Newtown Festival is returning to Camperdown Memorial Rest Park for its 38th year on Sunday, November 13. The festival — this year fronting the theme 'Home is where the heart is' — celebrates the eclectic Newtown community by showcasing local musicians, artists and food. In that spirit, the festival this year will raise funds for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre's First Response Program, which supports people at risk of homeless in the inner west. Off the back of their US tour and the release of their second album, High Times for Low Lives, The Griswolds are headlining on the main Federation stage. They'll be joined by L-Fresh the Lion, All Our Exes Live in Texas and Purple Sneakers DJs. There will also be three more stages, featuring a wide range of acts from kids' music to DJs and rap. In addition to over 40 food stalls, Newtown Locals — a group comprising Black Star Pastry, Bloodwood, Brewtown Newtown, N2 Gelato, Young Henrys and Mary's among others — are collaborating to create five dishes for $10 especially for the festival. Also returning to the festival is the ever-popular Writer's Tent, which will include talks from Jane Caro, Melina Marchetta, Holly Throsby and David Hunt. For the first time, the festival will also include an exhibition of portraits by Jo Wallace, the brains behind Humans of Newtown. And, of course, it wouldn't be the Newtown Festival without the Dog Show, which will be on from 9.30-11am (with registration from 9am).
Parramatta has scored an epic new dining hub. We would say restaurant, but the term is inadequate. This long-anticipated culinary empire comes with two levels, indoor-outdoor seating for 150, a bar, a bakery and an onsite coffee roastery. In fact, a cheeky $4 million have been poured into its creation. The Emporium made a sneaky opening on Monday, April 6. And even though it’s yet to officially launch (that’ll be happening on May 21) and hasn’t hit the press in a major way, it’s been nonetheless attracting ravenous locals in their hundreds. Head chef Robert Cannon (formerly of Pony Lounge and Dining in The Rocks) has created a contemporary Australian menu, with flashes of Mediterranean tastiness. Right now, the dishes are limited to nine, with a more extensive menu to be launched at the end of April. Meanwhile, the coffee roaster is a 25 kilogram beast, which has been imported from Germany, and can take care of 600 kilograms of beans per day. There’s been no scrimping on the interior, either. Handcrafted marble tables have been imported from Venice, brickwork has been exposed, fresh flowers have been arranged. “We've got a lot of plans, we've got a lot going on,” Domenic Borel (ex-Gazebo and The Local Taphouse, now Emporium's general manager) told Good Food. “We'll be taking over the whole building by the end of the year and we'll have private wine rooms upstairs. We've got an application in for a sky bar — a champagne and oyster bar on the roof. And we've also made an offer on another restaurant quite close by. We're going to do a high-end fish restaurant." The Emporium, located at 51 Phillip Street, Parramatta, is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with food served until 11.30pm. Via Good Food.
Dumpling devotees, your potential for satisfactory feasting in the CBD is seriously expanding. This spring, two of Sydney’s most gifted dumpling makers are moving into Pitt Street: Tim Ho Wan and New Shanghai. Tim Ho Wan, the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant on the planet, began cooking up its fresh-to-order dumplings in Hong Kong in 2009. In March this year, the eatery launched its first ever venture outside South-East Asia — in Chatswood. Now, it’s expanding its Sydney presence, with the establishment of three new shopfronts. Two will be in the city — inside Pitt Street Mall's Westfield and at 580 George Street, while the other is heading for Burwood Westfield. We don’t have exact opening dates, but Tim Wo Han’s Facebook page is promising they’ll be ready by summer. Meanwhile, fellow Chatswood dweller New Shanghai, which already has eateries in Ashfield and Bondi Junction (among other lucky, lucky locations), is also coming for the CBD. According to the restaurant’s website, city workers will be chowing down on its soupy, crispy, pan-fried pork buns and crab xiao long bao by early October. We expect New Shanghai will also be importing its trademark 1930s Shanghai-inspired interior design and open-plan kitchen, where diners can watch the dumpling making in glorious action. Tim Ho Wan will open this summer at Westfield Sydney, 580 George Street and Westfield Burwood. New Shanghai will open October 2015 at Westfield Sydney. Can't wait for dumplings? Sink your teeth into Sydney's eight best dumpling houses here.
It's not every music festival that feels like a country weekend fete — and it's definitely not every music festival that feels like a country fete while being headlined by Rodriguez. But, hey, that's exactly what Fairgrounds 2016 promises to be. After a stellar debut last year — with Father John Misty headlining, no less — the boutique camping festival in the small NSW town of Berry is coming back this December. And the lineup has two big thumbs up from us. Taking over the local Berry Showgrounds on December 2 and 3, the two-day festival is making a triumphant return — much to the delight of everyone who went last year (including us). In a huge coup for the small festival in its second year, they've secured the legendary Rodriguez to headline on the Friday night. It's something of a self-fulfilling prophecy as the film in which Rodriguez is the subject, Searching for Sugar Man, was screened at the festival last year. Like last year, they've also nabbed some talent from Victoria's Meredith Music Festival, which will take place the weekend following Fairgrounds. In great news for NSW-bound music lovers, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Jagwar Ma, Angel Olsen and Japandroids will all be doing back-to-back festival weekends. There's a notable Aussie music presence (go team), with old hats The Drones and the ever-talented Sarah Blasko both playing the festival, along with Big Scary, who should be releasing their new album any day now. With a strong focus on the local NSW South Coast area, Fairgrounds isn't just about the tunes. Last year local nosh, market stalls and the local swimming pool played equally starring roles at this multifaceted festival — something we're sure made Berry residents pretty happy. Between watching films at the openair cinema, sack races, bouts of tug-of-war and dips in Berry's local pool (within the festival grounds and equipped with hectic DJ sets), punters feasted on local delights, from South Coast candy from Berry's own Treat Factory, and fresh rock oysters from An Australian Affair, harvested less than half an hour from the festival site. Plus pies, pies, pies, pies, pies. Straight-up, it warmed our jaded little hearts to see a smaller scale festival like Fairgrounds supporting local nosh, something still spearheaded by the likes of local loving' bigwigs like Bluesfest and Splendour. We can't wait to do it all again this year. But we know what you're here for. Here's the full lineup. FAIRGROUNDS FESTIVAL 2016 LINEUP Rodriguez King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Angel Olsen Big Scary Jagwar Ma Japandroids Julia Jacklin Julien Baker Sarah Blasko Sheer Mag Son Little The Drones The Tallest Man on Earth By Shannon Connellan and Lauren Vadnjal. Image: Andy Fraser.
As part of Parramatta Nights, the richly diverse Street Festival is rolling into the western CBD, bringing with it celebration, flavour and a juicy squeeze of live music. Over two weekends this March, Phillip Street and surrounds will play host to five outdoor stages, which will be taken to by both local and international performers. Experience the thrill of being in the bustling crowd at a live music event again, while you bop to Jamaican dancehall or vibe-heavy R&B, before catching a Korean rap set or the joyous brassy notes of a jazz performance. Scoot on down to Phillip Street at 5pm on Friday, March 18, to start your festivities with the community Holi celebration, bearing witness to (and participating in) the smoky rainbow of colours filling the air. On the opening weekend, you can also groove to an energetic mix of Sister Nancy and Legal Shot Sound at the Erby Place Block Party. Weekend two is sure to get the crowds going too, with the Pist Idiots taking their Australian rock tunes straight to the Justice Stage. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Erby Place boasts a female- and non-binary-led lineup, with Jesswar and Kymie front and centre. Street Festival also has a stellar cast of bites to keep energy levels sky high. Archie Rose will be behind the bar mixing gin-laden cocktails, and tastes from all over will be dished out by the likes of Butter, Flavours of Spain and the Raza Central food truck, which will be serving up flavour-laden El Salvadorian favourites like piping-hot pupusas (grilled tortillas filled with cheese) and accompanying horchata. Street Festival is free to enter. Under-18s will be required to have a parent or guardian present. To find out more and explore the full program, head to the website.
Sydney Contemporary is back for its fifth year, once again taking over Carriageworks for an annual celebration of all things art from September 12–15. As is usually the case, this year will be the biggest yet, with over 450 artists from 34 countries exhibiting their work. The opening night party on Thursday, September 12 promises to once again be among the year's biggest art bashes. On the night, visitors will catch a glimpse of thousands of new contemporary artworks, alongside eight performances — including Tony Albert's Confessions and the premiere of Nell's Ghost Songs for Rock Gate. Not to mention the afterparty, which we, your mates at Concrete Playground, are hosting with Campari at Earl's Juke Joint. The art fair been been collated in partnership with more than 95 galleries — those include international heavy hitters like Kyoto's Cohju Contemporary Art, Paris's Nil Gallery, Cape Town's Worldart and New York's Flowers Gallery. As far as local galleries go, expect entries from Roslyn Oxley9 and Sullivan+Strumpf, and a focus on Indigenous and emerging artists. Interactive art also takes centre stage with Australian artist Joan Ross presenting her virtual reality work Did you ask the river?, which depicts an unsettling 3D colonial landscape. Other large-scale installations include Gregory Hodge's Suspension Painting, Michael Lindeman's text-based sculpture Thanks and Alex Seton's carved marble skull Winners are Grinners. Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro have teamed up, too — creating the site-specific Tower of Power, which can be climbed for panoramic views of the fair. Free talks will be on offer throughout the event, as will performances by the likes of Rainbow Chan, Marcus Whale and Hong Kong artist Movana Chen — she is presenting an ongoing performance series, titled Body Container Container Comes to Life. Paper Contemporary also returns for 2019 with a showcase of modern printmaking, artist books and other works on paper. And, once you need a break from all that art, head to one of three bars — featuring champagne from Taittinger, Campari cocktails and Handpicked Wines — or to the pop-up restaurants for snack breaks. Tickets to the afterparty will set you back 50 bucks, otherwise you can check out the fair at your leisure across the four days for $26. It'll be open from12–5pm on Thursday, 12–8pm on Friday, and 11am–6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Check out the full program over here, and be sure to nab tickets while you still can. Images: Jacquie Manning.
The high priestess of dark rock is coming to Australia — PJ Harvey is the very first artist announced for Sydney Festival 2016. Locked in to play an exclusive performance at Sydney's shiny new International Convention Centre on Sunday, January 22, Harvey will be backed by her ten-piece band for a career-spanning set. It's been a while between drinks — Harvey hasn't performed in Australia since her 2012 Sydney Festival concert. It's a new live show for the UK indie rock legend, one that's already toured Europe and the US and features all your favourite early classics and newer material. It's also one of the first concerts announced for Sydney's epic $1.5 billion ICC, with all round nice guy but undeniably less badass Keith Urban recently announced as the very first artist for the new venue. PJ Harvey plays ICC Sydney Theatre in Darling Harbour on Sunday, January 22. Tickets on sale tomorrow at 8am AEST from Sydney Festival's website. An allocation of tickets will also be held for Sydney Festival customers, on sale from 27 October.
White rabbits, tea parties, royal megalomaniacs — outside Lewis Carroll's gloriously twisted imagination, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is meant for the stage. And next year, you'll be able to see this dark, surreal and twisted tale as a ballet, with the Australian Ballet announcing the Australian premiere today. Headlining the Australian Ballet's 2017 program, announced in Sydney today, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will complete the season in Melbourne in September and Sydney in December. Spearheaded by legendary choreographer Christoper Wheeldon and scored by Joby Talbot, Alice will be brought to life by the Australian Ballet in what they're calling "magnificent detail". Think Broadway-level. Designer Bob Crowley will throw as many immersive digital projections, wigs and masks, puppets and intricate costumes as he can at this one. Alice is one of three mainstage shows for the Ballet's 2017 season featuring female leads, joined by the return of artistic director David McAllister's highly opulent production of The Sleeping Beauty and radical modern reworking of Nutcracker – The Story of Clara. "It's a season defined by exquisite performance and the adventures of three extraordinary women," says McAllister. "We fall down the rabbit hole with Alice in Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, we follow the life of a Russian ballerina who arrives in Australia in Graeme Murphy's Nutcracker – The Story of Clara, and then Princess Aurora leads a cast of fairytale characters as she searches for her Prince in The Sleeping Beauty." Keen for something a little more contemporary? The Australian Ballet is continuing their dedication to body-stretching modern triple bills with Faster — if you've caught the Ballet's previous tri-slam dunks like Triptych and Vanguard, you'll know how quickly you'll enrol in yoga after seeing one of these sexy, sexy works. Faster will see three of the world's leading choreographers create one diverse work, featuring an Olympics-inspired work scored by Australian composer Matthew Hindson, an Australian premiere of new work by Wayne McGregor scored by Steve Reich, and a new work by Australian Ballet resident choreographer Tim Harbour, architect Kelvin Ho and lighting designer Benjamin Cisterne. In big news, the Australian Ballet will also perform a free outdoor event, Ballet Under the Stars, in Sydney's West. And if you show up at the wrong venue for the mainstage productions, take note — due to the closure of the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House in the second half of 2017, Capitol Theatre will be the primary venue for November and December 2017. There's plenty more where that came from, including a Melbourne-only, young choreographer-focused production of George Balanchine's Symphony in C. Check the website for dates, tickets and more info.
If it's been a while between Chardonnays with you and Orange, or if you've never actually ventured to the regional foodie hub of New South Wales, now's your time to make amends. On Sunday, November 26, Sydneysiders can take in the best of Orange's food and wine on the waterfront — Taste Orange is headed for Barangaroo. Taste your way through NSW's 'food basket' with some of the regions best wineries offering tastings, including Cumulus Estate, Gilbert by Simon Gilbert, Highland Heritage Estate, Logan Wines, Philip Shaw Wines, Slow Wine Co. and Ross Hill Wines. Seriously, if you haven't tasted a Phillip Shaw Chardonnay, get amongst it. But you're going to want some high quality, Orange-grown nibbles with that vino. Taste's food offerings include kangaroo sliders from Dreamtime Tuka, Indigenous Cultural Adventures and sweet treats using native ingredients from Bush Tucka. Barangaroo eateries like Wild Sage, Anason and Bel & Brio will also set up stalls for the day. Entry to the festival is free, but you'll have to purchase all food and wine once you're in. It's $5 for a wine glass and and then you can choose between $8 per full glass of wine (120ml) or $4 per half glass (60ml) for the tastings. If you don't want to wait in line, you can purchase a $40 tasting pack online before you head in, which gets you ten tokens for either five glasses or ten half glasses.
It's an accepted truth that the best things in life are free. But when it comes to the dating game, the best things are actually kinda pricey. Now, we're all keen to impress that Tinder hottie with seafood buffets, bottles of Moët and sweeping romantic gestures, but they're not what all dates are made of. Even those on a beer drinker's budget can take a lucky someone out on a sweet date. In fact, a cheap, activity-based date could be the best way to get to know your potential new lover without the pressure of trying to elegantly eat crab without splattering some on your face. Dating doesn't have to be all low-lit wine bars and fancy restaurants. It can be outdoors, in art galleries or at the pub — and it can be, you know, actually fun. [caption id="attachment_577886" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Anita Peeples.[/caption] GO BUSH(WALKING) Now, you may not want your potential new bae to see you sweating like a pig, dragging your failing body through the scrub and panting like a baboon in heat. But hear us out: it's free. Completely free! And if you can keep a lid on the sweating and moaning (save it for later *winks*), hiking through the lush bush or along a craggy cliff and quoting Walt Whitman poems (that you memorised that morning) could be a pretty cute date. Sydney has some stunning walks through the bush, along the beach and up mountains, while Melbourne boasts some sweet city hikes that'll keep your heart rate down. [caption id="attachment_578074" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Meghan Yabsley.[/caption] GO FOR A LONG BIKE RIDE Again, the idea of exercising with a new friend might gross you out, but, again, it's very free. You'll get to show off your activewear in a legitimate setting, fooling your new love into thinking you're sporty. Plus, bike riding is pretty easy if you have a bike with many, many gears and choose a path devoid of large vehicles and hills. Take your pick from our best bike tracks in Melbourne and Sydney. If you keep the speed down in order to chat and pack a cute, protein-heavy picnic, you'll be telling your grandkids about this date one day. Or your friends at the pub later. Either way. [caption id="attachment_577854" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Adrianna Calvo[/caption] CHECK OUT SOME LOCAL GALLERY OPENINGS If your new boo is an art fanatic, puff yourself up (while keeping your wallet plump) by taking them to an art show. The best thing about local art events is that they're usually cheap (or even free) and serve up equally cheap or free booze, leaving most of your date budget for a bohemian night of shenanigans. Nothing will put your date in the mood for a bottle of red wine on a rooftop or sharing Pez while strolling along the beach than a night of rebellious art — a reminder than you're only young and foolish once. IMPRESS THEM WITH USELESS KNOWLEDGE AT TRIVIA As mid-week trivia nights are generally populated by poor students and bohemian grown-ups, the getting is good (but cheap). It's a smooth idea for the group date, to introduce your date to your friends or — if you want to create a little us-against-the-world division — go it alone in a team of two. Perhaps one of the most romantic features of a trivia night is the standard 'phones away' rule which should, frankly, be a rule at all social occasions. Make sure you've got some conversation topics up your sleeve though because you won't be able to hide behind your phone if the chat dries up. (But don't worry, you're gonna do just fine.) SET UP A CUTE PICNIC This is a classic first date idea — and even though you're being a cheapskate, you can pass it off as sweet. The trick is to put some pre-planning into the park selection (a Melbourne secret garden is always a safe bet). If you want a talking point and potential puppy pats, woo them at one of Sydney's best dog parks. A few more tips: avoid playgrounds (which are often riddled with children), plan for the weather (no one likes a soggy sandwich) and learn the scientific names of the surrounding plants so you can really impress. And as the location is free, you can drop all your funds into a lush picnic basket stuffed full of cheese, bikkies and wine.
Fans of photography and public art should head down to OPEN at Darling Quarter this month for Sweet Country Stills Exhibition, a collection of stunning behind-the-scenes images captured by four stills photographers during the shooting of Warwick Thornton's new Australian period western, Sweet Country. You'll be able to see 16 large-scale photographs by Tamara Dean, Warwick Baker, Mark Rogers and Michael Corridore, who captured portraits of the cast and locations on the fly during the movie's tight filming schedule in Alice Springs. Expect shots of actors (including Hamilton Morris, Natassia Gorey-Furber, Anni Finsterer, Thomas M. Wright, Bryan Brown and Sam Neill) alongside breathtaking desert landscapes. Bill Dimas from Sydney's aMBUSH Gallery — who is producing the exhibition — says the photographs allow viewers a glimpse into a process normally hidden to them, revealing "both the intensity and pure joy of filmmaking". The exhibition is free and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Catch it before February 25. Image: Tamara Dean, Still, Sweet Country Photo Series, 2017.
They send coffee beans into space, shoot fireworks you can taste into the sky and make cocktails tailored to your individual DNA in Dubai. With their fantastical fusion of art and food, UK-based 'jellymongers' Bompas & Parr are basically our patron saints around the Concrete Playground office. Who wouldn't want to attend one of their playful and painstakingly constructed events? For the happy campers at Dark Mofo, that's what's set to happen in a big way. As part of the Unconscious Collective's art sleepover Wild at Heart, the duo will create a feast that nods to Pagan traditions through hunting, gathering, sacrifice, ritual and some intensely primal dishes. With our eyes wide and mouths properly drooling, we got Sam Bompas on the line for a lowdown on what to expect at his Feed the Beast feast. And even more than that, we wanted to know what a person so used to thinking laterally about the potential of food has to say about current dining trends and the Australian culinary scene. His answers may surprise you. You and Harry [Parr, the other half of Bompas & Parr] started working together as jellymongers, but I see increasingly more stories about non-jelly-related experiences you've created these days. How did that evolution happen? I think quite naturally. When we started out we just wanted to do something fun on the weekend, and jelly held the key. We set up the jelly company but within a month we were moving on to full catering, doing a 12-course Victorian breakfast in Warwick castle, coordinating a thousand calories arriving on people's plates from three separate kitchens. So we moved quite quickly from jelly into doing everything. And I think really the reasoning behind that was wanting to give people really engaging, emotionally compelling experiences and in order to do that we were looking at controlling everything, from venue and set design to uniform design to choreography, rituals, scripting, staff, right through the plates and everything else. So I guess it was pretty ambitious. Obviously it takes a much bigger team of creatives to make all of this happen. Is your workplace basically Wonka's Chocolate Factory? Like that, but perhaps a little more adult. A lot of the projects we work on, some of them are very, very child-friendly — so we just did something that Willy Wonka would be proud of, a flavour-changing chewing gum factory — but some of the projects are a lot more adult, so things like the installation we've got up at the Museum of Sex in New York at the moment, which is looking at fairgrounds and eroticism, the pleasures and perils of the erotic fairground. You've been to Australia a few times now with your work. What did you find out about Australian food while you were here? I've got to say, when the Australian chefs I know come over to London, I'm always very, very interested because I think that in certain sectors Australia leads the world by about six months or so, in things like juicing culture, coffee culture, a lot of their F&D, and I'm obviously interested in some of the more unusual ingredients as well which are just totally native to Australia ... I was amazed last time I came across, I went to Africola, the restaurant in Adelaide, and I was served up a whole cow's head with brains still in, and of course, coming from England that's about the most taboo food you could ever imagine, in the aftermath of BSE [mad cow disease], so that was a pretty feral dining experience for me and absolutely blew me away. That's great for us Aussies to hear, because we have this cultural cringe, where we presume everything we do is a bit backwards. Did your visit give you any ideas you wanted to pursue? Seeing the cow's head sparked us to push even further what was totally acceptable for us to put on the table. Everyone here is obsessed with what is called the 'unholy union' of Cadbury chocolate and Vegemite. Have you heard about this? Oh wow. Not at all. Who claims to have discovered this? Cadbury's produced it. It's on the shelves. Really? They're very innovative. I guess so. We're just discovering how deep their imagination can stretch. So would you eat Vegemite chocolate? I'm never shy to try something once. Most people's reaction is 'yuck'. So is that yuck impulse something you like to trust, or interrogate? Well I think it's always culturally constructed. I've read a lot of research that says you can grow to like anything after you become acclimatised, and actually grow to love it. So once you know that, then you're kind of up for eating anything. Quite often when I travel my host will try to put the most harrowing things on the table just to test me, but I always quite like that challenge. So whether it's live, squirming tentacles that if you don't chew them stick to the back of your throat in South Korea or strange and rare fruits in Hawaii, I love pushing what I feel are my own limits. Insects are starting to become a thing here. You've probably eaten a few insects in your time? Yeah. There's a lot of chat about it. We did a whole insect banquet as part of something around Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, god, four or five years ago now. I'm not convinced insects are the future for our diets but I do think that they might help with animal feed and animal protein. I'm much more interested in the creative potential of genetic manipulation. I did imagine that you would be more excited than worried about GM. Well of course there are ethical concerns but as long as you navigate them in a sensible and conscientious manner I think there's some good work to be done. Back to the present. There's also this rise at the moment in food that's a challenge. You know, it's either impossible to make, or it's some kind of monstrous hybrid, or it looks like it could give you a heart attack. What is that about do you think? And do you see that kind of instinct in people as fuelling interest in your own work? I think for me, it's feeding into how across the board people are using food to define their personal sense of identity and to perform identity in front of others as well. So whether that's you're eating your glucose-free, lactose-free light salads and you're telling the story to people of you as a yoga babe, or savage dude food — all of it, of course, going up on Instagram to tell people what an interesting, amazing life you have. And I think it's exciting too. What it has meant is, given that people are using food in this way, as a signifier of status and signifier of identity, there's been an increasing amount of resources put into food and concern about food and what people are eating, and generally an overall lift up in food knowledge, which I think can only be a good thing. Absolutely. Australia certainly has a big foodie culture. Probably safe to say it eclipses our interest in stuff like art and art appreciation. Your work obviously combines both food and art. So what is the connection you see between the two areas? Basically no one eats our food because they're in need of more calories — in actual fact, they're often avoiding calories. They tend to eat our food for entertainment, and personally I consider both arts and food offshoots of the entertainment industry. So if you come to one of our events rather than going to the opera, going for a nice swim, making love, sitting at the pub talking about mermaids or whatever you like to talk about, it has to be really rather compelling. I guess one of the good things about food is it's a wonderful arena to give people an interesting and emotive experience and I think that's what the best art seeks to do. Foodie culture obviously has a lot of benefits — the increased knowledge, as you were saying. But do you think there are any downsides from being too narrowly focused on food? I think you've got to look at the word 'foodie' itself, is a pejorative term. It was invented in the 1970s by Paul Levy as a descriptive of someone who's too concerned about food to the point of missing other things in life. I think it is important to have balance, but if you look at a lot of our installations, while the food is important, we address a lot of the attention to other elements as well, just to give people a total experience, one that's very legible and understandable. I find sometimes very cheffy food becomes difficult to read; it becomes something that only the food elite can possibly understand. But what I'm interested in is a much more inclusive approach to food. Your banquet in Tasmania, Wild at Heart, is based around pagan themes. It seems pretty perfect for Dark Mofo, which also includes a nude solstice swim. Is that where the inspiration came from? With the banquet we've been collaborating with the Unconscious Collective, and they set the theme, but it's a theme we've been very delighted to explore, expand on and run with. It's so hairy and muscular you can really gorge on it, as we hope that participants will be gorging on the feast as well. There are two components. On the first night, it's more of a gentle, campfire-type scenario, spiced up with flamethrowers, bombfires and roadkill jerky and drinking from actual skull cups hollowed out of a whole variety of animal skulls. And that will actually be up and remain up way beyond the original launch to ensure that everyone can pop down. Then we move on to the Feed the Beast banquet, which is exploring all the many different facets of the beast and the animals we all contain within ourselves. Sounds primal. It should be pretty savage. And it's something that I'm quite excited to explore, because when you start feeding people, you become quite aware of just how thin that line of civility is that divides us from the animal kingdom ... So what we want to do with this event and meal is give people the opportunity, the excuse and legitimacy to explore the beast within them, with things [from] blood and beating hearts to epic steaming hunks of spit roast wild deer that's actually just been hunted by [Tasmanian chef] Ross O'Meara to the more amorous side, so exploring tales of aphrodisiacs. There'll definitely be a lot of nudity. And not all of it probably our performers. One of the things we're looking at is creating an actual beating pig's heart that materialises as part of the starter, and it's literally there pumping fluids around, so it feels very visceral, very alive. We then take this live heart, slice it up and sautee it so it comes back served up for the first course. I don't know that anyone's done that before, so there should be a few world firsts. Can you tell us anything else you've got planned for the 'rituals' in the event? We've got lots of rituals around blood. Almost like a whole meditative cleanse around hand washing as well. I'm also very inspired by a chap called Grimod de La Reynière, who was kind of the first proper restaurant critic and if you ask me a far better gourmet and food writer than his contemporary Brillat-Savarin, who everyone normally refers to. And he hosted a very decadent banquet in which all the guests arrived, they had their hands washed, and then they dried their hands on the hair of all the waitstaff, which I think is really, particularly creepy. So we'll try to channel some of those energies as well. Delightful. I want to ask you about some of your past works that we've covered on the site. You recently held an anatomical whiskey tasting. So I want to know, were people more excited to drink from a 20-year-old or a 50-year-old? Well we went from 25 to 39, and I think the thing that was wonderful was as the age went up, so the whiskey got more and more elaborate. We actually had a 63-year-old volunteer to be the vessel for one of them, although the only 63-year-old whiskey we could find was going to cost us a hundred and twenty thousand pounds, which got pretty full on ... The thing that I liked was how people interacted with one another. You started off with what was originally a sort of awkward situation, twenty strangers in a room on Valentine's Day, all licking whiskey from the naked, supine body of someone who they've never met and who's just told them the story of their life in fifteen minutes, and even with that, very rapidly, galvanized by some of the world's finest whiskies, they very quickly formed bonds. What about the lava barbecue? People had to get 500 friends together to make that happen. So did anyone get 500 friends together? We're still working on that. We're speaking to a couple of people at the moment. That would be my ultimate, ultimate project. That was far and away the best week I've ever had, and far and away the quickest cook as well, given that it is blazing at one thousand three hundred and fifty degrees Celsius. So you just need to find someone who can gather 500 people? Five hundred people and quite a hefty budget. 500 people and much money. We'll work on it. And with regards to jelly, have you come across a building you couldn't make into jelly, or are there buildings that work better than others? Modern architecture doesn't work; anything with a steel core doesn't work particularly well. Towers don't work very well at all. They obviously look phallic as buildings, but even more so when rendered in jelly. We made the Empire State Building and it had to get pulled from American morning television because it was just way too threatening ... But actually the buildings that tend to work best are historic stone architecture. And the reason for that is that as it gets higher then it goes in at the top, and that gives jelly just the right amount of stability. So some of the really good jellies we've made are actually Flinders Street Station and the Melbourne War Memorial, which was a really good one. But the Sydney Opera House might be harder? It sort of tapers in at the top; it works quite well. That's a firm favourite and regularly made as jelly. You already sell 'space beans' [coffee beans that have travelled to space] on the site. Are there any plans to expand the products people can buy? We often have plans we're not totally good at realising. To do products you have to have a firm focus and keep on rolling on it for a good long while. The inception and the creative frenzy of the first bit is soon replaced by actually having to go out and sell the product. The bit we like doing is all the creative bits, which is why I guess we stick with events and things. That's reasonable. But we'll keep our fingers crossed for some kind of amazing chocolate bar. It would be fun to do. I guess we've just got way too short attention spans so far. Wild at Heart is part of the festival Dark Mofo, which is on from June 12 – 22 in Hobart. The event is sold out, so if you don't have a ticket, you'll just have to watch your friends go savage from afar.
My yoga studio has a basketball court below it. During a calming session of yoga, it is not uncommon to hear the piercing screech of a whistle, frequent cheering and the intermittent shrieks of "Great shot Mike!". One time, I kid you not, there was a marching band procession going down, and the instructor had to calmly try and talk over the incessant drumming. Quite un-zen. Flow After Dark Silent Disco Yoga seeks to give yoga enthusiasts the exact opposite experience. How exactly does one silent disco yoga? Quite easily with the introduction of wireless headphones. These bad boys give participants a one-on-one with their instructor, while simultaneously pumping out beats from Sydney DJ James Mack. Also, they're neon. This one-off, 90-minute Vinyasa yoga session will be held at Sydney's Luna Park and is probably your best (possibly only) chance to show off your best warrior pose while simultaneously jiving to some seriously smooth music. After a sold out event at Luna Park in April, you better snap up some tickets quickly, as this one's set to be bigger and better than the last.
There's the parade, yes. But before that, nearly a month of cultural and celebratory events of all stripes makes up the festival of Sydney Mardi Gras, and there's something for everybody, even Straighty McStraight-Straight. Who relates absolutely and 100 percent to the social expectations of their gender and sexuality? Nobody, probably. And that's something to love, savour, and take away from this most iconic of Sydney events. This year, there's a fair day, art you can dance to, an intergalactic gay wizard and some steamy literary readings, among all the parties between February 20 and March 8. With gay marriage rights firmly on the agenda again this year, 2015's Mardi Gras will definitely be one that's remembered.
After a season at Griffin that earned it three Helpmanns and a NSW Premier's Literary Award, Angus Cerini's 'murder ballad' is popping down the road to the Wharf Theatre. With the original cast — Paula Arundell, Airlie Dodds and Shari Sebbens — returning, The Bleeding Tree tells the story of a mother and two daughters living in rural Australia who decide to give the man of the house his marching orders. The eviction notice comes in the form of a bullet. But where's the best place to dispose of a body in a small town? And what will the neighbours think? The Bleeding Tree is just as much a study of community reactions to domestic violence as a revenge thriller. Scoring praise for its pitch-black humour, sharp lyricism and taut revenge plot, The Bleeding Tree will hang you up by the heels until it's good and done with you.
Dubbed as the biggest night of year for Sydney, the Mardi Gras Parade will fill the streets of Darlinghurst and Surry Hills on Saturday, March 2. Join in on the celebration of LGBTQI+ culture and communities and watch the colourful array of floats and performers as they make their way down Flinders and Oxford Streets from 7pm. Tickets for seats in the viewing area are sold out, so if you want to cop a view, you'll have to arrive (preferably with a crate in-tow) early. Plus, the party is set to continue after the parade at the official after-party. Featuring a diverse lineup of local and international artists including dance trio Pnau and pop sensation Kim Petras, you can enjoy the tunes while exploring three fantasy worlds set up around the Entertainment Quarter — with 12,000 other Sydneysiders. This one is ticketed — you can pick up final release tickets from $186. The full Mardi Gras program has lots of other fun stuff in it too, and it runs from February 15. Looking for a bar for before, during or after the parade? We've got you covered.
The owners of Newtown's Union Hotel have ripped out their old lounge bar. But don't think for a second that they're leaving you without a place to drink. Instead, general manager Luke Hiscox has teamed up with ex-El Loco manager Wil Eastley on a laidback new back bar they're calling Big Arties. Now open at the back of the Union at 576 King St, Newtown, Big Arties offers a total of 20 craft beers on tap along with a number of wine options and some killer looking cocktails – including a banana milkshake made with butter and coffee flavoured vodkas. But their big focus is on Australian-made craft spirits, and particularly local gins. They've also launched an epic new food menu, with plenty of snacks and sandwiches inspired by New York City delis. You can grab hot slabs (they're literally called hot slabs) of soy caramel glazed chicken, black rice marinated pork belly, and slow roasted lamb shoulder, or enjoy share plates packed with cold cut meats, antipasti or cheeses. Sangas include a spicy meatball sub, a corned beef and cheese option, and a lamb roll with mint jelly and pumpkin. Best of all, you can double the amount of meat in your sandwich for just four extra bucks. They call that option going 'Big Artie Big'. Big Arties can be found at the Union Hotel, 576 King Street, Newtown. For more information, check out the Union Hotel on Facebook.
I’ll never forget my original Magic Mike experience. In a packed cinema of some 750 people, I was one of just nine men, and of those, (probably) the only straight one. After a brief welcome, the film's promoters introduced two male strippers who danced, disrobed and lap-danced their way through the crowd like bejewelled beagles at Customs, singling out the most awkward and uncomfortable with astounding accuracy. Coupled with the trailer, everything seemed in place for a movie designed to entertain everyone but me, and yet — two hours later — I stood both corrected and utterly entertained. Armed with that memory, I approached Magic Mike XXL with a much more open mind, only to once again be surprised by a film whose suggestive marketing, racy trailer and heck, even its name, belied a film of far greater substance and maturity. Magic Mike XXL is not a story about male strippers entertainers, but an old-fashioned road movie about self-discovery and friendship, where it is souls and vulnerabilities — not bodies — that the men are dared to reveal. As it happens, it's also a cracking comedy. The story itself is as scant as a stripper’s costume. Mike (Channing Tatum, whose real life story provided the inspiration for both films), finds himself visited by his old dancing buddies on their way to the annual 4th of July Strippers Convention (yes, it’s a thing). Their former emcee and manager has skipped town with the young star Adam, meaning this is to be their swan song before retiring to whatever 'normal' jobs they can find. Recently single and finding his own furniture business low on the thrills, Mike joins them in the hope of purging his demons and starting life afresh. In some ways, it’s best to think of Magic Mike XXL like a musical, given the way its stars spontaneously burst into dance routines and, this time round, singing (showcasing the talents of both Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, and Matt Bomer, whose voice is so remarkable it’s baffling we’ve not been treated to it sooner). Unlike most musicals, however, Magic Mike XXL navigates the almost impossible transition from acting to dancing without it ever feeling forced — the best example also being the film’s standout scene, featuring Joe Manganiello (True Blood) stripping in a gas station to a Backstreet Boys staple for no other reason than to elicit a smile from its store clerk. Funny yet provocative, childish yet heartwarming, it encapsulates everything Magic Mike XXL is about: honest desire, spiritual growth and — most importantly — intimacy. Almost every dance in this film is centred on one woman. Any woman. Every woman. No matter how large the crowd, someone is always singled out and treated to a publicly private performance, "a queen being reminded of her beauty", as Mike’s former flame Rome (played magnificently by Jada Pinkett Smith) puts it. Yes, the dancing is extraordinary (Tatum’s routines in particular are jaw-dropping in their athleticism and eroticism), but just as appealing are the ladies’ reactions — a blend of shock, lust and pure exhilaration that imbue each and every fantasy piece with a genuine sense of realism. There’s more sensuality in this film than fifty Fifty Shades of Greys, yet it never once feels sleazy, instead veering closer to something uplifting and sincere. By all means come for the bodies, but stay for everything else.
With multi-screen technology and life's general background noise perpetually present, many of us have lost touch with music, you know, actually listening to it. We've wound up with some not-so-flash listening skills, putting a playlist on in the background and switching off. But psychology and mindfulness studio, The Indigo Project, has discovered a nifty way to help you tune back into that big, beautiful world of sound. Once a month, the Surry Hills space hosts a music-driven meditation session called Listen Up, drawing on a mix of modern mindfulness, psychology, and music therapy techniques. No phones allowed. By channelling strong attention to those tunes, students can work on clearing focus, opening the mind, and getting those creative juices flowing the way they should. Not to mention, they'll likely discover a newfound appreciation of music. Each of the hour-long sessions will centre on a different acclaimed artist's album. This month's will find you meditating to Spaces, the 2013 beauty from Berlin-based composer Nils Frahm. Image: Kimberley Low.
In words attributed to everyone from Mark Twain to Alexisonfire, we should dance like no one is watching, and Glitterbox gives you the chance to do pretty much just that. Returning to Sydney Festival for the second year, Glitterbox is the work of Sydney artist duo Harriet Gillies and Roslyn Helper (aka zin) — and it's exactly what it sounds like. So what do you do? Pick a song, head inside the giant colourful cube that's pulsating with glitter and dance like no one is watching. Except they are. But you won't care. It's so much fun that you'll forget all about the other festivalgoers around you. Glitterbox will be located in the Meriton Festival Village at Hyde Park, which is open from 4.30pm will late every day of the festival except Mondays. Image: Jamie Williams.
Even the most adventurous of foodies have their limits, don't they? New documentary Bugs aims to put that idea to the test — and to make audiences squirm in the process. You don't make a film about two researchers from René Redzepi's experimental Nordic Food Lab exploring the culinary value and environmental benefits of eating insects without causing a reaction, after all. The eye-opening doco is one of 12 titles set to screen at the Antenna Documentary Film Festival from October 11 to 16, with the Sydney fest revealing a selection of highlights before their complete program announcement on September 6. Regardless of how experimental your eating habits are, the flicks unveiled should whet the appetite of factual cinema fans thanks to a wealth of thought-provoking content. When the fest isn't trying to get viewers pondering their next meal, it'll be inspiring discussions about everything from a ladies man living with HIV to the impact of nuclear waste in a small Russian town. The former comes courtesy of moving opening night film The Charro of Toluquilla, while the latter informs documentary City 40, which examines the people trying to survive in one of the most contaminated places on earth. And for a change of pace, anyone keen on an Italian holiday without the cost of an airfare should put Rome-set road movie A Present from the Past on their must-see list. Aussie effort A Mother and A Gun, which has its world premiere at the festival, is also certain to get attendees talking as it explores the life of Shelly Rubin, the woman who fell in love with the leader of the Jewish Defense League. Elsewhere, environmental effort The Islands and the Whales, a tribute screening of Abbas Kiarostami's Close Up, and the latest chronicle of Bobby Sands and his famous hunger strike — as previously brought to the screen in Steve McQueen-Michael Fassbender collaboration Hunger — also feature among Antenna's initial list of films. Yep, they might've only given viewers a taste of a dozen titles so far, but the fest's 2016 lineup looks as varied as it is interesting. The 2016 Antenna Documentary Film Festival screens at Palace Cinemas Paddington from October 11 to 16. The complete lineup will be announced on September 6. For more information, check out the festival website. Images: Lloyd Dirks, Tom Truong.
It's one of the city's best-known landmarks, so when the Sydney Opera House illuminates its sails, it stands out. You've seen the venue lit up for Vivid, to launch Mardi Gras and to support bushfire relief — and, as part of Badu Gili, the nightly showcase of First Nations artworks that was first launched in 2017. While the harbourside spot hasn't been decking out its sails with projections every night of late, that's changing from Friday, April 23, which is when a new Badu Gili series will start gracing the Opera House's exterior each evening. This time around, it's called Badu Gili: Wonder Women, and focuses on the work and stories of six female First Nations artists. Curated by Coby Edgar, the Art Gallery of New South Wales' Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Badu Gili: Wonder Women marks a creative collaboration between the Opera House and AGNSW to mark the latter's 150th anniversary. As the sun sets each day, the Opera House's eastern Bennelong sail will be illuminated with a projection of a vibrant six-minute animation, all depicting artworks from the AGNSW's collection. The animation will repeat three more times each night — approximately every hour, but the timing changes every evening depending on the season and whatever might be on at the Opera House's Forecourt. Badu Gili also ran in 2018; however, for its third go-around in 2021, it'll display its first all-female lineup. Sydneysiders will be able to peer up at work from Wathaurung elder Marlene Gilson, Yankunytjatjara woman Kaylene Whiskey and Luritja woman Sally Mulda, which'll feature alongside pieces by Western Arrernte women Judith Inkamala and Marlene Rubuntja, and the late Kamilaroi woman Elaine Russell. While you're looking up, you'll be taking in' pieces inspired by the artists' life stories and shared histories, which includes the Eureka Stockade and mission days, 2019-20's bushfires, an imagined world of superheroes, family encounters and ordinary life in First Nations communities. [caption id="attachment_803486" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Anna Kucera[/caption] The visual component of Badu Gili — which translates to 'water light' in the language of the site's traditional owners, the Gadigal people — will also be accompanied by a return of Badu Gili Live. The free outdoor music series will run throughout April, May and June, with further details yet to be announced. Badu Gili: Wonder Women will light up the Sydney Opera House's sails every night from Friday, April 23. Top image: render of Kaylene Whiskey's 'Dolly visits Indulkan' as part of Badu Gili: Wonder Women. Courtesy of Sydney Opera House.
Imagine a fully immersive theatre experience with a choose-your-own-adventure twist and lots of macabre nods to Edgar Allan Poe, and you'll have some idea of what to expect when A Midnight Visit takes over an abandoned Sydney warehouse this spring. Unlike any theatre offering the city has seen before, this captivating experience is part performance, part playground and part film set. And it's being brought to life across 30 rooms of an eerie, two-storey, 3500-square-metre Newtown warehouse before it's demolished to make way for apartments. Audiences will find themselves transported into a dream world that takes its cues from those notoriously macabre works of Edgar Allan Poe, as imagined by a team of local actors and a crew of innovative sound, film-set and costume designers. Expect an air of David Lynch and some Stanley Kubrick vibes, with a spot of steam-punk thrown in for good measure. "The experience explores themes of madness, guilt, death, impermanence and memory — just the small things in life," explains director and co-creator Danielle Harvey. "It's sometimes funny, sometimes sexy, sometimes wistful, and yes, sometimes a bit scary." It won't be for the faint-hearted, with hints to uneven floors, suffocatingly small spaced and many 'troubled characters'. If you're thinking you might need some sort of tipple to calm your nerves before all of that, or after, you'll find yourself in good hands at The Ravens Rest pop-up bar, curated by Studio Neon. Preview performances from September 19 will also be available for $25. Images: Anna Kucera and Tim Da-Rin.
Kingsmore Meats will join the ever-growing Rosebery party as the newest opening at Saporium this Saturday, July 2. We gave you the heads up on Saporium's opening back in May, and since then the new foodie haven within The Cannery Precinct has continued to kick delicious goals — now with an 'artisan butcher'. The family-owned and operated butcher sources high quality meats from small, independent and local farmers who treat their animals humanely and raise them sustainably. Previously Rose Bay's Kingsley Meats, Kingsmore recently rebranded in name, but kept their motto: "More than your local butcher." It's a free-range, pasture-raised affair at Kingsmore, with all meats both hormone and antibiotic free. We guess this is what the 'artisan' tag refers to, and what sets them apart from your average butcher. Kingsmore are taking their strong ethical philosophy one step further. Running a 'nose-to-tail' butchery, butcher Joel Houghton purchases the meat whole so every cut is available for patrons. Kingsmore is also rolling out their own sausages and gluten- and preservative-free smallgoods, called Happy Pigs, Yummy Pork. To celebrate their opening, Kingsmore Meats is teaming up with Saporium neighbour Vive Cooking School to offer Sydneysiders their first taste of the newcomer. Head in on Saturday, July 2 for Emerald Hill Beef brisket and house-made burgers — they're made using condiments from MasterChef finalist Audra Morrice (and author of My Kitchen, Your Table) and served on brioche by Grain Organic Bakery, another Saporium artisan. Saporium is the latest addition to The Cannery Precinct, which already houses Archie Rose Distillery, Black Star Pastry, Koskela and the recently opened Three Blue Ducks restaurant. The space is designed to offer locals a healthy and organic lifestyle without having to shop around. The details of stage three of Saporium are still in the works, but we're sure this all-star local team has a few more big players to come. Kingsmore Meats will open this Saturday, July 2 at Saporium, 61 Mentmore Avenue, Rosebery, within The Cannery Precinct.
Does checking your Instagram on the weekend give you a serious case of brunch jealousy? It's time to get back at your friends with what can only be described as a mega-brunch, happening just across the road from the monthly Pyrmont Growers' Market. You know it'll be good when Ruby's Diner, Pinbone, Hartsyard, West Juliett and LuMi are behind the menu. Prepare yourself for the likes of chicken and waffles, strudel and Single Origin Roasters coffee. This event is one of our top ten picks of Good Food Month 2015. Check out the other nine. Image: Pyrmont Growers Market.
The first thing you notice about the 14-year-old Amy Winehouse is her smile. Captured on her best friend’s home movie, it's enormous, almost all-consuming, a porthole to an as yet undiscovered virtuosity. With jagged and uneven teeth, the smile — like her accent — is imperfect and unrefined, as though everything had been hastily thrown together at the last minute. But it's also unmistakably real and a permanent fixture on the young girl's face. Over the next 90 minutes of Asif Kapadia's remarkable documentary Amy, what most stands out is not the prodigious talent, nor the substance abuse and self-destruction, but simply the steady fade of that perfect imperfect smile. Just like Kapadia’s previous documentary, Senna, Amy is an extraordinarily moving tribute to a prodigious talent whose life seemed somehow unavoidably foredoomed. With its remarkable catalogue of personal videos, voicemails and recording sessions, Kapadia lets Winehouse and her closest friends narrate her own tragic spiral in real time, taking us from the "gobby north London Jewish girl with a lot of attitude" to the death of a full-blown celebrity in 2011. It’s a masterful device, insulating the film from the inevitable accusations of bias and blame apportionment made by the very individuals who constantly comment and appear throughout. To be clear: Amy isn’t a whodunnit. Winehouse drank herself to death despite countless warning from doctors, friends and colleagues. Instead, the film reveals the extent to which almost everybody in her life failed to convert their concern into real action so long as the money continued to flow their way. "They tried to make me go to rehab,” she sang, and it’s true, but they didn’t try nearly hard enough. What’s abundantly clear from the archival footage is how well Winehouse understood her own predicament and disposition. “I’ve depression,” she explains at one point, “but so do a lot of other people. I’m just lucky because not many people can pick up a guitar for an hour or two and make themselves feel better.” True to the adage, Winehouse really was all about the music, and had she been left alone to sing jazz in small clubs, things may have played out very differently. The only person who seemed to fully grasp that was her idol, Tony Bennett, with whom she recorded a duets album shortly before her death. “True jazz performers don’t like crowds of 50,000 in front of them,” he explains, before adding in a heart-wrenching postscript, “If she were still here, I’d say ‘slow down … you’re too important’”. It’s moments like this that make Amy an overwhelmingly tragic and absorbing portrait piece, steeped in disquiet because, just as it was with Senna, you know it ends in a crash. There is, in fact, one last glimpse of a smile, right before the film ends. During her infamous concert disaster in Belgrade just weeks prior to her death, Winehouse sits down on stage, drunk and disoriented, amidst a chorus of boos from the crowd. While the band tries to get her to sing, an almost imperceptible grin flashes across her face, as though she’d suddenly heard the punchline to a joke nobody else could hear.
Favouring the dark and the occult, Sydney's newest nocturnal arts event Caldera showcases many of Australia's leading experimental artists within the industrial, turn-of-the-century surrounds of Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops. Running from November 29 to December 2, a visceral and provocative program will bring the historic site to life with eight sessions held across four special nights. The remains of Eveleigh Locomotive Workshops' steam hammers, cranes and furnaces will serve as the evocative setting for Caldera as the performances utilise the dynamic space. Taking place in a seemingly spontaneous fashion, the audience will be enveloped by the evenings' events, while also getting a chance to explore the reinvigorated factory. As Caldera Director Laurence Rosier Staines explained in statement, "[Caldera] is in a spectacular and mysterious site, and the show will reflect that. In a way we're hoping to provide Sydney's boutique answer to Dark Mofo, neither predictable nor sanitised." Headlining the inaugural Caldera, is renowned burlesque artist Zelia Rose, who'll perform alongside the dazzling vocals of Tanzer and a compelling percussive piece by Marcus Whale and Bree van Reyk. Plus, there'll be an innovative drumming performance by Alon Ilsar, featuring AirSticks – a futuristic instrument that Alon invented alongside collaborator Mark Havryliv. With more performances yet to be announced, Caldera is one mind-bending creative experience you shouldn't miss. Two 'Caldera' sessions are held each night, at 8pm and 10pm, and tickets include a complimentary Four Pillars gin drink on arrival.
Hospitality, as we all know, is much, much more than solely food and drink. Entertainment, interior design, theming, culinary direction and partnerships all need to be carefully considered. It takes a while to master these skills, but hospitality dream team Jaime Doom (also known as Jaime Wirth) and Mike Delany (the duo formerly behind the Drink'n'Dine empire) have fine tuned 'em after years in the business. So this week, naturally, they've launched their own hospitality consultation business, dubbed International Worldwide. Doom and Delany have been partners in hospitality since 1996 and have no shortage of projects under their belts including reinvigorations of The Abercrombie, Forresters and a few of the Fratelli Fresh locales. One of their most recent projects included the rethink of Sydney's infamous Club 77 from the late-night rave cave of our misguided youth to a somewhat more grown-up, eastern European-inspired cocktail bar (still with slight rave). It's this skill of turning a 'has-been' venue into an energised contemporary space that Doom and Delaney want to explore further with International Worldwide. Doom says that the project came about during the sale of the Drink'n'Dine group earlier in 2016, the company that included The Oxford Tavern in Petersham and The Norfolk in Redfern among others. The sale of the company allowed the pair to focus their skills on shorter term projects, with the duo currently working on the Belly Bao fitout in Barangaroo and The Observer Hotel in The Rocks. International Worldwide's website states that the company will specialise in "creative, interior design, food and beverage, music, branding and design and everything in between". It's no secret that these guys know what's hot and what's not, but for the moment we'll just have to wait and see what else they have in store for us. Image: Andy Fraser.
Sydney foodies, we're spoilt for choice at every turn. New top-notch eateries are cropping up faster than ever before. If you're struggling to keep up — and who isn't? — never fear Taste of Sydney 2016 is the four-day foodie festival to get to up to speed on the cream of the culinary crop. Setting up residence in Centennial Park from March 10 to 13, Taste of Sydney in partnership with Electrolux is all about bringing diners and chefs together. Ticketholders will be treated with nosh from some of Sydney's top restaurants, including Middle Eastern street food from the crew at Glebe's Thievery, Porteno's famously hearty fare, Biota Dining's sustainable modern Australian dishes, nel.'s fine dining dishes, plus fire-cooked noms from Firedoor. Also joining the deliciousness will be Kitchen by Mike, MoVida, Sake, and the newly opened Kensington Street Social, among others. But we can't wait until then. We annoyed the Thievery team to give us a recipe, NOW. NOOOOOOW. So they relented and told us how make their mouthwatering baba ghanoush with sheep's milk yogurt, pinenuts and burnt butter. You can make it too! Thievery's Baba Ghanoush with Sheep's Milk Yogurt, Pinenuts and Burnt Butter 2 eggplants 25g tahini Juice of one lemon 1 clove of garlic 25g olive oil Salt and pepper (to taste) For pinenut burnt butter 75g pinenuts 120g unsalted butter For sheep's milk yoghurt dressing 100g sheep's milk yoghurt ¼ clove of garlic 15ml extra virgin olive oil Chervil leaves, to garnish Lebanese bread Method Prick the eggplants with a fork all over. Over an open flame, using tongs, grill the eggplant whole under tender and soft. Juices should bubble and start to flow. Alternatively, roast in oven at 190 degrees until tender and soft. Cut eggplants in half, length ways, and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Allow to cool. Add remaining ingredients to the eggplant flesh in the bowl. Using a whisk, gently combine all the ingredients together, keeping the texture thick to avoid turning the eggplant into a paste. Season to taste. On medium heat, melt unsalted butter in a saucepan until butter starts to turn an amber colour with a nutty smell. Just before beurre noisette (brown butter) add the pinenuts, tossing until noisette stage is achieved. Remove from heat. Set aside and keep warm so that butter does not solidify, allowing the pinenuts to infuse the flavour. Finely grate ¼ clove of garlic. Add sheep's milk yoghurt and olive oil, combining all ingredients together in a bowl. Season to taste. Place baba ghanoush in a serving bowl. Dollop sheep's milk yoghurt dressing around the baba ghanoush. Using a spoon, mix the pinenut burnt butter and spoon over the top. Garnish with chervil leaves and serve with warm Lebanese bread.
Musicians dream of many things: playing packed-out gigs, releasing a hit album that rockets up the charts, and attaining Kanye-levels of fame and fortune, just to name a few. Getting your own beer has to be on the list as well — and that's a rockstar achievement DZ Deathrays now has covered. No, bandmates Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley haven't cooked up a batch of homemade ale (well, that's not what they're unleashing upon the world right now, at least). And no, there's no rum involved, even though the duo both hail from Bundaberg. Instead, the ARIA-award winning Brisbane outfit has teamed up with the fine folks from Sydney brewery Young Henrys to make their very own brew. If Queen and Pearl Jam can have their own tipple, why can't they? Called Pils 'n' Thrills (Wellington's Garage Project will be raising a few eyebrows, they've already released a beer called Pils 'n' Thrills), DZ Deathrays' beverage of choice is a Czech-style pilsner complete with a stripped-back, classic, compact malt bill and a surprisingly hoppy palm to the nose. If you don't speak beer speak, that means that it's flavoursome, tasty and refreshing, i.e. all the things you want in a pint. Of course, Pils 'n' Thrills is a limited-edition affair, so you'd best head to your local stockist to get your fix quick smart. Then, next time you indulge in one of life's simple pleasures — aka enjoying an ice-cold beer while listening to your favourite band — you can do it with DZ Deathrays' very own drinks in your mitts. For more information about Pils 'n' Thrills, check out the Young Henrys website. Image: Luke Henery.
When you're on holiday, we think it's a rule that you can't leave the city without exploring the local pub scene. But often, there are so many pub options that the whole choosing-where-to-go thing can be a little overwhelming. What you need is a go-to guide that saves you a lot of research and tells you exactly where to go depending what mood you're in or what vibe you're after. Whether you're keen for a party, a chilled beverage in a beer garden, a good quality pub feed or a drink by the water, we've got you covered. We've partnered with Hahn Brewers and come up with a few failsafe options for you to visit. Never be lost for pub options in Perth again. FOR LIVE MUSIC: THE ROSEMOUNT, NORTH PERTH The affectionately-named 'Rosie' hosts national and international bands like Spoon, The Panics and Tiny Little Houses regularly in its live music room. It's the regular venue for album launches, karaoke nights and open-mic nights where undiscovered Perth talent can often make an appearance. If you're in Perth and looking to go to a gig, this is definitely the place to be. Sometimes there are food stalls and vintage markets out in the 'backyard', which consists of the 'deck' and the 'lawn'. Both spectacular spots to grab a beer to drink outside while checking out what's happening on the day. FOR THE VIEW: OCEAN BEACH HOTEL, COTTLESLOE The Ocean Beach Hotel, opposite Cottlesloe Beach, has everything — it serves coffee and breakfast from 7am, there's a sports bar, pool tables, a dining room, accommodation and most importantly, a huge, sunny rooftop with stunning views of the beach. Famous for its Sunday sessions and rooftop beer garden, it's the perfect spot to stop for a feed and a cold beer after a swim, or the perfect place to watch the sun go down over the ocean. [caption id="attachment_605929" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: The Local[/caption] FOR A FEED: THE LOCAL HOTEL, SOUTH FREMANTLE The Local Hotel in South Fremantle is one of Perth's stylish and recently renovated pubs. It's the perfect place to grab a slightly fancy pub feed, with a menu that accommodates almost every meal and appetite. There are simple cheese boards and starters, more substantial mains such as the sirloin steak, beef and veggie burgers and the grilled lamb loin. At the Local there's a public bar, a casual dining area and a whisky bar. There's also the Local Garage — a drive-through bottle shop that's been converted into a pop-up garden bar, open for breakfast on weekends and hosting food trucks in the afternoon. Should you need to stay the night, The Local also has beautiful boutique accomodation options. Each of the eight rooms are styled by local designers and offer their own light and airy features. FOR THE BEER GARDEN: THE NORFOLK, FREMANTLE Much loved by locals in Fremantle, The Norfolk is a failsafe option for a beverage in Perth. On the menu are all the pub classics like pizza, pasta, parmas and steaks, but the real highlight of the place is the two outdoor beer gardens. Leafy, half-sunny and half-shaded just like a good beer garden should be, the Norfolk is famous for its huge limestone walls. They make for a great, cosy atmosphere where you can sit back and watch some live music. [caption id="attachment_605945" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Image: Raffles Hotel[/caption] FOR THE WATER: RAFFLES HOTEL, APPLECROSS The Raffles Hotel is located in the riverside suburb of Applecross. It's worth the trip from Perth to the other side of the river, because Raffles has beautiful views and a relaxed atmosphere where you can grab a drink and chill out by the water. Gourmet pizzas are on the menu alongside upscale pub classics like burgers, parmas and big plates of fresh seafood and pork belly to share. Raffles has multiple levels of outdoor seating, which means it hosts quite a few summer parties. Fashion launches, dinners, New Year's parties and Australia Day gatherings by the water. That kind of thing. FOR A BIT OF HISTORY: THE WINDSOR, SOUTH PERTH The Windsor Hotel in South Perth is an institution in the area. It's that classic, huge, old pub that everyone knows and occasionally visits. There's a sports bar, a beer garden out the back, and DJs that play on the weekends as well as all the classic events like Melbourne Cup, Australia Day and New Year's. The old building is surrounded by a historic verandah — a great place to settle down with an afternoon beer and read about one of the city's oldest pubs. FOR THE GAME: THE VIC, SUBIACO If you're in Perth and there's a game on (whether it's football, NRL, AFL, tennis, golf or anything else really), the place to watch it is at The Vic in Subiaco, one of Perth's popular inner-west suburbs. This place is as classic as an old-school sports pub gets, with parmas, burgers and cheap pints of beer served up in the beer garden and multiple dining rooms alongside local live music and trivia nights. The Vic packs out especially on big AFL days. The projector screens are rolled out and the building is filled with sports fans and footy scarfs. FOR A PARTY: BOTANICA BAR AND BISTRO, INNALOO Botanica boasts 'the best Sunday Session in Perth'. It's a big call, but if you're a regular you'll know that this Innaloo pub throws a few parties, and they tend to go off. During the day (or when there's no special event on, like the Silent Disco pictured), the outdoor beer garden is packed with people enjoying the sunshine, a brew and a pub feed. At night (and on Sundays) the DJs come out to play. There's also a sports bar attached to the Botanica — the crowd can get rowdy (in a good way) when there's a big game on the screens. Sign up to Hahn Brewers and settle down with a drink this weekend.
After spending the last few years in the grasp of tweens and sexless Mormons, it's good to see the vampire movie finally biting back. From the ingenious goofiness of What We Do in the Shadows to the eerie urban decay of Only Lovers Left Alive, it's been a banner year for big screen bloodsuckers, a trend that continued in 2014 with the most fascinating shakeup to the genre yet. Sexy, scary and fearlessly subversive, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night became a last minute contender for one of the best films of 2014, and this Halloween, it's coming back to the big screen at Golden Age. Billed as the world's first Iranian Vampire Western, the debut film from writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour takes place on the outskirts of an industrial ghost town, ominously named Bad City. It's here that an aloof young vampire in heavy eye makeup and billowing chador (Sheila Vand) stalks the streets in search of victims to devour. What she doesn't count on, however, is the romantic attention of a handsome local drug dealer (Arash Marandi), who unwittingly presents her with a difficult choice: pursue a relationship or eat him for dinner. If the plot sounds thin, that's probably because it is. A spiritual descendent of David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch, the California-based Amirpour is far less concerned with narrative than she is with style and atmosphere. The moody black and white cinematography further enhances the film's already palpable sense of menace, while also calling to mind prototypical vampire movies such as Vampyr and the original Dracula. The eclectic soundtrack is equally evocative, Amirpour spinning a Tarantino-esque blend of European and Iranian pop music combined with the rousing strains of an old school Spaghetti Western. Yet despite her aesthetic self-consciousness, Amirpour's film is in no way lacking in substance. While vampire stories are traditionally about sexuality, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night reframes the discussion to focus more on gender. It's obviously not a coincidence that Vand's vigilante vamp feeds exclusively on misogynistic men. Likewise the pointed choice of costume: her traditional head-to-toe black garb, so often viewed as a sign of oppression, re-appropriated as a symbol of her power. Even the film's title is misleading. Amirpour sets us up to expect a helpless victim, only to deliver something very different indeed. Bold and surprising, this is a truly stunning debut. See it on the big screen.
What are you doing right now? No, stop. Whatever it is, it most likely doesn’t compare to what you could be doing at this exact time next year. Sea N Beats, Australia’s first ever music festival at sea, is on March 5-8, 2016 — and if you’re into electronic dance beats and/or super chilled-in-a-chilla-way cruises through aquamarine waters (and isolated island paradises to boot), it's probably going to float your boat. The Sea N Beats ship will boast seven stages (so we know this is ain’t no dinghy), and a huge pool deck, where you’ll dance till the wee hours in the middle of the deep blue sea sea sea (hey, there’ll be no noise complaints here). Plus, included in your ticket is entry to an exclusive mystery island festival on an exclusive mystery island, somewhere off the exclusive mystery Queensland coast. After the seafaring shenanigans that went down at It’s the Ship — Singapore’s inaugural festival on a boat — last November, plus the fact that SS Coachella and the Weezer cruise are actual things that exist, it was high time we got one of these boat-fests of our own. Those festivals attracted sailors like Basement Jaxx, Lil John, Toro y Moi, Pulp and Hot Chip. No word on who’s going to be (literally) onboard for ours yet — but it’s safe to say this is going to be one hull of a party. Now's probably a good time to start training yourself out of your sea sickness. But it sounds well worth stocking up on those ginger tablets for; Sea N Beats reckon there's no other experience like this in the southern hemisphere. The ship sets sail from Brisbane on March 5 next year, and the festival runs till March 8. You know your psych-up music, crank it. Via Pedestrian. Image: Falls Festival.
Astral People, V Movement and the team at the National Art School are joining forces for a series of epic parties across four Sundays in January, February and March. Returning for its second year, the Summer Dance series will see the National Art School campus in the Old Darlinghurst Gaol transformed into a massive outdoor dancefloor, thumping to the tunes of killer house, techno and electronic artists from at home and abroad. The season kicks off on January 24 with sets by bigwig UK house producer Julio Bashmore and German drum machine specialist Florian Kupfer, as well as hometown heroes Andy Garvey and the EK Collective. Spend Valentine's Day with house veteran Nightmares on Wax, who'll take to the stage along with Belgian mixmaster Lefto and Sydney's own Mike Who. The following week will see The Netherlands' Hunee and the UK's Mark E take the stage along with local favourites Touch Sensitive, Love Bombs and Adi Toohey. Last but not least, pioneering Parisian house musician Jeremy Underground will join American DJ Sadar Bahar, Sydney's Ariane and Melbourne's Andras on March 6 to bring summer to a close. Clear your calendar. Tickets to Summer Dance are available through Moshtix for $40-45, although diehards may want to pick up a season pass for $140. To check out the program yourself, visit Summer Dance's website. Image: Sam Whiteside.
In one of the slickest team-ups we've seen this year, Future Classic and the Museum of Contemporary Art have announced a series of solid parties set to settle themselves into your calendar for the next few months. Set across three Sunday afternoons over the steamy months, FCxMCA is a brand new monthly event that will see the likes of electronic Cashmere Cat, Redinho and Cyril Hahn play intimate gigs on the MCA's Sculpture Terrace. Launched last night at the MCA as part of a collaboration with the MCA's Young Ambassador Program, the series kicked off with performances from Future Classic's new signing George Maple, label favourites Panama and Future Classic DJs. According to Future Classic's Nathan McLay, this new endeavour was apparently inspired by similar music program branch-outs in contemporary galleries across the globe. "My partner Jay and I have always enjoyed visits to documenta in Germany, the Venice Biennale and many contemporary galleries around the world on our travels," says McLay. "That travel and intersection of contemporary art and music opened our eyes to collaborations such as the MoMa PS1 Warm Up series in New York and the Sonar festival in Barcelona, whose day venue is the Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona (MACBA). It is these events that inspired the FCxMCA collaboration." Having recently played NYC’s MoMa PS1 Warm Up party, Norwegian producer (and actual brains behind most of the guilty pop pleasures on your Spotify) Cashmere Cat kicks the whole thing off on Sunday, January 4. Then on Sunday, February 22, London-based producer Redhino will crank up tunes from his highly-acclaimed self-titled album; released in September on top notch UK label Numbers (who've previously dropped Hudson Mohawke, Jamie XX and Rustie releases in your lap, legends). Then, when the hot season's almost over, Swiss producer Cyril Hahn — the man behind that Destiny's Child remix — will headline the closing party with deeeep, deeeeep house. FCxMCA 2015 Dates: Sun 4 Jan — Cashmere Cat (Norway) Sun 22 Feb — Redinho (UK) Sun 29 Mar — Cyril Hahn (Switzerland) Image: Cashmere Cat, Jasmine Safaeian.
The Sydney CBD is getting a brand new rooftop bar and live music lounge, albeit only temporarily. Presented by Art & About Sydney, the pop-up bar will sit atop Town Hall's Marconi Terrace and will be serving up food, drinks and free live performances over nine nights throughout the second half of September. As if Sydney's office workers needed another reason to look forward to the end of the day. Located on the roof on the Druitt Street side of Town Hall, The Terrace has been inspired by New York's rooftop bar scene, particularly the magical arboretum that is Gallow Green. complete with garden-style features by Sydney design duo Amber Road. The venue will be open 5pm-10pm from September 18–27, except on Sundays when it'll be open 3pm–8pm. The music program features a diverse range of artists including Jones Jnr, Pat Capocci, Microwave Jenny and Richard In Your Mind, along with an acoustic set by Dave and Joji from Gang of Youths and a closing night performance by Paul Capsis accompanied by the Cafe at the Gate of Salvation gospel choir. That's in addition to a lineup of local DJs spinning sets every night. Best bit? Entry to The Terrance is 100 percent free. Here's hoping we see more openings like it. Sydney's rooftop bar scene isn't crowded with options, but with spring around the corner, it seems like the perfect time to change that. To see the full Terrace program, check out the event website.
You can ring in New Year's Eve from the fancy fancy Opera House, you can crowd underneath Millers Point, there'll inevitably be a hectic mass heaving on Barangaroo Point this year. But there's a brand new harbourside NYE party throwing its hat in the end-of-year ring, a brand new event called New Years Eve Above the Harbour. Think Young Henrys, picnic rugs, smoked meats, massages and an entire dessert garden by Anna Polyviou. Taking place at the south-eastern side of Circular Quay in the Tarpeian Precinct, NYEATH will take over a spacious site adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens, with a big, green, rolling lawn and those highly Instagrammable views, perfect positioning for those multi-million dollar Sydney fireworks. The team is positioning the event as a more laidback NYE party on the harbour, with picnic rugs, frolicking and a lavish outdoor dining experience from the culinary team behind the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney. Ticketholders can feast all evening, with four pop-up food stands planned for the night. There'll be Asian-inspired street food, American-style smokehouse meats, fresh seafood and salads, and (the clincher) an entire dessert garden by the hotel’s celebrated executive pastry chef Anna Polyviou. Of course, you'll be after a bev or two to ring in the new year, and everyone's favourite Newtonian brewers Young Henrys are on board with their beloved craft beers. The YH crew will be serving a special batch of 'Above the Harbour' Lager, exclusively available on the night. If you're after something a little more bubbly, there'll be top tier Australian wines and bubbles available, and arrival cocktails to get you all festive. The event's meant to take the stress out of hectic Sydney NYE parties, so you don't have to get there early, fight crowds, pack picnics or smuggle booze. There'll be a hair and makeup station for both ladies and gents, alongside masseuses available all the way until midnight. You'll probably see midnight more invigorated than when you arrived — instead of drunkenly, tiredly missing the whole bloody thing. For the big midnight clock strike, you can either nab a good spot on a picnic rug or book a spot in the premium seating area (armchairs, drink tables, sounds pretty baller). The night will be hosted by Smooth FM's Cameron Daddo and there'll be DJs all night — of course there's an openair dancefloor. New Years Eve Above the Harbour is happening at Tarpeian Way, The Domain on December 31 from 6pm - 12.30am (doors open 5.30pm). Tickets (on sale Tuesday, September 22) are $395 +BF (GA), $495 +BF (reserved seating), children under five get in for free (limited to 200). Capacity is strictly limited so book your tickets early here.
Melburnians rejoice! Our time has come to put on our red shoes and dance the blues. David Bowie Is, the most talked about exhibition all year, has graced us with its almighty presence. Now you can all stop complaining that you only just missed it when it was in London, and get to ACMI ASAP. The exhibition features a whole heap of Bowie-related items, including costumes, sets, lyrics, album artwork, rare footage and obviously, music. Really, you had us at 'Bowie Exhibition'. You could charge $20 to come and view just one sequinned shoulder pad, and we’d still be running one-another down to get to the entrance. But before you rush too quickly out the door, you might want to prepare yourself for the onslaught of aggressively competitive Bowie fanatics who'll be lining up and no doubt loudly exclaiming various facts and quotes to out-Bowie each other. You know, the kind who will be all, "That’s not even David’s correct blood type..." So to help you stand your ground, we've put together this list of pointers. Consider this your David Bowie homework. WATCH (OR REWATCH) LABYRINTH First and foremost, rewatch Labyrinth. Or, at the very least, get your fix through one of the greatest, most terrifying moments from everyone’s childhood that is the clip above. Bask in the glory of Bowie as he dances around with a large swarm of tiny alcoholic goblin puppets. It truly is something to behold. Extra fun fact: Toby Frouder, the actor who, as a baby, quite convincingly played the baby in Labyrinth, is now a puppeteer himself. A goblin puppeteer, in fact. It's true and it's amazing. HAVE SOME BOWIE MERCHANDISE TO FLASH Drunkenly purchase yourself some Bowie merchandise in the wee hours of the morning. Not speaking from experience at all, but when your new Aladdin Sane queen-size bed set arrives in the mail, you'll thank your past boozed-out self. Take a snap on your phone and set it as your background so when you waltz around the exhibit, you can be like "lol, I’m sleeping with Bowie tonight lol lol." Everyone will love you for it and think you are hilarious and original. They will. BRUSH UP ON YOUR BOWIE CAMEOS Remember that time Bowie starred as Pontius Pilate alongside Willem Dafoe’s Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ? Yeah. That happened. Well, just in case someone quizzes you on that, you can memorise the full scene from here (but don’t, because it’s not great.) In fact, Bowie has a habit of popping up in unexpected places, everywhere from Zoolander to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwdORJVw3-o[/embed] GET THE LIVE(ISH) EXPERIENCE There’s a million videos of Davey B killing it on stage, but our personal favourite is this performance of ‘Under Pressure’ featuring Annie Lennox at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992. Unfortunately Bowie and Mercury never performed the song together live (can you actually imagine how incredible that performance would have been?), but it’s fair to say Lennox did a pretty phenomenal job. The dress, the three-piece green suit, the long loving embrace. It’s all too much. MEMORISE AT LEAST ONE BIT OF OBSCURE BOWIE TRIVIA When he was 13, Bowie was punched by his mate George Underwood over some mix-up with a girl (cuuute), and was left with a permanently dilated pupil. This story is relatively well-known and won’t earn you any Bow-n-ie points amongst aficionados. But what you may not know is that Underwood continued being one of Bowie’s best mates. Not only that, he's responsible for two of Bowie’s album covers, in Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. This proves that Bowie's a forgiving gentleman and all-round top bloke, just like we always knew he was. David Bowie Is will be at ACMI until November 1. See the full program of exhibition-related events at www.acmi.net.au/bowie. Top image: Masayoshi Sukita, The David Bowie Archive.
The Kings Cross Hotel is about to be transformed into an immersive wonderland as part of this year's Vivid Sydney festival. As part of the truly epic Vivid Music program (which includes the world premiere of Björk's digital project), the hotel will be in full swing with a slew of live music, theatre and cabaret throughout the three weeks of the festival from May 27 until June 18. Along with five-storey dance parties and cabaret performances, from June 1 the venue will go into immersive theatre mode on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Visiting Hours will see the Hotel become a mysterious old hospital with performances taking place across the five floors. It's been produced and directed by bAKEHOUSE Theatre, so you know it's going to be legit. And a little creepy. Running over six nights, the theatrics will kick off at 7pm. Groups will be staggered at 30 minute intervals to keep space uncrowded and make sure you're totally immersed, from start to finish. [competition]574883[/competition]
It's the annual moment for dusting off that barbecue and cracking open a case of VB (or any, any other Australian beer). With Australia Day just a few short sleeps away, this weekend is the perfect time to get the festivities started. But perhaps you'd rather avoid the typical rowdy pub shenanigans on the day and find yourself a solid party in advance. If you want to do something a little different this year, late-night ravers BAD DEEP are putting on an event that could be just what you’re looking for. Let the melodic, psychedelic rhythms of Sydney’s best new DJs get you grooving from 9pm tonight (Friday January) at Enmore’s SLYFOX for 'Strayadelica. Headlining will be Melburnian house master Amateur Dance, along with local acts Levins, Chux, Le Fruit along with some of BAD DEEP’s resident DJs. Immerse yourself straight into the heart of Australia’s electric dance music past. Spinning tracks from true blue pop culture cultures like Wake in Fright, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Cars That Ate Paris, gear up for a night of blissed-out beats and outback bangers. Image: Entropico.
"Franchise" needn't be a dirty word in Hollywood, and the Mission: Impossible movies are shining examples as to why that is. Now in its sixth instalment, this isn't just a franchise done right. It's a franchise that somehow improves with each new chapter – an ongoing escalation of stakes and stunts that never sacrifices the intelligent, honest and light-hearted storytelling that's been so critical to the series' sustained appeal. At the forefront once again is leading man and producer Tom Cruise, whose capacity for performing increasingly complex and outrageously dangerous stunts remains inversely proportionate to his age. In Mission: Impossible – Fallout his IMF agent Ethan Hunt is at it again, weaving cars and motorbikes through the traffic-packed streets of Paris, HALO jumping from 30,000ft and leaping across rickety London rooftops. Cruise even accrued over 2000 hours of helicopter flight time prior to filming, all so that he could personally perform what is arguably the film's most thrilling and death-defying sequence. His love of filmmaking is apparent in every frame he occupies, and its value to the enduring allure of the franchise cannot be overstated. That the Mission Impossible brand could survive beyond Cruise's involvement seems far less assured than, say, James Bond or Batman. Not unlike the two most recent Bond films, Fallout compels its hero to shine a light on his own past deeds, with the movie's title referring not just to the literal threat posed by three nuclear devices but also the consequences of a lifetime spent obediently killing, stealing and undermining at the behest of the US Government. Adding to the emotional stakes, Fallout also repeatedly asks its characters to weigh up the value of a human life, presenting them with multiple scenarios in which they're forced to choose between the one or the many – knowing that either path carries with it irreconcilable guilt and heartache. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (whose return to the franchise marks the first repeat involvement by a director, with McQuarrie having also written and directed the previous instalment, Rogue Nation), Fallout achieves the rare feat of being an unceasing action movie that always feels more like a drama. There is no superfluity here. Every punch, shot, jump, crash and explosion exists because it must. This is a story-driven international escapade that never stops to sit down and catch its breath. Around Cruise the IMF family assembles once again, with Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin and Rebecca Ferguson packing equal measures of comedy and conflict into every scene they get. Man of Steel's Henry Cavill also joins the action, with his lumbering, muscular CIA assassin representing an appealing counterpoint to Hunt's penchant for the softer, tradecraft touch. He and Hunt are at once rivals and compatriots – two competing assets unwillingly paired together in pursuit of a common goal. Or so it seems. As always, the Mission: Impossible franchise throws up all manner of red herrings, double-crosses and mask-pulling identity swaps, meaning – just like the characters – you're never quite sure who to trust. If the story borders on confusing at points, it's only because the time-honoured tradition of spy movies commands nothing less. Ever since 1996, this series has unapologetically embraced jargon-heavy dialogue and twists upon twists without ever feeling compelled to play it safe or dumb things down (Mission: Impossible 2 being the regretful exception). If most sequels fail because they're rushed into production purely to capitalise on their predecessor's success, Fallout demonstrates the benefit of having the patience and the discipline to say: we will make this film not when, but if a good enough story comes our way. So it is that McQuarrie, Cruise and company deliver a benchmark setter for action movies – a rollicking, tense and captivating piece of cinema that begs to be enjoyed on the big screen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb49-oV0F78
Planning what you're going to have for lunch tomorrow is pretty difficult, let alone planning a spectacular evening with someone you'd like to get to know a whole lot better. When it comes to dating, the pressure is on to impress — you need to pick a great activity (in a great venue) that exactly matches the mood and stage of your relationship. It's a tough task. We wanted to take a little stress out of the ordeal, so we've teamed up with QT Sydney and Perrier-Jouët to provide you with a date idea for every night of the week. Whether you're a barfly, a cinephile, or you just love a healthy dose of culture, our picks have you covered whether you're on a first date or celebrating your first anniversary. MONDAY: FREE MOVIES AT SODA FACTORY Heads can be a little fuzzy on Mondays, and moods may not be great — you've just spent your whole day at work after enjoying two days of freedom, after all. Take the edge off with a relaxed activity and take in a film with a significant other at Soda Factory. Little did you know, on Monday nights the Surry Hills bar and diner screens classic movies — Back to the Future, Grease and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are among the titles on offer. Rather than rushing dinner and heading to your standard cinema, meet your date and shout them a $5 drink (available until 7pm), then impress them with your supreme knowledge of pop film culture at 8pm when the movie kicks off. TUESDAY: PUB TRIVIA AT YOUR LOCAL Trivia, a classic Tuesday night activity whether you're on a date or not, is a great place to take someone you're interested in because you can suss out how smart they are over a beverage. There are a plethora of bars in Sydney that take part — from the Dove and Olive in Surry Hills (hosted by comedian Nick Nolan), to cocktail bar Since I Left You in the CBD, to The Rose in Chippendale and The Forresters in Surry Hills. Most bars and pubs that host trivia also have drink specials on for the night. Trivia is also great for double dates and group dates, because everyone can get involved. WEDNESDAY: ART AFTER HOURS AT THE AGNSW Art galleries are great date material. If you're just getting to know someone you'll look cultured, and if you've already gotten to know someone, this could be when you both admit you have no idea how to act in an art gallery and enjoy a nice bonding moment. The Art Gallery of NSW has one of the best art collections in the country — with permanent impressionist displays and temporary exhibitions that promote talented artists from around the world (currently: Andy Warhol and John Olsen). On Wednesday night, it's open late, for free, so you can add a little extra culture to your week by checking out the film playing downstairs or the talk in the main hall. Art is a great conversation starter, so it's an ace place to take a date, whether art is your thing or not. THURSDAY: CHAMPAGNE AND OYSTERS AT THE GILT LOUNGE Thursday is almost the weekend, so there's no excuse for not splashing out on something a little more luxe on your date. Every Thursday night from now until the end of May, QT Sydney's opulent cocktail bar Gilt Lounge is rolling out a regular evening of bubbles, beats and treats, in collaboration with Perrier-Jouët. While some local DJs play, you can grab a bottle of NV Grand Brut champagne and spoil your date with four premium freshly-shucked oysters from the bar's in-house European brasserie, Gowing's Bar and Grill, for $99 until 10:30pm each week. The getting-to-know-you conversation will flow like the crisp champagne you're sipping on. FRIDAY: DIY BREWERY TOUR IN THE INNER WEST Sydney's inner west is packed to the brim with a variety of craft breweries, each one of them dishing out unique ales and luscious lagers. If beer is something you and your date can both get behind, take yourselves on a tour of the area and check out as many venues as you can. Around Newtown, the Young Henrys bar is open until 7pm, whereupon you can take yourselves off to Wayward, Grifter, Batch, or Willie the Boatman, all of whom stay open a little later on Friday nights. Suck back a fresh ale, and discuss the hops balance on a creative date with your significant other. SATURDAY: POOL, AND POTENTIALLY KARAOKE, AT GOROS While trying something fresh and new is always a great idea for a date, there's no shame in dipping your toe in the cliche pool — they're cliches for a reason, right? Sometimes, a good date comes down to drinking a well-made cocktail in a fun bar, with activities to fill in conversation gaps when you're feeling a touch awkward. Goros, on Mary St in Surry Hills, delivers on all these aspects, with an ace selection of Japanese-inspired cocktails, beers, and a sweet range of Japanese whiskies. On top of that, there are a couple of dimly-lit karaoke rooms, a pool table, some air hockey tables and some arcade games that are sure to get a healthy (but cute) dose of competition going. If you've been with your partner for a while, this is the place to let loose, have some drinks and get competitive. SUNDAY: LUNCH AT BACCOMATTO OSTERIA Dates are something we usually relegate to the evening, when there's an air of mystery and salacious curiosity. That doesn't mean, however, that dating during sunlight hours should be written off completely. With the symptoms of Mondayitis looming in the mind, Sunday is the perfect day to take someone special out for a really, really good lunch where you can enjoy a few glasses of wine. Baccomatto Osteria in Surry Hills is the perfect place — they serve classic Italian food and incredible wine in a beautiful space. At lunchtime on Sundays, they sweeten the deal by offering a pasta dish and a glass of wine for $20, which keeps the cost down but the flavour up. Almost every staff member is Italian, so there's an air of authenticity to the whole experience — it's kind of like a quick holiday on a date. QT Sydney's champagne and oysters special in partnership with Perrier-Jouët runs every Thursday until May 25.
Is this vogue? Or bogue? It's the eternal question pondered by Big Ego Books founders, artists and all-round hilarious bloggers Raquel Caballero and Emily Hunt. On their insanely funny blog, these two wonderfully opinionated Australians weigh up the great and shit bits of our lives. Magic Eye? "I wish I had the skill of Magic Eye so I could write it on my resume." Vogue. Macarons? "Why are people still eating them? And why are publishers still publishing books about them? They taste like shit and they're really annoying to look at." Bogue. You'll find Raquel and Emily's latest greatest iratest Vogue/Bogue rant in the latest issue of Sturgeon. In case you've not met Sturgeon yet, it's a bi-annual Australian arts and culture publication published by Artbank — and boy is it pretty. The first issue was launched in November 2013 and this will be the fifth issue, guest edited by Miriam Kelly (curator and collection coordinator at Artbank). There's even original artwork by Sydney artist Leo Coyte on the cover. It's available to throw a measly $15 at in newsagents, museum stores and bookshops across Australia from May 16. But before you go and buy yourself a shiny new copy of Sturgeon, we have a little surprise for you. We love Raquel and Emily's Vogue/Bogue, and make a habit of reading it aloud and giggling over bits in the Concrete Playground office. So we asked them to do a special guest post just for CP, just for Sydney. What a coup. Here 'tis! BOGUE R.I.P. THE MONORAIL We will never get over this. We haven't forgiven or forgotten! The monorail to us symbolised the future, Jetsons-style. It's clear this country was going backwards when they decided to tear down the monorail. Sure it wasn't an economically viable mode of transport but does everything have to exist just to make a buck? Can't we have cool stuff just for the sake of it? Well apparently only people with $$$ are allowed this luxury. We just read on Wikipedia that Google owns a piece of the old monorail carcass (AKA a carriage) and uses it as an office meeting room because of course they do! Google thinks they're sooo cool, those dorks. BROADWAY BERMUDA TRIANGLE Similar to Bermuda Triangle, the Broadway Shopping Centre is a portal to a negative supernatural vortex. The streets around BSC are also haunted, probably from the Scientologists and their creepy uniforms. We've seen people murdered, a bank heist, three fires, a suicide off the walkway, a naked woman throwing chairs outside Oportos, a guy masturbating in the bushes next to the bus stop, nearly being killed by a semi trailer whose driver was drunk and a old woman falling flat on her back holding a baby as the lights had changed. Enough proof! Some one needs to light a candle and de-Satan that zone asap! THE DEVONSHIRE STREET CENTRAL STATION TUNNEL A.k.a - The dreaded tunnel, the boring tunnel, bad busker tunnel, horrible mural tunnel, slippery tile tunnel. The walk seems endless once you're in. Walk in the right stream, no eye contact, spray-painted nightmares of City Rail as mural art, no air, murder in the air, no tract for footwear and over-takers. It is awful down there. We have a few suggestions for easy and fast improvements. One – hurry up and build a travelator in both directions like at the Domain Car park, it wouldn't cost much. People are TIRED before they go to work and after they come home from work. A super fast travelator would be a perfect people moving machine, in a horrible tunnel like this one. Two – improve the awful sad murals! They are not art. The council needs to organise a competitive-war-grant to improve the art down there. We're thinking a 'mural war'. In one night the artists have five hours to paint a mural (from 12am to 5am), and the winner gets unlimited Opal, Uber and free drinks at every pub in Sydney for one month — paid by Sydney City Council. Number of Instagram likes will decide the winner. GREEDY LAND GRUBBERS Greed in general is a BOGUE. So is being a scab (an example of which is when you bring weed to a party and everyone flocks to you to smoke a puff and then they all leave as soon as the joint is done! Seriously guys, soooo rude!) Anyway back to the point. Greedy land grabbers are a major BOGUE in Sydney as everyone knows. The government is greedy selling off all the TAFE campuses which are sitting on prime real estate (tut tut), destroying beautiful buildings like the Sirius in Miller's Point – and kicking out a whole community of elderly people while they're at it (but who cares about that when there's money to be had)! Not to mention Westconnex because more cars on the roads is exactly what this city needs – not. Oh sorry, we forgot that cities are for cars – not people! Property investors are greedy buying everything up and then charging impossibly high rents. Meanwhile all we can do is pray hard for, not a recession – but a depression. As our friend George always says, "I'll be happy when people are forced to sell chicken skewers on the street." Amen! As a P.S. We just want to say one word: BOOMERS. Everyone knows why, we don't need to explain it. RENDERED HOUSES While we're on the topic of incredible Brutalist masterpieces — how about all those hideous rendered properties? You know the ones we mean: those ugly, grey or beige — but mostly grey — buildings that are meant to look slick and modern but they're GREY so they just look depressing and dirty. They are everywhere we look now! Seriously, the other day we were driving around and every second house was rendered grey! And what we want to know is: who started it? Who invented this horrific look? Was it Colorbond®? We just had a look at their website and we're blaming them to start off. The second question we ask is: who the hell thought this looked good? Was it perhaps the BOOMERS? Those tasteless land-grabbing bastards! They think that rendering is going to add value to their shitty properties? Those idiots. They are totally devaluing their properties because they already look dated! Jokes on them! Actually jokes on us for still living in Sydney where we actually have to PAY them money to live in these abominations. VOGUE GOULDS BOOK ARCADE Aaah the day Gould's Book Arcade closes down and is redeveloped into a grey rendered apartment block is the day we leave Sydney for good. We've found so many incredible books here in the past, that we were worried about including it (scared other fellow book obsessives will start raiding it). But we got nothing to worry about – Gould's is not for dabblers. It is for HARDCORE scavengers only. Even we who get our nails dirty dealing in books EVERYDAY sometimes walk in thinking we're ready for the trawl, but stop short at the door like, "No way. We can't deal with this shit today." If you even think about going to Gould's you have to ask yourself this question: "Are you going to do it?" Because – as Emily's High School year book photo quote says – "If you're gonna do it, then do it. If you're not gonna do it, then don't do it." And usually you're like, "Nah I'm not gonna do it." Ok see ya! CHINATOWN FOOD COURTS Oh man, we're getting hungry just thinking about this. It's hard to even formulate the words when we're so hungry, so we'll just do this in dot points. The food is cheap The food is TASTY You can buy booze from those weird stalls that just sell drinks – nothing else. It's quick. You get your food quick. You eat quick. It's all QUICK. After that you're in Chinatown and Chinatown is fun because the bars are shitty and you can get cheap jugs (not saying where or people will start going there to ruin it). Cheers! ARTEXPRESS The annual exhibition held at the Art Gallery of N.S.W is like the baby brother of the Archibald Prize. Every year my mother would take me along to see artwork and it would BLOW MY MIND! Art Express is a total Sydney Vogue because it is aspirational! Everyone in year 12 Art wanted secretly to be chosen to show in Art Express, amiright? Coming across an old catalogue from 1997, my favorite one ever, and so many memories flooded by. Memories of Leunig, Crowded House and Brett Whiteley. Art Express is dork zone, but that's why it's so amazing. Also, the standard of painting, drawing and sculpture is so far superior to anything we've seen recently. SYDNEY FERRIES In the dire situation we are in, at least we are a city that exists on the edge of a beautiful harbor. Some of the lucky ones get to transit to their work place, on a daily basis via the peaceful ferry. The ferry is the best and only nice form of public transport that exists in this busty town. Rain is worst on buses and trains, because even on the water, more water is ok because nothing compares to traffic. And it's the same price to pay for travel as a train or bus. And sometimes when the waves are rocky and the seas are rough - you feel like you might die. Everyone needs to feel like they are going to die more than they think. LOCAL HISTORY Booooooring! You may be thinking…. but you are WRONG! Local history is incredible, we warn you of becoming an obsessed historian. Knowing your old studio at Sydney College of the Arts was once probably a lounge room for the mentally insane, or your studio at National Art school was a solitary confinement cell, you start thinking more about the past lives that inhabited the walls around you. You never really own a place. Local history can be melancholy too. Seeing old photographs of theatres past and Victorian mansions are hard to look at because they no longer exist. The worst is when a local council decides to place a plaque of a photo showing what used to be there. But! There are still gems to be found. Just look up, ignore the shops and look higher at the old buildings that no one notices anymore. Sydney does have beautiful architecture, its just hidden under all the shit. Read more Vogue/Bogue in the latest issue of Sturgeon magazine. Find out where to buy it near you at Sturgeon's website. Top image: Sturgeon.
Since the release of their dazzling 2011 album Civilian, Baltimore-based duo Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack aka Wye Oak have become one of the most loved modern folk artists of recent times. From their distorted, guitar-heavy brand of melancholic pop to their recent dabblings in synth-drenched, intricate melody stylings, this duo show off as much emotion as skill in their soaring tunes. Now, off the back of their 2014 album Shriek, and two years of nonstop touring, they're arriving in Australia for a handful of shows — primarily stemming from their appearance at Sydney Festival. Widely known and esteemed for their exuberant and thunderous live shows, Wye Oak take that extra mile on stage to let the infiniteness of their melodies and rhythmic innovations flourish. Shriek saw Wasner swap out her domineering guitar for galloping, layered synths, bringing the band to a sound that transcends disorientation and loss to a hopeful, trance-heavy, rhythmic sense of renewal and empowerment. Wye Oak are appearing as part of Sydney Festival 2015. Want more SydFest music? Head over here for our top picks.
For many a traveller, Singapore means three things: shopping centres, strict rules and stopovers. But, break out of the predictable itinerary, and you'll discover a more exotic side to this five million-strong island state. Beyond the CBD, tree-lined streets lead to diverse neighbourhoods, and each home to a distinctive culture. From beachside Katong, where Peranakan chefs serve up fiery laksa among heritage-listed architecture, to Little India, which is infused with incense, strung with flower garlands and draped with hand-woven silks, there's plenty more to be discovered beyond the aforementioned three S's. Here's Concrete Playground's less obvious guide to exploring Singapore. [caption id="attachment_571546" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Village Hotel Katong[/caption] STAY There's no better recovery from a long flight than a long soak. And with an oversized bathtub next to your bed (and within full view of a 46-inch LED TV) in a Peranakan Club room at the 229-room Village Hotel Katong (a 15 minute drive west of Changi Airport) you can do just that. When you're done, prowl about in 41 square metres of cool, white and blue space, splashed with Peranakan-patterned furnishings, including feature tiles and an enormous floor rug. There's also a roomy outdoor pool, a gym and a restaurant, serving up marathon multicultural buffet breakfasts and dinners. (Peranakan, by the way, refers to the descendants of Chinese people who moved to the Malay archipelago between the 1400s and 1600s and developed a famously rich culture, combining Chinese, Malay, Indian, Arabic and European influences.) [caption id="attachment_573954" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Village Hotel Albert Court[/caption] For a stay full of character on the edge of Little India (about 30 minutes west of Changi), check into Village Hotel Albert Court. The airy, marble-lined lobby is a step back into the colonial era. Order a martini and take a seat on a plush red lounge in the front bar, and you'll feel like you're in a James Bond film. The pre-war feel continues in the greenery-filled, sculpture-dotted courtyards and the classic rooms, furnished with dark wood and fitted with shutters. Some are arranged around a spectacular sunny atrium, and if you're staying above ground level, you'll be travelling via an external, glass-walled, Willy Wonka-style lift. Need to reenergise after a long, steamy day? Smash out some kilometres in the gym and relax in the twin jacuzzis — one warm and one cool. Ask about the 'Far More Perks' package for a bunch of extras, like free cocktails and canapes, private lounges, late checkout, city tours, laundry and access to a Changi Airport lounge. DO A stay at either hotel lets you in on some pretty special cultural experiences, which allow you to see Singapore through a local's eyes. If you're in Katong, it's well worth getting on the Village Hotel's heritage walking tour — if not just to get your bearings. A fun, friendly guide will lead you through nearby Joo Chiat neighbourhood. Once a coconut palm-filled seaside retreat, Joo Chiat is now full of colourful, ornate shophouses and, as of 2011, is protected as Singapore's first Heritage Town. A hawker food court, an eatery advertising 'sexy desserts', a dog-friendly cafe and an eatery dedicated to chocolate are all en route, with your journey finishing with a visit to a Peranakan heritage home and a dumpling-making workshop. Alternatively (or in addition), the Little India walking tour covers little-known Hindu temples, hidden-away street art and secretive alleyways. [caption id="attachment_574235" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Southern Ridges Walk by Kimon Berlin via Flickr[/caption] Once you've dosed up on heritage, get your art fix at the new Singapore National Gallery, which became Asia's biggest visual arts institution when it opened on November 24, 2015. It occupies a whopping 64,000 square metres across two monumental buildings — the former Supreme Court and City Hall — joined by a 'canopy' of fine metal mesh, supported by giant columns resembling tree trunks. Eight thousand Singaporean and Southeast Asian artworks are shared between two permanent galleries, and there's oodles of space left over for international travelling shows. Check out the fire truck-red grand piano in the atrium. For an island that has a reputation for being built-up, Singapore has a heck of a lot of parks. The 156-year-old, 182-acre Singapore Botanic Gardens stay open until midnight and are home to the largest orchid collection in the world. There's even one particularly delicate species named after Margaret Thatcher. At HortPark, in the southwest, you'll wander through 21 themed gardens, including one filled with butterflies. For a longer walk, take on the ten-kilometre Southern Ridges hike, an adventure through coastal panoramas, lush rainforest canopy, a 36-metre high undulating bridge called Henderson Waves and Singapore's second highest peak, Mount Faber. EAT AND DRINK At the 2013 Hawker Heroes Challenge, no amount of swearing could change the results when chef Gordon Ramsay lost to 328 Katong Laksa, a tiny joint decked with plastic seats just a stumble away from the Village Hotel Katong. Yet, while Ramsay sells at Michelin-starred prices, a few bucks will still buy you a huge bowl of steaming deliciousness here. After all, laksa was created by the Peranakans, as a fusion of their Chinese and Malay cooking. To get the low-down on where else locals queue for food, jump on the hotel's Makan Bus Culinary Tour. At a diverse array of tucked-away eateries, you'll sample numerous tasty and eye-opening morsels; try everything from fried chicken and frogs' legs to soup at the rather charmingly and perhaps too-honestly named Pig Organ. Surprisingly, vegetarians can be catered for at every stop. Back in Little India, the island's most flavoursome curries are served beneath Banana Leaf Apollo's chandeliers. Headliners include fish head, butter chicken and mango prawn, all of which wash down tidily with an icy cold beer — or a mango lassi. For the finest chilli crab in the land, grab a table at Wing Seong Fatty's. Founded in 1936, it's been a favourite with international pilots since World War II and, these days, is run by father-son team, Fatty and Skinny. Fatty's been trying to retire for years, but just can't leave the wok alone. Finally, head to Indochine's rooftop bar for a relaxed pre- or post-dinner bev. Despite being in the touristy Marina Bay area, it's worth a visit — firstly, because it's on top of one of Singapore's chronically Instagrammed Supertrees and, secondly, because the epic views across the city are like a scene out of Blade Runner. [caption id="attachment_574226" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Kai Lehmann via Flickr[/caption] LET'S DO THIS; GIVE ME THE DETAILS Singapore is around an eight to eight-and-a-half hour flight from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. A number of airlines fly to Changi Airport, with return fares with QANTAS starting at $800. Jasmine travelled to Singapore as a guest of Far East Hospitality. Top image: JUJUlianar via Flickr.
Eating actual food from the World's 50 Best Chefs can come with a pretty hefty price tag, but this April, you'll have the opportunity to feast on their words of wisdom for a whole lot less. This year, the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants awards are set to take place on Aussie shores and, while most of the associated culinary fun will be reserved for industry folk, absolutely everyone's invited to catch the globe's top chefs take the stage for #50BestTalks. Hosted by commentator and ABC presenter Annabel Crabb, there are just two of these foodie events planned, happening at the Sydney Opera House on April 1 and Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena on April 3. Sydney's lineup includes appearances from Dominique Crenn (2016's World's Best Female Chef and mastermind of San Francisco's Atelier Crenn), Massimo Bottura (of 2016's World #1 Restaurant, Osteria Francescana), and our own Peter Gilmore, whose restaurant Quay ranked #98 in last year's awards. On sale from tomorrow, February 15, tickets for both events start at a tidy $30. That said, if you fancy splashing out, $119 VIP tickets will also nab you entry to a post-event canapé function and the opportunity for a meet and greet with some of the chefs.
There's not many a cover artist can teach David Bowie about music. But when the art-glam-rock king heard Seu Jorge perform his hits acoustically, in Portuguese, for The Life Aquatic, he said he heard a whole "new level of beauty". That's certainly no easily-earned praise. Jorge, who cut his deep yet irresistibly tender voice in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will make his debut Australian performance at Sydney Festival. He’ll be playing an array of his famous, unique interpretations, as well as a bunch of originals, accompanied by a delicious mix of Latin and Caribbean beats, in both live and electronic form. Catch him for free with thousands of other Sydneysiders at the Domain, where food and drinks will be available from 4pm, or you can always bring a picnic. Seu Jorge is one of our top ten picks of the Sydney Festival. Check out our other favourite events over here.
Sydney's independent theatre scene has lost a significant voice, with the unexpected closure of the Rock Surfers Theatre Company. The company made the sad announcement earlier this week, revealing that "due to a shift in funding priorities," they no longer had the capital to remain open. "Ticket sales only cover a fraction of the cost of delivering an annual program for professional arts organisations. Support from foundations, individual giving and investment from local and government bodies are crucial in helping us to achieve our onstage ambitions," read a statement by Rock Surfers Chair Nell Schofield. "Every effort has been made to find alternative funding to bridge the gap and we have been incredibly well supported by the Waverley Council, but we feel now that winding down the activities of the Company is the only responsible form of action." Rock Surfers Theatre Company began its life as Tamarama Rock Surfers in 1996. In the almost two decades since they've produced more than 200 stage shows and helped launch the careers of numerous local actors and theatremakers, including Tim Minchin, Ewen Leslie and Sarah Snook. News of the company's demise has been met with dismay by local theatre lovers, with many expressing their feelings on the company's Facebook page. The closure marks the latest blow to Australia's independent arts community, which has been feeling the pinch of major budget cuts announced by the Abbott government last year. The Turnbull government has pledged to reassess their funding priorities, but for Rock Surfers at least, it appears to be too late. The company's Artistic Director Shane Bosher confirmed to ArtsHub that they unsuccessfully applied for Australia Council funding in September, and had been similarly unlucky with Arts NSW.
If you've walked past Crown Street Fish Shop lately, you'll notice that it's been cut in half. That's because the southern end of the Surry Hills eatery is now home to Cubby's Kitchen, a Lebanese pop-up restaurant from Sydney restauranteur Matt Yazbek. Yazbek is best known as the founding man behind the highly successful Toko restaurant empire, which boasts Japanese eateries in Melbourne and Dubai as well as Sydney. Now he's turned his hand closer to his family's Lebanese heritage, launching the long-term pop-up restaurant with his two sisters, Amanda and Diala. The family affair doesn't stop there though — the trio have named the eatery after their mother Mouna's nickname, Cubby. In an extreme nod to authenticity, the whole family will be working side by side in the kitchen, pumping out Lebanese cuisine with a modern spin. Diners can expect traditional Lebanese dishes like smoked labne with crushed pistachio and pomegranate chilli oil, chicken legs with black garlic, basturma (cured beef) rolls and a falafel kebab. All is not lost in terms of Yazbek's Toko heritage — Japanese flavours sneak in on plates like the hummus with chilli edamame and babaghanoush with sweet miso. On the dessert front, there'll be the tantalising blend of Lebanese doughnuts with cinnamon and maple goats' cheese. Currently the restaurant is operating on a BYO licence (with $8 corkage per bottle), which has us jumping for joy. For the indecisive, Cubby's is also offering Cubby's Course, a nine-course feast for $45 per person. Crown Street is in the midst of a middle eastern resurgence, with rumours that an Arabic-inspired restaurant called Nour will be opening just down the road. This comes off the back of the announcement that Salts Meat Cheese will collaborate with Shuk, opening a new restaurant and rooftop bar in Circular Quay. While Cubby's Kitchen is technically a pop-up, we've been assured that it's here to stay. The restaurant will test out the space for 12 months, after which time they'll make the decision to remain in the space or move to another location in Surry Hills. Bring on the falafel. Cubby's Kitchen is now open at 500 Crown Street, Surry Hills. It's open Monday through Saturday from 5.30pm till late. For more info visit cubbyskitchen.com.au. Images: Nikki To.
Looks like Rosebery's about to become quite the Sydney foodie hub. With Sydney's first distillery in 160 years set to open next week in the inner south suburb, Rosebery is about to get one sweet, sweet addition to the neighbourhood: the ever newsworthy, unfailingly novelty and perpetually popular Gelato Messina. Confirmed by owner Nick Palumbo, the new Rosebery Messina will launch in a few months, according to Good Food. Rosebery's gelato hub joins Sydney's flagship Darlinghurst and subsequent Surry Hills, Bondi, Parramatta, Miranda and The Star casino spinoffs, alongside Fitzroy's Melbourne venture, Coolangatta's beachside joint and Darlinghurst's extra mindblowing Messina Dessert Bar. The monarchs of gelato will have some tasty, tasty neighbours too; Kitchen By Mike and Black Star Pastry also dwell in this part o' town, alongside those Archie Rose newcomers. This isn't the last of the delicious tenants for the Rosebery area, however. According to GF, there's set to be a produce market, another bakery and a coffee roaster moving in. Looks like Sydney's inner south has an insatiable taste for local culinary delights — buy up on real estate now. Gelato Messina Rosebery will open in the next few months. Via Good Food.
