Chris Singh is an Editor-At-Large at the AU review, loves writing about travel and hospitality, and is partial to a perfectly textured octopus. You can reach him on Instagram: @chrisdsingh.
Switzerland is full of exciting day trips no matter which city you choose as a base. For access to the Northern part of the country, the most popular option is Zürich: the country’s largest city and one of its most well-known. It’s for this reason that Swissotel is one of the best options for either…
United have introduced a direct nonstop flight between Sydney, Australia and Houston, Texas on a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, joining Los Angeles and San Francisco to become the airline’s third direct route from Sydney to the U.S.A. The service will serve as competition to Qantas’ direct service to Dallas, Texas and is the fifth US…
Walker Stalker, the enormous convention for fans of The Walking Dead, and its Australian debut is just around the corner now, but there’s been a few sharp changes to the line-up both good and bad. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl, is no longer able to…
Award-winning Sydney pub The Unicorn will be continuing their “My Australia” guest chef collaboration series next month with “Back to the Future”, the fourth edition of the program which will welcome Lee Ho Fook into the kitchen as the popular Melbourne restaurant’s head chef, Victor Liong, takes the reigns. Set for Sunday 4th February, the…
In what should come as some very welcome news to discerning wine lovers in Sydney, hospitality juggernaut Merivale have announced that they have added the full set of Penfolds Grange to their premier wine collection. For those not already up on Penfolds, the label is one of the country’s most iconic and prestigious, known for…
Little Creatures are switching things up as we head deeper into 2018, giving their range a facelift with some experimental design. And though they have delved into a big packaging makeover, the brewers have had the good sense to leave the contents as is, with the beer remaining unchanged. The packaging refresh is the biggest…
Don’t make the mistake of assuming Adina Apartment Checkpoint Charlie is right next to the famous historic crossing point of Berlin. It’s not; this particular Adina Hotel – one of three dotted across the enormous city – is around a 10 minute walk from the area, a welcome distance seeing as Checkpoint Charlie is teeming…
The Star Gold Coast will welcome a new rooftop restaurant and bar led by acclaimed Gold Coast restaurateur Simon Gloftis and entertainment expert Billy Cross ahead of this year’s Commonwealth Games. Set to open in March, the yet to be named venue will sit atop The Darling, the property’s new luxury suite hotel. Co-managed by…
Often cited as one of the rowdiest and most touristy pubs across Sydney’s CBD, the long-established, much-maligned Scruffy Murphy’s could be calling last drinks this year as the site’s new owner has lodged a stage one development application with the City of Sydney. KHG Co Pty Ltd, who along with Scruffy Murphy’s now owns the…
Amidst the Christmas rush you may have missed out one of Nike’s latest releases, the newest iteration of the company’s extremely popular NikeCourt Vapor line. Enjoying somewhat of a showcase at the Australian Open this month, the Air Zoom Vapor X, which first hit shelves in December, is the new expression of that series, designed…
One of Sydney’s finest cocktail bars, Eau De Vie, has just started a new partnership with Star of Bombay that has resulted in an exclusively-designed custom martini trolley that will be available at the venue to reflect the ceremonial ritual of the classic martini services influenced by iconic hotel bars throughout history. The bespoke theatrical…
At just 22 years of age, Joey Bada$$ is one of the very few emcees of this generation that could easily go toe-to-toe with the legends of yesteryear. If you weren’t convinced with his earlier, rougher material, you were surely a believer by the end of 2017, where Joey’s second studio album All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ was…
Coming to a hushed located in the CBD this April will be a huge Harry Potter themed bottomless brunch, set up like a Hogwarts dining room with unlimited butter beer and other specially created drinks. That’s the promise with The Wizard Brunch, announced today, well in advance (because of course tickets are going to fly),…
Following a significant makeover for Burger Project venues across Australia, Neil Perry and Rockpool Dining Group are celebrating the Australian Open by partnering up with Vegemite. You know what this means: vegemite burgers; a collaboration between the renowned chef and the iconic Australia spread that may or may not be delicious – on the one…
Australia is getting the world’s very first adults-only pop-up bar made of over one million blocks of Lego. Come Autumn 2018, The Bricks Bar will be built and deconstructed numerous times, travelling around to four major cities including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. The organisers are a bit hush-hush on details at the moment, including…
Across twelve nights in February, Barangaroo will play host to a brand new festival dubbed Sunset20°N: a celebration blending music, food and culture in the picturesque surrounds of Barangaroo Reserve. Named for a strong woman and independent leader of the Cammeraygal people of Sydney, the enormous program will consist of mostly female artists from across…
Long weekends in Australia are best served with a good ol’ fashioned road trip, which is why Ford are taking heading up and down the east coast with a couple of sweet rides for the upcoming Australia Day Long Weekend. The company is offering up Mustangs for free to loan to Aussies so they can…
Come Spring 2018, SEGA will be blessing Total War fans with a new entry into the long-established historical strategy series. Total War: Three Kingdoms will be the next major title up Creative Assembly’s highly successful sleeve, and for the very first time it will be taking gamers to explore ancient China.
Aline Viravouth and Marcel Nantharath, the team behind Carlton’s popular Nasi Lemak House, have now opened their new 30-seater venue Merah in Northcote. With a focus on Malaysian street food, the lunch and dinner restaurant which opened late last year will highlight the many diverse flavours coming from the South-East Asian country. All the staples…
Andrew McConnell will be temporarily heading up Garden Restaurant at the National Gallery of Victoria from 19th to 28th January as part of the multifaceted 10-day Triennial EXTRA festival. The award-winning chef will be using this takeover opportunity to transform the gallery’s eatery into Supernormal Natsu, giving festivalgoers more than enough reason to take some…
The annual Ballarat Beer Festival will make it’s return this weekend, bringing punters one full day packed with over 150 craft brews lined up and down Lake Wendouree. A total of 34 brewers will be on-site to help the shady banks transform into a beer lovers paradise, highlighting both small and emerging independent breweries and…
Grain Bar has teamed up with the crew over at Archie Rose to help welcome their ‘Summer of Gin’ program, which entails a series of five different events all celebrating the diversity of the spirit from now until 2nd March. The program, which will bring about a bunch of unique sensory experiences coupled with house-made…
After six highly successful years in Newtown, Hartsyard co-owners Gregory Llewellyn and Naomi Hart have reopened with a brand new approach, switching up their menu, drinks list, and even interiors as the beloved inner-west restaurant starts 2018 anew. Llewllyn will lead the kitchen alongside soon-to-arrive Head Chef Jarrod Walsh (ex-Automata), crafting an edited menu of…
Strut & Fret have reimagined the wickedly entertaining Limbo production Sydneysiders have come to know and love into Limbo Unhinged, a new show that has toured the country to critical acclaim and constant sell-outs before landing at the Sydney Opera House, where it will sit for the next three months. It is vastly different to…
It’s becoming increasingly common to find Budapest on just about every discerning Eurotrip itinerary for travellers of all ages. The Hungarian capital is one of the most exciting, unique and cultural cities in central Europe, with a diversity that demands more than just a few days of exploration. Popular for such longer term stays is…
2017 was a big year for global hospitality brand L.E Hotels and their popular “Luxe Collection” of boutique hotels. The group are heading into the new year with a trio of brand new properties plus one completed refurbishment, bumping the collection of independently owned and operated luxury hotels up significantly. The newest Luxe Collection additions…
From Belly Bao to Bakedown Cakery, it’s a beautiful thing when a nomadic food business becomes so ridiculously popular they can open up their first brick-and-mortar shop. The latest is the market-famous Donut Papi, who have been slinging some of the city’s best donuts for the past two years at various spots around town; they’ve…
Break out the pocket change because Jamie’s Italian have significantly dropped the price for some of their signature pasta dishes for the month of January. Across all six venues throughout Australia, Jamie Oliver’s namesake restaurants will offer select pasta dishes for $10 from Monday 15th to Wednesday 31st Jan both lunch and dinner hours. Kicking…
Looking out those big arched windows down onto bustling Kensington Street while heaping through some lovely handmade pasta in a generous, well-designed historic space atop The Old Rum Store is my idea of a good evening out. As is sipping a perfectly refreshing nergroni on an open-air terrazza (terrace) while the faint summer breeze blows…
From Bondi to the Lower North Shore, popular American-style diner The Stuffed Beaver has officially expanded, opening up a new venue in Crows Nest with a playful rock ‘n’ roll dive vibe with the winning combo if indulgent food, cold brews, and a giant 120-inch screen for sports fanatics of all kinds. The space, with…
