The days are longer. The nights are getting balmy. Yep, that's right — we are in the depths of Aperol season. And we don't doubt that you've seen Sydney's pubs and bars flooded with rounds of that most summery of drinks: the Aperol Spritz. That's why we thought it appropriate to create a list of some of our favourite places to go for a sunset spritz this season in partnership with Aperol. First and foremost, these places all make a good Aperol Spritz — that's essential. But, beyond that, each spot offers a great way to experience sunset in Sydney — whether you're soaking it up from high up on a rooftop bar or enjoying it down by the water. THE NEWPORT, NEWPORT Few waterside drinking spots compare to The Newport. This huge waterside venue has been landscaped to the nines, with each outdoor drinking and dining area given its own unique style. It's perfect for group hangs with your mates and family nights out — and it's also very dog-friendly. So, there's no leaving your four-legged friend at home for the night while you're out sipping on spritzes, eating pizza and watching the sunset by the water. Dreamy. KASBAH, DARLINGHURST This is one of the newest additions to Sydney's rooftop bar scene, having opened just before summer 2023. And it's quickly shot up to be one of our favourites. From the top of the newly renovated The Strand, you feel as if you're sitting along the Mediterranean within the city's skyline as the sun sets over the surrounding apartments and office towers. DJs and live entertainment are also up on this sun-soaked rooftop on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight and on Sundays until 10pm, so you won't have any issues stretching out your evening up here as you lounge on the comfy sofas and sip on spritzes. THE COURTHOUSE, NEWTOWN The Courty is a Newtown favourite for so many reasons. The large and welcoming pub has a bunch of different rooms for drinking and playing weekly trivia — but the massive beer garden is arguably the greatest drawcard of this Australia Street institution. Wrapping around almost the whole pub, the expansive outdoor space is a super laidback spot where many an afternoon has stretched out to nighttime. There's also a heap of coverage, too, so if the weather takes a turn, you won't have to make a dash for the nearest exit. BONDI PAV, BONDI If an Aperol Spritz is what you're after this summer, then you'd be a fool to miss out on a visit to the revamped Bondi Pavilion. The ocean-facing promenade of the legendary beach has been transformed into the new Sydney HQ for all things spritz. Several hospitality venues line the walls of the Pav for any hungry passerby. During daylight hours, you can grab a meal at Glory Days (and Surfish cafe, which is due to open soon), and after-dark diners can get their fix at Promenade Bondi Beach or Upstairs by Glory Days a few floors above. [caption id="attachment_840752" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] BACKYARD AT THE ALEX, ALEXANDRIA This Alexandria watering hole has been given a total makeover by the Merivale team, who've made this a proper drinking and dining destination. But despite the dress-up, the bones of this historic pub remain the same, helping The Alex maintain the feel of an old-school boozer. And what they've done with the beer garden is masterful. There's an outdoor bar in an old shipping container, stacks of large communal tables, a basketball court for anyone wanting to shoot some hoops and an ever-changing selection of food trucks that rocks up each night. Perfect, in other words, for an afternoon sesh with mates. MANLY GREENHOUSE, MANLY Head right from the beach to the verdant sun-filled rooftop at Manly Greenhouse to get some epic sunset views. (Well, maybe wash off the sand and throw a top on first. We aren't savages.) Once you make yourself decent, grab a spritz from the central bar and enjoy uninterrupted views of Manly Beach while DJs set the mood. Don't skip the food while you're up here, either — share a plate of fresh ceviche and a round of freshly shucked oysters or get around a proper serve of fish and chips. You can even go down a level to the wine room for a slightly more sophisticated sunset viewing. For more ways to elevate your summer with Aperol, head to the website.
Update Wednesday, July 12: Bookings are now open for the W Hotel's huge Darling Harbour development. You can lock in a stay for dates from Wednesday, November 1. Five years in the making, W Hotel's luxury Darling Harbour development will finally bring the global hotel chain back to Sydney in October this year. Originally scheduled to open in 2020, the unmistakable harbourfront hotel has faced several delays and setbacks, but has now revealed key details in the lead-up to its official opening in seven months' time. Located within The Ribbon, the sleek multimillion-dollar development is designed by HASSEL architects and sits on the former IMAX theatre site — which is scheduled to also reopen this year. W Sydney is promising not just a hotel, but a luxury hideaway with this inner-city accommodation. As with every W Hotel, you can expect impeccably-designed futuristic spaces, eateries overseen by expert chefs, cocktails created by top-notch bartenders and collaborations with local artists, musicians and designers. Partnering with HASSEL is Bowler James Brindley who is handling the interior design of the luxury building. "The freedom to create an entirely new cultural space for Sydney was incredibly exciting, and we were inspired by the idea of 'the larrikin' the non-conformist spirit of the city that makes it irresistible," a Bowler James Brindley spokesperson said. "We love to design spaces that embrace the individuality and even eccentricity of their locations, and to create interiors that engage their buildings and neighbourhoods in conversations, rather than treating spaces as blank canvases." One of W Sydney's drawcards — apart from its 585 next-level rooms and suites — is the exuberant shared spaces throughout the hotel including a heated rooftop infinity pool overlooking the water, a two-storey rooftop bar, an all-day dining restaurant, a luxury spa and a gym. The meticulously designed restaurant on level three can be seen from the adjacent highway, acting as a living, breathing billboard for the hotel. Inside, the diner boasts urban design hallmarks that celebrate its place in the heart of the city, as well as concrete columns and unique ceiling lighting that combine to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience. Other notable touches include jellyfish mosaic artwork that you can discover at the bottom of the impressive 30-metre pool, silicone petals resembling those of the waratah decorating the entrance sign, a future noir-themed lobby inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis and graphic designs from renowned multidisciplinary artist Bradley Eastman (aka Beastman) throughout the hotel's spa. W Sydney will open its doors in October 2023 at 31 Wheat Road, Darling Harbour. You can find out more about it on the Darling Harbour website.
Google has just released photos of their in-the-works augmented reality glasses prototype. And while the glasses might not be the sexiest on the market, they certainly have functional appeal. The initiative, 'Project Glass', represents the company's first attempt at a wearable product. The glasses appear and function much like regular eyeglasses...that is, if your eyeglasses' lens could stream video, text messages, maps, and the weather forecast - all in real time. Operating via voice command, these glasses can also record video or take pictures of what is being viewed through them. Project Glass' Google Plus press release stated the initiative's belief that, "technology should work for you - to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't." The beta release of the glasses is expected to generate conversation and feedback to the company about what customers would like to see from Project Glass. https://youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4 [via PSFK]
When announcing their new head chef was one John Javier, a spokesperson for The Lord Wolseley Hotel acknowledged he was "a little overqualified" for the unassuming Ultimo pub. It's probably a fair call, given Javier comes with a resume studded with fine diners such as Momofuku Seiobo, Quay and his own place, now-closed place, Master, which wowed critics with its ambitious take on modern Chinese. The bill isn't quite to bring fine dining to a pub setting, but Javier is certainly bringing a new level of finesse to some fairly approachable food. Instead of the tried and true spaghetti bolognese, for instance, there's a capellini with lamb belly, tripe and mint ($18). It scratches the same itch as the pub classic, but brings something new to the dish and the thin, al dente strands of pasta pair well with the crunch and chewiness of tripe and the freshness of the generously ripped mint leaves. One of the memorable dishes from Javier's time at Master was a burnt cabbage and he's not afraid of introducing some judicious blackened touches to his menu here, with the Burnt Pumpkin ($20). A poached egg on top oozes over the hero vegetable, strewn with chevre cheese and crisp sage, ties it together into an unusual, earthy whole. Gnocchi is also approached from a fresh angle, with pillowy dumplings resting in a feather-light tomato emulsion and spiked with colour and bite with slivers of radish. There are two desserts on offer — the menu wisely aims for quality over breadth — with a faultless panna cotta ($12) scattered with toasted buckwheat and encircled by Vietnamese coffee. The other selection is a half-moon shaped crispy pancake ($12), filled with stewed apple and hazelnut and complemented by a dollop of thick ricotta cream. This is the kind of superior comfort food that is going to get clean plates returned to the kitchen. The vibe is laidback with brown paper in place of tablecloths, and tourist t-shirts and playbills for student theatre productions hanging on the walls. An energetic playlist, another Javier trade mark, is another plus — instead of the generic background music favoured by some Sydney restaurants you'll hear the likes of Talking Heads, Pixies and Joy Division. It's not really a lengthy wine list kind of place, but the friendly local will sort you out with craft beers, ciders and some wines by the glass, like a 2016 Teusner Shiraz ($11/49), a flavoursome drop from the Barossa Valley. All in all, it may be an unexpected stop on Javier's resume, but those lapping up a menu full of personality will be glad it's one he has made. Images: Jiwon Kim
When a clown ponders its final farewell, what does it see? Cirque du Soleil's Corteo has the answer. When this production first hit the stage in Montreal in 2005, it won over audiences by setting its acrobatic feats within a funeral procession imagined by a jester — a carnival-like parade that muses on humanity's strengths and vulnerabilities — in a space between heaven and earth. Two decades later, it's one of the troupe's most-beloved shows. Celebrating that milestone, Corteo is heading Down Under for a six-city tour in the second half of 2025 — including a visit to Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney from Thursday, September 4–Sunday, September 14. One of the tricks that's helped make Corteo such a success, with over 12-million audience members in 30 countries on four continents seeing it so far, is its unique stage setup. Watching this show means also watching your fellow viewers, because the action takes place in the middle of the arena, splitting it in half and causing patrons to face each other. This is Cirque du Soleil's first production with this layout. As its clown protagonist conjures up the festive parade that ushers him from this world, attendees will witness a poetic yet playful performance — one where the acrobatics are unique, too, and where angels watch over. LUZIA was the last Cirque du Soleil production that bounded this way, kicking off in 2024 — and notching up another first as the Montreal-based company company's debut touring show to feature rain in its acrobatic and artistic scenes. Before that, 2023 saw Cirque du Soleil bring CRYSTAL, its first-ever ice production on ice, Down Under. Images: Maja Prgomet, Johan Persson and Aldo Arguello. Updated: Wednesday, May 28, 2025.
UPDATE: AUGUST 22, 2018 — The final master plan for the GreenWay has been officially adopted by the Inner West Council, which means that design development for the missing links along the path can begin. A development application will be lodged for the 'central links' later this month, and consultation with the community on the 'southern links' will begin in September. The inner west's much-talked-about, long-dreamed-about GreenWay is one step closer to becoming a reality with the draft master plan for the project revealed last week. The car-free pedestrian, cycling and biodiversity corridor, which has been in the works for upward of ten years, will be comparable to other world-class GreenWays in the US, including New York's High Line and the Chicago 606. Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne described the 5.8-kilometre GreenWay, which'll run from Cooks River in Earlwood to Iron Cove in Leichhardt, following the light rail's route, as "an ecological and active transport corridor that facilitates a range of passive and active recreation opportunities and incorporates local places for culture and art." It's set to be a big win for cyclists, connecting popular trails the Bay Run and Cooks River Cycleway, and boasting a mix of parkland, sporting facilities and cultural sites. Key plans for the project include a series of new or improved open public spaces for the light rail corridor in Dulwich Hill and Lewisham West, upgraded road crossings, a new bridge over the Cooks River, and a new accessible shared pathway running the entire length of the Green Way. Heading up the ambitious project is Australian design firm McGregor Coxall, who also designed The Calyx in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens. The bulk of the project's work will happen between 2019 and 2022, with additional works implemented over the next 15 years, depending on funding. The total project is expected to cost $57 million. Images: McGregor Coxall
The 2013 Sydney Film Festival is bringing out Jeff Desom's intense, insanely complex-looking video installation Rear Window Loop. Projected on a 10m-long surface, the panoramic piece allows you to see the world as it appeared to Jimmy Stewart's paranoid, wheelchair-bound photojournalist Jeff in Hitchcock's Rear Window — possible murders and all. The effect is created by splicing scenes together in After Effects, a process more complicated than it sounds in this sentence. "I dissected all of Hitchcock's Rear Window and stitched it back together in After Effects," says Desom on his website. "I stabilised all the shots with camera movement in them. Since everything was filmed from pretty much the same angle I was able to match them into a single panoramic view of the entire backyard without any greater distortions. The order of events stays true to the movie's plot." The three-channel projection runs for 20 minutes. You can get a good idea of the process as well as the finished product in this video, also from Dessom's site. Rear Window Loop won Best Remix in the Vimeo Awards and Golden Nica at Ars Electronica and will be installed at the Sydney Film Festival Hub at Lower Town Hall, which since last year has been the festival's route to incorporating art happenings, interdisciplinary works and playtime, acknowledging the role of film outside the cinema. It's curated by Sydney's favourite cultured revellers, The Festivalists (Jurassic Lounge). The Sydney Film Festival has also announced the first 27 films of its 2013 program as a taster. Most hotly anticipated is the neo-Gothic thriller Stoker from Park Chan-Wook (Old Boy), which stars Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman and Jacki Weaver. Other highlights include Wadjda, the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia (and by a Sydney Uni graduate no less, Haifaa Al Mansour); Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls, a documentary about Burma's first girl band by Australian director Juliet Lamont; and Comrade Kim Goes Flying, a romantic comedy that's also the first North Korean movie to screen at the festival. The full program will be revealed on May 8. You can see Rear Window Loop at the Sydney Film Festival Hub at Lower Town Hall from June 6-14 at 5-6pm and again from 10pm-midnight. The SFF itself runs from June 5-16.
Sleeping on the job is a big no-no in Western culture — despite the fact that it's been proven to increase concentration, improve alertness and be a great help in dealing with accidental work hangovers. Surry Hills mindfulness studio The Indigo Project knows that napping is the key to being generally better at everything, so they gifted Sydney with lunchtime nap classes. Built around research that shows a 20- to 30-minute nap is the optimum length for a siesta, classes run for 30 minutes from 1pm. If you're feeling a little off at work, and like you just can't get your brain to kick into gear, head down to Surry Hills for a boost of energy to help get you through the day.
The National Gallery of Victoria is wrapping up this wild year in style, hosting the blockbuster second edition of its much-hyped NGV Triennial. Taking over the gallery from Saturday, December 19, the exhibition looks set to be the biggest art event to hit the city in three years, featuring works from over 100 artists, representing 30 different countries. Among them, you can expect a diverse response to this year's themes of illumination, reflection, conservation and speculation. With a lineup like this — and many months of missed art appreciation to make up for — it's hard to know where to even start. But we're here to help. We've delved into the program and pulled out five must-see artworks set to grace the gallery's hallowed spaces this summer. Start plotting your post-lockdown art gallery debut now, with this roundup of five captivating artworks to check out at the NGV Triennial. [caption id="attachment_795343" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dhambit Mununggurr, 'Can we all have a happy life' 2019-20, courtesy Salon Indigenous Art Project. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Sean Fennessy.[/caption] DHAMBIT MUNUNGURR: CAN WE ALL HAVE A HAPPY LIFE If you've got a thing for hues of blue, this immersive work from Yolnu artist Dhambit Munungurr will surely resonate. While artists from her home of Yirrkala (Northeast Arnhem Land) traditionally paint using hand-ground ochres and other natural pigments, Munungurr was granted special permission to switch to acrylic paints after a 2005 car accident left her with ongoing injuries. She's since developed a special love for the colour blue and as such, her recent works have left a significant mark on Yolnu art as a whole. This NGV installation Can we all have a happy life (2019–2020) is the latest to embrace the artist's go-to colour palette, featuring a vibrant series of 15 bark paintings and nine larrakitj (hollow poles). [caption id="attachment_795344" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cerith Wyn Evans, 'C=O=D=A' 2019–20, courtesy White Cube, London. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] CERITH WYN EVANS: C=O=D=A Big and bold is the name of the game for Cerith Wyn Evans' latest work, titled C=O=D=A (2019–20). The London-based artist has created a large-scale, neck-tilting celebration of light and movement, with his series of neon 'drawings' suspended brightly together in mid-air. Among them, you'll spy frantic scribbles, carefully structured shapes and even doodles referencing chemical compounds, each design experienced in countless new ways from different angles as audiences move around the installation. The full display towers at up to six metres high, challenging viewers to continually switch their perspective as they explore how each shape interacts with the next. [caption id="attachment_795349" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Atong Atem, 'Studio series' 2015, courtesy MARS Gallery, Melbourne. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] ATONG ATEM Atong Atem serves up some fresh cultural perspectives with her series of early photography works offering a vibrant exploration of identity. Born in Ethiopia in the 90s and now based in Melbourne, the artist has developed her body of work honing in on migrant stories and post-colonial practices in the African diaspora. For this portrait project she gives a nod to the old-school studio photography practices of her homeland, via a collection of staged shots dripping with colour. The vintage-inspired images are heady and impactful, featuring a festival of patterns and hues delivered through props, backgrounds, textiles and garments. [caption id="attachment_795351" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Stuart Haygarth, 'Optical (tinted)' 2009 (foreground), Mark Rothko, 'Untitled (Red)' 1956 (left) and Sabine Marcelis 'Dawn XXXIII' designed 2015. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Sean Fennessy.[/caption] STUART HAYGARTH: OPTICAL (TINTED) A collection of over 4500 recycled tinted prescription spectacle lenses are the unlikely heroes of this stunning piece by British artist Stuart Haygarth. Optical (tinted) (2009) speaks to ideas of consumption, time and loss, as a thing of beauty is hatched from a bunch of discarded objects. Best known for his work repurposing everyday items into unexpected lighting installations, Haygarth here puts together a layered, shimmering sphere of used lenses. The intricate work features a careful assembly of elements, with cloudier lenses at the core making way for clearer glass pieces towards the outer edges. It's then lit from within, creating a sort of dazzling disco ball that'll have you reassessing your thoughts about waste and trash. [caption id="attachment_795355" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Porky Hefer, 'Plastocene – Marine Mutants from a disposable world' 2020, courtesy Southern Guild, Cape Town. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross.[/caption] PORKY HEFER: PLASTOCENE — MARINE MUTANTS FROM A DISPOSABLE WORLD We'd imagine there won't be too many times in your life you'll get to admire a giant octopus crafted from hand-felted cigarette butts. But this supersized oceanic beauty will be just one of many featured in a new large-scale installation by Porky Hefer. Plastocene – Marine Mutants from a disposable world (2020) sees the South African artist and his collaborators create a series of handmade sea creatures plucked from some dystopian future. The work's built on the notion of species being able to transmutate, eventually adapting themselves to fit a world of polluted oceans and plastic waste. The NGV Triennial 2020 will be on show at NGV International from Saturday, December 19 until Sunday, April 18, 2021. For more info and to see the full program, visit the NGV website. Top image: Cerith Wyn Evans, 'C=O=D=A' 2019–20, courtesy White Cube, London. Installation view at NGV International, photographed by Tom Ross
North Sydney is set to score a grand new steakhouse with a 120-seat restaurant, 40-person bar and four sunny outdoor terraces. Opening on Friday, September 1, Poetica comes from Etymon Projects, the hospitality team behind fellow North Shore standout Loulou Bistro, Boulangerie & Traiteur, as well as the CBD's The Charles Grand Brasserie and Bar and Tiva. At the heart of Poetica will be a firing charcoal oven, a custom wood-burning hearth, and an impressive 700-bottle wine wall. Head Chef Connor Hartley-Simpson (who also helms The Charles) has created a menu that fervently leans into these fiery forms of preparing produce — all of which can then be paired with the perfect drop from Head Sommelier Michael Block and Director of wine, Paolo Saccone. "In the kitchen, we're focusing on using incredible local produce, dry-ageing in-house, cooking with either charcoal or wood where it works, pickling and fermenting to play around with flavours, and really letting the produce be the hero," says Hartley-Simpson. As expected, your sirloins, t-bones and 90-day aged tomahawks all grace the sharing-based menu, but there are plenty of exciting dishes to look forward to if you're not so steak-obsessed. For starters, you can kick things off with Sydney rock oysters done differently. At Poetica, these salty delicacies can be enhanced with hot beef fat melted on top in a technique called 'flambadou' then topped with nduja and Guindilla peppers. Elsewhere, the braised leak, nori and eel starter is drizzled with oil made from charring leek tops; a chilli yuzu scallop will lead the raw section of the menu; and seafood lovers can opt for the swordfish steak, dry-aged on the bone for seven days and assembled table side with a buttery roasted fish sauce. The oven and hearth will be located within a 15-metre-long open kitchen in the dining room. Across from the kitchen will be floor-to-ceiling glass windows leading to the al fresco dining areas, calling out to host a catch-up between friends. Etymon's culinary director Sebastien Lutaud promises the restaurant will be "a welcoming vibe that works as well for entertaining clients over lunch as a dinner with friends or a drink after work." Opening on the mezzanine level of 1 Denison Street, Poetica is the latest addition to a bustling North Sydney hospitality scene — following on from another multi-space dining room RAFI which opened late last year, and a pair of new takeaway spots in Greenwood Plaza from charity-driven hospitality group Plate It Forward (Colombo Social, Coyocan Social, Kabul Social). Poetica will open at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney on Friday, September 1. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday–Saturday, and the bar will be open from 12pm–late Tuesday–Saturday. Images: Steven Woodburn
One of Sydney's leading hospitality groups is set to venture outside of New South Wales for the first time, with Merivale announcing its upcoming entry into Melbourne. The industry giant, which is helmed by CEO Justin Hemmes, will take ownership of Tomasetti House at 277 Flinders Lane in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. The historic building, built in 1853, is located just off of Flinders Street — a five-minute walk from Federation Square. Merivale currently operates more than 60 venues across Sydney, including popular restaurants Totti's and Mr. Wong, Sydney stalwarts The Beresford and Vic on the Park, and expansive bars Ivy and Coogee Pavilion. Hemmes' collection of bars and restaurants has been growing in recent years, with the purchase of venues such as The Duke of Gloucester Hotel and Hotel Centennial. Earlier in 2021, Hemmes and co purchased waterside bar The Quaterdeck on the NSW south coast, marking Merivale's first venture outside of Sydney. "Melbourne's CBD has suffered terribly from the hardships of the past year. We are committed to doing everything we can to help reinvigorate the city and support it in its road to recovery," Hemmes said in a statement. "Its local hospitality industry is one of the best in the world; brimming with creative culinary talent and supported by a passionate community of diners." [caption id="attachment_702661" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Totti's by Nikki To[/caption] Originally opened as a warehouse, Tomasetti House has operated as everything from a warehouse to a bar and nightclub across its 150-plus years. Most recently, the building has been in the hands of hospitality and tourism group Millet Group who have operated The Mill House out of the building's ground floor. Merivale is set to receive the keys to the multi-storey building late this year, with further details and plans yet to be announced. Merivale will open its first Melbourne outpost at Tomasetti House, 277 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, with further details yet to be revealed. To keep an eye out for future announcements, head to the Merivale website. Top image: The Mill House
First we had beer flavoured like food, and now at long last we've got beer that is food. Yep, move over Nutella, there's a spreadable beer in town by the name of Birra Spalmabile. It hails from Italy's Cittareale, where Emanuela Laurenzi of Alta Quota Brewery and Pietro Napoleone of Napoleone Chocolatiers have combined their expertise in something of a dream team. The duo unveiled their invention at Turin’s Salone de Gusto food fair, where the spreadable beer caused quite a stir, and we're not surprised. Birra Spalmabile (literally translated to 'beer spread') reportedly goes down nicely with a slice of cheese. (And you thought you were weird for combining peanut butter and vegemite on your sandwiches.) Also useable as a filling in cake, the spread comes in two flavours — Omid dark ale and Greta blonde ale, the first being a little more intense than the latter and each made of 40 percent beer. Though not stocked in any Aussie stores, you can order a jar or ten directly from the source by emailing commericiale@birraaltaquota.it. Just expect to pay its weight in gold for delivery. Via NY Post
Everyone's favourite magical nanny is back — and if watching Mary Poppins Returns isn't enough of a nostalgic delight, then head on over to The Grounds of Alexandria. Until Sunday, February 3, the Sydney favourite has transformed its already impressive garden into a Poppins-themed wonderland. Think cherry blossoms, London lamps and many a kite, of course. The short-term makeover is inspired by Cherry Tree Lane, the street temporarily inhabited by Poppins when she floats down to care for the Banks family. You'll wander beneath pastel pink trees, spy more than a few umbrellas and find yourself expecting lamplighters to break into song. And yes, it's perfectly fine if you wander through the space humming the original flick's iconic tune 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' to yourself. Drop by at 10am, 12pm and 2pm each day to find bubbles filling the garden as well — and, whatever time you visit, you'll be able to tuck into a limited-edition Poppins cake made from lemon zest sponge, filled with cherry purée and cream cheese centre, and definitely featuring a spoonful of sugar. The Grounds of Alexandria is functioning as normal during the Mary Poppins Returns pop-up, and the Garden Bar, Potting Shed and cafe will be open.
To experience the work of Doug Aitken is to challenge the ways in which we think about art. The celebrated American artist, whom The Los Angeles Times has said seeks to "jar viewers awake", is bringing his boundary-pushing work to Sydney for his first-ever Southern Hemisphere exhibition. Originally scheduled to run in 2020, the exhibition – titled Doug Aitken: New Age – will finally be on display from Wednesday, October 20 as the Museum of Contemporary Art's 2021/2022 Sydney International Art Series. The show covers a quarter-century of Aitken's artistic career and will feature immersive multiscreen environments, objects and photographs. [caption id="attachment_829780" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Doug Aitken, Underwater Pavilions (installation), 2017, installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, 2021, 3-channel video installation (colour, sound): 3 projections, 3 aluminium and MDF screens. Image: Dan Boud[/caption] Doug Aitken: New Era lets you take a deep dive into Aitken's world and his impressive multidisciplinary art practice. While you're there, make sure you check out the large-scale sound installation — Sonic Fountain II — which is built into a rocky terrain within the gallery. There'll also be an immersive video installation exploring the history of mobile phone technology and the engineer who pioneered its development, Matin Cooper. Plus, if you're quick off the mark, you'll also have the chance to see a conversation between Aitken and MCA curator on Saturday, October 30, where you'll hear more insights into his striking work. Want to spend your summer soaking up incredible art? Doug Aitken: New Era will run from Wednesday, October 20 till Sunday, February 6 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. For more information and to book, visit the website. Top image: Doug Aitken, 'migration (empire)' (still), 2008, image courtesy of the artist, 303 Gallery, New York, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Victoria Miro, London, and Regen Projects, Los Angeles. © the artist.
Salt Meats Cheese do Italian food in of all its stages — we're talking providing the produce for it, cooking it, selling it and, of course, eating it. Their Bondi Junction digs are where all of the kitchen magic happens, and they'll be running a series of gluten-free cooking classes in July for those who can't stomach gluten. No longer just the wheat-filled territory of those who can glute, the two classes in the Gluten Free Series will focus on pizza and pasta respectively. Learn how to make gluten-free Italian goodness from scratch over two hours, then sit back with a glass of wine and feast on your hard work. The gluten-free classes are on Saturdays: July 14, July 21, August 24 and September 8. If wheat isn't your weakness, there's also a whole host of other cooking class options that involve gluteny flour as well.
If you think Sydney Contemporary — an international art fair held at Carriageworks — is only for art lovers with Chanel suits and investors with hedge funds, think again. Sure, more than 90 respected galleries from all over the world will be exhibiting (and selling) some of the best contemporary art money can buy, but you will also find an entire program of more affordable (and just as impressive) art on offer. It's made even more accessible by the presence of Art Money, an art loans program for works priced between $750 and $20,000. Not that commerce has to dictate your experience — wander through the installations, enjoy four days of free panel discussions and conversations, catch an array of works by video artists, and watch performances within Carriageworks and the Redfern Precinct. When Sydney Contemporary takes place between September 7 and 10, it'll do so in a big way, and not just because of its program. Usually a biennial event, 2017 marks the start of its switch to annual runs. Yes, that means more art more often from this year onwards. To give you an idea of the size and scope, more than 60,000 visitors in total attended in 2013 and 2015.
There won't be snow at this week-long Christmas in July party, but there will be plenty of mulled wine and ugly jumpers. Surry Hills' The Winery is bringing us a little (much needed) Christmas cheer, hosting a series of festival celebrations from Wednesday, July 22 to Sunday, July 26. Kicking things off will be free Christmas-themed trivia on Wednesday — jumpers essential — before a European-inspired laneway launches on Friday and Saturday from 7pm. In this laneway, you'll get a feast for $65, plus a mulled wine on arrival. One glass not enough? You can also splash out on bottomless mulled wine for $39 a head. Finally on Sunday, The Winery will be hosting an Orphan's Christmas Lunch. Expect all the Christmas essentials — and all the trimmings: gravy, potatoes, mint jelly — for $45 a head. Those wanting to get jolly can fill endless glasses from the bar's prosecco fountain for two hours, for a total of $69 (including the aforementioned food). If you miss out on the Christmas celebrations, you can still book out one of the pop-up igloos at The Winery, which are pictured below. The limits on capacity, bookings are essential and can be made over on The Winery website.
What was once The Bristol Arms Hotel is unrecognisable after receiving a top-to-bottom renovation. The city's latest hospitality hub, The Bristol, will eventually boast six venues spread over five levels, including a fine-dining restaurant from a yet-to-be-named celebrity chef, a luxe cocktail lounge and a nightclub. The first three bars have now opened to the public, including a bright and airy rooftop space with a Mediterranean aesthetic. Decked out with a pretty pastel palette of coral, peach and chartreuse, the fitout serves Saint Tropez vibes with a faintly retro look. The main bar is flanked by an al fresco terrace offering sun-dappled views of the city skyline. The Rooftop will offer 20 different wines by the glass as well as a menu of classic and playful signature cocktails — think pink lychee piña colandas. A menu of bar snacks will also be available at The Rooftop from August 23. Every Thursday–Saturday, top DJs will be spinning a pumping soundtrack to get the party started, with Sunday sessions set to commence in the summer months. On the ground floor, an art deco-inspired, Gatsby-coded casual bar and a sports bar echo the building's history as a casual watering hole for after-work beers. Replacing the predictable pub grub staples is a more elevated menu of Mediterranean bites, such as chicken and haloumi souvlaki wraps and sumac and oregano dusted fries served with sweet chilli tzatziki. The remaining venues yet to open include the Midtown Bar and Lounge, an opulent cocktail lounge and VIP area with bottle service; Calypso, a Euro-chic nightclub set to open on August 23; and a Greek diner, as yet to be named. The Bristol is the latest addition to the CBD's growing collection of multi-venue hospitality destinations, which include Shell House, The Ivy, 25 Martin Place and Hinchcliffe House. Find The Bristol at 81 Sussex Street. Visit The Bristol's Instagram profile for more details and opening times. Images: Steven Woodburn
UPDATE, January 29, 2021: The Hustle is available to stream via Stan. 2016's most controversial movie wasn't afraid of no ghosts, nor of updating a beloved classic with a gender-flipped spin. The backlash to the new Ghostbusters was as loud as it was stupid, however lost in the noise were two crucial facts. Firstly, the film is hilarious, fun and genuinely great. Secondly, it does exactly what a female-led version of a familiar property should. With all the ridiculous focus on why the supernatural comedy wasn't a carbon copy of the 80s flicks, and why women are now allowed to chase the paranormal (correct answer: why the hell not?), the movie didn't get recognition for its most significant feat. It doesn't lazily insert ladies into a thin rehash, but shapes its antics and jokes around them. That really shouldn't be so rare and astonishing, and yet so often it is. Take The Hustle, for example. It's the latest film to subscribe to the obvious motto that anything men can do, women can too, but it also takes that notion much too literally. Everything that 1988's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels did, this movie apes beat for beat, just with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson instead of Michael Caine and Steve Martin. Scoundrels was a remake itself, updating 1964's Bedtime Story, so the narrative has been around for more than half a century — and yet familiarity isn't the only problem here. For a couple of average pictures about scheming conmen ripping off wealthy women, The Hustle's predecessors actually came packaged with some smart social critique, skewering the battle of the sexes in the process. Alas, as a presumably unintended consequence of pushing girls to the front, the narrative's best and most biting elements have now disappeared, including its savvy female empowerment strand. Making a couple of supremely confident male grifters reliant upon women to get by, as the first two films did, made a satirical statement. Tasking two female fraudsters with fleecing rich men to punish their misdeeds doesn't have the same impact, unsurprisingly. The Hustle pulls its punches in other ways too, as seen in its terrible final twist (without heading into spoiler territory, let's just say that it's a case of not thinking the whole switcheroo through). Story-wise, Hathaway's Josephine Chesterfield is the swindling queen bee in the cashed-up French beachside town of Beaumont-sur-Mer, while Wilson's fellow scammer Penny Rust is her exact opposite. One robs super rich guys with long cons, the other cheats sleazeballs with quick tricks, and they're soon locked in a turf war. The solution: the first to snare a cool half a million out of their latest mark, baby-faced tech whiz Thomas (Alex Sharp), can keep pulling capers on the Riviera. Hathaway also starred in last year's big gender-swapped heist flick, Ocean's 8, and the end result is sadly somewhat similar. The Hustle thinks that plonking female stars into the same old scenario is enough; women should just be happy that studios are even bothering, apparently. It's the type of supposed progress that takes two steps forward and then the same amount back, because no one wants to see ladies slavishly retracing men's footsteps. Here, a heap of the film's narrative details also take on an uncomfortable tone, leaning on outdated stereotypes and cliches even in an obvious farce. Women romancing men for their money? Ruthlessly competing for — and measuring their worth based on — male attention? Cattily battling it out? That's not clever or amusing. It's not subversive in its sexual politics either, as much as the movie pretends the latter is true ("no man will ever believe a woman is smarter than he is," Josephine offers, explaining her success). Like much about the picture, it's just tired. With Hathaway's fake posh English accent clashing with Wilson's distinctive Australian drawl, The Hustle's stars are its biggest strength. Of course, they're really just doing what they're already known for doing well. Still, it's easy to see why the film exists, on paper at least, based on their odd-couple pairing. They each do their best with the material — Hathaway perhaps more so than Wilson, who doubles as one of the movie's producers. The duo also benefit from a few snappy one-liners, which are improved by their delivery. But screenwriter Jac Schaeffer (Disney short Olaf's Frozen Adventure) does little else to liven up the photocopied script, which is also credited to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' Dale Launer, as well as long-dead Bedtime Story scribes Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning. British actor-turned-filmmaker Chris Addison keeps everything blandly light, scenic and fluffy, however that's barely all there is to his feature directorial debut. Well, that and an ill-thought-out do-over that does female-fronted remakes zero favours and scams itself more than anything else. You'd never guess that Addison was one of the stars of the savagely hilarious sitcom The Thick of It, or a director on its US counterpart, Veep. In fact, imagining what the acerbic characters of those shows would say about this flick is funnier than every second of The Hustle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfWv51T8TJ0
To criticise a Tarantino film is an undertaking not without its share of reservation. Perhaps even trepidation. The first instinct is self-doubt: “Did I miss something? Was I simply in the wrong mood? Is three hours just the norm now?” After so many hits, there's an almost ‘infallibility’ to the man, a near reverential status through which both fans and critics dismiss any purported shortcomings as either misinterpretations or outright lunacy on your part. There’s no denying Tarantino’s talent – he’s a writer and director of extraordinary vision whose early films in particular command regular repeat viewing. But he is, ultimately, just a man. And men, and their movies, sometimes fall short of perfection. So, then, we come to The Hateful Eight, the opening titles of which declare it 'the 8th film by Quentin Tarantino’ (Kill Bill is counted as just one film for those playing at home). It’s also the second (though presumably not last) western from a director who recently said "you have to make at least three Westerns to call yourself a Western director. Anything else, you're just dabbling". Set in the unforgiving snowy mountains of Wyoming a few years after the Civil War, the film's a slow-burn thriller played out almost entirely in two tiny, cramped locations: a four-person stagecoach and an isolated cabin by the name of 'Minnie’s Haberdashery'. Cast-wise, many of the Tarantino regulars are there, along with a handful of newcomers. Kurt Russell leads the pack as John ‘the Hangman’ Ruth, a ridiculously moustachioed bounty hunter escorting wanted felon Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the gallows. Along the way they happen upon two additional passengers: fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson) and the soon-to-be local Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Tarantino’s opening dialogues have become iconic, and this one's so long it comprises the entire first two ‘chapters’ of The Hateful Eight, accounting for almost a full hour of the film. It’s not without its charms, but compared to the unrelenting tension of Inglorious Basterds, or the glorious bastardry of Reservoir Dogs, this feels overblown and indulgent. By far its most compelling character is also its least involved: Daisy, a feral, black-eyed murderess whose wry smile after having her nose broken offers more menace and mystery than the sixty minutes of material that surrounds it. The remainder of the film plays out at Minnie’s, and if nothing else it’s a masterclass in cinematography. Shot on Ultra Panavision 70mm film stock (last used fifty years ago on Khartoum), Tarantino captures astounding depth and detail within an almost impossibly small space. It’s here, too, where we discover the rest of the ‘eight’: the loner cowboy (Michael Madsen), the Confederate General (Bruce Dern), the dandy Hangman (Tim Roth) and the Mexican stablehand (Demian Bechir). Trapped by the blizzard outside that absolutely makes you feel cold, suspicions steadily compound until, inevitably, tensions boil over into a phenomenally violent conclusion. That’s no spoiler, by the way. It’s just Tarantino. There’s still a lot to like about The Hateful Eight. The performances are outstanding, the story’s engaging and it’s peppered with all the usual Tarantino easter eggs (Red Apple cigarettes, anyone?). The score, too, by veteran composer Ennio Morricone is terrific, so unsettling it almost deserves to be christened the ‘hateful ninth’. Like Django Unchained before it, race relations (or the lack thereof) underscore much of the movie's themes, representing a definite politicalisation for the director, whose script offers up lines such as “when n****** are scared, that's when white folks are safe”, later countered with “the only time black folks are safe is when white folks is disarmed”. Ultimately, though, length returns as the film’s principal failing. It’s so long that some cinemas are even showing it with a 12-minute intermission, and it's hard not to escape the feeling that a concerted edit down to 90 minutes would have robbed it of nothing whilst ensuring the wonderful 'slow burn' steered clear of 'sluggishness'. …unless I just missed something? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis
The Manly Sea Eagles might represent Sydney's Northern Beaches in the NRL, but there's a new form of the sport that's about to make waves in the locale — literally. This is no ordinary rugby match, it is Aqua Rugby. Coming to Manly this November, Aqua Rugby is a three-day take on the classic Aussie pastime that takes the game from the pitch and onto the water. [caption id="attachment_902829" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Aqua Rugby Festival held at Manly, Sydney Australia - 5th March 2022 © Karen Watson for Aqua Rugby Australia[/caption] Instead of just getting it across the line, players score tries by making it across and then diving off a pitch floating in Manly Cove. Of course, they can fall off the pitch for many other reasons. That's the whole point. Pros and amateurs alike are encouraged to enter, but be warned, former league players have participated in the past, so you might be in for a challenge. For spectators, you can watch from the shoreline for free. Food trucks and other activities will dot the pavement, or you can get amongst ticketed events, including VIP spectating from a yacht or mingling with the players. Aqua Rugby will take place in Manly Cove on Friday, November 10 2022. For more information, visit the website. Images: Karen Watson
Yep, that guy who use to sing with his sis and has a penchant for facial hair and not wearing shoes will be on tour in November. You'll have a chance to whistle along to Wooden Chair, or sway to End of The World, while picturing yourself and some mates having a few beers by the beach with him. Angus Stone says of his solo venture, "to play live on my own in front of those people, it's going to be a different trail of gravel and gold, but none the less very exciting." Whether there will be gravel or gold you'll have to wait and see, but what you'll definitely get is a special blend of indie folk peppered with hints of psychedelic rock, cowboy blues and country folk. The songs will be from Broken Brights, Stone's first solo album released under his own name. The influence of Angus and Julia's time spent performing together since they were kiddies can still be seen lurking beneath these songs, but the new album offers a slightly different perspective. Long term fans will be happy to find that those nostalgic sounds are as dreamy as ever, but this time Stone will be showing off new sounds and vocal styles alongside lots of new instruments. Here's to hoping there's a banjo or two. Just remember to wear shoes (pretty sure The Enmore has rules about this). https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yple4rnO8B8
Next time you're around Circular Quay, pop into Customs House and you'll find an exhibition of maps that have defined and guided people around Sydney for hundreds of years. Cartographica: Sydney on the Map throws up ideas around maps and the way their creation and use continues to shift and change. Until satellite technology, people relied on different kinds of maps — following patterns of the land, the stars and the wind. For tens of thousands of years, the Gadigal people and surrounding Eora Nation clans navigated this region's waterways, bush and land, and in more recent times, the area that's now known as Sydney was mapped by Europeans and photographed from space. And today, we're all accustomed to the instantly recognisable voices of Siri and Google navigating us to places in our cars and seeing ourselves as a blue dot moving through a landscape of pixels. Cartographica offers a mini retrospective of what analogue maps used to look like, some of the different ways mapmakers have documented the evolution of places and journeys over time and how simultaneously familiar and strange the world of digital maps can be. It's bound to be an eye-opening visit — and it's completely free. If absorbing all of this has left you feeling peckish, combine your visit with a bite to eat at Cafe Sydney or Quay Bar. Cartographica: Sydney on the Map is open Monday–Friday, between 10am–7pm, and Saturday–Sunday, between 11am-4pm, until Sunday, September 1.
Can you think of a better way to spend a muggy, summer night than with an outdoor movie and quality food in Bondi? From January 24 to March 3, American Express is bringing its outdoor cinema to Sydney's coastline. Bondi hosted the original American Express Openair Cinema 15 years ago, and now it's getting an upgrade. It has moved into a new — shaded from the wind — location at the Bondi Pavilion. And this year, it'll sport two screens. Movies on these big screens will include just-released hits like Bad Times at the El Royale, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born, the Jason Momoa-led Aquaman and a beefed up Christian Bale as former Vice President Dick Cheney in Vice. Salt Meats Cheese will be supplying the movie bites, with a daily menu of antipasti and woodfired pizza, and drinks will be on offer from 4Pines, Pimm's, Giesen Wines and Black Devil Cider. In addition, there will be more than 40 events across the installation, including live music performances, DJs and trivia Oh, and it's a dog-friendly space with special picnic platter for the pooch, so you don't need to leave part of your family at home. Plus if you're an Amex user you'll get 15% off selected tickets, plus a blanket.
At Queen Margherita of Savoy, the magic is in the dough prep that results in a base that's thin, the right amount of chewy, and delicately flavoursome. Certified by the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana, this place is as authentically Italian as it gets. Here, the toppings are minimal so as not to distract from those perfect bases. Think eggplant ragu and basil, as in the Siciliana, or leg ham, artichokes, and mushroom atop the Capricciosa. The impeccable pizzas are well-complemented by the cozy, timber-accented surrounds that feel a lot like the kind of place you'd find in a charming Roman alleyway.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will likely never end, and Disney shows no signs of wanting it to — but if it ever does, every Marvel character you can think of will get their own Disney+ series first. Already, plenty have; see: WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms Marvel and She-Hulk. The next one to join them: Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury, aka the Director of SHIELD and creator of the Avengers Initiative who acted as the connective tissue between most of the MCU's early instalments. (If Jackson didn't show up in a Marvel movie back then, was it really a Marvel movie?) Fifteen years after first appearing in the post-credits scene of the original Iron Man, the film that started it all, Fury will placed front and centre in Secret Invasion — a show that was announced back in 2020, but won't hit streaming until autumn 2023 Down Under. As seen in the just-dropped first trailer for the six-episode series, a war is looming with the shapeshifting Skrulls, and Fury can't keep ignoring the pleas from Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders, How I Met Your Mother) for help. Plenty of other familiar faces pop up, too: Australia's own Ben Mendelsohn (Cyrano) returning as Talos after Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years) as War Machine and Martin Freeman (Breeders) as the CIA's Everett Ross. Will their characters really show up? Or will we really be seeing Skrull impersonators? Obviously, that'll only be answered when Secret Invasion arrives. Because every actor ever has to fit into the MCU at some point, the above cast is joined by a few other huge names as well: Olivia Colman (Mothering Sunday), Emilia Clarke (Last Christmas) and Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami). The story clearly ties into Captain Marvel, which is proving a launching pad for more than a few recent and upcoming MCU chapters, such as streaming's Ms Marvel and big-screen release The Marvels — which teams up Captain Marvel (Brie Larson, Just Mercy), Ms Marvel (Iman Vellani) and WandaVision's Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris, Candyman), and also arrives in 2023. Fury, and therefore Jackson, did appear in two episodes of the Agents of SHIELD TV show in 2013 and 2014, so this won't be the character's first small-screen outing. Behind the scenes, Kyle Bradstreet (Mr Robot) created Secret Invasion, and writes and executive produces. Check out the trailer for Secret Invasion below: Secret Invasion will stream via Disney+ in autumn 2023 — we'll update you with an exact release date when one is announced. Images: Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
Australian cinephiles are well and truly accustomed to seeing the rest of the world via the big screen but, after the past year, 2021's Spanish Film Festival really couldn't be more welcome. And, it won't just transport movie buffs to the country that gives the annual filmic showcase its name. Twenty features from Spain are definitely on the bill, but so are nine from Latin America. That gives Sydneysiders plenty of movie-watching options come Tuesday, April 20, when the fest kicks off its local season for this year. You'll have until Sunday, May 9 to head to Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona, Palace Central and Chauvel Cinema, tuck into some popcorn, enjoy everything from award-winning rom-coms to twisty thrillers, and pretend that you're somewhere other than your own city. Highlights include road movie Wishlist, starring Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'s Victoria Abril; romantic comedies Rosa's Wedding and The Wedding Unplanner, because matrimony seems to be a theme; Goya Award-winner Schoolgirls, which took out the gong for Best Film; and While At War, the latest film from The Others director Alejandro Amenábar. Heroic Losers serves up a charming heist comedy starring the always engaging Ricardo Darín (Everybody Knows), while the 1950s–70s-set The Moneychanger delivers a satirical twist on crime epics. If you're only going to see one movie, though, make it Ema — not just because it stars Gael García Bernal and is directed by No, The Club, Neruda and Jackie filmmaker Pablo Larraín, but because this tale about a dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) is a simply stunning piece of cinema. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpt6Vffhtik&feature=emb_logo
In 2015, Kings Cross nightclub Soho closed down, with the owners sighting lockout laws as the reason for its closure. Fast forward six years and the site is set to be transformed into a boutique hotel with a restaurant and bar on the lower level. The property, alongside the conjoining Golden Apple brothel and Brougham Street terraces, has been bought by property developer Phillip George. A development application to turn the set of properties into a high-end accommodation and hospitality spot was also lodged with the City of Sydney earlier this year. The Golden Apple and terrace houses will be transformed into the bulk of the accommodation offerings, while the Piccadilly Hotel will be used primarily for a food and beverage offering that will service hotel guests and the general public. George is yet to approach operators for either the hotel or restaurant but is hoping to secure one by early next year. "The DA has been lodged so we'll start our process looking for the appropriate operator so that we've got our vision of the property, combined with their vision," George said. The Piccadilly Hotel was originally built in 1939 in place of the site's original hotel the Astral Club. Records for the Astral Club date back to the 1800s. The hotel underwent significant renovations in the 1990s and 2000s, with the lower floor being converted into the nightclub that would eventually house Soho. The hotel and restaurant will become the latest new venue to open in the ever-changing Potts Point area. The inner-city suburb has seen a resurgence following the relaxing and eventual removal of the lockout laws, with many new restaurants and bars popping up in the area. When asked if he sees Kings Cross and Potts Point moving towards more high-end and boutique hotels and restaurants, George responded: "I think it needs a mix of all offers in the market, you can't flood the whole suburb with one offer. You don't feed the whole community then. There's a community in Potts Point. There's people that have lived there for 50 years and there are newcomers to the area. You need to give them variety. You need to be conscious of the heritage and the fabric of the area, and we need to have a vision that delivers for all and not just for a select few." [caption id="attachment_786740" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chaco Bar, across the road from The Piccadilly Hotel[/caption] The Piccadilly Hotel is located at 171-173 Victoria Street, Potts Point. Top image: Render of The Piccadilly Hotel, City of Sydney development application
Sydney CBD's George Street is currently undergoing developments to extend its car-free zone, which will see the vehicle-free area spread across its entire run between Town Hall and Railway Square. The first new pedestrian zone since the $43.5 million project begun has now been unveiled, with a new area between Bathurst and Goulburn streets now open to the public. Under the multimillion-dollar City of Sydney plan, George Street will become a pedestrian-friendly boulevard, with wider granite footpaths replacing car lanes, new street furniture installed, more trees planted, improvements to intersections and added spaces for outdoor dining. The project will ultimately see more than 9000-square-metres of new public space added to the bustling inner-city street. The remainder of the project is currently under way, with work at the Goulburn Street intersection and a transformation of George Street between Goulborn Street and Rawson Place slated to be finished early next year. [caption id="attachment_808419" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Artist render of George Street between Hay Street and Rawson Place[/caption] It's the latest change for the bustling street in the heart of the city, which has undergone quite an evolution already over the past decade — including the installation of the infamous new light rail. The City of Sydney and local business owners are hoping that the proposed changes will help revitalise the area. Sydney's lockout laws saw the closure of venues like Hudson Ballroom around George Street, and the hardships that venue owners were already facing were only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. "This part of town has always been a bustling entertainment hub that attracted a diverse demographic looking to eat, drink and come together at a range of venues, but due to COVID, we saw business slump overnight," director of operations for the owners of the Albion Hotel, David Highet said when the project was first announced in April. "When we cautiously return to the city while seeking to maintain physical distancing, wider footpaths and more space for pedestrians are critical," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore, announcing the opening of the new stretch between Bathurst and Goulburn streets. "Creating this space opens new opportunities for businesses, and, crucially, provides places for people to gather and get around safely." For more information about the car-free boulevard along George Street head to the City of Sydney website.
Northern Beaches residents, you've got a new standout pizzeria to add to the top of your hit list. Next time you're after some doughy, cheesy, saucy goodness, turn your attention towards Ribelle, the BYO pizza spot that's just arrived in Freshwater. Ribelle is the brainchild of accomplished chef Dale Mann, who brings with him experience from Ezra, Hartsyard, and one of Sydney's best and most-beloved pizzerias, Bella Brutta. Mann worked for four years at the latter, the last of which he spent as Head Chef. So with Ribelle you're in very, very good hands. The new Freshwater spot is serving up the same leopard-spotted Napolitana-style pizza as Bella Brutta in a simple, no-frills shop on Moore Road. Whether you're eating in or grabbing a bright yellow pizza box to-go, the menu is kept simple, with a mix of classic and more boundary-pushing toppings available alongside a couple of simple sides like anchovies, baby cos salad and burrata. It's also BYO, so you can pack that riesling you just got for your birthday or your favourite funky skin-contact and head in. Laying the foundation for each slice is the pizza base, which takes the Ribelle team three days to make due to the need to mix and ferment the enriched dough multiple times. Keeping true to the restaurant's name, which means 'rebellious' in Italian, some of the more out-there pizza varieties on the menu include The Reuben which combines 12-hour smoked beef brisket from LP's Quality Meats, pink peppercorn sauce, fior di latte, confit garlic, parmesan and purple sauerkraut; or the Braised Greens, a meeting of cheese, braised kale, rainbow chard, fermented red chilli sauce, confit garlic and lemon juice. And each month there's a new special as well, allowing Mann and the crew to really flex their creativity. This month, you'll find a take on the classic garlic prawn round, with the addition of something you'd be hard-pressed to find on another pizza anywhere in Sydney: a housemade XO sauce. Ribelle is located at Shop 15, 1–3 Moore Road, Freshwater. It's open 5pm–9.30pm Thursday–Sunday. Head to the restaurant's website for more information and to order online.
This time of year can get pretty hectic. Your head is abuzz as you try to sort holiday plans, organise your New Year's bash and tie up loose ends at work before everybody's on break. And despite all your post-it note reminders of "Choose a good gift for Mum", it's easy for those gift shopping plans to fall by the wayside, to end up running out of time and giving your nearest and dearest the uninspired box of chocolates, candle or pair of socks. To help you avoid the Christmas Eve shopping scramble, we've partnered with Australia Post and pulled together gift ideas for every important person in your life. It's the A to Z of gifts, covering every present you'll need to give — from your partner to your parents, we've got you sorted. Moreover, they can all be ordered online and conveniently delivered to your nearby Parcel Locker, so you don't even have to go to the shops. Let your fingers do the walking, forgo the crazy Christmas crowds and rest easy knowing your parcel is stored securely till you're ready to collect. YOUR PARTNER With any luck, you'll score some time off with your main squeeze over Christmas. Set them up for a nice and relaxing break by giving them the gift of a quality cup of joe and a good pageturner — and not just for the festive season, but for the rest of the year. Every month, the Coffee and a Classic subscription service will ship your partner a classic novel, something to sip — choose between coffee, tea or hot chocolate — book-themed bric-a-brac, snacks and a bookmark every month. So, they can unwind over the holidays (and beyond) with a good book and tasty beverage. If you're lucky, maybe they'll give you the cliff notes over a cuppa. How much? From $28.99 YOUR PARENTS If your parents are stuck in past, drinking instant coffee out of convenience, show them the power of good brew with one of these handcrafted pour overs and coffee cup and some beans from Sydney-based Coffee Alchemy. Pour over is the ultimate 'slow coffee style', and it's as simple as making a cup of Moccona freeze-dried, but tastes miles better. You can forget about teaching your folks how to use a complex Nespresso machine, this much cheaper alternative is an easy and pleasant way for them to make their morning coffee. Also, the chic ceramic contraption, handmade in Thailand by Cone Number 9, looks a helluva lot better than that "World's Best Dad" cup. How much? Coffee pour over and cup $79, coffee beans from $14 YOUR SIBLING There's a good chance you've shared a few Domino's pizzas with your bro or sis before — back when you were both on student budgets, your metabolism knew no limits and food really wasn't your priority. But now you're older, it's time to up the ante and treat your sibling to a top-notch pie. Where to Eat Pizza features more than 1700 pizzerias from all over the world, so your sib can peruse the pages and pick out a pizzeria for you both to try. Bonus points if you plan your next overseas trip around these top-notch slices. Gift them this ultimate pizza directory and you'll be well and truly in the good books. How much? $30.95 YOUR BESTIE One of the greatest things about Christmas holidays is the promise of beachside hangs with your bestie. Well, ensure your ride-or-die is the trendiest person on the beach and gift them a beach towel by Sydney-based artist Miranda Lorikeet. The designs, all crafted by Lorikeet on MS Paint, are at once strikingly simple and undeniably dramatic. Seascapes, cliffs and rocky mountains are depicted in sunset-inspired pastels, providing the perfect backdrop for a day at the beach. And if your friend is a fan of the illustration, you can pick up a range of other wares featuring the same design, which means their next birthday present is sorted. How much? From $38.99 YOUR FUR BABY Reward your very good dog or cat with a plush new bed from Nice Digs. Depending on the personality of your pupper or pussycat, you can pick a design to suit — there's a bright Palm Springs-inspired print for the playful and a soft velvet number for the precious. The beds come in two sizes — to accommodate both great and small — and will look fab in any abode (which makes it kind of like a design gift for yourself, too). Oh, and don't let anyone make you feel bad about your purchase, your pooch or mew is as much a part of the family as anyone else. How much? From $139 THE CREW Do you and your crew communicate exclusively through memes? When you get together, is it mainly a chance to rattle off quotes from your favourite shows? If yes, these pretty, pretty, pretty, good pop culture mugs are sure to be a hit. Pick whichever reference best speaks to your squad, and give your friends the gift of a giggle every time they drink from the mug. From Parks and Rec to Curb Your Enthusiasm, all manner of screen fiend is catered for. Get ready to enjoy the jollies to come. How much? $28.53* ANY KIDS IN YOUR LIFE We all secretly want to be that cool adult who can make even a bratty kid smile. But children can be really hard to please, phases come and go — from Fortnite to fidget spinners — and it's difficult to know what they like (or don't). It's best to go for something classic that's both fun and timeless. Enter Finksa, a seriously addictive log-tossing game from Finland. Crafted from eco-friendly birch, it's shock resistant, aesthetically pleasing and most importantly it doesn't emit any annoying beeping or buzzing. Treat your whippersnapper to a Finksa and have some fun with them over the holidays. How much? From $69.90 THE HOST Agreeing to host the Chrissy bash is a pretty generous act, who knows how long it will take to get rid of that red wine stain or how bad those prawn heads are going to smell in the wheelie bin over the coming days. So, it's important to splash out on your host and pick them up a pressie they'll treasure. Since they like entertaining, treat them to a Uashmama paper bag where they can store their bread. Made from washable paper, which looks like leather but machine washes with ease, Uashmama bags are handsewn in Tuscany using a cultivated fibre that does not contribute to deforestation. So, the bags are sustainable, stylish and sure to make up for any spilt vino. How much? Medium-sized bag (perfect for bread) $32 WORK SECRET SANTA Arguably one of the hardest gifts to buy, you don't want to spend a bunch but still want your gift to be impressive, thoughtful and practical. Opt for a hydration tracking water bottle and help your office pal stay hydrated and healthy. Crafted from tough Tritan plastic, the drink bottle boasts an intuitive system that tallies the number of bottles you've consumed without any hydration tracking apps or complicated calculations. Let's face it, we all need to drink more water and this makes it super easy for your work wife or hubby. How much? $13.77* Christmas shopping has never been so simple — order online, ship to a Parcel Locker and avoid the hectic shops with Australia Post. *Price correct at time of writing.
If you've been looking for an excuse to eat cake, don't wait around for the next office birthday. Gelato Messina thinks every day is a good day to eat an entire cake by yourself, which is why the frozen treats expert has just launched a new range of its single-serve gelato cakes. Messina Monoporzione (or Monos for short) launched in three Aussie stores on Wednesday October 9. Available at Sydney's Rosebery and Darling Square outposts and Melbourne's Fitzroy, these single-serve cakes are just as gorgeous as Messina's usual creations, but you don't have to share them. The six adorable mini cakes include the brand's signature Dr Evil's Magic Mushroom (dark chocolate mousse with dulce de leche and peanut butter, placed atop edible grass) and the Bombe Alaska (marsala-soaked sponge cake, vanilla gelato, strawberry mousse and compote, wrapped in torched meringue). [caption id="attachment_745192" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ballin'[/caption] There's also a striking bubble tea-shaped number — the white chocolate 'cup' is filled with earl grey and lychee mousse, topped with lychee compote and finished with a red and white striped chocolate 'straw'. Then there's the all-black Lamington³, with milk chocolate mousse, raspberry gel, coconut gelato and almond crunch. For nut lovers, the final two in the Monos range are the spherical malt and peanut praline Ballin' and the Seymour Nuts: a disc of chocolate hazelnut ganache and hazelnut gelato, finished with caramel glaze and cocoa nibs. These beautiful babies will cost you $12 a pop or, if you still have it in your mind to share, you can also nab a box of three or six for $33 and $63 respectively. Gelato Messina's Monos are available in-store at Sydney's Rosebery and Darling Square outposts and in Melbourne's Fitzroy.
Exil is Sydney Chamber Opera's final hurrah for the season and it's something special. The post-Holocaust poetry of Paul Celan and Hans Sahl placed alongside Psalm 23, and set against Jane Sheldon's extraordinary vocal performance, forms the foundation for this take on contemporary Georgian composer Giya Kancheli's song cycle. Directed by Belvoir resident Adena Jacobs, Exil is a haunting attempt at expressing the inexpressible. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Jacobs is conscious of the problems one faces in trying to represent that which no words can describe. Carriageworks is an apt setting for the performance, made all the more eerie by the frequent passing of trains. The design is minimalist, stripped down and cast in shadow, opening on Sheldon kneeling in a shallow pool of water, her bare back to the audience. While she faced a blank wall, her voice penetrated the distance between herself and the audience. Her solitary figure is made all the more haunting when the words of Psalm 23 are projected onto the wall to her right, and to her left the orchestra, conducted by Jack Symonds, are bathed in yellow light. In performing the song cycle created in 1994 and never meant for the stage, Symonds and Sheldon have been faithful to Kancheli’s minimalist, although heavily romantic and post-Mahlerian style. The slow speed of the music lends weight to Sheldon’s tonal range, and the effect was a rich and moving, at times anguished and fleeting representation of what no words can describe, that tongue of desperation to survive. Sheldon, praised by the New York Times for singing "sublimely", is a New York-based Australian soprano, who has worked under the direction of William Christie and has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is utterly captivating in the role — even more so given she is on her knees for the first part, barely moving, and spends the second half of the performance in a soaking wet woollen coat. And what does Exil achieve? It is testament to the power of poetry to fill that gap between experience and understanding, and the power of art to guide survivors from horror into the unknown days ahead. Sheldon's is a lonely voice against the scale of the most familiar of biblical prayers — "The Lord is my shepherd..." — and against the harrowing and pointed poetry of Celan and Sahl. The voice is lonely but not isolated — it is a harrowing voice because it calls for freedom for beyond torture, for human connection despite the imprisonment of soul. Performances are held on Saturday, December 7, Monday, December 9, Wednesday, December 11, and Friday, December 13, all at 8pm. Image by Louis Dillon-Savage.
The sounds of Dune, Interstellar, Gladiator, The Dark Knight, The Lion King, The Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean will soon be echoing through Australia, with Hans Zimmer returning Down Under with his latest tour. If you've seen him live before, you'll know that this is quite the sonic experience, especially for movie lovers. And if you haven't caught him yet, you'll want to fix that at his April gigs — which have now doubled their dates in Sydney and Melbourne. Due to demand for presale tickets, second and final shows in the New South Wales and Victorian capitals have joined Zimmer's tour itinerary, on Sunday, April 27 at Qudos Bank Arena and Monday, April 30 at Rod Laver Arena, respectively. Both new dates are the day after the Oscar-winning composer's first gigs in each city. In Brisbane, he's still just playing one night, on Thursday, April 24 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. [caption id="attachment_990221" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Suzanne Teresa[/caption] Zimmer last performed in Australia in 2019 — and since then, his score for Dune won him his second Academy Award and his work on Dune: Part Two earned him his fifth Grammy. Over that period, he's also given everything from No Time to Die, Wonder Woman 1984, Top Gun: Maverick and The Creator to Prehistoric Planet and Planet Earth III their tunes. One of the biggest names in big-screen music, he's clearly been busy, but he's not too busy to also perform his compositions live. For more than four decades now, Zimmer has given screens big and small a distinctive sound. He's helped put the bounce in The Lion King's score and the droning in Inception's memorable tunes, and has loaned his talents to everything from Thelma & Louise to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy to Blade Runner 2049. It's an impressive list that just keeps going and growing — see: above — and it sounds even more impressive when played live and accompanied by an orchestra. [caption id="attachment_990222" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lee Kirby[/caption] The latest trip Down Under for the man who has worked his music magic on a wealth of titles — Hidden Figures, The Boss Baby, Dunkirk, Widows, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Lion King remake and The Crown are just a few more of his recent-ish credits — comes not only after his 2019 visit, but after he toured his Hans Zimmer Revealed concert series in 2017, including to Australia. His 2025 shows see the return of his Hans Zimmer Live gigs, complete with a 19-piece live band and full orchestra, as well as a huge stage production that features a luminous light show and other eye-catching visuals. While the Oscar, Golden Globe, Grammy and Tony-winner obviously isn't going to perform every single one of his iconic film scores, expect to hear plenty of your favourites from a newly arranged lineup of tunes that includes Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar, The Dark Knight, The Lion King, The Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean. Onstage, Zimmer will have Australian singer Lisa Gerrard for company, with some of the songs that she co-penned with him featuring in the set — so, tracks from Mission: Impossible, King Arthur, Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun and more. [caption id="attachment_724856" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Frank Embacher Photography[/caption] Hans Zimmer Live Australian 2025 Dates Thursday, April 24 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre Saturday, April 26–Sunday, April 27 — Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Tuesday, April 29–Monday, April 30 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne [caption id="attachment_990220" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Suzanne Teresa[/caption] Hans Zimmer Live is touring Australia's east coast in April 2025. For more information, and for tickets — with general sales from 12pm local time on Wednesday, February 12 — head to the event's website. Top image: Suzanne Teresa.
If this skyscraper designed to house an entire Chinese city is anything to go by, our urban way of life could imminently leave the horizontal plane far behind. Cue edible green walls, a logical and aesthetically pleasing source of nomz. Check one out at the 16th Sydney Design festival this August, when the Powerhouse Museum Cafe hosts Edible Walls, an installation which will hopefully inspire many imitators. City farming is a worthy and growing trend. It's surprising the number of munchable fruit, flower, vegetable and herb varieties that can flourish while on the climb. Edible Walls is not only a space-saving and socially responsible design enterprise but a beautiful and stylish one, not unlike when your dad piles pasta skyward in the centre of your plate in an adorable attempt to be master chef. Could we see edible walls spring up as a common sight in cafes and homes across Sydney, as nature is increasingly integrated into city life? We reckon we will, and attending Sydney Design is a great way to get educated so you can mastermind your own high-rise harvest. This year Sydney Design's 75+ events seek to answer the question, 'Can clever design save the world?' Duh. This very interrogative will be debated by a panel of designers and business bigwigs facilitated by Nell Schofield. But there's plenty of other festival festures to excite the aspiring design maverick. The Australian International Design Awards gather wacky gadgetry and ingenious innovations, while a Powerhouse retrospective exhibition celebrates the influential work of US designer and furniture innovator George Nelson. It definitely doesn't stop there. Architects Eko Prawoto and David Sheppard will present keynote addresses on the topic of urban reconstruction and recovery from earthquake damage. Healthabitat's Paul Pholeros and Heleana Genaus illuminate the links between health and manmade environments. Among the festival's other exhibitions, tours, talks, workshops and just plain fun stuff: Stringram marries string design to Instagram, native biodiversity enjoys full reign in Parramatta's Vorsprugarten, and jewellery becomes artfully and deliberately biodegradable in Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes. Then there's Workshopped13, the 3x3x3 Design Challenge, Translocated Making, and more initiatives that could just save the world. Sydney Design runs citywide, 3-18 August, 2013.
With restaurants opening in Sydney every other day, it can turn into a full-time task trying to keep in-the-know. Advice on where to eat from someone who really knows their stuff is your one-way ticket to a finger-licking, stomach-patting culinary experience. Who better to ask than up-and-coming and top-of-their-game Sydney chefs? These guys are the lauded creatives who live and breathe food and are here to tell us where to eat no matter the occasion. Dan Hong eats at Golden Century Dan Hong has been climbing the ranks of Merivale since 2008. Hong opened super cool Asian diner Ms G's in 2010 and moved on to the epic Mr. Wong just last year. He has also headed up a string of recent El Loco pop-ups. My favourite late-night eat is ... "Golden Century is hands-down number one because it's open until 4am in the morning and they have fantastic live seafood." If Hong had to take an international chef out for a bite his preference would be to lead them on a "massive eating expedition in Cabramatta to show them how good our Vietnamese/Cambodian/Lao/Chinese food really is". Andrew 'Gomez' Braham eats at Sixpenny Adam 'Gomez' Braham has been around the cheffing traps for quite sometime. He started working in Sydney for hatters like Quay and Aria before flexing his egg-beating muscles in Europe and then in Monaco cooking for Russian billionaires. If I were to entertain a visiting chef I would take them to ... "Sixpenny because they showcase the best Australian produce in their food. You can go to restaurants for a view, but at the end of the day all a chef wants to look at is the kitchen, the plates and the food that comes out on them." For a late-night feed, Braham's choice would be Arisun for their deep-fried chicken in "all its mouth-watering glory," accompanied by a mini five litre keg of beer for the table. Image credit: Joseph Ng. Jamie Thomas eats at 3 Weeds Jaime Thomas hails from the mother country and has been in the business for about 22 years. Being English, a love of old pubs with loads of character is practically in Thomas' DNA, so it makes perfect sense he's executive chef at the Drink n' Dine Group which includes The Abercrombie, The Norfolk and The Forresters. For a casual meal, nothing beats ... "A beer and a burger at 3 Weeds in Rozelle." Lauren Murdoch has just taken over as chef at this popular pub, which has a separate restaurant serving dishes like crumbed lamb brains, and pork belly and chorizo meatballs. Brent Savage eats at Quay Brent Savage, the chef that took the stiff back out of fine dining with his restaurant Bentley, has done it again. Hi latest venture, Monopole, is a casual eatery with a wine list at its heart. If I had to take a chef out, I'd take them to ... "Quay or Sepia for the technique-driven food and for the full fine dining experience." Savage's late-night choice is Chat Thai and of a Sunday? You'll find him sipping green tea and eating dim sum at Zilver Restaurant in front of Capitol Square. One of the best places for yum cha in town, so we're told. Daniel Puskas eats at Fleetwood Macchiato Daniel Puskas is one half of the duo behind Stanmore eatery Sixpenny. A night at this place is most definitely something special. Local produce is key with both Puskas and co-owner James Parry growing their own produce on a lot in the Southern Highlands. Then of course there's their famous kitchen garden out back. On Sundays I eat at ... "Fleetwood Macchiato or newbie Brickfields for family day with my daughter Isobel and partner Alicia. Brickfields has a seriously tempting array of sweet, crumbly things whipped up by Simon Cancio who previously worked his floury magic at Luxe. And if eating with a foreigner? "If it was before midday most likely Zilver for dumplings and if after a night out it'd most likely be Golden Century or Arisun. In between, some of my favourite places to take people are Rockpool Bar & Grill for a burger, Berta or Billy Kwong and for something special it would be Quay, Marque or Sepia," said Puskas. Chui Lee Luk eats at Din Tai Fung Chui Lee Luk stepped into very large shoes when she took over Claude's as its fourth owner, a mainstay of Sydney's dining scene for the past 36 years. Luk's Asian heritage has helped keep Claude's relevant; she's added unexpected flavours to the menu while maintaining the restaurant's French heritage. She's also split the restaurant in two, with a more casual space downstairs and the full degustation experience upstairs. If eating with a fellow chef, I'd take them to ... "Northern Dixon Street in Chinatown because it's full of Chinese regional cuisines like Xinjiang, showing how Eastern cuisine translates overseas. Black Star Pastry is also great for new and old-fashioned pastries, and to experience Newtown." If Luk was looking for a bite under $15, she would hit up Din Tai Fung for dumplings, Northern Noodle House for zhajiang mian and Ichiban Boshi for ramen. Steven Skelly eats at Sean's Panorama Steven Skelly is British-born but now a fixture of Sydney's dining scene after quickly making a name for himself when he moved here ten years ago. Landing first at Hugo's in Bondi, he moved to Bilson's and won the restaurant its third hat. He now calls The Sailors Club, an apt place for him to express his love of Australian seafood. For a casual Sunday, Skelly eats at ... "Sean's Panorama for its laid-back attitude more than anything else. They rarely have a double sitting so it can turn into a long BYO-allowed lunch!" Steven also tells us he's had great meals at Marque and Sepia.
Since first launching its end-of-year festival fun in Lorne back in 1993, Falls Festival has become an end-of-year staple not only on the Great Ocean Road, but in Byron, Marion Bay and Fremantle. But, one day into its 2019 event, the festival has had to cancel the remaining days of its Lorne bash due to the extreme and hazardous weather predicted for tomorrow, Monday, December 30. In a Facebook post this morning, a Falls Festival spokesperson said the decision had been made after "consultation with local and regional fire authorities and other emergency stakeholders". "Forecasted conditions have gotten significantly worse in the past 12 hours, with information coming to light that has not been available to us before the event kicked off on December 28th," the statement says. "It is clear that we have no other option." While there are no out of control bushfires in the area at the time of writing, temperatures are expected to reach a top of 43 degrees on the Surf Coast tomorrow. That, coupled with strong 90–100-kilometre northwesterly winds, has prompted organisers to make the decision to "move everyone offsite safely and in good time". A total fire ban in place across the whole state tomorrow. The festival officially started yesterday, and there are already 9000 people on site. While festivalgoers got to catch the likes of Vera Blue, Parcels and John Farnham on day one, today there will be no music or bars — but food outlets, toilets and medical facilities will be open until 9am tomorrow, when the gates to the festival will close. Festival organisers are urging punters to return home as the surrounding towns on the Great Ocean Road — like Lorne, Apollo Bay and Anglesea — will already be at capacity due to the holiday period. Thousands more were expected to arrive at the festival site today. This fire season has already been a catastrophic one, with fires continuing to burn in the East Gippsland region and NSW, where over three million hectares has been burnt so far. NSW's New Year's Eve festival Lost Paradise was cancelled due to bushfire threat earlier in the month. Falls Festival was set to run from December 28–January 1, with Halsey, Vampire Weekend, Disclosure and Peking Duk some of the artists scheduled to perform across four stages. The festivals in Marion Bay, Byron and Fremantle will go ahead as scheduled. Everyone with a ticket will be refunded next week. Top image: Boaz Nothham
Experience the fireworks from a one-of-a-kind view at O Bar and Dining. Perched 47 floors above the ground, the sky-high bar takes in an all-encompassing view of Circular Quay, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as the fireworks light up the Sydney sky. Three packages are on offer if you're looking to spend New Year's Eve here — and they're all going to set you back a paycheque or two. For $695, you'll receive an NV Louis Roederer Brut Premier on arrival followed by a decedent eight-course tasting menu. Taking things up a notch, you can nab yourself the window seat and a paired wine list for $875. Lastly, if you have 11 other friends willing to drop the big bucks on an exuberant New Year's, you can book out O Bar and Dining's private 12-person dining room with all of the above perks plus butler service for $1450 a head. On the menu for the night is poached Tasmanian lobster, Roku gin-cured kingfish, twice-cooked duck breast with caramelised endive, blackberries and black vinegar and flash-seared Rangers Valley wagyu with black garlic and potato gnocchi.
The only thing wrong with Cut Snake is that it's over too soon. If you blink, you're likely to be sorry you missed something in this outrageously fun yet poignant 50-minute acrobatic, theatrical rollercoaster from independent theatre company Arthur. The script revolves around three maverick characters. There's Jumper (Kevin Kiernan-Molloy), a loveable, devil-may-care 19-year-old who, at the play's opening, is drinking his way around Europe on a Contiki tour. His sudden death, caused when the bus on which he is travelling swerves to miss a dog, introduces the bittersweet tension between risk and hope that drives Cut Snake's dramatic energy. For the rest of the play, Jumper's closest friends, Kiki (Catherine Davies) and Bob (Julia Billington), must cope with this tragedy. Through puppetry, acrobatics and dance, they recount and enact various scenes from their past and future lives. Kiki tangos with a bearded lady on Mt Kilimanjaro, Bob longs to know who would win a fight between a horse and a hippo, Jumper juggles between his feelings for a talking snake named Trix and his love for Kiki. Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds, and that's just the start. The highly skilled Kiernan-Molloy, Davies and Billington never miss a beat, delivering lines that depend on microsecond timing and maintaining a pace that would keep Usain St. Leo Bolt on his toes. Davies' fluent somersaults, tumbles and twirls are particularly lovely to watch. Patterned cotton sheets and doona covers that look as though they've been pulled out of your mother's favourite cupboard form the backdrop, which extends all the way around the Pavillion Theatre. Walking in, you feel like you're entering a secret cubby house, an experience that sets the atmosphere for the play's magical realist world in which time is no longer linear and anything is possible. Death is the only certainty. Indeed, mortality's sadness hovers over the play, but overwhelmingly, Cut Snake reminds us that we can make life as daring, exciting and unpredictable as we imagine it to be. It's all about leaving a story behind that might be worth the telling.
For most of Australia, 2018 has been hot. Last weekend, Melbourne endured its hottest day for two years, while Sydney experienced its second hottest day ever. Temperatures have been toasty around the rest of the country too, with Brisbane expecting a top of 38 today. And although Tasmania hasn't been immune to the extreme heat — reaching 35 degrees earlier this week — the state also just dipped firmly in the opposite direction. Yesterday, while it was a rather warm 34 degrees in Sydney, 36 in Brisbane and 37 in Perth, eastern Tassie enjoyed storms, hail and even ice. In Hobart, yesterday's maximum only made it to 15.8 degrees, while the minimum was 13.5 degrees. That's rugging-up weather, not swimming temperatures. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd4Ob8oBD5b/?taken-by=tasmaniawhyweloveit https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd4CcbTHV-7/?taken-by=what_kat_did_next "I don't think we've seen that very often," the Bureau Of Meteorology Debbie Tabor told the ABC, explaining that the icy conditions were caused by the thunderstorms. "We had a series of thunderstorms move through the eastern half of Tasmania… and did produce some hail at various locations and that's what was seen at Orford." On Twitter, BOM also clarified that the visible whiteness wasn't snow, even if it might've looked like it. https://twitter.com/BOM_Tas/status/952077590453514240 That said, snow did reach the state's lofty peaks — at 1300 to 1400 metres, not on the ground. Today, a top of 21 is expected in Hobart, ahead of a week in the mid twenties. Via ABC. Top image: Katrina Ashton via Instagram.
Looking for a new spot to practice your downward dog? This month, Luxe Yoga + Fitness is making the end of your working week more enriching with 6.15am sunrise yoga sessions held amid the scenic surrounds of Queenscliffs' Freshwater Beach. With the sun on your skin and the sand between your toes, feeling at one with your body and achieving mindful clarity will become just a little easier. Then, once you've finished stretching out, a refreshing dip in the ocean as the sun comes up will not go amiss. It's a good time to get involved, too. As February 22 marks World Yoga Day, the team will be hosting a special Saturday session at 6.45am to celebrate the occasion. So, whether you're keen to join the global movement or just want to add some good-natured exercise to your regime, getting down for these early morning classes is a wise decision.
If you thought those cult favourite Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts were a one-hit wonder, think again. The masterminds behind the famed sweet treats are also responsible for another Japanese-inspired dessert craze: Pafu. The apple pastry puffs loaded with fuji apple and warm custard have seen perpetual queues since their launch in the Melbourne's QV Centre last December. Now, they've hit Sydney. The Macquarie Centre store launched in June with free pastries — and while you'll have to pay $4.20 per piece now, the flaky fusion desserts are well work handing over a fiver for. Half apple turnover and half Japanese cream puff, these palm-sized pastries are crunchy, creamy and completely moreish.
There's no other way to celebrate the start of Mardi Gras except to throw a massive party. Part performance art, part music, and part dance, Day for Night is one cut above the rest. Presented by Carriageworks and Performance Space, with curation by Jeff Khan (Performance Space) and Emma Price (The Kingpins), the event sees Carriageworks transformed into a large-scale space for queer expression for a full three days. The party (February 20, 7.30 – 11.30pm, tickets $35) will feature tunes from local electronic outfit Stereogamous (Paul Mac and Johnny Seymour), self-described as sounding like a "gay bath house". The next two days (February 21–22, 12 –8pm, free) sees music and art combine with a series of live performances by Australia's leading queer artists, soundtracked by the duo. They include choreographer Matthew Day, Emma Maye Gibson (you might recognise her work as alter ego Betty Grumble), interdisciplinary artist and Kanye collaborator Techa Noble, White Drummer, Nell, and self-taught dancer Bhenji Ra (House of Ra), who has supported the likes of Mykki Blanco and Le1f. In the lead-up to this night of nights, we spoke to Stereogamous and got them to put us in the mood with a mix (titled 'DAY'). Where is Stereogamous currently at, musically speaking? Our weekly Voguey Bear party [at Tokyo Sing Song] focuses on deep and innovative music. Nothing abrasive, noisy or played out. The deep research we do for weekly content for an eight-hour set keeps us on our twinkle toes doing the 9-5 (am), but also informs our production heart space in the studio ... We are currently composing with the incredible Shaun J Wright (Chicago/Twirl), who is one of the most marvellous performers we've ever encountered. What and who are you most looking forward to at Day for Night? The punters. The intersex, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay community and our admirers have our moment to have our Christmas/Grand Final/Prix/celebration and shine. Seeing the artists and our collaborative children come to life in front of our family and like-minded creative adventurers. Making make a great queer party in one of our fave buildings in Sydney. What was going through your mind – musically or otherwise - during the making of this mix? DAY is deep. It's the warm-up without the gogo. You wake up somewhere, with last night still in your body. There's a sonic treacle coming from an unknown place. Sounds that can either be slow decompression into facing reality, or a gateway to escaping. Let's pretend we live in a utopian world for a moment. How would the ideal Stereogamous day play out? President Nova Peris has diverted mining profits into developing solar power and water desalination, revegetating the desert. The increased arable land provides enough power, shelter and self-sustainable food stocks for the entire South Pacific region. Equality exists not just for queers but for gender parity in wages and employment, Indigenous peoples, asylum seekers and people with special medical needs. Drivers serve drinks on free bus trips. Arts has equal funding as sports. Drugs are legal and available on Medicare. We're just doing what we're doing now. Collaborating and attempting to bring people together to resonate joy. Your sound is self-described as "sauna beat" and "bath house music”. Besides yourselves of course, what other music would this hypothetical bath house be playing? Bath houses are sacred homosexual spaces that we have spun tracks in for over a decade. Perhaps best described as "horizontal dance music". Apologies but you won't hear Katy/Igloo/Taylor or any EDM noise. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not really appropriate "sling music" feels. We're more likely to be playing Discodromo, Alien Alien, baker & baumaker, Suspect, Trevor Sigler, Jason Kendig. Believe we're way more The Black Madonna than Madonna.
The streets of Sydney are about to transform into a kaleidoscope of colour, charisma and character for the 46th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, and we've got two exclusive packages to make sure you're in the thick of it. Whether you're a Mardi Gras veteran or a first-timer, these deals will set you up to have the ultimate Mardi Gras experience. First up, for those looking to add a touch of luxe to their Mardi Gras, we present the Diamond Club Viewing & Boutique City Stay. Priced at AU$1,599 for two people, this deal not only puts you in a premium viewing area for the Parade on Saturday, March 2, but also gives you access to exclusive bars, gourmet food and amenities at Diamond Club — one of the hottest tickets on the festival calendar. And when the day is done, you'll retreat to your luxury room at the Ovolo Woolloomooloo for two nights (March 1–3). This isn't just a place to crash — it's a five-star retreat complete with daily breakfast, unlimited Wi-Fi, self-laundry (because glitter gets everywhere), daily afternoon cocktails, free minibar, gym, pool and in-room Alexa and Apple TV. Alternatively, the Sideshow Viewing & Boutique City Stay starts from AU$1,299 for two people and offers front-row seats to the parade from the Sideshow area. Your accommodation? Take your pick between The Woolstore 1888 by Ovolo or the Kimpton Margot Sydney. Both options are an easy stroll to the parade route and come with all the perks you'd expect from top-tier hotels. So go on, treat yourself. You're not just booking a room; you're securing a front-row seat to one of the most vibrant events on the Sydney calendar. See you there.
Just when we thought we couldn't have any more sweets, along comes Sweetfest — a two-day-long sugar party featuring the likes of Katherine Sabbath, Andy Bowdy, Lorraine's Patisserie and Mak Mak. It's not all about eating sugar though. An assortment of masterclasses, like Andy Bowdy's soft serve desserts class, will be held across the two days. This event is one of our top ten picks of Good Food Month 2015. Check out the other nine. Image: Pinbone.
Green Square is set to gain a coast-inspired aquatic centre, following the announcement that Andrew Burges Architects, in association with Grimshaw and T.C.L., have won the City of Sydney’s Green Square Design Competition. The plan includes a 50-metre outdoor pool, built within a larger, organically-shaped 'beach pool'; a 25-metre indoor pool; and a health and fitness centre. These facilities will be encompassed by Gunyama Park, which is to be revamped with the addition of a promenade, native landscaping and play equipment. All in all, the development will cover an area equivalent to three football fields. The competition was fiercely contested, with 144 Australian and international designers submitting entries, and five finalists announced back in June. This comes as no surprise, given that Green Square will be home to more than 54,000 people by 2030. "It is the fastest growing development site in Australia," said competition registrar Stephen Varady said in a media statement. "Having this competition was a very important part of that... Design competitions are about bringing out something that you wouldn’t find normally. The judges thought that this was a very special project. It’s a beautiful design; it’s a strong design; it's very appropriate... It's a public park for people to relax in; it's a place for sport; and it's a place to swim." "We need terrific facilities for this community living at very high density," added Lord Mayor Clover Moore. "It's very creative, very beautiful and very practical." Meanwhile, juror and architect Camilla Block pointed out the design's inherent 'Sydney-ness'. "It came from a Sydney idea — the rock pools of Sydney," added juror and architect Camilla Block. "It was meant for Sydney."
Everybody, try to remain calm. The celebration of everybody's favourite sweet, the Festival of Chocolate, is back. Want to see demonstrations by some of pastry's most respected faces? The Callebaut Test Kitchen will be showing off the talents of Adriano Zumbo and Anna Polyviou, among others. The Chocolatier's Quarters will be home to a Zumbo chocolate showpiece and the stage for award-winning chocolatier Jodie Van De Velden to create a chocolate sculpture over the two-day festival. There will also be a pop-up Garden Bar and Arnott's Tim Tam Temptation Tent (try saying that five times quickly), where you'll be able to enjoy one of Australia's favourite treats. Not convinced by chocolate alone? How about the chance to win a $20,000 two carat chocolate-inspired diamond ring? Then you can be reminded of chocolate every time you look at your hands, and live happily ever after.
