Details on Dizzy's website.
Another "what's on in Melbourne"
update by missy melbourne.
Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts
What's on in Melbourne? Try some sassy jazz.
The gorgeous Sharrone Zaks plays a sizzling set of her own jazz and latin compositions at Richmond's iconic Dizzy's Jazz Club this Thursday. Accompanied in the second set by a 12 piece women's brass band and an 8 piece Latin Reggae Cumbia band, this night promises to be such a hot night you'll need a very wide brimmed hat and and protective clothing.
Details on Dizzy's website.
Another "what's on in Melbourne"
Details on Dizzy's website.
Another "what's on in Melbourne"
Up. Up. And Away. Over Melbourne.
Melbourne's Best Art Deco Architecture
I love Art Deco. The grace and elegance of its clean lines, the brashness of it's bold shapes. Art deco jewelry is stunning and deco ceramics, glassware and bakelite is often quite spectacular, but for me Art Deco as a style, is at her sparkly best in architecture. Last year the National Gallery of Victoria hosted a blockbuster exhibition - 'Art Deco 1910-1939' with a 'local heroes' wing, reminding many Melbournians that while many of the 'swish' items on display were European, we're not too shabby in the Art Deco architecture stakes ourselves. Here are a few of my favourite examples of Art Deco architecture in Melbourne.
The Astor Theatre
Cnr Chapel St & Dandenong Rd
St Kilda
The grand old maam of Melbourne's cinemas, The Astor is one of this city's few art deco theatres to have resisted the ugly trend towards "multiplexing" these historical gems. Featuring a sweeping terrrazo foyer, a staircase with her own sense of occasion, and multiple comfy club lounges, it's worth a tram ride alone to sight this splendid old lady. Still functioning as an operating cinema, the Astor specialises in double features (two films for the price of one entry ticket) and screens a mix of recent releases and nostalgic movies.
My favourite Astor experience is a Sunday night double-barrel Hitchcock thriller with a mega box of Maltesers purchased at intermission. Yes - they still have intermission.
Alkira House18 Queen Street
Melbourne
As the old guys says in the Gilette ad 'I liked it so much - I bought the company'. Well I didn't buy quite the whole building - just a gorgeous apartment on the second floor, which is now available for short term or weekend accommodation (www.apartmentalkira.com.au).The interior has had a recent renovation and has quite a contemporary feel, but the façade is heritage listed and a truly stunning example of a unique form of Art Deco called 'Jazz Moderne'. Designed by James Waldrop, the architect of Melbourne's 'Shrine', Alkira House was completed in the 30s.
The most distinctive feature is the black and white vertical tiles on the façade that take the eye on a journey over six levels to the 'empire-state-like' steeple on top. The reinforced concrete building was a first for its time and included Australia's first use of glass tiles. The bank of tiles form an architectural spine through the centre of the building. Divine. You can see why I bought it.
The Manchester Unity Building
Cnr Swanston St & Collins St.
Melbourne
This is the sort of building you expect to see Clark Kent paragliding down in his Superman tights. The bell tower was inspired by the Chicago Tribune bell tower and features terracotta-clad leaves stretching upward in a series of raked levels. Upon completion, it was the tallest building in Melbourne. The project was commissioned during the depression, and was a well received 'jobs' project'. Three eight-hour shifts worked around the clock to complete it.
Cnr Swanston St & Collins St.
Melbourne
This is the sort of building you expect to see Clark Kent paragliding down in his Superman tights. The bell tower was inspired by the Chicago Tribune bell tower and features terracotta-clad leaves stretching upward in a series of raked levels. Upon completion, it was the tallest building in Melbourne. The project was commissioned during the depression, and was a well received 'jobs' project'. Three eight-hour shifts worked around the clock to complete it.
247 Collins Street
Melbourne
While the building itself isn't really deco, the stunning mosaic stretching across the width of it definitely is. And it's gorgeous. Designed by renowned artist of the time, Napier Waller, it was commissioned to refurbish the 1884 building and is titled "I'll put a girdle round about the earth". The bold, graphic figures are rendered in a particularly distinctive art deco form. Well worth stopping by for a look - just across the road from the Manchester Unity building.
Best Places to Eat in Melbourne
I like food. I rather wish I didn’t. Well not quite so much anyway. But for a girl who has such an addiction, Melbourne is certainly a great city to live in.
Thanks largely to immigration, our proximity to Asia and availability of good fresh produce, eating options in Melbourne are eclectic and cater to a variety of wallet thicknesses. These are a few of my favourite (Melbourne) eating establishments.
Cumulus Inc, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
A delightful, well designed space with tres chic floor staff and fab food, it can sometimes be hard to get a table at this Flinders Lane eatery. Well worth persevering though. My favorite meal here is breaky - though this shouldn't cast a cloud over the wonderful lunch or dinner options - it's just a particularly gorgeous time of day to be sipping a rich creamy latte and munching on Turkish Baked Eggs with labne, spiced tomato and dukka. There's muesli - standard and bircher - and toast and spreads if you're feeling like you'd rather something less exotic and of course a wonderful array of baked morsels just beckoning to make merry with your hips. Cumulus doesn't have a booking system, so it's just lob up, cross your fingers and smile on approach.
Cumulus Inc, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
A delightful, well designed space with tres chic floor staff and fab food, it can sometimes be hard to get a table at this Flinders Lane eatery. Well worth persevering though. My favorite meal here is breaky - though this shouldn't cast a cloud over the wonderful lunch or dinner options - it's just a particularly gorgeous time of day to be sipping a rich creamy latte and munching on Turkish Baked Eggs with labne, spiced tomato and dukka. There's muesli - standard and bircher - and toast and spreads if you're feeling like you'd rather something less exotic and of course a wonderful array of baked morsels just beckoning to make merry with your hips. Cumulus doesn't have a booking system, so it's just lob up, cross your fingers and smile on approach.
MoVida, 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne
Melbourne’s CBD is full of fabulous sneaky little laneways and Hosier Lane is one of the best. A magnificent ‘gallery’ of some of the city’s best grafitti and home to Movida, providing the CBD’s best Spanish fare. It’s always tricky to secure a table at this buzzy place, but well worth the effort. Offering gorgeous wee tapas ‘tastes’ or ‘racion’ – for something a little more significant. A lovely spin on some more traditional Spanish dishes made with fine fresh produce.
Melbourne’s CBD is full of fabulous sneaky little laneways and Hosier Lane is one of the best. A magnificent ‘gallery’ of some of the city’s best grafitti and home to Movida, providing the CBD’s best Spanish fare. It’s always tricky to secure a table at this buzzy place, but well worth the effort. Offering gorgeous wee tapas ‘tastes’ or ‘racion’ – for something a little more significant. A lovely spin on some more traditional Spanish dishes made with fine fresh produce.
Gill's Diner & Bakery, Lt Collins St, Melbourne
The in-house pastries in this bakery-cum-cafe are so light they'd barely do a dint of damage to the hips. No really. Flakey and ethereal, teamed with a robust Romcaffe latte, they make a suberb start to a morning in Melbourne. Gill's diner and commercial bakery is quite the find. Fabulous sourdough loaves, baguettes, danishes and muffins - all made on the premises. There's a select breakfast menu but if you've found brekkie elsewhere you can return when the sun's gone down and partake of equally delightful dinner options.
The in-house pastries in this bakery-cum-cafe are so light they'd barely do a dint of damage to the hips. No really. Flakey and ethereal, teamed with a robust Romcaffe latte, they make a suberb start to a morning in Melbourne. Gill's diner and commercial bakery is quite the find. Fabulous sourdough loaves, baguettes, danishes and muffins - all made on the premises. There's a select breakfast menu but if you've found brekkie elsewhere you can return when the sun's gone down and partake of equally delightful dinner options.
Ezard (Flinders Lane) & Gingerboy (Crossley Street), Melbourne
I couldn’t decide which Teage Ezard restaurant to add to my ‘favourites’ list, so, well, you choose (wink*). Teage Ezard is one of Melbourne's culinary 'darhlings'. He has several eateries in Melbourne and interest in venues much farther afield. Ezard is a ‘proper’ restaurant. A fine – rather very fine - dining experience. A slick and intimate dining room of plush carpets, shiny, shiny glassware and highly starched linen. You certainly get the ‘special’ in ‘special occasion dining’. But where so often the food falls short of the linen/glassware/carpet promise, at Ezard it confidently lives up to expectations. Modern Australian with a hearty smile to China and a warm wave to Thailand, executed with creativity.
I couldn’t decide which Teage Ezard restaurant to add to my ‘favourites’ list, so, well, you choose (wink*). Teage Ezard is one of Melbourne's culinary 'darhlings'. He has several eateries in Melbourne and interest in venues much farther afield. Ezard is a ‘proper’ restaurant. A fine – rather very fine - dining experience. A slick and intimate dining room of plush carpets, shiny, shiny glassware and highly starched linen. You certainly get the ‘special’ in ‘special occasion dining’. But where so often the food falls short of the linen/glassware/carpet promise, at Ezard it confidently lives up to expectations. Modern Australian with a hearty smile to China and a warm wave to Thailand, executed with creativity.
Gingerboy is Teage Ezard’s ‘Hawker-style’ eatery at the cheaper end of the Asian food continuum. While not exactly Hawker prices, they are significantly lower than those at Ezard. A noisy eatery with waitstaff that are sometimes a tad too brusque, the food is still superb. The red duck curry is a knock out, as too are the prawn and ginger house-made dumplings and the signature son-in-law eggs.
The Supper Inn, 15 Celestial Ave, Melbourne
The address might create a certain expectation of this chinese restaurant and that would be, well, both right and wrong. While the food is most often of the heavenly variety, the place itself is not. Cheap and cheerful. Nothing more. Nothing less. The tabletops are laminex, the walls fake wood panelling and the carpet has a smattering of each of the many dishes listed on the laminated menus. But it is something of a Melbourne institution, and in the wee small hours on a buzzy Melbourne night the flavoursome Cantonese food arrives quickly and is fresh and zingy. The suckling pig and garlic and spinach are two of my favorites, but you really can't go too far wrong with anything here.
The address might create a certain expectation of this chinese restaurant and that would be, well, both right and wrong. While the food is most often of the heavenly variety, the place itself is not. Cheap and cheerful. Nothing more. Nothing less. The tabletops are laminex, the walls fake wood panelling and the carpet has a smattering of each of the many dishes listed on the laminated menus. But it is something of a Melbourne institution, and in the wee small hours on a buzzy Melbourne night the flavoursome Cantonese food arrives quickly and is fresh and zingy. The suckling pig and garlic and spinach are two of my favorites, but you really can't go too far wrong with anything here.
Best Melbourne CBD Cafes
Follow the yellow brick road (or click on the blue bubbles)...
View Best CBD Cafes (Recommended by Apartment Alkira in a larger map
Thanks to Apartment Alkira - Melbourne CBD apartment accommodation.
View Best CBD Cafes (Recommended by Apartment Alkira in a larger map
Thanks to Apartment Alkira - Melbourne CBD apartment accommodation.
Yummy scrummy jewelery
e.g.etal deals in seriously groovy designer jewellery. I fell upon it a few years ago when it was located in Melbourne's Little Collins Street (CBD)and neither my wallet nor my neckline have been the same since. You know it’s going to be a few notches above what you’ll find on rotating department store racks when their website refers to them in third person as a “commercial gallery”. Read More.
And The Wheel Spins Round and Round
It's a balmy night. Wander along the Yarra river from Federation Square, look back at the city and see her shimmy. Jump on the Ferris Wheel as it spins round and round. All is well with the world.
Awesome Melbourne Architecture
This is the sort of building you look up and expect to see Clark Kent paragliding down in his Superman tights. Not so much strictly art deco as neo-gothic, the building has a myriad of vertical, terracotta clad ‘fins’ streching upwards towards the bell tower. A smattering of gargoyles feeds the ‘gothic’ theme and the scale of the building adds to it being one of a handful of truly eye catching Melbourne buildings. Once an office building, now it's one of Melbourne's most sought after accommodation apartments - More here.
Cafe Vue (de Monde)
Vue de Monde is undeniably one of Melbourne’s *starlet* eateries, but if you can’t get in, or don’t want to part with the requisite *starlet* pennies, Café Vue will give you an inexpensive way to hover in the glow of the Vue de Monde halo. Read more
Melbourne's Best Green Bits (Parks and Gardens)
For those days when the buzz of the city becomes less of a thrill and more of an irritation, you’ll need a few ‘green’ spots to help recharge. Luckily Melbourne has quite a selection. So grab a newspaper and a takeaway latte, and plonk yourself on something green. And breathe deeply.This man made lake is probably most famous for being the site of the contentious Grand Prix. Opponents believe that the vast lake - a sanctuary for an assortment of wildlife as well as many frazzled humans - shouldn’t be traumatized by the ‘whirring’ of racing cars and the stench of burning rubber. During the non-Grand Prix months you’ll be able to sit under a shady tree and watch the majestic swans glide by. Carousal, a stylish, casual café perched on the eastern edge of the 4.7km walking track, serves breaky, light lunches and a not too shabby coffee.
Brother Baba Budan (great coffee)
Ah, smell that coffee! One of Melbourne's best caffeine dealers, this place was the off-shoot of South Melbourne's St Ali, before St Ali was sold and went 'South' - so to speak. Hang in there if it's chockers as it's well worth the wait.
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