True-crime documentaries aren't just having a moment. They've been monopolising everyone's viewing lists for the past decade, and making us all fans of the gripping genre in the process. The secret (well, other than the thousands of secrets each true-crime doco is brimming with)? The breadth of topics, because this field can cover everything from fast food scams and unsettling cults to personal quests to catch an elusive serial killer. No matter the subject matter, scenario, illicit acts or people responsible, great true-crime documentaries all have two other things in common: they're impossible to stop watching once you've started, and they'll make you want to seek out more once your series of choice has come to an end. Of course, there are so many to choose from, so we've teamed up with streaming service Binge to pick five standouts that you can feast your eyes on right now — including via a 14-day free trial for new customers.
Does your dream hotel include luxe rooms and suites, spectacular vistas, a pool with a killer view, a bustling onsite restaurant and bar, and a spot to get sipping outdoors? If so, you'll want to add the first-ever Kimpton Hotel in Brisbane — and Queensland — to your must-stay list. The hotel chain is launching a second Australian site to sit alongside the existing Kimpton Margot Sydney, with Teneriffe in the River City its destination. Set to open in 2028, the Skyring Terrace spot will feature 155 places to slumber, an infinity pool overlooking the Brisbane River, a signature eatery and watering hole that can seat at least 200, and an openair garden terrace bar. Brisbane's Kimpton Hotel will be a partnership between IHG Hotels & Resorts and property developer Kokoda Property, the latter of which is behind the $1.5-billion overall development in the Queensland capital's inner north. Locals will find the spot to stay amid residential apartments, warehouse-style lofts, shops, dining, co-working spaces and a community centre. Brisbanites will also score a lavish staycation go-to, and tourists a new accommodation option. The Kimpton's rooms will push design to the fore, although what that'll entail in its decor hasn't yet been revealed. Think: fancy, though; there'll even be a marquee suite for celebrities and VIPs. Think: views as well, with both the water and the Brisbane city skyline providing a backdrop. Eating at the restaurant and drinking at the bar will mean sky-high vantages, too, with both located on the 14th level. And as for the pool, swimming in it will mean looking out over the water while you're in the water. In addition, patrons can expect waterfront access from the hotel, an onsite spa and a fitness centre, plus meeting and event spaces spanning 618 square metres. Just don't go planning that stay yet — construction is set to start in 2025. [caption id="attachment_936166" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimpton Margot Sydney[/caption] "The Kimpton brand was the ideal choice for, and will be the centrepiece of, our striking Teneriffe development. The brand's lifestyle centric positioning, design and playful guest experiences will fit perfectly into this exciting and unique pocket of Brisbane," said Kokoda Property Founder and Managing Director Mark Stevens. "We're excited to play a part in the transformation of the historic suburb of Teneriffe from its industrial origins into one of the trendiest suburbs of Brisbane. It's a popular year-round hub for fitness, and is set to get even better with Skyring Terrace to connect Brisbane's famed riverwalk between Teneriffe and New Farm and become the cultural heartbeat of the lively area." [caption id="attachment_920155" align="alignnone" width="1947"] Kimpton Margot Sydney[/caption] [caption id="attachment_920154" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimpton Margot Sydney[/caption] [caption id="attachment_920156" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimpton Margot Sydney[/caption] Brisbane's Kimpton Hotel is set to open in 2028 at Kokoda Property's Skyring Terrace development in Teneriffe. Head to the Kokoda Property website for more details.
Whether you love it or hate it, have flung cutlery at it or only first heard about it thanks to The Disaster Artist, The Room will always retain a unique spot in popular culture. Writer, director, producer, star and all-round enigma Tommy Wiseau might have other projects on his resume — including this year's Best F(r)iends: Volume One with The Room's Greg Sestero — but there's truly nothing like his debut movie. Telling the tale of a banker called Johnny (Wiseau), his fiancée Lisa (Juliette Danielle) and his best friend Mark (Sestero), the film refuses to adhere to any filmmaking rules, conventions or just general common sense, with random images of spoons, men playing football in tuxedos and unnecessary sex scenes all part of the package. And, for reasons only known to Wiseau, it's now available in 1080p high-definition — and for free — on YouTube thanks to the man himself. Wiseau has uploaded the movie to his own YouTube channel, and it's all there — the "oh hi, doggy" moment, the cancer subplot that's brought up out out the blue and dropped just as suddenly, and Wiseau screaming "you're tearing me apart, Lisa!" all included. That's your viewing sorted, well, forever — but don't go throwing spoons at your own screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htzzL-JOUg&feature=youtu.be
It's television's greatest tragedy, and one that's been more than a decade in the making. Watching Better Call Saul, it's impossible not to think about the route its protagonist takes through Breaking Bad. We already know how Saul Goodman's (Bob Odenkirk) story ends, so as we explore his pre-Walter White life — when he was known by his birth name of Jimmy McGill and genuinely wanted to be a legitimate lawyer — the feeling is bittersweet, to say the least. The same sensation applies to former cop Mike Ehrmantrout (Jonathan Banks), whose Breaking Bad fate is also already known. Before getting caught up with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), he first crossed Jimmy's path as a car park attendant at the Albuquerque court house — and Better Call Saul tells his tale as much as its namesake's For four seasons since 2015, the Breaking Bad prequel has stepped through the earlier existence of these two characters, as well as others in their orbit — such as Jimmy's successful older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), his girlfriend and fellow lawyer Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), and Mike's widowed daughter-in-law Stacey (Kerry Condon) and granddaughter Kaylee (Abigail Zoe Lewis). As the episodes pass, the two central figures slowly start inching towards their Breaking Bad lives. Familiar faces, such as Gus and Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) also pop up. The result: a series that's as excellent as its predecessor, and one that provides another excuse to spend more time in Breaking Bad's world. After last airing episodes in 2018 — and leaving 2019 to El Camino — A Breaking Bad Movie — it's returning for a fifth season this year. And if you can't wait until February 24 to see what comes next, or you weren't quite satisfied by the season's first couple of sneak peeks, a new trailer has just dropped. This new trailer is still brief, like its predecessors, but it does offer a glimpse at all the familiar players. Jimmy, Mike, Kim, Gus and Hector are all accounted for, as is gangland figure Nacho Varda (Michael Mando). That said, the biggest revelation is the return of a Breaking Bad character who hasn't been seen in Better Call Saul just yet, but was always going to pop up eventually. No, it's not Walt (Bryan Cranston) or Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), but DEA agent and Walt's brother-in-law Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). The trailer follows a big Better Call Saul announcement a few weeks back, with US network AMC announcing that the show will wrap up after its sixth season. Work on the last batch of 13 episodes will begin this month, and will presumably air in 2021 — ending your chances to hear Jimmy tell everyone "s'all good, man". Check out the trailer below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLOgEMxt-yM&feature=youtu.be Better Call Saul's fifth season starts streaming on Stan from Monday, February 24.
We take travelling seriously at Concrete Playground. Whether you're planning luxury getaways abroad, interstate camping trips, weekend jaunts to a city or bathing beachside, our team of avid travellers and destination-obsessives like to think we've got all the necessary tips for where to eat, drink, stay and hang out to get your itineraries in the best possible shape. But it has come to our attention that we've lapsed in our advice when it comes to what to put in your luggage. So, what must-have travel essentials should you be bringing with you on your next trip to make packing for your holiday a simple and stress-free task? In partnership with the folks at Kmart, we're going to share our top tips for packing, depending on what kind of adventure you are about to embark on. Carry-on Connoisseurs If you are attempting to eschew those ever-increasing checked luggage bag fees but aren't quite keen on stuffing a pillowcase with all your belongings, it might be time to assess what you are actually packing. If you've committed to confining yourself to cabin baggage alone, pack items that can do multiple jobs. A simple button-up shirt can be casual with jeans and a tee, a throw-on layer over swimwear, or be dressed up by buttoning it up and tucking it into your pants. Dresses are the ultimate outfit saviour if you favour a single-item outfit. With a simple hairstyle or accessories, a dress can take you from chill brunch to a luxe wine-tasting or fine-dining experience. Don't put yourself out, and ensure you are always looking your best, whether you are sipping on sparkling next to the Riviera or exploring food markets in Japan. Luxury Lovers There's nothing more luxurious than having options for everyday activities on your five-star getaway. But with all your outfit choices, how can you keep tabs on your belongings? Easy, get yourself organised with luggage organisers. Packing cubes are excellent for all kinds of travellers, whether you're hiking the Great Dividing Range or booking yourself into a relaxing retreat. Keep your items organised, from your electronics to your toiletries, your swimwear to your evening wear. With the right travel accessories, you'll never have to worry about where your perfect evening outfit or super luxurious sunhat is. International Explorers If you're that person who is constantly returning from an overseas trip and planning the next one, you probably need new luggage. All that travelling plays havoc on your baggage. From the usual wear and tear of being pulled through the terminals to the stress of being chucked around on baggage chutes, bus racks, taxi boots and more. Before you start planning your next vacation, make sure your bags are in good nick for overseas travel. You don't want to have to be scouring local supermarkets for duct tape. Get yourself sorted with a stylish new set, and you're basically halfway ready for your next adventure. Weekend Warriors Do you keep your eyes peeled for budget-friendly interstate flights or car hire sales for your next weekend escapade? Much like the Carry-on Connoisseurs above, you're only going for the weekend, so make sure you pack lightly (so you can fill your car/suitcase with all the local goodies you can). Whether you're heading for the hills or journeying to a dense metropolis, walking shoes are a must. No matter if you are a guy planning a luxe trip to the south Pacific or a gal heading to the mountains, the ratty trainers you've been rocking to the gym simply won't do (and neither will that stylish new pair you're yet to break in). Get comfy, versatile walking sneakers or boots that match your fave 'fit for city exploring or countryside wandering and wear them on the way to your weekend destination. Adventure Seekers If you love spending your weekends exploring the bush or hiking up mountains, it's important to be prepared and get your camping gear in order. A sturdy shoe, head torch and waterproof pack can make or break a weekend — so be prepared for every kind of weather and dress for the elements to change. Remember: it's cold at night, even during an Aussie summer. If you're a keen camper, stock up on gas fuel for your stove and a first aid pack (with sunscreen and bug spray). It's the times that you need it that you don't have it. Don't put yourself in that position and get prepped for adventure. Foodie Fanatics Do you spend your holidays sampling wines, tasting local produce and snagging the best dinner reservations in town? Dress to impress and pack a skirt that can bring you from the market to the restaurant in an instant. Whether you're more of a mini, midi, or maxi skirt kind of person, a stylish skirt can elevate your outfit for the perfect look for embarking on your epicurean adventure. Discover more of your must-have travel essentials over on Kmart's website.
Twenty-five years after a Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette-starring film about small-town murders thoroughly revitalised the slasher genre, the Scream franchise is back to take another stab at cinema glory. Because some things just won't die in the horror realm (see also: the Halloween, Saw, The Grudge, The Ring and Child's Play sagas), the Ghostface killer will once again be stalking Woodsboro, and also terrorising a scary movie that mixes slasher thrills with self-aware laughs. An instant classic ever since the first movie became a box office smash back in 1996, the franchise has already delivered three sequels so far courtesy of 1997's Scream 2, 2000's Scream 3 and 2011's Scream 4 — plus TV spinoff Scream: The TV Series. Now, as announced back in 2020, it's returning with a flick that blends the old and the new. While a different bunch of teenagers are in Ghostface's sights this time, Campell's initial target Sidney Prescott, Cox's reporter Gale Weathers and Arquette's former deputy-turned-sheriff Dewey Riley all feature in this new version of Scream, too. The series' latest flick is keeping things simple with its title, and betting on bringing back original cast members — both of which turned out rather nicely for fellow horror effort Halloween back in 2018. Yes, this series has always had a thing for Sid, and it still does. However, the new Scream is also putting The Boys' Jack Quaid, In the Heights' Melissa Barrera and You's Jenna Ortega in Ghostface's path, as well as Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Love), Mikey Madison (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Mason Gooding (Love, Victor) and Kyle Gallner (Interrogation). With filmmaker Wes Craven — who directed all four original Scream films — passing away in 2015, Ready or Not's Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have taken the helm. Based on the just-dropped first trailer for Scream circa 2022, they've also taken more than a few cues from Craven. No one asks if someone likes scary movies in the initial sneak peek, but answering the phone while you're home alone definitely proves perilous. Rules for surviving are also mentioned, and it won't come as a surprise to anyone if the new killer is linked to either one of the past culprits or victims, or to the feature's new characters. Story-wise, this iteration Ghostface brings Sid, Gale and Dewey back together to both confront the mask-wearing murderer and their past. As for where the film goes from there, that'll be revealed when it hits cinemas Down Under on January 13 next year. Check out the Scream trailer below: Scream releases in Australian cinemas on January 13, 2022.
Anyone who knows the Vivid Festival is well aware of the fact that the ethos behind the smorgasbord of cultural events revolves around bringing the best that the world has to offer to our city by the sea. Obviously, this also includes the creme de la creme of the home town, and this year is definitely no different. As part of the Modulations event at Carriageworks, enlisted to feed the masses are Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz, the rock and roll chefs behind one of Sydney's favourite restaurants, Porteno. However, according to the boys themselves, this isn't a chance to show off their cooking. Instead, they're bringing Wild Porteno to town. Porteno Food for the Street The food factor at Wild Porteno is an exciting drawcard for the festival, and Abrahanowicz tells us that "it'll be like Porteno, except outdoors and live." So expect the same strong, simple-done-well style that Porteno have been busting out for years, but with a twist that Abrahanowicz calls "an eat with your hands affair". There'll be the meat off the grill, brisket, and barbecue chicken wings, all served up like festival food. Over four days, as part of Modulations, they'll be dishing up their take on the food they serve at the restaurant, while DJs with the Porteno stamp of approval provide the mood music. They'll be there while the Pet Shop Boys do their thing, as well as the other acts that form the Modulations line up. While it's exciting to have all that music and art on show whilst eating some topnotch food, the truth is, according to Milgate, a little bit more complex. "We're doing the food and everything, but it's just a sideline to the main event." In the case of Wild Porteno, the main event is the showcase of bands from LA-based Wild Records. A bunch of rockabilly all stars, Milgate and Abrahanowicz assure that they're the real reason to get to Carriageworks on Monday, June 9 (the public holiday). https://youtube.com/watch?v=6ISz7JFYlLo The home of modern rockabilly Wild Records is the home of some of the best unsung heroes in the modern rockabilly scene, and the Porteno boys are stoked to be bringing them out to Australia. "There's really nothing like it," says Abrahanowicz, "it's a unique sound, it's the Wild sound." Milgate adds that Wild Porteno is "really just showcasing these guys to everyone." They're not lying, either. The bands on Wild Records were recently the subject of an award-winning documentary, Los Wild Ones, which may or may not be shown before their appearance on stage at the festival. Milgate says that "Luis and the Wildfires are our favourite band. He's such a fucking legend, so we said that he has to come. Gizzelle has such an amazing voice, and the Delta Bombers are really amazing on stage." After seeing the modern take on good old rock and roll, it's not hard to see why Milgate and Abrahanowicz have orchestrated this festival just to show them off to Sydney's discerning musical public. "We're just happy that they get to come out and we get to see them," says Abrahanowicz. BORN TO BE WILD It's no secret that Sydney will turn up for Porteno food, festival style. With Milgate and Abrahanowicz behind their customary grills, masses will flock to Carriageworks to gorge on the barbecued goodness. Coupled with Young Henrys, who are looking after the brew, the festival of music, art and food is guaranteed to please. But, to the guys who are cooking up this delightful storm, it's just an excuse to get a gig for some of their favourite bands, which isn't a bad thing at all. Wild Porteno goes down on Monday, June 9, and brings together some outstanding bands, delectable drinks and tasty food that is sure to be a highlight of the Vivid festival. So, Sydney, let's get Wild. Tickets for Wild Porteno are $49.80 from Ticketmaster.
When it comes to sharing movies that've recently premiered at Cannes with Australian audiences, timing is kind to Sydney Film Festival. One fest is in May, the other is in June — and SFF makes the most of it. Indeed, in 2025, its main program announcement was packed with 15 films that would hit Cannes, then Sydney. Next, Eddington joined the lineup, doing the same. The event's closing-night pick Splitsville falls into that category as well. Now comes a late drop of nine additional Australian-premiere titles that'll get the Harbour City's projectors whirring, most of which have also only recently debuted in France. Both Sentimental Value and Sîrat are heading to Sydney after collecting prizes in Cannes. The first nabbed the Cannes Grand Prix for filmmaker Joachim Trier, who reunites with his The Worst Person in the World lead Renate Reinsve (Presumed Innocent), and also has Stellan Skarsgård (Andor) and Elle Fanning (A Complete Unknown) in his cast. The Morocco-set second film picked up a Cannes Jury Prize, and boasts Pedro Almodóvar (The Room Next Door) as a producer. Both are playing SFF as special presentations. Or, audiences can look forward to the Dardenne brothers' (Tori and Lokita) Young Mothers, which collected Cannes' Screenplay Prize — and Cannes Queer Palme and Best Actress-recipient The Little Sister. Plus, joining Reinsve, Skarsgård and Fanning among the big-name stars on Sydney Film Festival's expanded program: Gael García Bernal (Holland) and Joel Edgerton (Dark Matter). In Magellan, which is directed by Filipino great Lav Diaz (Phantosmia), Bernal plays the title character. As for Edgerton, the Australian actor pops up in The Plague, where peer pressure at a summer camp drives the narrative. SFF has also added Two Prosecutors and Eagles of the Republic, each of which screened in competition at Cannes. Sergei Loznitsa (The Invasion) is behind Two Prosecutors, which takes place in 1937 under Stalin's rule. Tarik Saleh (Cairo Conspiracy) helms Eagles of the Republic, another of Sydney Film Festival's movies set in a complicated political climate — this time as part of a satirical thriller about an Egyptian film star. It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley debuted at Sundance 2025, not Cannes, but is also an eagerly anticipated newcomer on the lineup. That's what happens when documentarian Amy Berg (Janis: Little Boy Blue, West of Memphis) turns her attention to the late, great singer almost three decades after his tragic passing. "The festival starts in just two days, but we think its never too late to add the most-exciting new films to the festival, fresh from their international premieres," said SFF Festival Director Nashen Moodley. "From sweeping historical epics and urgent political dramas to intimate portraits and unforgettable performances, these films continue our commitment to showcasing the most exciting cinema from around the world." Sydney Film Festival 2025 takes place from Wednesday, June 4–Sunday, June 15 at various cinemas and venues around Sydney. For more information and tickets, head to the festival's website.
General tickets for the Australian leg of Kylie Minogue's 2025 Tension world tour haven't yet gone on sale, but fans have been spinning around over presales, so much so that more gigs have already been announced. When 'Padam Padam' summer happens all over again, it'll do so with an extra show in each of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on what'll be the singer's biggest global tour in 14 years. Of course Kylie is starting her latest live performances Down Under. And of course the reaction has been huge. Headlining Splendour in the Grass 2024 mightn't have worked out after the Byron Bay music festival was cancelled mere weeks after revealing its lineup, but there's plenty of demand to see the Aussie pop superstar on home soil and to catch this tour before anyone else on the planet. [caption id="attachment_973694" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Erik Melvin[/caption] Minogue is kicking off her latest shows in February 2025, still beginning with a one-night gig in Perth. From there, she also has a single date locked in for Adelaide. She's now doing two concerts in Brisbane, however, plus three shows apiece in Melbourne and Sydney. The last time that Minogue embarked on a tour this big was back in 2011. The last time that she hit the stage Down Under was in 2023 to open Sydney WorldPride. So far, the Tension tour also spans stops in Bangkok, Tokyo, Kaohsiung and Manila in Asia after her Aussie concerts, and then hits up Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, London, Nottingham and Birmingham in the UK. In what's proven a massive career since her Neighbours-starring, 'I Should Be So Lucky'- and 'Locomotion'-singing 80s era, it's been a big last few years for Minogue thanks to the huge success of the Grammy-winning 'Padam Padam', a brief return to Neighbours and a Las Vegas residency — and now the Tension tour keeps that streak running. Kylie Minogue Tension Tour 2025 Australian Dates Saturday, February 15 — RAC Arena, Perth Tuesday, February 18 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide Thursday, February 20–Saturday, February 22 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Wednesday, February 26–Thursday, February 27 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane Saturday, March 1–Monday, March 3 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Kylie Minogue's Tension tour kicks off in Australia in February and March 2025. Ticket presales for the new Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane shows start from Thursday, September 26, with general sales from Wednesday, October 2 — both at staggered times. Head to the tour website for more details. Top image: Darenoted Ltd.
Erykah Badu has always been a good sign for me. Whether it's a cafe or a clothes shop, if I hear her music it's a sign that I'm in the right place at the right time. So, when it's a sparkler of a summer day at Bondi and I'm sat in front of the windows at Sean's Panorama, it was no surprise to hear Erykah's voice sliding out of the speakers, across the street and out over the waves crashing on Bondi Beach. As we ogle the view, a family walks in for lunch; one of the sons has bare feet. Next to us a trio of suited-up, male mid-life crises are talking 'big data' and 'synergies' (no joke). Outside, a young mother in Rick Owens sneakers whose toddler is sporting a Chicago Bulls jersey. This is how Bondi rolls. No one here is anyone but themselves because, as a Sydney institution, Sean's is nothing but itself. There are no pretensions and no shortcuts. The roses on the tables are from the garden. They have that long-forgotten scent. The waitstaff is the sort that does this because they want to, not because it's a job that will finance a ticket to somewhere else. What's also real is the house-made bread and butter. Both white and wholewheat come warm, and you desperately remind yourself of your mother's warning not to fill up on them before the mains. Judged as a blackboard listing alone, is a basic but delightful tomato, watermelon and feta salad. Perfection in the individual components on each of these dishes is anything but. Rough-cut, room-temperature tomatoes (Praise be!) in a thin, sunlight-coloured pool of oil are the answer to all your heirloom, vine-ripened tomato fantasies. Fat, hand-rolled ribbons of rocket-flavoured pasta have the same effect on your palate that the view of the Pacific sprawled before you has on your eyes. When the basics are this good, ordering the chicken main at Sean's begins to feel like an obligation. This logic is rewarded as breast, thigh and leg pieces congregate in holy, crisp-skinned communion. The accompanying creamed corn and slaw are nearly an insult to meat cooked this perfectly, but they definitely don't go astray. After this, dessert doesn't get any more basic than vanilla ice cream with raspberry jelly. You could almost laugh for the way the vivid jelly and first-kiss shock of vanilla ice cream conjure up all the joy of the packet stuff that made you so happy so long ago. Today though, you delicately pick at them with shards of the accompanying florentine to make it last as long as you can. I could have guessed, but I didn't, that the bill would be hand-written and our leftovers would be handed over wrapped in tin foil. As we leave, a kid outside rolls an esky atop a skateboard towards the beach and clouds roll in from the east. Sean has it good. Images: Enzo Amato and Sean's Panorama Instagram Appears in: The Best Restaurants in Sydney
East meets west at the Sydney outpost of New Zealand fave White + Wong's. This colourful spot located at 25 Martin Place doesn't stray too far from the formula that's made it such a success across the ditch, with an eclectic menu that draws influences from classic street food from China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. It's an expansive selection that ranges from noodles and made-from-scratch curries to barbecue-roasted meats and dumplings. Yes, purists may scoff at the cross-section of regional influences, but the proof is in the proverbial pudding here — since opening its first outpost in Auckland six years ago, it's become one of the most awarded restaurant brands in Aotearoa. On the menu, you'll find signatures like Fijian-style kingfish sashimi, masterstock fried pork hock with tamarind and chilli caramel, crispy soft-shell crab with Sichuan pepper, Korean fried chicken bao, massaman lamb shoulder curry and deep-fried ice cream with butterscotch sauce. A number of banquet menus are available for groups of four or more, while the popular Feed Me menu is a great way for tables of two or more to sample a selection of dishes from across the menu for $65. Drinks at White + Wong's are taken just as seriously as the food. Sardine Bar, which is nestled just behind the dining room, boasts a considered wine program which includes French and local sparkling, as well as an excellent selection of whites, reds, rosés and booze-free options. There's also a pan-Asian inspired cocktail menu at this breezy open-air bar plus the option to enjoy a custom-made cocktail tailored to your preference. Feeling peckish? You can pair your drink with a selection of food from White + Wong's here, too. White + Wong's is open for lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday from midday until late.
Tinker on your motorbike and slurp your way through bowls of ramen on the same premises at Rising Sun Workshop's permanent Newtown digs. For the uninitiated, Rising Sun is a social enterprise that serves two purposes. On one hand, it provides its motor-revving members with a communal space for repairing and polishing up their bikes. On the other, it's a café, serving coffee, cookies and seriously killer ramen. The independent organisation was started by three friends who love riding bikes, working on bikes and chatting about bikes while also drinking coffee. They decided that Sydney needed an open, friendly, affordable space where this could happen more often. So, in 2013 they turned to Pozible and ran crowdfunding campaign, and soon discovering that 160 other people felt the same way. The 90-day campaign raised a cool $40,000. This gave them enough cash to launch a pop-up. In 2014, they hung out in a "barely legal" space in Camperdown, building an elite Hill Fighter, cooking up ramen and gathering friends. Needless to say, the finding of a solid, full-time home has come as a major relief. You'll find Rising Sun's new workshop at 1C Whateley Street. It used to house a century-old hardware store, so there's oodles of space. Also, the menu has scored a serious upgrade. You can now get nosh at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you'll find some Southern influences mixing with Japanese tradition. One of the new star dishes is a Japanese-style breakfast, served on a tray. It's worth getting up early for.
Let's face it: we're a fast-paced, high-stress society — and although we would like life to slow down for a second (or for Internet to go down just for a few days, at least), it's not going to let up. To manage your physical and mental health in this crazy world, UK-based startup Vinaya have created a bracelet that is wholly concerned with tracking your emotional wellbeing. The wearable device — the first of its kind — is the first to measure sleep and fitness, as well as happiness, stress and mindfulness. It even tracks fertility (kind of creepy, we know). The wearable, named Zenta, was 100 percent crowdfunded on Indiegogo in record time this week, raising a whopping $137,191 USD in just 41 hours. The product looks like a more stylish version of a Fitbit, and is available with a sports band ($119 USD) or a leather band ($149 USD). And while you can purchase one now, the bracelets won't ship until mid-2017. Here's how it supposedly works. The biometric sensors track your heart rate, movement and perspiration, as well as respiration, electrical activity and oxygen levels. These patterns will then be cross-referenced with the information (like your calendars, meeting schedules and social media use) from your smartphone — though you only share as much (or as little) as you want. The Zenta app is essentially meant to 'learn' your patterns and determine your normal emotional state, as well as decipher any variations from your norm and indicate what caused those variations. As Zenta learns, the idea is that it will require less input from you and get smarter about shifts in your emotional state. Vinaya is already talking with research institutions, mental health organisations and mindfulness experts to make sense of the Zenta data. We must admit, we're sceptical about where this data will end up — the thought it landing in the hands of advertisers, marketers or Google is a pretty frightening concept. Still, if the device helps bring some sense of calm to the stressed-out masses, we would like to see it in action. Zenta is currently available for purchase through Indiegogo. The estimated shipping date is mid-2017.
Most of us are conscious of the climate emergency the planet is facing and are trying to be more ethical consumers as a result. But how many of us really know where our home furnishings, fashion or lifestyle products come from? It's too easy to go to a chain store and not question the manufacturing process behind many of its goods, but there's often a more sustainable alternative. And while there's an array of brands around the world championing sustainable practices, The Royal Thai Government has committed to positioning Thailand as a world leader in sustainable design. It's recently announced the creation of its BCG (Bio, Circular and Green) Economy to drive economic growth via the production of goods from renewable resources. Want to see how it comes to life? We've found ten Thai innovators who are doing their bit for the planet while still making quality products that are hard to pass up. BOPE When it comes to recycling, plastic is often the planet's real bête noire. It can take around 450 years for a plastic bottle to break down in landfill and every year, the world produces 380 million tonnes of the stuff. Bope is on a mission to do its bit to rescue some of that plastic. Its products — bags, purses, coasters, pots and more — are as stylish as they are practical, coming in a range of eye-catching designs and bright colours. Operating since 2014, this Chiang Mai design studio really knows how to get the best out of plastic. PIN The concept underpinning (pun intended) this award-winning brand is "new life of waste, new life of welder". As well as finding an innovative use for scrap metal, PiN encourages the craftspeople working on its products to take pride and dignity in the work they are doing. Founded by an artist who grew up in a family-owned steel company, PiN takes unremarkable waste metal and transforms it into beautiful homewares and decorations including hanging planters and stunning artworks. PASAYA Luxury and sustainability aren't always two concepts that go together, but Pasaya is looking to change that. Its range of rugs and carpets are high-end, durable and available in a whole host of patterns. Made from upcycled plastic bottles and manufactured using cutting-edge weaving techniques, Pasaya furnishings are made with the warm Thai climate in mind — something which is also ideal for many Australian homes. The company is also committed to reducing waste in all parts of the process including monitoring water utilisation, bacterial digestion and chemical reduction in the creation of its products. TRC TRC has over half a century's experience in stone polishing. The brand incorporates the ethos of sustainability into all it does, not just finished products, with even the moulds the company uses comprising of cement debris that other contractors would throw into a skip. Its signature collection is now made from entirely recycled materials including polished stone tables with bright, geometric patterns created from smashed and repurposed stone samples. CIRCULAR Fashion company Circular is extremely aptly named. Its garments are made of recycled materials, as you may expect, but if you donate your old clothes to Circular, you can also get a 10% discount off your next purchase, thus continuing the loop. Circular doesn't just use pre-loved items — it also sources waste from textile manufacturers, so it's never wholly reliant on generous donations. The brand also make a point of keeping the original colour of any materials used, therefore helping the environment by avoiding the use of harmful bleach or other chemicals. KH EDITIONS As well as a commitment to being eco-friendly, apparel brand KH Editions also has a strong focus on the local community. The company collaborates with locals, garnering ideas and materials, but also creating income and opportunities. What this means for the customer (as well as supporting an ethical brand) is the opportunity to purchase unique items of clothing which celebrate Thai culture made from materials like galangal and banana stem. And the designs are just as innovative as the manufacturing process — KH Editions clothing stands out in the best way. EARTHTONE Using materials like water hyacinth, rice husk and hemp, eco-fashion brand Earthtone's manifesto is to "spread love, not chemicals". Founded by husband-and-wife team Sayuri Okawa and Atthapon Pongsawat in 2019 after observing the degradation of Southern Thailand's coral reefs, Earthtone strives for efficiency, sustainability and spreading the message of conservation through clothing. The brand isn't stopping there, though — it's also looking to expand into home décor. Given its website proudly states the brand has preserved over 400,000 litres of drinking water and avoided over 500 kilograms of carbon emissions through its production methods, you truly want them to succeed. DD PAPER CUPS Many of us are getting better with our keep cups these days, but there are still times when you forget your reusable vessel and can't resist the lure of a barista-made coffee. The number of single-use cups thrown away is truly frightening — and that's where DD Paper Cups comes in. The business produces disposable cups, food containers, lids, tissues (basically any kind of packaging you'd associate with food and drinks to go) that are all environmentally friendly. The coffee cup line is even biodegradable, with the "plastic" that coats the inside made from plant material, meaning they break down within six months and can be used as fertiliser. HIDE & SEEK Let's talk kitty litter. It's usually made of rocks which you have to throw away when your beloved feline friend has done what they need to do. However, Hide & Seek has a new solution: cat litter that's produced entirely from cassava — a South American shrub that's also a staple food in many regions. Cassava has the same liquid and odour-absorbing qualities as the rock ore that most kitty litter is made from, only it's biodegradable, non-toxic and won't clog the pipes if flushed down the dunny. That would be a waste, however, as Hide & Seek cat litter can have a second life as plant fertiliser. KHRAMER You may normally just think of indigo as one of the colours of the rainbow but its origins are as a dye extracted from roots. For generations, people have used indigo root for its medicinal qualities as well as for giving colour to fabric. Khramer seeks to bring this benefit and wisdom to a wider group of people via its range of cosmetics made from indigo roots which is as safe and sustainable as it is effective. The brand's core products are a facial serum and a sunscreen, meaning you can take care of your skin and the planet at once. Keen to explore more sustainable brands? For more information, visit the DITP website, or explore more of Thailand's incredible creative scene here.
When you're fresh from donning armour and sparking an international frenzy in one of TV's biggest franchises, what comes next? For Ryan Corr, following up his stint as Ser Harwin Strong in House of the Dragon means sliding into a six-part Brisbane-shot ABC dramedy about loss and mental health. In its themes, tone, scale and budget, In Limbo is in another world to Game of Thrones and its prequel series — it's about a thirtysomething man struggling with the sudden death of his best friend and his mental health in general, and it's also a supernatural buddy comedy — but the Australian star wouldn't have that contrast of parts any other way. "I guess subconsciously, I try to get them as different as possible, like going from a bikie to a man in a suit," Corr says of picking his roles two decades into his career. "I think that I do that because I've done this since I was a kid, and I'm in pursuit of that challenge, and knocking down boundaries that I didn't think I could necessarily do." Corr has done plenty since earning his first screen credit as a teenager in Aussie series The Sleepover Club. Most homegrown TV shows since have featured the charismatic actor, from Blue Heelers, Neighbours, Underbelly and Tangle to Love Child, Cleverman, Hungry Ghosts and Wakefield — and, of course, his 60-plus-episode run on Packed to the Rafters. On the big screen, he made his movie debut in the film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, then added everything from rom-com Not Suitable for Children and horror sequel Wolf Creek 2 to biopic Holding the Man and bikie drama 1% to his resume, plus Ali's Wedding, Mary Magdalene, Ladies in Black and High Ground as well. Across a body of work with no shortage of highlights, his two most recent projects still stand out. House of the Dragon had Corr playing the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms and, amid the global attention that followed, sparked an onslaught of 'Six Things You Might Not Know About Ser Harwin Strong' and 'Ryan Corr Has Gone From Blue Water High to Westeros'-style articles. "I don't see myself as a six-foot-five strong knight, and sure as hell not the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms," he says. "But the challenge was how do I replicate that in my idea of what strength is and what the essence is? And can I portray that?" In Limbo, which is streaming now on ABC iView and airing weekly on ABC TV, swaps physical brawn for emotional vulnerability. After crane operator Charlie loses his lifelong best mate Nate (Bob Morley, Love Me), everything unsurprisingly changes, but Nate remains a presence in his life from the afterlife. "When I got the script, it really moved me. I found it laugh-out-loud funny, and really upsetting at times — and I thought it was really fresh. I don't think we've tried to deal with themes like this in quite this way before," Corr advises. There's a sense of responsibility that comes with a series like In Limbo, as well as that challenge that Corr is always seeking. Thanks to its subject matter, the show always felt personal while he was making it, too. Corr chatted with Concrete Playground about all about the above, having a profound reaction to the project, balancing In Limbo's tones and themes, his past year and his career highlights so far. ON MAKING A COMEDY THAT'S THOUGHTFUL AND WEIGHTY — AND IN LIMBO'S PERSONAL FEEL "There was a much longer rehearsal process than usual, where we just got to sit down together, weigh in and talk about what we were about to tackle subject-wise — and there were safety networks all around us while we did so — and also start to share and open up about our own lives and experiences, both direct and indirectly, to do with loss, so that we could develop trust together as people while we navigate these ideas. Because I think the series has to have heart. I found that everyone in the making of it — the crew all up in Brisbane, everyone that read this script — had a profound reaction to it and said 'I want to be a part of this'. I think you can feel everyone leaning into it in the final product. I hope so. I've, of course, experienced loss, as have most people that I know. I think it's a very personal tale. I very much based Charlie's relationship with Nate on some of my early childhood friends, who are a bridge past that now — we're not friends anymore, they're more like brothers and sisters, they are my family. So I very much know where that relationship lives, and the idea of losing one of them is the earth-shattering. We all actively worked through it, communicating with each other, personalising what we've been through and were going through, so that we could trust each other — and so you can invest the series with that heart and that meaning. I don't think it's possible if you don't." ON DRAWING UPON REALITY TO INFORM IN LIMBO'S MIX OF TONES AND GENRES "When I lost my grandfather, I was sitting around with a group of my friends and family, and we're all holding hands as he was literally leaving. And he did something funny in some of his final breaths, he made a funny noise or something. And so I found that my family were all holding each other and crying, and then laughing all of a sudden. We were saying goodbye to someone we love, and all of a sudden he made one of the funny noises and we laughed, and there was a wonderful lesson in that — it had both. And I think in life, it has both. And what In Limbo tries to explore is that — I think In Limbo is more about life than it is about death. Strangely, in the losing of Nate, Charlie discovers more about himself in the pursuit of trying to find answers about Nate. He becomes closer to his family, and it exposes things, it brings things to the forefront that he may have not been dealing with previously. And in a strange way, Nate guides Charlie through — in death, Nate helps Charlie through his life. And it's about the way that the people that are left continue to live, the way they come together, and the way they support each other and water those relationships and friendships, and help each other grieve and process. And that's what life is, you know? And within that, within this thing that we call life, there are often — at least I've found — moments of hysterical laughter, of mundane things that make you lose your shit laughing." ON PREPARING FOR IN LIMBO "Like with all characters, there are some parts that you research and some parts of yourself. I have some experiences with mental health myself personally, and with my family and with my friends. So it's not hard for me to go to places where I was in darker spaces with my anxiety and depression, and knowing what that felt like, and not being able to see the light. One the things that In Limbo brings up is that it's not always visible. In fact, it's very, very rarely visible. And I remember, just simply for me personally, that it wasn't until I was going through some shit for a couple of years until I was like 'oh, I don't think I'm happy right now' or 'I think what I'm feeling is muted. I don't feel the highs. I don't feel the lows'. I remember that being rather confronting, like 'oh [how long] have I felt like this for?". One of things that In Limbo tries to do is shed a bit of light on that. You ask more often if people are okay. When they say that they are, it's not always necessarily the full story. And it's about just trying a little further, it's about asking a little more and it's about checking on yourself. Everyone in In Limbo, we all have to pull from our personal worlds. This is an intimate story, and it's about family and it's about loss. So researching things like this, you have to draw from things in your own life, and then have an environment where you can leave that at the door and feel safe to expose it with other people and be safe going home afterwards. I think they very much made that environment for us." ON THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH TACKLING MENTAL HEALTH "It's not our responsibility to give answers or to hammer over the head any of our ideas around this — it's about starting a conversation, and I think that everyone in the creative process very much took that responsibility on board, and tried to keep that close through the shooting of it as our as our main drive. Our number-one prerogative was to take that responsibility seriously. You have responsibility to all characters you play. If you're doing it properly, it has to cost you something — and particularly with something like this, there's no phoning it in. So we made sure that being comfortable around dealing with these things, both as performers and as people, was right the forefront. And that we weren't trying to hand people any simple answers." ON WHAT CORR LOOKS FOR IN A PART "It can be a number of things, but usually something that challenges me or that I don't think I can do initially — something where I go 'all right, now we're gonna go over here'. It's about challenge and primarily it's about chase. It's about the pursuit of great writing and great directors. When you have language on your side, when you have great ideas on your side, that's the pursuit of this industry. It's raising to those writers and it's raising to those ideas — not making it about yourself and saying 'this is how it is when I feel', it's about trying to play your part in the whole of the narrative. It's really the pursuit of writing that excites me — and directors that, when you sit down and have meetings with them, the way they talk about their ideas gets you excited and inspires you, and you can see it as they talk. It's working with creatives who have a similar pursuit as I do." ON JUMPING FROM HOUSE OF THE DRAGON TO IN LIMBO "Obviously there's a difference in the scale and the reach, but honestly there's not a big difference between In Limbo and Thrones. There's more people, but it's ultimately always the same job. In fact, if anything, I find that the the bigger they get and the more expansive, the less personal they become, and the less involved with the people you're working with. You can shoot a scene over half a week [on House of the Dragon] — one scene of a sequence over half a week. On In Limbo, we're shooting 16 scenes the day and then waking up at 4am to do it again the next day. And we had bugger all time to do it in, like five weeks, so it becomes a completely different exercise in trusting each other. [With House of the Dragon] you just expand upon that. Instead of going into a house that we've decked out in Brisbane, it's a giant setpiece that is an operational castle — you can walk up the stairs, and there's 30 people teaching someone dance for next week, teams and teams of people. It's the same thing extended upon, obviously, because there's huge amounts of money involved, and because the shows are so big. I just tried to go in and fill Harwin's shoes the best way I knew how. There wasn't a huge amount of him in the book, so I had to fill in the lines. That part of it was exactly the same as sitting in the lounge room with In Limbo… working through these scenes, mining them for the best ideas, workshopping the best ways to do it, rehearsing it and then getting out there and trying to give it our all." ON THE PROJECT ON CORR'S RESUME THAT STANDS OUT "Honestly, every one — but two things. Kevin Jackson is my acting mentor who's just recently passed away — he was the acting teacher at NIDA for many, many years, and is responsible for framing the lives and artistry of many people that I know, including myself. I went at 17. I'd done teen shows, and I made the decision at that age — I was like 'I want take this seriously and I want to study it'. So I took myself out of the industry, went to drama school and that's where I met a man in Kevin that taught me what great writing was and how what we did was above ourselves. Like I say, he is 'the writer is God'. He's the reason that I pursue writing the way that I do. It's not about how you feel, it's not about bringing it down to you. It's about pain reaching these ideas. Can you make something of these ideas? And therefore it's universal. When I was growing up, I took a lot of my lessons, my understanding of emotion, my understanding of love, my understanding of grief, from a lot of the films that I inhaled. That was my go-to, that's what spoke to me and that felt important to me. And so, if I'm going to do it as my career, Kevin was very much a pivotal part of helping me understand what it is that we do. Also Holding the Man, I would say as an experience, as a film, working with [director] Neil Armfield, working with Tommy [playwright and screenwriter Tommy Murphy]. And having for the first time the yardstick of what I was doing, as my job slightly changed. It wasn't just 'here's my version of a character and I hope it's good' — it was someone's family. And I met that family, and I had them hand over their journals and their personal belongings, and I had his friends reach out from all throughout Melbourne. And we had the Victorian AIDS Council say, 'hey, can we can we do rehearsals here?'. I was just overwhelmed with the amount of compassion and the amount of love that reached towards us in doing it. And it made me realise that my job here wasn't to do a good job — it was to represent a real person's memory and their legacy and their love to the absolute nth degree that I possibly can. That felt important and, like with In Limbo, I felt a responsibility to the people that I was playing and to what it meant, and that really resonated with me throughout the years. It's not like you can have jobs like that all the time, but it really did entrench what this industry, what this thing that I call a job, what the arts can be and what it can do and how important it is." In Limbo streams via ABC iView. Read our full review. House of the Dragon streams via Binge. Read our full review.
Stay tuned. More info on its way. Images: Nikki To
Quiet luxury is getting loud in the Harbour City as jet-set glamour cruises back into the CBD. Following its top-to-bottom $70-million renovation, the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth is set to reopen this November, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of its original opening. For over half a century, this architectural wonder, with its distinctive semi-circular design, has been a place of glamour and excess — the nation's first 5-star hotel at the time of its opening. Among its guests over the decades have been royals, movie stars and global dignitaries, and as the hotel enters a new era, it aims to maintain its timeless opulence that attracted such luminaries while embracing all the mod-cons of the 21st century. Originally designed in a post-war minimalist style, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth welcomed its first guests in 1964. At the time, it was the largest brick structure in the southern hemisphere, complete with sleek, contemporary decor. Led by architecture and interior design firm FK, the ambitious renovations have captured the essence of the building's heritage, keeping its history alive by reigniting its glamorous past. The upgrades extend to 436 guest rooms and suites, the Sofitel Club Millésime, the health and wellness centre, all public spaces, including the grand entrance lobby and state-of-the-art conference and event spaces, and four dining venues conceived and operated by House Made Hospitality. This multifaceted hospitality offering has been a major focus of the renovations. It includes two restaurants, tilda and Delta Rue, and two bars, bar tilda and Wentworth Bar, which boasts one of Sydney's largest outdoor terraces. Leaning into its history the second you walk inside, the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth's grand entrance features a striking lighting piece inspired by a time-honoured Sofitel tradition of being escorted to your room by candlelight. Throughout the open-plan ground floor, visitors can spot subtle nods to the property's 1960's pedigree, for example, the striking, curved exterior extending inwards to create a series of intimate lounge spaces where guests to relax when they first arrive. Counterpointing this legacy design are 21st-century conveniences. Personalised service goes digital with interactive stations that streamline the check in process, while every aspect of a stay can now be controlled through Sofitel's concierge app. The elevated entrance leads into the Sofitel Club Millésime, a warm, eclectic lounge layered with soft furnishings. Those who purchase a day pass to the club can pass the time relaxing and enjoy its facilities, including all-day dining and refreshments, hors d'oeuvres and evening drinks. The essence of Sofitel's luxury can truly be found in its 436 rooms and suites, complete with a historical aesthetic updated with modern sensibility. The golden era of the hotel truly shines through with soft, sculptural forms, rich, layered materials and shining jewel tones. Contemporary amenities, such as smart, adjustable lighting and a pillow menu for the perfect night's sleep, deliver the modern touches today's hotel guests expect. Soak in the 60s charm with a heritage-listed bath and customisable French Balmain amenities, or start the morning with a Nespresso from the in-room pod machine. Guests can also enjoy revamped in-room dining by House Made Hospitality, offering guests an exciting opportunity to experience exceptional cuisine in the comfort of their room. The grand Wentworth Ballroom, along with 15 other event spaces, has been given a technological face lift courtesy of Encore Event Technologies. While keeping its history intact, including a classic 1960s mirrored ceiling, Wentworth Ballroom now boasts one of Australia's largest LED screens. Other upgrades to all event and meeting spaces include state-of-the-art lights, digital screens and presentation technology. Event dining is guided by the expertise of newly appointed Michelin-trained Executive Chef Bektaş Özcan, who promises culinary excellence, with menus showcasing local, organic, and sustainable produce. Sydney has enjoyed a boom in five-star accomodation in recent years, with recent additions like Crown Towers, Capella Sydney and the W Hotel stealing the spotlight from the older luxury stays in the city. With its mix of historic poise and contemporary finesse, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth now ranks amongst the finest hotels the Harbour City has to offer. Find the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth at 61-101 Phillip Street, in the CBD.
UPDATE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Live at the Bowl's extended lineup has been announced. On top of all the acts below, you can now catch the like of Ball Park Music and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard performing as part of the Summer Sounds series alongside Piknic Electronik, The Cat Empire, The Avalanches and many more. Check out the full event schedule via Live at the Bowl. When the warm weather rolls around each year, Melburnians usually have multiple reasons to head to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. For those feeling festive, it's where Carols by Candlelight is held. And for anyone keen on catching orchestral shows under the evening sky, it's where the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has held its free summer series for decades. Come 2021, the iconic venue will also play host to a new event: Live at the Bowl. It's a response to this past chaotic year, with holding a COVID-safe summer festival its number-one aim. Well, that and giving the city's residents something fun to add to their calendars after 2020's struggles. Live at the Bowl will run from Friday, January 8–Friday, April 23 and will feature more than 40 performances. The eclectic lineup is stacked with local talent from different eras and genres including Missy Higgins, Lime Cordiale, Daryl Braithwaite, Sampa the Great and Birds of Tokyo performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. If you're looking to laugh, Emmy Award-winner Hannah Gadsby is also heading up a night of comedy alongside Zoë Coombs Marr. It'll be a socially distanced affair, obviously, which the renders of the event illustrate — including separate platforms that split the audience up into groups, as festivals overseas have already been using. Tickets are on sale Wednesday, December 16 via Ticketek. Check out the full program below and find out more via Live at the Bowl. LIVE AT THE BOWL LINEUP Spinifex Gum — Friday, January 8 Human Nature — Saturday, January 9 Piknic Électronik — Sunday, January 10 A Symphonic Celebration — Thursday, January 14 Soju Gang presents SorBaes — Friday, January 15 Mo'Ju with Orchestra Victoria — Saturday, January 16 Teeny Tiny Stevies — Sunday, January 17 Ocean Alley — Thursday, January 21 Birds of Tokyo with the MSO — Friday, January 22 Share the Spirit 2021 — Tuesday, January 26 Missy Higgins — Wednesday, January 27 2021 Sidney Myer Free Concerts — Friday, January 29, Saturday, February 6 and Wednesday, February 10 Sun Cycle — Saturday, January 30 Lime Cordiale — Thursday, February 4 Running Touch — Friday, February 5 Rock the Bowl with Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and The Black Sorrows — Friday, February 12 Chinese New Year — Saturday, February 13 Vika & Linda — Sunday, February 14 Hannah Gadsby — Wednesday, February 17 Sampa the Great — Saturday, March 13 No Friend But the Mountains — Sunday, March 21 Top Image: Piknic Électronik by Wade Malligan
It comes as no surprise that Australia's nightlife scenes have shifted dramatically in the past five years. From COVID-19 to the spiking cost of living, Australians' leisure habits are constantly adapting. It may have taken us nearly half a decade to get back off our couches and into our local pubs and restaurants post-lockdown, but the data shows that it's finally happening. Australians are getting more comfortable with heading back out into the nightlife. The Visa Vibe Economy report, commissioned by Visa and conducted by McCrindle, provides a comprehensive snapshot of Australian life after dark. From chasing the newest must-try restaurant to heading out to night markets, Australians are finding fresh ways to make our nights count. For one in three Australians, going out at night is "extremely or very important" to their lifestyle. Dining out is the most popular choice for leaving the comfort and safety of their houses, followed by heading to the cinema, visiting night markets and going to bars and pubs. [caption id="attachment_1018636" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Etheus[/caption] The stats also show that, despite the rhetoric around Gen Z being isolated phone addicts, the younger generations are driving Australia's night-time activity, with Gen Z choosing to go out an average of just over nine nights per month, followed by Gen Y (or millennials) with an average of 7.2 nights out a month. With Visa's new data providing a snapshot of Australia's after-dark habits in the second half of the 2020s, we spoke with two hospitality leaders to get a sense check on what the future of our nightlife may look like and how it has changed. Intentionality over consumption Across the country, operators are seeing a clear move towards more intentional nights out. Kingsley Smith, owner of The London Hotel in Paddington, notes that the midweek pub catch-up has dropped significantly. Kingsley says that Australians are drinking "considerably" less midweek. Saturday nights are still booming, however, as Kingsley observes that Australians are saving themselves for a bigger blowout on the weekend. "Saturday is still the big night out, possibly bigger than ever," he tells Concrete Playground. Jason Williams, the Director of House Made Hospitality, echoes this trend, adding that while Australians continue to socialise, caution around spending due to inflation is shaping how people engage with hospitality. "People are spending a little less, but they're still going out. Guests are chasing experiences — not just good food and drinks — but they're more value-conscious than before." [caption id="attachment_836017" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Apollonia[/caption] Kingsley believes that the future of the Australian nightlife is "food-focused" with punters looking for "alternative entertainment" outside of bars and clubs, noting that a night out "doesn't need to involve alcohol". This observation is backed up by Visa's data, which found that great food and entertainment take centre stage on Australians' nights out. At the same time, the availability of alcohol ranked low on our list of after-dark priorities. "Australians are drinking less alcohol these days, driven by health and wellness trends, shifting social habits and cost-of-living pressures," says Jason. Despite these trends, Jason remains optimistic about the future of Australian nightlife, particularly in his hometown of Sydney. "Sydney's nightlife is slowly rebuilding after years of lockout laws and red tape, and we're finally seeing real energy from all levels of government to support it," says Jason. "Spending habits are changing, but there's no shortage of passionate operators and creatives ready to deliver great experiences and that enthusiasm will help grow the audience again." [caption id="attachment_1003546" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Baptist Street Rec. Club[/caption] Even as our habits change, the magic of our cities after dark remains. "We just need to normalise going out more often and make the city feel alive after dark. More retailers staying open later would help, too," Jason shares. According to Kingsley, al fresco dining is booming among customers, and councils are (thankfully) supporting this shift. "Outdoor dining is growing in popularity, and our councils are listening and approving more sidewalk seating and parklets." A message for the home bodies With the price of a pint, the comfort of streaming services and all of our friends living on the small computer in our pockets, it's often easier (and more tempting) to choose a night in over heading out into the dark. But as the weather warms up, Kingsley offers words of encouragement to the homebodies. "Embrace our city at night," says Kingsley. "The more people out, the safer it is and the more vibrant the city becomes." Jason, on the other hand, shares a timeless and pertinent reminder to help us create the future of Australian nightlife. "Netflix will still be there when you get home. Get out and create your own stories to tell — the world's full of energy, flavour and good company if you go looking for it." Discover the vibe near you.
Croissants aren't easy to make, and no one in Australia knows that better than Kate Reid. For a decade, she's been the face of Lune Croissanterie, the bakery acclaimed by everyone from Yotam Ottolenghi (who called its flaky wares "the croissant that should act as the prototype for all others") to The New York Times (who anointed them "the finest you will find anywhere in the world"). The Melbourne-born chain's pastries didn't just luck into that effusive praise, however. Drawing upon her background as an ex-Formula 1 aerodynamicist, Reid took to the task of making the perfect croissant with scientific precision back when she changed fields. Lune's climate-controlled glass cubes, where its croissants are made and baked, have also become famous — adding even more complexity to an already-intricate pastry-creating process. After ten years spent crafting its titular treat, and also expanding the brand across Melbourne and Brisbane (plus Sydney in 2023), Lune has its croissants down to an art — and a science. Australia's pastry fiends clearly agree, spanning the chain's classic OG number through to its rotating array of monthly specials; head to any Lune location and the lines are proof enough. But Reid doesn't want croissant aficionados to only covet Lune's baked goods by heading in-store, not that anyone needs much encouragement there. Cue recipe book LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night, which endeavours to share and demystify the croissant-making method — the butter, layers and laminating all included — across its hefty 272 pages. [caption id="attachment_871783" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lune's Kate and Cam Reid[/caption] Reid hasn't found a croissant-making shortcut for the masses, but she has reworked Lune's greatest hits to whip up at home. "Making croissants is really hard, and there's a reason why it's normally a bakery with commercial equipment," she tells Concrete Playground, chatting while touring the country launching the book. When it came time to write the tome, the pandemic struck. Reid describes herself as "a hermit" as a result, but put the situation to good use. "It was coincidental that we ended up in a lockdown, and I was basically stuck in my kitchen at home," she explains. "I was like, 'okay, well what I'm surrounded by is what everyone who buys the book is going to be surrounded by'. So I basically rewrote the recipes from scratch with the home baker in mind." Yes, while everyone else was trying out sourdough, Reid was creating the world's next home-cooking obsession. (When Concrete Playground suggests that perhaps readers will approach Reid's recipes Julie & Julia-style, baking their way through them all from start to finish, she laughs approvingly.) If that commitment sounds like the act of a perfectionist, it is, and Reid freely uses the label to describe herself. You don't get to be an Australian who's globally renowned for a French pastry — so much so that LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night is being snapped by up folks with bakeries in Wales and Prague, Reid advises — without being diligent and meticulous. You also don't get there without learning plenty. When Reid founded Lune, she did "honestly just want to make the best croissant". She was dedicated to that task — starting work at 5am and putting in 10–12-hours-plus a day rolling croissants up until just a couple of years ago — but didn't once dream of having "five stores around Australia, soon to add to Sydney to the mix (which we're all super-excited about), a book, 170 staff and a wine bar", as she itemises. She credits that modest initial outlook and the genuine passion behind it for Lune's success. It might seem surprising for someone clearly so detail-oriented, but she also champions discovering when to not sweat the small stuff, as she talked through in a chat about croissant dreams, cookbook essentials and the best advice she's ever received. ON STARTING LUNE TO CHASE THE PERFECT CROISSANT "The story's well known about leaving Formula 1 and coming back to Australia, and being interested in being a baker or a pastry chef. But it was going to Paris and spending the time at Du Pain et des Idées, and working exclusively in their raw pastry kitchen. Prior to that, I'd been working in cafes, and making cakes and tarts and biscuits — and while I enjoyed that, I needed something that presented far more of a technical challenge. Discovering that at a bakery in Paris, I finally felt like every single one of the receptors that I needed to be stimulated to feel fulfilled in my work were. I was working in a bakery in France where I had to speak French, and learn new techniques that are physically challenging. I came back from Paris so inspired by what I'd learnt — and then wanting to find a croissant in Melbourne that had matched what I'd been eating and making in Paris. I couldn't really find anything that came anywhere near it, so I guess that was where the idea for Lune was born." [caption id="attachment_668102" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Peter Tarasiuk.[/caption] ON SWAPPING A CHILDHOOD DREAM FOR A PASTRY-FILLED FUTURE "I think I'd turned 30 the year I started Lune. For 20 years just preceding that, I'd been laser-focused about a career in Formula 1. I'd literally planned out my retirement. I was going to be the first female technical director of an F1 team, and wanted to retire in Scotland. When I got sick and came back to Australia, the thought of planning too far ahead scared me, because planning so far ahead had put me in a pretty dark place and things hadn't panned out the way I'd thought. So Lune was a bit more of a one-step-at-a-time approach. Like, 'okay you've discovered this new thing that you love, and you've got an ideal to open a little wholesale bakery in Melbourne — let's start there'. Maybe that's been one of the keys to the success of Lune, in that I didn't have a hard and fast outcome that I needed to achieve other than continuing to hone and perfect this pastry, and therefore it has grown in quite an organic direction. The right people have come along at the right time. Cam [Reid's brother and co-owner] came along 18 months in and he's been instrumental. And Nathan [restaurateur Toleman, of Dessous, Hazel and Common Ground Project] came onboard another year or so later, and he's been instrumental as we've been growing in Victoria and interstate. And then there's the chefs that've crossed our paths over the years. We didn't even know that we were going to go to Brisbane up until two years ago, when the opportunity presented itself. I think now where we are, it's important for us to have a growth plan and a vision, but I think all of us — myself, Cameron and Nathan — are all aware that you don't know what life's going to throw at you, or what your business or you are personally going to have to face, and what challenges are going to come. And it's better to be open-minded, as doors will open when you don't expect." ON WRITING A LUNE COOKBOOK TEN YEARS ON — AND CATERING FOR ALL BAKERS "I've had experiences, not just with bakery books but cookbooks in general, where you follow a recipe to the letter in a book and somehow the end result isn't exactly what it promises to be in the photo or the inscriptions. You always blame yourself, because you're like 'well I'm not a professional chef that wrote that recipe, and I don't work in that restaurant, so I must've done something wrong'. I really wanted to write a book that, short of having me in the kitchen with you, the person who bought it and wanted to cook from it really felt like I was like coaching them through the process in a very detailed way. So, the recipes had to be achievable by a home cook. In order to do that, I discovered over probably six or seven weeks of pretty frustrating trials at home last year that I couldn't just replicate what we did at Lune, obviously, because no one in their home kitchen has all the commercial bakery equipment that we have at Lune. I make no bones about it: there's a reason that we don't make croissants at home. But I think especially over the past few years — and with thanks to people like Chad Robertson from Tartine, who's really normalised and championed more technical baking at home, especially with the understanding of making sourdough bread — people out there want a bigger challenge. Especially over the last couple of years with going in and out of lockdown, people got really savvy in their own kitchens making things that otherwise they might've just wandered down to the local bakery to get. There will be many people who read the recipes I've written and, at the start it tells you you've got to dedicate three days to it —there's managing of temperatures, and pulling batches of pastry in and out of the fridge to make sure the butter's the right consistency; it's very technical. The technical home baker will absolutely dive into the recipes. But for those people who don't want to dedicate three days of life to try to make them from home, there's a couple of chapters in the book dedicated to twice-baked recipes that are cult-classics at Lune — like our coconut pandan or the carrot cake, the mocha, the choc-chip cookie-slice bake — and then there's also a leftovers chapter. Those chapters mean that you can just walk down to your local bakery, buy half-a-dozen plain croissants, then engage with the book and cook from it in a couple of hours of cooking in the kitchen, rather than three days." ON PICKING THE RECIPES — AND PLAYING FAVOURITES "I actually compiled a list of every single special we've ever done at Lune, and the list is hundreds long. Then I looked through it, and basically went and picked out my 60 favourites. The book had to come from my heart, and I needed to make sure that there was a really lovely story behind each recipe included. I also wanted it to be a good balance of sweet and savoury, of simple and complex, and pastries that Lune customers remember from the last ten years. It'd be very hard for me to go past the traditional croissant, and just the challenge of mastering the plain croissant at home. Anyone who embarks on that recipe is going to have a great amount of satisfaction when they pull them out of the oven on day three. But in terms of what to do with the croissant pastry and be creative with it, there are so many recipes in the book. The fish pie one is genius because it uses the scraps of the scraps, so nothing needs to get thrown in the bin. And then with the kouign-amann recipe, which isn't a cult Lune recipe — it's a classic French pastry — even if you've stuffed up your lamination a bit in the raw pastry, you are going to get the most delicious pastry you've ever made at home." ON THE BEST ADVICE REID HAS EVER RECEIVED "It's probably been from Cam, my brother. I am absolutely a perfectionist, maybe to my detriment, and had Cam not come along I potentially could've gotten really stuck in the detail of perfecting the croissant — and at the expense of making a viable business. I'm a control freak as well, so it took me a long time to be able to step back and let go of control of elements that ultimately I didn't need to have control of. The advice is to let go of the things that don't matter, and let other people take hold of things, because somebody's always better at something than you are. If you can find someone that's better at it than you, it's going to be to the benefit of the business and the product, and ultimately you as well. And trusting in people. I think my biggest learning is that to grow a business, 100-percent the most important thing is to have a really good recruitment program, because to get the right people involved in your business is the only way for a business to grow and succeed." AND SOME ADVICE FOR LUNE: CROISSANTS ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT READERS "Source really good ingredients to start with, because you can't make something great from bad ingredients – you just can't. They're your foundation, your good ingredients. If you live in a really hot, humid environment and you don't have air-conditioning, it's probably going to be the most frustrating recipe of your entire life. It's really not designed for warm environments, and if you don't have the ability to control the room that you're doing the pastry in, then you're not going to have a great time. And please tag me on Instagram if you try to make it, because I'm so excited to see everyone's results. That's not advice — that's a request!" LUNE: Croissants All Day, All Night is available at Australian bookstores and online, with the hardback edition retailing for $55.
One Playground Merrylands is the Sydney wellness brand's first foray into the city's mighty west — and its largest and most ambitious studio to date. Spanning 3000 square metres across two levels of Merryland's Mason & Main mixed-use precinct, this expansive health hub brings together high-performance training, boutique group classes and luxe recovery facilities, all under one beautifully designed roof. The gym floor alone covers 1500 square metres and features over 100 top-tier machines, including Technogym cardio equipment, custom Gym80 strength rigs and stainless steel Watson dumbbells. There's also a dedicated Comfort Zone for quieter, more mindful strength training, perfect for beginners or anyone after a more relaxed session. Members also have access to a weekly schedule of over 300 classes, which take place across the gym's six purpose-built studios. There's something for every fitness personality, from high-intensity boxing and interval training to grounding yoga and pilates in the calming Space studio. Semi-private coaching and reformer pilates are also on offer — as is a resort-style recovery area fitted with infrared and traditional saunas. One Playground locations showcase both form and function, and its Merrylands studio is no different. Inspired by the luxury of Dubai and Morocco, One Playground Merrylands swaps harsh gym lighting for terracotta-rendered walls, micro-cement floors and arched windows that frame the 5.5-metre-high ceilings.
It's fair to say that MasterChef Australia winner and media personality chef Adam Liaw is a national treasure. When he's not blessing us with insights on Twitter or presenting cooking shows on TV that make our tummies grumble, he's off collaborating with flavoursome chip brand, Red Rock Deli. And on Wednesday, May 15, Liaw will be hosting an intimate secret supper for 20 guests. The location remains a secret for now — as does the menu. All we know so far is that the three-course menu will be inspired by Red Rock Deli's newest flavour — Limited-Edition Thai Red Chilli and Creamy Coconut. [caption id="attachment_718821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Gould[/caption] It's all very hush-hush — but we've done some prying. First up, Liaw did tell us that the menu is 'a journey in three parts'. The first dish will hero chilli, while the dessert will incorporate the creamy texture of coconut. For the main, you can expect both flavours to be featured. We also know that Liaw's knowledge of Asian cuisines is extraordinary — he was born in Malaysia to an English Singaporean mother and Hainanese Chinese father and is the Goodwill Ambassador for Japanese cuisine — and he loves bringing elements from these cuisines into his cooking. "The one thing I always come back to is not how different they are, but how much common ground there is. Every cuisine has its comfort foods, sweet treats, grilled meats and balanced tastes. Once you understand the context of the food, the ingredients can be combined and integrated to create something new," he told us. [caption id="attachment_659258" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chaco Bar, Leticia Almeida[/caption] So, in trying to crack the menu code, we thought we'd find out a little about the Asian restaurants that Liaw visits in Sydney (and the dishes he orders) for inspiration. He name-dropped a few of his recent favourites, which may give us an idea of what to expect. First up: wagyu carpaccio with sea urchin, parmesan and truffle — a bold flavour combo — from Darlinghurst's Chaco Bar. And, if you're feeling brave, Liaw recommends the 'char-siu' roasted Glacier toothfish from Mr Wong. What is a Glacier toothfish? And why do we want to eat it? It just goes to show that a menu item that starts with 'char-siu' (which is traditionally served as barbecued pork) can end however it likes and, if Liaw suggests it, we'll give it a go. He also mentioned Mama Mulan's Mongolian-style lamb ribs with cumin and the Moo ping marinated pork skewers with jim jaew from Khao Pla as inspirational dishes. [caption id="attachment_611319" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mr Wong[/caption] Rounding out Liaw's top six were hot pot chain The Dolar Shop and Ho Jiak — both in Haymarket. "[They're] doing fantastic things with modern, creative Asian food while still understanding Australia's love of authenticity," he says. From Dolar Shop, he rates the Sichuan broth, whole big eye ocean perch and sweet potato noodles. You had us at whole big eye ocean perch, Mr Liaw. Adam Liaw's Secret Supper is now sold out but we've still got two tickets to give away. To be in with a chance, head this way. And, while you wait for the big night to roll around, you can get cracking on this Liaw-certified recommendation circuit. Top Image: Kitti Gould.
The north-of-the-bridge boom is in full swing, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Once Sydney's oft-overlook CBD extension, North Sydney is now home to some of the city's buzziest restaurants on either side of the harbour — not to mention a shiny new metro making the neighbourhood more accessible than ever before. And from mid-May, there'll be one more restaurant in North Sydney to add to the list, promising to bring a whole lot of flair, flavour and finesse to the table. Located in the heart of the action on Miller Street, Toki Bistro & Bar will showcase modern Asian-inspired flavours and French culinary techniques, with a storytelling twist that will turn your meal into something far more memorable. The cleverly designed space — which includes three private dining rooms and an intimate public dining room across its 475 square metres — is moody and elegant, mixing classic Parisian bistro charm with modern luxury. Think: mahogany floors, black marble tables, deep red vintage seating and glass chandeliers glowing overhead. Upon entry, you'll be greeted by a showcase of fresh seafood set against a slick and stacked mahogany and marbled-topped bar. Leading the charge at Toki is Head Chef Jay Choy, whose culinary credentials span Michelin-starred restaurants in the US and a top-ten nod from San Pellegrino's Young Chef awards. At Toki, Choy will present a considered menu that brings together classic French technique and punchy Asian flavours, inspired by his own childhood memories and years of global experience. The public dining area offers an à la carte menu spotlighting Toki signatures — but for the full experience, you'll want to opt for one of the set menus. Highlights include beef tartare topped with caviar and crispy tendon crisps, marron udon with beurre blanc and lobster bisque, and bone marrow custard with bacon jam, uni and ikura served on a crumpet. You can pair your meal with a selection from the thoughtful wine program, which includes premium drops from Australia, Asia and France — with complimentary tastings also available to help you find your perfect match. For a more exclusive experience, step into the discreet elevator on Miller Street to access one of Toki's three private dining rooms. Here, you and your fellow diners will be treated to a ten-course tasting menu divided into four 'chapters' that mirror the milestones of life through flavour. You might start with citrus-dressed Sydney Rock Oysters before moving on to larger dishes like amaebi tart served with citrus cream and yuzu tamarind dressing or beef tartare with nashi pear, french mustard and salted tendon chips. There are luxe add-ons, too, like caviar with house-made blinis and three different types of crème fraîche, a tomahawk steak carved tableside, and a two-part duck that's been dry-aged for two weeks and uses every part of the bird, from lavender honey-glazed slices to a rich duck-and-chicken sausage featuring pistachio, yuringi onion marmalade and teriyaki-braised shiitake jam. With its slick interiors and thoughtful menu featuring standout ingredients, Toki is shaping up to be one of Sydney's most ambitious fine-dining openings this year — and one that we reckon would be well worth crossing the bridge for. Toki Bistro & Bar is slated to open in mid-May at T23-24/100 Miller Street, North Sydney, and will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday–Sunday. For more information, head to the venue's website.
After being cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular, better known as GABS, returns to the Sydney Showground from Friday, May 7–Saturday, May 8. From humble beginnings in Melbourne a decade ago, it has now expanded to cover four cities in two countries, and is rightfully considered by most as the best craft beer and cider festival in the Asia Pacific region. Creators Steve Jeffares and Guy Greenstone (The Local Taphouse, Stomping Ground Brewing Co.) will again be wrangling up the best breweries from the region and are offering up hundreds of brews — which will include 120 exclusive festival beers and ciders. These exclusive and often wacky specialty brews are created just for the event and are generally the festival's main draw, giving attendees the rare chance to try brand-spanking new beers while meeting the brewers behind them. Expect collaborations with everyone from coffee roasters and tea houses to gin and whisky distillers. In previous years, brews have also been made with biscuit makers and even an American barbecue smokehouse — so expect plenty of experimental tastes, too. Apart from beer, the event also plays host to a silent disco, live tunes, cornhole, table tennis, giant Jenga and more. The much loved 18-metre-high beer Ferris wheel is always a fixture, as are wandering performances and local food stalls.
Just a ten-minute walk from Circular Quay and The Rocks, The Langham Sydney is the epitome of boutique indulgence. With only 96 exquisite rooms on offer, demand for even just one night at this Sydney institution is high all year round. And with facilities like its fitness centre, sauna, day spa and a spectacular 20-metre indoor pool with a star-dappled sky ceiling, you'll find it hard to tear yourself away from the hotel to explore the busy areas that surround it. Within the suites, expect plush furniture, high ceilings and large windows over-looking the western side of the harbour. Bed and breakfast specials are also on offer, as is a 'pampered pets program' — making it one of Sydney's only pet-friendly accommodation options at luxury level. We are also very big fans of The Langham's traditional afternoon tea. Enjoy a bespoke version of this beloved British tradition, elevated with classic Wedgwood tea ware and The Langham's champagne of choice, Laurent-Perrier. Feel fancy with all the crustless sandwiches and dainty cakes. Then there's Kitchens on Kent — starring one of Sydney's most high end hotel buffets that celebrates local produce and technical excellence in the kitchen. Appears in: The Best Hotels in Sydney The 15 Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Australia Sydney's Best Spa Experiences The Ten Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Sydney
Part of the packed lineup for AO Live 2026, Peggy Gou is making the most of her stint down under to perform an extra show in Sydney before heading to Melbourne. It's not her first time performing in Australia, she sold out venues nationwide in 2024, but her extra appearance — booked for Carriageworks on Saturday, January 31st 2026 — is still an exciting opportunity for the Sydney dance crowd to see her live. Presented by Untitled Group, she'll bring her electrifying presence and unique musical vision to the venue, complementing her forthcoming set at AO Live on February 1st. She features on the lineup alongside The Kid LAROI, Spacey Jane, The Veronicas, and Sofi Tukker, with more acts still to be announced. Gou is renowned for her live performances, each time bringing her signature blend of house, techno, and club culture to the audience. Her timeless DJ sets channel an open-ended musical philosophy, drawing from influences as diverse as J Dilla, Patrick Cowley, Yellow Magic Orchestra and DJ Sotofett. They are celebrated for their ability to create pure moments of dance floor joy. [embed]https://youtu.be/sCz5y84dwuA?si=aNKCDUzf78RN_UYp[/embed] Her catalogue of hits — "Gou Talk", "It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)", "Starry Night" and "I Go" to name a few — has earned her global acclaim. In 2023, Gou signed with XL Recordings and released "(It Goes Like) Nanana", a global phenomenon that topped charts and set the stage for her highly anticipated debut album. That record, I Hear You, arrived in June 2024 to widespread critical and commercial success. It landed at No. 5 on the ARIA Dance Albums Chart, No. 3 on the UK Dance Albums Chart, and No. 2 on the UK Independent Albums Chart. The album further cemented her reputation as a visionary artist able to straddle the underground and mainstream with ease, blending her distinct "K-House" sound with an infectious pop sensibility. From her roots in Korea to her formative years in London's club scene, Gou has always honoured electronic music's heritage while forging her own distinct path. As founder of the music & design label Gudu, and through her collaborative relationships with creatives across fields, Gou has built a personal artistic universe that bridges sound, style, and community. She has played major international festivals like Coachella, Glastonbury, Ultra, and Primavera Sound, as well as iconic Australian festivals Beyond The Valley and Wildlands. Presale to her Sydney show will begin at 12pm on Monday, October 13th, followed by general sale at 12pm on Tuesday, October 14th. Sign up for presale here.
Announced today, Sydney will join New York, London and Paris as one of the first cities in the world to launch Spotify Venue Pages — a new initiative developed in partnership with the Minns Labor Government and Spotify AU/NZ. The feature gives NSW live music venues their own dedicated home on Spotify, allowing fans to seamlessly move from streaming their favourite artists to buying tickets and seeing them live. Each venue will be able to list upcoming shows, link directly to ticketing partners, and share new announcements — effectively transforming Spotify into a live music discovery hub. To help local venues make the most of the rollout, Spotify and the NSW Government will also deliver marketing campaigns, training and education sessions in the coming weeks. Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham said the new feature represents a major step forward for local music. "We applaud Spotify for bringing Venue Pages to Australia and expect it to drive more local listeners to local gigs," he said. "Streaming has sometimes hurt the local music scene, but this is a turning point where Spotify is increasing its support for it." Graham added that the initiative aligns with the government's broader commitment to revitalising the state's nightlife. "Our local live music scene is the talent factory for the future of NSW music, but venues have been under cost and demand pressures," he said. "This boost from Spotify is extremely welcome and dovetails perfectly with all the other support we're delivering." According to Alicia Sbrugnera, Head of Music at Spotify AU/NZ, the feature is about strengthening the link between streaming and live performance. "Venues are the foundation of a thriving local music scene," she said. "Giving venues a home on Spotify means helping fans to go from streaming their favourite artists to seeing them live. We're excited to work closely with the NSW Government to support venues, artists and Australian music." Images: Supplied.
Now, more than ever, bees need friends too. Like Frankenstein’s monster, they might seem scary and potentially aggressive from the outside. But the truth is, wild bees are more concerned with keeping out of your way than with launching a mega sting attack. Plus, as you probably know by now, bee populations are on the down and down, which for us may well lead to diminished food supplies. So, Netherlands-based artist AnneMarie van Splunter has conjured up a public sculpture that’s all about helping humans and bees to get to know one another better. Dubbed the Buzzbench, the gorgeous artwork is a park bench, but not of your usual rectangular variety. Made of cane and bamboo stalks, placed between curved boards, it takes the shape of an enormous flower. For humans, the Buzzbench provides a dreamy place to sit, which looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland. For bees, it offers teeny-tiny, cosy crevices, where they can rest while taking a break from their busy pollinating activities. "Wild bees spend a large part of their lifespan looking for a suitable place to lay their eggs — providing a nesting opportunity really helps them," van Splunter explained to Co.EXIST. "We tend to keep our distance from bees because we are afraid to get stung. But actually, the chances you get attacked by wild bees are nil." The sculptor hopes to install the Buzzbench in a park in Amsterdam and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise funds and build awareness. Van Splunter says that once it’s in place, she’ll be able to maintain it for at least a decade, by replacing the cane and bamboo whenever necessary. "It's important to maintain it to make it work," she says. "I would like it to be a place that many people feel involved with, for example as an educational tool, or as a place of research for experts, or just as a place for park visitors to rest." Via Fast Company.
It's always been an excellent concept for a TV series: what happens when 456 people have a chance to make their dreams come true via a huge cash prize simply by playing childhood games? Whether or not there was a murderous edge to this contest — which, of course, there is — this situation was destined to bring out the worst in many of its players. It was also forever bound to stress a point that Squid Game's latest season three trailer utters: "no matter how you look at it, life is just unfair". Those words are directed at Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae, The Acolyte), who went through this ordeal once in the award-winning Netflix hit's debut season and made it out the other side — only to head back in season two with stopping the game forever his motivation. How he'll fare next is set to play out in Squid Game's third and final season from Friday, June 27, 2025. The mood is unsurprisingly ominous, however, in the newest sneak peek. By now, everyone knows the Squid Game concept: here, trying to win 45.6 billion won means battling 455 other players to the death. Fans will also know that when Player 456 went back into the game with new fellow competitors for company in season two, he found himself closer to the person pulling the strings than he knew. The most-recent batch of episodes dropped at the end of 2024, ended with quite the cliffhanger and seem to have only made the show's protagonist even more determined on his quest — which will again bring him into contact with the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun, The Magnificent Seven). Whatever eventuates, Squid Game's last run will feature a finale written and directed by series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk as it brings its fatal matches to a conclusion. In multiple trailers so far, audiences have been given a glimpse of pleas, big reveals and truths, mazes, jumping rope, a huge gumball machine with red and blue balls, tears, words of advice and more. In Squid Game's second season, Gong Yoo (Train to Busan) also returned as the man in the suit, aka the person who got Gi-hun into the game in the first place — and so did Wi Ha-joon (Little Women) as detective Hwang Jun-ho. That said, a series about a deadly contest comes with a hefty bodycount, so new faces were always going to be essential. That's where Yim Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Kang Ha-neul (Insider), Park Sung-hoon (The Glory) and Yang Dong-geun (Yaksha: Ruthless Operations) all came in. If you've somehow missed all things Squid Game until now, even after it became bigger than everything from Stranger Things to Bridgerton, the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning series serves up a puzzle-like storyline and unflinching savagery, which makes quite the combination. It also steps into societal divides within South Korea, a topic that wasn't invented by Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's excellent Oscar-winning 2019 thriller, but has been given a boost after that stellar flick's success. As a result, it's easy to see thematic and narrative parallels between Parasite and Squid Game, although Netflix's highly addictive series goes with a Battle Royale and Hunger Games-style setup. Netflix turned the show's whole premise into an IRL competition series as well, which debuted in 2023 — without any murders, of course. Squid Game: The Challenge has already been picked up for a second season. Watch the latest trailer for Squid Game season three below: Squid Game season three streams via Netflix from Friday, June 27, 2025. Season one and two are available to stream now. Images: Netflix.
For a month in 2026, The Phantom of the Opera will be there, on a floating stage on top of Sydney Harbour. Each year, Australia's most-stunning performance venue welcomes a big-name Opera Australia show to unleash its wonders with a spectacular backdrop. Just like in 2022, 2026's production involves the music of the night echoing over the ocean. The extremely popular Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour has repeated titles before, but there's a particular reason for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera haunting its scenic setup again so soon. 2026 also marks the stage musical's global 40th anniversary. There's phenomenal ways to commemorate a milestone and the there's this. When it takes to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour's picturesque waterfront digs at Mrs Macquaries Point for 2026 — across Friday, March 27–Sunday, April 26 — this run of The Phantom of the Opera is kicking off a worldwide program of events planned for the year to celebrate four decades of the show. The production will also increase the huge audience numbers that've spent time with The Phantom and Christine, given that it has already been seen by 160-million-plus people in 205 cities across 58 territories across its lifespan so far. Simon Phillips, who recently helped bring Round the Twist from the screen to the stage, initially directed the 2022 Handa season — and is back for 2026, too. Also a highlight: the eye-catching production design that includes a giant chandelier. Images: Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour's 2022 production of The Phantom of the Opera © Prudence Upton / Hamilton Lund.
Doused in gravy, hot sauce or sambal, served on a plate with mac 'n' cheese, or sandwiched in a soft bun — fried chicken is the epitome of comfort food in lots of places around the world, and Sydney is no exception. This city's restaurant scene offers heavenly bird done in every way imaginable. These local joints combine nationalities and styles to champion the fried side of the chook. In Sydney, you can eat fried chicken with Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese or Indonesian influences, as well as heaps of American-style versions. If you really want to indulge, bookmark this list and hit all 13 restaurants before the end of the year. Go on, we dare you. Recommended reads: The Best Pizza in Sydney The Best Banh Mi in Sydney The Best Burgers in Sydney The Best Bagels in Sydney
Turkish eatery Anason is the first permanent restaurant to open its sleek navy doors in the Barangaroo precinct. Nestled neatly in an unassuming alcove, Anason is immediately warm and inviting inside and out; the indoor area is largely dedicated to an open plan kitchen and wine storage so most diners eat outside in the open-air terrace. The innovative menu is stridently Turkish, showcasing authentic mezze plates characterised by bold flavours and even bolder colour palettes. The generous dishes crafted from fresh, local produce are designed for groups to share, which may be bad news for people who like to eat tiny meals alone. Anason invokes the bustling atmosphere of the meyhanes of Istanbul, but unfortunately the decor and music aren't enough to disguise the fact that you're eating in the middle of the soulless, futuristic ghost town that is the still-in-progress state of Barangaroo. While you peruse the list of local and imported Turkish wines, we recommend starting with a few dips and breads to share. A sesame seed-studded simit ($3 each) is served with creamy tarragon labne, and is simultaneously chewy and soft — it tastes like the delicious carby love child of a bagel and a loaf of sourdough. Meanwhile, both the Atom dip — which is served with a pool of burnt butter and dried Marash chillies — and the creamy pumpkin hummus topped with crispy salted chickpeas are large enough portions to justify ordering several toasted pita breads to mop them up with. For the larger dishes, Anason is plating up some seriously fresh foods from the sea. There's stuffed mussels brimming with wild rice and sweet currants ($18); according to owner and chef Somer Sivrioglu, these moreish morsels — intended to be tackled in a single bite — are the street food of choice after a Turkish bender. For those who prefer to eat their seafare with cutlery, the octopus with beetroot kisir ($20) is perfectly balanced and a stunning shade of magenta, while the whole calamari dolma can barely contain its delectable stuffing of feta, pistachios and sweet barberries ($28). It's served on a bed of avo-ghanoush, a curious blend of avocado and baba ghanoush, presumably intended for those who can tolerate heated avocado. If you're after something that hasn't spent a lifetime at sea, the cauliflower with walnut tarator and orange zest ($19) is a robust accompaniment that proves vegetables don't need to be relegated to side dishes, while our favourite is the lamb backstrap ($27). Served roughly sliced on a thick schmear of pureed eggplant begendi, the succulent lamb is impossibly tender and that perfect shade of blush pink that you only seem to see on ads funded by lamb lobbyists. If you've managed to save some stomach real estate for dessert, the poached quince with tart green apple sorbet ($15) was wonderfully light, while the creamy sutlac — a Turkish rice pudding with a caramelised top sprinkled with crispy pastry bits and hazelnuts — is the pudding equivalent of a toasty heated blanket. Unfortunately though, once you've had your fill, you have the unenviable task of ejecting yourself from a beautiful evening tucked away in what feels like a patio in Istanbul and returning to the desolate construction site of Barangaroo, where you wait alone on the street for a cab to take you back to civilisation.
When The Carrington became that rare thing — a Drink N Dine closure — it looked like the pub was gone for good. Now the venue is teeming with new life following a resurrection by Luke Butler and Roger Gregg, formerly of the Keystone Group. Mirroring its leafy Bourke Street surrounds, The Carrington has emerged fresh as a daisy with new palm tree wallpaper, barnyard shutters and a tropical rainforest of hanging plants. Out the back where Chica Linda used to be, there's a dog-friendly garden bar where you can order a summery fruit pitcher and cuddle strangers' dogs. All that's left to do is kick back and wait for the beards to arrive. Some of the biggest changes that have taken place are on the menu, which has been totally overhauled by Glebe Point Diner's Alex Kearns and head chef Jon Cowan. They've replaced their famous salami-laden parmaggedon with a much more dignified Kurobuta pork neck schnitzel ($24), which uses premium Japanese black Berkshire pig, the wagyu of the pork world. Prices have also leapt up too, but if you come on the right day there are still good deals to be had. On a Thursday you'll get that schnitty for half price, and on Wednesdays it's just $15 for a Greenstone Creek scotch fillet with cafe de Paris butter, which will set you back $26 the rest of the week. As a whole, the quality of the food has lifted considerably, so if your flatmates are too busy, you can take your parents instead — even if they haven't been back since they were served fries in liquid cheese last time. Alongside bistro classics, there's a salt poached chicken salad with freekeh, pickled zucchini, green tahini and mint ($20) as well as goat's cheese and thyme croquettes with a drizzle of honey ($13). The management were kind enough to let me trade up a side of shoestring fries for crispy smashed spuds in celery salt with smoked aioli ($10), which had all the nostalgia value of Sizzler's potato skins. I recommend highly. The feasting ended with a pavlova-gone-wrong, otherwise known as an Eton mess ($12). A beautiful tousle of whipped cream and strawberries with ripples of poached rhubarb, topped with black pepper spiked meringue is sensational. It's just one of the many good things about the new and improved Carrington. Image credit: Diana Scalfati
You're invited to take a rare glimpse into the life of Frida Kahlo, when photographs from the famed Mexican artist's personal collection land at the Bendigo Art Gallery this December. Travelling exhibition Frida Kahlo, Her Photos will be on show in Victoria from December 8, 2018, until February 10, 2019, featuring a sprawling selection of 257 images curated by Mexican photographer and photography historian Pablo Ortiz Monasterio. The collection travels through Kahlo's fascinating life, speaking to the artist's lifelong passion for photography — an art form that regularly influenced her own work. The photos have been pulled from the archives of the Casa Azul (Blue House) — Kahlo's former home, which has been made into a museum celebrating her life and art. You'll spy gems that have only been on public show since 2007, capturing Kahlo's family moments, her love for Mexico and its traditions, her passions, friends and enemies, the era's political struggles, and even the artist's lengthy hospital stay following an accident in 1925. The exhibition also features shots from Frida contemporaries including Fritz Henle, Man Ray, Tina Modotti, Edward Weston, and Lola and Manuel Alvarez. Images: Frida painting a portrait of her father, by Gisele Freund, 1951, courtesy Frida Kahlo Museum; Diego Rivera (in his study at San Angel_, Anonymous, 1940, courtesy Frida Kahlo Museum.
It arrives in the dead of winter. It fills Hobart with festivalgoers in the dark of night. It gets the brave donning nothing but their birthday suits to take a dip for the winter solstice. For ten fests now, with Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art at the helm, Dark Mofo has unleashed its wildest and weirdest delights upon the Apple Isle — its most sinister, surprising, challenging and stunning as well — and tempted arts lovers Australia-wide and beyond to the nation's southernmost state. Don't just think of Dark Mofo as the twisted sibling to Tasmania's other big annual festival, summer's Mona Foma, though. Running from Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22 in 2023, this event adores the space where opposites clash: dark and light, birth and death, all things wholesome and hedonistic included. That's what makes it the kind of Tassie getaway where you can slumber while listening to an eight-and-a-half-hour lullaby, see garbage turned into musical instruments, then wander into a theatre-meets-rave performance and witness Dante's journey through hell, purgatory and paradise come to life. Keen on the sunnier, sweeter side of this year's lineup? Prefer letting loose and making "when at Dark Mofo" your mantra? There's an event on the 2023 program for you either way, and no matter what level of chaos you're after — and after asking the Dark Mofo team for their tips on both sides of the spectrum, we've put together this handy guide. Concrete Playground Trips' Dark Mofo accommodation package might come in helpful, too. And, while some of these events are sold out at the time of writing, keep a keen eye on the fest's resales for more tickets. WHOLESOME: [caption id="attachment_899216" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo credit: Luke Currie-Richardson. Courtesy of BARKAA and Dark Mofo, Nipaluna/Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] THE GATHERING There's no doubting that Dark Mofo knows how to throw a party. That's the entire festival from start to finish, as well as many of its events from its first moments each year to its last. But there's nothing like a massive opening-night celebration — especially when that shindig showcases and celebrates First Nations culture and talent, as The Gathering does. On 2023's bill: Palawa and mainland Indigenous artists, all taking over In The Hanging Garden from 6.30pm–12am on Thursday, June 8. When you're not listing to BARKAA's energetic tunes and Tasman Keith's synth-scored raps, you'll be enjoying dameeeela's mixes, DENNI's vocals, and MARLON X RULLA's R&B and hip hop. Kartanya + KARAI are joining forces for a performance that blends poetry and music, Rob Braslin will do a stand-up set and Lutruwita / Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder Uncle Dougie Mansell will play music inspired by the state. And, in a partnership with Melbourne's YIRRAMBOI, Kin heroes cross-cultural connections between Victoria's Koorie and Tasmania's Palawa peoples. [caption id="attachment_803281" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Max Richter — SLEEP, Kraftwerk Berlin 2016. Photo: Stefan Hoederath.[/caption] MAX RICHTER'S SLEEP For some party people at Dark Mofo — many, even — spending all night at the festival doesn't involve getting any shuteye. But hitting the hay is definitely a part of this year's fest. Actually, Dark Mofo wants you to wear your pyjamas and sleep over. The slumber party comes courtesy of Max Richter's SLEEP, which returns to Australia for an eight-and-a-half-hour overnight stint on Wednesday, June 14 (and heads to Tasmania as an Aussie exclusive). You'll close your eyes, drift off to the land of nod and Richter's compositions will play as you snooze. The forty-winks part will happen on beds provided by Dark Mofo, while the latter is based on the neuroscience of having a kip. If you've seen the documentary about it, you'll already be excited — and you'll have your PJs ready. [caption id="attachment_899213" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo, Nipaluna/Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] ZINDZI & THE ZILLIONAIRES There's a bear on Dark Mofo's 2023 program. There's also an actor and musician that usually appears on-screen to entertain the festival's youngest attendees after a song about chairs, games and stories gets a spin. That'd be Zindzi, one of Play School's beloved hosts, who joins the fest lineup with The Zillionaires, her fluffy sidekicks. This concert is firmly for kids — and the adults taking them along, with children under two admitted free. If you're making the visit to Tassie with your family, Zindzi's two daytime sets on Sunday, June 11 (at 12pm and 2.30pm) are prime all-ages fun. And yes, you'll also know Zindzi as Okenyo, and for popping up as an actor in The Code, Sisters, Wakefield and Totally Completely Fine. [caption id="attachment_899214" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo credit: Zizuke. Courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo, Nipaluna/Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] FULU MIZIKI Venturing to Dark Mofo from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Fulu Miziki won't just entertain you with their Afro-futurist-punk sounds. That's a given; however, they'll also make you think twice about what you discard. As you watch them play, they'll be making music with garbage — which they've turned into musical instruments. There are two parts to Fulu Miziki's Dark Mofo stint. The experimental workshop on Sunday, June 11 will teach a few lucky folks how to follow in the collective's footsteps with their own refuse and reclaimed materials, complete with a concert afterwards. And, the day prior on Saturday, June 10, Fulu Miziki will also be taking to the Odeon Theatre stage. This isn't just a family-friendly part of Dark Mofo — it's eco-friendly as well. [caption id="attachment_899210" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo credit: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo, Nipaluna/Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.[/caption] WITHOUT US YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER LEARNT ABOUT LOVE When we said before that there's a bear in Dark Mofo's 2023 program, we were referring to Giant Teddy, a towering Korean pop culture-inspired teddy bear that has lasers for eyes, plus a camera that'll show its live surveillance elsewhere in Hobart. But you can also expect to see stuffed toys at Without Us You Would Have Never Learnt About Love — because it makes an operatic tragedy with repurposed playthings. Artist Jason Phu is behind this creative use of jailbroken toys, and will have them performing inside a taoist robotic shrine. If it sounds like the kind of thing that you don't see every day, it truly is. Checking it out is free, and as simple as heading to the Baha'i Centre from 4–10pm between Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12 and Wednesday, June 14–Sunday, June 18. HEDONISTIC: [caption id="attachment_898571" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo Credit: Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Dark Mofo 2018.[/caption] WINTER FEAST Winter Feast is all about tucking into local produce by the fire while listening to tunes and just generally enjoying an evening of revelry. One of Dark Mofo's annual highlights, it returns for 2023 across eight nights — running from Thursday, June 8–Sunday, June 11, then again from Thursday, June 15–Sunday, June 18, at Salamanca Lawns and Princes Wharf Shed 1 — with 90 stallholders setting up by the feast's blazes. Headlining the 2023 event is an acclaimed culinary name: Ana Roš, who you might know from Netflix documentary Chef's Table. She's the owner of Slovenia's two Michelin-starred restaurant Hiša Franko in Kobarid, and was named the world's best female chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants academy in 2017. The World Tourism Organisation have also given her the title Ambassador of Gastronomic Tourism. At Dark Mofo, Roš will get cooking in a newly built 50-seat structure just for cooking and dining, and she'll have company: Stephen Peak and Rodney Dunn, both from New Norfolk's The Agrarian Kitchen. Their spread is set to span four courses, taking its cues from the dishes that that Roš and Peak whip up in their own kitchens. So, expect Slovenian-inspired fare, but made with Tasmania's top seasonal produce. [caption id="attachment_897774" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Camille Blake. Image courtesy of the artist and Dark Mofo.[/caption] TRANCE Slipping into a different mindset is just part of being at Dark Mofo. At TRANCE, you're openly invited to slide into a reverie in the process. Hailing from Berlin-based Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen, this three-day performance from Thursday, June 8–Saturday, June 10 isn't just something that you watch — it's a true festival experience. You'll need to purchase a 'trance pass' to head along, which gives you access to the whole show across its run. Then, you can wander in and out as you like, seeing each day's 12-hour ritual — which is batched up in six two-hour chapters — in what's basically a physical theatre-meets-rave show. Along the way, you'll notice nods to religious iconography and pop culture alike — and Butoh choreography as well — as things get psychedelic and transcendental. You'll also spot Tinazhuo's cast of characters go all-in on testing the body's corporeal limits. [caption id="attachment_886260" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nicole Marianna Wytyczak[/caption] A DIVINE COMEDY A wild dance theatre performance inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy? Yes, that sounds completely in Dark Mofo's wheelhouse. That production is A Divine Comedy, hailing from Austrian choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger, and hitting the festival from Friday, June 16–Sunday, June 18 as both an Australian premiere and an Aussie exclusive. Holzinger is known for making challenging and provocative theatre, and for exploring gender relations — including how women's bodies are represented in art and media. For A Divine Comedy, she's staging the whole dive into the hell, purgatory and paradise as a giant autopsy room, all to explore how humans negotiate life and death. From an all-female-identifying cast spanning all ages, as well as a variety of physical, musical and athletic disciplines, expect to see nude performers, slapstick acts, bodily substances and references to slasher movies as well — plus a jam-packed selection of nods to art and dance's respective histories. [caption id="attachment_899218" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image courtesy of DarkLab.[/caption] THE BLUE ROSE BALL Get ready for a ball both wonderful and strange: Dark Mofo's hedonistic masquerade, which this year is called The Blue Rose Ball. David Lynch fans, this sounds like absolute heaven — and it is indeed inspired by the inimitable filmmaker behind Twin Peaks. The event takes its name from a secret task force in that very show, in fact, which you'll already know if you agree that it's the best show ever made (as you should). On Wednesday, June 7, a mystery venue will play host to cocktails, wines, aperitifs and epicurean provisions. Exactly what will happen from there is set to be revealed on the night — having your expectations challenged Lynch-style is part of the fun, of course — but if your costume includes red and white zigzags, you've obviously nailed it. Fancy getting a Lynch-meets-Dark Mofo fix throughout the rest of fest? From Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12 and Wednesday, June 14–Sunday, June 18, Dark Park will also play host to a Blue Velvet Lounge, and with live tunes and performances all on theme. [caption id="attachment_899219" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Photo credit: Rosie Hastie, 2022. Image courtesy of Dark Mofo 2022.[/caption] NIGHT MASS If you love wild affairs that run late into the evening, it's time to lose yourself to Night Mass. Anything and everything can and does happen at this after-dark affair, which is sprawling wider in 2023 than usual — taking over three city blocks, and naming the space District X. Within the precinct's confines, there'll be 13 stages hosting a hefty list of acts, all in an area with a capacity of 4500 — with Night Mass taking place over five nights across two weekends. Those dates: Friday, June 9–Sunday, June 11, and then Friday, June 16–Saturday, June 17. On offer: everything from music and cocktail lounges through to punk theatre and junkyard raves. Attendees can also expect art, performances, cinema cabarets, games arcades, tarot readings, plenty of places to eat and drink, and fire beacons lighting the way. And, on the bill, folks such as Desire Marea, dameeeela, Amnesia Scanner, Violent Magic Orchestra and Mahne Frame, as well as Ms Boogie, Prison Religion, Pelada, Marie Davidson and Moktar. Dark Mofo 2023 runs from Thursday, June 8–Thursday, June 22 in Hobart, Tasmania, with tickets on sale now. Top image: Dark Mofo/Jesse Hunniford, 2018. Image of Société Anonyme Costume Ball Hadley's Orient Hotel. Image Courtesy Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world — including our Dark Mofo tickets and accommodation package.
Pestival 2013 is a festival with a mission: to change your views about insects — largely by getting you to eat them. The unique insect-appreciation festival arrives in London next month with a wide array of events to turn us all pro-bugs. These include a variety of exhibitions to celebrate insects in art and the art of being an insect. However, the centrepiece of the pun-tastic festival is its pop-up restaurant: Exploring the Deliciousness of Insects. The diner, appearing for two nights only, will allow its guests to consume the crawliest cuisine imaginable. It is presented by Nordic Food Lab, the company behind the three-time best restaurant in the world Noma, who seek to "find the deliciousness latent in insects". According to head chef Rene Redzepi in an interview with the Guardian, this deliciousness can be found in ants, which taste like "seared lemon rind", and bee larvae, which makes a sweet mayonnaise. Those two options are just the tip of the ant hill, with more than 1900 edible insect species now on the menu according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation. With insects eaten in one form or another by 70 percent of the world's cultures, Pestival provides the perfect platform to present this gastronomic value to Western palates. And what better time to do so? With famine rising across the world, and food prices rising at home, insects offer a proficient alternative source of protein that is highly unlikely to become extinct. Pestival 2013 thus showcases a flavoursome solution to the food crisis of the future.
You'll know Untitled Group best as the crew behind hit music events such as Beyond the Valley, Pitch Music & Arts and Grapevine Gathering. But as it turns out, these guys have some chops when it comes to making top-notch booze, too. They've gone and launched their own vodka brand, Ugly — a new Australian-made spirit crafted from imperfect apples that would otherwise be headed straight to landfill. Made in Melbourne in collaboration with the pre-batched cocktail experts at 80proof Liquor, the new drop is distilled five times to create an extra smooth sip without any residual apple flavour. It uses unwanted fruit sourced from the Goulburn Valley, with the apples containing a starch extract that works similarly to the potatoes in regular vodka. An innovative response to the issue of food wastage, Ugly gives new life to imperfect fruit that would otherwise be chucked out, having not made the cut to end up in the neat piles of good-looking apples at the supermarket. This preference for perfection contributes a huge amount of food waste to landfill, which leads to hefty CO2 emissions. After 80proof co-founder Danny Grant witnessed the impacts first-hand while on his research trips and talking to farmers, he was inspired to create a new drink that would help undo some of the damage. An initial limited-run batch of Ugly has hit shelves, having rescued an estimated 20 tonnes of unwanted apples from heading to landfill. Ugly Vodka clocks in at 40% ABV and is priced at $64.99 RRP. You can grab a bottle online. Images: Michael Woods
After the disrupted domestic-only ski season in 2020 — and with travellers from Australia permitted to enter New Zealand without quarantining from mid-April 2021 — thrill-seekers from both sides of the ditch could be hitting NZ's pristine slopes from as early as June. That means it's less than 70 days until NZ Ski's fields, including Coronet Peak and The Remarkables in Queenstown and Canterbury's Mount Hutt are up and running for winter. The operator has plenty going on this season, including opening the country's first eight-person chairlift and night skiing events. Mount Hutt is set to be the first to open from Friday, June 11–Sunday, October 17. It will be open seven days with capacity on the mountain increased thanks to the brand new Nor'west Express eight-seat chairlift. With a ride time of only two minutes, the lift will have capacity to carry up to 3000 skiers per hour. It also features a loading carpet to assist those who are new to using chairlifts. The field's full moon skiing event will also return. Coronet Peak will be open from Saturday, June 19 right through until Sunday, September 26. The ski field plans to operate its popular after-hours night skiing events every Wednesday and Friday from June 25 onwards. The 48th dog derby is also on the cards. Fellow Queenstown favourite The Remarkables will be open every day of the week from Saturday, June 26 through to Sunday, October 17. The mountain's Sugar Bowl development includes two brand new trails and a new snowmaking system mean better snow coverage on the Serpentine side of the mountain. Cardrona Alpine Resort's Olympic-sized superpipe will be open from Saturday, June 12 until Sunday, October 17.. The ski field is also adding another chairlift to its network, which opens up a new major section of skiable terrain on the southern face. Sibling ski field Treble Cone is scheduled to open from Saturday, June 26–Sunday, September 26, and for cross-country skiers and snow-shoers, Cardrona's Snow Farm is intending to open for the 2021 winter from Friday, June 18–Sunday, September 19. The largest ski area in the nation, Mt Ruapehu, is preparing to open its Happy Valley (Saturday, June 5), Turoa (Saturday, July 3), Whakapapa (Saturday, July 3) fields, too, which will give skiers and snowboarders access to the mountain's natural pipes, steep chutes and vertical drop of 722 metres. The alpine village says the opening will be subject to snow conditions. With the quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble set to open from Sunday, April 18, a rise in visitor numbers is expected across all fields. All ski field 2021 season plans are dependent on snow conditions, as well as COVID-19 guidelines and expectations set out by the New Zealand Government. For more information about NZ's ski fields, head to the various websites for Mount Hutt, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona Alpine Resort, Treble Cone, Snow Farm and Mt Ruapehu. Images: NZSki.
Before Taco Bell used Brisbane as a testing ground, another overseas fast food giant got there first. That'd be Japan's MOS Burger, who've been slinging its wagyu, teriyaki chicken and crispy fish burgers in Queensland since 2011. And, just like its US counterpart, it is now planning to expand across the rest of the country. The brand is set to make its Australian presence known in a big way, with 100 stores slated around Australia in the next five years, according to The Courier-Mail. Presently, it has just six outlets in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, after initially launching in Sunnybank eight years ago. For those new to MOS Burger — which stands for "mountain, ocean and sun" — the chain started in 1972, and is littered not only across Japan, but in much of Asia. It currently boasts 1335 stores in its homeland, 258 in Taiwan, 33 in Singapore, 20 in Hong Kong, 16 on South Korea, 14 in China, eight in Thailand and two in Indonesia, with its Australian eateries the company's first venture out of the region. Menu-wise, MOS Burger serves up a style of burg that's familiar, but with Japanese flavours. Think gourmet cheeseburgers with wasabi and patties of wagyu doused in horseradish — plus more standard fare with regular American-style ketchup and mustard. They also do sushi burgers, which involve seafood tempura, smoked salmon or barbecue beef stuffed between a steamed quinoa rice bun with seaweed. Or there's the low-carb 'tomami', featuring the usual burger ingredients inside (you guessed it) a tomato. Via The Courier-Mail. Image: Hunter Nield via Flickr.
Until recently, unless you were after a grade A cup of joe from Coffee Alchemy or had a hankering for Sunday market corn fritters, Addison Road was not a destination for a hot injection of food. But since Bazaari opened its ornate doors a few months ago, that lowly road in Marrickville is finally worth the hike. Tucked away between industrial laundries and seafood wholesalers, the new Cypriot-Australian eatery is the joint venture of ex-Quay chef Darryl Martin and host Andrew Jordanou. The two have curated an intimate dining experience serving up a particularly adventurous menu of modernised Greek, Cyrpiot, Turkish and Lebanese cuisines. The modern fit-out is welcoming with exposed brick, low lighting and a wood fire in the centre of the open plan kitchen. It's here at the oven where meats are roasted for hours and chewy pita breads studded with nigella seeds are made to order. Like all eateries opened in the last few years, the chefs at Barzaari serve up dishes designed to share, but thankfully the portions are on the generous side, so it's safe to take even your hungriest of friends. If you're keen to start your meal sipping on something a little fancy, the Marrickville Sunrise is a sweet liquid nod to the neighbourhood, and nicely complements the powerful flavours that characterise the entree dishes. The tiropitakia ($14) — impossibly crisp little cylinders stuffed with feta and spinach — arrive drizzled with honey, while the lamb breast is slow-cooked until tender and wrapped in the thinnest pastry, like some sort of delicious novelty meat cigar. The real highlight, however, is the piles of slow-roasted pork neck ($33) and lamb shoulder ($38). Although the wood-fired dishes are a little on the pricey side, the servings resemble meat mountains, served juicy with a decent slab of piping hot pita and a wedge of lemon. These dishes are so simple yet totally moreish — perfect for those who like to use copious amounts of bread to craft their own little makeshift meat sandwiches. As for sides, the tender mograbieh (a giant type of couscous) served with half a wood-fired butternut pumpkin ($15) is particularly hearty and would suit vegetarians in lieu of the aforementioned piles of meat. But our highlight was the classic kipfler potatoes ($11), cooked until crispy and golden and dusted with salt and rosemary — because at the end of the day, there's really no going past a giant bowl of roasted potatoes to accompany a heap of wood-fired meats. If you manage to save room for dessert, it's hard to pass up the impossibly smooth buttermilk custard ($14) cloaked with an anise syrup and a fresh scoop of apple tea sorbet. Barzaari is the perfect location for a Mediterranean feast with a group of pals or a romantic dinner for two providing you're both wearing elasticised eating pants. Fingers crossed the restaurant sets a trend for new little eateries emerging from the Addison Road culinary black hole.
In 2016, Brasserie L'Entrecôte opened in Pymble, bringing a slice of French decadence to the north shore. In the years since, there's been a bit of a French boom in Sydney with Swillhouse's Restaurant Hubert, Dan Pepperell's Bistrot 916 and brand-new editions like Whalebridge and Loulou joining the city's French offerings. While many of these spots are bringing a flashy Sydney flair to their take on French cuisine, Brasserie L'Entrecôte — and its new sibling venue Bouillon L'Entrecôte — celebrate tradition, serving up classic dishes done incredibly well. Bouillon L'Entrecôte opened in Circular Quay's dining precinct Quay Quarter Lanes alongside a slew of venues, including Besuto, Hinchcliff House and Londres 126. On entry, you're met with a ground level with a selection of tables looking out into Circular Quay. Head upstairs and the building opens up to an expansive dining room with a grand French fit-out. Luxurious detailing and large dining tables are complemented with art and photographs sprawled across the wall — headlined by a huge portrait of legendary French chef Paul Bocuse. When it comes to the food, the options are varied but not overwhelming. Kick things off with your choice of starters and a glass of kir royale from the 'How To Be a Good French' section of the drinks menu. Highlights from the hors d'oeuvre include the escargot drenched in a rich sauce, the ultra-cheesy twice-baked soufflé and the seared scallops served with foie gras mousse, onion jam and truffle oil. The house specialty is the 200-gram sirloin steak served with french fries, walnut green salad and the kitchen's famous secret sauce — owner Johan Giausseran, nor the chefs, will give up the secret to the sauce's recipe, no matter how hard you might prod. Those looking to elevate the night even further can look to share the 850-gram T-bone or the huge 1.6-kilogram wagyu tomahawk. There are also weekly specials available, ranging from beef bourguignon cooked overnight to free-range chicken stew and the catch of the day. If you have the courage to fit more in after your mains, the dessert menu is difficult to resist. The centrepiece is the thrice-baked caramelised upside-down apple tart, only six are baked each day, but other standouts include the rich vanilla ice cream and chocolate profiteroles and the vanilla créme bûlée. Appears in: The Best Restaurants in Sydney Where to Find the Best Steak in Sydney
Two Good Co, the social enterprise dedicated to supporting vulnerable women by providing pathways out of crisis living, has opened its first cafe and convenience store in philanthropic hub Yirranma Place. Two Good Co first launched in 2015 as a soup kitchen at Kings Cross, before expanding into selling soup products, salads and toiletries to raise funds for its good work. Created in partnership with the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the venue is open 7am–3pm weekdays, serving breakfast and lunch with a strong focus on local artisan and ethically-minded businesses. Brands you'll find within the store include The Bread & Butter Project, Kua Coffee, Mood and T Totaler teas, Blak Cede and Gelato Messina. The cafe helps fund Two Good Co's programs while also employing vulnerable women across the front of house, kitchen and concierge roles. "Training, empowering, and employing vulnerable women is the reason we do what we do," Two Good co-founder Rob Caslick said. "We see our partnership with the Paul Ramsay Foundation as a springboard to showcase this model to other organisations who want their office catering and café service to make a real difference." Alongside the standard breakfast and lunch menus, a special monthly menu curated by culinary friends of Two Good Co is also on offer. The organisation has worked with the likes of Kylie Kwong, Maggie Beer, Peter Gilmore and Matt Moran in the past, and will be teaming back up with some of its high-profile mates for these menus. Three Blue Ducks chef and co-owner Darren Robertson was the first to take charge of the menu, featuring cauliflower cheese toasties, and his renowned chocolate cookies, while Matt Moran followed with a menu headlined by Croque monsieur toasties and rice pudding with rhubarb. Head over to the Two Good Co Instagram page for this month's specials. The organisation has also expanded its catering service for those wanting to host a function while supporting a good cause. The service now offers a variety of options from small breakfasts and grazing boxes to cocktail canapes and large-scale event catering.
Good news, Sydney commuters: the new Sydney Metro line connecting Sydenham in the southwest with Chatswood north of the harbour is ready to welcome its first passengers. No, really this time. The original August 4 opening date was cancelled with only two days' notice due to a (quite literally) shocking accident during the line's final tests, which resulted in a firefighter participating in safety drills being electrocuted, although they were thankfully not seriously injured. The national independent safety regular is now satisfied that the new train system is finally passenger-worthy, clearing the way for all nine stations on the new extension of the Metro to open on Monday, August 19. The announcement is not only good news for passengers but also for the hospitality businesses at the Metro's new stations. Major dining hubs at Martin Place, Victoria Cross and Waterloo have been developed to take advantage of the new influx of Metro passengers. The first of the new Metro services is set to ride the rails from 4.54am on Monday, August 19, when the first ever northbound service from Sydenham departs on its way to Chatswood. The new driverless train system will whisk Sydneysiders across the city at incredible speeds, making the 15.5-kilometre journey from Sydenham to Chatswood in just 22 minutes and the journey from Central Station to Martin Place in just four minutes. The next phase of the Sydney Metro extension works is already underway. The line between Sydenham and Bankstown will be closed for 12 months as new tracks, stations and other vital infrastructure are installed. When it opens in 2025, the Metro will offer the city's fastest ever travel between the far west and the CBD. For more details about services on new City and Southwest Metro Line, visit the Sydney Metro website. Images: Transport for NSW
After a long morning in the office — or a long night on the beers — sometimes what you really need is a sneaky lunchtime nap. You could have this nap in a park, in a meeting room or even in the loo (if you're desperate) — or you could catch some shut-eye at Sydney's new dedicated nap studio. Called Mynd, the Barangaroo studio is calling itself Australia's first purpose-built meditation and nap studio, and it's here to help city-workers get some downtime during their working day. Opening its doors to the public on Monday, February 8, Mynd promises to be a "pocket of peace in the city". It's been designed by Tom Mark Henry with plenty of soft greys, blonde wood and calming light. You can book into one of 30 different multi-sensory meditation classes — designed to be either relaxing, motivating or energising — which come complete with soothing soundscapes and scents. Or, you can chill out in the post-meditation lounge or book into a session in one of the nap pods. Yes, nap pods. The futuristic-looking pods have different vibrations and light settings, which are said to "maximise rest", and can be booked out for 25-minute sessions. You can pay $25 for a one-off nap session, and $14–20 for a meditation, or you sign up for a $40-a-week membership if you think you'll be wanting some regular mid-week shut-eye. Opened by two former "sleep-deprived city workers" James Harris and Sam Thornton, the studio is hoping to make meditation mainstream and more accessible. "We have ambitious plans," Harris said in a statement. "It's our aim to eventually scale Mynd Studios in a similar way to F45 — but think fitness for the mind, not body." Find Mynd Studios at 12 Shelley Street, Barangaroo from Monday, February 8. It'll be open from 6.45am–8pm Monday–Friday.
Come lunch — or straight after work — get away from your sitting habit with a run around the Sydney Opera House and Mrs Macquarie's Chair. This is, quite possibly, one of the most scenic city running routes on the planet. To conquer the entire thing, start under the Harbour Bridge (on the southern side), pass along Circular Quay, dash across the Opera House forecourt and spring into the Royal Botanic Gardens to follow the foreshore to Mrs Macquarie's Chair. This isn't a chair, exactly, but a bench carved from sandstone — the handiwork of convicts in 1810 — to provide Governor Lachlan Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth, with an outdoor seat overlooking the water. Image: @alamogordo333 via Instagram.
When elderly couple Con and Mary closed the doors of their Marrickville deli perched on the hilltop halfway down Illawarra Road, after 47 years of trade, the area lost an icon. Oleh Sokolovsky and partner Perry Silvio, however, saw an opportunity not to be missed. The result: Illi Hill, a delightfully appointed cafe serving up tasty and health-conscious food centred on a philosophy and love of local. Having studied theatre and film before moving into set design and opening his own boutique furniture store, Juliet's Balcony, Sokolovsky has done a pretty fab job with the fit-out. Think polished brass topped tables, Bentwood Thonet chairs (previously loaned to appear in The Great Gatsby), as well as zinc wall sconces and a marble washstand that did their own stint in the Russell Crowe historical drama, The Water Diviner. The food is also rich and developed, but more in nutrients and freshness. Looking at the menu our eyes were immediately drawn to the breakfast salad ($17.50). Tossed with avo, candied walnuts, witlof, mizuna, radicchio and served with a poached egg, sherry vinegar dressing and sourdough toast, it made for a very decent morning filler. We also opted for the ricotta and buttermilk hotcakes ($18), because life's too short for just salad, and the combination of saffron-poached pear with dark chocolate praline, vanilla bean labneh and pistachio with orange and saffron glaze was smooth, sweet and satisfying. Coffee is sourced from another inner-west favourite, Coffee Alchemy, and with the roaster just down the road, Illi Hill has the luxury of offering seriously fresh beans. As for lunch, the menu offers hearty, wholesome dishes like turmeric-roasted cauliflower salad ($16), six-hour lamb salad ($19.50) and a lemon, garlic and thyme-roasted chicken sandwich with red peppers, tomato, avo, goat's cheese, rocket and aioli, plus oven fries on the side ($16.50). Should you want something a little less wholesome, but equally hearty, look to the reuben with house-made corned beef ($18) or the Say-Cheeseburger ($18.50) served with three cheeses (aged cheddar, swiss and blue) on organic beef patties from Marrickville brand and all-around winners Feather & Bone. All in all, it's clearly evident Illi Hill knows what it's doing. And thank goodness. When a true piece Sydney history, loved by many, closes its doors, it's always nice to see something with real substance take its place and continue serving the inner west with excellent eats.
Disney is back in the fairy princess business, and by god it wants you to know it. Except, it doesn’t want young boys to know it, which is why this film is called Frozen instead of The Snow Queen. When Disney finally bought Pixar in 2006, the deal essentially saw Pixar's creative team taking control of Disney’s animated output. Given the strong quality control Pixar has over its products, this was no bad thing. But not all of the experiments worked. Determined to resurrect Disney's tradition of hand-drawn animation, they made The Princess and the Frog in 2009, a tremendously underrated film which moved the classic tale to 1920s New Orleans. The film’s undeserved financial failing made Disney gunshy, and their takeaway was this: stick to computer animation, and no more princesses in the titles. In fairness, this shift didn’t kneecap the quality of the films. 2009’s Rapunzel film Tangled is an outstanding work, with rich characters, beautiful animation and incredibly catchy songs. Tangled really worked, which is why it appears to be the template Disney has used for its newest animated feature, Frozen. Based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen — a story Disney has been trying to adapt since the 1940s — the film follows Anna and her sister Elsa, two princesses who are left alone when their parents die at sea. The relationship between the two is difficult: Elsa has magical powers, which due to an unsatisfactorily explained plot contrivance, have been wiped from Anna’s memory. To keep Anna safe, Else keeps her at arm’s length as they grow up. But on the evening of Elsa’s coronation, she accidentally creates a permanent winter in the kingdom and retreats to a remote ice palace of her own making. It’s up to Anna to save her sister and her kingdom. The parallels with Tangled are striking. Both changed the name of their original story to a more marketable, generic title. Both feature a similar working-class man developing a love-hate relationship with a princess. Both have a crazy, anthropomorphised horse/moose for company. Both even feature a princess whose power is represented by a streak of colour through the hair. The comparisons, though superficial, reveal an attempt at a modern formula. And although Frozen is enjoyable enough, the characters aren’t quite as engaging as they ought to be, the songs not quite memorable enough. The animation, however, is superb. On a technical level, it’s a marvel. Frozen represent the middle of the bell curve in terms of animated features. It’s a far cry from the insufferable toy-selling, pop-culture spewing, catchphrase-ridden films churned out during at the beginning every school holiday period, but nor does it hit the heights of Disney’s best output. It is admirable, enjoyable, but ultimately unmemorable.
Living up to its name, Daily Greens is good for you — particularly if you like sustainable, zero-waste food in a relaxed courtyard setting perfectly designed to capture the best of the warmer weather. Bright, airy, and leafy, this disarming spot on Glenmore Road offers some of the best salads in town. If you're thinking that means a compromise on flavour or nourishment, one look at the extensive menu will surely have you salivating. Choose from a selection of warm or cold bowls such as the Fun Guy, Funghi, which comes loaded with mushrooms, almonds, corn chips, quinoa, cabbage, kale slaw and cherry tomatoes, or the Avo and Lentils with fresh avocado, shredded carrot wild rocket and roasted almonds for a satisfying, flavour-rich lunch. There is also a build-your-own option so you can let loose some creative flair with your own choices of bases, dressings, fillings, toppings and textures to meet all your hunger cravings. Seasonal sandwiches, soups and daily specials round out the menu, plus 24-hour cold-brew coffee to wash it all down. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
Just picked up a book, can't wait to read it, and in search of the perfect armchair? Having recently celebrated their bicentenary, the folks at Berkelouw in Paddington are proving that book selling is far from a dying art with the launch of Cafe 1812 — a cosy cafe, chic wine bar, and bookstore all rolled into one. Go past the paperbacks, the memoirs, and the Moleskins, and up the flight of stairs. Here's where you'll find Cafe 1812 in all its moody dark-wood glory. Behind the bar there's a dapper aproned barista polishing long-stemmed wine glasses, while out front huddles of studded leather arm chairs and threadbare woven rugs hearken to the cafes of old Rotterdam where Solomon Berkelouw — the bookstore's namesake — traded his first vellum-bound tome 200 hundred years ago. Find yourself a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Oxford Street or perch on a stool at the wine bar and drink up the aged atmosphere. And if all this bibliophilism is making you hungry, there's a cafe-style menu to tempt at all hours of the day. That Gallic ode to a ham and cheese toastie — a Croque Monsieur ($7.90) — arrives griddle toasted and warm with vintage cheddar oozing from its sides. A pearl couscous salad ($9.90) follows, topped with grilled zucchini, salty olives, and a caramel-sweet fig. It's a fresh and satisfying meal in itself. Fancy something more filling? The dinnertime treats kick off at 5pm with a menu that has a European bent. Pastas and mains, including miniature Scotch fillets ($19) served with a buttery smooth mushroom sauce, offer heartier servings for the famished. Alternatively, there are share plates, from beef meatballs with black truffle mayo ($14), and generous cheese platters served with quince paste ($19), to keep the grazers happy. And lest we forget to tell you: it's on Wednesday nights that the cafe really comes to life. Urban hipsters crowd the space as a live jazz band belts out the classics of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and the like. Sidle up to the barman and he'll whip up a wicked Negroni or recommend something from the extensive wine list; there's over 45 by the bottle and 14 by the glass on offer. Whether you're a bibliophile or a biblio-phobe, there's something to whet the appetite and stir the senses at this trendy cafe-cum-wine-bar that's fast becoming a destination in the east's gentrified enclave.
