes more than 100 artists, galleries, crews and collectives who will transform the former wool stores into a large-scale smorgasbord of urban art for you to look at, interact with and even buy. One of the highlights of the event will be a giant hand-painted boat floating in a shipping container by Archibald Prize finalist and Melbourne artist Michael Peck. Elsewhere on the program, new media artist Nick Azidis will take over the exterior walls and tunnel of The Facility with mind-bending projections, UK artist Mysterios Al will transform an area into a multi-dimensional work with "hidden secrets" and street artist Kaffeine's Infinite Thanks will celebrate LGBTQI+ icons with paintings and stories inside a shrine, which you'll also be able to add to with your own offerings, too. Callum Preston — who's behind Melbourne's famed milk bar installation — will create a new work inspired by 80s gangster movies that'll make you feel like you've stepped into Scarface. Street artists Ruskidd, Jason Parker, Unwell Bunny, LucyLucy, David Hooke, Steve Leadbeater and Heesco are some of the other big names on the bill, too. As well as looking at (and contributing to) the artists' works, you'll be able to chat to them, thanks to a series of talks and workshops. Rone, who recently transformed a deserted 30s mansion into a haunting installation earlier this year, is one of the artists who'll be sharing their tips. To round out the festivities, there'll also be live music, pop-up food stalls and bars and warehouse parties at Tallows Club, which will be open until 1am throughout the festival.
It's safe to assume there are many questionable things hidden in the Yarra's murky depths. But something you might be happy to unearth about our city's famed river is this little morsel of history: the river was actually once home to gushing falls, located where Queens Bridge sits today. Why the impromptu history lesson? Well, it's this landmark — a significant meeting place for First Peoples and a big part of the reason why Melbourne is located where it is — that was the inspiration for new 25-seat CBD watering hole, Yarra Falls. Located not too far from that spot, the bar sits within Flinders Lane's historic Tavistock House — a 172-year-old building with a heritage-listed facade that remains one of the few pre-Gold Rush structures in the metro area. Owner Brendan Keown (The Baxter Inn, Restaurant Hubert) was captured by the tale of the rocky river barrier that once stood nearby, separating the freshwater from the bay and providing a crossing point at low tide. In a nod to the historic site, Yarra Falls embraces the concept of place and wholeheartedly champions this pocket of the world; from its booze and produce, to its musicians. 'Local' and 'seasonal' are far more than mere buzzwords here, with a strong commitment to working with Indigenous-owned or -supporting suppliers. Ingredients and products are carefully chosen for their origins and the stories behind them, while a deep respect for the seasons — our region actually has six of them, as observed by First Peoples — ensures they're only ever showcased at their best. In keeping with the venue's own small stature, both the drinks list and food menu are concise, though they're expertly considered and rotate on the regular. The potato bread is a staple — a nod to Keown's Irish roots — plus you'll usually find a house soup and freshly-shucked oysters. A 'snack of the season' makes the most of nature's gifts; maybe pairing finger lime with smoked eel and creme fraiche on lavosh. The ever-evolving drinks list is well thought out and generous with its tasting notes. The two beer taps might be pouring drops like Westside Aleworks' full-bodied Electric Socks APA (Melbourne/Boonwurrung Country), while the spirits list heroes creations from labels like 78 Degrees and Melbourne Gin Company. In the wine (and wine-adjacent) corner, expect goodies like a floral moscato giallo orange by Little Brunswick Wine Co (Heathcote/DjaDjaWurrung Country) and the Stanton + Killeen muscat (Rutherglen/ Bangerang Country). And a tidy crop of mixed drinks stars ingredients like lemon myrtle, wattleseed and teas by Indigenous cafe Mabu Mabu. Try the apricot brandy-infused Emu Juice, or the Mornington — a funky blend of silver rum, macadamia, golden wattle and grape.
It's been nearly a year since we first got word that Chin Chin's Chris Lucas would be opening a three-storey Japanese restaurant on Flinders Lane, and several months since we learnt that he'd recruited Korean chef K. S. Moon. Now, with just a few days left until service begins, the Lucas Group has finally revealed what diners can expect from their latest venture — and from the looks of things, it'll be well worth the wait. Located on Flinders Lane just across the street from Supernormal, Kisumé will open for the first time on Monday, May 15. There's a lot going on, but here's the configuration. The restaurant will take over the entire basement level, while a sushi bar will occupy ground floor with a different menu. The second storey — dubbed Kuro Kisumé — is where things get a little more intimate. This floor features a Chablis bar that heroes the so-named Chardonnay from northwest Burgundy alongside the Kisumé Winewall (which they've apparently trademarked) — it has four separate glass cabinets devoted to Chablis, Pinot Noir, Riesling and a mix of sake and Japanese whisky. From mid-June Kuro Kisumé will also play host to The Table, an omakase-style dining experience that can accommodate just a dozen people at a time, and a pair of private dining rooms fitted with artworks from Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki and Australia's Polly Borland.. Inspired by classic Japanese design, the interior of the restaurant is minimalist in nature, featuring timber flooring, grey leather and matte brass complemented by dusty pink curtains. But what about the food? Standout dishes on the Kisumé menu include steamed king crab gyoza with quail egg and bonito vinaigrette, crispy wagyu truffles with miso and mozzarella, foie gras and beef tenderloin with yakiniku soy, and seared yellowfin tuna tataki with wasabi tofu and chilli yuzu ponzu. The sushi bar also promises an array of specialty rolls and sashimi, such as Alaskan king crab with spring onion, flying fish roe and soy paper. The restaurant (basement): The sushi bar (ground floor): The Chablis bar (level one): The table (level one): The Winewall (level one): Kisumé is located at 175 Flinders Lane, Melbourne and will open for dinner only from Monday, May 15. From Monday, May 22 onwards, they will be open from 11am until late, seven days a week. For more information or to book a table, visit kisume.com.au.
Sport in Melbourne is definitely one of those culturally ingrained things that is AVBD (a very big deal), and chances are you have a team you find yourself getting invested in particularly over a few beers at the pub. Whether you're a casual follower or a professional who weeps regularly and loudly over your chosen ones' performance, sometimes your lounge room just doesn't make the cut – and neither does that tray of frozen chips you popped in the oven. Help yourself and your team out by picking a good venue to watch the game. We've teamed up with the Hahn Brewers and created a list with some of our picks – settle back with some good pub grub, a pint of something heartening, and the ability to yell at the screen without worrying about your neighbours. THE EMPRESS The Empress in the north of Fitzroy rocks a quieter vibe than its counterparts on Brunswick Street, so head here for a pint and a game of AFL. Food-wise it's upmarket pub food and a lot of choice for veggie or vegan fare, so you can settle in for the night in their cozy beer garden with the footy and a very very tasty chicken parma. THE LOMOND The Lomond is one of those pubs that isn't the swishest kid on the block, but will give you a solid case of the warm and fuzzies thanks to beers-a-plenty on tap and an open fire inside. If you're lucky it'll be live Irish music night (classic). There's always a game or two on at The Lomond – and a punter or five betting on it. Top it all off with glass of Hahn and a pulled pork burger and you'll be tottering off home to bed once the fourth quarter is over. THE GREAT NORTHERN The Great Northern holds fairly true its name, in that it's both in Melbourne's north and pretty great. A huge beer garden out the back and ten HD screens littered throughout the venue means you'll probably end up watching sport whether you're planning on it or not. The Northern is the "unofficial home of Freo", so be prepared to be defending yourself if you don't go for the Dockers. Also, the pub also shows most of the other sports you may follow so don't feel like you have to limit yourself to AFL. THE IMPERIAL A big space in the CBD can be hard to find, but kickin' it at the very top of Bourke Street is The Imperial, the third oldest pub in Melbourne. An accommodating hotspot for Premier League followers, you can also head here for the rugby or the cricket or the tennis or even the golf – basically, pick a sport, any sport and head to the Imperial. It's the home of the Liverpool FC supporters in Melbourne, so expect a sea of loud red fans. Other pluses? A huge rooftop bar with great city views, and a new menu with plenty of good food to line your belly. LONDON TAVERN If you're looking for a bar situated near the G, have a gander at the London Tavern; it's been there since 1921 and is somewhat of a footy icon in the area. Watch the match there of a weekend night, and/or enter the hefty meat raffle every Thursday. If you don't make too much of a ruckus yourself perhaps you'll be able to hear the live MCG action from your seat. THE COLLEGE LAWN HOTEL Head southside to the back streets of Prahran for a pub that sticks to what it knows, and does it well – friendly vibes and lazy Sunday afternoons in the sun. At College Lawn, rabid rugby fans are in the house on the weekend, but don't feel left out if that isn't sport of choice; the College Lawn has scores of screens, so we've no doubt you'll find something you dig on at least one. There's also a bottle shop on-site, and $6 pints from 5pm-7pm on Fridays. THE CORNER HOTEL While The Corner is through and through one hell of a music venue, it boasts other non-gig-related attractions. There's a good trivia on every Wednesday, for a start, and despite their ample rooftop beer garden being closed for reno's at the moment there's an American food-truck operating downstairs. More importantly though, it has big screens, a great atmosphere and is right in the heart of the action. Pick this as a place to set up shop on grand final day CHARLES DICKENS The Charles Dickens is one of those old-fashioned British pubs which is actually endlessly charming and makes you feel like you've stepped back in time a few decades. You should probably listen to Brit logic and have a pie (you always deserve a pie) here to go along with a game. There are four screens showing rugby, Premier League or AFL. If your team wins and you want late kick-ons, the Dickens does takeaway beer too. TURF BAR If it's American footy or baseball you're after, Turf Bar might be the pick for you. Their schedule packs in a bit of everything and the facilities are good: big screens with volume loud enough to hear the match, and private screening booths if you so desire. Friday nights offer $6 pints and bar snacks early on in the night. THE LEVESON It's chicken parmatastic over here at The Leveson, one of North Melbourne's nicer pubs, and the menu is as good as the happy hours are generous. The Leveson is a popular place to be on Grand Final day (or Superbowl morning), and as well as sport on the telly there's live music on Fridays. A good steak menu and an open fire will warm the cockles of your heart, and a solid Grand Final day party (featuring an espresso martini bar) should put this high up on your list this year. Sign up to Hahn Brewers and settle down with a drink this weekend.
Many a poor traveller has ventured to Germany in hope of culinary enlightenment, only to binge on pretzels and bratwurst, thinking that was it. Don't be like those suckas. German cuisine is more than just carbs and cream — it's carbs and cream cooked and combined better than anywhere else in the world. Ignore the recent meat vs. health studies, forget about your fat RDI and jump on the nearest jumbo to Frankfurt and chow down. MAULTASCHEN Imagine a thick pasta skin that's filled with a smoked meat and then fried in butter — kind of ravioli on steroids — and you've got maultaschen. It's a German specialty that tends to be a menu staple in most southern restaurants. The only thing better than how tasty these pockets of flavour are, is the story behind them. The common folklore is that during Lent, when Catholics and other Christians were encouraged to refrain from eating meat, German monks would make the maultaschen. They figured the meat was concealed under the pasta dough and what they couldn't see, neither could God. Where to find it: Some of the best (and most famous) maultaschen in Germany can be found Zum Hasenwirt, a small restaurant in Stuttgart. [caption id="attachment_556573" align="alignnone" width="1280"] conticium via Flickr[/caption] DAMPFNUDEL Dampfnudel is a southern German specialty that you might be hard pressed finding in the big cities. That means your best chances of nabbing one of these fluffy, sweet buns is trekking to some of Germany's quaint little villages. Dampfnudel is a like a sweet unfilled Chinese bun, about the size of a fist, that's steamed in sugared milk and fried in butter to give it a crispy bottom. It's most often served with berries, vanilla sauce and jams. Where to find it: Dampfnudeln-Uli is a Bavarian restaurant in Regensburg that specialises in this sweet buns and have done so for over 70 years. [caption id="attachment_556577" align="alignnone" width="1280"] stu_spivack via Flickr[/caption] SPÄTZLE Spätzle is to the Germans what pasta is to the Italians. Made with eggs and flour and boiled till it firms up, the almost rubbery pasta-like pieces are eaten as is, or fried up in oil or butter. Its texture is similar to that of gnocchi, though its taste is rather bland — so it's best partnered with meat and gravy. It's one of those foods you'll have a little gag over eating the first time, then wake up in cold sweats craving a week later. Where to find it: You'll find the best spätzle in small, German villages as it one of those foods that Oma makes best. But if you're in Berlin, check out Repke Spätzlerei. They're pros at the stuff. [caption id="attachment_556580" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Benjamin Vander Steen via Flickr[/caption] SCHWARZWÄLDER KIRSCHTORTE That's black forest cake to you. We're not talking The Cheesecake Shop variety (no offence) or your lazy one-tiered Coles attempt either (offence intended). Germany pulls out all the stops to make the chocolate cake thick and dense, the cream is fresh from the cow and the cherries just-picked from tree (FYI: cherries grow in Germany like eucalyptus leaves grow in Australia). As such, this cake is quite seasonal, and is best purchased and eaten in the German summer, aka cherry season. Where to find it: If you're going to eat this cake, do it properly at at one of the few cafes that holds the original recipe. We recommend Cafe Schäefer in Triberg, a town in Baden-Württemberg, which is actually located in the literal Black Forest. [caption id="attachment_556612" align="alignnone" width="1280"] jay.tong via Flickr[/caption] SCHWEINSHAXE This is what German dreams are made of. Succulent, slow-roasted porn knuckle with a thick, crispy, drool-inducing layer of crackling around the lot. Done well, the meat should fall of the bone once its crackling cloak has been consumed, and it's best served with something simple like a bread roll to soak up the juices. This is a Bavarian specialty, and makes a popular appearance at Oktoberfest. Where to find it: Munich is home of the schweinshaxe, and is best eaten after consuming two litres of beer at Oktoberfest. For that reason, do yourself a favour and have your first schweinshaxe at one of the many beer tents at Munich's Oktoberfest. [caption id="attachment_550692" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Jeremy Keith via Flickr[/caption] FLÄDLE SUPPE On paper, flädle suppe sounds like an absolute nightmare: chopped up pancakes in a beef broth. But somehow — for some absurd reason that only the Germans know — it works. The flädle are plain crepe-style pancakes, tightly wrapped and cut into thin ribbons, while the suppe is the soupy broth. This dish is traditionally served as the first course of a wedding, but as it's so tasty and has quite a German fan-base, it's moved past special occasions and onto mainstream menus. Where to find it: This soup is prevalent in both southern Germany and Austria, so if you're looking for the perfect taste, hover around the border. We suggest Weinstube zur Traube in Stuttgart. [caption id="attachment_552489" align="alignnone" width="1280"] cyclonebill via Flickr[/caption] FLEISCHKÄSE This is one of those nasty, kebab-equivalent foods that for some reason most Germans eat sober, but probably shouldn't. It doesn't take a fool to realise fleischkäse is processed to the nines, as it resembles something that makes spam look like a free-range chicken leg. And for that reason — and probably that reason alone — it's delicious (in a salty, fatty, indigestion-y kind of way). It tastes like hot dog meat, but is served as a thick slice on a bread roll with ketchup and mustard. Try it the day before you leave Germany so you have a geographical barrier between yourself and any more of them. Where to find it: In Germany, a carvery or snack bar is called an Imbiss. Most hot ones will serve fleischkäse mit brötchen (with a bread roll). [caption id="attachment_552488" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Oliver Hallmann via Flickr[/caption] WILDSCHWEIN Game in Germany tends to hit dinner plates towards the beginning of winter, when it's hunting season. Wild boar (a nice way of saying feral pigs), deer, rabbit and pheasant all become a staple for those who can both afford and stomach it. Wildschwein (the aforementioned wild boar) is probably the gateway meat into eating German game. While it tastes like normal pork meat, it's also a lot richer, leaner and has that earthy taste that's common with wild animals. It's the most free-range form of meat you can eat — so regardless of your squirms, give it a shot. Where to find it: Naturally, the culinary crux of Germany, Munich, homes many great traditional German restaurants that specialise in traditional hunting dishes. Restaurant Johannas at Hotel Neumayr is our hot pick. They serve wildschwein year-round, as well as deer, rabbit and pheasant seasonally. [caption id="attachment_550695" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Katrin Morenz via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] MARMORKUCHEN We know what you're thinking. That marmorkuchen is just a rainbow cake without the strawberry bit. Wrong. It's the softest, sweetest, most delicious cake this side of Europe — and lucky children all over Germany get to eat it everyday. Paired perfectly with a tea or coffee, marmorkuchen is kind of a like a butter-heavy tea cake that has the sweet tang of chocolate and, if you're lucky, an aftertaste of rum. It literally translates to marble cake, which every Aussie is probably already well familiar with. But it's different in Germany. It's better. But don't ask questions — just try for yourself. Where to find it: Naturally, Germany homes some of the best bakeries in the world, and it's in these you'll find the best marmorkuchen. If you're in Berlin, Konditorei Buchwald makes undoubtedly one of the best — and have done for over 160 years. [caption id="attachment_550693" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Oliver Hallmann via Flickr[/caption] RINDERROULADE Rinderroulade just screams German farming food. Normally served with potatoes and cabbage, the actual roulade is a thin piece of beef steak that's spread with hot mustard, bacon and pickles, then rolled up and cooked in a thick beef sauce. It's kind of like a really intense burger, minus the bread and cheese. The roulade is cooked in the sauce for a good hour or so to get that melt-in-your-mouth texture. Fillings for rinderroulade are endless, ranging from Asian to Mediterranean varieties, but if you're chasing the best, stick to the original German mustard filling. Where to find it: You'll find this meal at most traditional German restaurants. In Berlin, Kurhaus Korsakow is one of the most authentic, non-touristy German restaurants in trendy Friedrichshain, and happens do do a killer roulade. Top image: Dollar Photo Club
Between work, family and maintaining an impeccable (but relatable) online presence, life can sometimes get away from us. We tend to romanticise going interstate, going overseas, heading out to the country for a weekend without looking closer to home for new experiences. But the city you call home might surprise you if you let it. Melbourne is a melting pot of cultures, a final destination for so many creative enterprises and we're #blessed (not even sarcastically) with world class restaurants on every corner. These foodie experiences might cost a small fortune, but, when you think about it, they're cheaper than a weekend away — and the best (and most delicious) way to find luxury in this fine city of ours. We've partnered with Grey Goose, one of the most luxurious brands of vodka you can get, to bring you the best luxury experiences in your city, start ticking these foodie experiences (and paired cocktails) off. OMAKASE AT MINAMISHIMA If you're prepared to pay big bucks (and willing to never again be able to eat shopping mall sushi rolls with satisfaction), the omakase selection at Miniamishima is for you. Omakase means chef's choice so you'll be in the very capable (and diligent) hands of chef Koichi Minamishima while he serves up an incredible 15 courses of Melbourne's best sushi. Cocktail to try: Keep it simple, let the Japanese flavours come through and try a Grey Goose Vodka on the rocks. THE 16-COURSE DEGUSTATION AT LÛMÉ Lûmé is an establishment that needs no introduction. If you haven't considered a Lûmé degustation to celebrate a special occasion, hand over those dollar bills and do so now — you won't regret it. You can choose between three degustation options ranging from 4 courses to 16, but the big daddy here is The Road, a 14 to 16-course journey through culinary enlightenment. It'll set you back $170 per person (and another $120 each for bevs) — but you'll then be able to let the experts take you on a journey that's part artistic, part culinary and fully life changing. Cocktail to try: A pre-dinner Dirty Martini — made with vodka, vermouth and muddled olives. A THREE-COURSE MEAL AT THE TOWN MOUSE The Town Mouse inhabits a dark little corner of Carlton away from the hustle and bustle of Lygon Street, but within the chic, tiled interior is a warm venue bursting with character. The protein-heavy menu can cater to you whether you're just feeling peckish or grappling with the hunger of a bear — but we recommend going the whole hog with three courses. The wine list is perfectly matched as well and the dessert menu in itself is worth a trip — as are the oysters with Chardonnay sorbet. Cocktail to try: A simple Gimlet — made with vodka and lime juice. PRIVATE DINING AT SAKE Sake offers a banquet-style dining experience in their Hamer Hall restaurant, overlooking the Yarra. The set menu will walk you through the Japanese classics for which Sake is renowned, plus a few more you might not be game enough to try if given the choice. Expect the freshest seafood alongside umami flavours galore. Cocktail to try: Sake's Japanese Ice Tea — vodka, Umeshu, Monin peach syrup, ginger, fresh mint and soda served over ice. THE SEVEN-COURSE TASTING MENU AT ESTELLE BY SCOTT PICKETT The menu at Scott Pickett's fine dining room of Estelle is Australian in more ways than one. The seven-course tasting menu — which features smoked wallaby alongside a medley of Aussie seafood — is served up simply but packs in big flavour. The northside restaurant is beautifully (and monochromatically) decorated to tick all your luxury dining experience boxes. Cocktail to try: Estelle's Capnophobia — made with vodka, single-malt whisky and bitters. SIT AT THE CHEF'S TABLE AT DINNER BY HESTON A visit to Dinner by Heston is a visit you will remember for a long time. The menu of Blumenthal's Crown restaurant is inspired by classic British gastronomy, so while it's not exactly vegetarian-friendly, it certainly is educational as it walks you through a history of dinner and dessert dishes. You can dine à la carte or spend your entire pay cheque on a seat at the chef's table, where Executive Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts will serve up your food himself and you'll get your own personal sommelier. It's perhaps a little less luxurious than dining at The Fat Duck, but that doesn't make it any less worthy of a visit. Cocktail to try: Dinner by Heston's Bloody Mary — made with Worcestershire Sauce-infused vodka, horseradish, clear broth, pepper distillate, tomato consommé and celery oil. THE TASTING MENU AT NORA When you step into your Nora degustation, discard any preconceived notions you have about Thai food. Chef and owner Sarin Rojanametin's approach to cooking and degustations are refreshingly playful, taking you on a journey through his childhood favourites. He describes the Nora experience as "punch in the face, dance in the mouth flavours of Thailand", so you know you're set for a wild ride. Cocktail to try: Mint Julep made with mint, sugar, lemon, soda and vodka. THE SET MENU AT IDES Peter Gunn's new project Ides started as a pop-up and only transitioned to a permanent venue in Collingwood earlier this year. The ethos behind Ides is experimentation. On Sundays, you can get right into the spirit with their experimental rotating tasting menu or go for the more traditional six-course offering throughout the week. It's well-priced luxury at $110. Cocktail to try: A Grey Goose Dry Martini — made with vodka, vermouth, orange bitters and lemon zest. THE DEGUSTATION AT CUTLER & CO. Cutler & Co. is an understated but must-do Melbourne dining experience. The elegant hole-in-the-wall on Gertrude Street serves up some decadent dishes (that look more like art than food, mind you) alongside a well-paired drinks menu. It's $150 for six courses, and another $80-130 for matched bevs. And make sure you stop by their sister venue, Marion, next door for a post-feast digestive. Cocktail to try: Cutler & Co.'s The Black Drum Martini — made with vodka, Vermut Negre, orange, cucumber, olive and brine. THE TASTING MENU AT VUE DE MONDE Okay, this one's an obvious one. But if your idea of luxury equates to eating some of the city's finest food by one of the city's best chefs atop the city's highest buildings, then Vue de Monde will tick all the boxes. Located on the 55th floor, the restaurant is the epitome of fine dining in Melbourne — and dishes like one above are just the start. The tasting menu costs a small fortune at $230-275 per person, but takes you on a dazzling journey that will brilliantly blind you to anything but the food in front of you (including, hopefully, the bill at the end of the night). Cocktail to try: Lui Bar's Vodka Pour Over for a pre-dinner drink. It's vodka, 5 senses coffee and a hint of white chocolate served ice cold.
Winter is coming, and we can't think of a better way to assuage the cold-weather anxiety than with a luxe staycation. To make this dream a reality, we've partnered with designer hotel QT Melbourne to give away a night's stay and a few food-based experiences to go along with it. A far cry from your run-of-the-mill lodgings, QT Melbourne's stunning guest rooms feature timber floors, state-of-the-art technology and designer furniture that's at once quirky and tasteful. In addition to the luxe accommodation, prize winners will be treated to a series of on-site foodie treats, all but guaranteed to banish the winter blues. The feasting starts on arrival with a luscious cake from The Cake Shop, delivered straight to your room. Next up is dinner at French-inspired Pascale Bar & Grill, an homage to the 'Paris-end' of Collins St. featuring an open kitchen complete with its own woodfire oven, and then you'll round out the night with expertly crafted cocktails and sweeping city views at the hotel's glamorous Rooftop at QT. And, as if all this weren't enough, you'll also get a voucher to spend at Tanto, QT's high-end Japanese knife shop. If this sounds like your ideal winter escape, enter your details below and go into the draw to win. [competition]622848[/competition]
Sydney's CBD is getting a major dose of the Tokyo-esque practical and compact, with plans to renovate Bar Century, rebrand it as The Century, and fit it out as a three-storey, luxury capsule hotel being announced last week. The George Street institution, which closed earlier this year, has been taken over by developer Walter Guo, who is investing a massive $5 million on a full interior refurb, which will be carried out by interior design consultants Giant Design. The heritage building will retain its vintage fit-out and have a "Soho House vibe", with the bar and hotel running as separate entities. The first two levels will act as The Century's cocktail bar and nightclub, while the top three floors of the building will be dedicated to the Century Capsules. These capsules are certainly more luxe than most you'll find in Asia. Each of the 72 capsules will contain a large LED screen and entertainment system, Wi-Fi, and even 'mood lighting' (whatever that means). Guests can choose from single or deluxe beds with entry from either the side or the end of the capsule. The communal facilities include a kitchen space, breakfast bar, lounge area, rooftop terrace and individual bathrooms. If you're worried about security, don't be — each capsule is fitted with a secure lock and the security desk runs 24-hours. But let's set the record straight — The Century is not going to be a hostel, and it's not aimed at overindulgent locals that can't seem to make it back home. And while the CBD haunt may have closed because of the lockout laws — and been a central part of a huge lockout protest as a result — these new digs are not meant as a lockout solution either. "The accommodation, which is not quite hotel nor hostel, is aimed at solo travellers looking for something more private than a typical backpackers and those who want the designer hotel experience on a budget," says Christopher Wilks, an associate at Giant Design. It's set to sit well within your budget, with prices ranging from 40-60 bucks a night. Which, depending on how far from the CBD you live, could be a lot cheaper than a cab home at 1am. Sounds futuristic (for Sydney, at least), but these aren't some plans for the distant future — The Century is coming soon. Giant Design is looking at a mid to late November opening.
CDMX was an instant hit when the team opened its first site in Melbourne Central back in 2022. The birria tacos, which were and still are having a moment, became an instant cult hit. For the uninitiated: grilled corn tortillas are filled with birria-braised beef brisket, salsa, coriander, onion and melted cheese, and served with a side of birria consomme — a little pot of beef broth that you dip your taco into between bites. These are ridiculously good, and an absolute must-order. But this Melbourne Mexican restaurant is no one-hit wonder. It serves up a heap of great tacos in the original CBD site, plus a much bigger menu of Mexican eats at the newer Brunswick East outpost. Located at the top end of Lygon Street, CDMX Brunswick East has been designed to feel like a Mexico City taqueria, with metal chairs and tables, white and blue tiled walls and a big blue neon sign that lights up the front of the restaurant. It could use some more warm touches, but you're not here for the design. It's all about the food, which doesn't disappoint. Kick things off with a round of miso-citrus marinated tuna tostadas served with crispy leeks and chipotle mayo, or house-made totopos with fresh guac. Then comes the hard part: choosing what tacos to order. A birria taco for each person is essential. But you should also sample the marinated grilled shrimp tacos that come with grilled cheese, a house-roasted tomato-arbol salsa and pico de gallo. It's a spicy flavour bomb that's best paired with a frozen marg or ice-cold beer. The taco selection also includes well-executed classics like battered barramundi, crispy fried pork belly, and two meat-free options. And on Wednesdays, CDMX goes vegan, with five fully vegan options available. There are a few hot sauces on each table for those wanting more heat, but it really isn't needed here. Everything we tried was seasoned to perfection. A couple quesadillas and a basket of churros round out the CDMX food options — if you've got room for more. The long, tiled bar is also whipping up a heap of classic cocktails, frozen margs, and cracking open Mexican beers. It's got all the taqueria essentials. And should be on the hit list of any taco stan.
The Central Club Hotel, a 150-year-old pub across the road from Queen Victoria Market, underwent some mighty big renovations lately. The small Melbourne pub was totally gutted to make way for a fresh sleek curved bar that you can drink and dine at as well as a modest dining room sectioned off by the kitchen pass. But you don't have to hide away in the corner to eat. If want to be a part of the buzz, you can hang at some of the tables in the main bar space — equipped with a telly silently playing the footy on game days. And you will want to eat here. The menu has been given heaps of love, focusing on refined pub classics and Italian fare with some Asian influences. You can head to the Central Club Hotel for a great parma or fish and chips — and be very happy — but it's the creative dishes that make this North Melbourne pub stand out. You might find kingfish sashimi on menus all over the city these days, but this locale's version has been jazzed up with a yuzu kosho oil and pearls of radishes and pears to bring it to the next level. The umami kick, paired with kingfish — purchased from suppliers at the market across the road — makes for a fab combo. Prefer something of the deep-fried variety? Be sure to nab a big bowl of karaage chicken or cauliflower served with a punchy wasabi mayo. The light batter gives you all that greasy goodness without being too heavy — or feeling like your pores have been clogged with oil. But if you're going to order anything at this new haunt, it best be one of the fresh homemade pasta dishes. Our favourite? The blue swimmer crab linguine. This bad boy rises above all other seafood pasta thanks to the use of a super-rich prawn bisque that's used as the base of its sauce. The team doesn't skimp on the crab either. Red meat lovers also have plenty to enjoy. There are steaks aplenty sourced from across the road. But as it is with most steaks in Melbourne, these can cost a small fortune. That's why we love to see cheaper cuts of meat on the menu, like Central Club Hotel's 300-gram hangar steak. This tender piece of meat is the perfect poor man's steak — coming with all the usual trimmings including thick-cut chips, salad and your choice of housemade sauces. Then come the Italian desserts. Now, profiteroles can be boring. They tend to be unremarkable. But these might just be the best we've had. The choux pastry is perfect — buttery and soft yet with a good crunch — and the vanilla mascarpone custard filling with a topping of chocolate mousse is heaven. Add some brightly flavoured strawberry coulis to the plate and the dessert is perfection. You can really tell the chefs are having fun in the kitchen. Wines are also given stacks of love from the drinks team. Independent Aussie producers shine the brightest (with stacks available by the glass) while lesser-known European varieties feature throughout the menu. This isn't a stock standard cab sav and pinot gris offering, we're talking gamay, nero d'avola, durif, and fiano to name a few. This newly renovated spot is all about elevating the usual pub experience, bringing North Melbourne a much-needed posh (yet still fairly casual) pub six days a week.
