One of the first recorded reports of the Negroni came from Orson Welles in 1947. While working in Rome, he wrote, "The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other." Sixty years later, bartenders and home cocktail enthusiasts are still perfecting the Negroni. And after so long, people get confident. And creative. And they make ridiculous things that we want to inhale with vacuum force. Here are five awesome takes on the Negroni, most of which aren't actually Negronis but have all the right ingredients — gin, Campari and vermouth. Bottoms up. THE GRUMPY NEGRONI Sydney's Grumpy Donuts are getting in on the Negroni Week action, with a special edition doughnut version. 'The Grumpy Negroni' is covered in a freshly squeezed orange and gin glaze, and filled with a Campari spiked creme patissiere. This doughnut creation will be available via the Hey You app on Wednesday, June 8. Orders will open at 10am. The doughnuts will be available in boxes of four, for $20 including delivery within the CBD only — World Square to Circular Quay, including Barangaroo, while stocks last. Grumpy Donuts will be donating $2 per doughnut (or $8 per box) to the Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, the only not-for-profit pound in Sydney. Legends. NEGRONI BREWNUT Sydney's Brewtown Newtown is getting in the spirit of Negroni Week this year with their own Negroni Brewnut. This croissant-doughnut hybrid comes coated in a blood orange sugar, topped with a lightly bitter Negroni cream, and finished with blood orange meringue, Campari gelée (gel) and dehydrated citrus. It'll be available to smoosh into your face for $6 for the length of Negroni Week exclusively at Brewtown. [caption id="attachment_573609" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Butter & Scotch.[/caption] NEGRONI PIE You can have your Negroni and eat it too with this adorable dessert version of the cocktail. Brooklyn bakery Butter & Scotch has created the ultimate boozy after-dinner adventure. According to B&S, the pie has "bittersweet custard infused with orange zest and a hefty pour of botanical gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari liqueur, all cradled inside a flaky all-butter crust. Top with a dollop of whipped cream for an unusual, delicious, and boozy treat!" [caption id="attachment_573607" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Pear & Ash.[/caption] NEGRONI ICE CREAM SANDWICH New York City's Pearl & Ash has taken our cocktail hero next-level. Chef Richard Kuo is the brains behind this Negroni-inspired ice cream sandwich, a boozy confection involving Campari-infused ice cream, gin and semi-sweet vermouth rosso, smooshed between thin pieces of orange-vanilla cake. [caption id="attachment_572288" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Hawthorn Lounge.[/caption] CHOCOLATE NEGRONI Wellington's Hawthorn Lounge shakes things up, Negroni-wise. Snuggle into a Chesterfield lounge by the fireplace at this cosy little '30s-style speakeasy, and roll the dice on a special edition experiment. Bar wizard Jamie has created a fresh and chocolatey take on the Negroni, with Aperol and Ramazotti taking the place of Campari. It'll set you back $18 and a cheeky airfare. [caption id="attachment_573613" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Craftsman and Wolves.[/caption] NEGRONI MARSHMELLOWS Another way to eat your Negroni! Weeeee! San Fransisco's Craftsman and Wolves is a contemporary patisserie making 'seasonal marshmellows' — and they've done a Negroni version for past Negroni Weeks. Adorable little striped layers of fluffy, sugary handmade glory. Not easily shared. [caption id="attachment_573616" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Humphry Slocombe.[/caption] NEGRONI ICE BLOCKS Freezing your favourite cocktail is the best way to turn your regular dessert cocktail into an actual dessert, which you can pair with an actual cocktail. San Francisco ice cream parlour Humphry Slocombe made these awesome little Negroni Ice Pops for Negroni Week last year. Consider these perpetually in our freezer next summer. Want an actual Negroni? Negroni Week 2016 runs from June 6 – 12. Check out our list of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane's best.
We don't know how things go down in your household, but the only food we generally pair a cider with is a packet of salt and vinegar chips on a balmy afternoon. But while this is undoubtedly a terrific use of an ice-cold bottle of the alcoholic apple beverage, it turns out that cider is great when used as an ingredient in your food as well. It's not just us saying that, by the way. Melbourne's Scott Pickett, chef and restaurateur at Saint Crispin and Estelle Bistro, agrees. "It adds an interesting element to a sauce or dish or puree, as opposed to using your standard red or white wine," says Pickett, who after reopening his Northcote restaurant The Estelle as Estelle Bistro earlier this year, has just opened the second phase of the space: Estelle by Scott Pickett. And what does cider complement best? According to Scott, it goes best with cured salmon and fish, charcuterie and — of course — pork. Pork jowl — which, for the record, is the cheek of the pig — is somewhat of a signature for Scott, who has continually used the jowl on the menu at his evolving High Street restaurant. With Estelle Bistro opening in February, the lineup changed, but jowl still stands as a stalwart. Only now it benefits from the addition of an ingenious cider gel. Adding the blobs of cider to the plate adds a whole other taste to the pork, says Scott. '"The sweet, yet dry flavour profiles of the cider and the fragrant apple add an extra element to the dish." So if you want to get a bit fancy with your cider and experience the true culinary chemical reaction that occurs when pork and apple are combined in the same mouthful, try making Scott Pickett's signature pork jowl with cider gel and boudin noir (that's a French blood sausage) this weekend. Fancy, fancy recipe below: Ingredients 3 pork jowls, skin on 500ml apple juice 375ml James Squire cider 200g boudin noir (blood sausage) 4 pickling onions 5g agar agar 1tsp seeded mustard Red mustard leaves 500g rock salt 1 bunch of thyme 1 bunch of sage 4 cloves of garlic For the pork jowl Place the rock salt, thyme, sage and garlic in a food processor and process all ingredients until well combined. Trim any excess fat and skin from the pork jowls, cover them in the salt mix and leave to sit in the fridge overnight. The next day, rinse off the salt and place jowls on a roasting rack lined with baking paper and roast at 230 degrees for 80 minutes. For the cider gel Pour the cider into a saucepan and, on the stove, reduce it until there's only half the liquid left. Add the apple juice and agar agar. Bring the liquid back to the boil, and when it's boiling, pour into a bowl and place it in the fridge to set. Once it has set, place the liquid into a blender and puree until a smooth gel forms. For the Boudin Noir crumb Roughly break up the boudin noir and place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven at 150 degrees until the sausage has dried out and resembles large breadcrumbs. To serve Cut the pickling onions in half and roast with the layers facing down in a very hot pan. Continue to roast until slightly charred and tender, and when you remove them from the oven, separate the layers to get a shell-like shape. Take out the pork and cut it into 2cm slices. Place one slice of the pork jowl in the centre of the plate, and surround it with three dabs of the cider gel and three of the onion shells. Top with the boudin noir crumbs, dribble the grain mustard over the plate and garnish with the mustard leaves.
White Rabbit Gallery are following up their epic summer exhibition Paradise Bitch with something wildly (and literally) monumental. A metric ton of fake marble, two tons of leather, three tons of compressed paper, five thousand porcelain leaves, 8000 identical books, 130,000 minute photographs and 600,000 painted dots are charging into the Chippendale gallery space this March for Heavy Artillery, a brand new exhibition examining mass and scale in contemporary Chinese art as a means to convey even larger ideas. Going big and in-your-face is a hugely effective way for artists to tackle the bigger concepts — life and death, technology and nature, change and eternity — and inevitably stop viewers in their tracks. But Chinese contemporary artists take this even further, using historic monumentalism for contemporary experiments. As the White Rabbit team points out, "Gigantic statues of Mao erected in the 1960s still dominate town squares all over China. But for contemporary artists, monumentalism is a way to express new realities and new ideas ... Mixing what they have learned from the West with China’s classical culture and crazy commercial zeitgeist, the former student [artists] are taking contemporary art in bold new directions." Like most of White Rabbit's exhibitions, the works in the show are all new acquisitions — and they've never been shown in Australia before. See He Xiangyu’s Tank Project (2011-13), a Soviet-Chinese tank replica made from hand-stitched leather, Geng Xue's The Poetry of Michelangelo (2015), a video tribute to Michelangelo using a lump of clay, and Polit-Sheer-Form Office group's Library (2008), a huge, huge archive of blue books. Other artists include Liu Wei, Hsu Yung-Hsu, Aaajiao (Xu Wenkai), Guo Jian, Liu Chang, Liu Jianhua, Song Hongquan, and Taiwanese artists Ah Leon, Lin Yen-wei, Chou Chu-Wang.
In the Southern Hemisphere, we're quick to flock overseas when we hear the word 'holiday'. However if time is scarce and hopping over the equator isn't an option, there are a number of incredible accommodation options in Australia and New Zealand that are serving up some serious competition to the north. Not only are the below accommodation options impeccably designed, but most are encompassed by immaculate landscapes and vivacious cultures. In partnership with boutique hotel curator Mr & Mrs Smith, here are ten incredible hotels worth checking out this long weekend. HUKA LODGE, NEW ZEALAND Huka Lodge is nestled in Taupo, the volcanic heartland of New Zealand. It proudly sits at the forefront of the North Island on the dreamy Waikato River. The lodge complements the natural beauty of its surroundings, with peaceful bedrooms furnished with a blue and white colour palette. Unwind in the main lodge with some New Zealand Pinot Noir beside the fire. Don't leave without visiting the mesmerising Huka Falls, where the water runs at about 220,000 litres per second. It's a place for both adventure and rejuvenation. EAGLES NEST, NEW ZEALAND This luxury getaway has rightly deserved its multiple awards. Eagles Nest is a lodge that sits above New Zealand's Bay of Islands, a cluster of about 140 subtropical islands at the northern tip of the country. Visitors are treated to inspiring views that combine secluded beaches with coastal bushland. The hotel itself is sleekly put together, rich with gentle timbers. Eagles Nest caters to all types of holidays; patrons can have a day at the on-site spa, or have a session with the resident personal trainer. Watching the Pacific peacefully roll from the infinity pool could be the closest thing to feeling like you're at the end of the earth. MATAKAURI LODGE, NEW ZEALAND Overlooking adventure capital Queenstown is Matakauri Lodge—11 rooms blessed with vistas of Lake Wakatipu and the glory of its bordering mountains. We like to think of it as the Lake Como of the Southern Hemisphere. The lodge has a fireside lounge, spa, infinity pool and multiple dining areas. Plus, it's only seven minutes from the main town, where you can sign up for horse riding or helicopter tours, or (if you're game) skydiving or bungee jumping. It helps knowing you'll return to the royal yet homely comforting setting of the lodge, where adrenaline subsides and calmness kicks in. COMO THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA The award-winning Como the Treasury is the first (and only) Australian hotel in the Singaporean chain of Como Hotels and Resorts. Occupying the old State Buildings, the hotel is one of Perth's most lavish offerings. The hotel is filled with sophisticated spaces, energised with cultural facets that pay homage to Australia's heritage. Diners at the hotel's restaurant Wildflower will find indigenous flavours, and visitors to the spa can treat themselves to Kakadu-plum facials. EMPIRE RETREAT AND SPA, AUSTRALIA Tucked away in one of Australia's most culinary rich settings is Empire Retreat and Spa. Modern meets rustic in the hotel's ten suites, which sit among manicured gardens hiding jacuzzis, a sauna and an outdoor shower for patrons to enjoy. While the hotel doesn't have its own restaurant, there is no shortage of dining options in the region. Plus, staying here is a good excuse to venture through the undisturbed bush of the Yallingup Margaret River region. If it's wine you crave, Empire has it covered with its own winery—Empire Estate. EMIRATES ONE&ONLY WOLGAN VALLEY, AUSTRALIA This Emirates One&Only resort sits among the grandeur of the sandstone Blue Mountains. There's something about the mist, endless green, and sheer volume of the region that gives it an out-of-this-world aura. This resort seizes its naturally setting, with large windows that give way to valley-filled vistas. Pools are aplenty, incorporated into many of the accommodation's 40 villas. Some are three-bedroom retreats, which makes this One&Only a top spot for group holidays. ROYAL MAIIL HOTEL & MT STURGEON, AUSTRALIA Foodies have endlessly celebrated the Royal Mail Hotel's award-winning dining room, where meals are created daily using produce harvested in the monstrous kitchen gardens. The restaurant may have an art deco feel, but the cottages part of the Mount Sturgeon Homestead stylishly go back in time, made of thick bluestone combat the weather extremes of the area. Inside are photos of local wildlife, while the generous backdrop of the Grampians sits just outside the window. THE LOUISE, AUSTRALIA If it's a vineyard retreat you're after, consider The Louise. Situated in South Australia's Barossa Valley, the hillside houses are fitted out with various tones of red and purple—very wine-appropriate. The Louise's award-winning restaurant, Appellation, serves meals with a heavy reliance on locally-sourced food. About 80 percent of the menu's ingredients are sourced within a 50-kilometre radius. The restaurant makes for the perfect setting to look over the hundred of acres of vines. SPICERS PEAK LODGE, AUSTRALIA Spicers Peak Lodge is the highest non-alpine lodge in the country, perched on Queensland's Scenic Rim. Amid 8000 acres of Scottish Highland cattle, kangaroos and wallabies bouncing around are ten suites and two lodges that present the best of modern lodge living. Guests are invited by the high-ceilinged main lodge, where you can sign up for private guided walks on the area's many trails. Sink into a lounge chair beside the deck-fringed infinity pool, or beside the fireplace with a cocktail. BELLS AT KILLCARE, AUSTRALIA Bells is a concoction of seaside modernity and comforting Hamptons-style flair. Blue, white and coral tones fill the rooms alongside revitalising bright white walls that showcase prints of flora and fauna. Rose-filled gardens circle the rooms and the restaurant. Ensure you squeeze in a bush walk through Bouddi National Park—made up of about 3700 acres of spotless beaches, waterfalls and spurts of rainforest. If you decide to take a trip this Easter long weekend, visit Mr & Mrs Smith to book your accommodation.
Take a step (or roll) back in time and boogie to Wham! this March with the upcoming 'Back to the '80s Roller Disco' at the UNSW Roundhouse, run by Rollergirl Promotions. If spandex, leg warmers, head bands and all things fluro sing to the song of your heart, gear up in your 'Physical'-best and party the night away — and you'll get pretty fit while you're at it. With a bake sale, karaoke and raffle run by the Roller Derby League South Side Derby Dolls, DJ sets by Tom Dobalina and Andrew P Street, alongside "boobs, booze and making love on eight wheels" as described on their Facebook page, the night is sure to leave a pretty lasting impression. Too unco to skate? Fear not. This is not an exclusive event to wheeled pros a la Beyonce's 'Blow' video. You're allowed to break it down on your own two feet — and also get your own workout laughing at your roller skating friends — at this unique Saturday night disco.
If you managed to nab a ticket to Paul Kelly's Making Gravy tour in Melbourne last year, then you were one of the lucky ones. If you weren't and have been lamenting ever since, you can stop. The songwriting legend has just announced that he'll be performing the show all over again this December, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. As in 2017, you can expect to hear a stack of songs from Kelly's four-decade long career. Listen out for all the hits, from "Dumb Things", from the album Live, May 1992, to "Love Never Runs On Time" from Wanted Man (1994). The Christmas classic "How To Make Gravy", first released in 1996 on an eponymous EP, is on the menu, too. Chances are, you'll also hear some tunes from Kelly's new album, Nature. Due out on 12 October, it features poems by Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Phillip Larkin, alongside original poems and songs. Last year, his 23rd studio album, Life is Fine, topped the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming the first of his albums to do so. Kelly won't be hitting the road alone: he's inviting a bunch of special guests. He'll be joined by Angus & Julia Stone, playing tunes from 2017 album Snow, Alex Lahey at all shows, with Angie McMahon and D.D Dumbo joining the lineup in Sydney. The show is outdoors and all-ages.
First it was dog poo. Then it was glitter. Now a new website has once again raised the bar of ridiculous things you can anonymously send your enemies in the mail. Dicks by Mail is the company’s name, and their business model is simple: money comes in and penis-shaped gummy lollies go out. If you can think of a better, more tastily vindictive way to spend $15, then frankly we don’t want to hear it. According to their website, Dicks by Mail is a service for anyone wanting to inspire feelings of "sadness, disappointment and betrayal" in their enemies. Their helpful FAQ suggests a number of possible targets, including co-workers, ex-boyfriends, estranged parents and the Westboro Baptist Church. But really, the possibilities are endless. Each bag of 5oz dicks is accompanied by a note that reads "eat a bag of dicks," just in case the message wasn't already clear. They also recommend sending the dicks to a person's place of work, for maximum embarrassment. "You will remain anonymous and silently chuckle to yourself for years to come as you picture them slowly degrading into a shell of the person they once were," reads a maniacal declaration on Dicks by Mail’s homepage. "Their slow decent into madness will be much tastier than the bag of candy dicks you sent to them." What’s really amazing is that this isn’t even the first dick-sending service on the internet. Ship a Dick has been mailing out giant cardboard cocks for over a year now, although we probably wouldn’t recommend eating them. Now for the bad news: Dicks by Mail is currently only shipping to America and Canada. Still, if the website proves popular (and we have a sneaking suspicion it will) then hopefully they’ll think about expanding. Whether this website is a legitimate enterprise or turns out to be a slapdash moneymaking scheme like ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com remains to be seen. After being in business for about 24 hours, glitter-brain Mathew Carpenter website had made a cheeky five figures in less than a day, had a cheeky one million visits, 270,000 social media shares and sold over six figures in glitter within an hour. Then he sold it for US$85,000. Crafty bastard. Via Elite Daily.
Restaurant Hubert isn't just one of the best restaurants in Sydney. While the Swillhouse team's underground CBD eatery may stake claim to that title due to its unbeatable atmosphere and lavish French eats, it can also transform itself into a hub for art and theatre. Head down the spiral staircase and through the dining room to find Theatre Royale, a hidden arts arena that hosts Hubert's Magnums and Movies series, as well as the restaurant's postmodern burlesque La Vie Royale. The cabaret show will return to the intimate theatre on Sunday, September 24 with a stacked program intended to wow, challenge and incense audiences. Justin Shoulder is on the bill with illusions, movement and mimicry; Bella Louche will bring their renowned burlesque to the stage; and Marlena Dali is making their La Vie Royale debut with a colourful mix of performance art and clownery. Plus, your host for the night will be the beloved and multi-talented Betty Grumble. All tickets include bottomless wine, which will be passed around the room and poured generously throughout the evening. If you want the fully immersive experience, opt for the Front Row Feast, which includes floor seats right in the mix of the action and a full dinner for $225. There are also Admission De Luxe passes available for $120. These more affordable seats are located up in the stands and include a range of canapés.
When it comes to upmarket Japanese eateries, Merivale's Sushi e is a leader among the pack. Diners have the option of sitting around the sleek marble bar and treated to a front-row view of the blowtorch-wielding chefs. Small low-lying tables against the back window offer a more intimate setting, while the comfy lounges out in the adjoining Hemmesphere Bar provide a more practical seating arrangement for bigger groups wanting to dine in. No matter the size of your party, call ahead and make a booking. Both early and late sittings are frequently booked out, and it isn't hard to see why. The service at Sushi e is efficient and professional, and the standard of cuisine unparalleled. Impressive starters include its snapper sashimi (dressed in ginger, chives, sesame and a ponzu sauce), mouth-watering wagyu beef tartare and flamed salmon belly nigiri. Standout sushi options are its generous soft shell crab hand rolls and the spicy tuna 'dynamite' roll. For those whose palette doesn't reside underwater, there are also plenty of delicious meat and vegetarian options, including the succulent Wagyu 9 score beef, Agedashi Tofu, and the kingfish tempura – a veritable crowd favourite. Wash it all down with your choice of hot or cold sake, or a shochu-based cocktail. While the Merivale empire keeps expanding its number of venues across Sydney, you should see for yourself why Sushi e has enjoyed enormous success ever since it first opened in 2000. It's pricey, there's no doubt about that, but it's an experience that can't be matched by your local sushi train. Save up your pennies and book for a quieter night to get your money's worth, otherwise you'll face a barrage of bar noise and possibly a wait for your food.
It's that glorious time of year, that judgement-free zone in which inhaling hot cross buns for multiple meals a day is a perfectly acceptable activity. Sydney's pretty damn good at a hot cross bun — there's even a few sourdough versions in this delicious list. But there's one Sydney mainstay that let us in on their little secret to hot cross buns — beloved foodie wonderland The Grounds of Alexandria. Gearing up for their huge Easter celebrations from March 25 to 27, The Grounds handed over their own hot cross bun recipe for you to make at home. The Grounds crew love a spot of Easter indulgence — from Good Friday to Easter Sunday they're transforming their Alexandria digs into a magical storybook land. There'll be a Golden Easter Egg Hunt, a Humpty Dumpty Wall built for selfies, real-life roaming children's storybook characters, the beloved petting zoo and Australia's largest chocolate Easter egg — a three-metre-high, 300 kilogram chocolate egg which you can destroy in in the 'community cracking' on Easter Sunday. They're also using Easter as an opportunity to show off their mad culinary talents — including the delicious, delicious aforementioned hot cross buns from The Grounds' head baker. Want to have a go at making them before Sunday? Here's the recipe. THE GROUNDS' HOT CROSS BUNS Hot Cross Bun mixture Plain Flour 377g Castor Sugar 34g Butter 34g Egg 1 egg Mixed spice 9g Milk 179g Fruit mix 286g Dry yeast 60g Salt 7g Improver* 7g Citric acid** 1g Cross paste Plain flour 75g Sunflower oil 25ml Spice glaze Mixed Spice ½ tsp Castor sugar 125g To make the buns 1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree Celsius. 2. To create your fruit mix, combine 286g of your favourite dried fruits. We suggest branching out from the ordinary sultanas, try some of the suggestions below. 3. Next, knead flour, sugar, butter (softened), egg, mixed spice, milk, yeast, salt, improver & citric acid together. 4. Once completely combined, fold in your fruit mix. Be sure to wait until the end to fold in your fruit to ensure they stay whole. 5. Roll out dough flat to 1 inch thick, cut into 12 equal portions. 6. Place into rows on an oven tray lined with baking paper. To make the paste 1. Combine flour and oil together until it forms a smooth paste. 2. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. 3. Pipe a cross onto each ball, or long lines across the buns. 4. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 16 mins, or until the tops are golden brown. To make the glaze 1. Place spice mix, sugar and 100ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat. 2. Bring to a simmer, stiring to ensure all sugar is dissolved. 3. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Once hot cross buns are cooked 1. Using a pastry brush, generously glaze the buns. Suggestions on fruit: - Persimmon - Hawthorn - Red date - Thai loganberry - Pickled pineapple *Can be found in the supermarket. ** If you can't find citric acid, combine in a splash of orange juice. By using measurements all in grams you will ensure you get a consistence result every time. The Grounds of Alexandria's Easter shenanigans are happening Friday, March 25 to Sunday, March 27 at 2A Huntley Street, Alexandria. Entry is free.
They say people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, which is excellent practical advice for when visiting a glass greenhouse, but they never really mention what people in glass houses should do, or even where to find glasshouses. They're pretty common in Europe, where harsh winters prevent many southern hemisphere plants from thriving, nearly every botanical garden boasts a glasshouse full of exotic species. But Australia doesn't get too many chances at glass glory. If you're in the market for a round the world trip full of steamy glass greenhouses, or if you're looking for inspiration for your indoor garden, check out ten of the best and biggest greenhouses from around the world. [caption id="attachment_574059" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Kew Conservatory.[/caption] KEW CONSERVATORY The Kew Conservatory is one of the most well known greenhouses in the world. Established in 1987 by Princess Diana and housing over 30,000 plant species, the conservatory is designed to be energy efficient and uses some passive heating and cooling design techniques to moderate each climatic area. In one of the glasshouses, you'll find giant water lilies that span over two metres and a basement level that gives you a view of the underbelly of the pond. However, you can only visit the glasshouse by purchasing a ticket for the Kew Gardens at large, so we recommend heading over in the spring or summer to soak up as much quaint English garden as you can possibly stand. [caption id="attachment_574285" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] PALMENHAUS AT SCHÖNBRUNN PALACE The Palmenhaus Schonbrunn in Vienna is a glasshouse built in the garden of the royal palace of Schonbrunn. It bucked the dainty white trend to be built with a dusky green steel and, like many glasshouses built before WWII, it's had a long and colourful history. Palmenhaus was partially destroyed in 1945 when the palace was heavily firebombed, but has since rebuilt — and has grown its herbarium to one of the most prestigious in the world. Among the planned chaos of the overgrown garden, you'll find oldest plant in the world, an olive tree donated by Spain in 1974, is estimated to be roughly 350 years old. KAISANIEMI BOTANIC GARDENS GREENHOUSES In the Kaisaniemi Botanic Gardens in Helsinki sit three plump glasshouses laced with white. They're laid out in a more rambling fashion than traditional greenhouses, with quaint benches and tables scattered throughout, and are used as much as an education facility as a peaceful retreat from chilly Helsinki. The rooms are organised by plant variety and the most striking include the Asian waterlily rooms (think water lilies the size of a picnic rug), the desert room and atmospheric rainforest room. [caption id="attachment_574280" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] ROYAL GREENHOUSES OF LAEKEN In the 1800s, advancements in construction techniques made the greenhouse, a building that's pretty much just a stack of delicate glass panes, possible. Many greenhouses that were built around that time followed the popular art nouveau style of looking like a glorious wedding cake — and those built on the grounds of Laeken, the Belgium royal castle, were no exception. The greenhouses were untouched during WWII and retain most of their original collections, however they're only open to the public for three weeks during the spring, which makes them all the more mysterious. [caption id="attachment_574286" align="alignnone" width="1280"] NYBG.[/caption] ENID A. HAUPT CONSERVATORY New York Botanical Garden's pretty greenhouse is named after Enid Anneberg Haupt, who donated US$10 million in 1978 to save and restore the old conservatory. The conservatory (which is just a fancy way of saying greenhouse, don't be fooled) specialises in unique exhibitions for gardeners who really know what they're doing, including orchid shows (with vertical walls lush with orchids), the flora of the Japanese garden, recreations of Monet's gardens, wild medicine gardens and edible gardens. You'll also find greenhouse mainstays, such as a hot desert room and a steamy tropical rainforest room to get lost in. THE EDEN PROJECT The Eden Project is technically not made of glass, but it's definitely earned a place on this list for its sustainable (and stunning) design and eco-friendly initiatives. It was built in 2000 on a disused kaolinite pit, near the town of St Blazey in Cornwall, after the pit reached the end of its life. The structure consists of multiple linked geodesic biomes that house the largest rainforest in captivity and a rambling garden that cascades down the edges of the pit. An education centre was built in 2005 that includes classrooms and exhibitions to educate visitors about sustainability — the central message of the Eden Project. And in winter, the tropical biome is probably the warmest place in the UK and stuffed full of rare carnivorous plants. [caption id="attachment_574288" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Wiki.[/caption] JARDIN DES PLANTES It's fitting that some of the oldest and prettiest greenhouses are found in Paris. The three greenhouses in the Jardin des Plantes are almost as lovely as the plants they house and are but one element that make up the rich and rambling garden. They were built in the art deco style (similar to the Paris metro stations) and house exotic plants from around the world, including desert plants, tropical plants from New Caledonia, and a greenhouse that tracks the evolution and history of plant life across the planet. [caption id="attachment_574289" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] COPENHAGEN BOTANICAL GARDEN GREENHOUSES If you want to get immersed in greenhouse culture, the Botanical Garden in Copenhagen is your best value for money. Entry to the gardens is free and they have 27 greenhouses (although some aren't open to the public) scattered throughout the gardens that cover every type of plant you could imagine. Put Greenhouse #12 on your list, as it's dedicated to rare and endangered species of plants from idiosyncratic climates, such as Madagascar, the Galapagos Islands and the Mascarenes (which you will likely never see in the wild). Also Greenhouse #10, the succulent and cacti room, to get inspiration for your own succulent garden back home. THE TROPICARIUM IN FRANKFURT'S BOTANICAL GARDEN Germany experiences some achingly cold winters, so it's no wonder the vast majority of their gardens are safely cultivated inside greenhouses. Some of the most glorious of these can be found in the Palmengarten Botanical Gardens in Frankfurt. The Palmengarten is a 22 hectare botanical garden (the largest in the country) that's been open for over 140 years. The Tropicarium and the Palmenhaus (two weird names you won't forget in a hurry) both house tropical plants and cacti from warmer parts of the world inside beautiful architectural halls designed by Friedrich Von Thiersch in 1868. Like all the greenhouses built in the 1800s, it's a visual smorgasbord of greenery punctuated by delicate lattice work and flowery sconces. [caption id="attachment_574290" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Flickr.[/caption] MT COOTHA TROPICAL DOME The Tropical Dome in Brisbane's Mt Cootha Botanical gardens may not be as large or as fancy as the greenhouses of the northern hemisphere. Hell, it might not even be necessary for a sub-tropical city that is constantly humid to build a tropical dome that's even more humid. But people do love it. The bold geodesic dome pattern encloses a lush, if small, forest and pond and makes the perfect photo op. On the rolling landscape around the dome, you'll find a wide array of cacti and succulents (no greenhouse necessary to keep them alive, thank you very much) that look and feel like a tacky Western movie set. It's plant heaven and entry to the gardens is free all year.
Australia's coffee game is ridiculous right now. We lay claim to both the current World Barista Champion (Sasa Sestic) and the World Latte Art Champion (Caleb Cha). And despite Sydney never getting a mention in the same breath as Melbourne when it comes to specialty coffee, we know how to make a pretty good cup ourselves. For a lot of Sydneysiders, coffee is a way of life, and they're keen to learn and try everything they can — and pass this knowledge onto you, dear reader. Sydney has a plethora of cafes that aren't just dedicated to making the perfect cup of caffeinated goodness, but have taken it upon themselves to roast their own beans, devise new methods of pouring or educate the public on the subject. So whether you're a total coffee nerd or a coffee noob who just wants to know how those chemistry set things actually make a cup of coffee, here are eight hardcore coffee spots to get yourself (and your Keep Cup) to right away. Top image: Karl Frederickson via Unsplash
If you're a film and TV obsessive, how do you know that a new year has kicked off? Hollywood starts handing out awards. Tinseltown loves starting off the annual calendar by looking backwards, giving away trophies and having parties, with the Golden Globes 2025's first ceremony to celebrate on-screen achievements from the past 12 months — in cinemas and on television. 2025's accolades, rewarding 2024's big- and small-screen fare, took place on Monday, January 6 Australian time. Accordingly, there's now a brand-new batch of Golden Globes recipients for viewers to watch — or rewatch. Some, like The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez, haven't made their way Down Under just yet (they each arrive later in January), but plenty of others are ready and waiting for audiences to catch ASAP. Haven't seen Jesse Eisenberg (Fleishman Is in Trouble) and Kieran Culkin (Succession) play bickering cousins yet? Keen to relive every thrilling, heartbreaking and tense moment of Shogun? Fancy watching Baby Reindeer on your iPhon iPhone? Need a reason to shout "yes chef!". Feel like defying gravity? Eager for a dose of The Substance? They're just some of the 11 movies and TV shows that you can make a date with right now. (Wondering what else won, too? Read through the full list as well.) Movie Must-Sees A Real Pain He didn't feature on-screen in his first film as a writer/director, but 2022's When You Finish Saving the World couldn't have sprung from anyone but Jesse Eisenberg. Neither could've 2024's A Real Pain. In the latter, the Fleishman Is in Trouble actor plays the anxious part, and literally. He's David Kaplan, with his character a bundle of nerves about and during his trip to Poland with his cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin, Succession) — a pilgrimage that they're making in honour of their grandmother, who survived the Second World War, started a new life for their family in the US in the process and has recently passed away. David is highly strung anyway, though. One source of his woes: the ease with which Benji seems to move through his days, whether he's making new friends in their tour group within seconds of being introduced or securing a stash of weed for the journey. With A Real Pain as with When You Finish Saving the World, Eisenberg is shrewdly and committedly examining an inescapable question: what is real pain, and who feels it? Are David's always-evident neuroses more worthy of worry than the despondency that Benji shuttles behind his carefree facade, and is it okay for either to feel the way they do, with their comfortable lives otherwise, in the shadow of such horrors such as the Holocaust? As a filmmaker, Eisenberg keeps interrogating what he knows: A Real Pain's main train of thought, which was When You Finish Saving the World's as well, is one that he ponders himself. Although he's not penning and helming strictly autobiographical movies, his latest does crib some details from reality, swapping out an IRL aunt for a fictional grandmother, as well as a trip that Eisenberg took with his wife for a cousins' act of tribute. It's no wonder, then, that he keeps crafting deeply felt features that resound with raw emotion, and that leave viewers feeling like they could walk right into them. With A Real Pain, he also turns in a stellar performance of his own and directs another from Culkin, who steps into Benji's shoes like he wears them himself everyday (and takes on a part that his director originally had earmarked for himself). Thrumming at the heart of the dramedy, and in its two main players, is a notion that demands facing head-on, too: that experiencing our own pain, whether big or small, world-shattering or seemingly trivial, or personal or existential, is never a minor matter. Globes Won: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture (Kieran Culkin). Where to watch it: A Real Pain is screening in cinemas Down Under. Read our interview with Jesse Eisenberg. The Substance If you suddenly looked like society's ideal, how would it change your life? The Substance asks this. In a completely different way, so does fellow Golden Globe-winner A Different Man (see: below), too — but when Revenge's Coralie Fargeat is leading the charge on her long-awaited sophomore feature and earning Cannes' Best Screenplay Award for her troubles, the result is a new body-horror masterpiece. Pump it up: the sci-fi concept; the stunning command of sound, vision and tone; the savagery and smarts; the gonzo willingness to keep pushing and parodying; the gore (and there's gore); and the career-reviving performance from Demi Moore (Landman). The Substance's star has popped up in Feud, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Please Baby Please and Brave New World in recent years, but her work as Elisabeth Sparkle not only defines this period of her life as an actor; even with an on-screen resume dating back to 1981, and with the 80s- and 90s-era likes of St Elmo's Fire, Ghost, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure to her name, she'll always be known for this from this point onwards, regardless of whether awards keep rolling in. Turning 50 isn't cause for celebration for Elisabeth. She's already seen film roles pass her by over the years; on her birthday, she's now pushed out of her long-running gig hosting an aerobics show. Enter a solution, as well as another 'what if?' question: if you could reclaim your youth by injecting yourself with a mysterious liquid, would you? Here, The Substance's protagonist takes the curious serum. Enter Sue (Margaret Qualley, Drive-Away Dolls), who helps Elisabeth wind back time — and soon wants Elisabeth's time as her own. Just like someone seeking the glory days that she thinks are behind her via any means possible, Fargeat isn't being subtle with The Substance, not for a second. She goes big and brutal instead, and audacious and morbid as well, and this is the unforgettable picture it is because of it. No one holds back — not Elisabeth, not Sue, not Moore, not the also-fantastic Qualley, not Dennis Quaid (Lawman: Bass Reeves) eating shrimp, not Fargeat, and definitely not cinematographer Benjamin Kracun (Promising Young Woman) or composer Raffertie (99). Globes Won: Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Demi Moore). Where to watch it: The Substance streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. A Different Man Two of 2024's best films have one person in common: Sebastian Stan. In cinemas in Australia, The Apprentice and A Different Man released within weeks of each other; as well as making a helluva double feature, they boast two of the finest performances of the year as well. In both movies, the former Gossip Girl star with the best taste in picking interesting parts — see also: Logan Lucky, I, Tonya, Destroyer, Monday, Fresh and Pam & Tommy — plays men chasing a dream that turns out to be a nightmare: once as a certain US real-estate tycoon-turned-reality TV host and then president, and once as a struggling actor who desperately wants a new face. When A Different Man's Edward Lemuel undertakes an experimental treatment for neurofibromatosis, his disfigurement disappears; however, his hopes for stardom, or even just to feature in his playwright neighbour's (Renate Reinsve, Presumed Innocent) off-Broadway production about his own life and attract her romantic interest, can't be grasped that easily. Also turning in an excellent portrayal is Adam Pearson (Ruby Splinter) as Oswald, who has a firmer grasp on the existence that Edward so feverishly covets without any medical intervention. Writer/director Aaron Schimberg (Chained for Life) knows that The Elephant Man will spring to many audiences' minds — and astutely probes and questions why in a film that is unflinching in its exploration of perception, prejudice, identity, authenticity and self-worth. As it muses on what it takes to accept yourself and ignore the world's feedback, too, and whether external change can bring about an internal transformation, A Different Man also pairs exceptionally well with The Substance (see: above). Styling his feature as a psychological thriller as much as a black comedy, Schimberg refuses to let any moment pass by without needling, probing and unpacking. He digs into not only the mindsets that surround Edward, but equally explores the character's own view as he reinvents himself — with his new Sebastian Stan good looks — as newcomer Guy Moratz. It might have a few kindred spirits in various ways among 2024's highlights, but nothing else truly like this has reached screens in years. Globes Won: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Sebastian Stan). Where to watch it: A Different Man streams via YouTube Movies, iTunes and Prime Video. Challengers Tennis is a game of serves, shots, slices and smashes, and also of approaches, backhands, rallies and volleys. Challengers is a film of each, too, plus a movie about tennis. As it follows a love triangle that charts a path so back and forth that its ins and outs could be carved by a ball being hit around on the court, it's a picture that takes its aesthetic, thematic and emotional approach from the sport that its trio of protagonists are obsessed with as well. Tennis is everything to Tashi Duncan (Zendaya, Dune: Part Two), Art Donaldson (Mike Faist, West Side Story) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor, La Chimera), other than the threesome themselves being everything to each other. It's a stroke of genius to fashion the feature about them around the game they adore, then. Metaphors comparing life with a pastime are easy to coin. Movies that build such a juxtaposition into their fabric are far harder to craft. But it's been true of Luca Guadagnino for decades: he's a craftsman. Jumping from one Dune franchise lead to another, after doing Call Me By Your Name and Bones and All with Timothée Chalamet, Guadagnino proves something else accurate that's been his cinematic baseline: he's infatuated with the cinema of yearning. Among his features so far, only in Bones and All was the hunger for connection literal. The Italian director didn't deliver cannibalism in Call Me By Your Name and doesn't in Challengers, but longing is the strongest flavour in all three, and prominent across the filmmaker's Suspiria, A Bigger Splash and I Am Love also. So, combine the idea of styling a movie around a tennis match — one spans its entire duration, in fact — with a lusty love triangle, romantic cravings and three players at the top of their field, then this is the sublime end product. Challengers is so smartly constructed, so well thought-out down to every meticulous detail, so sensual and seductive, and so on point in conveying Tashi plus Art and Patrick's feelings, that it's instantly one of Guadagnino's grand slams. Globes Won: Best Original Score — Motion Picture (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Where to watch it: Challengers streams via Prime Video, YouTube Movies and iTunes. Read our full review, as well as what Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist had to say about the film when they were in Australia. Wicked The colour scheme was always a given. "Pink goes good with green," Galinda (Ariana Grande, Don't Look Up) tells Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, Luther: The Fallen Sun). "It goes well with green," the grammar-correcting reply bounces back. The songs, beloved echoing from the stage since 2003, were never in doubt as both centrepieces and a soundtrack. As a theatre-kid obsession for decades, it was also long likely that the big-screen adaptation of Wicked — a movie based on a musical springing from a book that offered a prequel to a film that walked the celluloid road 85 years ago, itself jumping from the page to the screen — would have big theatre-kid energy as it attempted to ensure that its magic enchants across mediums. Enough to fill every theatre on Broadway radiates from Grande alone, someone who, as a kid, won an auction to meet the OG Wicked good witch Kristin Chenoweth (Our Little Secret) backstage. That enthusiasm is impossible not to feel. No one would ever want a muted Wicked, where the hues, in yellow bricks and emerald cities and more, weren't trying to compete with Technicolor — and the tunes, with Chenoweth and Idina Menzel's (You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah) voices previously behind them in such full force, weren't belted to the rafters. Jon M Chu has a knack as a filmmaker of stage hits reaching cinemas: matching the vibe of the show he's taking on expertly. It was true of his version of In the Heights. It now proves the case in its own different way with Wicked. Achieving such a feat isn't always a given; sometimes, even when it does happen, and blatantly, any stage spark can be lost in translation (see: Cats). Again, movie viewers can feel that synergy, and how much it means to everyone involved. Globes Won: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Where to watch it: Wicked is screening in cinemas Down Under, and streams via YouTube Movies and Prime Video. Read our interview with production designer Nathan Crowley. Small-Screen Standouts Hacks Sometimes you need to wait for the things you love. In Hacks, that's true off- and on-screen. The HBO comedy gave viewers a two-year wait, after its first season was one of the best new shows of 2021 and its second one of the best returning series of 2022 — a delay first sparked by star Jean Smart (Babylon) requiring heart surgery, and then by 2023's Hollywood strikes. But this Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner returned better than ever in season three in 2024, this time charting Smart's Deborah Vance finally getting a shot at a job that she's been waiting her entire career for. After scoring a huge hit with her recent comedy special, which was a product of hiring twentysomething writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder, Julia), the Las Vegas mainstay has a new chance at nabbing a late-night hosting gig. (Yes, fictional takes on after-dark talk shows are having a moment, thanks to Late Night with the Devil and now this.) At times, some in Deborah's orbit might be tempted to borrow the Australian horror movie's title to describe to assisting her pitch for a post-primetime chair. That'd be a harsh comment, but savage humour has always been part of this showbiz comedy about people who tell jokes for a living. While Deborah gets roasted in this season, spikiness is Hacks' long-established baseline — and also the armour with which its behind-the-mic lead protects herself from life's and the industry's pain, disappointments and unfairness. Barbs can also be Deborah's love language, as seen in her banter with Ava. When season two ended, their tumultuous professional relationship had come to an end again via Deborah, who let her writer go to find bigger opportunities. A year has now passed when season three kicks off. Ava is a staff writer on a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver-type series in Los Angeles and thriving, but she's also not over being fired. Back in Vanceland , everything is gleaming — but Deborah isn't prepared for being a phenomenon. She wants it. She's worked for years for it. It's taken until her 70s to get it. But her presence alone being cause for frenzy, rather than the scrapping she's done to stay in the spotlight, isn't an easy adjustment. Globes Won: Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Jean Smart). Where to watch it: Hacks streams via Stan. Read our full review. Shōgun Casting Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick: Chapter 4), Cosmo Jarvis (Persuasion) and Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) as its three leads is one of Shōgun's masterstrokes. The new ten-part adaptation of James Clavell's 1975 novel — following a first version in 1980 that featured Japanese icon and frequent Akira Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune — makes plenty of other excellent moves, but this is still pivotal. Disney+'s richly detailed samurai series knows how to thrust its viewers into a deeply textured world from the outset, making having three complex performances at its centre an essential anchoring tactic. Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is among the political candidates vying to take control of the country. Jarvis is John Blackthorne, a British sailor on a Dutch ship that has run aground in a place that its crew isn't sure is real until they get there. And Sawai is Toda Mariko, a Japanese noblewoman who is also tasked with translating. Each character's tale encompasses much more than those descriptions, of course, and the portrayals that bring them to the screen make that plain from the moment they're each first seen. As Game of Thrones and Succession both were, famously so, Shōgun is another drama that's all about fighting for supremacy. Like just the former, too, it's another sweeping epic series as well. Although it's impossible not to see those links, knowing that both battling over who'll seize power and stepping into sprawling worlds are among pop culture's favourite things right now (and for some time) doesn't make Shōgun any less impressive. The scale is grand, and yet it doesn't skimp on intimacy, either. The minutiae is meticulous, demanding that attention is paid to everything at all times. Gore is no stranger from the get-go. Opening in the 17th century, the series finds Japan in crisis mode, Toranaga facing enemies and Blackthorne among the first Englishmen that've made it to the nation — much to the alarm of Japan's sole European inhabitants from Portugal. Getting drawn in, including by the performances, is instantaneous. Shōgun proves powerful and engrossing immediately, and lavish and precisely made as well, with creators Justin Marks (Top Gun: Maverick) and Rachel Kondo (on her first TV credit) doing a spectacular job of bringing it to streaming queues. Globes Won: Best Television Series — Drama, Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Hiroyuki Sanada), Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series — Drama (Anna Sawai), Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television (Tadanobu Asano). Where to watch it: Shōgun streams via Disney+. Read our full review. Baby Reindeer A person walking into a bar. The words "sent from my iPhone". A comedian pouring their experiences into a one-performer play. A twisty true-crime tale making the leap to the screen. All four either feature in, inspired or describe Baby Reindeer. All four are inescapably familiar, too, but the same can't be said about this seven-part Netflix series. Written by and starring Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, and also based on his real-life experiences, this is a bleak, brave, revelatory, devastating and unforgettable psychological thriller. It does indeed begin with someone stepping inside a pub — and while Gadd plays a comedian on-screen as well, don't go waiting for a punchline. When Martha (Jessica Gunning, The Outlaws) enters The Heart in Camden, London in 2015, Donny Dunn (Gadd, Wedding Season) is behind the counter. "I felt sorry for her. That's the first feeling I felt," the latter explains via voiceover. Perched awkwardly on a stool at the bar, Martha is whimpering to herself. She says that she can't afford to buy a drink, even a cup of tea. Donny takes pity, offering her one for free — and her face instantly lights up. That's the fateful moment, one of sorrow met with kindness, that ignites Baby Reindeer's narrative and changes Donny's life. After that warm beverage, The Heart instantly has a new regular. Sipping Diet Cokes from then on (still on the house), Martha is full of stories about all of the high-profile people that she knows and her high-flying lawyer job. But despite insisting that she's constantly busy, she's also always at the bar when Donny is at work, sticking around for his whole shifts. She chats incessantly about herself, folks that he doesn't know and while directing compliments Donny's way. He's in his twenties, she's in her early forties — and he can see that she's smitten, letting her flirt. He notices her laugh. He likes the attention, not to mention getting his ego stroked. While he doesn't reciprocate her feelings, he's friendly. She isn't just an infatuated fantasist, however; she's chillingly obsessed to an unstable degree. She finds his email address, then starts messaging him non-stop when she's not nattering at his workplace. (IRL, Gadd received more than 40,000 emails.) Globes Won: Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role on Television (Jessica Gunning). Where to watch it: Baby Reindeer streams via Netflix. Read our full review. The Bear Serving up another sitting with acclaimed chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, The Iron Claw), his second-in-charge Sydney (Ayo Edebiri, Inside Out 2) and their team after dishing up one of the best new shows of 2022 and best returning shows of 2023, the third season of The Bear is a season haunted. Creator and writer Christopher Storer (Dickinson, Ramy) — often the culinary dramedy's director as well — wouldn't have it any other way. Every series that proves as swift a success as this, after delivering as exceptional a first and second season as any show could wish for, has the tang of its prior glory left on its lips, so this one tackles the idea head on. How can anyone shake the past at all, good or bad, the latest ten episodes ruminate on as Carmy faces a dream that's come true but hasn't and can't eradicate the lifetime of internalised uncertainty that arises from having an erratic mother, absent father, elder brother he idolised but had his own demons, and a career spent striving to be the best and put his talents to the test in an industry that's so merciless and unforgiving even before you factor in dealing with cruel mentors. Haunting is talked about often in this third The Bear course, but not actually in the sense flavouring every bite that the show's return plates up. In the season's heartiest reminder that it's comic as well as tense and dramatic — its nine Emmy wins for season one, plus four Golden Globes across season one and two, are all in comedy categories — the Faks get to Fak aplenty. While charming Neil (IRL chef Matty Matheson) is loving his role as a besuited server beneath Richie aka Cousin (Ebon Moss-Bachrach, No Hard Feelings), onboard with the latter's commitment to upholding a Michelin star-chasing fine-diner's front-of-house standards and as devoted to being Carmy's best friend as ever, he's also always palling around with his handyman brother Theodore (Ricky Staffieri, Read the Room). They're not the season's only Faks, and so emerges a family game. When one Fak wrongs another, they get haunted, which is largely being taunted and unsettled by someone from basically The Bear equivalent of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Boyles. For it to stop, you need to agree to give in. In Storer's hands, in a series this expertly layered as it picks up in the aftermath of sandwich diner The Original Beef of Chicagoland relaunching as fine-diner The Bear, this isn't just an amusing character-building aside. Globes Won: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Jeremy Allen White). Where to watch it: The Bear streams via Disney+. Read our full review. The Penguin Ambition courses through The Penguin, both within its storyline and in bringing the spinoff from 2022's The Batman to the small screen. HBO might be giving a swathe of its cinema hits the TV treatment, including Dune, IT, Harry Potter and The Conjuring; however, there's nothing by the numbers about Oswald Cobb's time in the television spotlight. With Colin Farrell reprising the show's titular role, and starring in two of 2024's standout new series in the process alongside Sugar, The Penguin isn't a mere attempted caped-crusader cash-in, as some fare about nefarious folks connected to well-known heroes have proven (see: Morbius, Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter). Across its compulsively watchable eight-episode first season, this crime drama has more than a touch of The Sopranos and The Godfather films about it — and not only is it aiming high in endeavouring to follow in the footsteps of two of the greatest mob stories ever told but, as developed and co-written by Lauren LeFranc (Impulse, Agents of SHIELD), it heartily earns its place in their company. Never forgetting who it is about and what Oz's future path is, no matter how much viewers start to warm to him throughout the series, The Penguin is also responsible for one of the most-heartbreaking moments of the past year. Set after the events of The Batman — a big-screen sequel to which, aka The Batman — Part II, is on the way — the show steps back into Oz's life as he's chasing his own ambitions. After years spent as an underling, including as the righthand man to Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong, Dune: Prophecy), he has his sights set on more than just doing everyone else's bidding. Complicating this quest for power: that it coincides with the release of Carmine's daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti, The Resort) from Arkham, and she isn't willing to simply do what she's told by the new Falcone underboss (Michael Kelly, Pantheon). As Oz navigates a turf war also involving incarcerated rival Sal Marone (Clancy Brown, Gen V), The Penguin keeps his exploits personal through his demential-afflicted mother (Deirdre O'Connell, The Big Door Prize) requiring his care, and with kindhearted teenager Vic Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz, Encanto) trying to steal Oz's rims but ending up with a job as his driver. A grounded waddle into the supervillain realm, and boasting exceptional — and rightly Golden Globe-winning and -nominated, respectively — performances from Farrell and Milioti, this is comics-to-screen storytelling at its best. Globes Won: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Colin Farrell). Where to watch it: The Penguin streams via Binge. True Detective: Night Country Even when True Detective had only reached its second season, the HBO series had chiselled its template into stone: obsessive chalk-and-cheese cops with messy personal lives investigating horrifying killings, on cases with ties to power's corruption, in places where location mattered and with the otherworldly drifting in. A decade after the anthology mystery show's debut in 2014, True Detective has returned as Night Country, a six-part miniseries that builds its own snowman out of all of the franchise's familiar parts. The main similarity from there: like the Matthew McConaughey (The Gentlemen)- and Woody Harrelson (White House Plumbers)-led initial season, True Detective: Night Country is phenomenal. This is a return to form and a revitalisation. Making it happen after two passable intervening cases is a new guiding hand off-screen. Tigers Are Not Afraid filmmaker Issa López directs and writes or co-writes every episode, boasting Moonlight's Barry Jenkins as an executive producer. True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto remains in the latter role, too, as do McConaughey, Harrelson and season-one director Cary Joji Fukunaga (No Time to Die); however, from its female focus and weighty tussling with the dead to its switch to a cool, blue colour scheme befitting its Alaskan setting, there's no doubting that López is reinventing her season rather than ticking boxes. In handing over the reins, Pizzolatto's police procedural never-standard police procedural is a powerhouse again, and lives up to the potential of its concept. The commitment and cost of delving into humanity's depths and advocating for those lost in its abyss has swapped key cops, victims and locations with each spin, including enlisting the masterful double act of Jodie Foster (Nyad) and boxer-turned-actor Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One) to do the sleuthing, but seeing each go-around with fresh eyes feels like the missing puzzle piece. López spies the toll on the show's first women duo, as well as the splinters in a remote community when its fragile sense of certainty is forever shattered. She spots the fractures that pre-date the investigation in the new season, a cold case tied to it, plus the gashes that've carved hurt and pain into the earth ever since people stepped foot on it. She observes the pursuit of profit above all else, and the lack of concern for whatever — whoever, the region's Indigenous inhabitants included — get in the way. She sees that the eternal winter night of 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle come mid-December isn't the only thing impairing everyone's sight. And, she knows that not everything has answers, with life sometimes plunging into heartbreak, or inhospitable climes, or one's own private hell, without rhyme or reason. Globes Won: Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Jodie Foster). Where to watch it: True Detective: Night Country streams via Binge. Read our full review.
The Dolphin Hotel is using the most basic of meals to take your lunchtime routine to the next level. Today, Monday, March 13, the hotel launched its Proper Sandwiches menu — a five-sandwich rotating lunch offering, featuring everything from baked eggplant parma and meatball subs to smoked trout and egg salad. The $12 menu will change daily and has a solid mix of vegetarian and meaty options. From the full menu of delicious possibilities, we're most excited to try their Reuben homage, the 'Pastrami Rye', and the 'Go Getta Porchetta' — herb roasted pork topped with crackling, mustard and sage aioli. These bad boys don't just look great, either — they're made using locally sourced ingredients, giving them that 'good for you and the community edge' as well. The meats are sourced from LP's Quality Meats, the bread from Brickfields Bakery, and other deli products from from The Dolphin's Salumeria collaboration with Victor Churchill's. These insanely good looking sandwiches will be available Monday through Friday from noon until 3pm — or until sold out. Considering our mouths are watering just from looking at those photos, we have a feeling sold out will be a daily condition.
Maydanoz on Carrington Street comes from award-winning Turkish chef Somer Sivrioğlu (Efendy). With Maydanoz, Sivrioğlu is pushing towards vegetarian and plant-based cuisine in a 100-seat venue with his business partner Tarik Köni that takes inspiration from the Turkish coast and its veggie-loving meze bars. The menu at the expansive venue is predominantly vegetarian with a smattering of meat dishes found on the menu. "So often, people equate Turkish cuisine to kebab or lamb, but in fact, the meat is often secondary to the incredible array of vegetable-driven dishes available in Turkish cuisine, particularly in the West," Sivrioğlu said. Sivrioğlu and Köni have created a series of distinct menus, based on dishes cooked in olive oil zeytinyagli style. If you are heading to Maydanoz for dinner, you'll be greeted with an extensive a la carte menu with highlights like lentil kofte; beetroot, with falafel on a spinach pita; and cabbage kebabs with harissa labna and coriander. A smattering of meat options are also on the menu, including kingfish collar kebab with sumac onion and ezme salsa. If you want to sample your way through the menu, you can opt for the feast menu. This includes aforementioned highlights like the lentil kofte alongside a wood fired oyster mushroom with macadamia and artichoke cream puree. Plus, head to Maydanoz between 3-6pm Monday to Friday for their happy hour, with discounts on beer, wine and cocktails and a limited food menu. Images: Steven Woodburn
For many, the idea of camping — packing the car with a tent, sleeping bag or swag and going bush for a healthy dose of nature – is fun. For others, the idea of getting out into the great outdoors sends a shiver of displeasure up the spine. But no matter which camp you fall into, we're happy to report that there's a middle ground. And that middle ground is glamping. A portmanteau of glamour and camping, glamping has gained popularity among those of us who are happy to camp as long as we have small luxuries such as wifi, coffee and comfortable bedding. Take a coffee break and scroll through ten of the world's most incredible, luxurious glamping experiences — from Queensland to Tanzania, via Chile. NIGHTFALL, LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK, QUEENSLAND Breathe in the pure, fresh mountain air at Nightfall, and you'll feel like you've finally arrived at the life you should have been living all of these years. This super-exclusive camp is limited to six guests at a time, so you'll be guaranteed privacy. Take a dip in a natural spa pool in nearby rapids, or just laze in your private luxury tent accommodation. Located in a 'Lost World' paradise, this luxury camping accommodation would be absolutely perfect for a special anniversary, a birthday holiday, or just because you want to. MERZOUGA LUXURY DESERT CAMP, MOROCCO Imagine enjoying a sumptuous Moroccan feast under the stars in the heart of the desert, before retiring to your tent for a sound sleep in a squishy-soft bed. And when you open the traditional camel-skin door on your tent the next morning, a sea of red sand dunes rise up to greet you. Well imagine no more, because this is exactly what you're going to get when you head to the Merzouga Luxury Desert Camp in Morocco. Located in the quiet and idyllic sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, this tastefully appointed and endlessly glamorous camp is perfect for those seeking a luxury stay in one of the most incredible deserts in the world. WILD RETREAT, TOFINO, BRITISH COLUMBIA Few wilderness camps even come close to the experience you're going to have at Wild Retreat. ScarJo and Ryan Reynolds honeymooned here (that's enough reason in itself to visit), and since it's only accessible by seaplane or boat, you're at greater risk of being accosted by a bunch of raccoons than being overrun by tourists. Enjoy the charming vintage-style tents, and then get out there and explore the incredible wilderness of British Columbia. PAWS UP, MONTANA, USA If you have something special to celebrate and you happen to find yourself in Montana, then we suggest that you get yourself to the Paws Up luxury camping park and indulge in the Cliffside Camp experience. Each safari-like tent comes complete with a private bathroom, fans, heaters, fine bed linen and a chef and butler at your beck and call. There's a dining area with a view you'll never find in Australia, and you won't have to sacrifice a good coffee and breakfast in the morning. LEWA SAFARI CAMP, KENYA If seeing the "big five" (lions, elephants, buffalo, leopard and rhino) is on your list of things to do, then you might just want to fling yourself in the direction of the Lewa Safari Camp. Spread out in your comfortable private tent under your thatched roof, and enjoy the sight of animals sunning themselves on the stunning Lewa plains through your opaque tent. Perhaps you might feel like taking a picnic out onto the plains. That's totally acceptable, and indeed encouraged. SPICERS CANOPY, SCENIC RIM, QUEENSLAND There are only ten tents at the Spicers Canopy accommodation in Queensland's Scenic Rim, so you're not going to be grappling with the crowds when it's brekky time. Meals are prepared from local produce by Spicers' experienced chefs, so you're about as far from the 'traditional' camping fare of beer-cooked barbecue as you can get here. Rejoice. Pull up a log at the open fire by night, and then snuggle up in your luxury tent (complete with hot water bottle turn down service) to sleep the night under the stars. SANCTUARY RETREATS PRIVATE CAMPING, TANZANIA Go on a safari trip in the game-filled wilderness of Kenya by day, and then enjoy a perfectly heavenly naval bucket bubble bath under the stars at this glamorous safari camp in Tanzania. Afterwards, slink back to your tent and sink into your bed, which has been tastefully draped with fabrics and covered in the softest of mosquito nets. You'll enjoy finding nods to Balinese and Italian styling throughout your luxury accommodation. Sanctuary Retreats encourage you to spend two weeks glamping with them in the wilderness — that's how luxe this place is. PATAGONIA CAMP, CHILE Enjoy the luxury of kipping in a yurt in the heart of the Chilean wilderness. Feel ever so spoiled as you laze in your cosy king-sized bed, tastefully decorated with local handcrafted textiles at the luxury Patagonia Camp in Chile. Thanks to a large central dome, you can look up at the clouds by day, and then enjoy the sight of a million and one stars overhead at night. PAMPERED WILDERNESS, WASHINGTON, USA Switch on your flat screen TV, snuggle up on the king-sized platform bed and then toast some marshmallows for s'mores on your outdoor fire pit when you stay in the Safari Suite cabin at Pampered Wilderness in Washington. Nestled in the heart of the historic 842-acre Millersylvania State Park, you can enjoy relaxed rambles though old growth cedar and fir forests, or take a dip in the freshwater Deep Lake. After tiring yourself out on a walk, head back to your cabin to enjoy a drink from your minibar as you watch the sunset from your deck. PRIORY BAY HOTEL, ISLE OF WIGHT, UK While most of the guests who stay at the Priory Bay Hotel live it up in the hotel, you're going to buck the trend and get what is arguably a far better experience when you stay in one of the designer crafted yurts. Enter your yurt home through stable doors with French windows before stepping down onto your secluded terrace. Maybe laze on a beanbag if the ordeal of standing on your own feet all becomes too much. Spend your days gazing out on sandy Priory Bay beach, taking bracing countryside walks, or rambling along woodland paths, nibbling on blackberries, and spotting squirrels. Top Image: Wild Retreat, Tofino, British Columbia.
Some artwork is just too spectacular to be limited to a canvas — not only to be seen, but truly experienced. Imagine walking through a Van Gogh masterpiece — Sydneysiders, you'll be able to very soon. In case you missed its previous two (very successful) runs, the globally touring multi-sensory experience Van Gogh Alive is coming back to Sydney from Thursday, December 8 until late February, 2023. After gracing the eyeballs of more than eight-million guests in 80 cities worldwide, the exhibition will be making its home in the The Entertainment Quarter's Grand Pavilion. Via 40 HD projectors, drifting fragrances and cinema-quality speakers, a visit will see you fully immersed in the colours, techniques and detail that immortalised Van Gogh in the art world. The massive 70-metre x 25-metre marquee will also boast a themed bar and cafe space to extend that immersion to your tastebuds. Walk through a multi-screen projection of Starry Night, touch real (fake) sunflowers instead of ogling painted ones in the Sunflower infinity room, and keep your eyes peeled for information on brand new spaces and experiences coming to this year's run. Kids and adults alike can appreciate the unique perspectives on the artist's inspirations via photos and videos alongside the staggering gallery. All of this come from Grande Experiences, a Melbourne-based group that owns and operates galleries and experiences as breathtaking as this one in over 150 different cities worldwide. Van Gogh Alive hits The Entertainment Quarter from Thursday, December 8 until Sunday, February 12, 2023, but could be extended later into February. For more information and to nab your tickets, visit the website.
Two professional Aussie cricketers sporting an insatiable love of coffee start their own coffee pod company. Boom. It's true, meet Tripod Coffee. Cricketers Steve Cazzulino and Ed Cowan were perpetually on the road playing state cricket, and brought along a Nespresso machine with them for much-needed cups of coffee in the morning before matches. Seeking a local, sustainable alternative to the George Clooney-fronted pod giant proved difficult, so the pair saw a glimmering niche in the coffee-obsessed Aussie market. Steve and Ed decided to create their own small company making pods filled with high-quality coffee that fit perfectly in the Nespresso machine. "On a rainy day we thought, why don't we have a crack and take on the big boys?" says Ed. "We could fill the capsules with coffee that we really enjoy drinking". With Steve and Ed touting a pretty gutsy attitude to take on the pod monopoly, they cooked up a bit of clever naming ('tri' for their three foundation coffee blends and 'pod') and Tripod Coffee was born. You'll find a lot of Central and South American and African (namely Ethiopian and Kenyan) coffees in their store because "the coffees from those areas really suit the [capsule] extraction process." After their coffee has been ethically sourced, it's given the special treatment by a local award-winning roaster, packed and shipped. During the process, all oxygen is vacuumed from the pod so when you pop it in your machine, it'll be like it was freshly ground. The best bit? The capsules are recyclable. Sustainable, local coffee — yep, that's music to our ears. Ed and Steve started the business in order to provide a green alternative to the aluminium pods of Nespresso. Ed and Steve's sense of humour comes through the product names, using of different hats for different blends and strengths — Grey Gaucho, Red Fedora, Blue Beret, Black Panama, Gold Sombrero. The reason is pretty damn simple. "When you turn the capsule upside down, they look a little bit like hats." Aside from their mainstays, like the Red Fedora which works as a great citrus-y espresso, they're keen to run special edition capsules and expand their single origin series. Yes, with Tripod Coffee, single origin Panamanian might be coming to your Nespresso machine soon. So where can you find Tripod? As well as being stocked in every single QT Hotel across Australia, Tripod Coffee is available online or Harris Farm, IGA, and independent grocers across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. Learn more about Tripod Coffee on their website.
Hidden down a laneway in the CBD's vibrant YCK Laneways precinct is a cosy wine and cocktail basement bar from Natalie Ng, the mind behind intimate inner-city fave Door Knock, alongside co-owner Locky Peach. Now and Then — located a stone's throw from the QVB, Town Hall Station and Darling Harbour — serves up new-age drinks and tried-and-true throwbacks in equal proportions. On the drinks front, the venue boasts a solid cocktail and wine offering across its two drinks lists dubbed — yep, you guessed it — 'Now' and 'Then'. On the modern side of the menu, you'll find funkier wines, whether that be a skin contact or a chilled red, as well as more boundary-pushing cocktails, craft beers and Mango White Claws for all of the seltzer fans. Over on the more traditional section, you'll discover seasonal sherry cobblers, caipiroskas, Coopers Sparkling Red Ale and a selection of more traditional vinos including sav blanc, pinot noir, rosé and Perrier-Jouët Brut by the glass. On the short and snappy snacks menu are dishes like the panko-crumbed ham hock croquette with mustard aioli and pickled cauliflower; lobster and prawn vol-au-vents; devilled eggs with black bean salsa; and pomme dauphine with smoked trout. There are also daily specials for only $12. The venue is majestically decked out with plush floral seating and wallpaper adorned with ferns, so whimsical you'll soon forget you're underground in the busiest part of Sydney. Live music sessions and DJs are on rotation each Friday and Saturday night. Check the venue's Instagram for lineup announcements as well as themed nights and special events. Images: Natalie Ng
Five years after debuting its legendary menu of 'BRGRS' at the Macquarie Hotel, Sydney favourite Pub Life Kitchen closed down, taking some of the city's best burgers with it. Four long years later and the beloved venue returned to the bottom level of the Lord Wolseley Hotel in Ultimo. Pull up to the Bulwara Street window and you can pick yourself up a selection from the new-look pub-style menu. Of course, the burgers are back. Choose between The OG, stacked with dry-aged grass-fed beef, cheese, pickles, tomato, lettuce, roasted garlic and lime mayo, or the TLC, a fried chicken burger topped with cheese, pickles and green Sriracha mayo. Also returning, are PLK's hot and sticky chicken wings alongside a far-reaching menu of snacks and mains. If you're looking for something on the lighter side, you can head for the chickpea fritters, marinated octopus salad or roasted peppers with buffalo mozzarella and capers. Further down the menu in the 'bigger' section, you can find classic pub feeds like the rump stake with burnt onion butter and chicken schnitzel, side-by-side with some more unique items like LP's smoked pecorino, parsley sausage mash and gravy, dry-aged cevapi and braised eggplant with XO sauce. Images: Nikki To Appears in: Where to Find the Best Burgers in Sydney for 2023
Looking for something romantic and unapologetically meaty to do on Valentine's Day? It would appear that you're in luck. Rolling into the Sydney Showgrounds for the very first time, Meatstock is a brand new two-day barnburner for all things barbecue. We're talking meat, beer, bourbon, meat, music, meat, beards, meat and of course, meat. Because nothing says 'I love you' like a plate of pork ribs bigger than your partners head. Part expo, part music festival and part gladiator-style cook-off, Meatstock will welcome the prime cuts of the local barbecuing fraternity to showcase their skills behind the grill. Headlining the event will be the A&E Sydney Barbecue Wars, in which 40 teams from all around the country serve up their best pork, beef, chicken, lamb and seafood for their chance to win more than $8000 in cash and prizes. They'll also be on the lookout for Australia's best butcher and its best barber — the latter in a competition called the Cutthroat Barber Wars, which doesn't sound terrifying at all. Meatstock will also welcome a number of special guest speakers and chefs, including Carnivores Ball creator Jess Pryles, Fancy Hanks' head honcho Mike Patrick and Bovine & Swine Barbecue Co. founder Hillbilly Wes. But the biggest get would have to be Tuffy 'The Professor' Stone, one of the most celebrated names in American competition barbecue and a judge on the reality TV show BBQ Pitmasters. Stone will be hosting a day-long cooking school on the Thursday before Meatstock begins. Of course, no one goes to an event called Meatstock just to learn about cooking barbecue. Let's face it: if you're there, you're there to eat. Catering will be handled by a range of carnivorous cooks, including The Smoking Brothers, Parilla Argenchino and Rangers Texas BBQ. And once you've eaten yourself into a stupor, you can waddle over and check out the live music offerings — a rip-roaring lineup of new bluegrass, rock and roll, country and everything in between: think The Snowdroppers, Henry Wagons, The Buffalo Grass Boys and The Beards. For more information about Meatstock, visit their website.
Looking to escape the city for an afternoon? This might be one of the best ways to do it. The Central Coast's newest restaurant boasts fresh flaky pastries, dishes made with local produce and a deck that lets you enjoy the two in a seriously serene bush setting. Set on the site of a former nursery on a 28-acre Mount White estate, Saddles is a project of John Singleton — known for reinventing Icebergs in the 90s — and Andrew Dickson Architects. From the outset it replicates an Australian homestead setting, particularly with the sprawling deck that sits over the property's glassy dam. These sensibilities are carried on inside by Michelle Leslie of MLD and some stunning features from local craftsman Heath Harris. He designed the brass-scalloped bar provided his master saddler artistry for the bespoke saddle bar stools — which is where the restaurant gets its name. Other components of the Saddles property include a dining area overlooking a waterfall feature, a sandstone fireplace, a piano bar and indoor Moreton Bay fig plants to green the interior. The venue is run by chef Cameron Cansdell alongside his business partner and wine Hayley, who together own Avoca's Bombini. Cameron pulls from Saddles' on-site kitchen garden, committing to a "simple and ethical" menu, featuring a reasonably priced menu of things like barbecue sand whiting and Little Hill Farm chicken with pickled cumquats. And when it comes to drinks, the list consists of exclusively Australian wine and spirits. Saddles is also a bakehouse — so even if you don't want to do a full sit-down lunch, you can stop in for breakfast or a coffee and some fresh sourdough, beef and mushroom pies, pork and fennel sausage rolls, honey cream rolls, custard tarts and lamingtons served with raspberry cream. In the future, the restaurant hopes to increase its activities for visitors to enjoy, and it plans to open a garden centre by 2018. When everything is in full swing, it'll make for the perfect Sunday activity — especially as it's only about an hour from the city. Saddles is now open daily from 8am–5pm (and until 8pm on Fridays) at 20 Ashbrookes Road, Mount White. You can book at saddlesmtwhite.com.au.
As summer starts slipping away, slowing down our beachy adventures, it's only natural that we start looking inward. And what better way to do that than by getting in touch with our inner troglodyte. Fortunately, Sydney and its surrounds offer just as many caves as they do unusual swimming holes and secluded beaches. Whether you want to escape to a remote plateau where you'll be sleeping alongside ancient grinding grooves, share your cave with an entire party or get your wallet out and go glaving (that's the caver's version of glamping, d'uh), it's all right here. FOR SPACE (OR A PARTY): PINDAR CAVE, BRISBANE WATERS If you're looking to mix up your stay with a party, Pindar might be your cave of choice. This massive sandstone overhang can shelter as many as 50 people at once. To reach it, catch a Central Coast — or Newcastle-bound train to Wondabyne Station, from where it's located three or four hours on foot. The track follows a ridge line, so the views are stunning, and right near Pindar, there's a swimming hole that's best for dipping after rain. FOR WILDERNESS: GOOCHES CRATER, WOLLANGAMBE Gooches Crater camp cave is found among spectacular scenery in the Wollangambe wilderness area. The half-day walk from Bell Station takes you along dizzying rocky outcrops, through secluded valleys, past Indigenous rock art and to the beautiful Gooches Crater. Be aware that the trail is hard to follow, so you'll need to be prepared for some bush bashing and have at least one experienced navigator in your team. Like Pindar, the cave is big enough to fit 50 sleepers comfortably. FOR RIVER VIEWS: DADDER CAVE, LOWER BLUE MOUNTAINS Dadder is located on the banks of beautiful Erskine Creek and has space for about six people. Having been utilised by savvy hikers for decades, the cave has been treated to a few renovations here and there, and so offers more infrastructure than your average overhang. There's a decent stone fireplace, bench seating and, for entertainment, a logbook. The 6 kilometre walk in starts at the Pisgah Rock car park (2.2 kilometres from the Oaks Picnic Area, on the Nepean Lookout Fire Trail). FOR CAR CAMPING: PSYN CAVE, NARROW NECK, NEAR KATOOMBA Narrow Neck, a peninsula between the Jamison and Megalong Valleys, found just south of Katoomba, is home to a bunch of caves. This is one of the easiest to reach, being just a couple of hundred metres from the Glenraphael Road car park. Psyn is one of two caves on our list that enables car camping. It's a regular hang-out for bush walkers from Sydney Uni, can shelter ten people at once and features a little waterfall. Detailed directions are available right here. FOR PROXIMITY TO A PUB: SUNDECK CAVE, MOUNT PIDDINGTON Sundeck is a popular accommodation choice for climbers and abseilers, who head to Mount Piddington to take on its sheer rock faces. Non-adrenaline junkies, however, will find plenty to interest them, including excellent sunset views and clifftop trails. What's more, it's only 300 metres from Mount Piddington Road, Mount Victoria, which means, firstly, that you can car-camp, and secondly, that the nearest pub is only 1.5 kilometres away. If you head out for a beverage, don't leave your torch behind. FOR ANCIENTNESS: 100 MAN CAVE, KANANGRA BOYD NATIONAL PARK Grinding grooves visible in the 100 Man Cave indicate that it has been in use for thousands of years. This comes as no surprise — as far as caves go, this one is particularly cosy. There's a well-protected fireplace and, if you've been battling rain and wind on the way in, spots to hang wet clothing. Reaching 100 Man Cave does require commitment, though, as it's situated on the Ti Willa Plateau, which involves one or two days' walking from Kanangra Walls car park. FOR LUXURY: HATTER'S HIDEOUT, BELL This one is actual, bona fide rental accommodation, so it doesn't come free, but it does include luxury items that you won't find in the other caves. These include a gas barbecue, an esky, cooking utensils, real tables and chairs, solar powered lighting and rainwater. Take your ukulele — the acoustics are outstanding, with the owners describing the cave as a "similar size and shape to a small shell of the Sydney Opera house". Hatter's Hideout is situated in Bell, a two hours' drive from Sydney. Find out more about it over here. FOR CITY VIEWS: LITTLE CAVE, NIELSEN PARK Clear skies and an extra-special camping buddy are necessary to make this one work. Both room and protection from the elements are limited. If either is in doubt (or sleeping open so close to the city frightens you), stick to picnicking or use Little Cave as a spot for drying off after a night swim. However you experience it, enjoy incredible views of the harbour and city for free from your own private hidey-hole.
And now for something completely impractical. Artist Victor Solomon has created our dream basketball hoop, one we're encouraged to miss and be too short to slam dunk. For his newest series Literally Balling (heh), Solomon has crafted three beautiful backboards of stained, Tiffany-style glass. The whole thing's kind of Meret Oppenheim for basketball. Solomon has made unusable the tools of million-dollar paycheck earners — the Le Brons and Durants of the globe's top basketball stars. Fascinated by the obvious link between the players and their affluent lifestyles, Solomon has cheekily rendered their main moneymaker useless — but pretty as hell. The artist spend hundreds of hours cutting and shaping the stained glass backboards, and used gold chains and crystals to replace the net. Pretty sure no one should try a Jordan on one of these. Via Vice.
UPDATE, May 22, 2021: Black Panther is available to stream via Disney+, Google Play, YouTube Movies and iTunes. There is one dull moment in Black Panther. Exactly one. And the fact that it comes courtesy of Stan Lee's now-inevitable cameo speaks volumes about this rich and electrifying instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When the man who ostensibly founded the franchise shows up, it feels like a predictable, obligatory inclusion in a film that runs from those labels every other chance it gets. Lee's presence nods to the usual formula that's been deployed for 17 big-screen chapters — but, coming in at number 18 in a series that shows no signs of slowing down, Black Panther refuses to stick to that template. It's one of the few comic book flicks in living memory that doesn't spend its time setting up the next movie or shoehorning in links to past titles. The film stands on its own merits, and it's absolutely glorious. Although viewers first met Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa, aka Black Panther, back in Captain America: Civil War, his debut solo outing is still something of an origin story. Despite this, in exploring who the newly crowned Wakandan king is, where he's from and the struggles he's facing, the film prowls down its own path. After the death of his father, T'Challa finds himself at a crossroads about the future of his nation — a place that has long chosen to hoard its considerable technological advancements, close its borders and hide its true nature from the world. Some close to him, such as his head of security W'Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya), support the insular status quo. Others, including his ex-girlfriend turned secret special forces operative Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o), advocate for helping those in need. A Marvel movie that weighs up the merits of isolationist policies versus social responsibility, all while grappling with race and class as well? With its eyes firmly on current world affairs, Black Panther certainly isn't afraid of getting topical. Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, the film blends the rousing politics of his debut, Fruitvale Station, with the earnest spectacle of his follow-up, the Rocky-spinoff Creed. It's a superhero flick with something to say and no qualms about saying it. At the same time, the ambitious effort nods effectively to Shakespeare in its family dynamics, and offers up smart spy action complete with its own gadget guru (Letitia Wright, a scene-stealer as T'Challa's younger sister Shuri). Packed to the brim (although it never feels overstuffed), the movie also makes a stand for formidable women through General Okoye (Danai Gurira), the king's loyal, lethal and highly memorable bodyguard. Marvel's last title, the wonderfully distinctive Thor: Ragnarok, successfully carved its own niche within the MCU's usual confines. While that film proved an impressive feat, Black Panther goes one step further, effectively smashing the standard mould to pieces. This shines through in two areas in particular. The first is in the film's treatment of its primary antagonist, with unruly weapons dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) a mere distraction on the road to the determined Erik 'Killmonger' Stevens (Michael B. Jordan). Villains aren't typically Marvel's strong suit, but here the fight between opposing forces feels refreshingly astute and even-handed. Casting assists considerably in this regard, with both Boseman and Jordan bringing considerable gravitas to their roles. Coogler also demonstrates an exceptional command of tone, delivering a film that serves up a few well-earned laughs, but takes its overall task seriously. In a picture positively teeming with highlights, however, Black Panther's greatest quality is its all-round embrace of African culture. In every aspect of its look, sound and feel, this chapter is like nothing else in the Marvel universe, and that's clearly by design. Twice during the film, outsiders enter Wakanda and try not to let their jaws drop to the floor — and it's easy to understand their reactions. Frankly, it's the same one we had as the end credits rolled. Coogler has crafted an entertaining, engaging and impassioned movie that is both proud of and confident in its differences, and is also committed to shining the spotlight on the people that blockbuster cinema so often ignores. What could be more awe-inspiring than that? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph9_oITIefE
UPDATE, January 7, 2021: Lady Bird is available to stream via Google Play, YouTube Movies, iTunes and Amazon Video. As an actor, Greta Gerwig has mastered the portrayal of quarter-life malaise, with Frances Ha, Mistress America and Maggie's Plan on her resume to prove it. But though she might fit the part in her performances, you certainly couldn't accuse her of the same lack of direction in real life. Not only did she co-write Frances Ha and Mistress America with director Noah Baumbach, but she has now made history with Lady Bird, her five-time Oscar-nominated debut feature as a solo filmmaker. She's just the fifth woman ever to score a Best Director nod, and you just know her hapless yet charming array of on-screen alter egos would be proud. Hell, Frances Halliday would probably rank Gerwig among her idols. As impressive a list of plaudits as Lady Bird has amassed, they pale in comparison to the movie itself. While it can seem like high school coming-of-age films are more common than actual high schoolers, Gerwig gets everything right with her entry into the genre. Here, the minutiae matters, whether it's the sounds of Alanis Morissette's 'One Hand In My Pocket' playing on a car radio, or casually slinging the term "hella tight" into conversation. Specific yet always relatable, Gerwig stitches it all together like she's borrowing from shared memories. Swap in a song and slang phrase relevant to your own teen years, and she very well could be. Stepping through Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson's 2002 senior year, Lady Bird demonstrates its strength, intelligence and realism from its very first line. "Do you think I look like I'm from Sacramento?" the teenager (Saoirse Ronan) asks her mother Marion (Laurie Metcalf), her recognisable desperation for a different life evident in every word. Like most folks so close to college, she wants to fly far away from her quiet patch of suburban California – to finally figure out who she is and start down a path of her own. "I wish I could live through something," she complains. The last thing she's interested in is exactly what she's facing for the next 12 months: more of what she's always known. Shot with a naturalistic glow and paced to mimic the urgency of just wanting adulthood to begin, every frame of the film feels familiar, even as the story dives into distinctive arenas, such as Catholic schooling and lower middle-class family life, as well as the struggles and class divisions that come with it. As Sacramento native Gerwig has described, "the more particular you make something, the more universal it becomes." Accordingly, though it's easy to pick where the narrative is headed, it proves authentic and lived-in rather than generic and derivative. Lady Bird chases vastly different boys (Manchester By the Sea's Lucas Hedges and Call Me By Your Name's Timothée Chalamet), auditions for school plays with her BFF (an excellent Beanie Feldstein), secretly applies to out-of-state universities, flits between groups of friends, and argues with her overworked mum. For all of the astute ways that Lady Bird captures what it's like to be a 17-year-old, it's the mother-daughter relationship that truly sits at the centre of the film. That's thanks not only to Gerwig's perceptive script and multi-layered characters, but also to Ronan and Metcalf's unaffected, emotionally complex performances. Take another of the movie's pivotal scenes as an example, with Lady Bird and Marion rifling through op shop clothes racks looking for an appropriate Thanksgiving dress. They bicker, ooze passive aggression, and actually fight about being passive aggressive — until they find the right frock, and the tension instantly dissipates. It's a scene that everyone watching has lived through in some shape or form, even if the precise details differ. Capturing the feeling of wanting to break free of your parents' control, while loving them all the same, it's a perfect encapsulation of this funny, heartfelt and wonderfully honest film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzgTHyEv5Ng
Just four kilometres long and three kilometres wide, Hayman Island might be small, but it be fierce. In one day, you can snorkel with swirling schools of tropical fish, play Robinson Crusoe on very own private beach and trek through lush rainforest to Baraka-worthy sunsets. When you're ready to leave shore, there are uninhabited islands to explore, outer reef coral kingdoms to dive among and luxury yachts to climb aboard. Want to enjoy all this without spending a cent? Mastercard is giving away an all-expenses-paid Hayman Island adventure worth $6000 to one lucky, lucky Nemo. Jump over here to go in the running. This highly opulent prize includes flights, accommodation in a luxe suite in Hayman Island's only resort and a VIP dining experience with Neil Perry. In the meantime, start planning your itinerary with these ten tips. SNORKEL THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Hayman Island's busiest aquatic community is on its north-western side, at Blue Pearl Bay. Prepare to meet local resident Priscilla, an enormous Māori wrasse, among rainbow-coloured parrot fish and striped angel fish. For an off-shore escapade, catch a private boat to pocket-sized Langford Island, where you'll come across magical underwater gardens. Afterwards, you can kick back on the long, sandy spit, picnicking, swimming and lazing about. Another option is the outer reef — at the legendary giant Stepping Stones, which drop away to 40 metres. You'll be gliding among magnificent rays and scary-looking-yet-utterly-harmless reef sharks. TAKE A HIKE To get your bearings, start with a short climb to Cook Lookout, Hayman Island's highest point. At 250 metres above sea level, it gives you a bird's perspective on surrounding reef formations and the rugged shores of neighbouring Hook Island. Come late afternoon, set off for Whitsunday Lookout, from where you can see the sun setting over the Whitsunday Passage, or to Dolphin Point, Hayman Island's northernmost tip. Alternatively, for a d0-nothing day on perfect white sand, take a stroll to Blue Pearl Bay. Don't forget your swimmers and snorkelling gear. STAY IN AN ULTRA-LUXE SUITE Hayman Island is privately owned and there's but one accommodation option, appropriately named One&Only Hayman Island Resort. Fortunately for you, it's a bloody masterpiece. An array of room types are available and they're all ultra-luxe. We're talking Royal Family-level linen draped across four-poster beds, massive ensuites with separate showers and baths, dressing rooms fit for Marilyn Monroe and private balconies overlooking the resort's tropical gardens or the ocean — depending on where you are. Facilities include two pools, seven bars and restaurants, a spa and a fitness centre, for those who, inexplicably, can be bothered moving. GET PADDLING To see Hayman Island from the water, at human-powered speed, jump in a kayak or man a paddleboard. If you're a newbie — or not very brave — there's no need to travel far for beautiful views and, thanks to the island's crystalline waters, flashes of aquatic life. Meanwhile, Bear Grylls types can venture further afield, perhaps even attempting a circumnavigation. Along the way, be sure to stop by Coconut Beach, where you can regain your energy by sinking into a sun lounge, and Blue Pearl Bay. SWIM IN A 'LAGOON' SEVEN TIMES THE SIZE OF AN OLYMPIC POOL The likelihood of bumping into another guest in the One&Only Hayman Island Resort's behemoth of a pool is next to nix. It's seven times the size of your average Olympic Pool. So, whether you're lapping, synchronised swimming or simply bobbing about in between cocktails, no one's going to get in your way. There are day beds aplenty and four private cabanas. Super-keen swimmers can book a suite in the Hayman Pool wing, where the rooms open directly onto the water. Should you find yourself working up an appetite, swing by the nearby On The Rocks Restaurant and Bar. EAT DINNER WITH NEIL PERRY Even a multi-hat winning chef's gotta go troppo every now and again. So, why not join him for the ride? In July, Neil Perry AM (of Rockpool and $10 burger fame) will be cooking up a feast on Hayman Island and then hosting you while you munch your way through it. He hasn't given away any of the culinary details yet, but we imagine there'll be no shortage of seafood inspiration, as well a handpicked selection of fancy wines to match. The only catch is, the only way you can experience this hedonistic evening is by entering the comp mentioned above or by laying your card down — it's one of Mastercard's Priceless Dinners and spots are strictly limited. GET A MASSAGE FLOATING IN THE SEA No tropical holiday is complete without a massage. And, on Hayman Island, you can take yours next level by ordering it outdoors. For water babies, there's the 90-minute 'Ocean Dreaming' experience, which involves pretty much what you see in the pic above: lying on a bed, floating on still water and surrounded by clear sky. If you're more Jungle Book, book into a 'Rainforest Massage'. You'll be ushered into a private, canopy-sheltered cabana and given a massage according to your specific bodily needs. Yogis might also be interested in the 'Sun Salutation', inspired by Oriental techniques and involving acupuncture, stretching and rocking motions. LEARN TO SCUBA Yet to scuba? There's no more classic place to learn than the Great Barrier Reef. Except, of course, that it might make dives closer to home seem somewhat anti-climactic. On Hayman Island, you'll kick off with a basic coaching session, before starting your underwater explorations in the safe, shallow waters of Blue Pearl Bay. Next up is a guided tour of nearby The Maze, so named because wandering through it feels a bit like twisting and turning through a coral labyrinth. You'll then be taken to The Fish Bowl, which is absolutely teeming with diverse fish species. RIDE A SEAPLANE Many a traveller has seen the Great Barrier Reef through a snorkelling mask or from the deck of a boat, but, there's no more startling way to get your head around its extraordinary proportions than from the window of sea plane. So, if you can scrape some dosh together, make it happen. You'll soar high above the Great Barrier's 350,000 square kilometres (which is divided into 2800 separate reefs altogether) swoop down for a closer look, and even take a break for a spot of snorkelling in Hardy Lagoon. CLIMB ABOARD A LUXURY YACHT Go James Bond-style and travel to and from Hayman Island via luxury yacht. Or, while you're there, charter one and design your own Great Barrier Reef cruise. You can loll about on the deck doing not much, cruise on the bow pretending to be Kate Winslet or watch the crew in action. Needless to say, fine dining and premium beverages will be at your disposal. You're the boss, after all. Want to enjoy all this without spending a cent? Mastercard is giving away an all-expenses-paid Hayman Island adventure worth $6000 to one lucky, lucky Nemo. Jump over here to go in the running. Images: One&Only Hayman Island/Mastercard.
The Palisade Hotel was once the highest building in Sydney. It's true, back in 1915 it was built as a pub for port workers and the residents of Millers Point; a feat of modern commercial development. After many long and hearty years as a Millers staple pub, hotel and prized Brian Sudek/Annie Parmentier restaurant, it closed in 2008. But now, the Palisade is finding new life in its 100th year, quietly reopening its ground floor bar. Quite the prime real estate spot, the Palisade has been snapped up for about $20 million by entrepreneur Richard Sapsford, according to Good Food. The pub is aiming to fuse boutique hotel accommodation with a brand new penthouse eatery and bar, under the direction businessman of Greg Walker. With the ground floor bar now open for business — serving hearty pub grub like soup and toasties alongside lighter fare like lentil and beetroot salads — the Palisade's fancier upper levels are tipped for a September opening. Owner of The Society Inc and interior stylist for the likes of Palings, Mr Wong, Palmer & Co, El Loco, 30 Knots, Upstairs at The Beresford, MsG’s and more Sibella Court is steering the revamp — one she 's claiming to have a "Soho House feel", nodding to the New York City Meatpacking District institution. The Palisade's ground floor bar is now open at 35 Bettington Street, Millers Point. Watch this space for more details on the upper levels. Images: Chris Court, The Society Inc.
Cheese isn't just a topping or a charcuterie pairing — it's a whole food group, and should be treated as such. If we had our way, the food pyramid would have a gooey, cheesy base, and probably a bite out of the top because it would also be made out of cheese. If you structure your day correctly, it's possible to have cheese for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert — and, frankly, it would be remiss not to sneak a cheese plate in somewhere between courses. To help you set off on the road toward your personal cheese nirvana, here are ten tried, tested and truly transcendent cheese experiences you can have in Sydney, on any day of the week (plus, an additional fondue special that's just here for winter). [caption id="attachment_721671" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Daniel Boud[/caption] RACLETTE AT LOLUK BISTRO, SURRY HILLS An amazing feature of French cuisine is that pouring melted cheese over your food is considered a meal — and not just one you make at home when your housemates are out of town. The raclette craze in Sydney shows no sign of slowing, with heaps of venues offering their version of this semi-hard cheese, melted under a grill and poured on top of potatoes, meat and pickles. Bourke Street's LoLuk Bistro whips out the raclette every Tuesday and Wednesday night — and for $49 per person, you can eat as much of it as you want. MR CRISPY SANDWICH AT THE STINKING BISHOPS, ENMORE Where else to start but at the inner west's temple of cheese? We're talking about The Stinking Bishops. It's home to one of the greatest vegetarian sandwiches in Sydney, dubbed the Mushroom Mr Crispy ($11). Comprised of field and enoki mushrooms, this toastie oozes taleggio and thyme mayo. If you're a meat lover, there's also a wagyu smoked beef version, topped with horseradish mayo. And there are plenty of other cheese options if you need them. The ploughman's lunch ($27) is a plank of wood covered with incredibly hearty nibbles, while the cauliflower mac 'n' grueyere ($27) is nothing short of an otherworldly experience. [caption id="attachment_622140" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimberley Low.[/caption] CACIO E PEPE PASTA AT BUFFALO DINING CLUB, DARLINGHURST Pasta tossed in a wheel of cheese has become a Sydney trend that doesn't seem to be slowing. You can find it at markets around town, and, this winter, Handpicked Cellar Door is even doing a flaming truffle version this winter. But a time-honoured version can be had a Darlinghurst's Buffalo Dining Club any day of the year. The restaurant mixes a traditional Roman-style cacio e pepe pasta inside a hollowed-out wheel of pecorino cheese ($24), along with freshly cracked pepper and plenty of olive oil. It all goes down tableside — we know you'll be filming the action to post on your feed later. SEASONAL CHEESECAKE AT LITTLE LORD, CAMPERDOWN Cheese doesn't always have to mean savoury. Camperdown cafe Little Lord gives you good reason to have cheese any time of the day with its seasonal and regularly changing cheesecake of the moment. Co-owner Jax Alexander makes her cheesecake the Italian way with ricotta, natural yoghurt and whichever seasonal fruit is on offer. Recent flavours include passionfruit, raspberry, and lemon and coconut. But no matter what flavour it is, it's invariably fluffy, creamy and impossible to share — the good news is, at $5 a slice, you won't have to. [caption id="attachment_711918" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimberley Low[/caption] KIMCHI TOASTIE AT PENNY'S CHEESE SHOP, POTTS POINT Walk into Penny's Cheese Shop, and you'd think you'd died and gone to cheese heaven. With two fridges stocked to the brim with creamy, stinky, funky and hard cheeses this little unassuming fromagerie is one of the best in Sydney. Aside from the service and the cheese, Penny Lawson's golden toasties, which quickly achieved cult status, are another reason you'll return to the shop again and again and again. With cheese both on the inside and the outside of the Pioik bread, as well as a rotating range of fillings — from kimchi to smoked wagyu and jalapeños — we think they might just be the best in the city. TRUFFLE MAC AND CHEESE AT THE HENSON, MARRICKVILLE We've got to hand it to them — Americans do a few things really, really well. Free-poured drinks are one, barbecued meats are another. But top of the list for us is their ability to slather carbs with cheese in a variety of pleasing ways. At Marrickville stalwart The Henson, the kitchen has created a fancier version of the classic mac and cheese by melting tasty cheese together with heaps of parmesan and truffle oil, then adding in a 'healthy' twist with cauliflower and silverbeet greens aplenty. It's incredibly rich and cheesy, and will completely fill you up for $16 a serve. CHEESE MAKING COURSE AT CORNERSMITH, MARRICKVILLE You might know Cornersmith for its pickles and preserves — and for its courses that teach Sydneysiders the skills to it themselves. But the Cornersmith Picklery also offers a semi-regular cheesemaking course run by local supplier Kristen Allan. The half-day workshop will teach all you need to know about how to make delectable soft cheeses like ricotta and labne at home — and you'll get plenty to take home, too. The next one is coming up on August 11, and places are still available here for $170. CHEESE PLATE AT THE GPO CHEESE AND WINE ROOM, CBD The GPO Cheese and Wine Room is a fine dining cheese establishment like no other. Open since 1999, it boasts one helluva cheese list, offering over 100 varieties — which you can choose from to create your ultimate cheese board. The seasonal selection ranges from local Australian producers to options from Europe, the States and the UK. We recommend letting the in-house cheese-masters curate a platter of their favourites, which you can pair with one of over 200 wines — or opt for a cheese and wine flight while you're at it. BURRATA AT PAESANELLA, MARRICKVILLE Paesanella should be a go-to for every Sydney cheese lover. This factory has been producing a variety of handmade Italian cheeses since the 1950s, and you can peruse its many varieties at the food emporium, day or night. Of the boundless cheeses available, it's the burrata you're after: a fist-sized pouch of mozzarella filled with rich cream that oozes out when pierced. You can sit down at the downstairs pizza restaurant and enjoy it in the antipasto platter ($35), which also comes with fried dough, mixed grilled veggies and cherry tomatoes. Or take one home and serve it at room temperature. Add a few fat ribbons of prosciutto, maybe a scattering of basil leaves and some fresh bread, and you have a legendary antipasto of your own. BURRATA PIZZA AT DONNY'S PIZZA, ABBOTSFORD If you haven't spotted it already, Abbotsford has a new authentic Italian pizza joint: Donny's Pizza. The rustic 60-seater is offering quality ingredients, alongside a self-professed Big Poppa's-inspired hip-hop backdrop. While so many of the pizzas are worthy of your attention, the burrata pizza ($19) is hard to beat — as burrata atop a pizza tends to be. The dough is heavily layered with a bruschetta-like mix of fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil, then finished off with an entire ball of gooey burrata. It'll make you wonder why every pizza isn't made the same way. Top image: Penny's Cheese Shop by Kimberley Low.
A love of puns is what inspired three friends to name their cafe Fleetwood Macchiato. One could be forgiven for thinking that a visit to the place would be dominated by Mac tunage, but fear not readers, because this gem is much more than that. The cosy café in the quiet neighbourhood of Erskineville is inviting from the moment you step in. Owners Tara, David and Jai have previously already worked together so are no strangers to the industry and it's obvious. The simple fit out of wood panelling and white walls is home to a combination of good food, relaxed atmosphere and friendly service. You might be hard pressed to find a seat here though, and for good reason. Golden Cobra, whose owner David is also one third of Fleetwood Macchiato, roasts the house blend Debut de siecle coffee. For dedicated caffeine lovers, there's an extensive list of Single Origins scribbled in chalk up on the back wall, from an El Salvador Santa Isabel filter to a Kenyan espresso ($3.50). A display of appealing treats sit beneath the glass top counter at the front that are conveniently placed so you're tempted to get one with your takeaway coffee. It takes a stubborn soul to say no to a Belgian chocolate and hazelnut brownie ($5). The all-day menu is simple but exudes deliciousness. There are the usual breakfast culprits, but the honest fare has a twist toasted — oats come with wild figs, semi-dried raspberries, lemon myrtle yoghurt, fennel tops and macadamias ($9.50) — certainly nothing you'd find in a box in the supermarket. Bread is provided from Organic Bread Bar in Paddington and it's worth noting that whatever they're putting between the slices, is homemade and incredibly mouth-watering. A bacon and egg roll comes smashed with avocado, mustard mayo, spicy sriracha sauce, pickles and mushrooms ($12.50) and a wholemeal baguette is overflowing with fig, taleggio, fennel and a well-dressed watercress and mesclun salad mix ($11). Pair that with a pink grapefruit homemade juice ($5) and you've definitely accomplished something for the day. For a non-breaded option try one of the seasonal salads like the broccoli, almonds, pink grapefruit, broad beans, fennel, purple cabbage, parsley with smoked salmon ($19). This baby just spells healthy and satisfaction. There's plenty to like about Fleetwood Macchiato aside from its punchline sagacity. And if they continue to deliver the goods, there's no doubt they'll stick around. Like a cult classic indeed. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
While the rest of the world goes crazy for all things green, Allen's Lollies is cutting two of their famous green jellies from production: the classic green frog and the spearmint leaf. This isn't as bad as the barbaric downsizing of the Killer Python, but still. Sad. Margaret Stuart, a Nestle spokesperson, passed the blame directly to YOU for letting your childhood fear of vegetables prevent you from ever buying green lollies. "The situation is that our lollies are actually going gangbusters, but we have deleted a couple — we have deleted Spearmint Leaves and also the Green Frogs basically because they weren't selling so well." We kind of understand the "deletion" (honestly, weird word choice) of the spearmint leaves. As much as we remember them fondly, they do kind of taste like toothpaste but are terrible for your teeth. The spearmint leaf is definitely the Jerry Gergich of the lolly bag. But green frogs? Green frogs are OK, they’re an almost savoury partner frog to the classic Allen's red frog. But what of the humble Sherbie? The still-not-renamed Redskin? To put your quiet freak-out to rest, here's what's safe, according to Allen's: "The Red Frogs are going gangbusters ... they outsell the green by ten to one," Stuart says. Cuts like this are going to homogenise grab bags into only the popular flavours like 'red' and orange but that’s the brutal world of candy business. The only upside we can imagine is the hopefully inevitable TV series about a couple of desperate dudes cooking up counterfeit spearmint leaves and green frogs in a camper van in Arizona. It'll happen. Via ABC.
Ask people about voguing and the first thing most can come up with is an offhand reference to that music video Madonna did back in 1990. While her hit single 'Vogue' did serve to catapult the dance form onto the world stage, the story of its origins as a queer, black cultural practice born in the marginalised locales of New York is a more obscured tale. For the young kids living back in Harlem back then (and even today), it wasn’t so much of a dance form as it was about cultivating a safe space for self-expression and community. In a world so primed to reject these minorities, voguing was a fresh cause for celebration. Australian performance artist Bhenji Ra is out to shatter people’s Madonna-imbued misconceptions and redefine how we think of voguing. Performing in Performance Space’s weekend of live art, Day for Night, Bhenji and Liverpool-based dance troupe The Pioneers will be conducting a series of vogue ‘classes’ that explore the appropriation of the practice across different subcultures. With Day for Night looming and Mardi Gras hot on its heels, we thought it time to learn about the true history of voguing. Here it is, from its streetside beginnings to its commercial success. ORIGINS: THE DRAG BALLROOMS OF HARLEM Just as the name suggests, voguing drew its start from the pages of Vogue magazine, as dancers took to emulating the elaborate poses struck by editorial models. Harlem’s community halls were transformed into drag ballrooms, places that working class, queer, Latino and African Americans could truly claim as their stomping ground, removed from the judgment of the heteronormative world. They established different ‘Houses’ – a network of fraternity that was almost a home away from home for these young outcasts. Away from Harlem, others were also playing it up. "The gay inmates [of Riker's Island in New York] would imitate the models of Vogue magazine and it became a thing of replicating the catwalk and also having drag battles," says Bhenji. THEN: STRIKE A POSE So how did such a localised cultural practice become thrust into the world spotlight? As was the answer to most things in the '80s, it was Madonna. Her song 'Vogue', with its ubiquitous music video, disseminated a washed-down version of vogue culture, easily digestible for the pop audience (“It makes no difference if you’re black or white, if you’re a boy or girl,” she sings). For the original voguers, the success of this new publicity was only short lived. “[For] people like Willi Ninja, who really had a vision for vogue to be known globally, to think that something that started in the community hall went into this hyper-globalised market and just being known by millions around the world, I think that blew their mind," says Bhenji. "But I guess from my point of view, post-post all of that, you can sit back and say, it's not really correct in a way in that what happens to [the voguers] after that? They're in the same place, their careers haven’t escalated." NOW: VOGUING GOES VIRAL In the 20 plus years since, voguing has gone through countless reinventions and interpretations, transforming from a pose-heavy expressionism to a much more fluid and stylised choreography as influences from sub-genres of dance such as femme, waacking, and dancehall fed into its evolution. And with technology of course, voguing can be taught anywhere, anytime: “Kids are learning from YouTube and screens and they’re not learning from the OGs [Original Gangsters], or the legends, or the originals in New York ... people exploring voguing in Australia or anywhere outside of New York, there’s always a new twist to it,” says Bhenji. DECONSTRUCTED AT DAY FOR NIGHT The Madonna moment of vogue is just one instance of cultural appropriation that Bhenji Ra and the Pioneers aim to address in Performance Space's Day for Night. But what happens when vogue is transferred and reincarnated across marginal groups, from the original African Americans on the New York piers to Australia’s suburban centres of diaspora? “People go ‘Oh why isn't there vogue groups that we know of?’. Well sometimes, especially in Australia, we don't need them," says Bhenji. "But then you go out into the fringes, in the suburbs, where there's mostly Polynesians or Asians ... then you see these kind of things pop up where people start to gather together and create crews. "We should question ourselves when we pick up the form. We should talk about the form, that it's not just wavy arms ... It's a community, it's a culture, just like any other traditional form of performance." Presented by Performance Space, Carriageworks and Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Day for Night is on in February in two parts: a party on the night of Friday 20 (7.30 - 11.30pm) and the live art exhibition on February 21 – 22 (where you can catch Bhenji, from 12 – 8pm daily). Image by James Brown for Performance Space.
Every time you enter a darkened cinema to spend a few hours gazing at the silver screen, you pay tribute to French movies. More than a century ago, the European nation was at the forefront of the medium — its filmmakers are not only responsible for the oldest surviving film in existence, but also the 46-second piece considered the first true film ever made, as well as many influential early efforts. They're still helping shower audiences in movie delights today, of course, with Australia's Alliance Francaise French Film Festival providing an annual snapshot of just how busy and bustling the French film industry remains. When you're selling more than 212 million cinema tickets to eager audiences in a single a year, as the country did in 2016, you need plenty of great flicks to show them. As far as our slice of Gallic cinema in Australia is concerned, the numbers keep coming: reaching its 28th year, the 2017 festival will screen 45 films in nine different cities and towns, and will try to exceed its 168,000 admissions from its last outing. That all adds up to a great problem for a cinema lover to have: being spoiled for choice. Should you opt for watching many a French movie star? Exploring many an intriguing tale? Or try to combine both? Let us help steer you in the right direction with our ten must-see picks of the fest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-y_3mquoc THE ODYSSEY When The Odyssey starts relating the tale of Jacques Cousteau, you can be forgiven for expecting to see Billy Murray's face, hear Brazilian versions of Bowie tracks and laugh at Wes Anderson's sense of humour. We all love The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which comically paid homage to Cousteau — but, taking to the seas for a biopic of the famous French oceanographer, director Jérôme Salle favours a much more traditional approach. With Lambert Wilson playing the man in question and Audrey Tautou co-starring as his wife, expect more than a few waves to result as the film examines Cousteau's professional and personal lives. The Odyssey opens this year's Alliance Francaise French Film Festival with a splash, which is exactly how you want things to kick off. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu3OdZ8RJd4 BEING 17 It's okay if Being 17 sounds familiar — it has been doing the rounds of Australia's major film festivals over the past year. However, one of the great things about the AFFFF is the opportunity to catch up with movies you might've missed elsewhere. And, if you haven't put this vibrant coming-of-age flick in front of your eyeballs just yet, make sure you rectify the situation. The story itself makes a certain impact as it charts two teenage boys exploring their feelings for each other, then grappling with the uncertainty that follows, as told with sensitivity and insight by Girlhood director-turned-Being 17 screenwriter Céline Sciamma. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAOVBV670XM DAGUERROTYPE Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is well known for dwelling in horror territory — in fact, his last movie screened at the Japanese Film Festival late last year. Here, he makes the jump to France to tell a Gothic ghost tale, enlisting the help of actors Tahar Rahim and Mathieu Amalric. At the centre of the film sits the titular form of photography, which involves capturing images on a silver surface, and requires those getting snapped to sit still for hours on end. The film moves similarly slowly; however, it doesn't take long for its Gothic charms to work their magic. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnp0f9xoAfM IN BED WITH VICTORIA When it premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, In Bed With Victoria earned comparisons to Trainwreck. So if that's your kind of film, get excited. Yes, that means you should expect an account of a woman's quest for romantic success, relayed in both a frank and funny fashion. It also means you'll be falling for an engaging lead performance, with Up for Love's Virginie Efira more than handling the task of playing a Parisian lawyer and single mother trying to navigate the ups and downs of life, dating and finding happiness. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5dh7UWbSZI IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD Prepare to question your life choices. In the last nine years, French-Canadian writer/director Xavier Dolan has made six films, five of which have screened at Cannes. He'll turn 28 this month, and he's currently working on his seventh effort, his English-language debut starring Kit Harington, Jessica Chastain, Natalie Portman, Thandie Newton, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon and Room's Jacob Tremblay. That's quite the accomplishment — and while his most recent movie, It's Only the End of the World, has received mixed reviews, there's still plenty of emotion-dripping French family drama and eye-catching visuals to enjoy. Gaspard Ulliel, Nathalie Baye, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel and Marion Cotillard star, with the film taking out Cannes' 2016 Grand Jury Prize. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H96Qxp-3ssc A JOURNEY THROUGH FRENCH CINEMA We've already told you that France and cinema go hand-in-hand, but there's no need to simply take our word for it. Trust the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival to screen just the movie that'll teach you everything you ever needed to know about French filmmaking, with veteran writer/director Bertrand Tavernier's A Journey Through French Cinema an informative and engaging guide. Be warned: because there's plenty to cover, you can expect to get comfy for more than three hours. And remember to clear your schedule for months afterwards, because you're going to want to spend every waking moment delving into as much French movie history as possible. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmPTQdW79Tg PLANETARIUM With a title like Planetarium, writer/director Rebecca Zlotowski will have you thinking about stars — and seeing them as well. Expect to be dazzled not by the shining lights above or a place dedicated to them, but by the talents of Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp (yes, Johnny's daughter). The two combine to bring a pair of American sisters to life on a stylish journey through pre-war Europe, complete with seances and other paranormal phenomena, as well as the process of bringing supernatural magic to the movies. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elM9HxIlDnQ THINGS TO COME Come on, admit it: we were all hoping that Isabelle Huppert's name would be read out at the Oscars this year. Alas, there was no envelope mix-up in the best actress category. Elle wasn't the only astonishing performance that the French actress gave in 2016 though, with her work in Things to Come just as moving and revelatory. Under the affectionate direction of Eden's Mia Hansen-Løve, Huppert is once again at her best as a philosophy professor forced to reassess her life. And, if you can't get enough of all things Isabelle, she also pops up in fellow festival effort Souvenir. Double feature, anyone? View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRgjsnadqOA THE INNOCENTS Cinema has made a habit of following those in habits, pondering faith and exploring the space where religious beliefs and the realities of life meet. Add The Innocents to the contemplative pile, as a young French doctor visits a Benedictine convent to tackle the one scenario that's not supposed to happen: several pregnancies. Set at the end of the Second World War, Anne Fontaine's film proves all the more compelling by taking its tale from a true story. No wonder it got audiences talking when it screened at last year's Sundance, and no doubt it'll do the same again at the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival. View sessions here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=FWaf830692s TOMORROW After wowing audiences as one of film's most memorable cinema owners in Inglourious Basterds, Mélanie Laurent hasn't just continued to pop up on-screen — she has stepped behind the lens as well. In fact, the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival gifted Australian audiences with the chance to see her last fictional feature, Breathe, and they're coming through again. This time, Laurent turns documentarian with co-director Cyril Dion to dive into today's environmental issues, and just what they might mean for tomorrow. If that sounds powerful, it should. It also won the duo the Cesar award for best documentary at France's top film awards. View sessions here. The Alliance Française French Film Festival will visit Sydney from March 7 to 30; Melbourne from March 8 to 30, and Brisbane from March 16 to April 9.
This article is sponsored by our partners, Mr & Mrs Smith. Explore your sensual side with a coral reef backdrop, sip a cocktail flanked by elephants or get pampered in style at the boutique boltholes, luxury lodgings and relaxing resorts crowned the best in the world in this year’s Smith Hotel Awards. Shining a light on notable newcomers, stunning stalwarts and all-round amazing accommodation, the team at Mr & Mrs Smith pitted more than 950 hotels in the collection head to head, emerging with 12 luminaries of luxury. Best-Dressed Hotel: El Fenn, Marrakech, Morocco The bold and beautiful interiors of El Fenn in Marrakech captured the imagination of the judges and public alike, enticing them with its colossal custom-built baths, six-foot-wide beds and creature comforts. The hotel’s impressive art collection boasts sculpture, paintings and photography by David Shrigley, Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley and Batoul Shimi, but they’re not the only standouts in this once-derelict riad. Perfectly polished tadelakt in arsenic-blue and rose-pink and carved cedarwood provide the backdrop to the artworks; camel-leather flooring, Berber rugs and traditional Moroccan tiling treat your feet. Rainbow-hued fabrics woven by loom cover the communal furniture on the rooftop terrace, continuing the jewel-coloured mishmash of patterns and textures. Sexiest Bedroom: Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, Nha Trang, Vietnam There are no doors in the five ravishingly romantic water villas at Six Senses Ninh Van Bay; instead a private seaside staircase yawns down to the hillside. All the villas are set right on the ocean but Number Five is the best of the bunch, with an infinity-edge pool set amid the coastal rocks, a private ladder leading into the ocean and a coral reef as its backdrop. Guests can wake up to the gentle sound of waves and the view to match, or enjoy a bath for two in complete serenity as the sun sets. The deck comes complete with sunbeds and privacy courtesy of the surrounding rocks, meaning a steamy outdoor session isn’t out of the question. A dedicated butler, available 24/7, will look after your every whim, so leaving your wood-and-white villa is optional. Hottest Hotel Bar: The NoMad Hotel, New York The magnificent master-in-residence, decadent decor and cosmopolitan crowds made the Elephant Bar at The NoMad Hotel the judges’ favourite. The mahogany pachyderms (after which the bar takes its name) guard the brilliant bartenders, who will whip up something from the fascinating cocktail menu curated by master mixologist Leo Robitschek. His passion for under-the-radar spirits, sought-after wines and craft-beer collaborations results in an intoxicatingly good selection. The Satan’s Circus cocktail, made with rye whiskey, chilli-infused aperol, cherry heering and lemon juice, makes a cheeky nod to the area’s mischievous past – it was once drenched in debauchery, with a number of dance halls and gambling haunts. Lashings of leather and dark-wood furnishings contribute to the sultry surroundings; the only thing sexier is the two-person-deep claw-foot bath tub, set beside the windows, in the Atelier rooms upstairs. Best Hotel Restaurant: Hartnett, Holder & Co at Lime Wood, Hampshire, UK Hartnett, Holder & Co, the signature restaurant at Hampshire’s Lime Wood proves that sometimes two chefs are better than one. Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder are a delicious duo, presenting a clever blend of comfort cuisine and seasonal sourcing and merging Italian culinary ideologies with classic British dishes. The menu changes regularly; expect a choice of starters, pasta, meat, fish and sharing dishes. Hartnett and Holder aim to produce home-cooked food, grounded in a respect for local produce and served in a relaxed eating atmosphere. Their team also forages for fungi in neighbouring woods and hand-rear their meat and cure it in the onsite smokehouse, resulting in organic offerings that are guaranteed to tempt your tastebuds. Best Spa Hotel: Dormy House, Cotswolds, UK The recently opened Dormy House has become a hit with Cotswolds spa-goers, boasting not just one but five drawcards. This 17th-century farmhouse has been given a 21st-century twist, retaining its honey-hued exterior but with pepped-up interiors that emanate a clean-lined, Scandi-chic feel. The 16m candlelit infinity pool may be the centrepiece of the spa, but the rhassoul-mud room, fragrant thermal suite, Veuve Clicquot nail bar and host of Temple Spa treatments are equally attractive to pamper aficionados. An outdoor hydrotherapy pool and tropical rain shower complete the package. Fitness fans can work out at one of two gyms — one for a leisurely session and the Studio for pre-booked personal training sessions and a range of classes. Soothe sore muscles with a treatment in one of the six rooms; couples can share the experience in the double room. The Eco Award: Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef Situated in the remote Cape Range National Park, Sal Salis is a prime example of how to protect a fragile eco-system. The hotel’s luxury seaside tents rely solely on solar power, use composting toilets and have a tightly controlled water system, reducing their environmental footprint. Besides other campmates, the only visitors at this secluded spot will be kangaroos, so guests can enjoy the splendour of nearby Ningaloo Reef in peace. Days can be spent underwater, mingling with the manta rays, dolphins, turtles and sparkling shoals of fish that also call this part of the world home. Each time someone stays here, the camp makes a donation to the Australian Wildlife Conservatory — guests contribute to the protection of the area as they enjoy it. Best for Families: Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, Blue Mountains Zoos are one thing; 4,000 jaw-dropping acres of pristine natural wilderness (with a world-class spa and restaurant) are quite another. Families are in for an-eco adventure of a lifetime at Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, the luxury lodging just out of Sydney. Kids and adults alike will love looking for the local wildlife — including wallabies, wombats, kangaroos and cockatoos — in jeeps, by bike, on foot or even horseback. Knowledgeable guides can lead the whole clan on a wildlife, Aboriginal history, colonial heritage or guided mountain bike tour, all included in the room rates. The Federation-style bungalows are sumptuously styled — with stained-glass door panels, natural stone, timber and fabrics — they’re also perfectly positioned to take in the stunning surrounding scenery. Best budget hotel: 1888 Hotel, Sydney The only thing old-fashioned about 1888 Hotel is its price tag — its gorgeous young staff and vibrant interiors make it seem far more expensive than it is. Smack bang in the middle of Sydney, the hotel’s rooms feature reclaimed Ironbark beams and period windows combined with the most mod of cons, including an in-room iPad and a designated ‘selfie spot’ in the lobby. The bedrooms are stylish and cosy, with natural light, exposed brick walls and punchy Australian artworks. Those who want to take full advantage of the hotel’s location should stay in the Attic, which boasts the best views of the harbour city; a sociable lounge area; and a sun-kissed patio, perfect for soaking up those afternoon rays. A smart bar menu and delicious food courtesy of 1888 Eatery and Bar cap off the thoroughly enjoyable experience at this harbour-side haven. Best Hotel Pool: Monastero Santa Rosa, Amalfi Coast, Italy Monastero Santa Rosa’s high-rise heated infinity pool has set a new standard for man-made bodies of water. Carved into the terraced clifftop with jaw-dropping views of the Amalfi Coast, its beach-like edge offers the perfect perch to enjoy an unbroken panorama of the Bay of Salerno. The clever lighting and perfectly placed sunbeds make it the ideal spot to spend an afternoon, before watching the sun set over the coast. With a perimeter that blends seamlessly into the horizon, you’ll struggle to figure out where the pool ends and the sea begins. When you tire of the view, turn back towards the 17th-century monastery for a treatment at the Santa Maria Novella-stocked spa or a meal at the Santa Rosa Ristorante, where chef Christoph Bob plucks produce from the surrounding gardens to produce extraordinary interpretations of traditional Campanian dishes. Above and Beyond: Southern Ocean Lodge, South Australia Luxe Kangaroo Island resort Southern Ocean Lodge offers cool and contemporary suites and all-inclusive rates in one of the world’s most secluded and serene locations. Sitting at the bottom of South Australia, this designer haven is the last stop before Antarctica, making it a superb spot for some solitude. The calming suites take full advantage of the outdoors, with jaw-dropping views from the freestanding tub, fireplace and spacious private terrace, complete with a dreamy day bed. Luxury lovers should opt for the opulent Osprey Suite: the separate lounge, freestanding handmade stone bath and terrace spa are incredibly indulgent. The multifaceted lobby features a bar and restaurant, walk-in wine cellar, a shop selling local produce and a sunken lounge with a French fireplace suspended from the ceiling and enough books and magazines for even the most literary of lovers. All food, drinks and activities are included in your fare, so once you arrive, there’s no need for arithmetic. Best Newcomer: Ham Yard Hotel, London, UK Perched by Piccadilly Circus, Ham Yard Hotel’s vintage-inspired bowling alley, rooftop terrace with Soho views and restaurant-supplying garden are just the tip of the iceberg at this designer den. Featuring designer Kit Kemp’s signature multipatterned, multi-oloured style, the spacious bedrooms are individually designed with their own mix of art, textures and bright bursts of colour. The headboards are particularly impressive; so is the compact kitchen stocked with Sipsmith spirits in the larger rooms. If the hustle and bustle of London gets a tad tiring, guests can retire to the Ham Yard theatre—– continuing the crazy colour scheme with tangerine seats, electric-blue walls and fuchsia silk curtains — for a film screening, or head to the retro bowling alley for entertainment of a different kind. The honesty bar in the guests-only library will keep everyone’s thirst quenched when the competition heats up, and the bustling restaurant will keep every guest well-fed. Best Smith Hotel 2014: Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa, Bahia, Brazil The Best Smith Hotel is a competitive class: with over 950 hotels to choose from, the winner has to be doing some spectacular things to take out the top gong. This year, breathtaking Brazilian beauty Uxua Casa Hotel & Spa won the judges over with its stunning beachside location, dedication to sustainable tourism and interiors you’d expect to see in a design magazine. Tucked between clifftop Trancoso and postcard-perfect Bahian beaches, the hotel boasts ten restored fishermen’s casas and treehouses bestowed with island-chic styling. The traditional touch comes courtesy of mini stained-glass windows and small oratorios in these rustic-chic villas, whose other features include outdoor showers, private plunge pools and repurposed pipes made from eucalyptus. The beach bar (complete with a restored fishing boat as its counter) and restaurant look over the glittering, aventurine-quartz lined pool, offering a shady spot to escape the Brazilian heat. No stay is complete without a visit to Almescar Spa, home to Bahia’s first Vichy treatment suite. Warm water pours down from carved eucalyptus trunks in the tree-flanked pavilions and therapies use indigenous ingredients such as cacao and almiscar. Find out more about the Smith Hotel Awards 2014, browse the full collection of hotels or contact Smith’s expert Travel Team on 1300 896 627.
There has to be something magical about Sweet Belem's Portuguese tarts that keeps people coming back. Maybe it's because it strays from tradition and serves them warm and a little bit singed, with gooey, slightly caramelised custard that melts on your tongue, or maybe it's the satisfying crisp of layered, golden pastry. Either way, the folk at Sweet Belem serve over 1,000 of these little gems a day, often selling out too soon. At just a few dollars a pop, it's worth heading to Petersham — known as 'Little Portugal' to buy some — if only for a box of these little bowls of joy alone. Aside from the pastel de nata, there are croissants, milk bread, classic palmiers, Portuguese lamingtons and birthday cakes. You can also stop in and enjoy a coffee with your vanilla slice. And if you've got a birthday or a baby shower coming up, and would like it catered, Sweet Belem has you covered. Its catering menu includes the famous tarts, as well as raspberry mousses, apple puff pastries, chocolate brownies, raisin scrolls, a great range of doughnuts and large cakes, including orange almond cakes and baked chocolate tarts. Images: Sweet Belem by Socialmediasoup
In the week leading up to Splendour in the Grass 2016, we dared to dream of blue skies and mild weather. The Bureau of Meteorology warned us the weather in coastal regions can be changeable but in the end we proved that if people want it enough, we can influence the weather with our thoughts alone. In the middle of winter (and after last year's Splendour in the Mud disaster) the last thing we planned for was balmy, 26 degree days and pleasantly crisp nights, but that's what we got (cue frantically buying up sunscreen, bucket hats and water vessels from highway petrol stations). Australia's biggest winter festival (and one of the country's biggest festivals in general) has become a well-oiled machine in recent years (for the most part, but we'll get to that). This year's lineup, from legends The Cure, Sigur Ros and The Avalanches to newcomers Kllo, Sampa the Great and Jess Kent, was more varied than ever — with a strong local flavour and something for every age group. This seemed to solve a lot of the timetabling problems as well as they produced one of the least clashy schedules we've had yet (praise be). But the weekend wasn't without incident. On Friday night, and to a much lesser degree on Saturday and Sunday night, long bus delays and general anarchy at the bus rally points saw off-site punters waiting for hours in the cold to get home and they were not happy about it. After social media erupted on Friday night and Saturday morning, Splendour released a statement the next day saying, "We had a significant change in the number of people getting dropped off and collected ... which threw our traffic plan into disarray." And they did fix it, eventually. Monday morning wasn't much better, thanks to a few bungles on the freeway. Camping punters waited in car lines for up to seven hours trying to get out of the campsite when they would really rather have been in bed. We only hope they sort it out for next year. Luckily, everyone was pretty well-behaved — and the po-po were pleased with our collective behaviour, citing only 323 drug related arrests (less than one percent of attendees) across the entire festival. Snaps all round, everyone. So what of the nosh and mosh scene for this year? We chomped and stomped our way through Splendour 2016, here's a little snippet of the best bits. EATS Like many festivals, the food lineup at Splendour is getting better each year and truly deserves a heading of its very own. Gone are the days spent subsisting on stale chips and soggy hot-dog buns, the SITG food offering is gourmet AF. Sydneysiders were suprised to see a recreation of The Unicorn pub right in the middle of the festival, from the brains behind Mary's, Porteno and Young Henrys. This pop-up pub would mark the entrance to The Very Small Suburb, with fellow locals Gelato Messina, Doughnut Time and Bourke Street Bakery peddling their wares to hungry punters. Single O, coffee roasters from Surry Hills, enjoyed lines around the (makeshift) block because if there's one thing hungover folk need, it's real coffee and lots of it. They were joined by Noosa's ever popular Nimo's Schnitzels, Sydney's Tsuru food truck serving up their fluffy pork belly bao buns, Govindas famous vegetarian fare (kofta balls will bring you back to life after a big one), best-in-show winners Brazza BBQ from the Gold Coast with their Brazillian chow and French fry cones, and everyone's favourite Hungarian festival treat, langos. And for dessert? Australia's insanely popular Doughnut Time even got their holey mitts on a Splendour stand — and it was bloody popular. Or you could have stood in line at the giant pink inflatable poo emoji (hilariously titled Mr Poopie by Cool Shit artists Hungry Castle) and grab a toilet ice cream. You heard me. But the real MVPs? Get Toasted, Byron Bay's OG toasted sandwich food truck, cranking out their insane mac and cheese toasties. The GT team served up their crispy, buttery life-saving sandies with more chirpiness and kind words than anyone has a right to expect at midnight on the third day of a festival. Hot tip for next Splendour, don't waste time with supermarket snacks — save up and ready yourself for a culinary tour of the festival grounds. [caption id="attachment_582301" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dro Carey[/caption] BEATS THE CURE What can be said about the Cure apart from lines of love-heart eye emojis? They're a band almost beyond critique and their tenure as the most relevant, long-serving players in rock is still deserved. Their physical vessels may have aged, but Robert Smith's voice has not and they're still as tight as a drum. They casually slayed a 2.5-hour set, breaking only occasionally and briefly to suck down essence of youth (and water, maybe). Tears flowed freely and 'Friday I'm in Love' was screamed to the stars. THE STROKES The Strokes played their only Australian show at Splendour and rounded out the first day of the festival with the veteran ease you'd expect, mixing fan service with some of their newer cuts and of course, encoring with 'Last Night'. If there is a better way to fall asleep than with Julian Casablancas' voice reverberating around your head, we haven't yet found it. THE AVALANCHES The Avalanches were the legendary wildcard of the lineup — and one of the most anticipated sets of the whole event. They haven't played a festival in over a decade and while the group has rocketed back into prominence recently thanks to their huge comeback album, Wildflower, they're as yet untested in the modern context. The result was little bit thrown together — including, y'know, lyrics read from an iPhone for 'Frankie Sinatra' — and there's something a wee bit unsatisfying about a sample-based show amongst a sea of live music. But we still loved it. Depending on how close you stood to the sound desk could have affected your experience, and we hope more intimate shows are ahead for this iconic crew. SIGUR ROS Icelandic angels Sigur Ros may have been the quiet hero of the whole festival. They didn't perform at the amphitheatre (which is a slight, in our opinion), but the Mix Up tent was more intimate and, thanks to a well-timed clash with Flume, the crowd was slightly older (imagine a lot of actual lighters in the air, coffees clutched to sensible skivvies and wet eyes). They brought their technical prowess to bear alongside their dramatic showmanship (there was a spine tingly-dingly moment when main man Jonsi held a sweet note for an inhumanly long time) and it was spectacular. They played a medley of their well-knowns and not-so-well-knowns to a backdrop of captivating, trippy visuals — quite possibly some of the best visuals of the festival, or were we just exhausted and emotional? We'll never know. JAMES BLAKE James Blake's music was made for festivals, not necessarily for the headbangers or kids who just want to see Flume, but for everyone who was after some texture in the lineup. Blake packed out the amphitheatre and from behind a synth, delivered his brand of crisp, complex, emotional music. His live show was impeccably timed, building in rhythm and intensity before unloading goosebumps on the crowd with feels-heavy hits 'Limit to Your Love' and 'Retrograde'. [caption id="attachment_582304" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Kllo at the Tiny Dancer Stage[/caption] UP AND COMERS The SITG lineup always delivers some quality (and we mean quality) local talent. In fact, the pointy end of the lineup, usually housed at the Tiny Dancer stage, proved some of the most enjoyable surprises of the weekend. Melbourne cherubim Kllo destroyed the Tiny Dancer stage with their tight beats and clear vocals (their catchy AF single 'Bollide' sent shivers up collective spines). Brisbane boy and electronic muso Feki delivered a banging, dancey set, very different from his usual chill, and had the TD crowd frenetic at dusk on Sunday (check out his souped-up remix of James Blake's 'Retrograde' here). Melbourne producer Paces was joined by Guy Sebastian (can people stop robbing Shannon Noll of his due already?) to perform their Like A Version cover of LDRU's 'Keeping Score' (check out this vid of LDRU getting into it side of stage). While it's a disappointing to see only one woman and one female guest vocalist (Santigold and Avalanches guest vocalist Eliza Wolfgramm) in the first dozen acts on the lineup, the women who did make it absolutely nailed it. Big, official props to Melbourne's Sui Zhen and Banoffee, the OG babes Tegan and Sara, Courtney Barnett, Sampa the Great, Little May, Brisbane darling Emma Louise, Ngaiire, Kacy Hill, Lucy Cliché, Montaigne, Jess Kent, Wafia and all the other women grinding to make it in the music industry — you were splendid. Images: Luke Dalton.
One of the biggest mistakes that novice surfers make is thinking they can learn anywhere. Soft-top board in hand, they plunge idealistically into thrashing waves and rips, before returning to shore after two hours of near-drownings without a single catch to brag about. Start in the right place, however, and it's a different experience altogether. What newbies need are small waves breaking over sand, as opposed to rocks or reefs. You won't find them at just any old beach — which is why we've teamed up with Jim Beam to find just the right spots for you and your mates to get to grips with Australia's favourite beach pastime. Assemble the squad, grab your boards and pay a visit to a few of these beginner-friendly surfing destinations. Umina Beach If you (or God) were to design a beach specifically for apprentice surfers, it would like the Central Coast's Umina. Its blissfully protected location — along the north east curve of Broken Bay — means the ocean's relentless hammering is barely felt. Only a serious storm can mess matters up. What's more, the long, sloping sea bed gives the waves buckets of time to exhaust themselves before reaching you. Surf lessons and hire are available at Central Coast Surf School. Palm Beach (Southern End) When the swell is powering in from the south, grab your boardies and hotfoot it to Palm Beach. The sheltered southern corner is a beginner's Nirvana. You can count on mercifully consistently waves, giving you ample time to conquer the whitewash and, when you're ready, take off across smooth, green faces. Need some tips? Cast an eye around for the Manly Surf School van. For après-surf leisure, there's the Barranjoey Lighthouse Walk or a dip in the ocean pool. Collaroy Beach (Southern End) Like Palm Beach, Collaroy is shielded at its southern end. Long Reef Point (a splendid spot for snorkelling, by the way) juts into the Pacific, separating the beach from neighbouring Dee Why. So, it's also at its best in south swells. Once you've racked up some experience, have a crack at the gloriously long point break. One word of warning: this one is better avoided when seas are rough or north winds are raging, when the shore break can turn into a dumping ground. Long Reef Beach On the city side of Collaroy Beach lies the northern end of Dee Why Beach, formally known as Long Reef Beach (the two beaches are separated by the mouth of Dee Why Lagoon). Here, Long Reef Point also does its protective duty. It, in combination with some solid sand banks, keeps the waves smooth and regular. For practising in whitewater, head down at low tide; if you're ready to tackle faces, high tide is more promising. When winds are strong, you'll find milder conditions in Dee Why's southern corner. Freshwater Beach Freshwater Beach is the birthplace of Australian surfing. Exactly 100 years ago, residents got a shock when they saw a Hawaiian by the name of Duke Kahanamoku carve a board out of local timber, jump into the sea and ride the waves, on his feet. Soon enough, everyone was giving it a go. For lessons, get in touch with Surf Skool. Once you're done, the nearby Harbord Beach Hotel (aka the Harbord Hilton) will vanquish your post-surf appetite with some fresh tucker and cocktails. Manly Beach (Southern End) Get started along Manly's southern stretch and you'll land yourself in esteemed company. Midget Farrelly, Pam Burridge and Layne Beachley are just a few of the surfing legends to have had their early rides here. Like those at Palm Beach and Collaroy, the waves are best when the south winds are a-blowing. Chaos reigns when a north swell is coming in. Options for surfboard hire and lessons are plentiful. Try Manly Surf School or Manly Surf Hire. Bondi Beach (Northern End) When you've a north wind on your hands, make tracks to Bondi. The waves can get wild in the middle of the beach, but in the northern corner, you're protected by Ben Buckler headland. The only catch is that crowds can be intense, especially on sunny weekends. So if you can, pop along on a weekday or in the late afternoon. For lessons, give Let's Go Surfing a call. Greenhills Beach Backed by grassy sand dunes, Greenhills is the northen end of Cronulla Beach. It tends to be less busy than South Cronulla — and many of Sydney's other beaches for that matter — which is a bonus for learner surfers. There's no need to worry about driving your out-of-control board into an unsuspecting swimmer. Go here during north-east winds. If you're in need of a teacher, try Cronulla Surf School or Cronulla Surfing Academy. Thirroul Beach (Southern End) One hour and 15-minutes drive (or 90 minutes by direct train) south of the Sydney CBD along the Illawarra Coast, Thirroul is home to a kilometre-long strip of golden sand. According to former international surf master Terry Richardson, the Illawarra is home to "the best surfers in the world". Beginners should visit when the swell is weak and the wind is coming up from the south. Leave the big surf to the pros. Plus, you can always drop by Thirroul village instead for great coffee, art galleries and records. Illawarra Surf Academy offers classes and gear hire. Corrimal Beach (Northern End) Drive ten minutes south of Thirroul, and you'll find Corrimal Beach. It's also best for learners in small surf. Stick to the northern end, which is sheltered (to an extent) by Bellambi Point. The Illawarra Surfing Academy runs three-day camps here, which can be a great way to gain confidence quickly. There's a caravan park within a few hundred metres of the surf, so staying the night isn't a hassle either. Like Jim Beam, surfing and other outdoor adventures are all about bringing people together, so get out there this summer and find your tribe in the great outdoors. Images: Dollar Photo Club, MITLRproductions, Kspilling, Kyle Taylor, Terovian at English Wikipedia, Nigel Howe, George Grinsted, J Bar, Vanessa Pike-Russell
Manly's cafe scene has gained massive bragging rights. Bo Hinzack (of local coffee shop Showbox Coffee Brewers and Mosman's Penny Royal) and James Sideris (Butter Boy Bake) have teamed up to bring you Rollers Bakehouse, which is now open along Rialto Lane, just steps from the beach. While this is the duo's first collaboration, Sideris has been regularly supplying Hinzack's cafes with baked goods for years. If you've ever come across his giant cookies, brownie sandwiches and custard-filled muffins — they're regularly stocked at Showbox and Penny Royal, as well as cafes like Regiment, Skittle Lane and Bloodhound — you've probably been on a mission to track them down ever since. And now you won't have to. The shop is five years in the making for Sideris, whose love of baking goes all the way back to high school. "The concept came from both our loves for places in the US, with just coffee and pastries done really well," he says. Patrons can expect a mix of sweet and savoury items that changes daily. Some potentials include millennial pink croissants, stuffed bagel rolls, bacon-topped savoury danishes and a charcoal croissant called the Sushi Roll. Sausage rolls and meat pies will also be on offer, including Greek-style lamb rolls with house-made tzatziki and hamburger rolls served with house burger sauce. Jams, marmalade and cultured butter with all be made in-house as well. On the coffee side of things, they're using beans from Sydney-based Okay Coffee, a brand new collaboration between Hinzack and pro-roaster Aaron Wood of Melbourne's Wood and Co. This means you can expect some serious batch brews, along with cold drip and coffee classics done really well. The space emits poolside Palm Springs vibes, with breeze blocks, succulents and a courtyard and appropriate 90s music vibes — it's spring ready in July. Rollers Bakehouse is now open at 19 Rialto Lane, Manly.
Since opening its first pop-up in November 2015, Barangaroo's culinary precinct, The Streets of Barangaroo, has been running full steam ahead. The waterfront dining precinct is bursting with food options both high-brow and casual, with a new opening every other week. Queues form daily at the permanent instalment of Melbourne's Belles Hot Chicken, which delivers the deep-fried goods with abandon, just-opened vermouth bar Banksii is packed at quitting time, while Zushi serves up fresh sushi with pearler views of Darling Harbour. Also buzzing is Devon, which has just moved their Danks Street cafe to the new precinct, as well as Bentley-run restaurant Cirrus and the new Ume Burger. We could go on. And to make things even more gloriously overwhelming, there's even more to come. Over the next few months another five new eateries are set to open in the precinct, from rooftop cocktail bars to Louisiana-style barbecue joints. Stay tuned.
The Plot is back. And this time, it’s heading for Parramatta Park. For those unfamiliar with the name, The Plot is a new music festival that first happened back in 2013 – in Sydney at Luna Park’s Big Top and in Melbourne at the Palace Theatre and Ding Dong Lounge. The lineup is yet to be announced. But we can give you a date and place to engrave in your diaries: Saturday, December 5 at Parramatta Park. So it’ll be an epic, summery, outdoor affair, with gorgeous Old Government House at its centre, and the beautifully revived Parramatta River alongside. We can also tell you there’ll be three stages, an abundance of locally-made food featuring local produce, craft beers, boutique wines and an eclectic mix of music from both Australia and overseas. What’s more, The Plot is promising to celebrate the diversity and community spirit associated with Sydney’s Greater West. To make sure you’re first to hear the programme, tune into triple j’s Lunch with Lewi on Wednesday, September 30. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 9am on Thursday, October 8 at $69 (+bf). But if you’re a Past Plotter, you’ll score the 2013 price of $45 (+BF). Just keep an eye on your inbox for a unique link that’ll allow you to take advantage of this bargain — it’ll arrive around 9am on Thursday, October 1 and will remain valid until midnight, Wednesday, October 7. After that, you’ll be paying full price. Image: Aleksandar Jason.
Winner of Concrete Playground's Best New Product of 2015. Gym classes in Sydney — what a gamble. You'll fork over your hard-earned cash for a big chain membership, only to be sorely disappointed with their 'yoga' offering. Or even worse, you'll learn the subtle art that is making every excuse to miss class week after week, because burpies and Bondi Junction's aggressive Body Attack ladies. But imagine if you could handpick your own gym program from Sydney's best, most novelty and most fun classes, without committing to one gym? Bodypass is a new Australian all-encompassing gym pass launched in Sydney that lets you attend unlimited gym classes at Sydney's best studios — from Shannon Dooley's Retrosweat to Mermaid Swim Academy at Bondi Icebergs to classes at Madonna's Hard Candy — with one $99-per-month membership. Similar to the City of Sydney's 360 gym pass and US program Classpass, you can book yourself into thousands of indoor and outdoor activities like hip hop dance, spin, yoga, pilates, strength training, martial arts, Barre, HIIT, stand-up paddle boarding and more at some of Australia's best fitness studios — all with one card, and no long-term commitment (you can cancel anytime without charge). Exercise scientist Georgia van Tiel and yoga teacher and health food cook Carla McMillan created the program with a need to break the whole 'gym culture' stigma associated with fitness and take exercise back to being an accessible, dare we say it, fun part of life. "When some people think of fitness and exercise, they immediately conjure a vision of the ‘dread-mill’ or hitting the gym which can be perceived as boring, repetitive and simply, not very fun,” says Van Tiel. Focusing on Sydney's fitness studios to start with, Van Tiel and McMillan took it upon themselves to personally try and test every studio currently included in the handpicked program — Sydney's Bodypass partners include Hard Candy, Retrosweat '80s Aerobics, Mermaid Swim Academy at Bondi Icebergs, F45 training, XtendBarre, Peak Altitude Training, P.E. Dept. Potts Point, Jazzercise, Physicore, Sky-Lab, RollerFit, Bonza Bike Tours, Centred Meditation, Dance Central, House of Yoga Redfern, One Wave, Power Living and plenty of Sydney's park-based fitness classes (to name a few). You can only visit the same studio up to three times per monthly cycle, but otherwise, go nuts. Bodypass is available in Sydney currently and will shortly broaden its network to Melbourne, with a national program planned. For more info, visit www.bodypass.com.
There's a brand new festival coming to New South Wales, sporting a mini-Meredith lineup, an outdoor cinema and an independent record market. Plus, it's in one of Australia's prettiest coastal towns. Fairgrounds is Australia's newest boutique music festival, coming to the NSW town of Berry this December. It's just two hours out of Sydney on the south coast, so one easy peasy road trip. Pioneered by Handsome Tours, the shiny new festival fuses local food, boutique beverages, markets, movies and music in one sweet-sounding event. Taking cues from the recently-announced Meredith lineup, Fairgrounds' folk, pop and garage-focused lineup will see LA-based crooner Father John Misty headline, with Brooklyn glitchy duo RATATAT and dream pop legends Mercury Rev at the top. San Francisco's quirky characters Unknown Mortal Orchestra will be there, alongside folk-rocker Jessica Pratt, Sydney's immortal Royal Headache and the gospel dancehall blues of C.W. Stoneking. While music is your main drawcard to most festivals, Fairgrounds has given more weight to the in-between elements than many festivals do. Foodies will find a gastronomical paradise at the event, the Fairgrounds Garden Bar, with wines and local nibbles sourced from neighbouring estates. Think gourmet cheese plates, Kangaroo Valley Olives and fresh rock oysters from An Australian Affair Oyster Bar, harvested less than half an hour from the festival site. There's more casual offerings onsite too, from woodfire pizza food truck Happy As Larry to Enmore American nosh-lovin' newcomers Bovine and Swine Barbecue Co and Mama Linh’s Vietnamese Street Food — all washed down with Young Henrys and Berry's own Silos Estate wine. Fairgrounds’ Village Markets will also be right there for the best in South Coast snacking, including beef jerky, popcorn, homespun cakes, fresh donuts and much more. There'll be markets and field games — sounds like someone enjoyed Secret Garden Festival — and the best bit? There'll be an outdoor cinema: Fairgrounds' Cinema Under the Stars, presented by Madman Films. FAIRGROUNDS 2015 LINE-UP (SO FAR): Adam Gibson and the Ark Ark Birds Ben Abraham C. W. Stoneking Father John Misty Le Pie Jessica Pratt Le Pie Meg Mac Mercury Rev Methyl Ethel Ratatat Royal Headache Shining Bird Unknown Mortal Orchestra Fairgrounds Festival is happening on Saturday, December 5 in Berry, NSW. Earlybird 'Fairgrounds Founder' tickets are $110 and go on sale on Thursday 20 August at fairgrounds.com.au and moshtix.com.au. Kids under 12 enter the festival for free. You can choose to stay offsite in a B&B, or Fairgrounds offers onsite camping. Image: Dollar Photo Club.
Freshwater welcomed a new Mexican eatery in 2022 that boasts an expansive set menu of food and drink. A sibling to Avalon's Alma, St. Alma joins the long-standing venue in the northern beaches, 30 minutes south of the OG eatery. Located on Albert Street, the restaurant joins a bustling food and drink neighbourhood, with a host of bars, cafes and restaurants occupying the same corner and Freshwater favourites Harbord Hotel and Pilu just down the road. "What people don't know is we signed a lease in Freshwater back in 2017 before opening Avalon, but unfortunately it fell through," owner Jack Leary. "Ever since Freshwater has been on our wish list for a restaurant venue – you can't beat the location for its beach vibe and sense of community." At St. Alma you can start with freshly prepared chips and guac, scallop tostadas and mezcal-cured kingfish served with pistachios and preserved lemon. Continue down the menu, and you'll find a selection of tacos. Choose between a changing fish taco with coleslaw and peanut macha aioli and the carne asada taco with guac, flank steak and a rich burnt chilli sauce. While the majority of the menu is set up for a banquet-style experience, there is a spread of impressive larger mains on offer that can be served as a personal feast or work as the centrepiece to a table of share plates. These change seasonally, but you might find confit mushrooms, chicken in adobo, grilled octopus covered in pickled turnips and prune mole and crispy pork belly. The drinks list stretches on just as far as the food. If you're prepared for a big night, tasting flights are an ideal place to start, offering up four tequilas and other Mexican spirits for you to try. Bevs include seven different kinds of margaritas, plus a slew of other classic Mexican cocktails. Eight tequila and mezcal tasting flights are also available for those looking to learn more about these increasingly popular agave-based tipples. End your afternoon of feasting with a walk along the beach at Freshwater, and there you have a pretty marvellous day out in Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Hold our calls, feed our fish, tell our mums we love 'em. There's a brand new, purpose-built pop-up hotel travelling around Australia called 'The Spontaneity Suite', and it's just landed in Victoria's Yarra Valley. Hotel booking app HotelTonight (which just launched in Australia in June) and Ovolo Hotels (Sydney's 1888 and Blue Hotel and Melbourne's Laneways Hotel) are behind this, teaming up for one jaw-dropper of an activation. This stunning little moveable hotel room, valued at $32,000, is built from — what else — two shipping containers, and will be travelling around Australia. It's a fully-stocked suite with all the trimmings, with interiors designed by Coco Republic. We're talking rooftop hot tub, cocktail station, rain shower, stone bathtub, Egyptian cotton robes, lambskin recliners, terrace and straight-up insane panoramas of the nearby vineyards, framed by a floor-to-ceiling glass window wall. Sick of that horrible, horrible view? The suite's equipped with Apple TV. Available to book exclusively through the HotelTonight app, lucky adventurers can book a stay in The Spontaneity Suite for a one-night stay for just $99, with limousine transfers from Melbourne, a personal concierge, a TarraWarra Estate wine-tasting tour, all your meals and everything from the minibar included. Yep, what the actual. The catch? It's only available between August 27 and 31. There's another night you could aim for on September 1, but the price starts at $32,000, dropping by $1000 every ten minutes until someone snaps it up. All dosh raised from this night and all other nights booked will go straight to OzHarvest, top marks. Sydneysiders, if you can't make it to the Yarra Valley, keep your hat on. The Spontaneity Suite will pack up and move to a secret location somewhere in Sydney next, then head on to other pretty Australian sites. Want to try your luck at booking a night? Download the HotelTonight app via Google Play or iTunes. Via Traveller.
Inner city pork bun diehards, here's something to cheer about. New Shanghai has officially opened in the CBD, sitting pretty within the shopping juggernaut that is Pitt Street Mall. Opened on Monday at Westfield Sydney, this New Shanghai chapter is the largest in Australia — all the bigger to accommodate crowds of dumpling, pork bun and wonton fiends. New Shanghai's CBD venue joins sibling Sydney restaurants in Chatswood, Chatswood Lemon Grove, Bondi Junction and Ashfield, alongside other Australian venues. One of the most anticipated openings of the last few weeks, New Shanghai is in good culinary hands. Renowned Sydney chef, Neo Nee (formerly head chef at Lotus Dumpling Bar) is steering the ship, with coveted dishes like slow-braised pork belly with sweetened Shanghai soy sauce, rainbow beef, Shepherd’s purse and pork wontons served with chilli oil and peanut butter on the menu. But of course, most punters will be donning bibs for New Shanghai’s famous pan fried pork buns. Hell, NS even created Free Pork Bun Week in Melbourne — fingers crossed for Sydney. New Shanghai is now open at Westfield Sydney, Shop 1017-1020, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney. For reservations call +61 2 8386 8368 or email reservations@newshanghai.com.au. New Shanghai is one of our favourite BYO restaurants in Sydney. Head over here for the full list.
A quick search for the origins of the surname Leanfore yields few results. A website called forebears.io lists it as the 6,300,947th most common surname in the world and estimates that there is only a single person on the planet who carries it. According to Sydney photographer Ken Leanfore (陳漢駒) — not the only Leanfore, but it's certainly a short list — this is due to a tendency by immigration officials in the 19th and 20th centuries to anglicise or create phonetic spellings of migrant names they couldn't understand. Leanfore is fourth generation Australian-Chinese but is often mistaken for having French heritage. This set him wondering about the experiences of other Chinese Australians with "dodgy" approximations of their original names and how it might affect their sense of identity. The result is a photographic exhibition called What's in a Surname? at Klei Gallery in Albion Place, held in conjunction with Sydney's Chinese New Year Festival. His subjects are all Chinese Australians whose unusual names sometimes place them at a distance from their cultural heritage. Harvey Young, a farmer from Glen Innes, for instance, says that he is often approached over the phone by members of the Young clan in Scotland looking to reunite him with his relatives. "It doesn't take long to talk them out of that, though," he says with a grin. Image: Dennis O'Hoy AM 雷社源, Lei She Yuan - Pinyin, Leui Sai Yuen - Cantonese. Harvey Young, 關少雄, Guan Shao Xiong - Pinyin, Kwan Siu Hung - Cantonese. Photographs by Ken Leanfore.
No longer just the realms of Monica Trapaga residencies and kiddie-aimed pantomimes, Twilight at Taronga — the after-hours live music series that boasts perhaps the best view of Sydney Harbour as well as lots of adorable animals — has proven they've got some real cred when it comes to hosting outdoor gigs in the past few years. This summer, they're back with a brand new lineup playing spesh live sets every weekend from Friday, January 27 through Saturday, March 11. Considering it includes the likes of Kurt Vile and Tegan and Sara and then Killing Heidi, it's probably their most diverse yet. Picnic-bringing is encouraged, but there'll also be incredibly delicious hampers available onsite — we tasted them, they're extremely generous and genuinely great. There's a bar on-site, and general nosh available from the canteen. Either way, it's actually the one of the best dates in Sydney — lock those tickets down. All proceeds from Twilight at Taronga go back into the zoo's ongoing conservation work with Wildlife Witness to help fight against illegal wildlife trade. PLUS, your ticket includes free entry to the zoo on the same day. That's a big deal. TWILIGHT AT TARONGA 2017 LINEUP Friday 27 January – PETER GARRETT & THE ALTER EGOS and KEV CARMODY Saturday 28 January – JO JO ZEP & THE FALCONS and THE SPORTS Thursday 2 February — THE RUBENS supported by Bec Sandridge Friday 3 February – THE RUBENS supported by Bec Sandridge Saturday 4 February – KILLING HEIDI supported by Abbe May Friday 10 February – KASEY CHAMBERS supported by Thelma Plum Saturday 11 February – BALL PARK MUSIC and THE JUNGLE GIANTS Thursday 16 February – JET with special guests Friday 17 February – george supported by Felix Riebl (Cat Empire) and Jack Carty Saturday 18 February – JAMES MORRISON BIG BAND Sunday 19 Februrary — Jet supported by Bloods Friday 24 February – BJÖRN AGAIN Saturday 25 February – BJÖRN AGAIN Friday 3 March – KURT VILE (US) supported by Mick Turner Saturday 4 March – THE LIVING END 'TWANGIN' AT TWILIGHT' Sunday 5 March — THE LIVING END 'TWANGIN' AT TWILIGHT' Thursday 9 March – TEGAN AND SARA (CAN) with special guests Friday 10 March – TEENAGE FANCLUB (UK) supported by The Goon Sax Saturday 11 March – MARTHA WAINWRIGHT (CAN) supported by Oh Pep! Tickets go on sale at 9am on Tuesday, October 25 at twilightattaronga.org.au.
