HOT: Oak Off Chapel, Level 1/33 Simmons St, South Yarra

One of the things I love about Melbourne is that it’s a city that nurtures and encourages creativity. Maybe it’s because we don’t have fabulous weather all the time (though personally I love it) or pretty beaches to swim in, but Melburnians really seem to enjoy delving into their own creative headspace. The vibe of [...]

HOT: Metlink Edible Garden, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, City Square, Swanston St, Melbourne

I wish the Metlink Edible Garden was a permanent fixture in Melbourne’s CBD.
Just for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (which is being held between 12-23 March), City Square has been transformed into a living, breathing biosystem. Australia’s largest gardening club The Digger’s Club have been responsible for planting 60 heirloom varieties in the raised [...]

HOT: Mag Nation, 88 Elizabeth St, Melbourne

I like free stuff. I’m just not sure whether Melbourne is ready to see my bum in order for me to get it.
Cool magazine shop Mag Nation (the land of magazines yay!) is currently holding a promotion called Undies Monday. Yes, you heard right – if you strip down to your underwear between 12-5pm on [...]

HOT: LTRHDS Letterheads 2010, 1000 £ Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

LTRHDS Letterheads is an exhibition of, you guessed it, letters of the alphabet.
But this isn’t just a grown-up version of Sesame Street. Each piece of artwork denoting A to Z has been produced by 26 different artists, cartoonists, graffiti artists, graphic designers and illustrators from Australia, UK, US, Japan and Brazil. The free exhibition is [...]

HOT: Gingerboy, 29 Crossley St, Melbourne

For various reasons, I’ve had to cancel three successive meals at Gingerboy – now I’m half-mad at my friends that I’ve been denied for so long.
Gingerboy is awesome. The narrow space is darkly sexy and very cool, with plastic piping echoing a tunnel made of bamboo sticks and red silk threads fringing elements of the [...]

HOT: Michelle Lane of Mishy Lane

Just in time for L’Oreal Fashion Week (14-21 March), today’s HOT Chat is with fashion and product photographer and graphic designer Mishy Lane.

I came across Mishy’s work through the daily newsletter The Colour, and liked her use of colour and textures – plus we have a little in common because she has also moved from Brisbane [...]

NOT: Fifteen Melbourne, Basement, 115-117 Collins Street, Melbourne

To eat and do good? A $15 two course lunch at Fifteen Melbourne was too good to pass up.
For those who don’t know, Fifteen is a worldwide social enterprise business started by famous uber-energetic chef Jamie Oliver. Its aim is to provide apprenticeship scheme for young people, between the ages of 18 and 24, to [...]

HOT: NGV Artbus to the Yarra Valley (Part 3) – Healesville Hotel and Heide Museum of Modern Art

Click here for the first stop of the NGV Artbus Tour of the Yarra Valley at Yering Station and the second stop at TarraWarra Estate.
After two wine tastings and a gallery viewing, we were all about ready for lunch.

To my delight, the lunch venue was the lovely Healesville Hotel. Not only is this the grand [...]

HOT: NGV Artbus to the Yarra Valley (Part 2) – TarraWarra Estate

Click here for the first stop of the NGV Artbus Tour of the Yarra Valley, Yering Station.

Our second stop was the winery TarraWarra Estate, with its famous TarraWarra Museum of Art – the first significant privately funded, public art gallery in Australia. We started off with more wine tasting on the lawn, looking out over [...]

HOT: NGV Artbus to the Yarra Valley (Part 1) – Yering Station

The National Gallery of Victoria regularly runs arty bus tours for its members and non-members. Usually they’re conducted during the week and aimed at an older crowd, but for the first time in February they held the tour on a Saturday and encouraged NGV Artbeat members (the under 40s branch of NGV Members) to sign [...]