On Sunday, December 1, Australian Venue Co — one of the country's largest hospitality groups with more than 200 venues nationwide — announced its decision to no longer host events on January 26 in recognition of the trauma experienced by many of its patrons and staff on Invasion Day. In response, certain swathes of the media, social media users and even notable politicians loudly voiced their opposition to the move, with some calling for a boycott of AVC venues in retaliation. Queensland Senator Matt Canavan said during an interview on the Today Show on Monday, December 3, that Australian Venue Co were acting as "moral guardians," adding: "They should get off their moral high horse. They're a pub, for god's sake. They deal in alcohol … I mean, let people have a good time at a pub." In response to this widespread backlash, Australian Venue Co has issued an apology via its social media platforms and reversed its decision to ban Australia Day events. "We can see that our comments on the weekend have caused both concern and confusion. We sincerely regret that — our purpose is to reinforce community in our venues, not divide it," the statement reads. "It is not for us to tell anyone whether or how to celebrate Australia Day. We acknowledge that and we apologise for our comments. It certainly wasn't our intention to offend anyone … Whether you choose to celebrate Australia Day or not, everyone is welcome in our pubs, always. We have been, and are always, open over Australia Day and we continue to book events for patrons." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Australian Venue Co. (@australianvenueco) Many social media posts highlighted the confusion created by the Australian Venue Co's original announcement, which was misconstrued as suggesting its venues would be closed on January 26, when in reality the group was pledging not to hold Australia Day events while remaining open for patrons independently celebrating the day. Whether or not Australia should commemorate its national day on a date that represents a moment of profound mourning and inter-generational trauma for First Nation's communities continues to be hotly debated. However, local governments, certain major businesses and media organisations, and social groups across the country have made the decision in recent years to acknowledge the contentiousness of January 26. More than 80 councils around the country no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on this date and since 2017, radio station Triple J has announced its popular Hottest 100 rankings on January 25. Earlier this year, major supermarket brands Woolworths and Aldi both pledged to no longer stock Australia Day merchandise in their stores, while Invasion Day rallies attract thousands of peaceful protesters every year.
Here's something to spice up your weekend plans. Head to Bondi Junction on Saturday, March 21, to take part in the Global Table event and celebrate all things multiculturalism with a feast for the senses. Taking over Oxford Street Mall from 10am–4pm, expect a diverse day filled with music, food and fun. Hosted by Waverley Council, Global Table is a dynamic event celebrating a wide range of flavours, cultures and traditions. Centred around a 35-metre-long table, guests engage in communal dining in its truest sense. Taste a plethora of authentic dishes from around the world with a variety of food vendors sharing treasured family recipes. On the mainstage, artists and dancers will showcase traditional performances from their home countries. Performers from Türkiye, Mexico, Colombia, Thailand, Japan and Guana will generously share their cultural expressions through dance and music. Then, you can wander the streets and discover market stalls featuring handmade goods and treasures. You can also experience henna tattooing, Japanese Kimono dress up, and a circus workshop for kids. Bringing people from around the globe together, head along with the whole family for a global feast and cultural showcase. "Our annual Global Table event in Bondi Junction is a vibrant celebration of multiculturalism that brings people together through a shared love for food, culture and community. The 35-metre-long communal table is the perfect setting to meet someone new and hear the stories behind treasured family recipes, while sampling authentic dishes from across the world and enjoying an eclectic array of live entertainment from multicultural performers. This beloved community festival, now in its 16th year, is family-friendly, free and a true feast for the senses. A word of advice, make sure you come hungry," says Waverly Mayor Will Nemesh. Images: Supplied. Like what you see? Subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter to get stories just like these straight to your inbox.
Usually, Vegemite gets spread across bread. It's simple, it's easy and, if you like the yeasty Australian staple, it's a classic. But that's just one way to enjoy the famed product, which has found its way into chocolate, milk shakes, icy poles, ice creams, burgers, popcorn and booze, too — and now, to the top of a pizza as well. In the type of new menu item that'll either have you ordering right now or rethinking ever eating a slice again, Vegemite and cheese pizza is a real thing that now exists at Domino's. It's a limited-edition addition to the chain's menu, however, so if you're currently somehow salivating at the thought of this new food mashup, you've got three weeks to get a taste — starting Monday, October 11. Yes, a Vegemite and cheese pizza is as straightforward as it sounds, with Domino's slathering the yeasty spread across a pizza base, then adding mozzarella. Yes, your tastebuds and stomach are definitely allowed to feel confused about the whole idea. Wondering why such a Frankenstein's monster of a pizza has come to fruition? Domino's asked its social media followers if they'd sink their teeth into this exact creation, and they responded with an overwhelming yes. If the new Vegemite and cheese pizzas prove so popular that they sell out quickly, they won't actually be on the menu for the full three weeks — if you need an extra incentive to give one a try. Price-wise, they start from $7.95 for pick up, and are available at all Aussie stores. Vegemite and cheese pizzas are available at Domino's from Monday, October 11–Sunday, October 31 — unless sold out earlier.
Face of Man opened in The Strand Arcade way back in 1978. The male grooming lounge is still going strong over 40 years later, now located just down the block along George Street. The space resembles a 1920s smoking lounge and is considered the top spot for male skincare and haircare in Sydney. There are seven treatment rooms, and a wide range of options from waxing and nail care to massages, laser hair removal and tattoo removal. It's all accompanied by a glass of scotch on arrival, too. First time visitors can get a whole heap of services for just $99 all up, including professional skin analysis, a one-hour customised facial, a hydrating eye treatment, an eyebrow tidy and even a neck and shoulder massage.
Let's face it: life is busy and you don't get time to squeeze in nearly as much gallery-hopping as you'd like. Well, now, local commuters can get their art fix on the daily, thanks to a new initiative transforming public restrooms into vibrant gallery spaces. Outdoor media company Smartbox has set its sights on restrooms across the Sydney Trains network for its just-launched digital art exhibition series, Reframed. In an effort to help break Sydneysiders out of their existing art bubbles, the new-look bathrooms will sport striking works by emerging artists on digital screens, with a different talent showcased each year. First up, you'll spy designs from Brisbane-based photographer and stylist Evelina Fietisova. Her works, commissioned especially for Reframed, set out to challenge long-held notions of femininity, masculinity and beauty, shot like a series of glossy magazine snaps. "In my work I love experimenting with fashion and try to push the boundaries of what's considered 'normal' in society," Fietisova said in a statement. "In a world that profits from your insecurities, liking, accepting and being proud of yourself is a rebellious act." [caption id="attachment_714877" align="alignnone" width="1920"] One of the pieces of art being displayed in the train station toilets.[/caption] Now live, the Reframed exhibition is gracing around 200 digital screens across Sydney train stations. You'll find them at Blacktown, Bondi, Burwood, Central, Chatswood, Edgecliff, Gordon, Hornsby, Hurstville, Kogarah, Liverpool, Miranda, Penrith, St Leonards, Strathfield, Redfern, Parramatta, Martin Place and Epping. For more information about Smartbox and Reframed, head to smartbox.com.au. First image: Quinn Connors.
Perhaps you've always been a fan of Mickey Mouse. Maybe you can remember how it felt when you first watched Bambi. Or, you might be able to sing all of Genie's lyrics in Aladdin. You could've fallen head over heels for Raya and the Last Dragon more recently, too. Whichever category fits — and we're guessing that at least one does — Disney's animated movies have likely played a significant part in your life. We all have those childhood memories. We've all grown up with a lingering fondness for the Mouse House. Based on its just-announced big 2021 exhibition, clearly the team at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne knows the feeling. From Thursday, May 13 to Sunday, October 17 this year, the newly revamped ACMI will open its doors, halls and walls to Disney: The Magic of Animation, which'll showcase Disney's animated prowess over the past century. There's much to display, with the exhibition ranging back as far as 1928, when Mickey Mouse appeared in his first talkie, Steamboat Willie. From there, you can expect everything from Fantasia to Frozen to get some attention. [caption id="attachment_805358" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Disney Enterprises[/caption] Expect to look at art, too — and plenty of it. When it makes its Australian-exclusive stop in Melbourne, Disney: The Magic of Animation will feature more than 500 original artworks relating to Disney's animated catalogue. Paintings, sketches and concept art will all be on display, with the entire lineup specially selected by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library. Yes, you'll be getting a glimpse at just how the movie magic comes to life, including through glimpses at how some of Disney's famous stories were developed, and at the animation techniques that brought them to the big screen. And, although further details haven't yet been revealed, it's probably safe to expect that watching Disney's flicks will also be part of the program. [caption id="attachment_805353" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Disney Enterprises[/caption] Announcing the exhibition, ACMI Director and CEO Katrina Sedgwick said that the venue is "thrilled to bring Disney: The Magic of Animation to Australia as ACMI's 2021 Melbourne Winter Masterpiece — the first since reopening after our $40 million transformation. Disney's pioneering work has brought the art of animation to audiences across the globe for nearly a century. This exhibition invites us behind the scenes, celebrating the artists and their incredible craft as they create the magical worlds and iconic characters that we know and love." Previously, ACMI's annual Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series has toured international exhibitions such as David Bowie Is... and Hollywood Costume to our shores. In Disney: The Magic of Animation's case, it's designed to appeal to Disney fans of all ages — including Mouse House aficionados both young and young at heart. Disney: The Magic of Animation will display at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne from Thursday, May 13–Sunday, October 17. For more information or to buy tickets, head to the ACMI website.
Eco-warrior Joost Bakker (Greenhouse by Joost, Brothl) is at it again, acting as creative consultant for what may become the world's most sustainable shopping centre. Teaming up with Frasers Property Australia, Bakker will design a 2000-square-metre rooftop farm and restaurant at the heart of the new Burwood Brickworks development — set to begin construction in mid 2018, just 15 kilometres south of the Melbourne CBD. The rooftop's massive agricultural hub will sit within the complex's 12,700-square-metres of retail and hospitality space, with the urban farm split between greenhouse, external planter box and landscaped growing areas. Some of the sustainable elements Bakker plans to implement include a closed-loop water system, composting capability, and minimal transportation of food and waste. It has yet to be decided which restaurateur will run the space, with Frasers currently seeking expression of interest from established food and drink providores. The rooftop is already sounding like an inner-city gem and we are eager to see which tenant takes this massive project on. "There is such a hunger for this kind of development throughout the world," says Bakker. It really fills a gap in the market to feed and nurture conscious consumers... [that] want to shop, eat and relax in environments that truly support a sustainable world." The design of the wider mixed-use development will also focus on sustainability, using a large solar PV system and an embedded electricity network to target a minimum five-star green rating, with the aim of becoming Australia's first six-star Green Star Design — and to achieve Living Building Challenge accreditation. This accreditation is seriously hard to obtain and means the building must have a net zero carbon footprint, produce more electricity than it consumes, grow agriculture on 20 percent of the site, and prove net water and waste positive. It must also be constructed using non-toxic and recycled materials, and have other social benefits like access to natural daylight and indoor air quality. Once completed in October 2019, the Burwood Brickworks development will join the challenge to determine if they meet the criteria to be considered the world's most sustainable shopping centre. Here's hoping Frasers puts their money where their mouth is.
Watching television can't solve many problems, but some woes can be temporarily soothed by spending your evenings enjoying cartoons from three decades ago. Had a terrible day at work? Feeling overstretched and underappreciated? Stuck hovering under a cloud of meh? You can now feast your eyeballs on Australia's new free-to-air Nickelodeon channel and its retro lineup each weeknight for a pick-me-up. Switching to channel 13 from Tuesday, August 1 Down Under now means being greeted by Nickelodeon's wares. It's the first-ever premium free-to-air Nickelodeon channel in Australia, and it's catering for all ages. That includes adults via the Nick@Nite lineup, which also makes its Aussie debut on free-to-air, and will feature Ren & Stimpy, Angry Beavers, Rocko's Modern Life, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and Catdog. It was true when you were a kid — whether you grew up in the 90s or discovered it later — and it's true now: watching a perennially angry chihuahua and a good-natured cat fight and pal around is cathartic viewing. Nickelodeon will also screen late-night movies, digging into the brand's catalogue. Here's hoping that the SpongeBob films get a run — they're as much of a delight for adults as they are for kids, as any big-screen franchise that features What We Do in the Shadows' Matt Berry as a talking dolphin and John Wick's Keanu Reeves as a sage is meant to be. During the day, the new channel will focus on Nick Jr preschool fare such as PAW Patrol, Blue's Clues & You!, Baby Shark's Big Show! and Santiago of the Seas. In the afternoons, it'll air season 12 of SpongeBob SquarePants, plus everything from The Smurfs and Double Dare to iCarly and The Thundermans. Indeed, if you have children or sometimes babysit nieces and nephews, you might want to take note of the daylight programming, too. Watching SpongeBob will always be for everyone, though. Find Australia's new free-to-air Nickelodeon channel at channel 13 from Tuesday, August 1.
There were a few risks involved in the opening of Son of a Baker, the patisserie-cum-cafe in south Sydney suburb San Souci. The first was co-owner Roman Urosevski's decision to break out on his own rather than take over the family bakery as assumed; his father has been running the popular Alexander's Bakery for over two decades. The second was the location: Son of a Baker sits within a nondescript strip of shops at the sleepy Dolls Point-end of the Grand Parade — not exactly the type of place even locals would expect to find a decent feed. In an attempt to neutralise these risks, Urosevski teamed up with Marcus Gorgè, a Sydney cafe veteran (Local MBassy, Chimichuri), to open the cafe in early 2018. And it's safe to say: the risk paid off. Within only a few weeks, the Alexander's Bakery outpost in Westfield Miranda switched to a Son of a Baker store — a vote of confidence from Dad — and when we visited on a wintry Sunday morning, it was teeming with people. To figure out why, let's start with the space. Designer Korolos Ibrahim kept things things sleek and modern — pale timber tables, parquet flooring, washed cement walls and a marble counter holding a matte white coffee machine. The small space is made bigger by bifold windows overlooking the street and beach beyond. Up the back, a glass divider lets the curious look on as the pastry chefs get to work. It's small details like this that add warmth and character. Another one is the burek, a baked and stuffed Balkan pastry, which Urosevski used to make with his father. If you haven't cottoned on yet, this familial relationship is where the cafe's cheeky moniker comes from. Burek flavours vary, but during our visit there was pulled pork (soaked in orange and passionfruit) and spinach and leek. The cafe's two Macedonian pastry chefs, who were brought over from Alexander's Bakery, have also refined the dough to be vegan. It's important to call out here that the burek simply shouldn't be missed — but easily could be with red velvet croissants, nutella cronuts and strudels also on offer. Where Son of a Baker's fit-out is stunning in its simplicity, its food takes the opposite approach. Every plate on the eat-in menu has been designed by Gorgè to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, which shows a strong attention to detail, but also means that food envy here is a very real danger. The menu is divided into brunch dishes and sweet treats. More than half of the former are vegetarian and there are varied cultural nods throughout — think shakshuka ($18), a falafel bowl ($19) and piperchi ($18), charred peppers, aged lamb prosciutto and feta with scrambled eggs. But if looks are important (hey, no judgement here), you'll want to opt for one of the burgers — barramundi with miso butter ($24), pulled pork with pear sauce ($22) or chicken with shiso slaw ($19) — served on a charcoal milk bun. Or there's the signature lobster tail benedict ($25) which, yes, is just as decadent as it sounds — three generous strips of lobster tail, two poached eggs, scallops, smashed avo, orange gel and hollandaise served in a croissant. There's a lot going on. It's not really a cohesive dish, but it's certainly fun. As is the butterfly pancakes ($18) which incorporate the uber-trendy butterfly pea powder to give the pancakes a purple hue. Drinks are simpler, but no less colourful, with coffee by Zest, freshly squeezed juices, smoothies and, no surprises, heavenly red velvet and taro lattes. Service is warm, in the way you'd expect from a neighbourhood spot, and slick, in the way you might not. It's the final piece of the puzzle that has seen this small suburban eatery go from strength to strength. It might take a little extra effort to get to Son of a Baker, but you'll be glad you made the trip. Images: Michael Wee.
Over the past year and a half, A.P Bakery has built a cult following among Sydneysiders through its renowned bake sales. Initially popping up across Sydney before finding a home on the rooftop of Paramount House Hotel with A.P House, the team has been winning over locals for 18 months with its bread, pastries, pies and egg rolls. Now, A.P. has arrived in Newtown with its inaugural standalone venue, A.P Town. The bakery and cafe is tucked away behind north King Street on Bucknell Street in a quaint red-brick inner west building. Open 8am–2.30pm Wednesday–Sunday, the new outpost is sure to be a hit with inner west residents heading down for their morning coffee, a mid-week baked treat or weekend breakfast. The response has already been huge, with A.P Town selling out before midday on its first day of operation. The menu is simple. There are pies filled with pastrami, pork belly or native Warrigal greens. There are two toasties, too, a tuna melt and a next-level cheese toastie filled with onion, tomato, mustard, gruyere, asiago and cheddar. And there's an Aleppo and chickpea soup served with a buttered A.P. baguette. [caption id="attachment_858741" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Chimichurri Choripán[/caption] Then there's the Baked Today section of the menu, featuring pastries like buttermilk croissants or Aleppo pepper and asiago cheese scrolls; cakes including a chocolate and liquorice tart; and bread ranging from seeded rye loaf and baguettes through to chimichurri choripán and hazelnut, fig and apricot fruit loaf. As for the drinks, you'll find coffee supplied by Reuben Hills, tea is by Teacraft, Strange Love sodas and West End's juices and smoothies. With lines out the door expected, it's best to keep up to date with how things are selling and what new creations the A.P team is cooking up over at the A.P Bread Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by A.P Bakery (@a.p.bread) A.P Town is located at 1a Bucknell Street, Newtown. It's open 8am–2.30pm Wednesday–Sunday.
When something shows you its true colours, believe it. The Kingsman franchise certainly did when it debuted in 2014, as viewers have been witnessing ever since. That initial entry, Kingsman: The Secret Service, gave the espionage genre an irreverent and energetic spin, and landed partway between update and parody. But, while making Taron Egerton a star and proving engaging-enough, it didn't know when to call it quits, serving up one of the most ill-judged closing moments that spy flicks have ever seen. Since then, all things Kingsman haven't known when to end either, which is why subpar sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle arrived in 2017, and now unnecessary prequel The King's Man. Another year, another dull origin story. Another year, another stretched Bond knockoff, too. Stepping from 007's latest instalments, including No Time to Die, to this pale imitation, Ralph Fiennes takes over leading man duties in this mostly World War I-centric affair. He looks as if he'd rather be bossing Bond around again, though, sporting the discomfort of someone who finds himself in a movie that doesn't shake out the way it was meant to, or should've, and mirroring the expression likely to sit on viewers' faces while watching. Simply by existing, The King's Man shows that this series just keeps pushing on when that's hardly the best option. It overextends its running time and narrative as well. But as it unfurls the beginnings of the intelligence agency hidden within a Saville Row tailor shop, it ditches everything else that made its predecessors work — when they did work, that is. Most fatally, it jettisons its class clashes and genre satire, and is instead content with being an outlandish period movie about the rich and powerful creating their own secret club. Adapted from Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar's 2012 comics, the Kingsman series hasn't cut too deeply in its past two movies, but it did make the most of its central fish-out-of-water idea. It asked: what if a kid from the supposed wrong side of the tracks entered the espionage realm that's so firmly been established as suave and well-heeled by 007? Finding out why there's even a covert spy organisation staffed by the wealthy and impeccably dressed for that young man to join is a far less intriguing idea, but returning filmmaker Matthew Vaughn — who has now helmed all three Kingsman films — and co-screenwriter Karl Gajdusek (The Last Days of American Crime) don't seem to care. Vaughn has mostly ditched the coarse sex gags this time, too, and for the better, but hasn't found much in the way of personality to replace them. It's in a prologue in 1902 that Fiennes makes his first appearance as Orlando Oxford, a duke travelling to South Africa during the Boer War — and soon made a widower, because The King's Man starts with the tiresome dead wife trope. Twelve years later, Oxford is staunchly a pacifist, so much so that he forbids his now-teenage son Conrad (Harris Dickinson, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) from enlisting when WWI breaks out. But the duke hasn't completely given away serving his country himself, overseeing an off-the-books intelligence network with the help of his servants Shola (Djimon Hounsou, A Quiet Place Part II) and Polly (Gemma Arterton, Summerland). That comes in handy when a nefarious Scottish figure known only as The Shepherd interferes in world affairs, with King George V of England, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (all cousins, and all played by Bohemian Rhapsody's Tom Hollander) his targets. Using real-life history as a backdrop, The King's Man weaves in Rasputin (Rhys Ifans, Spider-Man: No Way Home), too. If only it possessed the sense of humour to include Boney M's 70s dance-floor filler of the same name, or even a vodka-filled shot glass of its vibe. Rasputin, the character, is actually the best thing about the film, and solely because he's the most entertaining. Ifans plays the part like he's in on a joke that no one else in the production has gotten, amping up a goth mystic, busting out dance-inspired fighting moves and proving the liveliest thing in a feature that's frequently ridiculous yet rarely fun. Making a screwy but banal First World War spy-fuelled action flick surely wasn't on the franchise's agenda, but The King's Man can barely be considered a comedy. Vaughn does stuff his overladen plot with lip-service sentiments fired in a few directions, however, tearing into war and colonialism — but that, like everything that The King's Man purports to do, comes across as half-hearted. In showing the horrors of combat, it doesn't help that 1917 is so fresh in cinematic memories (and it's definitely unfortunate that Dickinson could easily play the brother of 1917's star George MacKay). It's also hardly handy that Vaughn and Gajdusek's script manages to both rally against imperial rule and eagerly celebrate monarchies and the British Empire. That's the kind of thematic muddle the film wades through, making it clear that no one has thought too deeply about any of these concepts. The same applies to Oxford's pacifism, given that The King's Man heartily splashes around OTT violence. Here, an idea or position is only convenient when it's needed to further the story, and it's thoroughly disposable seconds later. Manners may maketh man, as the series' eponymous society has intoned in three pictures now, but throwing together whatever disparate parts happen to be at hand doesn't make a good movie. If the same approach was taken to tailoring, the resulting suits wouldn't pass the central secret service's sartorial standards. Poking fun at the past, name-dropping historical figures, giving Hounsou and Arterton so little to do: none of that turns out well, either. Plus, while zippily staged, all of the film's action scenes that don't involve Ifans get repetitive fast. But The King's Man still commits to its franchise duty, pointlessly setting up a sequel that no one wants in its dying moments. A follow-up to The Golden Circle, called Kingsman: The Blue Blood, is also in the works, as well as a TV show about its American Statesman offshoot. Keeping on needlessly keeping on: that's still this spy series' main trait, as it always has been.
After spending time at Gelato Messina Rosebery, Rocker and Grifter Brewery, Toby Wilson and his adored Sydney taco truck Ricos Tacos have found a permanent home in Chippendale. Located on Meagher Street, the new bricks-and-mortar outpost sees Ricos expand its always-reliable menu, and allows Wilson to experiment with new dishes and flavours. Wilson began serving up tacos to Sydneysiders in 2016 at Ghostboy Cantina, which first set up in the Dixon House food court before moving to Tio's. From there, he went on to become a prolific member of the Sydney hospitality scene, starting Bad Hombres in Surry Hills, and also running kitchens out of The Duke of Enmore and The George, before taking his tacos on the road with the Ricos food truck. At the centre of the menu in Chippendale is, of course, the tacos. You'll find Ricos classics like chorizo, potato and egg, with a rotating list of specials and one-off creations mixing things up. The most exciting addition to the menu at the Chippendale restaurant is tortas. These Mexican sandwiches generally come on long crunchy bread rolls similar to those used with banh mi; however, Wilson's version more closely resembles a burger, with his tortas served on soft milk buns. Inside the buns you'll find the likes of house-made chorizo paired with black beans, fermented chilli, charred tomato salsa and pasilla mayo — or beer battered fish with a healthy serving of the mayo, as well as salsa roja and salted cabbage. Another fresh set of eats that Wilson has brought to Ricos: a brunch menu. The restaurant initially opened late in 2021 following a hasty ten-day renovation in order to open a takeaway window during lockdown, and this initial setup offered breakfast and lunch, giving Wilson and co the opportunity to experiment with some new early-morning items. The result has been the addition of breakfast tacos, crispy-brown hash browns, and rich stacks of pancakes topped with chorizo syrup and butter. Now open for dining with a simple but playful interior complete with a mural by Mike Delaney, Wilson's former business partner at The George, Ricos is only looking to grow from here. Eventually, the plan is for the opening hours to be pushed back, moving breakfast to brunch and introducing dinner. Once evening service is up and running, beers from Ricos' good friends over at Grifter will be added to the menu, as well as seltzers from Cantina OK!, but for now patrons can quench their thirst with a hibiscus iced tea that Wilson has created in collaboration with Tea Craft. "In Mexico, one of the most common drinks you'd get at a taco joint would be a hibiscus iced tea. So I asked Arthur at Tea Craft to play around with it and make me one that had lemon myrtle in it," Wilson says. "It's refreshing and herbal and sweet, and it has a lot more complexity than what it's like without the lemon myrtle." Some exciting collaborations are also on the horizon. Wilson teased the possibility of getting members of the No 92 Glebe Point Road and Maiz crews in for team-up. "They're never really super-lucrative nights, but it's just great to share knowledge and stuff," he says. " You might even pick up one ingredient that they put in the salsa that you never tried before and it changes things. And at the very worst, you get to hang out with a mate." Ricos Tacos is located at 15 Meagher Street, Chippendale. It's currently open 8am–2pm Thursday–Sunday, with plans to expand into dinner hours. Images: Nikki To
Put down that after-work wine, and get your hands dirty at The Pottery Shed. Across three two-hour lessons, the experts at this Surry Hills workshop will teach you the foundations of pottery; throwing, trimming, glazing. It might not be the sexy Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore Ghost situation you're imagining, but it is surprisingly cathartic and a good way to switch off. The work is messy and tricky to master, but the hard slog will be worth it when you have a beautiful bowl or two to show off to your mates. Once you've nailed the basic techniques, you can return to The Pottery Shed and create more masterpieces at your own pace.
Want to extend your hot spring adventure into a relaxing weekend (or week) away? Pack a tent and head for the Burren Junction bore baths and campground. Camping is $5 per vehicle, and there are barbecue facilities, filtered water and electricity. Otherwise, just head on down for a dip in the baths for free. Spend your days soaking in the circular pool's 41.5-degree waters and, once you've melted away the week's tensions, head into town for a beer and a meal at the bustling Junction City Hotel for a taste of country town life. While you're in the area, you may as well visit another natural bore bath in Pilliga, which is a half-hour drive from Burren Junction. Images: Walgett Shire Council
When SXSW arrives in Sydney for the first time ever, it'll give Australia perhaps the biggest tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival that the country has ever seen. It's fitting, then, that the event has just added one of the nation's most famous acting names at home and in America: Nicole Kidman. 2023 marks 40 years since Kidman starred in BMX Bandits, but that's not why she'll be taking to the SXSW Sydney stage as part of its massive speaker lineup. Instead, she'll be chatting with her producing partner Per Saari about her production company Blossom Films. On its resume: the Nickers-starring Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing and Rabbit Hole, as well as this year's Elizabeth Olsen (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)-led Love & Death. [caption id="attachment_921120" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Ryan Pfluger[/caption] Among SXSW Sydney's latest additions, Kidman is joined by a few fellow Aussie talents who also know more than a thing or two about working in Hollywood. Indeed, in a separate session called Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, actor Jason Clarke and filmmaker Phillip Noyce will get talking about working in America's showbiz mecca. Jason Clarke has Oppenheimer, Zero Dark Thirty, First Man, Winning Time: The Rise of The Lakers Dynasty, playing John Connor in Terminator Genisys and more on his resume. Rabbit Proof Fence helmer Noyce's US credits include Salt, The Quiet American, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Saint and Revenge (and no, he won't be joining forces with Kidman to dig into Dead Calm). As well as Clarke and Noyce, this session features actor Charmaine Bingwa from The Good Fight, plus Crazy Rich Asians 2 screenwriter Amy Wang. [caption id="attachment_921123" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Warrick Page/HBO[/caption] The two new SXSW Sydney sessions hail from the Los Angeles-based Australians in Film, which is about developing screen talent, and add to an already-hefty lineup of speakers. Charlie Brooker is on the bill, diving into Black Mirror of course, while Chance The Rapper will talk about 50 years of hip hop, Coachella CEO Paul Tollett clearly has his own fest to discuss, and Future Today Institute founder and CEO Amy Webb also sits among the big names. "Over the past 20 years, AiF has created a unique and supportive community of Australian screen talent in Los Angeles, from emerging actors and filmmakers through to our most revered screen icons. We are excited to have this opportunity to bring the spirit and energy of AiF and our Hollywood community to SXSW Sydney, together with our partner Screen Australia," said Australians in Film Chair Emma Cooper. "From the team at SXSW Sydney, I'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Australians in Film and Screen Australia for their ongoing support. We appreciate the time everyone is taking to travel and join us in our first year — our story will be about these visionaries, and about the diverse and compelling voices emerging alongside them," added SXSW Sydney Managing Director Colin Daniels. Also on the SXSW Sydney lineup: a 700-plus strong bill of talent, covering over 300 sessions. The event will feature more than 300 gigs across 25 venues, too, including an array of music highlights and must-attend parties. Its dedicated gaming strand will feature a tabletop game expo. And, the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival will open with The Royal Hotel, then host the world premiere of Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles among a heap of other standout flicks. The entire event — the festivals within the bigger fest, exhibitions, talks, networking opportunities and streetside activations — will happen within a walkable precinct in the Sydney CBD, Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Ultimo, Chippendale and more, with the SXSW Sydney's footprint operating as a huge hub. Venues include Powerhouse Museum, ICC Sydney, UTS, Central Park Mall, the Goods Line Walk, The Abercrombie and Lansdowne Hotel. [caption id="attachment_910713" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Brittany Hallberg[/caption] SXSW Sydney runs from Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22 at various Sydney venues, with the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival running from Sunday, October 15–Saturday, October 21 at The ICC's Darling Theatre, Palace Cinemas Central and more venues to be announced. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Top image: The Undoing, Niko Tavernise/HBO. If you're keen to make the most of Australia's first SXSW, take advantage of our special reader offer. Purchase your SXSW Sydney 2023 Official Badge via Concrete Playground Trips and you'll score a $150 credit to use on your choice of Sydney accommodation. Book now via the website.
When Cocaine Bear made its leap from a true tale to a movie that was always bound to fall short of reality, it arrived with a promotional online game where a bear chomps on cocaine, plus people who get in its way, in a playful riff on Pac-Man. Called The Rise of Pablo Escobear, the game is more entertaining than the film, but it isn't the best low-fi button-clicking tie-in of 2023. That honour now goes to Feed Eggs, which anyone that's seen I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson season three will immediately want to play. How does a sketch comedy where assholes take centre stage work in a game about feeding eggs to a bigger egg? The answer to that is sublime, impossible to foresee, and completely in tune with the show's obsession with office culture at its most grating — and people being oh-so unbearably irritating. Eat-the-rich stories are delicious, and also everywhere; however, Succession, Triangle of Sadness and the like aren't the only on-screen sources of terrible but terribly entertaining people. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has been stacking streaming queues with appalling folks since 2019, as usually played by the eponymous Detroiters star — and long may it continue. In season three, which dropped in full on Netflix on Tuesday, May 30, the show takes its gallery of assholes literally in the most ridiculous and unexpected way, so much so that no one could ever dream of guessing what happens in advance. That's still this sketch comedy's not-so-secret power. Each time that it unleashes a new batch of six episodes, all screaming to be binged in one 90-minute sitting, there's no telling where Robinson, co-creator and co-writer Zach Kanin (Saturday Night Live), and their committed colleagues will venture. Three key constants: Robinson giving his rubbery facial expressions a helluva workout, memes upon memes flowing afterwards and a fresh round of quotable lines that'll never get old — even if you used to be a piece of shit slopping up steaks, and babies know it. Each of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's skits tend to hone in on someone being the worst in some way, doubling down on being the worst and refusing to admit that they're the worst (or even that they're wrong). And, while everyone around them might wish that they'd leave — that feeling is right there in the name — the central antagonist in every sketch is never going to. Nothing ever ends smoothly, either. In a comedy that's previously worked in hot dog costumes and television shows about bodies dropping out of coffins to hilarious effect, anything can genuinely happen to its parade of insufferable characters. In fact, the more absurd and chaotic that I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson gets, and the more unpredictable, the better that the show gets as well. It should come as zero surprise, then, that no description can do I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's sketches justice. Almost every one is a comedic marvel that has to be seen to be believed, as again delivered in 15-minute episodes in the series' third run. The usual complaint applies: for a show about people overstaying their welcome, the program itself flies by too quickly, always leaving viewers wanting more. Everything from dog doors, designated drivers and novelty venues to HR training, street parking and wearing the same shirt as a stranger are in Robinson's sights this time, plus people who won't stop talking about their kids, wedding photos and proposals, group-think party behaviour, paying it forward and boss-employee beefs as well. Game shows get parodied again and again — an I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson staple — and gloriously. Season three also finds time to skewer viral videos and folks desperate to make them, obnoxious audiences not once but twice, one-note pundits enamoured with the sound of their own voices and the kind of competitive romantic shows that reality TV is filled with. Indeed, although the nine-to-five grind has always been a treasure trove for I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's jerks, so have the screens that are as deeply entrenched in our lives. That innocent idea that every kid has about the people beamed into their homes, how wonderful they must be and wanting to be just like them? Robinson douses it with vodka shots. The series also makes plain that a camera is just a magnifying glass, especially when it comes to vexing traits. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson may thrive on being erratic, but it's easy to see its evolution from the cancelled-too-soon Detroiters. In the 2017–18 sitcom, Robinson and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson regular Sam Richardson (The Afterparty) play best friends, next-door neighbours and colleagues, the latter at a Detroit advertising agency specialising in low-budget ads that are frequently OTT and ludicrous. Kanin co-created the series with Robinson and Richardson, plus Joe Kelly, who went on to co-develop Ted Lasso. Sans moustache, Jason Sudeikis also executive produced and gave Detroiters its first big guest star — someone dealing with over-eager characters who weren't assholes, but also wouldn't take no for an answer. In its instant-gem debut season, its equally wild and wonderful second season in 2021, and now the just-released season three, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson has kept evolving. More often than before, Robinson lets his co-stars play the asshole, too. Some have been here and done that magnificently before — Richardson, of course, plus the also-returning Will Forte (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story), Patti Harrison (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Conner O'Malley (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Tim Heidecker (Killing It) and Biff Wiff (Jury Duty) — while some pop up as they do in seemingly every comedy ever made, which is where Fred Armisen (Barry) and Tim Meadows (Poker Face) come in. Among the newcomers, when Jason Schwartzman (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) join in, they're also on the pitch-perfect wavelength. Social awkwardness and awfulness is infectious within I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson's frames. It's also the driving force behind Netflix's best-ever comedy, and the best way that anyone can spend an hour and a half — or four-and-a-half hours now, to be honest, because watching one season of this sidesplitting series always sparks the need to re-binge the others ASAP. Check out the trailer for I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson season three below: I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson streams via Netflix. Images: Netflix.
For the second time this year, the vibrant Rainbow Studios space is adorning its walls with the work of two spectacularly talented people. First up, it was Clare Dubina and Kate Florence's in-tandem show Being, which took over the corner spot to see out summer's heat. And the next is no less special: a collection of joint works from the duo who work under the fresh and fun moniker Gelbell, Angelica Wootton and Bella Greene. The vibe? Rich hues, long-limbed figures and a floaty expression swept across the canvases. From Thursday, March 23 till Thursday, April 6, Gelbell's collection titled Never Never Land will be exhibited in Rainbow Studios' Darlinghurst digs. Thick brush strokes of fuchsia meet lofty tones of blue, starry cowboy boots hold nimble legs and abstract hands hold martinis — the works are rich with feelings of sunny days and melting Paddle Pops stickily dripping down sun-kissed arms. Deliciously, the clever tastemakers — and fellow Harbour City locals — at Ester Spirits will be pouring on-the-house martinis on opening night. From 6pm on Thursday, March 23, you can enjoy your arty surrounds, drinking in the talent of the pair of the moment, all while sipping a crystal clear 'tini. It's set to be a special one, Sydneysiders. If you can't make it on Thursday, feel free to drop in during opening hours (10am–3pm Wednesday–Friday and 10am–2pm on Saturdays), or arrange a private viewing by appointment throughout the two-week exhibition. Never Never Land takes to the walls of Rainbow Studios this March, with an opening night event — complete with martinis courtesy of Ester Spirits — on Thursday, March 23 at 6pm. The event is free to attend, though you're encouraged to register your attendance prior. Imagery: Yoonsook Jang
Before real-life American politics started to resemble a farce, HBO's seven-season comedy Veep got there first — and gave the country a female Vice President before 2020's historic election results, too. Starring the always-exceptional Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Senator-turned-VP Selina Meyer, this quick-witted show parodies everything about US government, elections and politics. It was created by renowned Scottish satirist Armando Iannucci, who did the same thing in the UK with The Thick Of It, and it's both razor-sharp and sublimely hilarious. Veep is also impressively cast, with Louis-Dreyfus winning six consecutive Emmy Awards for her work, and her co-stars proving just as deserving of awards. Tony Hale might be best known for Arrested Development, but he's pitch-perfect as Selina's body man Gary. Also, when Hugh Laurie shows up, Veep manages to find a new level of comedy.
On years ending in four in even-numbered decades, we watch new Mean Girls films. So goes the 21st century so far, as the hit 2004 teen comedy about high-school hierarchies returns to the big screen in 2024 as a musical, after breaking out the singing and dancing onstage first. Just like donning pink every Wednesday because Regina George (Reneé Rapp, The Sex Lives of College Girls) demands it, there's a dutifulness about the repeat Mean Girls. Tina Fey, writing the script for the third time — basing her first on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes — seems to fear the consequences for breaking the rules, too. Cue a Mean Girls movie musical that truly plays out as those four words lead viewers to expect: largely the same down to most lines and jokes, just with songs. Anyone looking at the longer running time in advance and chalking up the jump from 97 to 112 minutes to the tunes is 100-percent spot on. The latest Mean Girls also resembles protagonist Cady Heron (Angourie Rice, The Last Thing He Told Me): eager to fit into its new surroundings after being perfectly happy and comfortable elsewhere. That causes some awkwardness, sometimes trying to break the mould, but largely assimilating. Penning her first film script since the OG Mean Girls was her very first, 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Mr Mayor creator Fey revises details and gags that were always going to need revising. Social media, the internet and mobile phones are all worked in, necessarily so, as is sex positivity. Mean Girls 2024 is primarily dedicated to making Mean Girls 2024 happen, though; here as well, it's exactly as those three words have audiences anticipating. Scrap the songs and choreography (other than the Winter Talent Show performances, of course), and directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez (Quarter Life Poetry: Poems for the Young, Broke & Hangry) would've just remade the first film two decades later. There's a message in the Means Girls cycle, as the initial movie closed with. No matter how many obnoxious and angsty young women learn to cope with their ire and embrace kindness, more will follow the same journey, then more again. Accordingly, Mean Girls could easily be restaged every generation with nothing but era-appropriate changes and the tale would still ring true, as proves the case with its second cinema telling — plus the musical angle. That's a testament to the strength of and insights in Fey's foundational screenplay. It's also a sad truth about human nature. But like Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Wood, Love, Victor) yearning for a life and acceptance that doesn't involve everything that Regina decrees, viewers can be forgiven for wanting more from each Mean Girls iteration. While this is a winking, nudging, self-referential take that's forcefully trying to get playful with its devotion to its source material, Regina herself might call it an obsession. Once more, Cady swaps the savannahs of Africa for Evanston, Illinois, then homeschooling for North Shore High School, entering a savage teenage jungle in the process. With talented artist Janis (Auli'i Cravalho, the voice of Moana) and the "almost too gay to function" Damian (Jaquel Spivey, a 2022 Tony-nominee for A Strange Loop) to steer her, she joins the world of cliquery, where the Plastics — Regina, plus Gretchen and fellow entourage member Karen Shetty (Avantika, also The Sex Lives of College Girls) — rule the school. Befriending the in-crowd is meant to be a social experiment. Cady's mum (Jenna Fischer, Splitting Up Together) is a zoologist, after all. But after Cady gets a maths class-sparked crush on Regina's ex Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney, The Summer I Turned Pretty), the newcomer's stint at the popular lunch table morphs into a vengeance mission. Opening with the Cravalho- and Spivey-sung 'A Cautionary Tale' — Janis and Damien are viewers' guides, too — the Mean Girls movie musical uses songs in place of the original's voiceover, and to plumb the characters' emotional and psychological depths. Composer Jeff Richmond (Girls5eva) and lyricist Nell Benjamin (The Sea Beast, and another Tony-nominee) rework their tunes from the stage production that debuted in 2018, then was locked in for a film adaptation in 2020, with additions and exclusions; rarely are they the most memorable parts of the movie. Collaborating with YouTube-famous choreographer Kyle Hanagami (Red, White & Royal Blue), Jayne and Perez opt for a more-is-more vibe; however, the musical numbers ape the overall feature in miniature. Some aspects shine, such as the pure energy of the plan-setting 'Revenge Party' and the sincerity in Gretchen's 'What's Wrong with Me?'. Others are catchy but perfunctory, like the Rice-crooned 'Stupid with Love', plus Cravalho and Spivey again with 'Apex Predator'. Karen's ditty 'Sexy' is an entertaining social-media riff. And whenever Rapp sings, she's electric, but better than the material. Rapp was always destined to be one of the new Mean Girls' highlights. She's been here before, stepping into Regina's shoes again after wearing them on Broadway (Only Murders in the Building's Ashley Park also returns from the theatre after originating the role of Gretchen, but as a teacher). In a film so infrequently willing to switch up anything substantial, Rapp's interpretation of Regina is one of its biggest alterations: where Rachel McAdams (Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret) was icily piercing, the IRL pop singer is fiendishly ferocious. That fits today's times where the entire online realm is a burn book, making nastiness virtually the status quo, and it's never one-note. Among her co-stars, Rice, Cravalho, Spivey, Wood and Avantika all ensure that no one is desperately pining for Lindsay Lohan (Falling for Christmas), Lizzy Caplan (Fatal Attraction), Daniel Franzese (Not So Straight in Silver Lake), Lacey Chabert (A Merry Scottish Christmas) and Amanda Seyfried (The Crowded Room) as their characters instead — with Cravalho making the second-biggest impression, and screaming for more non-voicework parts. Fey returning as Ms Norbury, Tim Meadows (I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson) similarly back as Principal Duvall, Busy Phillips (also Girls5eva) taking over from Amy Poehler (Moxie) as Regina's mother: they're all grool touches. It almost wouldn't be a Fey comedy without Jon Hamm (Fargo) popping up, although he's given little to do — but scrapping Coach Carr's sex scandals was among the essential updatings. Mean Girls has always known that striving to conform is a clunky task, though it didn't need to live it. While this isn't the first movie to become a stage musical and then return to film also as a musical (see: Little Shop of Horrors, The Producers, Hairspray and Everybody's Talking About Jamie) and won't be the last (the new The Color Purple will follow it into cinemas Down Under, for example), it's firmly an example of being too committed to doing what's expected to have enough of its own fun.
Some of the city's most striking examples of brutalist architecture may be protected from the current development boom, under a City of Sydney plan to heritage list a collection of Modern Movement buildings. The plan to preserve a chunk of Sydney's modernist architecture — constructed between 1945 and 75 — would see famed structures like Martin Place's MLC Centre, Town Hall House, the Sydney Masonic Centre and George Street's former Sydney County Council building granted heritage protection. Lesser known examples included in the proposal are Anita Aaron's Earth Mother sculpture in Cook and Phillip Park, and St Peter Julian's Catholic Church and Monastery in Haymarket. All up, nine sites have been recommended for heritage listing by the Heritage Council of NSW, the plan likely spurred on by the recent fight to save Sydney's brutalist iconic Sirius building. If they do receive heritage listing, any future development would require taking each building's heritage into account. Before the buildings are heritage listed, the plan still has a couple of phases to pass. It will be discussed at the next Central Sydney Planning Committee meeting and, if it's approved there, it will be passed on to the Greater Sydney Commission, then put out for public feedback. Image: MLC Centre.
Romance. Kidnapping. A farm girl called Buttercup. A scheming prince. A swashbuckling saviour. A giant. When William Goldman threw them all together, The Princess Bride was the end result — first in his 1973 novel, and then in the 1987 film that the late, great writer also penned. For three and a half decades, viewers have watched Fred Savage (The Afterparty) hear the world's best bedtime story, Robin Wright (Land) and Cary Elwes (Black Christmas) frolic in fields, and Andre the Giant tower over everyone around, with The Princess Bride one of those beloved 80s flicks that never gets old. That said, if you've ever found yourself enjoying all of the above and dreaming that its soundtrack could fill the room around you while being played live by an orchestra, then you're about to be in luck. Despite what outlaw boss Vizzini (Wallace Shawn, The Good Fight) might exclaim, The Princess Bride in Concert definitely isn't inconceivable. Instead, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Opera House are channelling another famous The Princess Bride line: as you wish. This delightful movie-and-music combo will hit the famed venue's Concert Hall on Friday, March 24–Saturday, March 25, playing three shows across the two dates (at 7pm on both days, and 2pm on the Saturday as well). General ticket sales start at 10am on Monday, November 14 — and if you need a refresher on all things The Princess Bride, the comedy-romance-adventure flick follows farmhand Westley (Elwes) on a rescue mission to save his true love Princess Buttercup (Wright) — and also features Mandy Patinkin (Wonder), Billy Crystal (Here Today) and Christopher Guest (Mascots). SSO will perform the entire score live, as written by Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler and adapted for a full orchestra by Mark Graham, with Nicholas Buc as by guest conductor.
For your next Netflix binge, the streaming platform isn't simply suggesting its latest must-see series — it's also telling you what you should be eating. Crack out the tortillas, start marinating some meat and whip up a bit of guacamole, because it's taco time. No mere mortal can sit down to watch a show about this Mexican dish without devouring a whole plate of them, after all. Called Las Crónicas del Taco in Spanish and Taco Chronicles in English, the new series fittingly stems from Netflix's Latin American division. Also unsurprisingly, the show is an ode a meal that's beloved not only in its country of origin, but the world over. Expect to learn more about the versatile tortilla, including its immense cultural significance. And expect to start craving the many different varieties of tacos, too, such as pastor, carnitas, canasta, asada, barbacoa and guisados. Ample gushing about the dish is part of the package — this is a show made for taco lovers, by taco lovers — as is a feast of taco visuals. As any fan of food-focused documentaries already knows oh-so-well, viewing this multi-part effort on an empty stomach is not recommended. Taco Chronicles does boast Javier Cabral among its behind-the-scenes team, with the culinary writer acting as an associate producer and 'taco scout'. The series' English-language trailer is only available on Netflix itself, but if you can speak Spanish — or fancy looking at a whole heap of tacos anyway — Netflix Latin America's unsubtitled clip is below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2qist_IxZI The first season of Taco Chronicles is now streaming on Netflix. Updated: August 12, 2019.
Some dishes are as straightforward as they sound, and omurice — aka omelette rice — is one of them. It's an omelette made with fried rice, then typically topped with sauce. Yes, it's an easy concept to get around; however, not all versions of this western-influenced Japanese eggs-plus-rice staple are made equal. Indeed, trying Kichi Kichi Omurice's in Kyoto might be on your travel bucket list. Chef Motokichi Yukimura's viral-famous take on the dish has made him an internet star — the term "Japan's most-famous omurice chef" has been used — and seen his eatery become a tourist destination. As of January 2024, it's no longer doing bookings in advance, in fact. Now, diners are only able to make reservations on the same day they're eating, and need a password that's placed on the restaurant's door each morning to lock in their seating. But if you'd like the Kichi Kichi Omurice experience without the airfares, that's about to become a reality in Australia for four nights only — two apiece in Sydney and Brisbane. And yes, if this sounds familiar, that's because it's the second time that Yukimura is hitting both cities this year after an earlier trip in February and March. Yukimura will again be visiting Harajuku Gyoza to show why the dish he's been making for over 45 years is such a smash. The chef is doing 'meet and eat' events in both cities, cooking everyone who attends his specialty — and putting on a show, complete with his Kichi Kichi Omurice song and dance. Folks in Sydney are headed to Harajuku Gyoza Darling Harbour across Wednesday, July 17–Thursday, July 18. For Brisbanites, your destination is Harajuku Gyoza South Brisbane from Sunday, July 21–Monday, July 22. In Sydney, tickets cost $160 per person and are sold in pairs, with sittings at 12pm, 5pm, 6.30pm and 8pm on both days. Brisbane's tickets are $140 each, again sold in pairs, with the same sitting times. That price covers tucking into Yukimura's omurice, plus Harajuku Gyoza's signature long fries, three types of gyoza, air cheesecake and a welcome drink — and meeting the chef. Motokichi Yukimura will be at Harajuku Gyoza Darling Harbour in Sydney on Wednesday, July 17–Thursday, July 18, then at Harajuku Gyoza South Brisbane in Brisbane from Sunday, July 21–Monday, July 22. Head to the eatery's website for further details and bookings.
Japanese salon Shinka has been a Sydney staple since 2008. It boasts three Sydney CBD locations — one in The Galeries and another two along Clarence and Castlereagh Streets — and three more in Tokyo. You'll only find Japanese stylists at each Shinka branch, most of whom have experience working in Tokyo. The Sydney locations also offer luxurious interiors, like high cathedral ceilings, glazed walls and gold and white finishes. Cuts start at $70 for women and $60 for men, with colour treatments from $100 and balayage from $160. Alongside your usual cuts and blow drys, Shinka also offers Japanese and keratin hair straightening and digital perms — the latter will leave you with natural looking, bouncy curls.
Winter is great for getting cosy, wearing every piece of warm clothing you own and enjoying hearty foods. It's also an ace time to plan your next getaway for when spring and summer hit. Dreaming of a sunny vacation somewhere in Australia? Just keen to explore this continent we call home? To help with that, and any other domestic trip that's on your agenda in the near future, Virgin has dropped an Aussie flights sale with 500,000 discounted fares up for grabs. Prices are starting low, at $49, which will get you from Sydney to Byron Bay — the usual cheapest fare in any Aussie flight sale — and vice versa. From there, the sale spans everywhere from the Sunshine Coast, Hobart and Broome through to Cairns, Canberra and Proserpine. The 72hr See Australia sale runs until 11.59pm on Wednesday, July 19 — unless sold out earlier, with fares to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide also covered. That means paying $69 one-way from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast, $79 from Melbourne to Hobart, $99 for a trip from Brisbane to Cairns and $109 to get from Canberra to the Gold Coast. Or, still on local deals, the specials also cover $69 from Melbourne to Launceston, $119 from Adelaide to Sydney, $149 from Brisbane to Darwin and $209 from Melbourne to Perth. If you're wondering when you'll need to travel, the fares cover between August 16, 2023–March 26, 2024, all varying per route. Inclusions also differ depending on your ticket and, as usual when it comes to flight sales, you'll need to get in quick if you're keen to stack the rest of 2023 and the start of 2024 with holidays. Virgin's 72hr See Australia sale runs until 11.50pm AEST on Wednesday, July 19 — unless sold out earlier. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world.
If you're a fan of Japan's top-notch scotches, head to Tokyo Bird for a selection of premium imported whiskies and tasty meat-sticks, formally known as yakitori. In the izakaya tradition, this dimly lit den is all about the drinks, coupled with a savoury snacking menu to ensure you don't get too tipsy and disgrace the family name. Japanese whisky has well and truly taken off, with bar managers across the globe updating their drink menus to reflect the increasingly legitimate entrant to the new wave of nations getting in on the spirit and delivering it at a world-leading level. Tokyo Bird is well positioned to cater to the trend, with a selection of more than 25 imported Japanese whiskys. One of the most notable tipples is the award-winning Yamazaki. The 12-year-old offers up a delicate dram with tropical notes and teasing spice, while the 6-10-year-old Yamazaki Distillers Reserve is mild with hints of vanilla and Japanese oak (mizunara). Other selections from the Suntory range include the Hibiki 12-year-old or 21-year-old, or you can try the toffee tasting pure malt from the Nikka Distillery. If you have mixed feelings towards whisky, there's also Asahi Super Dry and Asahi Black tap (the Black brew has a sunny flavour belying its sinister black colour). For snacks, get stuck into the sticks. Yakitori is traditionally made with chicken, and you can choose from thigh, wing, liver, heart or giblet skewers, all marinated in a sweet soy tare (sauce) and imbued with smoke from the charcoal grill. A Japanese arabiki cheese sausage skewer is particularly tasty, much like a fancy kransky (if such a thing exists — which it most definitely does). The white cabbage salad with sesame dressing makes a refreshing side dish and palate cleanser, or for a casual bar snack you can't go past a bowl of crispy fried renkon (lotus root) chips with spicy mayonnaise. With whiskys aplenty, but not many seats, it pays to be an early bird at Tokyo Bird. Images: George Hong
Permission to come aboard, captains: RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under is back for 2023. Those first five words spring from RuPaul's very owb lips, not only announcing the show's return in July, but also unveiling this year's queens. Ten new fierce, fabulous, bright, bold and sassy competitors will sashay before the show's cameras for glory this winter, and showcase drag in Australia and New Zealand in the process. "Australasian drag is filled with heart and humour, and I'm thrilled to share my season three queens with the world, for all to see their charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent," said RuPaul. From Friday, July 28 via Stan and TVNZ, seven Aussies and three New Zealanders will do their utmost to become the next Down Under Drag Race Superstar: Amyl, Hollywould Star and Ivory Glaze from Sydney; Melbourne's Ashley Madison, Bumpa Love and Isis Avis Loren; Gabriella Labucci from Ballarat; Auckland's Flor and Ivanna Drink; and Rita Menu from Hamilton. Each will endeavour to follow in Kita Mean and Spankie Jackzon's footsteps — after Mean took RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under's first season and Jackzon did the honours in season two. Obviously, the show's first go-around worked a charm. The second did as well. And, there's no doubt that the third will be, after the series was renewed for its latest run on Stan in Australia and TVNZ+ Aotearoa in 2022. RuPaul is back on on hosting duties, of course. Fans already know the format, which features fashion challenges, workroom dramas and lip sync battles aplenty. If you're a newcomer to all things Drag Race, however, you'll watch the next batch of Australian and NZ competitors work through a series of contests to emerge victorious, and join the likes of Mean, Jackzon, and US contenders Jinkx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Sharon Needles in being crowned the series' winner. Before it made the leap Down Under in 2021, the US version of RuPaul's Drag Race had already been on the air for more than a decade, first premiering in 2009 — and wholeheartedly embracing its mission to unearth the next drag superstars ever since. The original US series aired its 15th season earlier in 2023, so this is a program with proven longevity. It has also spun off international iterations before, including in the UK — where it's also hosted by RuPaul — plus in Thailand, Holland, Chile and Canada. Meet Drag Race Down Under's season three queens below: RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under season three will stream via Stan and TVNZ from Friday, July 28.
Everyone's favourite uncle has moved to Sydney — and what's more, he bought cake. With over 70 stores worldwide, Australia has finally made the cut for the world famous, best-selling Uncle Tetsu's Japanese cheesecakes. So stick a spoon in your back pocket, fashion yourself a paper napkin pocket square and get in line for a slice of the action. The queue, of course, is long. Stupid long. There are crowd control barriers set up and dedicated staff with clipboards managing the flow. Sounds like overkill, but the precautions are necessary. People can do crazy things when made to wait for cake. On my first visit, I'm invited to join a pre-line a few doors down. A line to join the line? Sydney, take a good look at yourself. Ordering is straightforward. There are just two items on the menu: the famous Uncle Tetsu cheesecake ($17.99) and the honey madeleines ($4). If you had planned to stock up wartime-style on cheesecakes, think again — these babies are strictly limited to one per person. Like all serious foodies should — and if you've just waiting in two lines, chances are you're dead serious — we take our box immediately to the park to enjoy a still-warm slice. We carefully free the cake from its sheath of protective paper — inside is a snow-white cake with a golden burnished top, branded with the signature Uncle Tetsu stamp. We gasp. We clap. The cake is revealed to be incredibly light and fluffy. There is no biscuit base, as the style dictates, and having been baked in a water bath, the sides are moist like pudding. As for the taste, it's eggy and pancakey, with little sweetness. Resist the temptation to eat it all at once. When you cool it in the fridge it grows denser and crumbly, with a soft, sweet cheese flavour. In my humble opinion, it improves. One thing that will strike you is how overwhelmingly understated it is. It's refined and pure — a real backlash to the more is more, over-the-top desserts that Sydney has grown accustomed to (*cough* cronut *cough*). Butter, milk and eggs become distinct and delicious flavours, while complexity is delivered in the form of its ethereal lighter-than-air cotton consistency. Uncle Tetsu, methinks you're going to need another store. Image: Ryan La.
Every year for the past 101 years, the Archibald Prize has recognised exceptional works of portraiture by Australian artists. In 2022, from a field of 52 finalists, the coveted award has gone to Moby Dickens by Blak Douglas. The painting depicts Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, who lives on Bundjalung Country in Lismore, and is designed as a metaphor for northern NSW town's floods earlier in 2022. Douglas — a Sydney-based artist with Dhungatti heritage, who was born Adam Hill – made history, too, as the first New South Wales First Nations artist to win with a painting of a New South Wales First Nations artist. "I'm elated," he said, accepting the award. "It's a major historic win." A huge 1908 entries were submitted for the the 2022 Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes. From that three winners were unveiled at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday, May 13. All three decisions were unanimous, and they provide an impressive snapshot of the Aussie art scene right now. For the Sir John Sulman Prize, 491 works were submitted, with Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro winning for Raiko and Shuten-dōji. The first collaborative duo to do so to win the award — which is presented to the best mural, subject or genre painting — they nabbed the prize for their rendering of the battle between the warrior and the demon that gives the colourful piece its title. With the Wynne Prize — which recognises the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture — Nicholas Harding emerged victorious from 601 entries with painting Eora. The artist has a long history with the awards, being shortlisted for the Wynne nine times, and also for the Archibald 19 times, including winning the latter in 2001. Also a winner, but announced last week, on Thursday, May 5: Sydney-based artist Claus Stangl, who picked up this year's Packing Room Prize. He won for a portrait of the one and only Taika Waititi, because there really is nothing that the Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok filmmaker can't do. The winning portraits and finalists are now be on display at Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW up until Sunday, August 28. If you don't agree with the judges, you can cast your own vote for People's Choice, which will be announced on Wednesday, July 27. [caption id="attachment_853909" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Winner Wynne Prize 2022, Nicholas Harding. Eora, oil on linen, 196.5 x 374.8 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling.[/caption] Top image: Excerpt of winner Archibald Prize 2022, Blak Douglas. Moby Dickens, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 300 x 200 cm © the artist, image © AGNSW, Mim Stirling. Sitter: Karla Dickens.
Simple Pleasures Camping Co. is returning to the grounds of Oberon's Mayfield Garden for its next luxurious eco-friendly camping retreat. After popping up in March this year, Glamping in the Garden will return this spring, from September 21 through November 17, to one of the world's largest privately owned cool climate gardens. Located three hours' west of Sydney's CBD, the gardens are seriously impressive and include an 80-metre waterfall, a walled kitchen garden and a six-acre water garden — plus a bluestone chapel, aviary and rose garden. Bookings include passes to explore the sprawling 160-acre gardens, with exclusive nighttime access for glamping guests. There's plenty to do apart from moseying around, including romantic canoe rides, interactive garden mazes, tours and workshops, with Spring Festival also on October 13–28. The campsite is separate into two 15-tent sites: the family-friendly area if you've got kids in tow and a more intimate adults-only section situated next to the picturesque obelisk pond. The bell-shaped tents are fitted with queen mattresses, lavish rugs, bedside tables and solar lighting. The experience also comes complete with towels, an outdoor table and chairs to sit at, lanterns and torches, along with on-site bathrooms and showers, which are exclusive to the glamping area. Bookings also include a 'paddock and garden-to-plate' barbecue menu for two, with 80 percent of the produce sourced on-site and 20 percent handpicked from local suppliers. The cook-it-yourself menu includes steaks, marinated chicken, a fresh vegetable platter and vegan salad, with all cookware provided and communal barbecues and alfresco dining area available on the campground. Bookings for Glamping in the Garden are now open. Prices start at $290 per night and includes accommodation and dinner for two, with family packages also available. If you're looking for more glamping options, check out our ten favourite glamping spots near Sydney.
Barrack Place is Sydney CBD's new food and caffeine-filled laneway hangout. Taking inspiration from the laneways of Melbourne and New York, the space has an industrial fit-out with a touch of art — there's a brick façade, black steel details and cobblestone streets, plus installations by Adelaide artist Amy Joy Watson. Inside, you'll find three spots serving top-notch brews: Batch Espresso, Mo'st and St Dreux. The latter is a pastel pink coffee oasis and the second outpost of St Dreux, a roastery located in Sydney's southwest. It's serving up its own blends of beans as milky coffees, filter and nitro cold brew — a sparkling, nitrogen-charged coffee with the foamy head of a beer. Perfect for Sydney's balmy summer mornings (and afternoons). Food is light, limited to pastries — sweet and savoury — and baked goods. If you're looking for something heartier, we suggest heading next door to the aforementioned Mo'st — it's slinging rou jia mo: a Chinese-style burger originating from the Shaanxi Province that's said to be the world's oldest sandwich.
The winner of this year's Cannes Film Fest Palm d'Or is an exercise in movie-going endurance. Written and directed by celebrated Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep clocks in at a gruelling 196 minutes long, a figure that makes the most recent Hobbit flick look positively breezy by comparison. Frankly, only the most committed of arthouse nerds should even attempt Ceylan's latest — and even they may find themselves struggling with the picture's slow-as-molasses pace. Indeed, despite his film's epic run time, Ceylan appears committed to keeping actual dramatic incident to a minimum. Concerned, at its core, with the erosion of the marriage between a conceited old hotel owner (Haluk Bilgine) and his miserable young wife (Melisa Sozen), Winter Sleep at times feels more like a stage play than a movie. Characters argue at inordinate lengths about marriage, money, philanthropy, class and the nature of good and evil. Then they argue some more. The topics that Ceylan sets out to explore are certainly intriguing. In its best moments, Winter Sleep calls to mind the likes of A Separation and Two Days, One Night — films in which the dialogue cuts not just to the hearts of the characters, but to the issues facing the society in which those characters live. At other points, however, Ceylan's writing becomes strained, laying out his themes in painfully literal language, as if we can't be trusted to understand them on our own. On a more unequivocally positive note, Gokhan Tiryaki's cinematography is genuinely stunning. Under the harsh, grey-white light of foreboding winter skies, the Anatolian landscape seems almost otherworldly. Equally beautiful are several night-time interior scenes, the flickering glow from the fireplace casting shadows across the walls. Even so, it's difficult to get past that ridiculous three-hour run time, which drags behind the film like a ball and chain. Ironically, most of the truly compelling content can be found in the movie's second half. The problem is that, by the time you get there, there's a good chance that your brain will have already checked out. https://youtube.com/watch?v=P1nQbYtTPQg
Make new friends and get a good feed while you're doing it. That's the basic premise behind SocialTable, an intriguing new service inviting you to share a meal with a group of gastronomically compatible strangers. Starting in September, SocialTable will team up with a number of carefully selected restaurants around Sydney. They'll work in partnership with the venues on specially designed set menus, the details of which will then be posted to the SocialTable website. "For example, we might have a booking at a restaurant on a Thursday night for eight people," explains SocialTable co-founder Tom England. "We release that onto the website and as a diner you can see that table, you can get an idea of the menu, and book your seat." "When you sign up you create a brief profile, including a photograph, your likes and dislikes around food, and interests outside of that," adds his business partner Ben Stokes. "You'll also get a brief snapshot of the person who might be sitting at the table with you." Users will also be able to list any allergies, and buy drinks packages to go with their food. The whole meal will be paid for ahead of time via the SocialTable website (and eventually an app), with Stokes estimating an average bill of "around $50 to $60 for the food, and then drinks on top". Initially the plan is to work with around ten medium-to-high-end restaurants in areas like Bondi, Manly, Newtown and the CBD, providing what England calls "a cross section of locations and a cross section of cuisines that really show what Sydney dining is all about." They're coy about exactly which restaurants they've struck deals with so far, although they plan on releasing the details of their launch event in the new few weeks. In the long run, SocialTable hope to be hosting upwards of 20 dinners a week, and have already talked about expanding to Melbourne and potentially Perth. "Perth has a huge fly-in fly-out market," says Stokes, adding that they see the service as something not just for locals, but also tourists and business travellers. Of course, the danger with a service like this is that you could end up on a table with people you don't have anything in common with. Then again, with all this talk about social bubbles we've been hearing recently, perhaps that's not such a bad thing. And hey, either way, at least you get dinner out of it. SocialTable will launch in September, but you can submit your interest via their website now. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Go on, reward yourself with something fancy. Round up some friends and drop into The Paddington for their $58 banquet. The world-class pub and cocktail bar was earlier this year awarded one chef hat. It's known for offering a no-fuss menu with showcases a perfectly roasted chook, and includes not one but three desserts, including the generously heaped chocolate mousse with salted caramel and chocolate crunchy bits.
Think of Thailand and you probably think of idyllic beaches, excellent food and lovely, welcoming people. But there's one more thing you can add to that list: trash. Specifically, agricultural and industrial waste. In the country's creative and industrial hubs, a group of environmentally conscious Thai brands are creating practical objects out of discarded materials and embodying the ethos of DEWA and DEWI, or Design from Waste of Agriculture and Industry — a method that uses design and creativity to both repurpose waste and minimise pollution. As the old saying goes: one man's trash is another man's treasure. And in this case, the proverbial trash has been repurposed to create treasure in the form of tableware, carry bags and eco-friendly upholstery. Pineapple by-products, unused medical gloves, car parts and even food scraps are all being transformed into products that are useful, eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. And as the other old saying goes: waste not, want not. We've teamed up with Thailand's Department of International Trade Promotion to showcase six brands that are solving environmental problems and hitting consumer demand all in one go by turning garbage into gold. THAI NUM CHOKE Thailand has a huge pineapple industry and that mammoth crop leads to a whole lot of pineapple leaves ending up as waste each year. The unwanted leaves are usually discarded via burning, causing an extra kick of waste, too. But it turns out this fibrous material doesn't need to go up in flames. At Thai Num Choke, pineapple leaves are transformed into fibres, yarns and even vegan leather before being reborn as bags, clothing and award-winning fabrics. Blended with industrial materials and hemp barks (another agricultural waste problem), the fabrics make for durable upholstery and beautiful, environmentally responsible leather. Thai Num Choke also uses natural dye sources and is looking at reclaiming other waste products to expand its innovative textile making. LAMUNLAMAI It's no secret that food waste is a big environmental issue. But what if that waste could end up back on the table — think, an egg cup made of eggshells, coffee accoutrements made of coffee grounds and a vase made of carrot pulp. At Lamunlamai, that's exactly what you'll find. Taking waste from individuals, restaurants and industry, Lamunlamai creates artisanal ceramic tablewares, the shapes and subdued natural hues of which are made to echo their source material. Utterly unique and with exquisite attention to detail, each piece is a beautiful work of art for the table which harks back to the company's origins in creating custom pieces and art installations. MUNIE The Delight Collection by Munie has very humble beginnings: weeds and waste. In Thailand, water hyacinths infest city drains and need to be regularly cleared. As it turns out, those tough but elegant masses of weeds can be turned into natural fibres that are light, quick-drying and absorbent. When woven into yarn with cotton scraps, this waste matter becomes a useful and beautiful fabric that can be used to make pillows, slippers, cushions, table-runners, hats and baskets. Munie supports a strong rural economy by investing in local workers, making its fabrics sustainable and socially conscious all the way along the production line. RUBBER IDEA Rubber Idea is a clever concept. In a post-plastic bag era, the 5 billion unused medical gloves that go to waste each year seemed like a golden opportunity to create recycled and reusable carry bags. After all, rubber is waterproof, easy to clean and the latex can be reconstituted and coloured in vibrant hues, giving you a functional and environmentally responsible bag that also provides a solution to a huge waste problem. It's not just bags that Rubber Idea has mastered. It also has a line of pet products including accessories, temperature-adjustable bedding and chewable and snack-dispensing toys. Because why shouldn't your beloved pet live the same environmentally conscious lifestyle as you? CHYWA You probably think about petrol pollution and the fossil fuels that are used to power your car regularly, but what about the environmental impact from the actual car itself? Airbags alone result in tonnes of waste each year across Asia, Europe and the US. But they're a durable material: tough, wrinkle-resistant and made to withstand stress and hard knocks. In other words, ideal for the outdoors. Chywa receives airbags and seatbelts from Thai garages and up-cycles them into outdoor lifestyle products. The range features stylish and functional camping gear including backpacks, folding chairs, shoulder bags and wide-brimmed hats. With tourism being an integral part of Thailand's economy, integrating sustainable practices to improve the ecological footprint of this industry makes complete sense. RENIM PROJECT Producing just one brand-new pair of jeans uses on average 7,600 litres of water and can create up to 60 kilograms of CO2 emissions. And when you think about how many new pairs of jeans are made each year, that's a lot unnecessary usage. With fast fashion being such a big polluter, consumers are wising up and looking for alternatives. The solution? Recycle, reduce and redesign denim via The Renim Project. This Bangkok-based label raises awareness around denim waste through Thai craftsmanship. Using all scrap parts — including zippers, buttons and leather labels — the project reforms waste into stylish new fashion items, such as eye-catching patchwork clothing, bags, accessories and even placemats and table runners. The Renim Project also collaborates on limited-run items that have made their way into LA Fashion Week. Keen to explore more waste-embracing Thai brands? For more information, visit the DITP website, or explore more of Thailand's booming creative scene here.
Whether you're looking for an excuse to visit this year's Ramadan Night markets, or are simply seeking out the best of the best to build your itinerary before you go, you've come to the correct place. Running from Saturday, March 9-April 8, Lakemba's vibrant celebration of food and culture has returned, open from 6pm to 3am every Thursday to Sunday. These month-long markets take over Haldon Street to honour the Islamic month of Ramadan, providing sustenance and a sense of community for participants while they break their daily fast (something to keep in mind when visiting), as well as providing the rest of the community with platefuls of reasons to head along. Solidifying itself as an annual institution within the community, the markets breathe life into the local haunts of the suburb with food that you'll be craving all year round. If you are looking to test the waters with different cuisines, this is the perfect place to do so. Each stall features a particular cuisine, with the selection ranging from familiar crowd-pleasers like Lebanese and Indian dishes to lesser known gems like the Pakistani, Syrian and Burmese options on offer. As a local, I've collated a range of helpful tips — as well as a selection of the top stalls to add to your hit list — to ensure a successful haul of top-tier dishes. Our recommendation: dive in headfirst and you'll be pleasantly surprised. The Headliners To start the night with a bang, hit up the stars of the show. These must-visit stalls range from mains to snacks and desserts to local sips. Looking for dessert and a show? Secure a slice of knafeh from Yummy Yummy Knafeh or Al Fayhaa Nablous Knafeh. The delicious Middle Eastern dessert is a must-try, with cheese as the main ingredient — so you are guaranteed to enjoy the perfect cheese pull — combined with a topping of pistachios and a dousing of rose water sugar syrup. For a creamy dessert, Syrian ice cream from Bakdash Ice Cream is a cold treat that'll sit lighter in the stomach. Or you can opt for decadent strawberry chocolate pots from Sugar House Waffles. For heftier dishes, sink your teeth into a freshly-made burger from Broaster Chicken, the Chicken Tikka burger from Adda Kebab & Spicy Chicken (a personal favourite of mine), or opt for the Ramadan-special camel burger if you're feeling adventurous. Unfortunately, the two limited edition burgs are only available annually — so make the most of this rare treat. If you are not on the burger train just yet, head over to Deccan Flavours or Desi Hub for a Chicken Tikka box fresh off the grill. Each box includes naan, juicy chicken pieces fresh off the grill, creamy mint sauce to accompany and a side of salad. Then there's Shahi Dastarkhwan where the chicken curry wraps are the main event. Packed full of flavour and encased in light, pillowy bread, these wraps are also an annual go-to. At the stall, you'll find four flavours of curries to try, including the Hariyali chicken covered in a minty marinade (green), chicken cooked in coconut cream (white), 'Majestic chicken' — a blend of turmeric and other spices (yellow), and the classic Chicken 65 (red). For a palate cleanser, try the refreshing lemonade from a small lemonade stand with a humble setup called Fresh Lemonade (situated next to the Commonwealth Bank). There is an expansive array of flavours on offer here, including the crowd-favourite classic lemonade, strawberry lemonade and mint lemonade — all of which contain fresh fruit. You'll also find a new-and-improved set of offerings, from Turkish lavashak and Italian cannoli to camel milk hot chocolate. The Culture Vulture For those seeking to fully immerse themselves in the culture of the night markets, opt for a coffee hit with a shot of Arabic coffee. This is also available at the Yummy Yummy Knafeh stand, so you can pair it with a slice of knafeh for the full experience. This intense blend is reminiscent of a long black — and is not for the weak — so we highly recommend sipping. Keen to avoid coffee after hours? Head to The Nawabz or Adda Kebab & Spicy Chicken for the rose-flavoured Kashmiri Chai (dubbed the 'pink drink') and stay for a snack. The Nawabz stall also offers gol guppas (thin, round shells filled with curried chickpeas), which are a bite-sized delight accompanied by a tangy liquid spice mixture to dip the balls into — a treat that you'll also be able to find at the Desi Paikari Bazar stall. For a creamier drink comparable to a thick white hot chocolate, opt for the Sahlab next to the King Crepe stand. Much like a warm milk pudding, this Middle-Eastern drink is the perfect selection to warm you up on a cooler night. Comfort Classics If You Don't Intend to Venture Too Far For visitors who don't want to venture too far outside their usual takeaway favourites, you can grab chicken fajitas from Fajita King; dutch pancakes, chocolate-covered dessert sticks and crepes from King Crepe; chips on a stick — the best being from Al Fayhaa Chicken; and manoush (Lebanese pizza) from Traboulsi Bakery and Al Fayhaa Bakery. Tips and Tricks to Keep You Ahead of the Game Hankering for some extra insight? I'm going to share some insider tips with you. First and foremost, be sure to take cash. Many businesses only accept cash, while the majority have a preference for it. Peak times tend to be from 7pm-10pm if you're looking to avoid the crowds but keep in mind that you run the risk of stalls not being fully set up if you arrive earlier. Of course, the risk of visiting later in the night means items could be sold out completely — disastrous! Hitting up the markets in groups or with reusable bags is also highly recommended. There are plenty of stalls to explore and you'll need your hands to either hold your loot or post those money shots on social media — many businesses are happy to put on a show for you if you do. Searching for parking is a difficult feat, so public transport will be your best bet. There are shuttle buses available from Roselands and Campsie from 6:30pm to 12:30am for those in the neighbouring suburbs. Plus, Lakemba's train station is less than a minute from all of the action. Finally, many of the businesses are now also available on UberEats for those residing nearby. Keep in mind, though, that many of the popular dishes are stall specials and are only available at the markets. The 2024 Ramadan Night Markets will take over Lakemba from 6pm-3am every Thursday to Sunday from Saturday, March 9 until Monday, April 8. To stay up-to-date or for additional information, head to the event's page on the CBCity website.
An exploration of an exiled poet. The Australian premiere of legendary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's latest feature. An effort that's being called Peru's first bona fide horror movie. They're just three of the films showing at the first-ever Cine Latino Film Festival lineup, as Australia's first national fest dedicated to showcasing the best in Latin American cinema prepares to tour the country this month. While the complete program features more than 30 movies from Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala and Puerto Rico, there's a reason that the first of the flicks mentioned above — the Pablo Larraín-directed, Gael García Bernal-starring Neruda — has been plucked straight from Cannes to open the festival. The last time the filmmaker and actor worked together, the excellent No was the end result, so expect another insightful look at Chilean politics from their second collaboration. Jodorowsky's Endless Poetry should rank among the festival's just-as-eagerly-anticipated titles, especially by fans of the director's '70s cult classics El Topo and The Holy Mountain and his most recent effort The Dance of Reality — or anyone who marvelled at what could've been when they watched the entertaining documentary Jodorowsky's Dune. And whileThe Womb doesn't come with quite the same pedigree, it does boast a chilling storyline involving one of the horror genre's favourite topics: motherhood. Elsewhere, a chronicle of the pop star known as the 'Mexican Madonna', an insight into current state of a formerly luxurious Havana hotel, and more than a couple of soccer-themed efforts all feature among the feast of Spanish and Portuguese-language fare, as do Peruvian road movie Solos and Venezuelan beauty queen black comedy 3 Beauties. Just perusing the program is enough to make you want to jump on a plane for Latin America, however for those who can't enjoy an overseas holiday at the moment, immersing yourself in the films of the region really is the next best thing.
Imagine if your quick trip to the convenience store was even faster and more convenient? Well, this could soon be a reality, as 7-Eleven Australia launches its new cashless, cardless concept store, where transactions are all processed via smartphone. The app-based technology was first trialled alongside the regular point-of-sale system at the group's Exhibition Street store in the CBD, but this new Richmond store will be the first in Australia to rely on it entirely. Operating similarly to Amazon's groundbreaking, fully automated grocery store, which opened in Seattle last year, 7-Eleven's new process ditches physical checkout counters in favour of a smartphone app. Customers scan barcodes of their selected items as they move through the store, then pay via the 7-Eleven Mobile Checkout App, which is linked to their credit card. 7-Eleven launches Australia's first cashless and cardless convenience store in Melbourne's inner suburb of Richmond where customers use their smartphones to complete their transactions. https://t.co/AH8jNCtwjU pic.twitter.com/szMtsszQG9 — 7-Eleven Australia (@7ElevenAus) May 29, 2019 According to 7-Eleven, the payment process has been honed to be as quick and user-friendly as possible. And with zero queues, it means means less time waiting to sink your teeth into that late-night sausage roll. Like Queen Lizzie, we're guessing people will cheat the self-service system — putting pricey Ben & Jerry's tubs through as $1 Slushies — but 7-Eleven says there'll be plenty of staff on hand to greet, assist and keep an eye on the customers. While no more check-out free stores have been in Melbourne or interstate just yet, the company says it is exploring more "ultimate convenience" options, such as delivery and micro store formats. We'll let you know if it decided to launch any more. You can find 7-Eleven's new app-driven concept store at 2/658 Church Street, Richmond. You'll need to download the 7-Eleven store app from the Apple Store or Google Play before you shop.
If your new year celebrations are often filled with unrealised expectations and warm beer, this could be the year you vow to make it different — and the perfect solution might be Sydney's Harbour Hoopla, held in the stunning Royal Botanic Garden. It's all going down inside the garden at the Tarpeian Precinct Lawn, meaning it has some of the best views in the city. So, it's the perfect location to see the NYE fireworks, with incredible views of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Plus, there'll be plenty of carnival-style and interactive entertainment, as well as a DJ once the night gets into swing. Tickets will cost you a casual $350 a pop, but you can't really beat those multimillion-dollar views. You'll also get a picnic hamper, filled with dip, frittata, a chicken or vegetarian main and a cheese platter. For dessert, you'll get a flourless chocolate, Nutella and popcorn torte. And, to get you suitably soused (and well hydrated), there'll be a number of pop-up bars — just make sure you bring cash as there are no e-sales at this shindig. Perhaps what's most exciting though is the fact that — unlike the rest of Sydney — you won't have to head to the CBD early to get the best seats in the house. Gates open at 6pm and the party will continue till 1.30am. It's a BYO rug situation, so make sure you come prepared — and ready to dance your way into the next decade. Harbour Hoopla is happening on New Year's Eve, from 6pm–1.30am. To nab yourself a ticket, head here.
Most of us have spent more time indoors this year than any other year. Which means, you might have been dreaming about upgrading your home — with a slightly comfier couch, perhaps, or a sleek dining table. Luckily, with Black Friday just around the corner, fancy furniture retailer Castlery is taking up to 35 percent off its range of furnishings for the rest of the month. At Castlery's online Black Friday sale, you can find beds, couches, rugs, tables and a whole range of goodies to help spruce up your home and achieve the aesthetic you've been envisaging in your head. Some of Castlery's best-selling items are included in the sale, such as the comfy Adams chaise sectional sofa, Theo round dining table and the Luna sideboard designed by award-winning Polish designer Krystian Kowalski. The sale runs from Monday, November 16 until Monday, November 30 and you can jump on now and start crafting a wish list of your favourite items as you plan your perfect pad. FYI, this story includes some affiliate links. These don't influence any of our recommendations or content, but they may make us a small commission. For more info, see Concrete Playground's editorial policy.
For actress and model Sarah Stephens, fashion has never been about following the rules. Instead, it's about experimentation, performance, and storytelling. Between her auditions, acting roles, modelling and events, the multi-hyphenated Australian often switches between characters and identities. Whether she's on set or scouring stores, Sarah sees style as an extension of her identity and career — a way to experiment. "Clothes are costumes to me. My everyday look is quite classic and feminine, but I'm not tied to one particular look. I like to experiment depending on my mood, event or character." Sarah's fluid approach to fashion mirrors her layered career. After winning the Girlfriend Magazine model search competition in 2006, the young girl from Sydney jetted to the glamorous world of fashion and modelling. "I sort of stumbled into modelling without a clear direction for my life, and soon found myself completely immersed in the fashion industry," Sarah tells Concrete Playground. [caption id="attachment_1028485" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Image by Declan May - Galaxy Z Flip7 is featured[/caption] From walking 14 shows at her debut New York Fashion Week to being photographed by famed German photographer Ellen Von Unwerth for Italian and Russian Vogue, Sarah hit dizzying international success early on in her career. In Europe, she was the face of Lacoste's Love of Pink campaign, and just a few months after her 18th birthday, the model walked a coveted international runway show. Reaching these milestones so quickly came at a cost, though. "It was all too much too soon. I burnt out. I couldn't cope with the loneliness and pressure," she reflects. "As a shy and conscientious kid thrown into a ruthless, cutthroat industry, you often find yourself vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse," says Sarah. "I often didn't question what photographers, agents or clients asked of me because I didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful." A young Sarah had to make a decision. Continue down the modelling route or head home and regroup. "I was struggling both physically and emotionally. Being far from home left me feeling incredibly lonely, and the constant pressure to maintain a certain size took a serious toll on my mental health." [caption id="attachment_1028486" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Image by Declan May[/caption] Sarah decided to head home to Australia and "reconnect with reality". It was during this time that Sarah stumbled upon another passion — acting. "I attended a summer course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and discovered a deep passion for acting. It felt therapeutic, and the structure kept me engaged, challenged, and energised." Sarah's acting break came in the form of A24 movie The Witch, directed by Robert Eggers. Her proudest acting achievement, however, was playing Mary in The Flood, a four-person play that ran Off-Broadway in New York and at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Now, as the actress reaches her mid-thirties and returns to the acting industry post-COVID and U.S. writers' strike shutdowns, Sarah is leaning into her self-expression. She's just finished shooting an independent film in which she portrays an ASIO detective and is currently working on a short film with a friend. "I love how acting lets me step into entirely different lives. I have a deep passion for storytelling and the immersive nature of film." When it comes to styling herself, Sarah believes that having an everyday uniform is overrated. For the actress and model, a wardrobe full of vintage blazers, polkadots, Mary Janes, and puffy-sleeved blouses means she can transform into whichever character she's tapping into (both on and off screen). "Every outfit I put on that day dictates the role I play. It could be bold and cinematic, or it could be soft and intimate and feminine." But, it's statement pieces, she says, that make you feel the most powerful. When we met with Sarah while she was sourcing clothes from For Artists Only, UTURN Bondi and Ekoluv for an upcoming event, the actress shared how technology is instrumental for her day-to-day life, schedule and also style exploration. "For someone like me who plays with identity and storytelling, technology has become this amazing bridge between imagination and reality," Sarah says of devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7. Powered by Google Gemini*, it's a handy tool for the on-the-go person with multiple passions. As for what's going into the model and actress' schedule next, the acting world's Sarah's oyster. "Hopefully something in a period drama or maybe even a supervillain. Time will tell, and that's exactly what makes this career so exciting," Sarah shares. Explore more at Samsung. *Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC. Gemini Live feature requires internet connection and Google Account login. Available on select devices and select countries, languages, and to users 18+. Fees may apply to certain AI features at the end of 2025. Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC. Requires internet connection and Google Account login. Works on compatible apps. Features may differ depending on subscription. Set up may be required for certain functions or apps. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Editing with Generative Edit results in a resized photo up to 12MP. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Results may vary per video depending on how sounds present in the video. Accuracy is not guaranteed. If you or anyone you know is experiencing emotional distress, please contact Lifeline (131 114) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636) for help and support.
It is 1988, and 15 years since president Salvador Allende committed suicide as Pinochet's military jets bore down upon the Chilean presidential palace. Under international pressure, Pinochet has agreed to determine his future by referendum. A 'yes' vote will see the continuation of the torture and 'disappearances' that have characterised his reign (today, over 1000 Chileans remain missing). A 'no' vote will mean the restoration of democracy. For four weeks, each side of the campaign has a daily 15-minute television segment with which to win over voters. Enter advertising creative Rene Saavedra (Gabriel Garcia Bernal). A composite character pieced together by director Pablo Larrain and scriptwriter Pedro Peirano, he has been raised outside of Chile by his exiled father and is expert at conjuring up slick commercials designed to sell Western-style products. It takes some convincing for socialist politician Urrutia (Luis Gnecco) to shake Rene out of his apolitical apathy and get him on board the no campaign, but once he does so, the action begins in earnest. No derives its dramatic tension from two sources: the intersection of advertising propaganda and political rhetoric, and the difficulty of reconciliating the private life with the public. The no campaigners believe that their aim is best achieved through graphic reminders of Pinochet’s brutalities, so Rene must convince them of his strategy: to present post-dictatorship freedom as one would a shiny commodity — symbolised by a rainbow logo, communicated by the slogan 'Happiness Is Coming', and accompanied by a jubilant jingle. Simultaneously, he must navigate his emotions over the departure of his wife, a hardcore activist who sees her husband as lacking courage and conviction. Bernal approaches Rene's character with an enigmatic composure, conveying his conflicting traits through subtleties — standing stock still amidst an erupting crowd upon announcement of the referendum results, or tearing up in silence as he walks away from his wife's door. Larrain's exploration of the power of advertising is not without its ironies. On one hand, we celebrate Rene's backing of justice; on the other, the success of his commercial-style simplification of a complex political situation is disturbing. Larrain touches on this uneasy contradiction through staccato stabs of humour, masterfully interwoven with darker moments. It is worth noting that a recent New York Times article revealed that the film has attracted criticism in Chile for downplaying the significance of the grassroots movement to the no campaign. Seeking an aesthetic reflective of the period, Larrain recorded No with a 1983 U-matic video camera. Flares and flashes are included deliberately. Archival material blends seamlessly with contemporary footage. Some may find this approach a little self-conscious, and it's certainly not pretty, but the intention is to transport viewers back in time. The third feature in Larrain's filmic study of Chile, No is a triumph, historically and dramatically. Sure, its verisimilitude may be questionable, but its study of at least one aspect of the referendum that toppled Pinochet is compelling.
Double Bay has welcomed an exciting new corner restaurant and bar to the former Cafe Perons space on Bay Street. Bartiga comes from co-owners Charlie Kelly and Head Chef Faheem Noor, arriving in Sydney's east with a menu inspired by Southeast Asian cuisine that the team describes as "modern yet not defined". The Kelly family have operated out of the site for more than four decades, with Charlie taking over the reins from his mum Vicky, who was in charge of the beloved cafe before him. With its latest iteration, the kitchen has shifted to focus on flavour-packed eats from an accomplished Sydney chef paired with an impressive list of wines and cocktails. "Double Bay has had its ups and downs, but the current atmosphere is the most exciting it's ever been," says Charlie Kelly on the ambitions for the venue and neighbourhood. "With visionaries like Charles Melic, Double Bay is poised to compete with the likes of James Street and Rodeo Drive." Noor brings experience from the bustling kitchens of Tetsuya's, Empire Lounge and Gordon Ramsay's Maze, unveiling a slate of dishes that nod to classic flavours as well as more trendy modern menu staples. The tried and tested Moreton Bay bug roll is given a makeover with the addition of red curry pesto, and comfort foods from across the globe collide with the barbecued prawn tom yum spaghetti. Other signature menu items to keep an eye out for when venturing to Bartiga include the MB4 scotch fillet topped with an Asian herb chimichurri and crispy onions, beef rendang sausage rolls, XO pipi linguine, prawn toast sandos, and spiced chicken wrapped in pandan leaves. Accompanying the dining options is a crowd-pleasing drinks menu. Alex Cameron (Franca) has curated the wine list, with 80 different drops listed under both 'Classics' and 'Future Classics'. Rounding out the offerings is a playful cocktail menu that's been created with some help from Vincent Valliere, owner of Byron Bay's Casa Luna. Sweet tooths should look no further than the banana and vanilla espresso martini, while those that like their drink a little more stiff can opt for the Skyfall — a combination of whisky, amaretto, macadamia liqueur and bitters. Double Bay residents who used to frequent Cafe Perons can also still drop in for their daily caffeine fix. Branded Bartiga Express, the restaurant is open from 7am for takeaway cappuccinos and flat whites, using beans from specialty roasters ONA Coffee. For now Bartiga is just open for dinners from 5pm, but as things ramp up you can expect lunch to be added to the fold from 12pm each day. Bartiga is found at the corner of Short and Bay Street, Double Bay. Head to the restaurant's website to make a booking. Images: Jude Cohen and James Pellegrino
Artist Katerina Teaiwa brings her solo exhibition Project Banaba to Carriageworks from November 17. A Banaban scholar and Associate Professor in Pacific Studies at ANU, Teaiwa's scholarly and artistic work focuses on the history of phosphate mining in the central Pacific and the displacement of indigenous Banabans. Quick history lesson: Banaba Island in the Pacific Ocean was destroyed by phosphate mining and rendered uninhabitable, causing the total relocation of its people to Rabi Island, Fiji in 1945. Project Banaba commemorates the island's history, with the show's run coinciding with the 72nd anniversary of the Banaban people's displacement on December 15. Working closely with curator Yuki Kihara, Teaiwa has combined new work with rare textual, photographic and filmic historical archives in a rich, multimedia exhibition. The show also interweaves personal narratives, says Teaiwa, revealing the political injustice generations of her family experienced, and, in her words, "how the rock of Banaba, te aba, the body of the land, and the body of the people, was viewed and transformed by powerful imperial interests." The show promises to be an unsettling – but important – reminder of the ongoing impact phosphate mining has had on present-day Pacific communities. Image: Tearia in the Teaiwa family Kainga, Tabona, Rabi Island, Fiji. By Katerina Teaiwa, 2014
Chat Thai has been one of Sydney's best Thai eateries for more than two decades, and now you can enjoy their beloved street food at the Gateway dining precinct in Circular Quay. Rejoice, Chat Thai fans. Joining the likes of Gelato Messina, Neil Perry's Burger Project, Four Frogs Creperie and The Gozleme Co. in the new eating destination, it's their biggest place yet — with a noodle bar, two kitchens and 145 seats to prove it, as well as more than 100 meals on the menu (including some brand new additions) and a hefty booze list. The Gateway Sydney restaurant joins Chat Thai's other spots in Haymarket, Centre Point, The Galeries, Manly and Randwick, meaning that you're never too far from your favourite food fix.
When winter rolls around, it can be mighty tempting to just spend the entire season holed up at home in front of the telly. But we did enough of that last winter. This year, it's all about getting out and exploring everything our country has to offer in the cooler months. Roasting marshmallows in front of an open fire. Foraging for truffles, then enjoying your spoils in a decadent long lunch. And escaping the outdoor chill in one of the country's best art galleries. You'll find all this — and much more — in Canberra this season. We're here to help you carve out your ideal winter itinerary to the capital city. Please stay up to date with the latest ACT Government health advice regarding COVID-19.
Aussies can finally have their dreams of a white Christmas come true with Thredbo's Christmas in July. There'll be no dashing through the bush in a rusty Holden ute — this Christmas (in July), you're going to get the real deal from the big man. Santa Claus will be feeling fine in his natural snowy habitat, taking to the slopes to show off his fresh tricks and sick skills (we've heard a snowboard is his weapon of choice). When he's not carving up the powder he'll be wandering around the mountain giving out warm Christmas cookies and spreading holiday cheer. Head down to the Friday Flat Clock Tower between 3.30pm and 4.30pm to meet the cheeky man in the red suit and snap a pic — it might be your only chance to ever have your Santa photo as it apparently should be (in the snow), so make sure you don't miss it. To find out more about Thredbo's exciting winter program, head to thredbo.com.au.
The last of Red Rock Deli's Secret Suppers in Sydney has been and gone, with Lotus' executive chef Chris Yan creating a feast in Darling Harbour's Chinese Garden of Friendship. The exclusive supper series saw some of Australia's most talented chefs whipping up mouth-watering, three-course feasts inspired by Red Rock Deli's new limited-edition range. And when we say exclusive, we mean it — only 20 lucky guests got to tuck into each lavish dinner. On Thursday, August 8, Shanghainese chef Chris Yan put up a feast. After guests were picked up from Central Station's Grand Concourse entrance and whisked away to a mystery location, Yan's dished up plates inspired by Red Rock Deli's Thai red chilli and creamy coconut chips. In the first two courses, Yan made both chilli and coconut heroes in with his crispy pork hock with Thai chilli and red braised beef brisket with Thai chilli and coconut cream. While his dessert of jasmine tea sago with rhubarb and pink grapefruit incorporated the creamy texture of coconut. Sounds like a meal that shouldn't have been missed but, if you did — or you went and want to recreate the magic at home — check out Yan's recipe for the crispy pork hock here. Images: Kimberley Low
