That last proper pub feed you had at an actual pub is fast turning into a distant memory. And the glorious day your local can once again throw open its doors can't come soon enough. But if you're desperate for a pub fix to see you through these last few weeks of pub-less purgatory, solace has arrived in the form of a new food delivery service called Hand Picked. Launching this week, it's the latest offering from Australian Venue Co (AVC), which owns 30 well-known Melbourne boozers and eateries — including Richmond's Harlow, The Provincial in Fitzroy, The College Lawn Hotel and Footscray's The Station. It's out to help punters recreate that pub experience at home, with two curated menus featuring hit dishes from across all of the group's local venues. There's the Hand Picked Fan Favourites lineup, headed up by Executive Chef Christian Abbott, which is delivering ready-to-eat pub meals on the daily. Addresses within seven kilometres of the CBD's Imperial Hotel can get their mitts on much-loved signature dishes including Fargo & Co's Dirty Birdie fried chicken burger, cheeseburger spring rolls from Hopscotch and even The Newmarket Hotel's dog-friendly Puppy Parma. Booze is sorted, too, with a selection of craft beers, cocktails and DIY spritz kits from the likes of Beer Deluxe, State of Grace and The Smith. There's a $5 flat-rate delivery fee on Fan Favourites orders, which are available from 5–9pm daily, or you can pick up your grub directly from the Bourke Street pub. Meanwhile, fellow Executive Chef Telina Menzies is helming the Hand Picked At Home menu, featuring family-style pub feasts dropped to your door, ready to heat and serve. Delivered every Friday afternoon, you'll find a selection of hearty shared pies — perhaps a creamy seafood and herb number — and lasagne varieties, including one crafted with 18-hour braised wagyu cheek and Tasmanian truffles. [caption id="attachment_784410" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hand Picked Footy Feed snacks[/caption] And to see you well-fed through the next few weeks of AFL finals season — while you're watching at home, obviously — there's Hand Picked's Ultimate Footy Feed menu, starring grazing options like lobster mac and cheese bites, ramen-fried chicken nuggets and sausage rolls with boozy barbecue sauce. These footy mates are also available for delivery each Friday, with a choice of six snacks starting from $30 per person. To celebrate its arrival, Hand Picked is slinging you 20 percent off all Fan Favourites and At Home orders this weekend. See the website for details. AVC's Hand Picked Fan Favourites menu is available daily from 5–9pm, for $5 delivery within 7 kilometres of The Imperial Hotel, CBD. Pick-up is also available — order online. The At Home and Ultimate Footy Feed menus are being delivered between 2–5pm Fridays, to suburbs within 5km of The Park in Albert Park. Weekly order cut-off is 12pm Thursdays — place yours online.
There is plenty to see and do in Canberra at any time of year, but a strong case can be made for visiting between September and November. The city really blossoms in spring (see what we did there?) — so there's no wonder why it's home to one of Australia's biggest and best annual flower festivals. Can't make it to Floriade this year? Never fear, there are still plenty of epic experiences to have in the nation's capital during spring. Whether you're planning a trip with mates, a significant other or solo, this list of activities will help you emerge from your winter hibernation with a spring in your step. Please stay up to date with the latest ACT Government health advice regarding COVID-19.
Summer might be officially over, but there are still a bunch of sunny afternoons and balmy evenings to come. And if you want to make the most of them, you'll find a tasty situation awaits on the banks of the Yarra (in front of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre), at food-focused pop-up Melbourne Street Eatz. Running every Wednesday through Sunday, until Sunday April 4, the returning favourite is dishing up a rotation of much-loved local food trucks, with bites from the likes of Taco Station, Primo Street Pizza, Athens Voice, Pasta Face, doughnut specialists St Gerry's and loads more. In between stuffing your face, you can enjoy the program of live entertainment and DJ sets, challenge your mates to a few classic lawn games, or catch some sport on the supersized screen. And if you're thirsty, treat yourself to the bar's $69 bottomless booze package, featuring two hours of free-flowing tap wine, beer and cocktails, including the prosecco-infused Ginsecco and a 'jacked' peach iced tea. Get the pooch excited, too — this pop-up's dog-friendly. Melbourne Street Eats is open from 4–11pm Wednesday–Friday and 12–11pm Saturday–Sunday.
When it comes to watching films in the open air when the weather is warm, Melbourne isn't short on options, whether you're keen to hit up Moonlight Cinema's local program, or head to the Lido's rooftop, hit up the Classic's roof as well or enjoy Pentridge's outdoor setup. Here's another joining them from Wednesday, February 1–Saturday, March 4: Sunset Cinema, which is adding a St Kilda season to its national tour. Maybe it's the twilight glow. Perhaps it's the stars twinkling above. Or, it could be the cooling breeze, the picnic blankets and beanbags as far as the eye can see, and just seeing a movie grace a giant screen with a leafy backdrop. When the weather is warm enough, a trip to the cinema just seems to shine brighter when it's outdoors for all of these reasons and more — and that's what's on offer at the St Kilda Botanical Gardens for just over a month. Kicking off the St Kilda run is The Menu and its culinary thrills — and it pops up on the program again later in the season, too. Or, viewers can enjoy Oscar-nominees The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once, Aussie drama Blueback and Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling. It's an eclectic array of flicks, clearly. Other titles include box-office behemoth Top Gun: Maverick, the Tom Hanks-starring A Man Called Otto, adorable animation Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and M3GAN's robo-horror chaos. Or, get a blast from the past with Crazy, Stupid, Love on Valentine's Day — when else? — and see why Paul Mescal deserves his first ever Academy Award nod for Aftersun. This is Sunset Cinema's second Victorian stint this season, after hitting up Mt Martha first. BYO picnics are encouraged here, but the event is fully licensed, so alcohol can only be purchased onsite. Didn't pack enough snacks? There'll be hot food options, plus plenty of the requisite movie treats like chips, chocolates, lollies and popcorn.
Before Instagram there was Hipstamatic - an app for your iPhone that transformed your boring and ordinary 21st century photos into dreamy capsules from a bygone yesteryear with vignetting, light leaks and nostalgically ethereal shades and tints. Hipstamatic promised the 'look, feel, unpredictable beauty and fun of plastic toy cameras from the past' and now, in a bid to regain their popularity and get one up on Instagram, Hipstamatic is offering a new dimension to their faux-analogue photography experience: a digital disposable camera. No, they're not encouraging you to throw your iPhone in the bin each time you've shot a roll of 'film', but what they are doing - cheeky buggers - is hiding your photos from you until you have taken 24 shots. The intention behind the app is questionable. Does this really provide you with a new avenue to experience the fun and anticipation of when you were 12 and brought a chunky yellow Kodak for your geography excursion, when you were so enthralled by this novel device and so enamoured by the gentle clicking sound as you wound back the wheel, that when you finally picked up your prints you realised that half of your photos were pure white flash and the other half were of lizards tails and your friends' noses? Or is using Hipstamatic and the like really an analogous experience akin to that of playing around with a Holga or Diana? I remember the first time I discovered the world of toy cameras, and my heart exploded. One year and at least a dozen rolls of film later, I still have no idea how to use my little 135mm Holga, nor my Polaroid 300, nor my (nominally oxymoronic) reusable disposable. However, in my vain and valiant attempts to try, I have discovered new techniques, unearthed the aesthetic magnificence of accident, and had a hell of a lot of fun too. Hipstamatic could be seen to be taking the whole 'new-technology-that-looks-like-old-technology-but-without-the-inconveniences' mode too far, and in doing so it begs the question: does snapping away with your ol' Hipstamatic - changing lens, flash and film with the effortless swipe of a finger - have something to offer, something to genuinely fill that yearning in all of our hearts for our sun-drenched, sepia-toned childhoods? Or is it a facade wrapped in authenticity wrapped in a marketing facade? The sheer, paradoxical irony of having a 'digital disposable' camera suggests that perhaps in our quest to replicate bygone artifacts and sentiments, too much use has been made of synthetic and spurious techniques and tools for the end product to ever achieve the cultural authenticity that we crave. Perhaps we should concentrate, instead, on embracing the here and now - because, after all, in five or ten years we may well find ourselves looking back on our iPhones and our DSLRs while we shake our heads in nostalgia, ruing those days of focused, instant and digital photography. Either way, Hipstamatic's digital disposable is yours for only $1.99. Now, that is like the good old days.
What do you want the world to be? That question has always sat at the heart of design, and Melbourne Design Week knows it. Accordingly, for its eighth year, the National Gallery of Victoria-led event is going all in on the notion, with 2024's 300-plus exhibitions, installations, talks, tours and displays focused on the theme "design the world you want". The possibilities are virtually endless from that prompt, as Melburnians can discover around the city between Thursday, May 23–Sunday, June 2. The works, symposiums and chats within the program break down the theme further, contemplating design in relation to energy, ethics and ecology, plus how they can bring about change — covering the use of new technologies and renewables, reflecting society's values and working in harmony with nature, At the NGV alone, attendees are spoiled for choice. If you need some fuel for your Melbourne Design Week jaunt, the One-Stop Bug-Shop has you covered — it's a vending machine dispensing alternative snacks made from insects, including candied mealworms and corn chips made from crickets. Future foods are also one of the discussion topics, alongside Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo chatting about approaches to architecture in urban environments, a symposium in advance of the NGV's upcoming Reimagining Birrarung: Design Concepts for 2070 exhibition, and talks from Design as an Attitude author Alice Rawsthorn and The Story of Art Without Men scribe Katy Hessel. And, for the 11-day duration of the festival, Melbourne Art Book Fair is also back. [caption id="attachment_957843" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tobias Titz[/caption] Elsewhere, the Melbourne Design Week Film Festival awaits, with flicks such as Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis, about the design studio behind some of the most-influential album cover art to ever grace record sleeves — and so does the Open House Melbourne-presented satellite program Design and Death, which considers the interplay between the two concepts right there in its name, including via touring Bunurong Memorial Park. Exhibitions galore, pet furniture with multiple functions that can be used in small spaces, a parkland reimagined through cake, mapping out Melbourne's coffee culture, a mobile garden roaming the streets, the work of First Nations glass artists, showcasing Japanese design from the 50s onwards: you'll find them all on the lineup as well. Exploring the interiors of toilets, the return of The Big Design Market and a chat with Universal Everything's Interactive Creative Director Joel Gethin Lewis about ACMI's Beings exhibition also sit on the clearly jam-packed program. And, if you need more highlights, you can hit up everything from a workshop on indie games and a panel at the Melbourne Planetarium about living beyond the earth through to The Huxleys diving into their work and Living Light immersing you in the glow from bioluminescent bacteria. [caption id="attachment_957842" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Installation view of 100 Circles, presented by Revival Projects, on display from 23 May–26 May at Warehouse 2, Revival Projects, in Melbourne Design Week 2024. Photo: Tim Carrafa.[/caption] Top image: Installation view of Squiggles and Cubes, presented by Meagan Streader and Billy Horn, on display from 23 May—2 June at The Tie Factory as part of Melbourne Design Week 2024. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
Icon alert: in a year that's already bringing everyone from Kraftwerk, Devo and Paul McCartney to Sparks, Ms Lauryn Hill and Christina Aguilera Australia's way, Chaka Khan is also heading Down Under. The American singer and ten-time Grammy-winner will headline the 2023 Melbourne International Jazz Festival, putting on a one-night-only Aussie-exclusive show at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. And joining her onstage? Nile Rodgers & Chic while they're in the country for Harvest Rock. That evening of tunes will be all about icons teaming up with icons, clearly. Khan — aka the Queen of Funk — will celebrate five decades in the music industry with talents that've been around just as long. Among the Chicago-born singer's hits: 'I'm Every Woman', which was later covered by Whitney Houston; the Prince-penned 'I Feel for You'; and 'Ain't Nobody' with her funk band Rufus. Rodgers and Chic will bust out 'Le Freak' and 'Good Times', and also revel in their own hefty history. And, there's also the former's prowess as a guitarist to relish — which has seen him pop up on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, including single 'Get Lucky'. As a writer and producer, too, he's had a hand in everything from David Bowie's Let's Dance album to Madonna's 'Like a Virgin'. Khan, Rodgers and Chic will be supported by Kaiit and Horns of Leroy at their six-hour opening-weekend show, which will help launch MIFJ's 26th festival. Running from Friday, October 20–Sunday, October 29 at venues around Melbourne, the rest of the fest's lineup spans more than 100 events, with 11 world premieres and ten Australian-exclusive performances on that list. Lisa Simone, daughter of Nina Simone, will take to Hamer Hall's stage to sing her mother's songs, while the Hot 8 Brass Band will host and lead the Second Line Street Party, a New Orleans jazz parade along the Yarra, Southbank and into Fed Square. The fest's international contingent is bringing Cécile McLorin Salvant, Makaya McCraven, GoGo Penguin and SFJAZZCollective to Melbourne as well, alongside trumpeters Marquis Hill and Ingrid Jensen. Also on offer: Raw Denshi, with the Australian Art Orchestra teaming up with Japanese hip hop's Kojoe and Hikaru Tanaka — and a collaboration featuring William Barton's didgeridoo sounds and Nduduzo Makhathini's jazz stylings. Or, jazz fans can hit up Federation Square to see Bumpy Thndo and Rita Satch play for free, then get their toes tapping to Afrobeat at Beasts of No Nation, where 87-year-old Ghanaian guitarist Ebo Taylor will make his Australian debut. Throw in Australian names such as Elixir and Paul Grabowsky AO, Chapel Off Chapel hosting five days of jazz, JazzLab in Brunswick welcoming late-night jams, and outdoor dining and tunes at Grazeland, and this hefty program keeps throwing up more and more reasons to attend. The 2023 Melbourne International Jazz Festival runs from Friday, October 20–Sunday, October 29 at venues around Melbourne. Head to the festival's website for further details, and for tickets from 8am on Tuesday, August 29.
A round of drinks is the best way to kick off your night. Even better? Not paying for it. That's why the team behind coffee liqueur Kahlúa is taking its espresso martini game to the next level — with an espresso martini cocktail van slinging a round of complimentary drinks for you and all your mates. The Espresso Martini Express will be popping up around Melbourne at surprise locations throughout spring. Behind the wheel will be Kahlúa brand ambassador Ben Parton, who'll be posting clues to his whereabouts throughout the night on Instagram. If you're the first to figure out where Ben (and his truckload of caffeinated cocktails) is, you'll win a free round of drinks for you and your whole crew. Once the truck finishes its rounds, you can still find Kahlúa espresso martinis on tap across the country — meaning no more standing around while the bartender painstakingly shakes. To find out where you can get a caffeinated martini (quickly), head here. In the meantime, get ready to decipher those clues, grab your mates and prepare for a night out on the town, with a free espresso martini in hand.
Studley Park Boathouse is getting a $5.8-million revamp which is set to include brand new dining options and a multi-level riverside deck. Australian Venue Co (Yarra Botanica, Fargo & Co, BrewDog Pentridge) is already underway with renovations on the Kew favourite, which is set to encompass a new cafe for casual diners, a modern restaurant and bar, pizzeria, pop-up gelato cart and a new outdoor dining deck along the Yarra. "Our vision for Studley Park Boathouse is built around celebrating the heritage of this iconic venue," Australian Venue Co CEO Paul Waterson says. "The revitalised venue paired with a new and improved food and beverage offering will ensure there is something for everyone and every occasion." [caption id="attachment_894550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Render, supplied[/caption] The yet-to-be-named restaurant and bar leans local, championing an entirely Victorian wine list sourced within 100km of Studley Park Boathouse. A menu of charcuterie and grazing plates will pair well with curated tasting paddles featuring boutique growers, which are set to change seasonally. Picnic packages complete with blanket hire and a new 'Row-sé' menu available with boat hire rounds out the offering. New firepits for winter picnic-goers are also on the cards, and the team are preparing to host a line-up of pop-up events and live entertainment throughout the year. [caption id="attachment_894549" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image: Render, supplied[/caption] Renovations are currently underway at Studley Park Boathouse, with a reopening date sometime in winter this year. We'll keep you updated on the details are they drop. Images: Flickr, Alpha, renders - supplied.
Over the past few years, Melbourne's famed floating bar has become a summer staple — because soaking up the warm weather and sipping cocktails on the Yarra clearly go hand-in-hand. Thankfully, that won't change in 2020, as Arbory Afloat has returned once more. Arbory Afloat, which made its debut in 2015, has reclaimed its prime position in front of on-shore sister venue Arbory Bar & Eatery on the Yarra as of Monday, October 26. As part of its annual revamp, the temporary bar and restaurant is taking inspiration from beach houses in our own backyard, which means lush greenery, wicker furniture, lime-washed timber and lots of blues and greens. To complete the picture, the 69-metre floating venue has two bars, an upper deck and an undercover dining area — so plenty of space to social distance. And, if that's not enough, the onboard swimming pool has made a triumphant return. Chef Nick Bennett has again designed the menu, which is packed full of local ingredients and inspired by all things Mediterranean. You can snack on fried calamari ($19), pomegranate-studded baba ganoush ($10) and fried zucchini flowers ($6), or go big with minute steak and fries ($29) and one of nine different pizzas ($23–35), including a Nutella and strawberries ($16) number. And would it be a visit to the floating bar without cocktails? We think not. Luckily, there are plenty. As well as Four Pillars pink gin, there are craft beers, wine and six cocktails on tap. [caption id="attachment_754392" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Simon Shiff[/caption] Arbory Afloat is open at Flinders Lane from 11am–1am daily. Bookings are free or you can claim a daybed package for $375.
Car sharing service Uber has been making waves of late, but their latest offering is unreservedly tidal. Ahead of the US premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction on June 27, Uber is giving app users in three American cities the opportunity to ride with Optimus Prime. Though we are unsure whether this Optimus is the talking type, from the image posted by Uber it seems to be the real deal. With an initial roll out yesterday in Dallas, Optimus will soon continue onto Phoenix before a final tour of Los Angeles this weekend. Uber users just open their app and select the ‘Autobots’ option to try their luck at summoning this legendary leader for a 15-minute joyride with the machine of your childhood dreams. This brings to mind local Sydney legend Zac Mihajlovic's recent Batmobile endeavour, in which Sydneysiders can buy joyrides in the Dark Knight's highly coveted date-impressing vehicle. Uber announced their Transformers fantasy come true to users via their blog yesterday, opening with "Get ready for the ride of your life." Hardly an understatement, but it sadly looks as though this ride won’t quite make it to Australian shores for the meantime. As Sam once courageously said to Optimus, "No sacrifice, no victory." Autobots, roll out. Via Mashable and USA Today.
Before the pandemic, heading overseas for your end-of-year break — for Christmas, New Year's Eve, or just because you've got some time off — might've been part of your summer plans. That wasn't possible over the summer of 2020–21; however, it looks set to be back on the cards from this December, with Australia's Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan announcing that the country's international border will open back up "at this rate, by Christmas at the latest." The Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister discussed international borders on Wednesday, September 22 as part of his National Press Club address, noting that "it's another reason why everyone should get vaccinated, and we have to stick to the national plan." Back in July, the Federal Government unveiled Australia's roadmap for dealing with the pandemic moving forward, which has been dubbed the National Plan to transition Australia's National COVID Response — and it includes allowing Aussies to travel overseas again without restrictions when 80 percent of the nation's eligible population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. "We continue to do all that preparatory work to make sure that when those international borders open, hopefully at the latest by Christmas," Tehan continued. "Australians will be able to travel with a QR code linked to their passport, which will be able to show a proof of vaccination." Providing documentation to show you've been vaxxed is set to become a standard part of Australian life moving forward, and is also highlighted in New South Wales and Victoria's roadmap out of their respective lockdowns. Under both plans, looser restrictions will apply to people who've been fully vaccinated in both states, who'll need to prove they've been double jabbed. Also on Wednesday, September 22, NSW announced that it's about to conduct a trial of a vaccine passport that'll link COVID-19 vax certificates to the existing Service NSW app. Exactly how reopening Australia's international borders will work is yet to be explained, including where the nation will open up to — and if it'll reopen to all of the globe at once, or in stages, or via bubble arrangements. Earlier in 2021, Australia and New Zealand implemented the trans-Tasman travel bubble, allowing quarantine-free travel between the two countries; however, it has been suspended due to COVID-19 outbreaks since July, and isn't set to resume until at least mid-November. The Australian Government has also floated the possibility of opening a similar arrangement with Singapore — and extending travel bubbles to some countries, such as Singapore and places in the Pacific, is specifically mentioned in the nation's roadmap. Unsurprising, just when Australia will reopen its international borders has been the subject of much discussion over the 18 months since the Federal Government implemented an indefinite ban on international travel, only allowing Aussies to leave the country in very limited circumstances. Last year's prediction that opening up to the rest of the world wouldn't happen in 2020 proved accurate — and, earlier this year, Australia's ex-Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy (now the Secretary of the Department of Health) said that we might not be going anywhere until 2022. Back in May, the Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister and Prime Minister Scott Morrison both advised that mid-2022 was the likeliest time for reopening. With Australia's vax campaign gathering speed, Qantas and Jetstar have begun selling tickets for overseas flights for trips scheduled from December, demonstrating hope that the country's international travel rules could ease by then. That said, the airlines did start selling the same types of tickets earlier in 2021, working towards a planned October date that was subsequently postponed. At the time of writing, 48.5 percent of Australians over the age of 16 have had both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. To find out more about the status of COVID-19 in Australia and how to protect yourself, head to the Australian Government Department of Health's website.
The Makers and Shakers Market is cooking up a big return to Melbourne this March, complete with more than 100 stalls filled with handmade goods — spanning everything from clothing to candles. Shoppers at the two-day market at the Seaworks Maritime Precinct will be able to peruse stalls featuring Australian-made wares, and also participate in creative workshops and product tastings. And, you can listen to DJ sets and have a drink at the outdoor bar as well. Vendors include sellers like Tiny Pots, a quarantine-conceived business that creates functional ceramics between one and four centimetres tall; and East Forged, which makes organic nitrogen tea that mimics the look and taste of beer. Obviously, the list goes on. This edition of Makers and Shakers is a joint venture with The Slow Fashion Market, an event dedicated ethical and sustainably made clothing. And, it has been certified by the Australian Made campaign, which means that it will showcase only genuine locally made products. It all takes place from 10am–5pm on Saturday, March 26–Sunday, March 27, with entry to the market costing $4 for adults.
Hump day is the best of times and the worst of times. Sure, it marks the halfway point of the week, but it also serves to highlight a) just how tired you are, b) how many more hours there are before Friday, and c) how the email chain you're in with your client has now reached 50+ replies. Hump day is good for one thing, though, and that's for taking a kind-of long lunch to congratulate yourself on surviving 2.5 days in the office. It's all about celebrating the small things. So, where to, for this lunch? We've partnered with Heineken 3 to find the best spots in Melbourne where you can down a couple of beers and still be back in time for your arvo meeting.
It's common for restaurants and bars to offer discounts to their own staff, but it's even better when they extend deals to anyone working in hospitality. Owners of such joints know how hard it can be to enjoy luxe nights out when working on these wages, so it's great when they can make their spaces more accessible to those who actually work in the industry. The latest spot to do this is Purple Pit, home to one of the city's best martinis. Seriously, anytime we have a hankering for a dirty gin martini, this is where we head. And now, the team offers a generous 20% discount to service industry workers every Wednesday night. This includes hospo staff, as well as anyone working in healthcare, social services and education industries. It's a huge win. Either treat yourself to a few classic Euro-centric cocktails and call it a night, or go all out by ordering caviar bumps, aperitivo-style dishes and a heap of martinis. Aussie hospo mainstay Maurice Terzini (Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, RE and Jackson on George) and Joe Jones are the minds behind this outstanding basement bar. And this Wednesday night deal is the perfect excuse for service workers to visit. You'll find Purple Pit at 380 Collins Street, Melbourne. Its 20% discount runs every Wednesday night and applies to anyone who works in the hospitality, healthcare, social services and education industries. You can find further details on the venue's website.
UPDATE: THURSDAY, JULY 9 — Hot pot at home? You betcha. While David's many Melbourne stores are closed to dine-in customers, they're now delivering their Sichuan hot pot to homes across the city. Available to order via UberEats, the menu includes the chain's popular toppings, sides and — to complete the experience — even pots and accessories. On the off-chance you've already slurped your way through Melbourne's hot pot restaurants (think Panda Hot Pot and Jiyu Thai), here's yet another one to check off your hit-list. The boldly executed Chef David on Elizabeth Street is a vision of marble, metallics and neon blue — and it serves up some seriously spicy soups. Sibling to Melbourne's two David's Spicy Pot outposts, as well as Russell Street's David's Hot Pot, this restaurant's dishing up spicy Sichuan hot pot against a futuristic, multimillion-dollar backdrop. There are seats for 200 diners, ceilings hung with dazzling chrome chandeliers and a high-tech sound system for the program of live acts and DJs to come. The menu's handy 'how-to' guide is useful for both seasoned hot pot fans and novices alike, with the kitchen offering a hefty nine different soup base options to tempt all levels of spice tolerance. You can select up to three to fill your table's communal hot pot — perhaps the easygoing dried fish maw and chicken number, or the Signature Spicy Instagram Soup starring 130 herbs and spices, and an animal character shaped out of beef tallow. Then, pimp it out with your choice of high-quality meat cuts, plenty of offal, vegetables, tofu and market-fresh seafood, along with sausages, dumplings and various meatballs. Each is listed on the menu with a handy suggested cooking time. A range of dipping sauces lets you customise things further. But it's not all about the hot pot, of course — the kitchen's also whipping up grilled dishes, barbecued skewers and snacks that include everything from deep-fried pork belly to crisp sticky rice doughnuts. And, since this one's got a 4am licence (but is currently only open till 2am), we're guessing the lineup of tap beers, Japanese whisky and creative cocktails should get a solid workout of its own.
If you're after a few chuckles for your weekend, we've got a circus-infused street-theatre show with your name written all over it. Appearing at Prahran Square for two free daily performances from Friday, April 1–Sunday, April 3 (4pm, 6.30pm), Raven' Mad is delivering the laughs for Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Presented by the National Institute of Circus Art, the show tells the absurd tale of two rival groups — the local raven-like bureaucrats, and a suburban family of bowerbird-esque eccentrics obsessed with collecting blue hard rubbish as they travel across Melbourne in search of greener pastures. A battle ensues as the ravens swoop in to put a stop to the collectors' endeavours and threaten to send them packing. And what a battle it is, unfolding via a spectacular display of foot-juggling, hula-hooping, acrobatics, skipping, slapstick, improv and more. Expect plenty of audience interaction, too. The work's directed by Mike Finch (Artistic Director Circus Oz 1997–2015) and designed by Emily Barrie, with a cast featuring some of Australia's most celebrated circus performers.
Australia is currently cruising through a pretty steamy winter (well, comparatively). Which means we don't need to stick to the standard soul-warming stouts and mulled wines that are our normal winter fodder. Instead, we can keep drinking spritzes and other equally refreshing concoctions — like this brand new sweet yuzu vermouth. The tasty child of Adelaide Hills winery Unico Zelo and sister distillery Applewood, it's made from a combination of Adelaide Hills nebbiolo grapes, some native Australian botanicals (usually used to make Applewood's Okar bitter amaro) and yuzu from Mountain Yuzu — a 20-acre farm located in northeast Victoria, on the foothills of the Australian Alps. As you can see, its an all-Australian affair, unlike a lot of traditional vermouths, which are made in Italy and France. Eco-minded founders and winemakers Laura and Brendan Carter are committed to using native botanicals and sustainably produced grapes in their entire range of wines and spirits, aiming to create products that truly taste Aussie as. As it's not a traditional sweet vermouth — it's really quite far from it — we forgive you for not knowing exactly how to drink it. But, thankfully, we've done some testing for you. On the rocks? Yep. Instead of Aperol in a spritz? Do it. With a splash of soda? Definitely. If you want something a little fancier, the Unico team has a couple of cocktail suggestions for you (handily printed on the back of the bottle, no less). Try your hand at the Ultimate Spritz — made with with Unico Yuzu, blackcurrant-flavoured liqueur from Australian distiller Marrionette and soda — or the Opal Miner: Unico Yuzu, gin, green chartreuse and orange bitters. Unico (the parent company of Unico Zelo and Applewood) has also been steadily dropping a line of limited-edition gins throughout the year, all of which use Australian botanicals, of course. Those include flavours like pepperberry, wattleseed and desert lime. Even more of these unusual drops are headed our way in 2019, too, so keep an eye on this space. All of Unico's limited releases only available in very small batches, so if you want it, don't wait on it. Unico's Yuzu Vermouth is now available to purchase via the website. Priced at $34.99 per bottle.
From magnificent caves to luxurious private islands, regional Queensland has plenty to offer for your next road trip. And the best part about taking a drive around the state is dropping into local cafes, restaurants, pubs and shops to fill up your boot with produce from the region. In the spirit of supporting local businesses en route, we've teamed up with Canadian Club and Empty Esky to bring you a list of must-visit locations in the Capricorn region, including in Rockhampton and Yeppoon. Read on to find a few of our favourites and create your own epic itinerary, too. Some of the places mentioned below may still be closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Please check websites before making any plans. EAT AND DRINK If you're starting in Yeppoon, the first place on your list should be Flour. Its oven-to-table approach has made the place a household name. Its menu is adapted seasonally with a few fan favourites sticking around all year, like its Farmhouse Brekky with angus flank steak, maple chilli bacon, mushrooms, poached eggs and grilled tomatoes on ciabatta. For a good quality brunch, Whisk on Yeppoon's James Street has absolutely mastered the mid-morning meal. It has an extensive dine-in and takeaway menu, so you can take your eggs benny burger to the beach ten minutes' away if you choose. Menu favourites include the aforementioned benny burger, Nutella-loaded doughnut fries and a smoky maple bacon hot dog. It has a menu for furry friends too. For dinner, pop into Keppel Bay Sailing Club. What started out as a community of passionate sailors and volunteers has evolved into five venues that cater for everyone. At the Clubhouse you'll find seafood dishes, pasta, burgers and salads, as well as refreshing Canadian Club and Dry on tap. Our picks are the crumbed prawns and its range of charcoal brioche bun burgers. Venture inland for high tea with a modern twist at Riverston Tea Rooms in Rockhampton. Located in an old-style building, the venue has traditional tea rooms offering both scones and sandwiches, as well as a diverse breakfast and lunch selection. Not to mention an incredible selection of baked goods available from the cabinet, from gluten free orange almond cake to baklava torte. See out your evenings at the riverside The Criterion Hotel Motel in Rockhampton. The Hotel is known for its sensational steak, great selection of beverages (including Canadian Club) and central location on the Fitzroy River. Dine in knowing that you're joining the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, the English cricket team and Rod Laver, who've all eaten dinner here over the years. [caption id="attachment_798839" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] DO Explore the backdrop of Rockhampton in the glorious Mount Archer National Park. Situated just over nine kilometres east of Rockhampton, the park covers 4250 hectares of open forest and woodland communities, where you can find everything from eucalyptus-filled rainforests to spectacular views of the Fitzroy River from the Nurim Circuit Elevated Boardwalk. Keep an eye out for birdlife — black cockatoos and owls call the park home. For a magnificent natural wonder that will have you seriously impressed, head to the Capricorn Caves. Located 23 kilometres north of Rockhampton, the caves make for an easy day trip from the town and there are a range of tours on offer. The most popular is the 45-minute Cathedral Cave Tour, which covers ancient geological history, cave acoustics and crosses a suspension bridge. The tour is $30 for adults or you can grab a family pass for $75. The more adventurous among us should try the Capricorn Explorer ($50) and Adventurer tours ($65) that will have you exploring secret vaults and hidden passages, guided by headlamp only. [caption id="attachment_798838" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] If a tropical escape is more your vibe, then you can't go past a stay at Great Keppel Island. The somewhat hidden island paradise is just 15 kilometres off the coast from Yeppoon. The island offers a range of activities including snorkelling and kayaking. Billy and his team at Keppel Water Sports will have you exploring all day, with a bunch of options for the whole crew. When you're after a more chilled day out, follow the advice of the Empty Esky team and seek out this lagoon in the centre of Yeppoon. It's the perfect place to cool off from the harsh Queensland heat. There's a 2500-square-metre lagoon pool, a children's play area, a lap pool and a swim-up infinity edge with views out to Great Keppel Island. Entry is free and you can swim in peace knowing the pool is patrolled daily, including during public holidays. For a truly Queensland tourist experience, cuddle up with Australia's favourite furry friend at Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary. If koalas aren't really your style you can have a go at holding a crocodile or parrot. Situated in Yeppoon, the sanctuary boasts more than 300 animals, 25 acres, barbecue facilities and a swimming pool. Keep an eye out on the website for COVID-19 restrictions if you're keen to get up close to the animals. [caption id="attachment_798840" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] STAY When it's elegance and heritage that you crave, you can't go past Hotel Denison in Rockhampton. Built in 1886, the boutique hotel is brimming with history. Offering 18 luxury suites, the hotel has managed to maintain its heritage-listed appearance while still remaining modern. A ten-minute walk will take you to the CBD's range of restaurants and mall strip, making it the perfect place to stay when you're exploring Australia's Beef Capital. Or, consider Capricorn Camel Camp, just east of Rockhampton. It is guaranteed to make your friends seriously jealous. You'll get to camp close to the camels and enjoy the option of a sunset camel ride on the private property. Plus, the camp is also home to alpacas, calves and goats. It's a bring-your-own gear kind of experience and it'll set you back just $25 per night for two guests. For something a little more luxurious, there's beach-style accommodation surrounded by palm trees at Yeppoon Surfside Motel. The motel is a favourite of the Empty Esky crew and it has a range of sleeping options and each self-contained room has an ensuite, air-conditioning, cooking facilities, free wifi and queen-size beds. Opt-in for the ultimate holiday experience of having brekkie delivered to your room. Rooms here start at $155 per night. For a unique and memorable experience, why not stay at Pumpkin Island? Situated 14 kilometres from the coast of Yeppoon, the tiny private oasis is a blissful retreat and an opportunity to unwind and connect with nature. Accommodation options include five eco-friendly self-catering cottages or two beach bungalows, starting from $306 — and your days are filled with snorkelling, kayaking, or lounging around on the long stretches of white sand. For more road trip inspiration, check out these guides from Canadian Club and Empty Esky. Top image: Pumpkin Island via Tourism and Events Queensland
The silly season may be over, but that doesn't mean the country's (or your) cultural calendar is looking too bare. Some of the year's most exciting and immersive art exhibitions have opened their doors across the nation this autumn. Which is particularly exciting, because interstate borders are all fully open for the first time since the start of the pandemic — and there are cheap flights aplenty. So, get out your diaries and plan trips to walk over giant Monet artworks, visit Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' and explore decaying rooms filled with street art. We've rounded up the best art exhibitions happening across the country this autumn.
When it comes to sun, surf and sand, Australia's prowess is widely recognised. But, as any wine lover is well aware, we have something else to be just as proud of. Made in sprawling vineyards around the country — including in Victoria — our local vinos are simply top-notch. And, they're worth championing and celebrating at every possible opportunity. This isn't news to Victorians, of course. Mornington Peninsula, the Pyrenees and the Yarra Valley's wineries have strong reputations, as do others across the rest of the state. Indeed, we're betting their tipples already rank highly on your must-drink list. When such excellent wines are made so close to home, there's nothing better than to pair one with dinner, a cheese platter or a seafood lunch, obviously. In case you need a few extra suggestions, are looking for a couple of other local drops to try, or you could just use a reminder about brands you adore, we've teamed up with our pals at BWS to highlight five Victorian-based winemakers that you should definitely know and support. You might already love their tipples. You may have heard of them, but never had the pleasure of trying their wares. Either way, these wines will help you drink local.
For its latest culinary adventure, the crew behind Tokyo Tina and Hanoi Hannah is once again tackling the flavours of southeast Asia. Its new flame-driven Windsor restaurant Firebird. Inspired by the smoky street food stalls of Vietnam, while rocking a distinctly Melbourne edge, the High Street haunt is here to dish up a taste of two worlds. With room for 110 diners and interiors by Ewert Leaf, the space has a modern industrial feel with exposed beams, distressed concrete and soft timber pendants. Custom-built chargrill and woodfired ovens take pride of place in the open kitchen, and you'll spy splashes of green and 70s-style tiling throughout. Here, Head Chef Steven Ngo (Long Chim) heads up a modern menu celebrating the traditional flavours of his native Vietnam, abundant with smoky finishes and charry elements. Expect snacks like black pepper crab with green mango, charcoaled squid skewers and beef carpaccio, leading into a slew of rice and noodle dishes. You might find the likes of a wood-roasted wagyu green curry with kaffir lime, or a whole fish grilled with turmeric and galangal matched with rice noodles. [caption id="attachment_764368" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Parker Blain[/caption] A reimagined duck l'orange features a half or whole slow-roasted bird with burnt orange and a punchy sauce, while fire-tossed pipis are done in a sour tomato broth and paired with pieces of grilled Chinese doughnut. You can jump into a four-course chef's selection for $58 a head, or a vegan version for $48. To match, there's a tight, but well-travelled wine selection and a handful of crafty brews. You can stay right on theme with something from the smoke-driven lineup of cocktails, too — try the burnt grapefruit paloma or the Spiced Pineapple Rum — a heady blend of charred pineapple, white rum and spiced pandan syrup. Find Firebird at 223 High Street, Windsor. It's open from 12–11pm daily. Images: Parker Blain and Jana Langhorst
No one needs an excuse to get stuck into a big bowl of gnocchi. But as winter steadily creeps closer, cravings for those pillowy potato dumplings tend to strike a whole lot more regularly. Luckily, the team running The Ascot Lot's beloved Gnocchi Festival is well aware of this fact. The event has been a fan favourite since 2019 — when over 10,000 pasta enthusiasts streamed in across the weekend. Now, the much-loved festival is back for another round, with a slew of the city's gnocchi-loving vendors invited to plate up their unique versions of the classic potato dish on Sunday, May 7. Only this time, the event's grown so popular, it's had to move to an expanded space in the carpark of sibling venue Holmes Hall. Head in from noon to devour a range of gnocchi-inspired creations from the likes of Cafe Merenda, Pasta Face, Hole in the Wall and Gnonnas Gnocchi, with vegan and gluten-free options also in the mix. Meanwhile, the outdoor Gnoch-Tail bar will be whipping up Italian-accented cocktails in a nod to gnocchi's roots, alongside a slew of other libations. A program of live tunes will soundtrack your gnocchi-scoffing right through the afternoon. And, as is always the way over at The Ascot Lot, pooches are more than welcome to join in the fun.
With Australia's borders firmly shut, international travel has been relegated to the realm of dreams, and it looks like it'll be staying there for a good long while. But if you're happy to pretend you're taking a getaway, Qantas has been offering up several products to help. First, it sold its pyjamas, amenity sets and other in-flight goodies. Then, it moved onto fully stocked bar carts. Now, the Aussie airline has released a luxe range of athleisure wear — the type of thing you'd don if you were heading off on holidays, obviously. Launched in collaboration with Australian designer Martin Grant, the new collection has a retro feel, too — because fondly recalling better times gone by is another thoroughly 2020 pastime. A number of Qantas' vintage logos are splashed across range, so you can choose between old-school lettering or the famed kangaroo motif. The collection spans a cashmere jumper, a hoodie, sweatshirts, t-shirts and a beach tote. Colour-wise, the range highlights the company's red and navy colour scheme, as well as grey and wattle yellow. And yes, it's definitely designed to make you feel nostalgic. "This collection is all about classic shapes, comfortable styles and materials that are kind on the environment. But the hero of the designs are the iconic logos that evoke so many fond memories for Australians," said Grant. If wearing an airline logo will make you feel like you've jetted far, far away, a word of warning: this limited-edition collection doesn't come cheap. If you're paying cash, you can expect to fork out $425 for a yellow or navy sweater, $275 for a navy hoodie, $250 for grey sweatshirts, $150 for a navy or grey t-shirt, and $350 for a navy beach tote — or part with a heap of Qantas points. You can buy Qantas' athleisure-wear collection online, using cash or points.
When you've been in the movie-slinging game for a three decades and you're eager to mark that milestone, how do you go about it? By screening films, naturally. Obviously, that's what Carlton's Cinema Nova does each and every day, so it's turning its Celebrating 30 Years of Nova festivities into an extra-special celebration — by revisiting big-screen highlights from over its history. Starting on Thursday, August 25 and running through till Wednesday, August 31, this retro program is filled with standouts. Donnie Darko, Muriel's Wedding, The Lobster and Parasite — they're all on the bill. So are Bend It Like Beckham, The Piano, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Call Me By Your Name, spanning a heap of not only the venue's favourites, but everyone's. Dates and times vary per movie, but your list of blast-from-the-past choices goes on — including Life Is Beautiful, The Dressmaker and The Square, as well as Margaret, Samson and Delilah and Jojo Rabbit. Two flicks stand out, though, because they're just that apt. Firstly, The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish is one of the first two films that Nova showed when it opened its doors in 1992. Secondly, of course Lygon Street: Si Parla Italiano was going to be on the lineup. Head along on Monday, August 29, and there's an extra bonus — $5 tickets for all sessions.
Melbourne winters can be tough, but there are a few things that we can really enjoy in the colder months that don't quite hit the same in summer. Winter dining is truly something to look forward to. There's heart-warming comfort food with rich flavours, plus darker drinks like smokey whiskey and creamy stouts that are best served in a cosy pub when the wind is blowing outside. So, it's no surprise that Captain Melville, one of Melbourne's oldest and cherished pubs, will be host to a winter feast come Thursday, July 27. Captain Melville joins forces with renowned rye whiskey distiller The Gospel plus Tasmanian brewery Moo Brew to present 'The Captains Table' Rye July Dinner. The exclusive four-course dining event promises a night of rich flavours, to help us embrace winter in all its glory. Captain Melville chefs are putting together a carvery-style menu with each dish paired with a range of rye whiskey cocktails and dark stouts. While you feast, distillery and brewing experts will share insider knowledge and take you through a unique boilermaker experience. The event is part of the Gospel's Rye July, a clever homage to the often-underappreciated hero of whiskey. So expect to walk out with some rye whiskey knowledge to flex. Tickets will set you back $100 and are limited, so get in quick.
Everyone's favourite food park under a bridge is going all out this year. From June 23 to July 30, Grazeland in Spotswood is transforming into a snow-filled Winter Wonderland. The star of the show will be a 10-metre snowman, which the Grazeland team is claiming to be the biggest snowman in Melbourne. You can also expect snow machines, DJs, dancing and mulled wine galore. Plus, there'll be firepits to keep everything cosy. Feeling hungry? Grazeland has 50 different food vendors on-site, and they're all running winter specials for the event. Frencheese is doing a gooey raclette and Bratboy is slinging festive German meatballs. While the kids go crazy in the Kid Zones, or get their faces painted, parents can relax with a cup of spice-infused Jam Shed mulled wine. Winter Wonderland is running Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays till July 30. Opening times vary. Check the website for all the details. Kids under 12 get in free. Images: supplied.
Once again, Melbourne's original shipping container bar Section 8 is celebrating Christmas with a proper knees-up, in the form of a free eight-day party. From December 19–26, the famed CBD beer garden will become celebration central, playing host to a huge lineup of more than 30 great musical acts. The bar will open at 12pm daily for 8 Days of Christmas, with those dance-friendly sets running until late. Entry is free across the whole week, and gets you you front row seats to a stack of local favourites like Agent 86, Naru, Afrodelica, Amin Payne, Taijae, Mrs Wallace, Mr Pitiful, Tom Showtime, Ghostnotes and more. [caption id="attachment_849269" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Leilani Bale[/caption] As well as tunes, there'll be live projections from Isaiah Morris and Lava Brain, hoop shootouts in the laneway, and a bumper lineup of brews and cocktails to keep you kicking on as long as the festivities do. And from 12pm on Sunday, December 25, you'll catch Section 8's annual Orphan's Xmas Party, complete with a free barbecue, ice-cold beers and beats spinning from 3pm.
Do call it a comeback: in 2023, beloved TV shows dropped new seasons everywhere. Whether you're a fan of thoughtful dramedies about Indigenous American teenagers, savage family feuds or culinary chaos, this year delivered another serving — and of vampire sharehouse antics, British spies, and angels and demons palling around as well. Some of the above series not only waved hello again, but also goodbye forever after releasing their latest episodes. Others among the year's absolute best returning series have at least one more round in their future. Either way, 2023 hasn't been short of tried-and-tested gems that've kept proving why that's the case again. When the year reached its halfway point, we named and celebrated the top already-obsessed-over TV shows of the year so far. Now that 2023 is saying farewell itself, we've surveyed the entire past 12 months of small-screen efforts. Here's the results: the best 15 returning television shows of the year, and one helluva list of recommendations for finally seeing what everyone's been talking about or spending time with an old favourite. RESERVATION DOGS There's only one thing wrong with the third season of Reservation Dogs: now that it's over, the show has come to an end. There's a skill in knowing when something's time has come, but this teen-centric comedy about restless Indigenous North American adolescents is so rich in stories, perspectives and minutiae — and so resonant as well — that it feels like more and more could (and should) just keep following. Ending Reservation Dogs with this ten-episode run is also an example of the series taking its own message to heart, however. As co-created, executive produced and written by Sterlin Harjo (Mekko) and Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder) — the former as its guiding force — Reservation Dogs knows that little lasts. It hangs out with its characters as they learn about life's transience at every moment, whether they're chasing their dreams of leaving the reservation that they've always called home or they're grappling with loss. So, of course the series is moving on. In the process, its farewell season proved even more moving and thoughtful than ever, even after its debut year delivered one of the best new TV shows of 2021 and its second spin served up one of the best returning shows of 2022. The last time that viewers saw the Rez Dogs — the OG quartet of Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Beans), Elora (Devery Jacobs, Rutherford Falls), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) and Cheese (Lane Factor, The Fabelmans), plus Jackie (Elva Guerra, Dark Winds), the somewhat-reluctant newcomer to the group — they had finally made the trip to California that they'd been working towards their entire lives. Season three picks up with the crew still far away from home, and still journeying even when they do return. Elora considers both her past and her future. Bear goes wandering on his own, including through several revelatory encounters. Harjo still isn't afraid to veer away from his leads along the way, whether sliding into history to explore myths, traditions or horrors inflicted upon Indigenous children. Reservation Dogs finds a story, be it big or small, for everyone within its frames. Bear, Elora, Willie Jack and Cheese especially will be deeply missed, but Woon-A-Tai, Jacobs, Alexis and Factor shouldn't ever be far from screens after this exceptional breakthrough. Reservation Dogs streams via Binge. Read our full review. SUCCESSION Endings have always been a part of Succession. Since it premiered in 2018, the bulk of the HBO drama's feuding figures have been waiting for a big farewell. The reason is right there in the title, because for any of the Roy clan's adult children to scale the family company's greatest heights and remain there — be it initial heir apparent Kendall (Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time), his inappropriate photo-sending brother Roman (Kieran Culkin, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off), their political-fixer sister Siobhan (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), or eldest sibling and presidential candidate Connor (Alan Ruck, The Dropout) — their father Logan's (Brian Cox, Remember Me) tenure needed to wrap up. The latter was always stubborn. Proud, too, of what he'd achieved and the power it's brought. And whenever Logan seemed nearly ready to leave the business behind, he held on. If he's challenged or threatened, as happened again and again in the Emmy-winning series, he fixed his grasp even tighter. Succession was always been waiting for Logan's last stint at global media outfit Waystar RoyCo, but it had never been about finales quite the way it was in its stunning fourth season. This time, there was ticking clock not just for the show's characters, but for the stellar series itself, given that this is its last go-around — and didn't it make the most of it. Nothing can last forever, not even widely acclaimed hit shows that are a rarity in today's TV climate: genuine appointment-viewing. So, this went out at the height of its greatness, complete with unhappy birthday parties, big business deals, plenty of scheming and backstabbing, and both Shiv's husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen, Operation Mincemeat) and family cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun, Cat Person) in vintage form — plus an early shock, at least two of the best episodes of any show that've ever aired on television, one of the worst drinks, a phenomenal acting masterclass, a The Sopranos-level final shot and the reality that money really can't buy happiness. Succession streams via Binge. Read our full review. BARRY Since HBO first introduced the world to Barry Berkman, the contract killer played and co-created by Saturday Night Live great Bill Hader wanted to be something other than a gun for hire. An ex-military sniper, he was always skilled at his highly illicit post-service line of work; however, moving on from that past was a bubbling dream even before he found his way to a Los Angeles acting class while on a job. Barry laid bare its namesake's biggest wish in its 2018 premiere episode. Then, it kept unpacking his pursuit of a life less lethal across the show's Emmy-winning first and second seasons, plus its even-more-astounding third season in 2022. Season four, the series' final outing, was no anomaly, but it also realised that wanting to be someone different and genuinely overcoming your worst impulses aren't the same. Barry grappled with this fact since the beginning, of course, with the grim truth beating at the show's heart whether it's at its most darkly comedic, action-packed or dramatic — and, given that its namesake was surrounded by people who similarly yearn for an alternative to their current lot in life, yet also can't shake their most damaging behaviour, it did so beyond its antihero protagonist. Are Barry, his girlfriend Sally Reid (Sarah Goldberg, The Night House), acting teacher Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, Black Adam), handler Monroe Fuches (Stephen Root, Succession) and Chechen gangster NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan, Bill & Ted Face the Music) all that different from who they were when Barry started? Have they processed their troubles? Have they stopped taking out their struggles not just on themselves, but on those around them? Hader and his fellow Barry co-creator Alec Berg (Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm) kept asking those questions in season four to marvellous results, including after making a massive jump, and right up to the jaw-dropping yet pitch-perfect finale. Barry being Barry, posing such queries and seeing its central figures for who they are was an ambitious, thrilling and risk-taking ride. When season three ended, it was with Barry behind bars, which is where he was when the show's new go-around kicked off. He wasn't coping, unsurprisingly, hallucinating Sally running lines in the prison yard and rejecting a guard's attempt to tell him that he's not a bad person. With the latter, there's a moment of clarity about what he's done and who he is, but Barry's key players have rarely been that honest with themselves for long. Barry streams via Binge. Read our full review. THE BEAR The more time that anyone spends in the kitchen, the easier that whipping up their chosen dish gets. The Bear season two is that concept in TV form, even if the team at The Original Beef of Chicagoland don't always live it as they leap from running a beloved neighbourhood sandwich joint to opening a fine-diner, and fast. The hospitality crew that was first introduced in the best new show of 2022 isn't lacking in culinary skills or passion. But when bedlam surrounds you constantly, as bubbled and boiled through The Bear's Golden Globe-winning, Emmy-nominated season-one frames, not everything always goes to plan. That was only accurate on-screen for Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, Fingernails) and his colleagues — aka sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Bottoms), baker-turned-pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce, Hap and Leonard), veteran line cooks Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas, In Treatment) and Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson, Fargo), resident Mr Fixit Neil Fak (IRL chef Matty Matheson), and family pal Richie aka Cousin (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, No Hard Feelings). For viewers, the series' debut run was as perfect a piece of television as anyone can hope for. Excellent news: season two is better. The Bear serves up another sublime course of comedy, drama and "yes chef!"-exclaiming antics across its sizzling second season. Actually make that ten more courses, one per episode, with each new instalment its own more-ish meal. A menu, a loan, desperately needed additional help, oh-so-much restaurant mayhem: that's how this second visit begins, as Carmy and Sydney endeavour to make their dreams for their own patch of Chicago's food scene come true. So far, so familiar, but The Bear isn't just plating up the same dishes this time around. At every moment, this new feast feels richer, deeper and more seasoned, including when it's as intense as ever, when it's filling the screen with tastebud-tempting food shots that relish culinary artistry, and also when it gets meditative. Episodes that send Marcus to a Noma-esque venue in Copenhagen under the tutelage of Luca (Will Poulter, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), get Richie spending a week learning the upscale ropes at one of Chicago's best restaurants and jump back to the past, demonstrating how chaos would've been in Carmy's blood regardless of if he became a chef, are particularly stunning. The Bear season two streams via Disney+. Read our full review. THE OTHER TWO Swapping Saturday Night Live for an entertainment-parodying sitcom worked swimmingly for Tina Fey. Since 2019, it also went hilariously for Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. Not just former SNL writers but the veteran sketch comedy's ex-head writers, Kelly and Schneider gave the world their own 30 Rock with the sharp, smart and sidesplitting The Other Two. Their angle: focusing on the adult siblings of a Justin Bieber-style teen popstar who've always had their own showbiz aspirations — he's an actor, she was a ballerina — who then find themselves the overlooked children of a momager-turned-daytime television host as well. Cary (Drew Tarver, History of the World: Part II) and Brooke (Heléne York, Katy Keene) Dubek were happy for Chase (Case Walker, Monster High: The Movie). And when their mother Pat (Molly Shannon, I Love That for You) gets her own time in the spotlight, becoming Oprah-level famous, they were equally thrilled for her. But ChaseDreams, their little brother's stage name, was always a constant reminder that their own ambitions keep being outshone. In a first season that proved one of the best new shows of 2019, a second season in 2021 that was just as much of a delight and now a stellar third go-around, Cary and Brooke were never above getting petty and messy about being the titular pair. In season three, however, they didn't just hang around with stars in their eyes and resentment in their hearts. How did they cope? They spent the past few years constantly comparing themselves to Chase, then to Pat, but then they were successful on their own — and still in a shambles, and completely unable to change their engrained thinking. Forget the whole "the grass is always greener" adage. No matter if they were faking it or making it, nothing was ever perfectly verdant for this pair or anyone in their orbit. Still, as Brooke wondered whether her dream manager gig is trivial after living through a pandemic, she started contemplating if she should be doing more meaningful work like her fashion designer-turned-nurse boyfriend Lance (Josh Segarra, The Big Door Prize). And with Cary's big breaks never quite panning out as planned, he got envious of his fellow-actor BFF Curtis (Brandon Scott Jones, Ghosts). The Other Two streams via Binge. Read our full review. PARTY DOWN Sometimes, dreams do come true. More often than not, they don't. The bulk of life is what dwells in-between, as we all cope with the inescapable truth that we won't get everything that we've ever fantasised about, and we mightn't even score more than just a few things we want. This is the space that Party Down has always made its own, asking "are we having fun yet?" about life's disappointments while focusing on Los Angeles-based hopefuls played by Adam Scott (Severance), Ken Marino (The Other Two), Ryan Hansen (A Million Little Things), Martin Starr (Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) and more. They'd all rather be doing something other than being cater waiters at an array of California functions, and most have stars in their eyes. In the cult comedy's first two seasons back in 2009–10, the majority of its characters had their sights set on show business, slinging hors d'oeuvres while trying to make acting, screenwriting or comedy happen. Bringing most of the original gang back together — including Jane Lynch (Only Murders in the Building) and Megan Mullally (Dicks: The Musical) — Party Down keeps its shindig-by-shindig setup in its 13-years-later third season. Across its first 20 instalments as well as its new six, each episode sends the titular crew to a different soirée. This time, setting the scene for what's still one of the all-time comedy greats in its latest go-around, the opening get-together is thrown by one of their own. Kyle Bradway (Hansen) has just scored the lead part in a massive superhero franchise, and he's celebrating. Ex-actor Henry Pollard (Scott) is among the attendees, as are now-heiress Constance Carmell (Lynch) and perennial stage mum Lydia Dunfree (Mullally). Hard sci-fi obsessive Roman DeBeers (Starr) and the eager-to-please Ron Donald (Marino) are present as well, in a catering capacity. By the time episode two hits, then the rest of the season, more of the above will be donning pastel pink bow ties, the series keeps unpacking what it means to dream but never succeed, and the cast — especially Scott and the ever-committed Marino — are in their element. Party Down streams via Stan. Read our full review of season three. YELLOWJACKETS For Shauna (Melanie Lynskey, The Last of Us), Natalie (Juliette Lewis, Welcome to Chippendales), Taissa (Tawny Cypress, Billions), Misty (Christina Ricci, Wednesday), Lottie (Simone Kessell, Muru) and Van (Lauren Ambrose, Servant), 1996 will always be the year that their plane plunged into the Canadian wilderness, stranding them for 19 tough months — as season one of 2021–2022 standout Yellowjackets grippingly established. As teenagers (as played by The Kid Detective's Sophie Nélisse, The Boogeyman's Sophie Thatcher, Scream VI's Jasmin Savoy, Shameless' Samantha Hanratty, Mad Max: Fury Road's Courtney Eaton and Santa Clarita Diet's Liv Hewson), they were members of the show's titular high-school soccer squad, travelling from their New Jersey home town to Seattle for a national tournament, when the worst eventuated. Cue Lost-meets-Lord of the Flies with an Alive twist, as that first season was understandably pegged. All isn't always what it seems as Shauna and company endeavour to endure in the elements. Also, tearing into each other occurs more than just metaphorically. Plus, literally sinking one's teeth in was teased and flirted with since episode one, too. But Yellowjackets will always be about what it means to face something so difficult that it forever colours and changes who you are — and constantly leaves a reminder of who you might've been. So, when Yellowjackets ended its first season, it was with as many questions as answers. Naturally, it tore into season two in the same way. In the present, mere days have elapsed — and Shauna and her husband Jeff (Warren Kole, Shades of Blue) are trying to avoid drawing any attention over the disappearance of Shauna's artist lover Adam (Peter Gadiot, Queen of the South). Tai has been elected as a state senator, but her nocturnal activities have seen her wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard, Van Helsing) move out with their son Sammy (Aiden Stoxx, Supergirl). Thanks to purple-wearing kidnappers, Nat has been spirited off, leaving Misty desperate to find her — even enlisting fellow citizen detective Walter (Elijah Wood, Come to Daddy) to help. And, in the past, winter is setting in, making searching for food and staying warm an immense feat. Yellowjackets streams via Paramount+. Read our full review, and our interview with Melanie Lynskey. I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH TIM ROBINSON Eat-the-rich stories are delicious, and also everywhere; however, Succession, Triangle of Sadness and the like aren't the only on-screen sources of terrible but terribly entertaining people. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has been filling streaming queues with assholes since 2019, as usually played by the eponymous Detroiters star, and long may it continue. In season three, the show takes its premise literally in the most ridiculous and unexpected way, so much so that no one could ever dream of predicting what happens. That's still the sketch comedy's not-so-secret power. Each of its skits is about someone being the worst in some manner, doubling down on being the worst and refusing to admit that they're the worst (or that they're wrong) — and while everyone around them might wish that they'd leave, they're never going to, and nothing ever ends smoothly. In a show that's previously worked in hot dog costumes and reality TV series about bodies dropping out of coffins to hilarious effect, anything can genuinely happen to its gallery of the insufferable. In fact, the more absurd and anarchic that I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson gets, the better. No description can do I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's sketches justice, and almost every one is a comedic marvel, as again delivered in six 15-minute episodes in the series' third run. The usual complaint applies: for a show about people overstaying their welcome, the program itself flies by too quickly, always leaving viewers wanting more. Everything from dog doors and designated drivers to HR training and street parking is in Robinson's sights this time, and people who won't stop talking about their kids, wedding photos and group-think party behaviour as well. Game shows get parodied again and again, an I Think You Should Leave staple, and gloriously. More often than in past seasons, Robinson lets his guest stars play the asshole, too, including the returning Will Forte (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story), regular Sam Richardson (The Afterparty), and perennial pop-ups Fred Armisen (Barry) and Tim Meadows (Poker Face). And when Jason Schwartzman (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) drop in, they're also on the pitch-perfect wavelength. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson streams via Netflix. Read our full review. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Following in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's footsteps isn't easy, but someone had to do it when What We Do in the Shadows made the leap from the big screen to the small. New format, new location, new vampires, same setup: that's the formula behind this film-to-TV series, which has notched up five seasons so far. Thankfully for audiences, Matt Berry (Toast of London and Toast of Tinseltown), Natasia Demetriou (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga) and Kayvan Novak (Cruella) were enlisted as the show's three key bloodsuckers in this US spinoff from the New Zealand mockumentary, all in roles that they each seem born for. The trio play three-century-old British aristocrat Laszlo, his 500-year-old creator and partner Nadja and early Ottoman Empire warrior Nandor, respectively, who share an abode and the afterlife in Staten Island. In cinemas, the film already proved that the concept works to sidesplitting effect. Vampire housemates, they're just like us — except when they're busting out their fangs, flying, avoiding daylight, sleeping in coffins, feuding with other supernatural creatures and leaving a body count, that is. On TV, What We Do in the Shadows illustrates that there's not only ample life left in palling around with the undead, but that there's no limit to the gloriously ridiculous hijinks that these no-longer-living creatures can get up to. It was true as a movie and it's still true as a television show: What We Do in the Shadows sparkles not just due to its premise, but when its characters and cast are both as right as a luminous full moon on a cloudless night. This lineup of actors couldn't be more perfect or comedically gifted, as season five constantly demonstrates via everything from mall trips, political campaigns, pride parades and speed dating to trying to discover why Nandor's long-suffering and ever-dutiful familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén, Werewolves Within) hasn't quite started chomping on necks despite being bitten himself. Berry's over-enunciation alone is the best in the business, as is his ability to play confident and cocky. His line readings are exquisite, and also piercingly funny. While that was all a given thanks to his Toast franchise, Year of the Rabbit, The IT Crowd, Snuff Box, The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace history, What We Do in the Shadows is a group effort. Demetriou and Novak keep finding new ways to twist Nadja and Nandor's eccentricities in fresh directions; their characters have felt lived-in since season one, but they're still capable of growth and change. What We Do in the Shadows streams via Binge. Read our full review. SLOW HORSES In gleaming news for streaming viewers, Mick Herron's Slough House novel series boasts 12 entries so far. In an also ace development, several more of the British author's books have links to the world of veteran espionage agent Jackson Lamb. That thankfully means that Slow Horses, the small-screen spy thriller based on Herron's work, has plenty more stories to draw upon in its future. It's now up to its third season as a TV series, and long may its forward path continue. Apple TV+ has clearly felt the same way since the program debuted in April 2022. In June the same year, the platform renewed Slow Horses for a third and fourth season before its second had even aired. That next chapter arrived that December and didn't disappoint. Neither does the latest batch of six episodes, this time taking its cues from Herron's Real Tigers — after season one used the novel Slow Horses as its basis, and season two did the same with Dead Lions — in charting the ins and outs of MI5's least-favourite department. Slough House is where the service rejects who can't be fired but aren't trusted to be proper operatives are sent, with Lamb (Gary Oldman, Oppenheimer) its happily cantankerous, slovenly, seedy and shambolic head honcho. Each season, Lamb and his team of losers, misfits and boozers — Mick Jagger's slinky ear worm of a theme tune's words — find themselves immersed in another messy case that everyone above them wishes they weren't. That said, Slow Horses isn't a formulaic procedural. Sharply written, directed and acted, and also immensely wryly funny, it's instead one of the best spy series to grace television, including in a new go-around that starts with two intelligence officers (Babylon's Katherine Waterston and Gangs of London's Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) in Istanbul. When the fallout from this season's opening events touches Lamb and his spooks, they're soon thrust into a game of cat-and-mouse that revolves around secret documents and sees one of their own, the forever-loyal Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves, Creation Stories), get abducted. The talented River Cartwright (Jack Lowden, The Gold) again endeavours to show why being banished to Slough House for a training mistake was MI5's error, while his boss' boss Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas, Rebecca) reliably has her own agenda. Slow Horses streams via Apple TV+. Read our full review. I HATE SUZIE TOO Watching I Hate Suzie Too isn't easy. Watching I Hate Suzie, the show's first season, wasn't either back in 2020. A warts-and-all dance through the chaotic life, emotions and mind of a celebrity, both instalments of this compelling British series have spun as far away from the glitz and glamour of being famous as possible. Capturing carefully constructed social-media content to sell the fiction of stardom's perfection is part of the story, as it has to be three decades into the 21st century; however, consider this show from Succession writer Lucy Prebble and actor/singer/co-creator Billie Piper, and its blood pressure-raising tension and stress, the anti-Instagram. The unfiltered focus: teen pop sensation-turned-actor Suzie Pickles, as played with a canny sense of knowing by Piper given that the 'Honey to the Bee' and Penny Dreadful talent has charted the same course. That said, the show's IRL star hasn't been the subject of a traumatic phone hack that exposed sensitive photos from an extramarital affair to the public, turning her existence and career upside down, as Suzie was in season one. Forget The Idol — this is the best show about being a famous singer that you can watch right now. In I Hate Suzie Too, plenty has changed for the series' namesake over a six-month period. She's no longer with her professor husband Cob (Daniel Ings, Sex Education), and is battling for custody of their young son Frank (debutant Matthew Jordan-Caws), who is deaf — and her manager and lifelong friend Naomi (Leila Farzad, Avenue 5) is off the books, replaced by the no-nonsense Sian (Anastasia Hille, A Spy Among Friends). Also, in a new chance to win back fans, Suzie has returned to reality TV after it helped thrust her into the spotlight as a child star to begin with. Dance Crazee Xmas is exactly what it sounds like, and sees her compete against soccer heroes (Blake Harrison, The Inbetweeners), musicians (Douglas Hodge, The Great) and more. But when I Hate Suzie Too kicks off with a ferocious, clearly cathartic solo dance in sad-clown getup, the viewers aren't charmed. Well, Dance Crazee Xmas' audience, that is — because anyone watching I Hate Suzie Too is in for another stunner that's fearless, audacious, honest, dripping with anxiety, staggering in its intensity, absolutely heart-wrenching and always unflinching. I Hate Suzie Too streams via Stan. Read our full review. JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL The man knows how to rock a hat: Timothy Olyphant (Full Circle), that is. He knows how to play a determined lawman with a piercing stare and an unassailable sense of honour, too, and television has been all the better for it for nearing two decades. Pop culture's revival culture has benefited as well — first with HBO's 2004–06 western masterpiece Deadwood returning as 2019's Deadwood: The Movie, and now with 2010–15's US Marshal drama Justified making a comeback as miniseries Justified: City Primeval. Olyphant was perfect in both the first time around, and proves the same the second. Indeed, Deadwood: The Movie's only problem was that it was just a made-for-TV film, not a another season; Justified: City Primeval's sole issue is that it spans only eight episodes, and that a next date with the Stetson-wearing Raylan Givens hasn't yet been locked in. This continuation of Justified's initial six seasons arrives eight years after the show ended for viewers, but also finds Raylan with a 15-year-old daughter. And it's with Willa (Vivian Olyphant, Timothy Olyphant's real-life offspring) that he's hitting the road when a couple of criminals reroute their plans. Now based in Miami, Florida rather than Justified's Harlan, Kentucky, Raylan is meant to be taking Willa to camp, only to be forced to detour to Detroit, Michigan to testify. It isn't a brief stop, after the Deputy US Marshal makes the wrong impression on Judge Alvin Guy (Keith David, Nope), then is personally requested to investigate an assassination attempt against the same jurist — teaming up with local detectives who are adamant about Detroit's particular ways, including Maureen Downey (Marin Ireland, The Boogeyman), Norbert Beryl (Norbert Leo Butz, The Girl From Plainville) and Wendell Robinson (Victor Williams, The Righteous Gemstones). You can take Raylan out of rural America and into the Motor City, as Justified: City Primeval does, but even with silver hair atop his calm glare he's still Raylan. So, he'll always stride around like a lone gunslinger who has seen it all, will confront anything, and is perennially valiant and resolute — and silently exasperated about humanity's worst impulses, too — as Justified: City Primeval welcomes. New location, passing years, the responsibilities of fatherhood, more and more lowlife crooks (including Boyd Holbrook, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny): they haven't changed this character, and audiences wouldn't have wanted that to happen. Justified: City Primeval streams via Disney+. Read our full review. GOOD OMENS Since 2019, witnessing David Tennant utter the word "angel" has been one of the small screen's great delights. Playing the roguish demon Crowley in Good Omens, the Scottish Doctor Who and Broadchurch star sometimes says it as an insult, occasionally with weary apathy and even with exasperation. Usually simmering no matter his mood, however, is affection for the person that he's always talking about: book-loving and bookshop-owning heavenly messenger Aziraphale (Michael Sheen, Quiz). With just one term and two syllables, Tennant tells a story about the show's central odd-couple duo, who've each been assigned to oversee earth by their bosses — Crowley's from below, Aziraphale's from above — and also conveys their complicated camaraderie. So, also since 2019, watching Tennant and Sheen pair up on-screen has been supremely divine. Good Omens, which hails from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's award- and fan-winning 1990 novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, was always going to be about Aziraphale and Crowley. And yet, including in its second season, it's always been a better series because it's specifically about Sheen as the former and Tennant as the latter. In this long-awaited return, neither Aziraphale nor Crowley are beloved by their higher-ups or lower-downs thanks to their thwarting-the-apocalypse actions. Season one saw them face their biggest test yet after they started observing humans since biblical times — the always-foretold birth of the antichrist and, 11 years later, cosmic forces rolling towards snuffing out the planet's people to start again — and saving the world wasn't what their leaders wanted. One fussing over his store and remaining reluctant to sell any of its tomes, the other continuing to swagger around like Bill Nighy as a rule-breaking rockstar, Aziraphale nor Crowley have each carved out a comfortable new status quo, though, until a naked man walking through London with nothing but a cardboard box comes trundling along. He can't recall it, but that birthday suit-wearing interloper is the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm, Fargo). He knows he's there for a reason and that it isn't good, but possesses zero memory otherwise. And, in the worst news for Aziraphale and Crowley, he has both heaven and hell desperate to find him — which is just the beginning of season two's delightful journey. Good Omens streams via Prime Video. Read our full review. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING Corpses and killings don't normally herald joy on-screen, even in pop culture's current murder-mystery comedy wave, but Only Murders in the Building isn't just another amusing whodunnit. There's a particular warmth to this series. In each of its three seasons to-date, the New York-set show has unleashed amateur gumshoes upon a shock death, with its key trio sifting through clues and podcasting the details. Along the way, it has also kept telling a winning story about second chances and finding the folks who understand you. Only Murders in the Building's ten-episode third season relays that tale again, expanding its portraits of artist Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez, The Dead Don't Die), theatre director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short, Schmigadoon!) and veteran actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin, It's Complicated) — and of their friendship. Once more, it embraces the power of chemistry, both within its narrative and for audiences. That isn't new; when the show debuted in 2021, it felt like the murder-mystery comedy genre's version of a cosy embrace because its three leads were so perfectly cast and their odd-throuple characters so full of sparks. While Mabel, Oliver and Charles wouldn't be a trio if it wasn't for a building evacuation, a murder and a love of true-crime podcasts, their connection isn't merely fuelled by chatting about the murders in their building, with crossing each other's paths changing their respective lives. There's a death in season three's initial episode — it first occurred in season two's dying moments, to be precise — and, of course, ample sleuthing and talking about it follows. The victim: Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), a silver-screen star best-known for playing a zoologist who fights crime by turning into a snake in the blockbuster CoBro franchise. (Yes, if those movies weren't just Only Murders in the Building's Ant-Man gag, existed IRL and starred Rudd, they'd be a hit.) But Only Murders in the Building's latest run also opens with Mabel, Oliver and Charles in places that they wouldn't be if they were solo. Largely, that applies emotionally: Mabel is more grounded and open, and now thinking about the future more than the past; Oliver has faced his career fears, resurrecting his showbiz bug with a new show; and Charles is less misanthropic and more willing to take new chances. They're also frequently in a different location physically thanks to Oliver's comeback production Death Rattle (which is where Meryl Streep fits in). No, the series isn't now called Only Murders in the Building and on Broadway. Only Murders in the Building streams via Star on Disney+. Read our full review. FARGO This is a true story: in 2014, Hollywood decided to take on a task that was destined to either go as smoothly as sliding on ice or prove as misguided as having a woodchipper sitting around. Revisiting Fargo was a bold move even in pop culture's remake-, reboot- and reimagining-worshipping times, because why say "you betcha" to trying to make crime-comedy perfection twice? The Coen brothers' 1996 film isn't just any movie. It's a two-time Oscar-winner, BAFTA and Cannes' Best Director pick of its year, and one of the most beloved and original examples of its genre in the last three decades. But in-between credits on Bones, The Unusuals and My Generation, then creating the comic book-inspired Legion, writer, director and producer Noah Hawley started a project he's now synonymous with, and that's still going strong five seasons in. What keeps springing is always a twisty tale set in America's midwest, as filled with everyday folks in knotty binds, complicated family ties, crooks both bumbling and determined trying to cash in, and intrepid cops investigating leads that others wouldn't. Hawley's stroke of genius: driving back into Fargo terrain by making an anthology series built upon similar pieces, but always finding new tales about greed, power, murder and snowy landscapes to tell. Hawley's Fargo adores the Coenverse overall, enthusiastically scouring it for riches like it's the TV-making embodiment of Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter's namesake. That film hailed from Damsel's David Zellner instead, and took cues from the urban legend surrounding the purported Fargo ties to the IRL death of Japanese office worker Takako Konishi; however, wanting the contents of the Coen brothers' brains to become your reality is clearly a common thread. Of course, for most of the fictional figures who've walked through the small-screen Fargo's frames, they'd like anything but caper chaos. Scandia, Minnesota housewife Dot Lyon (Juno Temple, Ted Lasso) is one of them in season five. North Dakota sheriff, preacher and rancher Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm, Good Omens) isn't as averse to a commotion if he's the one causing it. Minnesota deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani, Never Have I Ever) and North Dakota state trooper Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris, Woke) just want to get to the bottom of the series' new stint of sometimes-madcap and sometimes-violent mayhem. Fargo streams via SBS On Demand. Read our full review. Looking for more viewing highlights? We also rounded up the 15 best new TV series of 2023, as well as 15 excellent new TV shows of 2023 that you might've missed — plus the 15 top films, another 15 exceptional flicks that hardly anyone saw in cinemas this year and the 15 best straight-to-streaming movies of the year as well. And, we've kept a running list of must-stream TV from across the year, complete with full reviews. Also, you can check out our regular rundown of film and TV streaming recommendations, which is updated monthly.
Tame Impala had a busy 2019, headlining Coachella festival (alongside Childish Gambino) and Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass. And it looks like 2020 is going to be equally jam-packed for Perth's favourite psychedelic outfit, with the band announcing their biggest ever Australian and NZ tour. Kicking things off in Auckland in April, the band will then hit up some of Australia's big stadium arenas — performing at Brisbane's Entertainment Centre, Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena and Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena, before heading to Adelaide and back to their Perth hometown. Led by Tame brain and frontman Kevin Parker, the band will perform songs off their highly anticipated fourth album The Slow Rush, which is set to drop on February 14, as well as their Aria chart-topping 2015 album Currents. In light of Australia's catastrophic bushfires, Parker has also announced that the band will donate $300,000 from the tour to bushfire relief charities. Such big shows deserve one heck of a support, too, and you'll get it in Texan instrumental three-piece Khruangbin. The trio's music is described as a mix of Thai-surf punk, Persian rock and 80s Algerian symphonia, and if you'd like to know just what that sounds like you can listen to their 2019 album Hasta El Cielo. [caption id="attachment_758160" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Khruangbin[/caption] TAME IMPALA 2020 AUSTRALIA AND NZ TOUR DATES Auckland — April 16, Spark Arena Brisbane — April 18, Brisbane Entertainment Centre Sydney — April 20, Qudos Bank Arena Melbourne — April 23, Rod Laver Arena Adelaide — April 25, Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena Perth — April 28, RAC Arena Tame Impala Fan Club, Laneway Presents, Chugg members and Frontier members pre-sales kick off at midday on Thursday, January 23. General tickets go on sale on Tuesday, January 28 10am local time for Australia and midday local time for NZ. Top image: Neil Krug
If you've got a mum or mama figure you'd like to spoil on Mother's Day, here's something fun you can both do together: on Sunday, May 14, Armadale's Willow Urban Retreat is running a day of free yoga classes. Across the day, the wellness hub and yoga studio is hosting four guided stretch sessions that'll iron out those kinks and leave you and your mum feeling pretty darn fabulous. You can choose from a flow class at 8am, a soft flow session at 9.30am, yin yoga at 11am, or a 5pm Rest & Reset class. [caption id="attachment_885507" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Maegan Brown Photography[/caption] Simply jump online to book one of the limited May 14 class spots for free and to register your chosen sidekick using the promo code 'MOTHERFIGURE'. Classes run for an hour each (except for the 75-minute 5pm class), all led by the studio's expert yogis. And, if you want to maximise your quality time with mum, why not cap off your session with a lunch date at the onsite cafe or a session in the spa's infrared sauna?
By their very nature, festivals are a choose-your-own-adventure experience. Event organisers carefully curate their top picks, audiences head along to whatever suits them best and few folks follow the exact same fest path. South by Southwest embraces the concept a little heartier than most, however. When you're putting on not just one festival, but several within that broader festival, audiences can hop between them, mix and match here and there, or choose the one that aligns with their favourite interests. Making its debut in October, SXSW Sydney is keeping the format that's served the event so well in its OG Austin home, where it has always been held — and only been held — until now. That's been clear from the lineup announcements so far, including in its first batch of speakers and musicians back in February, more music highlights and must-attend parties in May, details of its gaming strand in June, then two more rounds of speakers in July. Up now: the first nine movies that'll be playing at SXSW Sydney's Screen Festival. [caption id="attachment_911084" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jane Greer[/caption] Among its recent news, SXSW's Down Under premiere revealed that Queer Eye star Tan France would be among its speakers, plus Indigenous filmmakers Leah Purcell (The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson), Kodie Bedford (Mystery Road: Origin) and Jub Clerc (Sweet As). They fall into under Screen Festival, too. Also included: Osher Günsberg, who'll be on the SXSW Sydney bill recording an episode of his podcast Better Than Yesterday with a yet-to-be-announced special guest; Gone Girl, The Nightingale, The Dry, Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers producer Bruna Papandrea; and Binge's Executive Director Alison Hurbert-Burns. Film lovers love watching films, though. The SXSW Sydney Screen Festival isn't just about big-screen fare, covering both movies and TV — but its first round of titles are all features. In a varied bunch, one stars an Indonesian rapper, another is about Tokyo Uber Eats rider and yet another features viral Chinese dance crazes. American film Jamojaya is the flick led by Indonesian rap star Brian Imanuel, aka Rich Brian, enlisting him as an up-and-coming musician — and with Blue Bayou's Justin Chon directing. It's obvious what Tokyo Uber Blues is about, with the Japanese documentary's riding being done by a graduate film student with debts to pay. And Gagaland is responsible for that dancing in the street, and on social media feeds, which backdrops a boy-meets-girl tale. Also on the list: doco Anita, focusing on German Italian actor Anita Pallenberg, who was also a muse to The Rolling Stones; Cypher, a pseudo-documentary about rapper Tierra Whack; and The Last Year of Darkness, which dives into China's underground party scene with ample bass and neon. Rounding out the list so far: Japan's Plastic, which sees two teens go in search of psychedelic rock band Exne Kedy; France's Knit's Island, which is shot entirely in the DayZ video game (and from 963 hours spent in it); and Australia's You'll Never Find Me, about a caravan resident, a surprise visitor and a thunderstorm. Most of SXSW Sydney Screen Festival's announced titles have the tick of approval from other fests around the world, whether by screening at Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, Sheffield DocFest in the UK, International Film Festival Rotterdam in The Netherlands, CPH:DOX in Denmark, Visions du Réel in Switzerland or elsewhere. As well as getting viewers watching movies and TV shows, with more titles to come — including First Nations Screen Festival programming by Winda Film Festival founder Pauline Clague — the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival will feature red-carpet premieres; digital and social content; an XR showcase; Q&As and panel discussions; parties and mentoring; and a screen market for industry deals. Free outdoor screenings are also slated, alongside indoor sessions at The ICC's Darling Theatre, Palace Cinemas Central and other yet-to-be-revealed venues. SXSW Sydney will run from Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22 at various Sydney venues, with the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival running from Sunday, October 15–Saturday, October 21 at The ICC's Darling Theatre, Palace Cinemas Central and more venues to be announced. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. If you're keen to make the most of Australia's first SXSW, take advantage of our special reader offer. Purchase your SXSW Sydney 2023 Official Badge via Concrete Playground Trips and you'll score a $150 credit to use on your choice of Sydney accommodation. Book now via the website.
After taking a year off in 2021, the folks behind much-loved electronic music festival Let Them Eat Cake have announced that the one-day festival will return to Melbourne on New Year's Day in 2022. On Saturday, January 1, the event will unfold at Werribee Mansion and is set to utilise the sprawling grounds in new and exciting ways including a potential new layout to improve traffic flow. Plus, the food, art and music will be more integrated to create an even more immersive experience for punters. The 2022 lineup has been announced with a distinct focus on championing live and local acts. At next year's festival you'll catch live shows from Confidence Man, Northeast Party House, Close Counters and Tornado Club. Plus, DJ sets from festival favourites Young Franco, Papa Smurf, Adi Toohey and CC: DISCO!. If that's not enough, you'll also find AROHA, Ben Fester, Merve, FOURA, Bella Claxton, Dr Packer, Late Nite Tuff Guy and others setting the dance floor alight. Let Them Eat Cake hopes to be the antithesis to the topsy turvy two years we've just had, and with a lineup this good, it's on its way to being just that. Them Eat Cake will descend on Werribee Mansion on Saturday, January 1, 2022. The first and second ticket releases have already sold out. Hit the website for details and to grab yours now.
Even if you're on a strict 'no spend' budget, you'll want to check out this giant sale of some of Australia's most iconic labels this weekend — after all, it's for charity. From Friday, April 29 until Sunday, May 1, the Make-A-Wish Melbourne Warehouse Sale will see some of country's best-loved brands including Alias Mae, Apéro, Maurie and Eve, Sass & Bide and Dr Denim at absolute bargain prices. The best part? 100 percent of the proceeds are going directly to Make-A-Wish Australia, to help them keep granting life-changing wishes for critically ill kids. Celebrities and influencers are also getting in on the action, donating unopened beauty products, clothes, accessories and shoes. If you've ever been green with envy over an Instagram unboxing, this is your chance to get your hands on some of the goods. The sale can be found at the Clifton Street Market this weekend, with doors open on Friday from 8am-7pm, Saturday from 10am-4pm and Sunday from 10am-1pm. We'd recommend grabbing some fashion-loving friends and getting in line bright and early before work on Friday morning — as we said, it's for charity.
While Easter will look a little different this year, the Easter Bunny is still set to hop across state boarders. Another tradition you won't have to forego is scoffing hot cross buns because, thankfully, one of Melbourne's top dessert spots Glacé is selling its first-ever Easter bun packs for you to mix up yourself and throw in the oven. And, let's face it, we actually have time to bake our own this year. With acclaimed dessert chef Christy Tania designing the recipe, these pre-measured mix packs aren't your standard Betty Crocker-type deal. You can choose either a traditional fruit hot cross bun pack or a chocolate one — or get one of each. In your pack, you'll receive spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, dried fruit or choc chips, dry yeast and flour, including a cross flour mix, and an instruction booklet. All you need is some oil in the cupboard. If you want some extra guidance, you can also watch Glacé's free step-by-step video class online, which is set to drop on Wednesday, April 8. Then, once they come out of the oven all golden, fluffy and plump with fruit or loaded with chocolate, slather them in a healthy amount of butter and you're good to go. The hot cross bun pre-measured packs cost $17 and are available for pick up — from Glacé's Windsor store from Thursday, April 9 till Monday, April 13, between 8am–2.30pm — or for delivery to select Melbourne suburbs on Thursday, April 9 and Saturday, April 11 from 5pm. You'll need to order 24 hours a head for both, which you can do so over here. If you can't be bothered baking, Glacé is also selling its own ready-made hot cross buns ($18 for six, $30 for 12) for pick up and delivery, as are these seven Melbourne bakeries. To order your Glacé hot cross bun packs, head to the Glacé website.
Already one of the country's go-to spots for sand, surf and sun, the Gold Coast now boasts another reason to plan a visit this summer: Sandtunes, a massive two-day beachside music festival. Debuting this year across Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1, the new event will take over the Coolangatta Beach with a jam-packed lineup of live tunes, with Travis Scott, Logic, Chvrches and Carly Rae Jepsen leading the bill. The festival will mark Scott's only Australian performance this year, so if you're keen to see the Texas-born rapper play tracks from his 2018 album Astroworld, this is the place to be. If you're a fan of fellow US hip hop star Logic, you'll also be treated to his first-ever Aussie show. While Scottish trio Chvrches are no strangers to our shores — they're on this year's Spilt Milk lineup as well — Sandtunes will also welcome Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen for her debut performance in Australia. When you're not singing along to 'Call Me Maybe' live, you can also check out the rest of the just-announced first lineup, which spans Juice WRLD, Dean Lewis, Sampa the Great, Tkay Maidza, Cub Sport, Kait, Kwame, WAAX, Kian, Alice Ivy,Genesis Owusu and Saint Lane. A word of warning: while you'll be partying on the sand right by the ocean, the festival dates do overlap with part of Schoolies — although, thankfully Coolangatta is never as hectic with revelling school leavers as Surfers Paradise. Sandtunes Music Festival takes place on Saturday, November 30 and Sunday, December 1 on the Coolangatta Beach at the Gold Coast. Tickets go on sale at 12pm on Wednesday, July 31, with a Telstra pre-sale from 10am on Friday, July 26 — visit the festival website for further details.
With winter fast approaching, we've realised (yet another) thing we're missing out on this year: those change-of-season warehouse sales where you can nab high-end designer threads and accessories at insanely discounted prices. Luckily, Bondi eyewear favourite Local Supply is taking its annual warehouse sale online this year — and offering up to 70 percent off to boot. The brand's prices are hard to beat on a regular day, but from Wednesday, May 27 until midnight on Monday, June 1, you'll be getting Local Supply goods for a serious bargain. A whopping 70 styles are up for grabs at ridiculously reduced prices — that's sunnies starting at just $24 dollarydoos. Want to see the world through rose coloured lenses during these especially difficult times? You can nab a pair of Arena PMP20s with plum coloured lenses for $26.99. Or, for those long hours sitting in front of your laptop, some blue light protective lenses for about $45 bucks. Polarised lens are also on the docket from around $60. As the name suggests, the independently owned brand is all about keeping it local — and keeping prices attainable, too. Opened in 2013, it's run by former Dior eyewear designer Petra Ekborn, so you know you're getting some seriously schmick sunnies. Plus the brand uses zero waste manufacturing techniques and the frames are BPA-free and hypoallergenic, too. Local Supply is currently offering free delivery across Australia on all orders over $100, and a flat rate of just $5 for smaller purchases. The Local Supply online warehouse sale will run from Wednesday, May 27 until midnight on Sunday, May 31, with 70 percent off select styles. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
Sydney and Melbourne's rivalry is notorious. We've all witnessed heated battles over which city has the best food, transport, beaches or general vibes. Molly Rose, however, is keen to stoke the flames of another interstate feud this winter, pitting Melbourne against Darwin. And it's doing so through its inaugural YUMMO! Laksa Festival. For one day only, on Sunday, July 7, the Collingwood brewery is teaming up with the Darwin International Laksa Festival to host some of the best laksa chefs from the Northern Territory and Victoria under one roof. The Top End will be represented by 2023 Darwin International Laksa Festival Hall of Fame recipient Jason Chin (CHOK's Place) and 2023 Golden Bowl winner Jason Hanna (CHOW!). Chin will be cooking up a rendition of his award-winning laksa, while Hanna is delivering some laksa-inspired dishes that will perfectly complement his fellow Territorian's curry. Mischa Tropp (Toddy Shop) will be fighting it out for Melbourne, serving a laksa spiked with South Indian flavours. The Molly Rose kitchen will also support Tropp, creating a menu of tasty southeast Asian bites. With each spicy, creamy bowl of soupy noodles purchased, punters will be given a token they can use to vote for their fave laksa of the day — with all-time bragging rights going to the winning city. The Darwin vs Melbourne grudge match is just the start of the fun the YUMMO! Laksa Festival has in store. During the day, there will also be a laksa-eating competition, with prizes going to whoever can slurp down their bowl fastest. Visitors can also fish the name of a random dish out of a bowl, which will then be presented to them to try. The Darwin cohort will be flexing their creative talents with laksas inspired by Italian arancini and Basque cheesecake — so prepare to have your tastebuds utterly confused with this one. Molly Rose will even be running a couple of intimate gin masterclasses throughout the day. Molly Rose's Founder and Brewer Nic Sandery will help folks create their own laksa-inspired bottle to keep, while also giving out some tasters. Places for this activity are limited and need to be booked ahead of time at a cost of $125 per person. On top of all this, Molly Rose will be slinging specially brewed beer, sodas and a handcrafted gin for anyone thirsty for a drop that pairs beautifully with their laksa. Darwinians like to think they have the greatest laksas, but we reckon Melbourne's best laksas give them a run for their money. Whatever the case, you can expect some damn good eating at Molly Rose's YUMMO! Laksa Festival.
One of the only things better than sitting down to a sumptuous multi-course dinner, is doing so knowing that you're helping out a great cause at the same time. And that's the sort of feel-good dining you're in for when Feast to Feed takes over the St Kilda Town Hall for one flavour-packed night on Thursday, April 27. A lineup of local culinary legends will be helping to bring this inaugural event to life, teaming up and hitting the kitchen to raise funds for Alex Makes Meals — a Melbourne-based charity that provides meals for those battling food insecurity. Snap up a $190 ticket and you'll be treated to a five-course degustation featuring dishes from the likes of Tom Sarafian, Attica alum Alessandro Luppolo, Lollo's Adam D'Sylva and more. Expect a globe-trotting feast starring plates like tortellini cacio e pepe, yellow curry with crispy duck, Sri Lankan-style curry leaf-cured kingfish and a chocolate limoncello tiramisu. Guests will also enjoy a cocktail on arrival, followed by a selection of Yalumba wines and beers by Deeds Brewing. There'll be goody bags to take home, too. Top image: Attica alum Alessandro Luppolo
It's never a good idea to blast through your paycheque when it's just landed in your account. However, there's no need to stay cooped up inside when there's plenty of affordable ways to get out and enjoy Melbourne. With the help of Great Southern Bank and its clever banking tools, you can have a fun budget while still putting aside some funds to help you hit your savings goals. Take advantage of The Boost, a feature that transfers a small amount of money (between $0.01 and $5) straight into your savings account each time you use your debit card. And, you can hide your savings from sight with The Vault, helping you resist the temptation to dip in. Whether you're on a shoestring or have a bit saved you'll want to have a few fun activities up your sleeve for your next self-care moment. So, here are a few great Melbourne experiences that meet different spending criteria, so you can do the things you love without spending all your hard-earned dollars. [caption id="attachment_803852" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria[/caption] FREE Public spaces don't come much more serene than the Royal Botanic Gardens. If you're itching for an open green space where you don't have to spend a dime to sit down, there are few better places to hang out on a sunny day than the South Yarra park. It recently added an impressive arid garden that features over 3000 cacti and succulents, too. For a first-rate day out, pack a picnic basket and roll out your rug on one of the site's many expanses of lush lawn — with the gardens spanning over 38 hectares, you won't be short of places to park yourself. [caption id="attachment_691827" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Heide Museum of Modern Art[/caption] The grounds of Heide Museum of Modern Art is another striking outdoor destination primed for a day in the sun. Although entry to the museum costs $20 for adults and is well worth a visit, the surrounding gardens and sculpture park can be roamed for free. There are over 30 sculptures situated across the 15-acre parkland, with each vantage point as impressive as the next. [caption id="attachment_734240" align="alignnone" width="1920"] GoBoat[/caption] $20 AND UNDER A day sailing down the Yarra doesn't have to involve expensive tickets and even pricier food. Instead, grab seven of your mates, head to Southbank's Sandridge Wharf and pile into a Danish-designed GoBoat for an hour on the water for as little as $16 per person. You don't have to worry about boating licenses or sailing lessons, either, as these streamlined vessels are designed to be super easy to operate. Plus, you're welcome to BYO food, drinks and even pets — because, yes, your pooch deserves a treat, too. [caption id="attachment_622465" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brook James[/caption] Or, swap the boat for a car and head to the Coburg Drive-In. As one of Australia's few remaining drive-in cinemas, this much-loved venue has stood the test of time for a reason. For one thing, it's more cost-effective than a trip to a traditional cinema — entry is priced at $35 per car with a maximum of five people, so make sure every one of your seats is loaded with a film buff and, to cut costs even more, bring your own snacks. If you do feel like spending a little extra though, there's an on-site retro American-style diner serving hamburgers, onion rings, sundaes and shakes. With screenings of both blockbusters and classic films, the Coburg Drive-In is a great low-cost way to treat yourself. [caption id="attachment_824982" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Melbourne Zoo[/caption] $50 AND UNDER At $40 for a standard adult ticket, visiting the adorable animals at Melbourne Zoo is a budget-friendly way to disconnect for a day — and get a serotonin kick. The park is home to a number of incredible enclosures and up-close experiences that offer a glimpse at wildlife from around the world. If you'd prefer to see what lies beneath the waves, tickets to Sea Life Melbourne start at $36.80. Here, you'll discover 12 enchanting zones that showcase life under the sea, ranging from the Penguin Playground to the vibrant tropical fish of Coral Atoll. [caption id="attachment_814550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Smash Splash[/caption] If you're looking to let off steam, a visit to Oakleigh's Smash Splash might just be the ticket. As the first venue of its kind in Melbourne, it offers paint-filled balloons, cups of paint and paintbrushes to unleash your creativity on its unwitting white walls. Each 30-minute session costs $100 for you and a friend, although you can spend a little extra for a canvas to decorate and take home. [caption id="attachment_803439" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sense of Self[/caption] MAKE IT RAIN (WITHIN REASON) Payday might have only just arrived, but you don't have to feel bad about pampering yourself every once in a while. After all, self care is important. If you've squirrelled away some spare coin (that is not in your savings account) and want to treat yourself with a mind, body and soul experience, look no further than Collingwood's Sense of Self. There are rejuvenating massage treatments for virtually every sore spot, with guests also welcome to customise their own rubdowns. This converted Easey Street warehouse also features a calming communal bathhouse which boasts sleek modern fit-outs and plush furnishings. [caption id="attachment_673938" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Estelle, Gareth Sobey[/caption] Now that you're suitably revitalised, a heavenly meal is a superb way to take your day to even greater heights. While there's no shortage of renowned fine-dining establishments in Melbourne, you don't have to break the bank to partake in a world-class dining experience. Lucy Liu's innovative pan-Asian cuisine can be enjoyed via a sumptuous vegan set menu for $55 per person. Elsewhere, Northcote bistro Estelle offers one of the best midweek deals in town — a dry-aged steak, side of chips and a top-shelf glass of wine will set you back just $35 on its popular Tuesday steak night. Great Southern Bank is empowering Aussies to get clever with their banking. Whether you want to stick to your savings goals with The Boost or hide your house deposit fund from yourself with The Vault, Great Southern Bank helps you get there. For more information on savings tools and home loan options, head to the Great Southern Bank website. Top image: GoBoat, Lean Timms
Fancy a haul of market-fresh produce, but aren't so keen on the hectic crowds that usually go with it? Or maybe you just don't have time to squeeze in full-blown shopping trip? Either way, the Queen Victoria Market has your back – it'll now deliver those fresh veggies, meats and seafood right to your doorstep. The historic Melbourne market is barreling into the modern age and teaming up with online shopping and delivery service YourGrocer to offer a new delivery option. Now, you can ditch the queues and shop a selection of Queen Vic's greengrocers, delicatessens, butchers and fishmongers, with just a few clicks on your phone or computer. Already a diverse spread of market traders have jumped on board — including the likes of The Epicurean, Vic Meat Supply, Gazza's Gourmet Seafood, Rare Organics, Sword Wines and The Bread Box — with an expected total of 25 to be offering their wares via the service in the coming months. And yes, that means cheese, charcuterie and even wine is available to order online and have sent straight to your house. You can register and order by jumping onto the YourGrocer X QVM website, selecting your chosen market goodies and buying them online. YourGrocer then picks up your purchase from the market and delivers it directly to your front door. Place an order before 11am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and you'll even score same-day delivery. Just a heads-up – the service has a minimum spend of $60, so it's not ideal for small orders. You're also looking at a delivery fee of $9.99, though that's a flat cost regardless of how many traders you buy from at once. The charge is waived if you nab yourself a $16.99/month YourGrocer unlimited membership. Queen Victoria Market's online fresh produce shopping and delivery service is available here.
If sparkling wine puts some extra fizz into your life, then you'll want to drink your way through this Melbourne event. Across Friday, April 29–Sunday, April 29, the Bubbles Festival is coming to town to celebrate the most effervescent boozy beverages there are. You'll sip, you'll chat, and you'll meet the folks who make and distribute the tipples in question as well. You'll also eat canapes — no one wants to down champagne, prosecco and other sparkling drinks on an empty stomach — while you're sampling and tasting across two hours. At least ten different wines will be on offer, and your $94 ticket also includes a champagne tasting glass to take home with you. The venue: Bells Hotel in South Melbourne. You can take your pick of three sessions: from 6–8pm on Friday, and at either 12–2pm or 3–5pm on Saturday. If you're feeling like really treating your sparkling-loving self, you can pay an extra $65 for a VIP ticket, which gets you access to a special cuvée tasting before the regular doors open — and two tasting glasses, rather than one.
A mainstay of Australia's film festival scene for 22 years, the Moro Spanish Film Festival doesn't just celebrate a single country. It also celebrates a language. With Spanish ranking as the globe's second most popular tongue, this showcase of cinema broadens its gaze across the world — not only highlighting movies from the festive European nation that gives the fest its name but, by joining forces with the Cine Latino Film Festival in 2019, screening flicks from Latin America as well. Consider the end result the biggest bargain there is in the film fest world: two festivals for the price of one. Consider it a hefty lineup of new Spanish-language movies, too, with 32 titles touring the country until mid-May. Overseas award-winners? New voices making their debut? A focus on female filmmakers? They're all on this year's program. So are existential thrillers, queer standouts and classic romps — which each claim a place among our five must-sees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ5qPWgG1H0 ANA BY DAY Seeing double is one of cinema's favourite tropes — from creepy twins to stalking lookalikes to cases of mistaken identity, doppelgängers are all common film fodder. In Ana by Day, the eponymous Madrid woman (Ingrid García Jonsson) finds her life turned upside down when her double arrives, takes over and leaves her to her own devices. It's a tantalising notion, especially when Ana decides to lean into the situation and live the existence she's always wanted. As conveyed by first-time filmmaker Andrea Jaurrieta as well as exceptional star García Jonsson, at the core of the concept sits a simple truth: the struggle to realise who we really are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO_PZqilExE CARMEN & LOLA Premiering at last year's Cannes Film Festival, picking up two gongs at this year's Goya Awards, and earning plenty of praise on the queer festival circuit, Carmen and Lola brings an observant, empathetic eye to a tale of romance versus prejudice. The movie's two paramours are also its two victims — and while the setup might feel somewhat familiar, this film has its own spark. Here, a pair of Roman women (Zaira Romero and Rosy Rodríguez) in a Catholic gypsy community defy tradition by falling for each other. Drawing upon her documentary background, writer/director Arantxa Echevarría uses her non-professional cast perfection, conveying the heart-swelling love and heartbreaking oppression that mark the titular characters' lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKdTPuCgqkU ROJO He mightn't be a household name, but Dario Grandinetti boasts quite the resume, with the Argentinian veteran featuring in everything from Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her and Julieta to twisty anthology Wild Tales. He's also a multiple film festival best actor award winner for his work in Rojo, playing a lawyer navigating the corruption and crime of Granada in the 1970s. Murky, paranoid thrillers were a staple during that decade, and movies both set in and styled after the period keep reaching screens for a reason, as this complex and compelling affair demonstrates. As the film follows its protagonist's entry into a shady world, it delves into the fractured, fraying reality of pre-coup Argentina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0paBosD04mM THE GOOD GIRLS Peering at the lives of the wealthy isn't just about indulging envious fantasies, dreaming of a different existence or watching a cashed-up trainwreck, Real Housewives-style. Rather, whether in satirical or melodramatic mode — and this Mexican comedy-drama operates in both — it's about examining the inner workings of the upper echelons and laying bare a society from the top down. Expect all of the above in Alejandra Márquez Abella's second feature, which follows the wives of her country's richest men in 1982. A wife to Fernando (Flavio Medina) and a mother to three children, Sofia (Ilse Salas) is accustomed to a charmed life, until her and her pals experience the other side. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PypMOEKJuh8 WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN Breakups, breakdowns, breaking free, blending sleeping pills into gazpacho — that's actor Pepa Marcos' (Carmen Maura) life when she's dumped by her fellow thespian boyfriend Iván (Fernando Guillén). It's also just the beginning of the always spirited, often farcical story that drives this masterful 1988 comedy from Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar. One of the filmmaker's deserved early hits, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is also the film that helped introduce the world to Antonio Banderas' charms. It wasn't the pair's first collaboration; however, this Oscar-nominated, multiple Goya-winning film thrust both the director and his star to greater attention, and it's easy to see why. The Moro Spanish Film Festival tours Australia from April 16, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona and Palace Central from April 16 to May 8; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Balwyn, Kino Cinemas and The Astor Theatre from April 18 to May 8; Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace James Street from April 24 to May 15; and Perth's Palace Cinema Paradiso from April 24 to May 15. For more information, visit the festival website.
Everyone likes being spoiled at Christmas. This year, when it comes to taking a holiday, Australians will also be spoiled for choice. The nation's borders are reopening to international travel from November, and overseas destinations have started announcing when Aussies can make the trip again — so if you haven't already booked a getaway to Fiji, or jumped on flights to London or the US, you can now make a date with Thailand. On Friday, October 22, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs unveiled a list of places around the globe — covering 45 countries and one territory — that it is deeming low-risk in terms of travel restrictions. So, if you hail from one of these 46 places, you'll be permitted into Thailand from Monday, November 1. And yes, Australia is named. Other countries identified include New Zealand, the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The list is set to be revised again in mid-November and at the beginning of December, so it's expected to grow again soon. Folks from these low-risk nations will be allowed to enter Thailand, with three options available — including ditching quarantine if you've been double-vaccinated. For the unvaxxed, either ten or 14 days quarantine still applies, depending on whether you're arriving by air or land. For the double-jabbed, there's two choices. You can take a PCR test within 72 hours of travelling, then undergo another one upon arrival and wait in a designated hotel for one night until you get a negative result. Or, you can take advantage of the country's 'Sandbox' scheme. It lets you stay in designated 'Sandbox' provinces around the country for seven days — in Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi and more — undertaking COVID-19 tests upon arrival and again on day six or seven of your trip. After that week, passes you can then venture elsewhere in Thailand. Qantas has already revealed that it's restarting travel from Sydney to both Phuket and Bangkok, too, kicking off on Wednesday, January 12 and Friday, January 14, respectively. That news came before Thailand's border announcement, however, so fingers crossed that flights might recommence even earlier now. For more information about Thailand's reopening plan, head to the Thai Government's website and Facebook page.
On a standard visit to Sydney's Central Station, you're likely too busy dodging fellow commuters or rushing for your train to really give much thought to its past. But, in fact, the bustling CBD hub boasts quite the dark and eerie history: it once home to the city's first major colonial-era cemetery. And now you can dig even deeper into the unsavoury stories of that era, thanks to gripping new local podcast The Burial Files. True crime buffs, grab your headphones — this'll be right up your alley. The State Library of NSW curator Elise Edmonds has been busy diving into the colourful history of the Devonshire Street Cemetery, chatting to leading historians, archaeologists, forensic experts and railway enthusiasts to create her six-part audio series. You'll hear tales of mischief, madness and questionable activities, grim accidents and scandalous crimes, glimpsing into the lives of some of the 30,000 residents that were buried here between 1820 and 1900. The one-time burial ground was deemed overcrowded by 1860 and finally abandoned in 1867, with (most of) the remains exhumed in 1901 to make way for the site's next use. In The Burial Files, you'll discover the history behind the exhumations, as well as the building of Central Station, from humble tin shed to the grand stone structure it is today. Along with the podcast, the sketchy stories of the Devonshire Street Cemetery and the surrounding parts of old Sydney have also spawned a new exhibition at the State Library of NSW. Dubbed Dead Central, it's brought to life through a 35-minute audio recording and curation of historic photographs. The first two episodes of The Burial Files are available now to download and stream from your favourite podcast platform. Further episodes will be released in the coming weeks. Dead Central is showing at the State Library of NSW until November 17.
Australian grime fans have been dealt a disappointing blow: Stromzy has announced he is cancelling his highly anticipated upcoming tour. The UK sensation was set to grace Australian shores later this year on the much-delayed H.I.T.H World Tour alongside a run of festival dates as the headliner for Spilt Milk, but has confirmed in a statement released through the festival that he has pulled out of all of his international tour dates for the remainder of 2022. "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to inform you guys that due to circumstances beyond my control, I must cancel international commitments for the remainder of the year which includes my Australian and New Zealand tour," said Stormzy. "You guys have waited so patiently and I am so sorry that this has to happen after all these ups and downs. I love you guys and I promise I will be back as soon as I can with a show that's bigger and better than ever." Originally scheduled for 2020 before being pushed back multiple times for pandemic-related reasons, the run of dates was finally supposed to kick off in Perth on Wednesday, November 23, before hitting Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Wellington and Auckland, as well as Ballarat, Canberra and the Gold Coast with Spilt Milk. While losing Stormzy is a huge blow for the festival, Spilt Milk has come through with another exciting international headliner in his place. Highly influential Grammy-nominated indie-pop singer and one of 2022's biggest breakout stars Steve Lacy has been added to the lineup for all three Spilt Milk dates. An original member of the popular funk and soul group The Internet, Lacy has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Solange and Tyler, the Creator. Following solo success with his debut album Apollo XXI as well as singles like 'Dark Red' which you've almost certainly heard on TikTok, the Californian singer-songwriter has found huge mainstream success this year with the release of his album Gemini Rights and its lead single ' Bad Habits' which currently sits at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Alongside his appearances at Spilt Milk, Lacy has also announced a run of headline dates across the east coast of Australia. He'll be popping up at Melbourne's The Forum on Tuesday, November 22, The Tivoli in Brisbane on Tuesday, November 23 and Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Monday, November 28. Due to the lineup change, Spilt Milk will be offering refunds for anyone who requests one via Moshtix before 5pm Thursday, October 4. After that, you can also pop your tickets up for sale on the festival's resale facility. Those that want to head along to catch Lacy alongside previously announced acts like Flume, The Wombats, Spacey Jane, G Flip, Fisher and Peach PRC can access tickets via the Moshtix resale. Tickets for Steve Lacy's solo shows will go on sale via the Frontier Members pre-sale at 9am local time on Tuesday, October 4, before the general public tickets go on sale on Wednesday, October 5. [caption id="attachment_851188" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Jordan Munns[/caption] Stormzy has cancelled his run of Australian and New Zealand shows including his appearances at Spilt Milk. Refunds for Spilt Milk are available via Moshtix until 5pm, Thursday, October 4.
After headlining the post-parade party at the 2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and then bringing her Future Nostalgia tour Down Under in 2022, Dua Lipa is coming back to Australia in 2025. The Grammy-winner's massive Radical Optimism tour is rolling into Melbourne for its time under lights — and to turn the rhythm up — on Monday, March 17, then Wednesday, March 19–Thursday, March 20, then again across Saturday, March 22–Sunday, March 23, at Rod Laver Arena. 2024 has been a huge year for the singer, with her third studio album Radical Optimism releasing in May and then the artist headlining Glastonbury. She also popped up in Argylle in cinemas. 2023 was no slouch, either, given that 'Dance the Night' graced the Barbie soundtrack and Dua Lipa featured in the film as a Barbie. But with her new tour, 2025 looks set to be even bigger. As well as Radical Optimism and Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa has tracks from her self-titled 2017 debut record to bust out, including 'Be the One', 'Hotter Than Hell', 'Lost in Your Light', 'New Rules', 'IDGAF' and 'Blow Your Mind'. Initially, there was just one Melbourne gig on the agenda — but due to demand, the 'Don't Start Now', 'Physical', 'Break My Heart', 'Cold Heart' and 'Houdini' talent expanded her time in the Victorian capital. Images: Raph_PH via Flickr.
As soon as they step off the plane in Tropical North Queensland, most people make a beeline for the Great Barrier Reef. After all, this marine wonderland is the largest coral reef system in the world and attracts visitors from every corner of the globe. The reef is bold and beautiful but it's also a delicate ecosystem, so it's important to take care when travelling to help protect it and to remember a few quick tips before you explore. Even simple actions like swapping to reef-safe sunscreen or checking you're fishing where you're allowed to do so can have long-lasting positive effects on the health of this natural wonder. Luckily, there are plenty of easy ways you can help keep our reef beautiful for generations to come. [caption id="attachment_842448" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] OFFSET YOUR TRIP Offsetting your trip is an easy way to travel responsibly — especially with many tourism and travel providers of all sizes now providing you an option to do so. One Tropical North Queensland tourism provider that is both dedicated to eco-friendly explorations and aids sustainability efforts is the award-winning Cairns-based Passions of Paradise. The company offers reef tours as well as snorkelling and scuba diving with all gear included, too, so you can get up close to turtles, fish and all the coral-dwelling creatures of the reef with ease before relaxing on board with a buffet lunch. Passions also gives certified divers the chance to engage in citizen science with its Eco Tours. Under the direction of a Master Reef Guide, divers who opt for this experience can contribute to ongoing reef conservation projects and support the work of local conservationists on the Great Barrier Reef through things like surveying reef locations, monitoring reef health or assisting in coral planting. Not a certified diver? You can still make a difference — Passions of Paradise work with researchers to help grow coral through the Coral Nurture Program and offset carbon emissions by planting trees in the Daintree. If you're visiting the reef from Port Douglas, consider a trip with Sailaway. This full-day tour with a qualified marine biologist is a great way to learn more about the wonders beneath the shimmering blue waves. The best bit? The company donates $20 from every ticket to its reforestation and carbon offsetting project. [caption id="attachment_830381" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] SEE THE REEF WITH FIRST NATIONS GUIDES If your idea of a perfect day in the ocean is seeing beautiful reefs and getting an insightful connection to the sea, put Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel on your itinerary. Offering a unique experience, this local team of First Nations sea rangers will invite you to step into the Great Barrier Reef's Dreamtime. Cairns' only Indigenous-focused cruise, Dreamtime Dive and Snorkel is recognised as one of Australia's leading ecotourism providers thanks to its Advanced Eco accreditation awarded by Ecotourism Australia and a Climate Action Business Certification, with its tours and activities carried out in line with industry-best standards. Some proceeds from ticket sales go to local conservation initiatives and further research through GBR Biology group, a dedicated team of marine biologists, educations and rangers that delivers immersive experiences and invests in coral reef monitoring and research. [caption id="attachment_845484" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mikhail Nilov (Pexels)[/caption] USE REEF-SAFE SUNSCREEN (OR WEAR PROTECTIVE CLOTHING SO YOU DON'T NEED SUNSCREEN) If you went to primary school in Australia, then you are probably pretty familiar with the 'slip, slop, slap' campaign. Sun protection is always paramount when you live in a scorching country, but there are ways to keep yourself protected that also help protect the planet. Certain sunscreen ingredients are known to cause coral deterioration, so it's worth being savvy when choosing your products. An easy guide is to look for reef-safe ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, and avoid nasties such as oxybenzone and octinoxate. Also, look for packaging that is recycled or recyclable and stay away from spray sunscreens that cause excess product to land on the sand. But if you're looking for the easiest (and most effective) way to escape sun damage, opt for protective clothing that is dark and densely woven. Unlike sunscreen, it doesn't need to be reapplied, and never washes off. [caption id="attachment_845201" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] GET INVOLVED IN CITIZEN SCIENCE It's easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to the long-term health of the Great Barrier Reef, but there are some simple ways we can all help. The Eye on the Reef app allows you to quickly log information about reef health and wildlife sightings, allowing anyone who visits to contribute to its protection. It's simple to use, free to download and use and requires zero special equipment — it takes just seconds to record any spots of coral bleaching or instances of sick animals. The app also uses GPS settings to give you specific zoning rules for each area, so you don't get caught out fishing or diving in restricted spots. [caption id="attachment_845200" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] PLANT SOME CORAL Want to help the reef in an immediate and hands-on way? Scuba divers: assemble. All you need is a PADI certification and a ticket on the Passions of Paradise reef tour. This proud ecotourism operator has spent decades on the reef via its 30-metre catamaran. Its Coral Nurture Program is a collaboration with the University of Technology Sydney and allows previously damaged sections of coral to flourish. Divers are carefully guided underwater and shown how to harvest tiny pieces of coral that they then relocate to a coral nursery where they can safely grow up to 30 centimetres each year. This is an immersive and educational activity that gives divers a tangible connection to coral rehabilitation. [caption id="attachment_845197" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism Tropical North Queensland[/caption] ADOPT SOME CORAL Keen to help with coral conservation but don't have your diving licence? We've got you sorted. The Reef Restoration Foundation (RRF) is a not-for-profit social enterprise that challenges the idea that the reef is damaged beyond hope. Following a coral bleaching event in 2016, keen diver and soon-to-be RRF founder Gary McKenna observed that the coral in his home aquarium could regrow and create new fragments. He expanded his research worldwide, and discovered that there were several coral replanting methods that hadn't been tried on the Great Barrier Reef. International experts came on board, and grant funding allowed the RRF coral nurseries to double. While these steps are incredibly positive, reef restoration is a long-term project. By adopting your own patch of coral through RRF, you can provide much-needed funds to keep resources flowing. Plus, you will receive regular growth updates on your cute coral patch. [caption id="attachment_845797" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Juergen Freund[/caption] VISIT THE OUTER REEF When visiting the Great Barrier Reef, it's tempting to look for the quickest tours that have you zipping there and back before nightfall. However, for those who want to really immerse themselves in the region, the Eco Tourism Australia-accredited Coral Expeditions offers seven- and ten-day adventures to the outer stretches of the reef, far beyond the reach of most tourist vessels. Jump on board one of the company's purpose-designed small ships for an immersive voyage to uninhabited sand cays and pristine reef systems, taking in some of the most impressive and untouched dive sites on the Great Barrier Reef. The expeditions visit both the Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, with on-board experts to guide you through unforgettable moments like meeting green sea turtles, a Welcome to Country in the world's oldest rainforest and many more. LEARN ABOUT REEF CONVERSATION A useful resource for reef conservation information are the Master Reef Guides. These marine experts must meet a long list of criteria before they can carry the title, as well as having to undergo additional training in public speaking and storytelling. If learning more about the iconic destination is on your list while in Tropical North Queensland, be sure to book a tour that has a Master Reef Guide – they work across both tourism and research vessels. Ready to be rewarded for living responsibly? For more information on obtaining Green tier status via the Qantas Frequent Flyers program, visit the website. Top image: Tourism and Events Queensland Words: Eliza Crisp, Courtney Ammenhauser, Stephanie Monteith, Nik Addams.
Melbourne's western suburbs are too often neglected. And it is a damn shame because the area is flooded with superb cafes, restaurants, pubs and bakeries. To combat this lack of love and attention, Western Melbourne Tourism has teamed up with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival to run a stacked program of events from Friday, March 15–Friday, March 22. There are 22 individual events running throughout the week (many of which have already sold out) that champion food and beverage venues and producers across the western suburbs. One key part of Eat Drink Westside is a series of moveable feasts known as Westside Wanders. For these, an MFWF guide will take foodies on a tour around one suburb, hitting up three different venues along the way — from markets and grocers to cafes and cake shops. You'll get to know the lay of the land and try some great eats from the multicultural area's hospo venues. Pretty much each of the places you visit will be a 'hidden gem' as so few Melburnians venture out west. Many of these have already sold out, but there are still tickets available for Ascot Vale, St Albans, Werribee and Caroline Springs. Beyond the walking food tours, a stack of venues are also hosting their own unique experiences as a part of Eat Drink Westside. Shadowfax Winery is working with The Lancemore Mansion Hotel in Werribee to host some tastings and a four-course dinner with paired vinos. Pizza d'Asporto and Vino Intrepido have also teamed up to host a concurrent wine tasting and pasta- and focaccia-making class. This means you'll be learning the art of Italian cookery while sipping on wines. And there's really no better way to learn how to cook than with a glass of wine in hand. There's also a honey-themed dinner at The Vic Hotel and a farm-to-plate lunch at Wyndham Harbour, celebrating west Melbourne produce and local chefs. If ever there was a reason to head west, this is it. Just get in quick before everything is sold out.
