"Well, this changes everything." It's a common enough expression, used almost entirely hyperbolically in circumstances like preparing a bowl of cereal before discovering your milk's already past its due by date. Every so often, however, the adage is justified, as was the case in 1974 when it was revealed to the world that Germany's infamous WWII 'enigma code' had in fact been cracked some 30 years earlier by a small group of English mathematicians. That announcement changed history. Textbooks were rewritten, curriculums revised and almost every detail of the global conflict reexamined. For three decades, credit for the extraordinary intelligence windfall that helped expedite the War's end by as much as two years fell to an unnamed Allied spy within Berlin operating under the codename 'Ultra'. That man did not exist, and now The Imitation Game, based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma, explores the true source of the Allies' codebreaking secret. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Turing, a man whose name should rightly be known the world over, twice, and yet whose story remains largely unfamiliar. For one, he was the genius behind the machine that cracked the Nazi code, and two, he effectively pioneered development of both artificial intelligence and the digital computer. It's an astounding story, both for its marvel and misery, and The Imitation Game seeks to capture both. Artistic licence notwithstanding (there are no recordings of Turing, or at the very least no declassified ones), Cumberbatch's masterful performance brings to life a man whose mathematical genius was matched only by his social dyslexia and his torment at being gay in an age when homosexuality was still illegal under British law. Surrounding him is an all-star, all-English ensemble, including: Mark Strong, Keira Knightly, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance and Rory Kinnear. Newcomer Alex Lawther also deserves special mention in his turn as the young Turing, whose flashback scenes are perhaps the film's most poignant and emotionally charged. Director Morten Tyldum (Headhunters) balances his three timelines well, using the prep school years and wartime experiences to inform Turing's later disposition during his 1952 police interrogation in which he was charged with 'gross indecency'. Turing's ultimate fate was a despicable one, sentenced to state-sanctioned chemical castration by the same government that only ten years earlier had been saved by his extraordinary abilities. It was only in 2013, in fact, that he received a posthumous pardon by the Queen, and if there's a problem with The Imitation Game, it’s the way the subject of homosexual persecution is largely dispensed with upon the film's conclusion, despite being so deftly introduced and explored earlier. "Sometimes it's the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine." These words, first uttered to Turing by his childhood sweetheart (and then repeated — albeit a little clumsily — several further times throughout), underscore The Imitation Game's representation of Turing as an astonishing man who almost singlehandedly achieved the impossible without ever seeking, or receiving, any acknowledgment for it. His is a story that needs to be known, and thanks to this film, more will not just learn of Turing, but hopefully seek out and explore it in far greater detail thereafter.
One of Australia's most redeeming qualities is its ability to give good afternoon sun. There's something about its familiar glow that almost demands casual drinks — whether it's cracking open a cold beer after a day out, heading to the pub after a long day of work, or deciding on a whim that your backyard is perfect for having friends over. We love summer afternoons, and we've partnered with Heineken 3 so you can get the most out of them. We've spoken to a few of our favourite chefs, musicians and artists, to get their insights on creating the perfect balmy afternoon. For a summer playlist, who better to ask for advice than Ned East, a.k.a Kilter? His genre-spanning tropical electronic beats scream summer, and he's been making waves playing his tunes around Australia — performing at Falls, Field Day and Southbound. This year he followed the sun into European waters, playing shows and festivals across France, Germany, Malta and the UK. We asked him for some tips on how to create the perfect party playlist for a summer afternoon. Because he's a nice guy, he provided one of his own. It's good. Listen to this and get inspired, then follow his tips in creating your own. YOUR PLAYLIST NEEDS TO BE CAREFULLY CURATED It's important to remember that your playlist should be delicately crafted — it shouldn't just be a bunch of tracks thrown together. It should be designed to be listened to in one fell swoop, just like Kilter's. That means no skipping, no jumping and absolutely no shuffling (tracks, that is). TAKE YOUR LISTENERS ON A JOURNEY There needs to be an effortless flow. Kilter's playlist has a strong dance tinge to it, cruising through a few downtempo tracks, moving into a house-centred, upbeat party vibe. Things get a bit crazy towards the end, but what else can you expect from a summer session? PICK A FEW BANGER TRACKS TO GET STARTED Kilter tells us to "start with the tracks you really want to play, then think about their order and how they'll be consumed". Choose a few of your favourite tracks that you know you'll definitely want to include, and use those as your base. That way, it's easy to get inspired, ensure you get a variety of music and make sure your playlist has some direction. Kilter's starting point tracks were Kwesta's 'Ngud' (featuring Cassper Nyovest), as well as 808INK's 'Suede Jaw' and Hayden James' 'Just a Lover' (Karma Kid remix) — he recommends if you're in need of some inspiration. CONSIDER YOUR SITUATION, AND LEARN TO LIFT THE VIBES Music has the magical ability to dictate someone's mood. It's essential to a summer afternoon when you're throwing back a Heineken 3, because it'll lift the vibes. "If it's a rainy day and you're playing summertime jams, it's going to make you feel a little bit better," Kilter says. "If it's a sunny day and you've got sunny music on, it's really going to take your vibes to another level". In his own words: "Get some friends over and have some beers in the sun. Let the music do its thing while you do your thing." Enjoy your summer afternoons with the new low-carb Heineken 3 — we're helping you make the most of them.
White knuckle thrillers, sun-dappled love stories and fish out of water comedies — you'll find them all in the lineup at this year's Spanish Film Festival. Taking over the screens at select Palace Cinemas around the country, the latest edition of this much-loved festival features 39 titles in total, including a loose remake of a recent Australian effort that will double as the opening night film. A kinky, sex-positive comedy inspired by Josh Lawson's The Little Death, Paco Leon's Kiki, Love to Love should get things off to a smoldering start. Other standouts on the program include crime thrillers such as The Bar and Smoke and Mirrors, and a retrospective stream dedicated to the works of iconic actor and singer Ana Belen. The festival will conclude with an early screening of The Trip to Spain, the much anticipated third chapter in the big screen travels of comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Below, check out our list of the five must-see films of this year's Spanish Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ywx8kAviZA MAY GOD SAVE US The title of Rodrigo Sorogoyen's new film is a little on the ominous side, but then from all reports that's rather fitting. Set in Madrid during a fiercely hot summer against the backdrop of anti-austerity protests and a visit by the pope, May God Save Us tracks a pair of veteran cops on the trail of a violent serial killer. A classic cat-and-mouse thriller, the picture won Best Screenplay at last year's San Sebastian International Film Festival, and has been compared by critics to the blood-spattered films of David Fincher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9QiTqOUdI SUMMER 1993 This year's centerpiece film arrives at the Spanish Film Festival on the back of considerable critical acclaim. Directed by Carla Simon Pipó, who won Best First Feature at the 2017 Berlinale, Summer 1993 follows six-year-old Frida, who after the death of her parents is swept from Barcelona to the Catalan provinces to begin a new life with her aunt and uncle. A simple, sensitive coming-of-age story, the film is a must-see for cinephiles, and might well be our number one pick of the entire festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5La9q2_k8 THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN The latest effort from directorial double act Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, The Distinguished Citizen earned major plaudits at last year's Venice Film Festival, including a Best Actor gong for its leading man Oscar Martínez. A familiar face to Argentinean audiences, here Martínez plays Daniel Mantovani, a taciturn novelist who returns to his tiny hometown in order to accept an award and maybe find some inspiration. What follows has been billed as a biting big screen farce about jealousy, creativity and the perils of success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B2x5XLbQhk THE QUEEN OF SPAIN In terms of star power, this sumptuous period piece from Oscar winner Fernando Trueba is likely the biggest title on this year's Spanish Film Festival program. Reprising her role from Trueba's 1998 film The Girl of Your Dreams, Penelope Cruz plays Macarena Granada, a Hollywood movie star who returns to her native Spain for a film shoot, only for the production to run afoul of Franco's regime. Both a send-up of fascism and a loving tribute to 1950s Spanish cinema, with supporting turns by The Princess Bride co-stars Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin, The Queen of Spain shapes up as a surefire crowdpleaser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSDZ7IiYb_A THE TRIP TO SPAIN After touring the finest restaurants that England and then Italy had to offer, comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are back for their latest gastronomic adventure. Directed once again by Michael Winterbottom, The Trip to Spain promises more of the same for fans of the previous two Trip films, with charming vistas, mouthwatering food and free-flowing banter. Although it's due to receive a theatrical release later in the year, closing night is your chance to see one of the year's funniest films before any of your friends. The Spanish Film Festival tours Australia from April 18, screening at Sydney's Palace Norton Street and Palace Verona from April 18 to May 7; Melbourne's Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and Kino Cinemas from April 20 to May 7, and Brisbane's Palace Barracks and Palace Centro from April 27 to May 14. For more information, visit the festival website. Image: Summer 1993.
Fans of Marcel Duchamp are in for a serious treat, with the Art Gallery of New South Wales named as the sole Australian stop for a huge exhibition celebrating the acclaimed artist's life and work. Kicking off in Tokyo on October 2, to mark the 50th anniversary of the artist's death, it's set to be the most comprehensive Duchamp exhibition to ever hit the Asia-Pacific region. The Essential Duchamp will open in Sydney in April 2019, showcasing an impressive 150 works and related documentary materials from throughout the art legend's 60-year career. It'll offer a rare glimpse at Duchamp's seriously fascinating life and a body of work that's considered one of the 20th century's most artistically influential. Some pieces, like Chocolate Grinder (No 2) from 1914 and 1910's Portrait of Dr. Dumouchel, have never before been seen in this part of the world. The exhibition's on loan from, and organised by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which boasts the definitive collection of Duchamp artwork. Director Dr Michael Brand said the Art Gallery of NSW's excited to be part of this important collaboration. "The Philadelphia Museum of Art is an encyclopedic museum of the highest order with a grand tradition of both research and innovative exhibitions," he explained. "The Gallery is delighted to introduce to Australian audiences for the first time, the full creative accomplishment of this maverick artist who changed the way we look at art." The Essential Duchamp will be on show at the Art Gallery of NSW from April 2019 to August 2019. For more info, visit the AGNSW website. Image: Gary Stevens via Wikimedia Commons.
One wrote novels that explored the loves and lives of well-to-do Britons during the 18th century. The other makes films that provide sharp, humorous looks at specific, highly interconnected sections of society. And yet, while Whit Stillman took inspiration from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park for his 1990 debut feature Metropolitan — which the filmmaker himself notes is considered "a stealth adaptation" by some Austen fans — it has taken him 26 years and five features to craft an official screen version of one of the author's works. Based on Austen's unfinished epistolary novella Lady Susan, the end result is Love & Friendship, a comedy of manners, match-making and possible marriages. Kate Beckinsale plays the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, who won't let rumours about her romantic entanglements get in the way of securing her next husband — or finding a suitable paramour for her teenage daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark). When she's not trying to win the affections of the young and handsome Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) and setting up Frederica with the buffoonish Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett), she's confiding her schemes to her close friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny). A sparkling satire of societal expectations ensues — and from the witty banter between characters to the light yet insightful way the story unravels, Love & Friendship feels like the film Stillman was destined to make. In the lead up to the movie's Australian release, we spoke with the writer/director about taking the time to see the project come to fruition, balancing his own sensibilities with the source material, and reuniting with after Beckinsale and Sevigny after his 1998 effort The Last Days of Disco. ON ADAPTING JANE AUSTEN "I happened upon the material, the story of Lady Susan Vernon — which her nephew, when he published it a century after her death, gave it the title Lady Susan, which is not Jane Austen's title. I thought it was really funny and different. And I had sort of not entirely admired all the Jane Austen adaptations because a lot of them lost the humour and her true perspective, and so I thought this is a way of having something very funny and very entertaining — a sort of pre-Oscar Wilde sort of comedy by Jane Austen and in her world. It intrigued me. "I wanted to take my time on it, and work on it when I didn't have paying jobs and could just do it at my own pace, just exactly as slow as it needed to be done. This kind of thing is like cooking — when you have a thing that is going to take a lot of time, it is going to take 12 hours of simmering something down. And so I knew that this was the 12 years of simmering something down. Well, maybe not that many years. But I knew it would take an amount of time." ON TACKLING A LESSER-KNOWN AUSTEN STORY "It was hugely liberating. Hugely liberating. A real benefit. But I also noticed that the film adaptations I liked best were often of non-masterpieces. So flawed novels sometimes make really, really good adaptations. And I was hopeful that this would fall into that category where there's enough things to be done to give the people working on the film a canvas to work on. What's really challenging and frustrating is to take a masterpiece and reduce it to a film, because it is an issue of reduction." ON CHANGING THE TITLE FROM LADY SUSAN TO LOVE & FRIENDSHIP "For me, it was a big thing. It was the first decision I made. I wouldn't have done the film as Lady Susan — it was the first thing I thought of. I hated the title Lady Susan, it wasn't Jane Austen's title. And I know that these character name titles don't work in most translation territories. "I really think that Love & Friendship is a wonderful Jane Austen title that she thought of herself, and she wasted it on a story I don't take seriously at all. There was a good title on an unimportant story, so let's put the good title on the good novella." ON BALANCING AUSTEN'S TRADEMARKS WITH STILLMAN'S OWN STYLE "Everything is tricky. Everything is a balancing act to the very end. When we were putting in the sound, at the very end, the laughter in the dancing scene, it's like, 'Do we have too much of James Martin laughing? Are we making this too broad, too ridiculous?' And we actually dialled that back. And so, yeah there's always this balance. I had been so immersed in this novel for so long, so immersed in the period — it's a lifelong interest — that it sort of felt that we could handle that and do that balancing." ON CASTING AUSTRALIAN ACTOR XAVIER SAMUEL "Woody Allen and other directors have talked about this — it is almost impossible to find good romantic leading men and this sort of classic mould, and Xavier was a godsend when we found him. "We almost lost him to a competing Australian film — his agent wanted him to take this higher-paying job in Australia. And, my gosh, I was so upset at the possibility of losing him that I told him that I didn't want to make the film if he wouldn't be in it. He is really important for the film." ON REUNITING KATE BECKINSALE AND CHLOË SEVIGNY AFTER THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO "That was really inadvertent. Chloë was actually in the film before Kate Beckinsale. I started so far back that I was actually in touch with Elizabeth Hurley, I think, about this when I first started thinking of it. Kate was far too young then, she was still in her twenties. But I always thought it was a lovely idea for Kate Beckinsale, but at the very start she was too young. And then, I think Sienna Miller was attached to the film as Lady Susan for a while. And then the clouds parted, the sun came out, and we were able to get Kate to play the part — and it is the part for which she was destined, and she was actually wonderful in it, and she was great to work with." Love & Friendship opens in Australian cinemas on July 21.
This winter, Melbourne's decided to descend into some hellish frosty tomfoolery. Best way to beat the cold? Snuggle into a dark cinema, your own personal cinema, with 20 of your mates and watch the perpetually captivating Greta Gerwig melt every cold heart in the room in Maggie's Plan. Writer-directer Rebecca Miller's new indie rom-com was one of our favourites at this year's Sydney Film Festival. The story of an extra-marital affair gone wrong and the attempts of the unflappable Maggie (Gerwig) to put things back together, Maggie's Plan was loved by our critics — Tom Clift said the film was "funny from start to finish, and does a great job of bringing dimension to its catalogue of flawed characters." Think Ethan Hawke as an unhappily married academic hailed as "the bad boy of fictocritical anthropology." And Julianne Moore as his domineering Danish wife. Yes. Please. So you've got the rundown, let's get you out of the cold and into a comfy cinema seat. Thanks to Cinema Nova, we're giving you to the chance to win an exclusive private preview screening of Maggie's Plan for you and 20 friends at Cinema Nova, Carlton. You'll be treated to a deluxe choc top on arrival (made in-house at Cinema Nova), and you'll take over your very own boutique cinema for the screening, a day before it releases in cinemas nationally on July 7. [competition]577630[/competition] Maggie's Plan is out nationally on July 7 by Sony Pictures. For more information about Maggie's Plan, visit the Cinema Nova website.
The Melbourne Festival has hit the big three oh — and what better way to celebrate than with a two-and-a-half-week-long party. The team behind Melbourne's flagship cultural event have pulled back the curtain on their 30th anniversary program, and it's every bit as exciting as we've come to expect. Clear your calendar and make room for more than 70 events, including 17 Australian premieres, featuring artists, musicians and theatre makers from all around the world. Headlining the event are a number of major theatre productions, including the smash hit West-End adaptation of George Orwell's seminal novel 1984. A nominee for Best New Play at the 2014 Olivier Awards, the timeless tale about the dangers of government surveillance and control will have its exclusive Australian season as part of the Melbourne Festival. Organisers have also programmed a number of supplemental events including a live reading at the Legislative Assembly Chamber in Victoria's Parliament featuring notable politicians, media personalities and actors, as well as a special film program at ACMI entitled Eyes Without a Face: Surveillance in Cinema. Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, meanwhile, has teamed up celebrated opera and theatre director Peter Sellars on Desdemona, a restaging of Shakespeare's classic play Othello, featuring music from award winning Malawi singer-songwriter Rokia Traore, that uses the story of its doomed heroine to explore questions of violence, class, race and gender. Israel's Batsheva Dance Company will take to the stage with a pair of works by preeminent dance maker Ohad Naharin, while Belgian company Peeping Tom present the intensely physical dance theatre show 32 Rue Vandenbranden. Also making its Melbourne premiere is the award-winning Spiegeltent production LIMBO, combining circus, acrobatics and cabaret. Leading the music program is a tribute to Patti Smith's iconic rock album Horses, which will be performed in full by Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, Adalita and Gareth Liddiard. UK folk singer Laura Marling will play Hamer Hall for one night only, while Flight Facilities will team up with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a performance at the Myer Music Bowl. Also in the mix is master film composer Clint Mansell and electronic jazz pioneer John McLaughlin. There'll be more music happening at the Foxtel Festival Hub, a cafe/bar/performance venue on the banks of the Yarra. Over the course of the festival, the hub will host the likes of Icelandic techno duo Kiasmos, English post-punk band The Fall, French ten-piece Babylon Circus, local favourites Bombay Royale and Cut Copy, and many, many more.
If you, like us, have been struggling to maintain your bank balance this Christmas (the shopping, holiday plans and festival tickets all take their toll), we feel ya. To help you out, we've teamed up with Melbourne's biggest and best inner city festival, Sugar Mountain, and V MoVement, to give you the chance to win an epic festival experience. The stress of the festive season will melt away when you're grooving to Blood Orange with an 8bit burger in one hand and a beer in the other. Bliss. Up for grabs here are two VIP Sugar Mountain passes (yes), return flights to Melbourne from any major capital city (yessss) and we'll even put you up for two nights at QT Melbourne (a thousand times yes!). Prepare yourself for fluffy-robed luxury. But that's not all. Thanks to our buds at V MoVement, you'll be their VIP too with two side of stage passes to get up close and personal with the line-up on their own personal stage. V MoVement, just FYI, is an initiative by (you guessed it) V energy drink that aims to support grass roots dance music so it's no surprise they're popping up at the weird and wonderful Sugar Mountain. If you're a fan of EDM, this is the prize for you. Check out the line-up and read up on last year's Sensory Lab to yourself excited. We're even throwing in a year's worth of V energy drinks to bolster your energy levels after such an intense weekend. Damn. Not sure if anything under the tree can top this present. Head here to enter.
Cinderella horrifically mangled in a pumpkin car crash. Dodgem cars run by the Grim Reaper. Model boat ponds filled with dead bodies. Welcome to Banksy's Dismaland. Banksy has unveiled his biggest show to date, a family theme park that's highly unsuitable for children, a festival of "art, amusement and entry-level anarchism". Opened on a 2.5 acre site on the Weston-super-Mare seafront in the UK, Banksy's largest project has been kept under wraps for months, until today. According to the Guardian, locals and tourists were convinced the disused '30s lido space was being used for a Hollywood film set — fake crime thriller Grey Fox. Wander through cardboard airport security and you'll find a frankly terrifying theme park — a huge flip of the bird to Disneyland, even though Banksy banned any imagery of Mickey Mouse on site. Banksy personally selected 58 artists including Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Julie Burchill, Jimmy Cauty (former KLF) and more, most of whom never met the elusive legend. The theme park's 'attractions' are another world of messed-up. Banksy's own ten works include Cinderella's pumpkin crashed in a large castle, a grisly recreation of the death of Princess Diana, surrounded by paparazzi (and you get a souvenir photo on the way out, lovely). The Grim Reaper rides the dodgems. There's a Punch and Judy show, rewritten with a nod to Jimmy Saville. Yeesh. There's a model boat pond, filled with dead bodies and overcrowded asylum seeker boats. There's cute little model village, swarmed by 3000 riot police following civil conflict. There's a Jeffrey Archer Memorial Fire Pit, locked in for daily book burnings, and an armour-plated riot control car used in Northern Ireland, with a slippery dip. For the kids, there's a 'pocket money loans' shop, handing out sweet sweet junk change with a 5000% interest rate to land them in debt for life. There's an 'advice bureau' where you can buy tools to break into bus stop ads and replace them with propaganda. "Are you looking for an alternative to the sugar-coated tedium of the average family day out? Or just somewhere a lot cheaper?" says Banksy. "Then this is the place for you. Bring the whole family to come and enjoy the latest addition to our chronic leisure surplus." #Dismaland #dismaland_park #banksy #streetart #dismalanbeamusementpark # A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:21am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 8:39am PDT Dismaland Park #dismaland #banksy #dismaland_park #streetart #banksyart #disney #ladydi #paparazzi A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 11:56am PDT Banksy's dismaland park #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney #england #streetart A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:20am PDT #streetart #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #fuckthepolice A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:53am PDT #dismaland #banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:33am PDT Dismaland park #dismalandpark #dismaland #banksy #dismalanbeamusementpark #disney @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:36am PDT Dismaland bemusement park @banksy @dismaland_park A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:02am PDT #dismaland #banksy A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 6:47am PDT #dismaland_park #dismalanbeamusementpark #dismalandpark #Dismaland #banksy #england A photo posted by Banksy (@dismaland_park) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:42am PDT Banky's Dismaland is open until September 27. There'll be 4000 tickets available each day at £3 each at dismaland.co.uk. Via Guardian, Huffington Post, NY Daily News. Top image: Yui Mok.
Seafood towers are so underrated. The masses love a boozy brunch, big set menus and seafood deals, but a seafood tower combines a whole lot of these all in one. And right now, Etta's has got to be one of the best in Melbourne. Every Friday and Saturday arvo, you can drop by one of the best restaurants in Melbourne for a totally luxe seafood tower offering that'll cost a very reasonable $75 per person. On the tower, you'll find woodfired sand crab; chilled king tiger prawns; smoked mussels; raw snapper with sambal; watermelon and green mango; champagne-battered fish bites; and a bunch of different mayos and oils for dipping. As Etta is also one of the city's top wine bars, you can also pair this feed with incredible champagnes. You can add on NV Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV Frédéric Savart 'l'Ouverture' Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut, NV Larmandier-Bernier 'Rosé de Saignée' or Egly-Ouriet Ratafia de Champagne to make it even more lavish. But be aware that there will only be a limited-number of seafood towers available each lunchtime, so be sure to request one when making your booking. Yo're not going to want to miss out on this deal, which runs throughout November and December. Images: Jana Langhorst.
We're going to bet that you've left some (okay, maybe more than some) of your Christmas present shopping to the last minute — or at least too last minute to safely order online. And it doesn't help that so many people are so hard to shop for, whether they're super fussy family members or friends who seemingly have everything they could already want. If you're looking for something special, or unusual, then these are Melbourne's best local shops you should scope out. Words: Hannah Valmadre, Shannon McKeogh and Lauren Vadnjal
Chinese New Year is coming up on February 8 and in 2016 we’ll be ringing in the year of the monkey (goodbye year of the sheep, go sleep it off). And what’s the best way to partake of the celebration? We’ve got it right here and it’s more fun than a barrelful of monkeys. Well, actually it is a barrelful of monkeys. Dumpling masters Din Tai Fung are offering new limited edition ‘Monkey Buns’ for the month of February and they are literally the cutest food we’ve ever seen. Just look at them. Din Tai Fung are famous for their dumplings and are known to release beautiful and novelty dumplings for special occasions (check out these adorable little lamb buns from last year). The monkey bao buns are steamed-to-order and stuffed with a sweet filling of chocolate and banana. They’re part of a series of new dishes being added to the menu from February 1 including crispy golden seafood roll, braised Szechuan sliced beef noodle and vegetarian egg fried rice with mushroom and truffle oil. Unfortunately the monkey buns are only available in the Din Tai Fung restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne (not the food court outlets) so you’ll have to make an proper sit-down event of it. The only problem we can foresee is that eating those sweet little monkey faces may be hard… but we’ll probably manage it. Monkey Buns are available for $4.80 per piece from Din Tai Fung restaurants from February 1 – February 29.
Why make one drink when you can make ten? Batched cocktails have grown significantly in popularity across the cocktail world. They're a great, easy option for the amateur bartender — particularly useful when you're hosting a party, because you're not going to be stuck behind the bar all night mixing drinks if you plan ahead. You'd expect that bartenders would turn up their nose at a pre-mixed cocktail, but the trend has caught on in multiple Australasian venues — it turns out they love pre-mixing too. One of the main reasons why is that it's much more practical for bartender and consumer. They don't have to spend 15 minutes mixing and muddling up a complex cocktail, and you don't have to wait. Cocktail ingredients are pre-prepared (bars usually pre-mix cocktails two to three hours before opening), and the ingredients in the drink are left to infuse. When you're using gin, this means there's enough time for botanicals to infuse with the other ingredients, and richer, bolder flavours appear. In partnership with Bombay Sapphire, we asked Sean Forsyth (the Bombay Sapphire Australian ambassador) to show us how to mix up a big batch of Coffee Negronis — literally just the Negroni cocktail you know and love with cold-drip coffee added. Like a Negroni, coffee is sweet, bitter and complex — so it's the perfect ingredient to complement and spice up this famous gin cocktail. Get your hands on some cold-drip and you've got yourself a breakfast-appropriate cocktail. "If you walk into a bar and they don't know how to make a Negroni, leave," Forsyth says. He's right. To make a Negroni you just need to know how to mix gin, vermouth and Campari — it's easy. To make a batch of Coffee Negronis, you need water, a one-litre measuring jug, a funnel and a one-litre glass bottle instead of a shaker. It's getting much, much easier to make good cocktails. THE COFFEE NEGRONI (Serves 10) Ingredients: 250ml Bombay Sapphire 200ml Martini Rosso 200ml Campari 100ml cold drip espresso 250ml water 1 litre sealable glass bottle Method: Using a funnel and a one-litre measuring jug, build ingredients into a clean one-litre glass bottle Shake and add into the freezer one hour before service Pour into rocks glass filled with cubed ice Garnish with an orange slice Images: Kimberley Low.
It's time to make the pilgrimage to the Supernatural Amphitheatre once again, Golden Plains has opened the ballot for 2017. Taking place over a long weekend under a full moon, Meredith's other beloved festival returns for March 11-13, 2017. And they've announced on heck of a legend to top the bill: Neil Finn. As always, the lineup will appear on one stage in the Supernatural Amphitheatre, fronted by one of history's greatest songwriters. Crowded House legend Neil Finn will play a special career-spanning set under the full moon. It's been seven years since Finn played The Sup', so this should be pretty special. The full lineup will drop soon. Meanwhile, Golden Plains is set to be the same festival you know and love — no dickheads, no need to hide your goon sacks, no commercial sponsors — but with a new sound system, new campaground, new foods and kids under 12 can attend the festival free. The ballot for GPXI is open now until 10pm on Monday, October 17. Visit www.goldenplains.com.au for details.
Bulldog Gin is hosting two gin and tonic pop-ups in Melbourne throughout September to bring out the gin lover within you for the beginning on spring. The distinctive gin makers will be at The Penny Black in Brunswick, and Big Mouth in St Kilda, bringing you $8 gin and tonics until the 30th of September. Make the most of the change in weather by taking your drink out to the Penny Black's beer garden or sipping it downstairs by the window to soak up the sea breeze at Big Mouth. And if you happen to find yourself at either venue on a Friday or Saturday, you might just be lucky enough to have the bar staff shout you one. If you hvane't tried it, Bulldog Gin is a fresh, smooth twist on a classic London Dry gin, including exotic botanicals from around the world inspired by founder Anshuman Vohra's globe-trotting childhood. The quadruple distilled liquor features heavy citrus notes and is infused with Dragon Eye (a close relative of everyone's favourite summer fruit, lychees), juniper (of course), lotus leaves, liquorice, lavender, almond and poppy. Image: Steven Woodburn.
Besides naps and binge watching Netflix, there's very few things in life that will fix a grouchy mood better than a delicious snack. And when you inevitably find yourself in that irritated, hungry state — perhaps cooped up in your office, working on a deadline at the library, or just roaming the city streets on the verge of breakdown — that's exactly when you need those snacks the most. So for the love of your soul, here are the ten best snacks in the city — from sweet somethings to the hot, deep fried kind. They're all under $10, can all be eaten on-the-go, and are all absolutely delicious. NUTELLA AND BANANA JAFFLE, T-ROY BROWNS — $4.50 Every tummy needs a T-Roy Brown Nutella and peanut butter jaffle from time to time. Combining our two fave spreads, this Melbourne cafe has turned the all-too-familiar PB&J sandwich into one very sleek snack. Bursting with a mix of warm chocolate and peanut spread, these babies are available for the taking on the outskirts of Flinders Street Station, right next to the 24 hour gym. White shirts are not advised during consumption. 365 Flinders Street, CBD CHEESE AND SPINACH BOREK, THE BOREK SHOP AT QVM — $3 One of Melbourne's best savoury pastries is located in the heart of Queen Vic Market. Remarkably kind on your purse, these boreks are Melburnian legend. Don't be fooled by the low prices, the ultra-efficient ladies at Shop 95 know exactly what they're doing. Just be prepared to elbow your way in, because this Borek Stand isn't much of a hidden gem anymore — it's a rather popular one. You'll know why after you take the first bite. Shop 95, Queen Victoria Market, cnr Victoria and Elizabeth Streets, CBD BRAISED PORK BELLY BAO, WONDERBAO — $4.20 Surely a list of the CBD's best of the best cannot exclude the wondrous creations from Wonderbao. Set between their plant-your-face-on-it soft bao, Wonderbao's sticky braised pork belly buns are the perfect 3pm snack. Pickled mustard, fresh coriander and crunchy peanuts make up this gua bao dream from Wonderbao's A'Beckett street home. Splurge with some hot soya if you feel a cold coming on. Shop 4, 19-37 A'Beckett Street, CBD HERBED CHICKEN GOZLEME, GOZ CITY — $10 Regretting that lunchtime salad because you 'weren't hungry'? Do a runner down to Goz City, one of Melbourne's best Turkish takeaway joints. Warm timber and classic wooden stools make up this homey Lt Collins Street eatery, but if you don't have time to stop, grab your gozleme to go. Crammed with fresh herbs and tender chicken, Goz City's herbed chicken option is the ideal post-lunch filler. 502 Little Collins Street, CBD POTATO MAC AND CHEESE CROQUETTES, GRAND TRAILER PARK TAVERNA — $4.50 When the afternoon blues hit and you're in need of a delicious (preferably greasy) pick me up, there's really no time to skimp on carbs. Luckily, one of Melbourne's favourite burger joints also makes gloriously crispy snacks, which are perfect to snag on the go. The Grand Trailer Park Taverna's potato mac and cheese croquettes (pictured above in a burger) are stuffed with gooey cheesy goodness and piping hot potato — and they're guaranteed to make your afternoon considerably better. And at $4.20 a pop, you can grab two and still get change for a tenner. 87 Bourke Street, CBD LA GOURMANDE WAFFLE, WAFFLE ON — $9 If melted chocolate layered with fresh strawberries and topped with whipped cream doesn't make you happy on a bad day, I'm sorry — there's nothing we can do for you. But if it does, then you're in luck. Tucked between the sandwich shops in Degraves Street, Waffle On is a haven for work-weary Melburnians (as well as an occasional awkward date-spot.) Order a La Gourmande waffle (chocolate, strawberries and extra cream) when you're down in the dumps, and prepare to slip into a blissful post-waffle state. Shop 9, Degraves Street, CBD COFFEE AND DOUGHNUT, SHORTSTOP — $8 A doughnut a day won't keep the doctor away, but we'll pretend Shortstop's goodies do until further notice. Their magnificent sticky date and gingerbread doughnut combo is hellishly decadent, merging three of the best desserts together into one ridiculously delicious snack. You can also pick up your morning coffee in this deceptively small setup. Better yet, you can use your addiction to caffeine as an excuse to keep coming back. We certainly do. 12 Sutherland Street, CBD BBQ CHICKEN BAHN MI, PAPERBOY KITCHEN — $9.50 The humble bahn mi might be Melbourne's favourite takeaway roll. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, those of us true to Vietnamese baguettes munch away on the pickled vegetable and soy sauce combo. Paperboy Kitchen's BBQ chicken creation is perfect for your pesky second lunch craving. And while it isn't the dirt cheap bahn mi you can get elsewhere, it's got an edge you won't find in traditional offerings. Filled with marinated, free-range chicken and a killer sriracha-mayo combo, you'll be raring to go after dropping by Paperboy. 320 Little Lonsdale Street, CBD FETA, OREGANO AND GARLIC OIL CHIPS, JIMMY GRANTS — $7 Melburnian's can only resist the crispy comfort of deep fried chippies for so long. When you eventually cave to the urge, you might as well pick some of the best chips in Melbourne too. One of our favourite Greek restaurants, Jimmy Grants, is now located in the Emporium food court, and serves up fries layered with creamy feta, oregano and garlic oil. They're certainly good enough to warrant repeat visits. Many, many repeat visits. Emporium Cafe Court, 287 Lonsdale Street, CBD CINNAMON AND RAISIN BAGEL, 5 & DIME — $2 In all their hole-y, carb-filled glory, there's nothing quite like 5 & Dime bagels. If you haven't been to one of Melbourne's best bagel bakers at The Archway in Katherine Place yet, you've been doing coffee breaks wrong. Their cinnamon and raisin bagel is ideal for sweet tooths struggling with afternoon hunger pangs — and all you'll need is the change in your back pocket. For a laughably cheap two dollars, you might as well splurge and get housemade jam ($3.50) or seasonal fruit ($4.00) while you're there. 16 Katherine Place, CBD Borek image credit: avlxyz via Flickr; T-Roy Brown's image credit: clyde_yang via Instagram; Paperboy image credit: victoriatrian via Instagram
Looking for holiday accommodation with a little more oomph? Ever considered staying on a raft? With a sauna? In the town of Joensuu in eastern Finland, a bunch of mates have put their considerable DIY skills to good use. They've built a lake-worthy, multi-level raft with a sauna, named 'Saunalautta'. And next time you're in the mood for a floating holiday, you're welcome to rent it. This vessel is the ultimate year-round destination. Come winter (which, in Finland, means -20 degree temperatures), hang out in the sauna. Up to 15 people can warm up in there at once. Come summer, sprawl out on the upper deck. There's even a few hammocks, so you can get comfy with a book, and a viewing booth, affording 360 degree views. Not interested in lying around? Spend your break perfecting your 2 1/2 front flip from the dedicated, 5.7-metre high diving tower. Wondering how this Huckleberry Finn-esque contraption stays afloat? It's built on top of a series of recycled plastic drums. And what about going somewhere? A small outboard motor gets you moving. Both seasons, there's bunk space for five passengers to stay the night, a barbecue, a hot shower, a refrigerator and a sound system: basically everything you need to turn pirate for life. Hire isn't as expensive as you might think, starting at $410 a day. Head over here for more info, after you check out a few more snappies: Via Inhabitat.
Packing well for holidays is one of the vastly underrated artforms of our time. Knowing exactly what to bring and what to spend your dimes on before the actual trip takes a long-practiced, realistic ability to predict the weather, activities and highly Instagrammable moments of your future vacation. But not everyone's got the coin to drop on exxy designer threads before they land. So we've taken it upon ourselves to pack your suitcase with affordable goods, whether you're headed for a riotous camping adventure to your chosen annual music festival, hitting art galleries and destination restaurants on a cultural endeavour, or opting for the classic ol' beach holiday. Best bit? It's all from the one place — ASOS. And because they know some of the world's most keen travellers are penny-pinching students, they're offering a 20 percent discount just for students from Wednesday, February 23. THE MUSIC FESTIVAL CAMPING WEEKEND You've loaded up your rental (or pa-rental) car with tents, tarps and tinnies. You've pored over the festival timetable and listened up to the lineup. You're in full-on camping festival mode, and the trick here is to pack light, but pack smart. You've got to toe the line between statement pieces and everyday essentials — you'll need both for this adventure. Word to the wise? Leave the exxy cocktail dresses and dress shirts at home, but remember to bring pieces that make you happy; you'll be in them all day in the hot sun, pouring rain and occasional mud-slips. And bring more undies than you think you'll need. WOMENS ESSENTIALS Reclaimed Vintage Pull Over Hooded Festival Jacket $95 Cheap Monday Denim Short Dungarees $99 Pimkie Wellie Boot $34 MENS ESSENTIALS Nike Court T-Shirt 739479-100 $51 ASOS Check Shirt in Viscose With Long Sleeves $53 ASOS 5 Panel Cap In Black Canvas With Contrast Patch $26 THE ARTY CULTURE ADVENTURE Whether you're scooting between galleries, tasting All The Wine or sauntering through some serious shopping districts, culture adventures can be the trickiest for packing light. You'll want to bring every last pair of kickass shoes in your closet. You'll have plans to debut every new outfit you've recently impulse bought. But here's the thing, you're carrying your wardrobe with you. So choose a couple of pieces you can wear day-to-night and one pair of all-purpose, super fly shoes. That way you can throw more dosh on new pieces on your holiday shopping sprees. WOMENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Oversize T-Shirt Dress With Curved Hem $47 Glamorous Bell Sleeve Smock Dress With Festival Embroidery $51 ASOS OTTAWA Heels $74 MENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Super Longline Long Sleeve T-Shirt With Hooded Drape Neck $38 Reclaimed Vintage Drapey Duster Jacket $138 River Island Chukka Boots In Brown Faux Leather $95 THE CLASSIC BEACH HOLIDAY Towel, sunnies, bathers, sunscreen, book, beer. So begins the checklist for the age old beach holiday, the classic retreat for city slickers. This vacation's the easiest to pack light for, but that doesn't mean you have scrimp on style. Invest in a few new beachy staples and you'll be staging your own magazine shoots on your next ocean-bound road trip. Just remember to slip, slop, slap, wrap etc. WOMENS ESSENTIALS South Beach Mix and Match Wrap Cut Out Bikini Top $30 ASOS Stripe Rope Belted Beach Shirt Dress $60 ASOS Strappy Maxi Dress $38 MENS ESSENTIALS ASOS Mid Length Swim Shorts With Turtle Print $38 Base London Tiberius Leather Sandals $74 River Island Round Sunglasses In Silver $43
Usually, when a new year hits and Hollywood starts handing out shiny trophies for the best movies and television programs of the past 12 months, audiences are asked to get watching not once but twice. First, there's all of the ceremonies — and then there's the must-view list that springs from those newly anointed winners. The initial cab off the rank each year, the Golden Globes, did their thing for 2022 on Monday, January 10. This isn't a normal event for these accolades, however. After multiple controversies surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organisation behind the awards, the Globes weren't given out at a star-studded event. Plenty of films and TV shows still emerged victorious, though. Yes, even without sitting through the three-hour-plus televised ceremony, you still have a whole heap of freshly minted Globe-recipients to see — and you can watch most of them right now. Whether you're keen to hit the big screen to catch a filmic gem, stream a stellar flick or binge your way through an excellent series or two, here's 12 of the Globes' best winners that you can check out immediately. (And if you're wondering what else won, you can read through the full list, too.) MOVIE MUST-SEES THE POWER OF THE DOG Don't call it a comeback: Jane Campion's films have been absent from cinemas for 12 years but, due to miniseries Top of the Lake, she hasn't been biding her time in that gap. And don't call it simply returning to familiar territory, even if the New Zealand director's new movie features an ivory-tinkling woman caught between cruel and sensitive men, as her Cannes Palme d'Or-winner The Piano did three decades ago. Campion isn't rallying after a dip, just as she isn't repeating herself. She's never helmed anything less than stellar, and she's immensely capable of unearthing rich new pastures in well-ploughed terrain. With The Power of the Dog, Campion is at the height of her skills trotting into her latest mesmerising musing on strength, desire and isolation — this time via a venomous western that's as perilously bewitching as its mountainous backdrop. That setting is Montana, circa 1925. Campion's homeland stands in for America nearly a century ago, making a magnificent sight — with cinematographer Ari Wegner (Zola, True History of the Kelly Gang) perceptively spying danger in its craggy peaks and dusty plains even before the film introduces Rose and Peter Gordon (On Becoming a God in Central Florida's Kirsten Dunst and 2067's Kodi Smit-McPhee). When the widowed innkeeper and her teenage son serve rancher brothers Phil and George Burbank (Spider-Man: No Way Home's Benedict Cumberbatch a career-best, awards-worthy, downright phenomenal turn, plus Antlers' Jesse Plemons) during a cattle-run stop, the encounter seesaws from callousness to kindness, a dynamic that continues after Rose marries George and decamps to the Burbank mansion against that stunning backdrop. Brutal to the lanky, lisping Peter from the outset, Phil responds to the nuptials with malice. He isn't fond of change, and won't accommodate anything that fails his bristling definition of masculinity and power, either. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Director (Jane Campion) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Kirsten Dunst) The Power of the Dog is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. WEST SIDE STORY Tonight, tonight, there's only Steven Spielberg's lavish and dynamic version of West Side Story tonight — not to detract from or forget the 1961 movie of the same name. Six decades ago, an all-singing, all-dancing, New York City-set, gang war-focused spin on Romeo and Juliet leapt from stage to screen, becoming one of cinema's all-time classic musicals; however, remaking that hit is a task that Spielberg dazzlingly proves up to. It's his first sashay into the genre, despite making his initial amateur feature just three years after the original West Side Story debuted. It's also his first film since 2018's obnoxiously awful Ready Player One, which doubled as a how-to guide to crafting one of the worst, flimsiest and most bloated pieces of soulless pop-culture worship possible. But with this swooning, socially aware story of star-crossed lovers, Spielberg pirouettes back from his atrocious last flick by embracing something he clearly adores, and being unafraid to give it rhythmic swirls and thematic twirls. Shakespeare's own tale of tempestuous romance still looms large over West Side Story, as it always has — in fair NYC and its rubble-strewn titular neighbourhood where it lays its 1950s-era scene. The Jets and the Sharks aren't quite two households both alike in dignity, though. Led by the swaggering and dogged Riff (Mike Faist, a Tony-nominee for the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen), the Jets are young, scrappy, angry and full of resentment for anyone they fear is encroaching on their terrain. Meanwhile, with boxer Bernardo (David Alvarez, a Tony-winner for Billy Elliot) at the helm, the Sharks have tried to establish new lives outside of their native Puerto Rico through study, jobs and their own businesses. Both gangs refuse to coexist peacefully in the only part of New York where either feels at home — but it's a night at a dance, and the love-at-first-sight connection that blooms between Riff's best friend Tony (Ansel Elgort, The Goldfinch) and Bernardo's younger sister María (feature debutant Rachel Zegler), that sparks a showdown. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Rachel Zegler), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Ariana DeBose) Nominated: Best Director (Steven Spielberg) West Side Story is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. ENCANTO Five years after Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney first teamed up on an animated musical with the catchiest of tunes, aka Moana, they're back at it again with Encanto. To viewers eager for another colourful, thoughtful and engaging film — and another that embraces a particular culture with the heartiest of hugs, and is all the better for it — what can the past decade's most influential composer and biggest entertainment behemoth say except you're welcome? Both the Hamilton mastermind and the Mouse House do what they do best here. The songs are infectious, as well as diverse in style; the storyline follows a spirited heroine challenging the status quo; and the imagery sparkles. Miranda and Disney are both in comfortable territory, in fact — formulaic, sometimes — but Encanto never feels like they're monotonously beating the same old drum. Instruments are struck, shaken and otherwise played in the film's soundtrack, of course, which resounds with energetic earworms; the salsa beats of 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' are especially irresistible, and the Miranda-penned hip hop wordplay that peppers the movie's tunes is impossible to mentally let go. Spanning pop, ballads and more, all those songs help tell the tale of the Madrigals, a close-knit Colombian family who've turned generational trauma into magic. This is still an all-ages-friendly Disney flick, so there are limits to how dark it's willing to get; however, that Encanto fills its frames with a joyous celebration of Latin America and simultaneously recognises its setting's history of conflict is hugely significant. It also marks Walt Disney Animation Studios' 60th feature — dating back to 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — but its cultural specificity (depictions of Indigenous, Afro Latino and Colombian characters of other ethnicities included) is its bigger achievement. GLOBES Won: Best Motion Picture — Animated Nominated: Best Original Score — Motion Picture, Best Original Song — Motion Picture Encanto is currently screening in Australian cinemas, and is also available to stream via Disney+. Read our full review. DUNE A spice-war space opera about feuding houses on far-flung planets, Dune has long been a pop-culture building block. Before Frank Herbert's 1965 novel was adapted into a wrongly reviled David Lynch-directed film — a gloriously 80s epic led by Kyle MacLachlan and laced with surreal touches — it unmistakably inspired Star Wars, and also cast a shadow over Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Game of Thrones has since taken cues from it. The Riddick franchise owes it a debt, too. The list goes on and, thanks to the new version bringing its sandy deserts to cinemas, will only keep growing. As he did with Blade Runner 2049, writer/director Denis Villeneuve has once again grasped something already enormously influential, peered at it with astute eyes and built it anew — and created an instant sci-fi classic. This time, Villeneuve isn't asking viewers to ponder whether androids dream of electric sheep, but if humanity can ever overcome one of our worst urges and all that it brings. With an exceptional cast that spans Timothée Chalamet (The French Dispatch), Oscar Isaac (The Card Counter), Rebecca Ferguson (Reminiscence), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Javier Bardem (Everybody Knows), Zendaya (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and more, Dune tells of birthrights, prophesied messiahs, secret sisterhood sects that underpin the galaxy and phallic-looking giant sandworms, and of the primal lust for power that's as old as time — and, in Herbert's story, echoes well into the future's future. Its unpacking of dominance and command piles on colonial oppression, authoritarianism, greed, ecological calamity and religious fervour, like it is building a sandcastle out of power's nastiest ramifications. And, amid that weightiness — plus those spectacularly shot visuals and Hans Zimmer's throbbing score — it's also a tale of a moody teen with mind-control abilities struggling with what's expected versus what's right. GLOBES Won: Best Original Score — Motion Picture Nominated: Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director (Denis Villeneuve) Dune is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. NO TIME TO DIE James Bond might famously prefer his martinis shaken, not stirred, but No Time to Die doesn't quite take that advice. While the enterprising spy hasn't changed his drink order, the latest film he's in — the 25th official feature in the franchise across six decades, and the fifth and last that'll star Daniel Craig — gives its regular ingredients both a mix and a jiggle. The action is dazzlingly choreographed, a menacing criminal has an evil scheme and the world is in peril, naturally. Still, there's more weight in Craig's performance, more emotion all round, and a greater willingness to contemplate the stakes and repercussions that come with Bond's globe-trotting, bed-hopping, villain-dispensing existence. There's also an eagerness to shake up parts of the character and Bond template that rarely get a nudge. Together, even following a 19-month pandemic delay, it all makes for a satisfying blockbuster cocktail. For Craig, the actor who first gave Bond a 21st-century flavour back in 2006's Casino Royale (something Pierce Brosnan couldn't manage in 2002's Die Another Day), No Time to Die also provides a fulfilling swansong. That wasn't assured; as much as he's made the tuxedo, gadgets and espionage intrigue his own, the Knives Out and Logan Lucky actor's tenure has charted a seesawing trajectory. His first stint in the role was stellar and franchise-redefining, but 2008's Quantum of Solace made it look like a one-off. Then Skyfall triumphed spectacularly in 2012, before Spectre proved all too standard in 2015. Ups and downs have long been part of this franchise, depending on who's in the suit, who's behind the lens, the era and how far the tone skews towards comedy — but at its best, Craig's run has felt like it's building new levels rather than traipsing through the same old framework. GLOBES Won: Best Original Song — Motion Picture No Time to Die is currently screening in Australian cinemas. Read our full review. TICK, TICK... BOOM! "Try writing what you know." That's age-old advice, dispensed to many a scribe who hasn't earned the success or even the reaction they'd hoped, and it's given to aspiring theatre composer Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield, Under the Silver Lake) in Tick, Tick… Boom!. The real-life figure would go on to write Rent but here, in New York City in January 1990, he's working on his debut musical Superbia. It's a futuristic satire inspired by George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and it's making him anxious about three things. Firstly, he hasn't yet come up with a pivotal second-act song that he keeps being told he needs. Next, he's staging a workshop for his debut production to gauge interest before the week is out — and this just has to be his big break. Finally, he's also turning 30 in days, and his idol Stephen Sondheim made his Broadway debut in his 20s. Tick, Tick… Boom! charts the path to those well-worn words of wisdom about drawing from the familiar, including Larson's path to the autobiographical one-man-show of the same name before Rent. And, it manages to achieve that feat while showing why such a sentiment isn't merely a cliche in this situation. That said, the key statement about mining your own experience also echoes throughout this affectionate movie musical in another unmissable way. Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't write Tick, Tick… Boom!'s screenplay; however, he does turn it into his filmmaking directorial debut — and what could be more fitting for that task from the acclaimed In the Heights and Hamilton talent than a loving ode (albeit an inescapably overexcited one) to the hard work put in by a game-changing theatre wunderkind? GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Andrew Garfield) Nominated: Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy Tick, Tick… Boom! is available to stream via Netflix. Read our full review. SMALL SCREEN BINGES SUCCESSION For fans of blistering TV shows about wealth, power, the vast chasm between the rich and everyone else, and the societal problems that fester due to such rampant inequality, 2021 has been a fantastic year. The White Lotus fit the bill, as did Squid Game, but Succession has always been in its own league. In the 'eat the rich' genre, the HBO drama sits at the top of the food chain as it chronicles the extremely lavish and influential lives of the Roy family. No series slings insults as brutally; no show channels feuding and backstabbing into such an insightful and gripping satire of the one percent, either. Finally back on our screens after a two-year gap between its second and third seasons, Succession doesn't just keep plying its astute and addictive battles and power struggles — following season two's big bombshell, it keeps diving deeper. The premise has remained the same since day one, with Logan Roy's (Brian Cox, Super Troopers 2) kids Kendall (Jeremy Strong, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Shiv (Sarah Snook, Pieces of a Woman), Roman (Kieran Culkin, No Sudden Move) and Connor (Alan Ruck, Gringo) vying to take over the family media empire. This brood's tenuous and tempestuous relationship only gets thornier with each episode, and its examination of their privileged lives — and what that bubble has done to them emotionally, psychologically and ideologically — only grows in season three. It becomes more addictive, too. There's no better show currently on TV, and no better source of witty dialogue. And there's no one turning in performances as layered as Strong, Cox, Snook, Culkin, J Smith-Cameron (Search Party), Matthew Macfadyen (The Assistant) and Nicholas Braun (Zola). GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Jeremy Strong), Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role (Sarah Snook) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Brian Cox), Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Kieran Culkin) All three seasons of Succession are available to stream via Binge. SQUID GAME Exploring societal divides within South Korea wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but its success was always going to give other films and TV shows on the topic a healthy boost. Accordingly, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between the acclaimed movie and Netflix's highly addictive Squid Game — the show that's become the platform's biggest show ever (yes, bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton). Anyone who has seen even an episode knows why this nine-part series is so compulsively watchable. Its puzzle-like storyline and its unflinching savagery making quite the combination. Here, in a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup, 456 competitors are selected to work their way through six seemingly easy children's games. They're all given numbers and green tracksuits, they're competing for 45.6 billion won, and it turns out that they've also all made their way to the contest after being singled out for having enormous debts. That includes series protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, Deliver Us From Evil), a chauffeur with a gambling problem, and also a divorcé desperate to do whatever he needs to to keep his daughter in his life. But, as it probes the chasms caused by capitalism and cash — and the things the latter makes people do under the former — this program isn't just about one player. It's about survival, the status quo the world has accepted when it comes to money, and the real inequality present both in South Korea and elsewhere. Filled with electric performances, as clever as it is compelling, unsurprisingly littered with smart cliffhangers, and never afraid to get bloody and brutal, the result is a savvy, tense and taut horror-thriller that entertains instantly and also has much to say. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Oh Yeong-su) Nominated: Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Lee Jung-jae) Squid Game is available to stream via Netflix. TED LASSO A sports-centric sitcom that's like a big warm hug, Ted Lasso belongs in the camp of comedies that focus on nice and caring people doing nice and caring things. Parks and Recreation is the ultimate recent example of this subgenre, as well as fellow Michael Schur-created favourite Brooklyn Nine-Nine — shows that celebrate people supporting and being there for each other, and the bonds that spring between them, to not just an entertaining but to a soul-replenishing degree. As played by Jason Sudeikis (Booksmart), the series' namesake is all positivity, all the time. A small-time US college football coach, he scored an unlikely job as manager of British soccer team AFC Richmond in the show's first season, a job that came with struggles. The ravenous media wrote him off instantly, the club was hardly doing its best, owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham, Sex Education) had just taken over the organisation as part of her divorce settlement, and veteran champion Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein, Uncle) and current hotshot Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster, Judy) refused to get along. Ted's upbeat attitude does wonders, though. In Ted Lasso's also-excellent second season, however, he finds new team psychologist Dr Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles, I May Destroy You) an unsettling presence. You definitely don't need to love soccer or even sport to fall for this show's ongoing charms, to adore its heartwarming determination to value banding together and looking on the bright side, and to love its depiction of both male tenderness and supportive female friendships (which is where Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's Juno Temple comes in). In fact, this is the best sitcom currently in production. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy (Jason Sudeikis) Nominated: Best Television Series — Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role (Hannah Waddingham), Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role (Brett Goldstein) Ted Lasso's first and second seasons are available to stream via Apple TV+. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Two words: Barry Jenkins. Where the Oscar-nominated Moonlight director goes, viewers should always follow. That proved the case with 2018's If Beale Street Could Talk, and it's definitely accurate regarding The Underground Railroad, the phenomenal ten-part series that features Jenkins behind the camera of each and every episode. As the name makes plain, the historical drama uses the real-life Underground Railroad — the routes and houses that helped enslaved Black Americans escape to freedom — as its basis. Here, though, drawing on the past isn't as straightforward as it initially sounds. Adapting Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same moniker, the series dives deeply into the experiences of people endeavouring to flee slavery, while also adopting magic-realism when it comes to taking a literal approach to its railroad concept. That combination couldn't work better in Jenkins' hands as he follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu, Shuga), a woman forced into servitude on a plantation overseen by Terrance Randall (Benjamin Walker, Jessica Jones). As always proves the case in the filmmaker's work, every frame is a thing of beauty, every second heaves with emotion, and every glance, stare, word and exchange is loaded with a thorough examination of race relations in America. Nothing else this affecting reached streaming queues in 2021 — but even one series like this made it a phenomenal year for audiences. GLOBES Won: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television The Underground Railroad is available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. HACKS It sounds like an obvious premise, and one that countless films and TV shows have already mined in the name of laughs. In Hacks, two vastly dissimilar people are pushed together, with the resulting conflict guiding the series. Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, North Hollywood) and her new boss Deborah Vance (Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown) couldn't be more different in age, experience, tastes and opinions. The former is a 25-year-old who made the move to Hollywood, has been living out her dream as a comedy writer, but found her career plummeting after a tweet crashed and burned. The latter is a legendary stand-up who hasn't stopped hitting the stage for decades, is approaching the 2500th show of her long-running Las Vegas residency and is very set in her ways. They appear to share exactly one thing in common: a love for comedy. They're an odd couple thrust together by their mutual manager Jimmy (Paul W Downs, Broad City), neither wants to be working with the other, and — to the surprise of no one, including each other — they clash again and again. There's no laugh track adding obvious chuckles to this HBO sitcom, though. Created by three of the talents behind Broad City — writer Jen Statsky; writer/director Lucia Aniello; and Downs, who does double duty in front of and behind the lens — Hacks isn't solely interested in setting two seemingly mismatched characters against each other. This is a smart and insightful series about what genuinely happens when this duo spends more and more time together, what's sparked their generational conflict and what, despite their evident differences, they actually share beyond that love of making people laugh. And, it's a frank, funny and biting assessment of being a woman in entertainment — and it's also always as canny as it is hilarious. GLOBES Won: Best Television Series — Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy (Jean Smart) Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy (Hannah Einbinder) Hacks is available to stream via Stan. Read our full review. MARE OF EASTTOWN Kate Winslet doesn't make the leap to the small screen often, but when she does, it's a must-see event. 2011's Mildred Pierce was simply astonishing, a description that both Winslet and her co-star Guy Pearce also earned — alongside an Emmy each, plus three more for the HBO limited series itself. The two actors and the acclaimed US cable network all reteamed for Mare of Easttown, and it too is excellent. Set on the outskirts of Philadelphia, it follows detective Mare Sheehan. As the 25th anniversary of her high-school basketball championship arrives, and after a year of trying to solve a missing person's case linked to one of her former teammates, a new murder upends her existence. Mare's life overflows with complications anyway, with her ex-husband (David Denman, Brightburn) getting remarried, and her mother (Jean Smart, Hacks), teenage daughter (Angourie Rice, Spider-Man: Far From Home) and four-year-old grandson all under her roof. With town newcomer Richard Ryan (Pearce, The Last Vermeer), she snatches what boozy and physical solace she can. As compelling and textured as she always is, including in this year's Ammonite, Winslet turns Mare of Easttown into a commanding character study. That said, it's firmly an engrossing crime drama as well. Although yet again pondering the adult life of an ex-school sports star, The Way Back's Brad Ingelsby isn't just repeating himself by creating and writing this seven-part series, while The Leftovers and The Hunt's Craig Zobel takes to his directing gig with a probing eye. GLOBES Won: Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Kate Winslet) Nominated: Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Mare of Easttown is available to stream via Binge.
In the depths of a long, frosty Melbourne winter, there's nothing sweeter than a belly-warming sip of rich hot chocolate. Of course, this is Melbourne, so there's every chance that whichever hot chocolate you choose will actually be an amped-up version of the standard. Think warm drinks infused with spices, piled high with jazzy extras or served deconstructed, arriving at your table in a haze of smoke. Just how creative can the humble hot chocolate get? Hit these Melbourne cafés to find out. BOOZY MÖRK HOT CHOCOLATE FROM TRANSFORMER Constantly reminding us that vegetarian food can be just as fun and fancy as the meaty stuff, Fitzroy's Transformer is knocking up a hot chocolate creation as decadent as any other around town. It's grown-up too, featuring a boozy hit of Sailor Jerry to really warm those cockles. What lands at the table is almost too pretty to destroy — a mousse-like mix of Mörk chocolate, peppermint, orange and cinnamon, topped with an edible flower and waiting to be doused with the accompanying blend of almond milk and rum. Added bonus: your vegan mates can drink it too. FAIRY FLOSS HOT CHOCOLATE FROM HASH SPECIALTY COFFEE If you need proof that Hash's flair for experimentation extends beyond specialty coffee and creative cafe fare, look no further than its most attention-grabbing (and relatively Instagram famous) hot chocolate creation. Arriving at the table as a bottle of rich, liquid chocolate and a cup holding a huge tower of fairy floss, this show-stopper promises to add a bit of theatre to your cafe session. The fun here lies in the pour — drizzle that molten mess over the mountain of sugar and watch it all capsize into a pool of decadence, with the sweet and bitter elements balanced in perfect harmony. WEEKLY CHANGING HOT CHOCOLATE SPECIAL FROM DARLING ST ESPRESSO Darling St Espresso is always keen to push the envelope a little bit further, both on their menu of clever brunch eats and across a tempting selection of liquid offerings. To sit alongside its classic hot choccie with toasted marshmallows and a white-chocolate-meets-fairy-floss version, the Moonee Ponds cafe is dreaming up a new, slightly outrageous hot chocolate special each week. Bound to cause some serious drink envy, these beauts come teamed with some very snazzy additions — expect the likes of a Ferrero Rocher-infused hot chocolate with peanut praline and a Nutella-filled waffle cone, and a cookies and cream number made on creamy white hot chocolate and piled high with Oreo pieces, chocolate bits and whipped cream. And, yes, one with pop rocks too. CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE FROM MÖRK CHOCOLATE BREW HOUSE If chocolate heaven exists, it's located on Errol Street in North Melbourne, at Mörk's specialty chocolate brewhouse. These guys are serving up cacao's answer to the specialty coffee movement, with their cafe "dedicated entirely to the art of liquid chocolate". Here, you'll find no shortage of mind-blowing hot chocolate variations to send your sweet tooth into a tizz, though the cult favourite Campfire Chocolate is a must. This one's a multi-sensory, DIY situation — pour thick, liquid chocolate over a glass filled with smoke, sprinkle over a pinch of the house-smoked salt, dip in the accompanying scorched marshmallow and find yourself transported to straight to some roaring campfire in the woods. MEGA HOT CHOCOLATE FROM UNCLE DREW Think of this monster hot chocolate from Clifton Hill cafe Uncle Drew as the freakshake reimagined for a winter audience. An absolute whopper of a drink, it's got more ingredients than a MasterChef Pressure Test, and will probably take you just as long to finish. The impressive arrangement features a smoothie jar of lush hot chocolate, crowned with a full-sized brownie, a pile of whipped cream, toasted marshmallows and a hefty drizzle of melted chocolate. Best arrive hungry for this one.
“People are realising that they’ve become pretty disconnected from their food — where it comes from, who grows it and what goes into it,” says Indira Naidoo. “And that’s why a lot of people are growing their own. They’re learning to grow organically, without pesticides, and discovering the taste is so much better because the food is grown fresh and picked as you need it, without storage or refrigeration or transportation.” Since transforming her inner-city balcony into a fresh feast, Indira has been promoting Australia's urban farming revolution. In her new book, The Edible City, she visits some of the nation’s most productive community gardens, including a rooftop retreat for Sydney's homeless, a bush-tucker patch connecting Indigenous school students with their heritage and a worm farm helping a Melbourne restaurant to reduce food waste. In the process, Indira gives readers inspiration and tips for starting their own projects, as well as 40 urban garden recipes. The Edible City follows her popular growers guide for beginners, The Edible Balcony. “More and more, our cities are becoming about concrete and steel,” she says. “There aren’t too many green spaces around. So starting a community garden is a beautiful way to connect with nature. And it’s also a place where you can make social connections. With iPhones, and travelling in cars, we are really isolated from our communities and disconnected from our neighbours. But gardens allow us to work towards something together.” Indira shared with us five of her top tips for starting an urban garden — be it your own project or a community venture. YOU’VE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO POT BEFORE YOU LEARN HOW TO FARM “I think the first mistake that new gardeners make is that they can get a bit too enthusiastic. They go to their garden centre or hardware store and pick up lots and lots of seedlings and things – tomatoes and capsicums and chillis – and head back and plant a lot of stuff. And it gets overwhelming and a bit out of control. So, I recommend starting small. “Start with some woody herbs, like oregano, rosemary and thyme. They’re hardy. They don’t need as much water and they can take higher heat or higher cold. Then move onto soft-leafed, green herbs, like basil and parsley, and then lettuce. After that, try tomatoes and fruit, and then root vegetables.” FIND THE RIGHT SPACE — AND SIZE DOESN’T MATTER “The key thing is to find the right space to grow in. Make sure that it gets at least six to seven hours of sunlight per day. Vegetables love sunlight. You need a water source as well, whether that’s a watering can or hose. “If you don’t have much space, grow in pots and choose plants that you eat a lot of. I eat plenty of salads and greens and herbs. So, on my window sill, I have one long, thin, pot that fits nicely, and sits on a little tray, so it catches the water. I put all my lettuces in and just give them a bit of water every morning. It’s so easy. I pick the outer leaves and the plant keeps growing, so one can last me three or four months. It’s perfect. If you have more space, for a bigger pot on the ground, put in a tomato seedling – a cherry variety. They’re fun and delicious. Nothing tastes better than a home-grown tomato.” ONLY GROW WHAT YOU HAVE TIME FOR – AND STAY REGULAR “Think about how much time you have. I set aside about ten minutes a day for my plants. I’ve got about thirty pots and they keep me busy enough. Don’t put in too many if you don’t have much time. “Once you start planting, make sure you do things systematically. A garden needs regular attention. You can’t just look after things on a Wednesday and then ignore them for two weeks. You don’t need a lot of time, but you do have to be noticing changes daily or every second day, doing some watering, doing some weeding and checking for bugs or pests. It’s about putting in a little care over a period of time.” PROMOTE PLANT HEALTH TO KEEP THE BUGS AT BAY “Plants are just like humans. When you get run down, that’s when you get sick. So, if you keep your plants healthy – if you feed them well, make sure they’re in nutritious soil, fertilise them every two weeks – they’re less likely to get a bug problem. “I like using organic sprays, like Neem. They don’t harm the environment, so you still have good bugs in your pots, but they do put off an odour that moths and butterflies don’t like, so they don’t lay their eggs. And I also do a lot of companion planting. Bugs don’t like the smell of marigolds, so I put them around my basil. Sage and rosemary are good like that, too. “But you can always get bug problems, even if you’re the best gardener in the world. Insects are amazing colonisers and they find a way to get into everything. So, don’t get too despondent. I just say to myself, ‘Oh well I’m giving food to other creatures on the planet.’” GET THE TIMING RIGHT “As I explain in [Edible Balcony and Edible City], most vegetables are season-sensitive, so there’s only a few you could plant all through the year without any problem. It’s important to look at the seed packet or the little label on the seedling. “The beginning of spring is a really good time for planting across most of Australia. It’s perfect for greens, tomatoes, capsicum, chilli, eggplant ... You can put your seeds or seedlings directly into your beds or pots. I’ve a got a sunny windowsill, where I have a seed-growing tray, with a seed-growing mix which is lighter and sandier than normal potting mix. So I just pop in a few seeds and wait for them to germinate.” Tour Europe's urban gardens with Indira Naidoo in 2016 In 2016, Indira will travel to Europe to visit urban gardens in four cities – London, Amsterdam, Vienna and Berlin. And you’re invited. “It’s a way to show people that there are cities (unlike in Australia, sadly), where urban growing is taken very seriously. As the UN says, 20 percent of our food now comes from urban farms around the world, and there are lots of spaces we don’t think of that work – like underground tunnels for growing mushrooms and aquaponics systems. It’s just extraordinary, all the ways that we can grow food in cities, close to where we live.” Indira's book, The Edible City, is out now through Penguin Books.
After ten years of operation in Brisbane and some fire damage to its Melbourne outpost, Japanese restaurant Shinbashi Yakiniku has been up and running again in Carlton since 2018. Its obsessions are indicated in the name: yakiniku means 'Japanese barbecue', while Shinbashi is a district in Tokyo where locals love their barbecue and eateries bustling with ravenous white collar workers abound. Shinbashi Yakiniku specialises in wagyu sourced from well-known locals, such as David Blackmore and Sher Wagyu. Among the most popular dishes are the wagyu deluxe trio (oyster blade, short rib and marbled beef), the M7+ Wagyu Dice and the M9+ Wagyu Striploin. There's also plenty of lamb, pork, chicken, seafood and sides, as well as a selection of vegetarian dishes — all of which will be cooked at your table, either by you or a member of staff. And, in excellent news for big appetites, the restaurant is serving up all-you-can-eat Japanese barbecue three nights a week. Drop by on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evening to tuck into bottomless barbecued delights. There are more than 50 dishes on the menu and you're welcome to make your way through all of them for 60 bucks. On other nights, you'll be feasting a la carte. If you're a sake master, conquer the Daiginjo, a 1.8-litre bottle, or take your pick of the many other sakes on the drinks list. Alternatively, go for umeshu or a Japanese beer. With designers Amy Pierce and Nat Widera having taken care of the interior with cool greys and clean lines, Shinbashi Yakiniku offers a tranquil, Zen-inspired refuge from Melbourne's busy streets.
One of the first recorded reports of the Negroni came from Orson Welles in 1947. While working in Rome, he wrote, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." Sixty years later, bartenders and home cocktail enthusiasts are still perfecting the Negroni. And after so long, people get confident. And creative. And they make ridiculous things that we want to inhale with vacuum force. Here are five awesome takes on the Negroni, most of which aren't actually Negronis but have all the right ingredients — gin, Campari and vermouth. Bottoms up. THE GRUMPY NEGRONI Sydney's Grumpy Donuts are getting in on the Negroni Week action, with a special edition doughnut version. 'The Grumpy Negroni' is covered in a freshly squeezed orange and gin glaze, and filled with a Campari spiked creme patissiere. This doughnut creation will be available via the Hey You app on Wednesday, June 8. Orders will open at 10am. The doughnuts will be available in boxes of four, for $20 including delivery within the CBD only — World Square to Circular Quay, including Barangaroo, while stocks last. Grumpy Donuts will be donating $2 per doughnut (or $8 per box) to the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, the only not-for-profit pound in Sydney. Legends. NEGRONI BREWNUT Sydney's Brewtown Newtown is getting in the spirit of Negroni Week this year with their own Negroni Brewnut. This croissant-doughnut hybrid comes coated in a blood orange sugar, topped with a lightly bitter Negroni cream, and finished with blood orange meringue, Campari gelée (gel) and dehydrated citrus. It'll be available to smoosh into your face for $6 for the length of Negroni Week exclusively at Brewtown. [caption id="attachment_573609" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Butter & Scotch.[/caption] NEGRONI PIE You can have your Negroni and eat it too with this adorable dessert version of the cocktail. Brooklyn bakery Butter & Scotch has created the ultimate boozy after-dinner adventure. According to B&S, the pie has "bittersweet custard infused with orange zest and a hefty pour of botanical gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari liqueur, all cradled inside a flaky all-butter crust. Top with a dollop of whipped cream for an unusual, delicious, and boozy treat!" [caption id="attachment_573607" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Pear & Ash.[/caption] NEGRONI ICE CREAM SANDWICH New York City's Pearl & Ash has taken our cocktail hero next-level. Chef Richard Kuo is the brains behind this Negroni-inspired ice cream sandwich, a boozy confection involving Campari-infused ice cream, gin and semi-sweet vermouth rosso, smooshed between thin pieces of orange-vanilla cake. [caption id="attachment_572288" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Hawthorn Lounge.[/caption] CHOCOLATE NEGRONI Wellington's Hawthorn Lounge shakes things up, Negroni-wise. Snuggle into a Chesterfield lounge by the fireplace at this cosy little '30s-style speakeasy, and roll the dice on a special edition experiment. Bar wizard Jamie has created a fresh and chocolatey take on the Negroni, with Aperol and Ramazotti taking the place of Campari. It'll set you back $18 and a cheeky airfare. [caption id="attachment_573613" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Craftsman and Wolves.[/caption] NEGRONI MARSHMELLOWS Another way to eat your Negroni! Weeeee! San Fransisco's Craftsman and Wolves is a contemporary patisserie making 'seasonal marshmellows' — and they've done a Negroni version for past Negroni Weeks. Adorable little striped layers of fluffy, sugary handmade glory. Not easily shared. [caption id="attachment_573616" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Humphry Slocombe.[/caption] NEGRONI ICE BLOCKS Freezing your favourite cocktail is the best way to turn your regular dessert cocktail into an actual dessert, which you can pair with an actual cocktail. San Francisco ice cream parlour Humphry Slocombe made these awesome little Negroni Ice Pops for Negroni Week last year. Consider these perpetually in our freezer next summer. Want an actual Negroni? Negroni Week 2016 runs from June 6 – 12. Check out our list of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane's best.
The Christchurch food scene is better than it has ever been. It's vibrant, quirky, sophisticated and in touch with the land. From fresh produce picked up at the local farmers' markets to the many restaurants, cafes and food trucks, there are opportunities for good eating experiences all over Christchurch. It's a place to come and enjoy food made with the best produce from the land and ocean, with respect for local farmers and producers. Christchurch's wealth of produce has made it the home of food foraging groups and ConversatioNZ, a movement initiated by chefs, restauranteurs, producers and writers in the food industry aiming to highlight the quality and vast array of spectacular food and edible resources available in New Zealand. It was hard to choose, but here are five of our favourite places to eat at in Christchurch. SUPREME SUPREME Saying something twice emphasises its meaning. This is certainly the case at Supreme Supreme, a cafe, coffee school and wholesale coffee venue within a stone's throw of Christchurch's city centre. Coffee Supreme has been producing particularly fine specialty coffee since the 1990's, first in Wellington, then moving on to Christchurch and Melbourne. Supreme Supreme is equipped with a full kitchen and bakery, offering tasty breakfast and lunch fare made from scratch using locally-sourced ingredients. The eatery arm of their venture continues their attention to detail and good taste. In past lives, the venue was a Land Rover dealership and the Hop Yick Asian Food Warehouse — the vibe now is of a futuristic and minimal diner. ROOTS RESTAURANT Whatever you do, don't forget to visit the port town of Lyttelton on a trip to Christchurch — the award-winning Roots Restaurant is only twenty minutes away, and it's not to be missed. The 2015 Restaurant of the Year is an eating adventure savoured by those who enjoy food gathered and made with commitment and love. The menu at Giulio and Christy Sturla's intimate 30-seater eatery encompasses what's fresh from the kitchen garden, nearby local growers and farmers. The five-, eight- and 12-course degustation menus showcase ingredients that reflect the seasons. Sit in the peaceful private garden or in one of two cosy dining rooms. THE LAST WORD With its Spanish Mission facades, New Regent Street has long been a favourite shopping spot for Christchurch locals. Recent times have seen a burgeoning of bars, restaurants and cafes pop up in this quirky little space. One of the standouts is definitely The Last Word. With two floors of ambient retro sophistication, this is the place to go for some quiet reflection or intimate conversation over a cocktail. Indeed, the whisky list is a veritable library collection of greats, curated with love and knowledge. Try a glass of their 19-year-old Glendronach vintage single cask; a crisp citrus twist flows through sherry poached pears and ripe yellow plums with a warming white pepper spice finish. THE MONDAY ROOM If ever there was a place to get a cocktail in Christchurch, it's at The Monday Room. Think many variations on the Bloody Mary and pages of cocktail puns. Housed in one of the oldest standing buildings in Christchurch, you'll be enveloped by the rich and opulent atmosphere whether you're there for brunch, dessert or anything in between. The locally-grown and organic-inspired menu is expertly executed by head chef Hannah Cooper-Grieve and showcases some of Canterbury's finest meat, seafood and produce. The wine list is all biodynamic and organic, and favours local vineyards, particularly those 45 minutes away in Waipara. SMASH PALACE Smash Palace started as a bus converted into a bar on Victoria Street, but it has now found more permanent digs on High Street in Christchurch. The famous beer hall, and the bus for that matter, are key factors in the success of the joint. On a sunny day the outdoor courtyard is packed with people enjoying a beverage. A family business, Smash Palace is dedicated to craft beer, local wine and the community, aiming to bring more of one to the other. They also serve some of the city's best made-from-scratch burgers in house-made buns. Maybe you've been to New Zealand's North Island, but have you ever ventured down South? Christchurch, and New Zealand's surrounding Canterbury region, is the perfect place for a quick holiday. Use our planning guide to book your trip, then sort out your itinerary with our adventure, nature and relaxation guides. Top image: Roots Restaurant.
Mrs Kim's Grill has been serving up authentic Korean fare in Richmond since 2013, with a special focus on traditional methods of marinating meat — with a hint of nostalgia and homesickness. The food here is delightful and the service friendly and charming, making this one of the best Korean barbecue joints in Melbourne. The damn good marinades are whats sets Mrs Kim's apart from the other Korean options around town — they're also a strictly guarded secret. From the grill, enjoy everything from butter garlic prawns to chilli marinated pork belly of soy marinated chicken. The highlight however is the 200g wagyu which is clearly of the highest quality. The marble on these badd boys is next level. You can make a feast of the dining experience at Mrs Kim's Grill, starting with entrees like the kimchi pork soup, beef brisket and soy bean soup, and sweet chilli Korean fried chicken and adding a few salads. We suggest the smoked salmon and onion salad which is delightfully light and fresh. Add chopped chilli and garlic as you please. Vegetarians also have a few good options. These include the butter garlic corn, the mushrooms with garlic butter or the veg mix with a mountain of cheese on top. The set menus are for two and include the beef heavy 'Moo Set' with marinated galbi beef ribs, skirt teak and a choice of salads, while the 'Chilli Cluck Cluck Set' is a chicken option with a 400g chilli chicken as well as salads and rice. There is no veggie set menu though, so best to order off the a la carte. There are also all-you-can-eat menus for the especially hungry — only costing $45 per person for the bulgogi option, $59 for the seafood and steak feast and $69 for the premium wagyu barbecue buffet. Go ham on all cuts of protein, salads and sides for 90 minutes, testing the limit of your waistband. Pair it all with a few bottles of wine from home — Mrs Kim's Grill has a BYO license for wine only — and you're set for a fab and affordable night out with mates.
Clare Valley, only a few hours drive from Adelaide, is the gourmet food bowl of Australia. The regions brown, loamy soil produces world-famous drops of Shiraz and even more famous drops of Riesling, not to mention their bonkers local produce. During Gourmet Weekend, Clare Valley comes alive with hundreds of events at local cellar doors, wineries and restaurants that run the gamut from five course sit-downs to Mexican food truck parties with live music. The region has accommodation to suits all budgets, from a family friendly caravan park to kitted out cabins for groups who want to party on a winery all weekend.
This sushi bar/supermarket is the mysterious Japanese food repository you never knew you needed. If you're looking to make something yourself, the shelves are your friend. Find anything from koroke to katsu, gyoza to green tea Kit Kats, and a mammoth amount of bottled sauces and everything you need to make ramen. Oh, and sake and shochu. Over at the sushi counter, a range of 89 options will be available. There are more traditional varieties like your sashimi and nigiri platters, and then more unique creations like the salmon aioli with squid and egg salad. Th packs include a maki mix of hoso maki, cucumber shake, ebi, tekka and avocado while the deka maki packs include a California vegetarian option with avocado, takuan, kanpya, shiitake mushrooms, cucumber, mayonnaise and seaweed salad. From the a la carte menu try the stunning inari DX prawn with white salad or the lightly seared mackerel. The platers are large and designed to be shared with the sixty piece hoso maki platter the perfect option for a group booking. From the pantry enjoy hard to find treats such as yuzu jam, buckwheat soba noodles, Japanese craft gin and handcrafted chilli oil.
It's a self-described road trip across Europe. A celebration of the unusual and unexpected in cuisine, technique and style. On paper, everything about executive chef Ashley Davis' Seddon restaurant Copper Pot shouldn't work. Instead, the chef — who's previously been awarded two Michelin stars while heading the kitchen at London's Hélène Darroze — proves again why he, his team and menu are worthy of award. The road trip menu ($65) at Copper Pot is, as Davis describes, his European 'best of'. But this is no slapstick compilation. Each dish is transportive and shows respect for the recipe in its native form. The medley opens with a serving of sourdough and schmaltz, a traditional spread made from the rendered fat of both pork and duck. Davis ad-libs with fresh herbs, dill and parsley, and a little pork crackling for texture — a small tweak to cater for an Australian palate. It is a surprisingly light combination, and an unusual alternative to a buttered bread roll. Positively, it catches the diner off-guard. The Copper Pot team show a real dedication and belief in their cause. If the produce is not ready to come out of the ground, then they will not use it. You should expect the menu to be malleable as a result. There is also an emphasis on local and gathered ingredients. A wing of kingfish is paired with fried saltbush, foraged from local Melbourne beaches by the chefs themselves. The effect is exquisite — you can't help but feel a sudden pop in your lizard brain, placing you on the beach, salt in your hair and surf lapping at your ankles. The techniques used to prepare the dishes — originating from France to Spain to Italy, and occasionally the more obscure — are all applied with absolute precision. It doesn't seem unusual, nor out of place, to enjoy a Catalonian-style pig's head croquette, followed by wild mushrooms and ricotta gnudi dumplings. The real litmus test though was dessert: crème brûlée. A recipe that Davis has been cooking for 17 years, and one that leaves nowhere to hide mistakes. That first satisfying crack of your spoon against the hardened caramel has to be as pleasurable as anything one could experience in this world. Copper Pot Seddon is delightfully unpretentious. The feeling throughout is cosy, and their passionate staff only help to complete the experience. A knowledgeable sommelier makes the road trip wine pairing essential ($50 extra). If you do require an after-dinner caffeine hit, you'll be pleased to know that they're serving Market Lane espresso (from $3.40), brewed exclusively using the French press method. In all, Copper Pot is memorable experience that will keep you coming back.
There's a moment when you're eating an Alaskan king crab roll flying fish roe in soy paper in a CBD basement that you become smugly aware that Melbourne's restaurant scene had a strong start to 2017. It's not every year that begins with a three-storey palace of Japanese food, one floor of which has a wall of wine and a 12-person omakase table. Or a cafe that serves churros and croquettes for a tapas-only breakfast. Or a Albert Camus-inspired Algerian restaurant with some of the best goat you've ever had. With so many openings hitting the city in a six-month period, we whittled it down to our favourite newcomers raising the bar for Melbourne's hospitality scene. Well, our favourites so far — and there's still another six months to go.
If you've been looking for a reason to go away for the weekend, block off a couple of days in March and enter this competition for your chance to head to Canberra for Enlighten 2017. Touted as the original Vivid, Enlighten celebrates art, culture, music, performance and innovation. Held in Canberra's iconic Parliamentary Triangle, the event site is transformed into a buzzing hub of activity, with spectacular architectural projections on iconic national attractions and a programme of free and ticketed interactive performance and installation works. We're giving away return flights for two from your nearest capital city, one night of accommodation at The Avenue Hotel Canberra, chauffeured transport and food and drink vouchers to use while you're there. The best bit: you'll be the one to flick the switch and turn on all the lights at Enlighten 2017. Over each weekend from March 3-12, the city will light up with live music, performances, events and exclusive exhibitions. Large-scale projections will bring to life Canberra icons including the National Portrait Gallery, Australian Parliament House, National Library of Australia, National Gallery of Australia and Questacon. Highlight events from the programme include the amazing, interactive digital architectural projections splashed across the National Portrait Gallery, the Enlighten Night Noodle Markets (which based on Canberra's population should be significantly less hectic than the Sydney version, meaning you'll be able to jump in and eat as many dumplings as you can) and Sunset on the Roof — drinks, music and snacks at the Australian Parliament House's rooftop bar for two nights only (March 3 and 11). A glowing, black-light, industrial 'dance zone' is popping up in a high-security factory production corridor on March 3. DJ Robot Citizen will lead the charge in showcasing Canberra's underground dark-electronic music scene on the night (who knew), and high-vis vests and glow-sticks will be supplied. Visit Enlighten 2017 and delve into the whole programme. After that, enter your details below and say yes to the terms and conditions to go into the running to win. [competition]606686[/competition]
Melbourne Festival is back in all its singing, dancing and performative glory for another year. As always, Melb Fest is delivering a lineup slammed with gigs, theatrical pieces, interactive installations, dances and so much more that defies classification. Over October 6-23 you can catch a whole slew events, including everything from Chiharu Shiota's complex installation of red webbing across various locations in the city to a huge Melbourne Symphony Orchestra-backed David Bowie tribute show named David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed (*cries just a little bit*). There's far too many to name individually but here's a wrap: a fluid stage production informed by the talents of Tourette's syndrome, a chilling, ambiguous play about the cultural significance of funerals, an interactive play, with money on the line, exploring altruism and greed, the story of two Chinese country boys moving to the big smoke…we could go on, but here's our top ten picks of the festival. Get booking those tickets. Top image: Raphael Helle.
15 years. That's how long the Gertrude Street Projection Festival has been throwing up light installations along Melbourne's coolest street (sorry, Sydney Road). And it's back again this year, from July 27 to August 6. Ten nights of community, art, light, music and spectacle – all for free. This year's lineup looks pretty stacked, with projections from some of Australia's best emerging and established artists. Names on the 2023 bill include the likes of Sarah Aiken, Tully Arnot, Chantal Bala, and Jamali Bowden. "The 2023 Festival is a program that uses civic spaces to share the merging strands of history, technology, experience, materials, politics and emotions through the selected artworks," Centre for Projection Art's CEO, Priya Namana, says. "The Festival is a container that creates and holds space for our community and collaborators to share their individual visions in a hyperlocal landscape of collective gathering." In other words, this festival is about more than cool projections and making people go 'Wow!'. It literally throws a light on the local spirit. This is Fitzroy up on a wall. If you only catch one night of the festival, make it to the opening party on July 27. It's running from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. There'll be food from Vola, wintery booze from Long Prawn and pumping tunes after dark. You can check out the full festival program here. Images: supplied.
When Little Creatures closed their Brunswick Street dining hall earlier this year after seven years of operation, Melburnians everywhere choked back a craft beer tear or two. But turns out you just can't keep a good craft beer bar down. The iconic Brunswick Street location is set to be reborn as Fitzroy Social in early August. According to Hospitality Magazine, the site has been acquired by the Retail Savvy Group, the same hospitality company who also own CBD venues Asian Beer Cafe, Father's Office and The Bank on Collins, along with Carlton's home of super cheap pub meals The Shaw Davey Slum. The Brunswick Street space looks set to function as both a casual eatery and a bar, as well as a function space. "The venue will have a strong focus on locally sourced food and a back bar comprising a core range of locally produced beers and ciders," Retail Savvy Group Managing Director Anna Carosa told Hospitality Magazine. Judging by their portfolio, we're hoping Fitzroy Social can sneak in some cheap pots and well-priced snacks to the suburb. The Fitzroy Social is due to open at 222 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy in early August. Check back for further details in the coming months. Via Hospitality Magazine. Image: Alpha via Flickr.
Melbourne is littered with public outdoor pools and great beaches, but sometimes you want the luxe private pool experience. This usually comes with booking a room at one of Melbourne's best hotels or signing up for an exorbitantly priced private members' club, but most of us don't want to go that far for a little dip. To solve this problem, W Melbourne has started up its Sun Chasers Sunday Sessions, which run from 12–3pm every Sunday until February 2. During these afternoons, you can book a poolside session for $95 per person at the sky-high indoor pool WET and get a stack of goodies. You'll have access to the pool and steam room, plus you'll get a cocktail on arrival (margarita or paloma) and two hours of unlimited wine. Snacks are also available throughout the day — more or less an essential when bottomless booze is on the cards — and DJs will be playing non-stop tunes. If you're after an alternative bottomless brunch experience in Melbourne, this has got to be one of the most fun. We just hope they'll have plenty of lifeguards onsite for when things get a little silly.
In the Southern Hemisphere, we're quick to flock overseas when we hear the word 'holiday'. However if time is scarce and hopping over the equator isn't an option, there are a number of incredible accommodation options in Australia and New Zealand that are serving up some serious competition to the north. Not only are the below accommodation options impeccably designed, but most are encompassed by immaculate landscapes and vivacious cultures. In partnership with boutique hotel curator Mr & Mrs Smith, here are ten incredible hotels worth checking out this long weekend. HUKA LODGE, NEW ZEALAND Huka Lodge is nestled in Taupo, the volcanic heartland of New Zealand. It proudly sits at the forefront of the North Island on the dreamy Waikato River. The lodge complements the natural beauty of its surroundings, with peaceful bedrooms furnished with a blue and white colour palette. Unwind in the main lodge with some New Zealand Pinot Noir beside the fire. Don't leave without visiting the mesmerising Huka Falls, where the water runs at about 220,000 litres per second. It's a place for both adventure and rejuvenation. EAGLES NEST, NEW ZEALAND This luxury getaway has rightly deserved its multiple awards. Eagles Nest is a lodge that sits above New Zealand's Bay of Islands, a cluster of about 140 subtropical islands at the northern tip of the country. Visitors are treated to inspiring views that combine secluded beaches with coastal bushland. The hotel itself is sleekly put together, rich with gentle timbers. Eagles Nest caters to all types of holidays; patrons can have a day at the on-site spa, or have a session with the resident personal trainer. Watching the Pacific peacefully roll from the infinity pool could be the closest thing to feeling like you're at the end of the earth. MATAKAURI LODGE, NEW ZEALAND Overlooking adventure capital Queenstown is Matakauri Lodge—11 rooms blessed with vistas of Lake Wakatipu and the glory of its bordering mountains. We like to think of it as the Lake Como of the Southern Hemisphere. The lodge has a fireside lounge, spa, infinity pool and multiple dining areas. Plus, it's only seven minutes from the main town, where you can sign up for horse riding or helicopter tours, or (if you're game) skydiving or bungee jumping. It helps knowing you'll return to the royal yet homely comforting setting of the lodge, where adrenaline subsides and calmness kicks in. COMO THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA The award-winning Como the Treasury is the first (and only) Australian hotel in the Singaporean chain of Como Hotels and Resorts. Occupying the old State Buildings, the hotel is one of Perth's most lavish offerings. The hotel is filled with sophisticated spaces, energised with cultural facets that pay homage to Australia's heritage. Diners at the hotel's restaurant Wildflower will find indigenous flavours, and visitors to the spa can treat themselves to Kakadu-plum facials. EMPIRE RETREAT AND SPA, AUSTRALIA Tucked away in one of Australia's most culinary rich settings is Empire Retreat and Spa. Modern meets rustic in the hotel's ten suites, which sit among manicured gardens hiding jacuzzis, a sauna and an outdoor shower for patrons to enjoy. While the hotel doesn't have its own restaurant, there is no shortage of dining options in the region. Plus, staying here is a good excuse to venture through the undisturbed bush of the Yallingup Margaret River region. If it's wine you crave, Empire has it covered with its own winery—Empire Estate. EMIRATES ONE&ONLY WOLGAN VALLEY, AUSTRALIA This Emirates One&Only resort sits among the grandeur of the sandstone Blue Mountains. There's something about the mist, endless green, and sheer volume of the region that gives it an out-of-this-world aura. This resort seizes its naturally setting, with large windows that give way to valley-filled vistas. Pools are aplenty, incorporated into many of the accommodation's 40 villas. Some are three-bedroom retreats, which makes this One&Only a top spot for group holidays. ROYAL MAIIL HOTEL & MT STURGEON, AUSTRALIA Foodies have endlessly celebrated the Royal Mail Hotel's award-winning dining room, where meals are created daily using produce harvested in the monstrous kitchen gardens. The restaurant may have an art deco feel, but the cottages part of the Mount Sturgeon Homestead stylishly go back in time, made of thick bluestone combat the weather extremes of the area. Inside are photos of local wildlife, while the generous backdrop of the Grampians sits just outside the window. THE LOUISE, AUSTRALIA If it's a vineyard retreat you're after, consider The Louise. Situated in South Australia's Barossa Valley, the hillside houses are fitted out with various tones of red and purple—very wine-appropriate. The Louise's award-winning restaurant, Appellation, serves meals with a heavy reliance on locally-sourced food. About 80 percent of the menu's ingredients are sourced within a 50-kilometre radius. The restaurant makes for the perfect setting to look over the hundred of acres of vines. SPICERS PEAK LODGE, AUSTRALIA Spicers Peak Lodge is the highest non-alpine lodge in the country, perched on Queensland's Scenic Rim. Amid 8000 acres of Scottish Highland cattle, kangaroos and wallabies bouncing around are ten suites and two lodges that present the best of modern lodge living. Guests are invited by the high-ceilinged main lodge, where you can sign up for private guided walks on the area's many trails. Sink into a lounge chair beside the deck-fringed infinity pool, or beside the fireplace with a cocktail. BELLS AT KILLCARE, AUSTRALIA Bells is a concoction of seaside modernity and comforting Hamptons-style flair. Blue, white and coral tones fill the rooms alongside revitalising bright white walls that showcase prints of flora and fauna. Rose-filled gardens circle the rooms and the restaurant. Ensure you squeeze in a bush walk through Bouddi National Park—made up of about 3700 acres of spotless beaches, waterfalls and spurts of rainforest. If you decide to take a trip this Easter long weekend, visit Mr & Mrs Smith to book your accommodation.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for handmade artisan gelato. Yes, the days of the humble Bubble O' Bill are but a speck on your long overdue dental exam, replaced by the elaborate taste combinations of burnt butter, rosemary & chestnut and rhubarb & Vincotto swirl. These are just a few of the flavours on offer at the newly opened Pidapipo Gelateria, which after operating as a pop-up 'test lab' on Carlton's Faraday Street last summer has found a permanent home just around the corner at 299 Lygon Street. The latest boutique ice-creamery bringing sugary goodness to Melbourne's inner north-east is the brainchild of Lisa Valmorbida, a graduate of Italy's Carpigiani Gelato University. As a sidenote, if the news that there's such a thing as Gelato University is making you question every decision you've ever made in life, then trust me, you're not alone. Inspired by Valmorbida's grandfather, Pidapipo Gelateria combines modern ideas with traditional ice-cream making methods. The gelato is made fresh in store using ingredients from local and Italian producers, including pistachios from Sicily, milk from Warrnambool and honey harvested from the store's own rooftop beehive. Every three months will see the launch of a new seasonal range of flavours, to go along with time-honoured Italian favourites such as fior di latte and ricotta & fig. Valmorbida will also collaborate with other chefs on special flavours, the first of which is a Coke float gelato inspired by local doughnut connoisseur and food-truck operator Raph Rashid. Of course it wouldn't be a modern ice-cream store without head-pounding techno music. So every Friday night, Pidapipo will play host to a series of resident DJs, including Edd Fisher, Laila Sakini and DJ Prequel. Pidapipo officially opens its doors on Friday, December 12. For more information, visit their website. Or if you just want to drool over pictures of gelato, they're on Instagram as well.
First it was dog poo. Then it was glitter. Now a new website has once again raised the bar of ridiculous things you can anonymously send your enemies in the mail. Dicks by Mail is the company’s name, and their business model is simple: money comes in and penis-shaped gummy lollies go out. If you can think of a better, more tastily vindictive way to spend $15, then frankly we don’t want to hear it. According to their website, Dicks by Mail is a service for anyone wanting to inspire feelings of "sadness, disappointment and betrayal" in their enemies. Their helpful FAQ suggests a number of possible targets, including co-workers, ex-boyfriends, estranged parents and the Westboro Baptist Church. But really, the possibilities are endless. Each bag of 5oz dicks is accompanied by a note that reads "eat a bag of dicks," just in case the message wasn't already clear. They also recommend sending the dicks to a person's place of work, for maximum embarrassment. "You will remain anonymous and silently chuckle to yourself for years to come as you picture them slowly degrading into a shell of the person they once were," reads a maniacal declaration on Dicks by Mail’s homepage. "Their slow decent into madness will be much tastier than the bag of candy dicks you sent to them." What’s really amazing is that this isn’t even the first dick-sending service on the internet. Ship a Dick has been mailing out giant cardboard cocks for over a year now, although we probably wouldn’t recommend eating them. Now for the bad news: Dicks by Mail is currently only shipping to America and Canada. Still, if the website proves popular (and we have a sneaking suspicion it will) then hopefully they’ll think about expanding. Whether this website is a legitimate enterprise or turns out to be a slapdash moneymaking scheme like ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com remains to be seen. After being in business for about 24 hours, glitter-brain Mathew Carpenter website had made a cheeky five figures in less than a day, had a cheeky one million visits, 270,000 social media shares and sold over six figures in glitter within an hour. Then he sold it for US$85,000. Crafty bastard. Via Elite Daily.
Laksa King has been satisfying diners in Flemington since 1998. Originally located in an arcade off Racecourse Road, owner Esmond Wong was forced to change venues in 2010 due to its burgeoning popularity, although he managed to keep it in Flemington. The interior is awash with natural light, with elegant finishings and large communal tables. The fare is authentic Malaysian-Chinese, and it earned itself a reputation as one of the best South Asian restaurants in Melbourne. Entrees include the classics such as vegetarian spring rolls, curry puffs and satay chicken skewers while including more exotic options such as steamed prawn dumplings with a spicy soy sauce, lobaks (minced pork rolls fried in beancurd skin), and vegetarian roti rolls with fried tofu, cucumber, onion, tomato and peanut sauce. If you'd like to start with a soup, it's got you covered with chicken and corn soup, Szechuan hot and sour soup and seafood Tom Yum soup. Meanwhile, its curry laksas, for which it's famous, include chicken curry, beef curry, vegetarian curry with seasonal vegetables and tofu, fish fillet curry with lady's fingers, a fish head curry, a king prawn option, roast fuck, seafood and its signature combination curry with shrimp, fishcakes and chicken. Basically, there is a laksa for everyone. Elsewhere, you'll find Hainan chicken noodle soup with roasted duck, prawn dumpling noodles, Har Med (yellow noodles with prawns, BBQ pork, egg and water spinach in a prawn broth, and fried Kuay Teow with rice noodles, shrimp and Chinese sausage. If rice is your thing, then look no further than its nasi goreng, with Malaysian-styled fried rice, shrimp, chicken, egg and curry paste. We could write another five or so hundred words about the menu, as it's as long as your arm, but we'll leave it to you to discover. Just rest assured, the food is legit, and if you manage to leave room for dessert, the coconut panda cotta is something else.
Collingwood has a brand new event space and cafe that provides support to homeless and disadvantaged youths. Cromwell STREAT is the latest project from local social enterprise STREAT (and, yes, it's located on Cromwell Street), who for the past seven years have offered opportunities and hospitality training to at-risk young people, via employment in their numerous cafes as well as fundraising initiatives such as their annual Melbourne Central Sleepover. Opening on Friday, September 16 after securing funding through a successful crowdfunding campaign, Cromwell STREAT isn't just a cafe, but an artisan bakery, coffee roastery, function space and youth training academy too. The 80-seat eatery — which is located in a renovated 150-year-old heritage-listed Cromwell Manor — will also feature a big outdoor area, all-day breakfast and lunch from 11am. Pastries and fresh loves of bread will be available from 7am and STREAT's own blend will be going into coffee cups. Cromwell STREAT is now open at 66 Cromwell Street, Collingwood. It's open from 7am till 4pm on weekdays and 8am till 4pm on weekends. For more info, visit STREAT's Facebook page.
There's dessert, and then there's dessert. We're happy to report that Damon Bradley specialises in the latter. Opening this week in the Southgate precinct, Melbourne's decadent new dessert bar boasts a 20-page menu, packed with enough sugary treats to put you in a mild diabetic coma. You know what we're talking about. "Damon Bradley will be a decadent destination for specialty high teas, intimate late night dates, indulgent morning teas, breakfast on the run, cheeky afternoon get togethers, dessert for dinner and all the ways you can indulge in delicious treats," says owner Eileen Galea. Standout menu items — and there are more than a few, mind you — include white chocolate and Irish cream waffles with fresh raspberries and strawberries, slow-cooked oven-roasted pears with vanilla bean ice cream, and chocolate fondant served with a salted caramel ice cream and sauce. There's also a doughnut tasting plate, desserts by the glass and fridges full of specialty chocolates, pastries and cakes. Thirsty customers will be able to pair their desserts with matching wines. Alternatively, you can have your pick of a drinks list that includes milkshakes, ice cream sodas, dessert martinis and a range of teas and coffee. Oh, and they also offer a specialised high tea menu complete with scones and raspberry lamingtons. Because of course they do. Damon Bradley is located on the middle level of the Southgate precinct, opposite Tutto Bene. For more information and operating hours, visit their website.
Italy is teeming with tourist attractions and delicious food – so it's hard for any one Italian city to stand out from the pack. But if you ask the residents of Florence (Firenze, to the locals), they are unanimous – the jewel in the Italian crown is the city they call home. Florence is one of the most visited cities in Europe — often a stopover between visiting Rome and Venice — and there's a whole other world behind the famous galleries and churches you'll inevitably visit first. Here's where you should spend your time in Florence to ensure an unforgettable experience. If you've been thinking about booking that European holiday, do it now. Swapping your Australian winter for a European summer is a great way to make your 2017 something to look forward to. In partnership with Topdeck, here is the first instalment of our Less Obvious city guides. Episode three: Florence. [caption id="attachment_592962" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Ciao Down Bella.[/caption] VISIT THE SECRET BAKERY AT MIDNIGHT Have you ever walked past shop after shop selling pastries and sweet delicacies and wondered where they were made? Well, here's your answer. The Secret Bakery bakes pastries through the night which are bought by cafes and sold on. The bakery isn't meant to sell direct to the public, but they do anyway. You can find it on Via delle Brache, it's about 100m up on the corner of the first street on your left. It's unmarked and unsigned but there is a big frosted glass window and a white van is usually parked out the front. Go there about 1am (when the city is really coming to life) and knock on the window (you might need to do it a few times — be brave). You can buy delicious chocolate croissants and whatever else they're making that night — just ask them what they have. Each pastry costs only one Euro. EAT TRADITIONALLY AMONG THE TOURIST TRAPS Florence is renowned for its cuisine, but like any other Italian city it has its fair share of overpriced and underwhelming restaurants designed to get tourists to spend their hard-earned Euros. Separating the wheat from the chaff is the hard part – luckily, we have done the leg work for you. Try Trattoria Cesarino or Trattoria Osteria Da Que' Ganzi to get a taste of authentic Florentine cuisine at extremely reasonable prices - the free limoncello and biscotti at the end of the meal make it even sweeter. For Florentine steak – a must have – Francesco Vini is one of the city's best. PICNIC IN THE BOBOLI GARDENS The Boboli Gardens lie behind the Pitti Palace in the Oltrano, south of the river. There is an entrance fee to the gardens (although there is an often-unguarded side entrance to the Gardens at the back of Museum of Natural History, don't tell anyone we told you) but once inside, you'll soon agree they are worth the price of admission. Think of them as a medieval botanical gardens, built on an enormous scale to satisfy the whims of a succession of Renaissance rulers. Grab some fresh bread, olive oil and meats from a market and head to the high ground – you'll find grassy lawns aplenty where you can picnic with a fantastic view back over the city. INDULGE IN APERITIVO AT SOUL KITCHEN Aperitivo is a Florentine staple, and a great concept for any traveller on a budget. It involves going to select bars and buying a drink, whereupon that drink then gives you access to a buffet dinner FOR FREE. This idea may or may not have directly contributed to the Italian economy's downturn but it is an absolute goldmine for everyone else. There are plenty of bars which offer aperitivo but Soul Kitchen, on Via de' Benci, is one of the city's best – the food is fresh, the drinks inexpensive and generous and the vibe trendy. Get there any time from 7pm onwards and eat (and drink) to your heart's content. PEOPLE WATCH IN PIAZZA SANTO SPIRITO Piazza Santo Spirito is a typical Italian square and is almost a Florence micro-city in itself – beautiful cobblestones spanning the gap between palatial Renaissance buildings, flanked by a church on one side and a row of restaurants on the other. At night the Piazza comes to life, but not with tourists – the late-night crowd is almost exclusively comprised of locals and students. Gusta Pizza sits in one corner and is the city's best pizzeria – eat it on the stone steps of the church – and Osteria Santo Spirito, a local favourite, sits in the other. There is even an antique market held there on the second Sunday of every month. EAT (MAYBE) THE WORLD'S BEST SANDWICH A big call, but one which in this case is possibly justified. All'Antico Vinaio on Via dei Neri is a Florentine institution and you can expect to find long queues as lunch hour approaches. That the Italians, who view lining up for food as the closest thing to madness, will happily do so just for a sandwich should tell you all you need to know about how good they are. The premise is basic – tell them what meat you would like and they will make the rest with filling and condiments to complement the meat. WATCH THE SUNSET FROM PIAZZA MICHELANGELO The best view of the city is from Piazza Michelangelo, a short but steep walk from the city centre. During the day you will find it teeming with tourists and street vendors but, as the sun slowly fades from the sky, the Piazza really comes to life. The Piazza looks west over the city so the view of the sunset from there is unparalleled – grab yourself a bottle of red wine, some glasses and head on up to enjoy the show. You'll often find a busker up there to serenade the people seated on the steps. Romance, beauty and wine – a quintessentially Italian combination. EAT AN ITALIAN LUNCH AT TRATTORIA MARIO Trattoria Mario, near Mercato Centrale on Via Rosina, is your stop for an authentic Florentine lunch without the tourist prices. It is a hive of noise, shouting waiters and laughing chefs – exactly the way the Italians like it. The food is inexpensive and deliciously simple, as if it had been plated up by your Nonna on a Sunday night. There is no set menu as it changes every day, but the beef stew or the pasta ragu are ever-present. Fridays is fish day, where the meat on the menu is replaced by an all-seafood fare. You'll be in and out so quickly you might wonder if it was all a dream. And your tastebuds would agree. WALK THROUGH THE OLTRANO AND SAN MINIATO The central area of Florence is the most heavily congested as it has the majority of tourist attractions. For that reason, the Oltrarno is much quieter but no less worthy of your time. Its narrow streets are filled with artisans' studios, antiques stores, bars, and small restaurants full of locals who are seemingly unaware of the tourist wave overcrowding their cousins north of the river. However, at the same time it features plenty of historic sights, not least the art-filled Palazzo Pitti and the church of San Miniato al Monte. A leisurely stroll through this area can help you uncover the 'real' Florence. EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH VIA DEI NERI The street that houses All'Antico Vinaio also contains the city's finest gelataria (the imaginatively-named Gelataria dei Neri) and it's most famous salumeria (the only slightly more-imaginatively named La Prosciutteria). Both are extremely delicious and no trip to Florence would be complete without a visit to them both. In particular, La Prosciutteria is not to be missed — it's not for the faint-hearted or vegetarian but, for lovers of meat, cheese and wine, it should not be missed. DAY TRIP TO THE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE Florence is the capital of the Tuscany region, which is famous for its gorgeous countryside — why not take the chance to explore it while you're there? Within easy reach of Florence are many small Tuscan towns and wineries, though most day trippers will make for the hill-town of San Gimignano or to Siena (Florence's younger sibling). Some lesser-traversed sights are no less worthy — the towns of Montalcino and Montepulciano are both beautiful and famous for their wine, whilst Fiesole (a short 20 minute bus ride from Florence) has vibrant markets and a spectacular view back over Florence. A day trip is nice way to finish off a stay in Florence, as well as something to brag about — not many people make it past the tourist traps. Visit Europe (including Florence) with a Topdeck trip and make 2017 a year to remember. Book early (that means now) and save up to $999. Images: Ayrton-Eldridge.
It's time to dig the gumboots out of the back of your closet — Splendour in the Grass is returning to North Byron Parklands for another year. In 2023, Splendour celebrates its 21st year. Maybe your 21st birthday was the best night of your life. Or, perhaps you're still planning for the 21st to end all 21sts. Either way, Splendour's big two-one is serving up a massive lineup to celebrate. Lizzo, Flume, Mumford & Sons and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead the 2023 edition — the latter of which were slated to headline 2022's Splendour in the Grass lineup, but cancelled in the leadup. Flume's set is an Australian exclusive, celebrating ten years since his self-titled album and coming after his recent Australian tour in late 2022. Mumford & Sons are also doing an Aussie-exclusive gig, after last heading our way in 2019. Music lovers hitting Byron Bay can look forward to Hilltop Hoods, Sam Fender, J Balvin, Slowthai, Little Simz, Idles and Tove Lo as well, plus Arlo Parks, Ball Park Music, 100 Gecs doing another Aussie exclusive, Pnau and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard — and more. Plus, there's been some late additions to the lineup. Powerhouse Russian punk group Pussy Riot recently joined both the music and Forum programs. Danny Brown, Ocean Alley and Thelma Plum were all added, too, to replace Lewis Capaldi, Slowthai and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Single-day, multi-day and camping tickets are all still available if you want to plan a last-minute trip up to Byron Bay. [caption id="attachment_891057" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Claudia Ciapocha[/caption] SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2023 LINEUP Lizzo Flume (Australian exclusive: ten years of Flume) Mumford & Sons (Australian exclusive) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Hilltop Hoods J Balvin Danny Brown (Australian Exclusive) Sam Fender Idles Little Simz Tove Lo 100 Gecs (Australian exclusive) Arlo Parks Ocean Alley Ball Park Music Iann Dior King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard 070 Shake Thelma Plum Pussy Riot Pnau Ruel Loyle Carner Benee Marlon Williams Hooligan Hefs Peach PRC Palace Dune Rats Tkay Maidza Noah Cyrus Skegss Sudan Archives Cub Sport Meg Mac X Club. Claire Rosinkranz Jack River The Smith Street Band Lastlings Jeremy Zucker Young Franco Sly Withers MAY-A The Vanns Telenova Vallis Alps Jamesjamesjames Kaycyy RVG Teenage Dads Balming Tiger Automatic Harvey Sutherland Gali Del Water Gap Royel Otis Shag Rock Big Wett Mia Wray Memphis LK Gold Fang Milku Sumner Forest Claudette Full Flower Moon Band William Crighton Hellcat Speedracer Triple J Unearthed Winners Mix Up DJs: Tseba Crybaby Latifa Tee Foura Caucasianopportunities Luen Mowgli DJ Macaroni Crescendoll Top image: Stephen Booth.
Sometimes, you need to take a break from your city, to get out and soak up the sun somewhere new. The sun-plenty city of Sydney is the perfect destination, it's bursting with beaches, pools and swimming holes, where you can enjoy the water, catch some rays and let your worries dissipate. But you don't want to get stuck visiting the same old tourist traps, beaches with screaming kids, expensive eats and way too many people. To help you out, we've partnered with Qantas and created the big summer bucket list of Sydney. We've pulled together our favourite spots for cannonballing, diving and lapping. Jump straight to Sydney's best swimming holes, secluded beaches, harbour beaches, outdoor pools, ocean pools, night swimming spots or surfing beaches. Pick one. Any one, and do as the locals do. BONDI ICEBERGS Members of Sydney's toughest swimming club, The Icebergs, have been proving their mettle here since 1929. To stay in the gang, they must meet every Sunday throughout winter and swim at least one lap of the pool, regardless of icy temperatures or inclement weather. If that sounds too traumatic for you, stick to a weekend visit. One of the best-equipped pools on the list, the Icebergs comes with a sauna, gym, masseuse, yoga lessons and cafe. Entry is $6.50. Once you've worked up an appetite, head to renowned Sydney restaurant Icebergs for a post-swim tipple and enjoy exceptional panoramic views. [caption id="attachment_549078" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Warringah Council.[/caption] NORTH CURL CURL ROCKPOOL Curl Curl's exposed, east-southeast position makes it one of Sydney's most exciting but dangerous beaches. The southerly swell surges in, driving waves to heights of 1.5 metres or more and powering hazardous rips. Lap up all the action from the safety of the North Curl Curl Rock Pool. Carved out in the mid-1930s, it has a natural floor and rocky platforms for sunbaking (slip, slop, slap, please). At high tide, access is only available via a coastal walkway. Pack a picnic for an authentic Sydney-style lunch. BRONTE BATHS Opened in 1887, Bronte Baths is one of Sydney's oldest and most photographed pools. Its best-known regular was Evelyn Whillier, who at 18 competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and at 20 won gold in the 1938 British Empire Games. In the 1990s — in her late 70s — she'd head to Bronte at 5am every day to squeeze in a few kilometres. You'll meet all kinds of swimmers here — from similarly serious lappers to kids in floaties. There's ample room on the surrounding rocks for lazing about. Consider a night swim on balmy evenings. While in the area, check out iconic Bronte eatery Three Blue Ducks and enjoy one of its famed straw-stuffed coconut concoctions. MAHON POOL, MAROUBRA Mahon's intertidal position makes it subject to fierce doses of Pacific swell. Drop by when the water's high and the wind's a-blowing for the biggest waves and most adrenaline-fuelled fun. The pool lies at the northern end of Maroubra Beach. It's hard to spot from above, but make your way down the staircase from Marine Parade car park, and you'll soon spy it among exposed rocky outcrops. Once you've dried off, head to The Bay Hotel and Diner in Maroubra to tuck into a big burger like a legit Sydneysider. WYLIE'S BATHS, COOGEE Found just south of McIver's Baths, Wylie's welcomes people of all genders. The 50-metre pool offers 180-degree panoramas of the ocean, including views of Wedding Cake Island (inspiration for Midnight Oil's instrumental rock hit of the same name). Like Bondi's Icebergs, Wylie's has all the facilities — from yoga lessons to massage sessions. Entry is five bucks. It's a great spot for a cool-off along the Bondi to Maroubra walk. MILK BEACH Located at the base of Hermit Bay within the Sydney Harbour National Park, Milk Beach is ideal for everything from sunbaking to snorkelling to fishing. It's a small, insulated beach surrounded by the Heritage-listed Strickland House and offers magnificent views of Sydney. Whether it's a picnic or a walk along the Hermitage Foreshore, Milk Beach is one of Sydney's best-kept secrets. It can be accessed via public transport or boat, and limited off-street parking is available. [caption id="attachment_549504" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Brett Pearson.[/caption] MCIVER'S BATHS, COOGEE Boys, butt out. McIver's is the only coastal pool in Australia for ladies only. It's been that way since 1922, when the Randwick and Coogee Ladies Swimming Club took over the lease from the McIver family. In 93 years, nothing much has changed. The ocean views are still extraordinary and the entry fee is still 20 cents — tossed in a bucket at the entrance. However, in 2010, a visit from a man undergoing a sex change raised some modern questions. Once you've grown tired of swimming, make tracks to Coogee Pavillion for a Pavilion Pina Colada ($18) with your girls. PRINCE ALFRED PARK POOL If you're staying in the inner city, head to Prince Alfred Park Pool also known as 'Redfern Beach' by the locals. It's the buttercup yellow sun umbrellas that bring the riviera vibe, as well as lawns strewn with sun bakers and cute cafe Meadow cheerily aiding post-swim recoveries. The shiny-new facilities nabbed two National Architecture Awards in 2014, and the 50-metre pool is always at that jump-right-in temperature. Ah, that Sydney weather. NORTH SYDNEY POOL Nothing says "you're in Sydney" so much as the Harbour Bridge, and nothing says "I'm swimming in Sydney" quite so well as backstroking right underneath it. North Sydney Pool is the only place which allows you to do just this, in a spectacular location overlooking Sydney Harbour and Luna Park. To make the most out of it, head down there at night, and go for a swim watched over by the lights of the city. The pool also features a gym, a cafe and a restaurant, so you can feasibly spend a whole night there gazing rapturously at the city. [caption id="attachment_598333" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Eddy Milfort[/caption] NIELSEN PARK Sydney beaches need not be compared with their foreign counterparts because it's only a slight exaggeration to say we have the best in the world. However, I can't help thinking that Nielsen Park reminds me of the Mediterranean coast. Maybe it's the amazing aqua colour of the water or the stained glass windows of the restaurant. It can get a little noisy with all the kids that are usually there but there is a large, leafy park surrounding the beach which you can escape into to eat your ice cream in peace. [caption id="attachment_605401" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Rob Wood.[/caption] MALABAR OCEAN POOL For smaller crowds and a laidback, local feel, head to Malabar Ocean Pool. Created in the 1890s, it was closed down by the 1970s (as was surrounding Long Bay) due to pollution. But, in 1997, NSW Premier Bob Carr and the local MP pooled funds for a clean-up and revamp. These days, the water is crystal clear and the views dreamy, especially at dawn and dusk. [caption id="attachment_538469" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Brian Yap[/caption] CURRAWONG BEACH If you've made the trip to Sydney, it's worth that little bit of extra effort to get to Currawong beach. It can only be accessed by boat, so jump on the ferry at Palm Beach ('Summer Bay' for you Home and Away fans) and prepare for a phone and internet-free 48 hours. There are no shops so bring food and water with you and stay at one of the cottages for a full-blown Sydney experience. You'll be able to deal with the worst Bondi Road traffic jam with a blissful smile on your return. [caption id="attachment_605406" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Dushan Hanuska.[/caption] LAKE PARRAMATTA Back in the 1930s, Lake Parramatta was one of Sydney's go-to water holes. But, decades ago, thanks to rising pollution levels, swimming and boating were banned. "You could see oil and chemicals on top of the water, let alone what was underneath," one-time local Angus Campbell recalled. Major clean-up programs have, however, restored the lake to its former pristine glory, and, as of January 2015, it's open for bathing, complete with lifeguards. Visit the leafy, sandstone-enclosed freshwater spot two kilometres north of Parramatta CBD. Just keep your eye out for wrestling red-bellied black snakes. LADY MARTIN'S BEACH At this little gem you're in good company. Sydney's small harbourside suburb of Point Piper is one of the country's most exclusive and home to one of the most gorgeous, chilled-out beaches in town. Named after Lady Mary Martin, wife of chief justice and politician Sir James Martin, it's a tiny treasure flanked in billion-dollar mansions, but the view is free. Entry is via a narrow lane off Wolseley Road that passes by the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club. Spend some time post swim picking out your dream house, if you win the lotto and decide to relocate to Sydney you'll be prepared. [caption id="attachment_592521" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ian Sanderson[/caption] MANLY DAM There's more than one sweet little beach ripe for the picnicking at Manly Dam. The amenities are pretty good and there's heaps of unrestricted parking, but get your coin purse out for entry on weekends. There are heaps of lush walking tracks, so consider swapping sandshoes for flip-flops. Vehicle access is through the King Street entrance (off Condamine Street, Manly Vale) and a footpath at this entrance allows for pedestrian and disabled access into the park without having to go on the road. The best access points for the bike track is Gibbs Street, Manly Vale or Kirkwood Street at Bantry Reserve, Seaforth. GORDON'S BAY Offering Sydney's only underwater nature trail, Gordon's Bay is nestled in between the deeply incised gully and sheer sandstone headlands of South Clovelly and North Coogee. It's the eastern suburbs at their stunning best, and the calm waters make it a great spot for snorkelling. The small beach is dotted with local fishing boats, abundant with wildflowers and offers access to some of the most satisfying and aesthetically stunning walking trails on the coast. Access via the coastal walk. [caption id="attachment_605403" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] REDLEAF POOL Technically, Redleaf is a fenced off section of the harbourside Seven Shillings Beach, adjacent to Blackburn Gardens. Mid-week, it can be a little piece of inner-east paradise, hidden from the road and only accessible by foot, down the stairs behind the Woolahra Council Offices on New South Head Road. It can get pretty busy on weekends during summer, though. A boardwalk runs around the top of the shark net, and there are two floating pontoons for those who enjoy attracting attention to themselves. [caption id="attachment_598328" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Christian Reusch[/caption] CAMP COVE The parking at the easternmost edge of the Eastern Suburbs can be a bit of a drag on a hot day, but if you pray to your parking angel you'll find somewhere eventually. It's worth the frustration, as this laid-back beach is big enough to have a social vibe (there always seems to be a lot of good-looking people here) and the lack of waves means you can bob in the water and still chat to a friend. There's a little kiosk selling snacks and sorbet in coconut shells, too. If you're brave (and skilled) you can do the big jump off the rock on the right like a bona fide Sydneysider. [caption id="attachment_598329" align="alignnone" width="1280"] David McKelvey[/caption] LITTLE CONGWONG BEACH If you want to beach like a real local, head to this pretty place in Botany Bay for a spot of 'clothing-optional' sunbaking. It's usually pretty quiet so you can avoid any potentially awkward encounters. If the thought of getting your togs off makes you blanch, just next door is Congwong Beach, where you won't be the odd one out if you're a strictly clothes-on type of person. BUNGAN BEACH, BARRENJOEY PENINSULA Bungan is one of Sydney's most undeveloped beaches and has a wild and unspoiled character. The rugged beauty of the cliffs give it a private feel and bushwalkers will love the vivid scenery. It's 600 metres long, running in a south-east direction between Bungan Headland to the north and Mona Vale Headland to the south. There are reasonable breaks for surfers and it's a relief from the crowded waves at more popular beaches. Access by a laneway along Barrenjoey Road — it's the headland just before the descent to Newport. It's a patrolled beached but stay between the flags at this one because there are often rips. [caption id="attachment_592520" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Ernest McGray, Jr.[/caption] OBELISK BEACH Obelisk Beach has killer views — and not only because it's one of few legal nudist beaches in Sydney. We mean nude. Despite its cult status, it's usually quiet and tranquil, and has great views over Sydney Harbour. It's well secluded as you need to have a certain tenacity to clamber down a rocky track and set of steps to gain access, although there's a large public car park on the Middle Head Road side of Chowder Bay Road. The place is also of historic significance: prior to European settlement in 1788, the area the beach is in was inhabited by Indigenous Australians and Aboriginal sites are found in the bushland all around Georges Head. [caption id="attachment_592519" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Nigel Howe[/caption] WARRIEWOOD BEACH Warriewood Beach is backed by 30-40 metre high vegetated bluffs and the reserve occupying Turrimetta Head offers excellent beach and ocean views. The 500 kilometre stretch of beach is sheltered, you never have to fight for a spot on the sand and the facilities are good. Surfing is great up the north end. [caption id="attachment_592516" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Grace Kat.[/caption] WATTAMOLLA Cabbage palm trees, cute little swimming inlets and wide open beach make Wattamolla the perfect place for a weekend escape. Wattamolla (an Aboriginal name meaning 'place near running water') had its name originally recorded as Watta-Mowlee by Matthew Flinders, when Flinders, George Bass and a boy, William Martin, stopped there in their boat, the Tom Thumb II, in 1796. It's a beautiful combination of beach and freshwater lagoon, separated by a sandbar, within the Royal National Park. There's a five-minute walk down a narrow path to the beach (not great for prams), but once on the beach, there's loads of shade from the trees, small inlets for swimming as well as open beach. Wattamolla is a great starting point for 100 kilometres of walking tracks spanning the National Park, including the popular coastal walk from Bundeena to Otford. Access is via a 20-minute car ride from either the Loftus or Waterfall entrance. [caption id="attachment_592518" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Alex Proimos[/caption] CHINAMANS BEACH Bring your beach brolly to Chinamans Beach, unless you're keen on sticking to the reserve. Bring ample snacks and drinks too, and don't plan on fish 'n' chips — it's properly secluded. The beach is unpatrolled, and usually peaceful and quiet. Lay back, forget your worries back at home, and enjoy the peace and quite. Ah, how's the serenity? [caption id="attachment_549497" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] BILGOLA ROCKPOOL Bilgola Beach forms the floor of a steep coastal valley. It's one of the Northern Beaches' most secluded spots. For an adventurous walk in, take the South Bilgola Headland Walk, which starts at Newport Beach, winding its way through tea trees, bottlebrushes, paperbarks, casuarinas and cabbage tree palms. Alternatively, park just off The Serpentine. You'll find the eight-lane, 50-metre rockpool at the beach's southern end, affording spectacular views of the 60-metre-high Bilgola North Headland. [caption id="attachment_549502" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] FAIRY BOWER POOL, MANLY The enchanting, triangular Fairy Bower Pool was built by locals, for locals, in 1929. It's located alongside Marine Parade, between Manly and Fairy Bower. Adding to the magic are sculptor Helen Leete's Oceanides (also known as the 'Manly Sea Nymphs'), two curving creatures on the pool's edge. When the surf's up, they look a bit like dancing aquatic spirits. Try taking a dip at sunrise, sunset or even after-dark. Be sure to drop into the following beloved Sydney institutions: Daniel San, Manly Wharf Hotel and Hemmingways. [caption id="attachment_549057" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Sutherland Shire Council.[/caption] CRONULLA ROCK POOL Cronulla's main ocean pool lies in the 300 metres of rocky platforms dividing South Cronulla Beach from North Cronulla. Opened in 1932, the pool first served as a training facility for local lifeguards. These days, it's still an optimum spot for lapping and/or casual dipping, offering vast, uninterrupted vistas over Bate Bay. The Council will be making some upgrades in April 2016, adding handrails and stairs and non-slip surfaces. FYI locals call this place 'The Shire'. [caption id="attachment_508394" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Robyn Lawrence.[/caption] ANDREW (BOY) CHARLTON POOL Hidden away within the green expanses of The Domain, the Boy Charlton pool feels a world away from the city while still being in the heart of the CBD. If you're staying in the city this is a great, super convenient, option. The saltwater pool is perched on the edge of the Harbour, with spectacular views over the city and the Botanic Gardens. Lunch times can be crowded with stressy professional jogger types, and weekends can bring out the designer eyewear crowd, but every other time is lovely. Hang out on the wooden terrace or grab a drink upstairs in the open-air poolside cafe which, incidentally, also sells Pat and Stick's ice cream sandwiches, which are awesome. [caption id="attachment_598331" align="alignnone" width="1280"] jbreiti[/caption] BALMORAL BEACH You've probably heard of Manly, given the chance any Sydneysider will proudly talk about the beach. You may not have heard of Manly's little sister, Balmoral. Smaller and more romantic, it has a lovely sleepy vibe despite it's popularity. Have a long lunch at the famed Sydney institution Public Dining Room and float it off in the cooler hours of the afternoon. [caption id="attachment_598357" align="alignnone" width="1280"] dfinnecy[/caption] STORE BEACH If your keen for an outdoor adventure on your mini-holiday, hire a kayak from Manly Kayaks and paddle around to this little beach (it can only be reached by water) for a picnic. Then enjoy this little slice of paradise. If you're lucky, you'll see some fairy penguins. [caption id="attachment_570643" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Danny Butler[/caption] LITTLE SIRIUS COVE A small stretch of sand surrounded by bushland, this beach has a unique feature — dogs are allowed. So if you're missing your pupper from back home, head down (after grabbing a coffee at Bacino Bar) and spend the day among some new four-legged friends. Pack some snags to cook on the BBQs provided and bask in Sydney's unparalleled beachside beauty. [caption id="attachment_508398" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Warringah Council.[/caption] DEE WHY ROCKPOOLS Dee Why Rockpools are easily reached by the promenade along the beach, and formed out of concrete walls as well as the natural sandstone wall to the side. While the surfers head down to the beach, the slower-paced head to the rockpools. On weekends there are a lot of mums with little kids, so for a day filled with less high pitched squeals and splishy-splashing, weekdays or late afternoons will allow you to get the most out of the place. [caption id="attachment_508404" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Mhsb.[/caption] FRESHWATER BATHS Located at the northern end of the beach, Freshwater Baths was the first rockpool to be opened on the northern beaches, and still maintains its vintage charms. Once a haven for women in the 1920s and '30s who weren't allowed to swim at the male-oriented surf clubs, it now cheerfully welcomes everyone and offers a respite when the waves get rough. The pool is uniformly shallow, at just over a metre, so unless you're really short or unfortunately inebriated there's little chance of anything going awry. [caption id="attachment_508405" align="alignnone" width="1280"] North Sydney Council.[/caption] MACCALLUM POOL If you appreciate a little early-20th century charm, the harbourside MacCallum Pool will delight you with its unique heritage feel and might inspire you to Charleston along the boardwalk. Like all good things north of the Bridge, it's terribly civilised, so if you turn up and the pool's a little full you can still sun yourself on the grassy knolls and look out across the Harbour. And another exciting aspect about MacCallum is that it's free, which means you have more money to spend on ice cream and dancing shoes. [caption id="attachment_551100" align="alignnone" width="1280"] KSpilling.[/caption] PALM BEACH When the swell is powering in from the south, grab your boardies and hotfoot it to Palm Beach. The sheltered southern corner is a beginner's Nirvana. You can count on mercifully consistently waves, giving you ample time to conquer the whitewash and, when you're ready, take off across smooth, green faces. Need some tips? Cast an eye around for the Manly Surf School van. For après-surf leisure, there's the Barranjoey Lighthouse Walk or a dip in the ocean pool. [caption id="attachment_605404" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Gerry Ligon.[/caption] COLLAROY BEACH Like Palm Beach, Collaroy is shielded at its southern end. Long Reef Point (a splendid spot for snorkelling, by the way) juts into the Pacific, separating the beach from neighbouring Dee Why. So, it's also at its best in south swells. Once you've racked up some experience, have a crack at the gloriously long point break. One word of warning: this one is better avoided when seas are rough or north winds are raging, when the shore break can turn into a dumping ground. [caption id="attachment_551241" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Terovian.[/caption] LONG REEF BEACH On the city side of Collaroy Beach lies the northern end of Dee Why Beach, formally known as Long Reef Beach (the two beaches are separated by the mouth of Dee Why Lagoon). Here, Long Reef Point also does its protective duty. It, in combination with some solid sand banks, keeps the waves smooth and regular. For practising in whitewater, head down at low tide; if you're ready to tackle faces, high tide is more promising. When winds are strong, you'll find milder conditions in Dee Why's southern corner. [caption id="attachment_551235" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Warringah Council.[/caption] FRESHWATER BEACH Freshwater Beach is the birthplace of Australian surfing. Exactly 100 years ago, residents got a shock when they saw a Hawaiian by the name of Duke Kahanamoku carve a board out of local timber, jump into the sea and ride the waves, on his feet. Soon enough, everyone was giving it a go. For lessons, get in touch with Surf Skool. Once you're done, the nearby Harbord Beach Hotel (aka the Harbord Hilton) will vanquish your post-surf appetite with some fresh tucker and cocktails. MANLY BEACH Get started along Manly's southern stretch and you'll land yourself in esteemed company. Midget Farrelly, Pam Burridge and Layne Beachley are just a few of the surfing legends to have had their early rides here. Like those at Palm Beach and Collaroy, the waves are best when the south winds are a-blowing. Chaos reigns when a north swell is coming in. Options for surfboard hire and lessons are plentiful. Try Manly Surf School or Manly Surf Hire. We recommend hitting up established Manly brewery 4 Pines for a post-swim brew. GREENHILLS BEACH Backed by grassy sand dunes, Greenhills is the northern end of Cronulla Beach. It tends to be less busy than South Cronulla — and many of Sydney's other beaches for that matter — which is a bonus for learner surfers. There's no need to worry about driving your out-of-control board into an unsuspecting swimmer. Go here during north-east winds. If you're in need of a teacher, try Cronulla Surf School or Cronulla Surfing Academy. [caption id="attachment_257244" align="alignnone" width="1981"] Adam J.W.C.[/caption] AVALON Beautiful and quiet, Avalon is the last of the more accessible beaches as you head north, shared by surfers and families alike. Plus Baywatch wanted to relocate their filming to Avalon during the '90s. Make of that what you will. Before you leave, grab drinks and dinner at Different Drummer or Little Av, both just a short walk from the beach. GLEDHILL FALLS For a long time, the Gledhills were like ghosts. A few people said they'd seen them, but finding proof was difficult. These days, there's more information floating about, but the forest-encircled falls — and the 10 metre wide pool into which they tumble — are still tricky to find. First, pack your rock climbing shoes. Then, drive your car from Mona Vale Road, onto McCarrs Creek Road, until, after about 4.5 kilometres, you reach the teeny-tiny, easy-to-miss bridge that crosses McCarrs Creek. Initially, the track is clear, but, nearing the water, prepare to scramble. ELVINA TRACK POOL Not only does this one occupy a rare position above a waterfall, it also affords stunning views of Ku-Ring-Gai National Park. And it's hemmed in by rainforest. The pool isn't huge, but it's definitely big enough to submerge yourself in. You'll find it along the 7 kilometre-long Elvina Track, which also takes in Elvina and Lovett Bays. The starting point is just off West Head Road, 1.3 kilometres from the Coal and Candle Drive junction. Being a service trail for most of the way, the walk makes for easy Sunday strolling. RESOLUTE BEACH Despite its 4 million strong population, Sydney is home to a number of secluded beaches. But Resolute Beach takes isolation and wildness to the next level. That's because the only way to reach it is by taking on the eight kilometre Resolute Loop Track, which turns off many a lazy beach-goer. Those with the stamina to handle it are, however, amply rewarded, with an unspoiled, empty stretch of sand, surrounded by Ku-Ring-Gai National Park and affording uninterrupted views over Pittwater. The hike, which begins at Resolute Picnic Ground, takes in a couple of other remote beaches, as well as the Red Hands Cave, home to some impressive Aboriginal rock art. LADY BAY BEACH Thanks to Lady Bay's existence, you can spend all day exploring and be utterly naked amid all kinds of wildness by 5.30pm. Tucked into a calm cove near Watsons Bay, this beach is one of Australia's oldest nudist beaches and first went legal in 1976, thanks to Neville Wran's blessing. Keep your eyes on the skyline — the city views are excellent. BENTS BASIN Pack your lilo; Bents Basin has rapids. Spend your day throwing yourself down them, just the right amount out of control. Or keep to the still water — it's one of the deepest swimming holes in New South Wales. A dramatic, wooded escarpment provides the backdrop, which means there's ample views for picnickers. Bents Basin is part of a Nepean River gorge and lies between Penrith and Camden, about 50 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. Camp in the State Conservation Area if you want to stay overnight. REEF BEACH Best to make your way to Reef Beach after the tide has gone out. That's when Aboriginal carvings becomes visible in the rocks. In addition, it's an incredibly tranquil spot in Middle Harbour, offering excellent views of Manly and Sydney Harbour's northern section. Stop there while walking the Manly Scenic Walkway or drive to Beatty Street — Reef Beach is a short walk from the car park. [caption id="attachment_252497" align="alignnone" width="1280"] NSW National Parks.[/caption] WHALE BEACH Relaxed and beautiful, Whale Beach feels like you've left the city completely. It's a long drive from the city, but it's worth it, for one of the most beautiful spots on the Northern Beaches. Whale Beach can be a bit of a journey, so we'd recommend making a day of it and taking a dinner picnic or even staying overnight at Jonah's. [caption id="attachment_252500" align="alignnone" width="1280"] J Bar.[/caption] SHELLY BEACH You can get to this secluded cove by walking south along Manly's main street. The perfect spot to take a picnic, surrounded by bush, filled with exotic fish and convenient enough to get to by ferry. This is the kind of beach you can imagine your grandparents going to when they were courting. Surf at Fairy Bower, one of the Sydney's best surf breaks on its day, or swim the Cole Classic, Australia's largest ocean swim. PALM BEACH Get there early and Palm Beach is one of the most beautiful places Sydney has to offer. The friendly old-fashioned kiosk was shut down a few years ago and replaced by fancy restaurants to suit the billionaire locals who have their summer houses here, so make sure to bring your own sandwiches. Alternatively, splash out and have breakfast at the Boathouse on Pittwater before you head down to that sweet, sweet Home and Away-starring water. Ready to get away and experience Sydney? Book with Qantas for great fares to Sydney and NSW until 24 September. Terms and conditions apply.
Halal food, and the certification around it, has popped up in the Australian news a lot lately — mostly in the form of straight-up racist commentary that has no basis in fact. Most recently, newly elected Australian senator Pauline Hanson, threw a childish fit on Saturday after senator Sam Dastyari offered to buy her a Halal Snack Pack (HSP) as jesting congratulations. For those that don't know, an HSP is a greasy concoction of hot chips, kebab meat (chicken and/or lamb) and cheese, covered in sauces, including the 'Holy Trinity' of garlic, chilli and barbecue sauce. This dish is so popular among uni students that the Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society (HSPAS) is nearly 150,000 members strong. Hanson has repeatedly made fact-less allegations that funds made from halal certified food goes directly to fund terrorism. Her blatantly discriminatory remarks, which have been repetitively disproven and shown to have no factual research behind them, got us thinking — what is halal certification really all about? We're bringing you some plain old facts on the subject, because knowledge is power. [caption id="attachment_578771" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] WHAT IS HALAL FOOD? Halal (حَلَال) is an Arabic word that means 'permissible' or 'allowed' and refers to the dietary restrictions of the Muslim law. Foods that are explicitly prohibited by the Qur'an, and are therefore not halal, include: Alcohol (including used in food) Meat from carnivorous animals, most notably pigs and dogs Any bi-product of carnivorous animals, including lard, gelatine, blood, broth and enzymes (which many non-halal cakes, biscuits and ice-creams contain) Meat of an animal that has died of natural causes or as a result of strangling or beating All foods that do not meet these above restrictions are considered halal (that includes fruits, nuts and vegetables, to name a few). WHAT IS HALAL CERTIFICATION? Halal certification denotes to the consumer that the food is certified to fit the dietary restrictions of halal, much the way organic and gluten-free products must be certified. In order for a food to be certified as halal, it must be: Free from any meat or bi-product from a carnivorous animal Slaughtered with a Muslim person present and in compliance with Islamic rites Processed, manufactured and stored by using equipment that has been cleaned according to Islamic law (e.g. not cleaned with alcohol or in proximity to carnivorous animal bi-product). [caption id="attachment_578769" align="alignnone" width="1280"] CEphoto, Uwe Aranas.[/caption] OTHER USEFUL HALAL FACTS Food that is already halal is not changed during the certification process; it is simply certified to show that it has not broken any of the dietary restrictions within halal eating methods. Hundreds of Australian food products exist as halal certified, including Vegemite, Nestle Crunch bars, Maggi Two Minute Noodles and Kellogg's Coco Pops. Essentially, the animal used for food needs to be slaughtered humanely and using clean instruments that are namely pork and alcohol free. If you're thinking logically about it, a halal certification is similar to a food being certified as organic or gluten free — it simply tells a person who has specific dietary restrictions that they are able to eat the food and is actually very inline with standard ethical eating practices. ABC News Fact Check recently assessed Hanson's claims that halal certification directly results in funding terrorism and could find "no evidence whatsoever ... that money from halal certification has ever flowed to terrorist groups." They also debunked her claims that halal certification is a $3-trillion dollar industry — in fact, most responsive manufacturers claimed that their certification cost was negligible, even as little as $1-$2K per year. What is true is that the halal food industry is estimated to be in excess of $1-trillion. This means that the world economy profits in the trillions off of manufacturing halal food. [caption id="attachment_578861" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Dan Nguyen.[/caption] When it comes down to it, all the fuss is really about nothing but and Hanson's comments are just an embarrassment. Halal food is embraced around the western world and is specifically prevalent in New York City, where halal carts are seen on every corner. The city's famous Halal Guys, which is the "longest running and best known street cart in New York City", serves the cart equivalent of the HSP and is an integral part of the food scene in the city. They're also donating $30,000 to LaGuardia Community College this year, which sure doesn't sound like global terrorist activity to us. Sources: Australian Food & Grocery Council, The New York Times, SMH, ABC Fact Check, Junkee, Merriam-Webster. Image: Toby Jay, Halal Snack Pack Appreciation Society (HSPAS).
The Australian art industry's most talked about face for 2017 has been revealed, with the announcement of this year's Archibald Prize. This year's winner is Camden artist Mitch Cairns, who painted a stunning portrait of artist (and Cairns' partner) Agatha Gothe-Snape. He'll receive a cheeky cash prize $100,000 and bragging rights for life — and hey, when you've been shortlisted in the Archibald Prize four times already, you're already there. The subject of the portrait, Gothe-Snape is a celebrated artist in her own right, exhibiting at the 20th Biennale of Sydney and recently opening a solo exhibition at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum — a first for an Aussie artist. Her work constantly engages with the way the public engages with contemporary art, how we read it, understand it, and debate it. "In this painting, Agatha is both an active subject and a recalcitrant muse embracing and resisting simultaneously any idea of what it is to be fixed. Ultimately this is what is most attractive about Agatha. She embodies an uncompromising agency whilst having the grace to accept the ready complications inherent within our life as artists," says Cairns. "I composed this portrait with love in the full knowledge of its inevitable and palpable quake." Here's the work in full: South Australia's Betty Kuntiwa Pumani is the winner of the 2017 Wynne Prize with her striking ode to her mother country, and Joan Ross is the winner of the 2017 Sulman Prize for her mixed media work Oh history, you lied to me. See the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prize exhibition, including Mitch Cairns' winning work, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from July 29 to October 22. More info here.
If you're looking to set the tone for some top-notch eating in 2025, we've found the ultimate place to start. Through January and February, social enterprise Free to Feed is dishing up a multicultural bounty of goodness as part of its latest dining series. The not-for-profit hosts food experiences aimed at helping refugees and people seeking asylum overcome social and economic barriers. And, working with talented cooks from all corners of the globe, it's delivered some pretty special dining events — and delicious cultural exchanges — during its time. Next up, the summertime feasts will take over Free to Feed's North Fitzroy events space for a program of intimate home-style dinners starting at just $55 per person. Each event will see one of the organisation's culinarily-gifted participants share the flavours and stories of their culture via a generous shared feast. Take your tastebuds on an international adventure via Nada and Aziza's Egyptian and Eritrean feast (January 25 and 25), featuring beloved recipes passed down through generations. Or perhaps Daniel and Verena's Colombian and Venezuelan spread (February 20 and 21), starring cassava bread, fresh seafood and flan. You can even drop by on Sunday, February 2 for a special Palestinian cooking workshop, or join the Story Table Series (January 6 and 7), which consists of a big dinner paired with conversations led by Bahaa, Rana and Somaya — some of Free to Feed's cooks — as they share their lived experiences of displacement and navigating new beginnings. You can even drop by the Free to Mingle evening on Thursday, February 13 to enjoy a really chill friend-making evening filled with canapes and craft workshops. [caption id="attachment_883689" align="alignnone" width="1920"] One of Free to Feed's cooking classes, by Hugh Davison[/caption] Top Images: Emily Weaving
Darling Group is best known for opening and acquiring some of Melbourne's top cafes (Higher Ground, Top Paddock, The Terrace, Kettle Black), while recently branching out into the restaurant scene (Token and Stringers). Like many of the larger hospitality groups in Melbourne, the Darling Group continues to expand (even if the industry is struggling right now). Most recently, it opened Cheri — a new all-day eatery located right across from South Melbourne Market. Cheri has taken over neighbouring sites Bibelot and Chez Dre, transforming them into one huge 150-seat venue that's open from 8am–5pm every day of the week. Darling Group's Executive Pastry Chef Michael Germanos is making sure Cheri is home to incredible pastries, cakes and bread, made on-site every morning to be exclusively sold here and across all of Darling Group's other venues. Expect an expansive collection of sweet and savoury croissants, classic eclairs, small and large tarts and cakes, sourdough loaves, baguettes, piadinas and focaccia sandwiches. It's giving full bakery energy throughout the morning, while also serving up an all-day dining menu that covers most of your breakfast and lunch bases. Brekkie bites include polenta porridge with confit spiced dates, mandarin, creme fraiche, cinnamon and pistachios; croissant loaf french toast with maple syrup and cultured butter; eggs benedict served on a croissant wheel; and a lamb merguez fry-up with poached eggs, za'atar yogurt, preserved lemon, mint and pita bread. This is a stacked morning menu that reads like those at Melbourne's best breakfast spots. For lunch, you've got ricotta gnocchi with pancetta, broad bean leaf verde, spring peas, stracciatella and green onion oil; chicken cotoletta with sprouting broccoli leaves, asparagus and cafe de Paris sauce; and seven different pizzas made with 72-hour fermented dough. Pair this all with some signature cocktails — you can never go wrong with a cheeky bloody mary — teas, shakes, sodas, and a decadent Cheri hot chocolate made with milk chocolate, whipped cream and crema di pistachio. You can drop by this spot for a quick takeaway pastry and coffee, or choose to sit in the main dining room or 50-person courtyard — when the sun is shining. We have high expectations for Cheri, not only because Darling Group has proven it knows how to cafe, but because this food menu looks like an absolute banger. Images: Julian Lallo.
The name translates to 'cat' in Japanese, but there's nothing aloof or fickle about Neko Neko. The Fitzroy ramen joint is dishing up solid doses of goodness that will love you and never leave you (and will let you love it, too). A mostly vegan affair — Neko Neko has three vegan ramen offerings and one pescatarian. It could well be the most dietarily inclusive ramen joint in Melbourne. It also offers up the holy grail (for you coeliacs out there) of gluten-free noodles. Go for the mapo tofu ramen and you'll not even be remembering the fact that its vegan — just that it's ultra tasty, and very pretty to look at, too, with brightly coloured garnishes. If you find yourself in Sydney keep an eye open for their Newtown restaurant, with an equally diverse menu and super chill atmosphere. Appears in: The Best Vegan Restaurants in Melbourne for 2023
