Author: Chris Singh

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.

QT Hotels and Resorts have officially expanded to New Zealand with Wellington property

In what is a huge step for one of Australia’s most unique and treasured hotel groups, QT Hotels & Resorts have officially made their way across the ditch, expanding to New Zealand with the opening of QT Museum Wellington, and the forthcoming arrival of QT Queenstown. QT has become widely known in and outside of…

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Guilty and Bistro Morgan are catering College Football Sydney Cup with special burgers and donuts

Australia’s casual eats scene is so damn fine that of course the sports industry is going to want a slice. The organisers behind College Football Sydney Cup have had the good sense to move away from plastic-tasting hotdogs and stale-tasting doughnuts and enlist the help of some real pros to cater match day on 27th…

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T Totaler brings hand-blended tea and French earl grey chocolate latte to The Galeries (Sydney)

After building a passionate following with their Newtown store, Sydney’s beloved T Totaler, purveyor of hand-blended tea, has opened up a little bit closer to the heart of town, securing a small but impressively designed space in The Galeries. Opening up opposite Incu the purveyors of locally grown artisan tea have lined the new bright…

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Your ultimate food and drink guide to Vivid Sydney 2017

The always impressive Vivid Sydney will be casting a huge net of creativity over the city as of next week, presenting locals and visitors with yet again one of the most exciting programs in the entire country. Lights, music and ideas are the three pillars around which this program is curated, but there’s always so…

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Burgers by Josh and Wild Turkey are doing bourbon infused burgers for Sydney and Melbourne

Wild Turkey are currently running an event series inspired by their iconic Master Distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell, split between Sydney and Melbourne with an ode to passionate and talented Australian artists ranging from music to food. The food part is of particular interest here because the organisers have had the good sense to hook…

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Interactive performance art bar La Rosa Social Club is coming to Carriageworks (Sydney)

You’re going to want to hit up Semi Permanent this year. The design conference has partnered up with Carriageworks to bring La Rosa Social Club over to Sydney, after much success in L.A and Berlin. A concept given life by famed filmmaker Aaron Rose, the pop-up bar is designed to be pull together elements of…

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An absolutely terrifying ghost ship will be floating around Sydney Harbour this weekend

As far as marketing pushes go, this one takes the cake. Films often inspire all sorts of cool little happenings in cities around the world, and in the case of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales it’s an eerie looking ghost ship that’s set to stalk Sydney Harbour for the next few…

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Four Pillars are bringing back their epic Bloody Shiraz Gin this June

The fine folk behind Four Pillars have just announced that this year they’ll be bringing back their phenomenal Bloody Shiraz Gin, which last year completely sold out just four months after it was released. To satisfy demand, the gin distillery will be producing even more bottles of the epic gin-wine combo, which takes Four Pillars’…

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Review: The Alley’s focus on delicious vegan food works like a charm (Melbourne)

Melbourne is swiftly gaining a reputation as one of the leading cities in the world when it comes to everything vegan. We have the festivals, the stores, the people, and most importantly the food. It’s no surprise that there is always a new vegan restaurant popping up somewhere, so it was my absolute pleasure to…

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Handmade pasta bar Flour Eggs Water takes over Besser in Surry Hills (Sydney)

Crown Street pasta bar Besser is no more, having now been reshaped and reborn as the second location for Flour Eggs Water. While both brands are more casual members of the A Tavola family, owner Eugenio Maiale made the decision to tighten the focus on Flour Eggs Water, mirroring Tramsheds’ resident Italian staple with a…

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New York’s iconic Katz’s Delicatessen to start shipping worldwide

What has been one of the most quintessential New York eats for a very, very long time has finally announced plans to start shipping their famous food, like their perfect pastrami, worldwide. What’s more is that us down here in Australia could be on the mailing list in the near future. As reported by NY…

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Japanese-Mexican fusion ‘The Sushirito’ is now available in Chippendale (Sydney)

Sushi rolls not enough for you? If so then Sushirito + Juicery, a new eatery on Chippendale’s lovingly curated Kensington Street, should be able to meet your needs. The team behind it are the latest to recreate a mutant-food from overseas, bringing Sydney a central spot to grab a Sushirito alongside Korean shaved-ice desserts and…

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Glenfiddich’s “Artist in Residence” prize is on the look out for whisky-loving Australian artists

For the third year in a row, Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland is offering Australian artists something pretty darn unique with their annual “Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Prize”. Open from now until June 30th of this year William Grant & Sons are on the look out to award one very (and we mean very) lucky…

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Smizzy (Sydney) chats Triple J, social media, and his brilliant ‘Re-Rapped’ competition

And the Social Media campaign award of the year goes to: Martin Brown. The man formerly known as Smiles Again (one half of the now defunct Mind Over Matter), and now known as Smizzy, has been flying a bit under the radar for these past few years. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been hard…

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Koi Dessert Bar introduces insanely intricate KitKat chocolate sphere by Reynold Poernomo (Sydney)

Fresh from opening up his second store for Koi in Ryde, former MasterChef favourite Reynold Poernomo has just announced a pretty damn tempting collaboration with KitKat. Taking inspiration from there experimental KitKat Chocolatory range, Reynold has crafted an exquisite, limited edition chocolate dessert going by the name of KitKat Secret Garden, and he’s going to…

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We talk cannabis with Anastasia Suraev ahead of The Hemp Health & Innovation Expo & Symposium

It’s just about time for the controversial but incredibly insightful The Hemp Health & Innovation (HHI) Expo & Symposium to return to Sydney after thousands of Sydneysiders turned up to the inaugural event last year. The two-day symposium has gathered a lineup of brilliant minds, both global and locals speakers, to fill the space across…

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The Grounds of Alexandria will be opening their Sydney CBD spin-off this month

One of this year’s biggest openings is upon us. The crew behind the famous Grounds of Alexandria is now putting the finishing touches on their hugely anticipated Sydney CBD opening: The Grounds of the City. Mirroring much of what made the sprawling inner-west property such a huge hit for both locals and visitors, this big…

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The best World Whisky Day events in Sydney and Melbourne for 2017

World Whisky Day is coming this weekend, and you better believe that some of Australia’s best drinking holes are going to be pulling out the rarities and underrated gems to celebrate. It’s the World Record Day of Whisky, and each year drams the world over are swirled, sniffed and sipped to toast to one of…

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Butter are pimping their fried chicken meals with nutella fries this month (Sydney)

It was only a matter of time before these two sneaker destinations linked up. Beloved sneaker gallery Subtype have partnered with the team behind sneaker-and-chicken shop Butter on a limited edition fashion tip, resulting in not only a collaborative tee and sock capsule but a special fried chicken promotion that’s being run at Butter for…

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Gelatissimo and Brewtown announce exclusive gelato-brewnut fusion for Newtown (Sydney)

Newtown locals are used to seeing some of their favourites come together for limited edition collaborations. By now those who live around the inner-west gem should be more than familiar with the Newtown Locals but there’s plenty of other partnerships worth paying attention to. The latest: a delicious fusion from Gelatissimo and Brewtown Newtown. Gelatissimo’s…

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Fancy Hanks are doing a collaboration lunch with Rice Paper Scissors this weekend (Melbourne)

One trend we’re definitely not sick of, and likely never will be, is the rise of the “guest chef collaboration”. Everywhere you turn there’s a new restaurant kicking off a guest chef series, giving diners dynamic and exciting one-off dinners that push away from the norm and opt to offer something new. Melbourne’s Fancy Hanks…

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John Walker & Sons release super premium whisky Mastery of Oak in Australia

Just in time for World Whisky Day (20th May), the prestigious John Walker & Sons series has launched their 2017 private collection in Australia. The high-end series of blended scotch whiskies by Master Blender Jim Beveridge has revealed a limited release of 5,588 individually numbered decanters in this fourth release of an ongoing series that…

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Review: a progressive dinner from East to Man Tong Kitchen (Melbourne)

Melbourne is a multicultural hub brimming with an array of delightfully diverse cuisines from all over the globe. In particular our range of Asian eateries that are sprinkled throughout the CBD brings so much variety to that one condensed area, meaning it really does take a lot to stand out from the crowd. The Hutong…

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Broadway Sydney is hosting a four-day music, food and fashion festival this month

Now that they’ve gone and revamped a big chunk of the long-standing shopping centre, Broadway Sydney are throwing their very own four-day festival, making good use of their wide range of food, fashion, beauty retailers for what they’re calling Fusion Fest. The organisers aren’t doing pulling any half-measures either, bringing in a bunch of very…

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James Boag release a limited edition “fine dining” beer to Australia’s top restaurants

For the next few months a selection of hatted restaurants across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tasmania will be offering a very limited edition and Australian-first beer range from James Boag. Titled the “James Boag Epicurean”, the new premium range has been brewed especially for food pairings in fine dining restaurants, the result of extensive research…

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St Kilda Burger Bar scores a permanent residency at Arts Centre (Melbourne)

One of the city’s finest burgers-on-wheels, the St Kilda Burger Bar, has parked up their truck at a permanent location, securing a spot just outside of the Arts Centre in Melbourne CBD. The crew behind the truck will be opening up each morning, first with a selection of non-burger breakfast dishes from 8-10am and then…

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Golden Age Cinema is serving up cherry pie at their two-day David Lynch marathon this weekend (Sydney)

Petersham’s Daisy’s Milk Bar has hooked up with hipster favourite Golden Age Cinema & Bar to celebrate the imminent arrival of David Lynch’s long-awaited reboot of Twin Peaks. How so? The lively milk bar will be serving up slices of their gorgeous cherry pie as the Surry Hills cinema present two days of Lynch classics…

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Fatties Burger Appreciation Society launch a behind-the-scenes video series on Sydney’s best burgers

More than 80,000 burger lovers across Australia (possibly the world) are subscribed to what started out as a small but passionate online community linked by the love of one of the most ubiquitous foods of all times. It’s the now famous Fatties Burger Appreciation Society (FBAS) of course, a Facebook group that continues to grow…

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Film Review: Ridley Scott tugs on existential threads with Alien: Covenant (USA, 2017)

2012’s Prometheus marked the beginning of a franchised prequel to Ridley Scott’s original Alien, not only taking fans back to the origins of this iconic sci-fi franchise, but diving deeper into the meaty philosophies such a concept brings, finding purpose with the motif of creation. The introduction of synthetic android David (Michael Fassbender) emerged as…

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Stan is bringing Twin Peaks’ iconic Double R Diner to Sydney and Melbourne

Stan Australia recently turned Sydney’s great Thirsty Bird into Los Pollos Hermanos to celebrate the season three premiere of Better Call Saul on the SVOD service. Now it appears a similar type of promotion will be going down for the forthcoming, and very long awaited, return of David Lynch’s genius Twin Peaks, with Stan marking…

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