australia
HOT: The Commoner, 122 Johnston St, Fitzroy
The Commoner is one of my local favourites – great food, reasonable prices, friendly service and lots of different spaces depending on your dining needs, from intimate couples tables to the outdoor courtyard to upstairs private dining room. My most recent visit to The Commoner was for Sunday lunch. I reckon Sundays are the best days [...]
HOT: Demetri’s Feast, 141 Swan St, Richmond
Oh Demetri’s Feast. If only you weren’t so small. If only your food wasn’t so good. If only your service wasn’t so friendly. If only you weren’t so cool. Then it’d be easier to visit you all the time. Demetri’s Feast was crowned Melbourne’s best breakfast in The Age’s Cheap Eats 2010 and that accolade [...]
HOT: Fringe Furniture, Melbourne Fringe Festival, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford
Melbourne Fringe Festival is on now until 9 October 2011 and one of the regular parts of the eclectic program is the free Fringe Furniture exhibition. The theme for this year’s exhibition is ‘Dancing in the Dark: Small Solutions to Big Problems’. Basically, this translates to design that’s smart, green, sustainable and beautiful by designers, architects, [...]
HOT: Queen Margaret, 356 Queens Pde, North Fitzroy
The pizzeria Queen Margaret is not named as a reference to QEII’s sister, but to Queen Margherita of Savoy, the first Queen of the united Italy and for whom the magherita pizza was named. Queen Margaret boasts eighteen (!) pizza varieties on its chalkboard menu, spearheaded by not just one but three riffs on the [...]
HOT: Ilona Staller, 282 Carlisle St, Balaclava
I can’t cope with Melbourne’s growing trend for restaurants that don’t take bookings (too uncertain, too impatient, too hungry). But I really wanted to have dinner at Ilona Staller. What to do? Answer – dispatch my Balaclavan friends R and A to plonk themselves at the bar at 6:30pm on a Saturday night while I [...]
HOT: Small Block, 130 Lygon St, East Brunswick
Small Block is a cafe particularly well suited to the urban professional/hip and arty/young parents demographic of East Brunswick. To whit: attention to coffee – the blackboard shows the single origin bean of the day and gives a description of its particular qualities; an extensive all-day breakfast menu which has the locals lining up on [...]
HOT: Victoria in a Bento Box, Matteo’s Restaurant, 533 Brunswick St, North Fitzroy
The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival doesn’t just run events for two weeks in March – the rest of the year they promote food and wine with themes and events such as the Spring Graze. The Spring Graze is a gathering of more than 60 events throughout September across Victoria, all with the theme of [...]
HOT: Plumm Wine Glass Experience, Taste of Melbourne 2012, Royal Exhibition Building, 9 Nicholson St, Carlton
Did you visit Taste of Melbourne this weekend? The exhibition can be pretty overwhelming, what with the huge crowds of people and the number of exhibitors and restaurants participating. So this year I restricted myself to a quick whip around the stalls that I was interested in (such as Yarra Valley Dairy, Gundowring, Enni) and [...]
HOT: Icons of Style, Mad Men Costume Exhibition, Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Rd, Chadstone
Mad Men is probably my favourite television series. Besides the tight script and convincing acting I really enjoy seeing the beautiful 60s costumes and set design (I have a penchant for vintage lamps and mid-century furniture). So I was quite excited to discover that from Thursday September 8 to Sunday October 2 Chadstone Shopping Centre [...]
HOT: Bluebird Espresso, 134 Johnston St, Collingwood
You had me at hello. There are some cafes which just grab you by the coat and give you a big bear hug, providing smiles and instant comfort. I loved Bluebird Espresso from the moment I spotted it – a retro blue bike chained to lamp post, colourful tulips bravely wavering against the grey grunge [...]
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