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.
It’s about that time again when one of Australia’s most attractive and unique outdoor art exhibitions, Sculpture by the Sea, comes around. Each year a huge range of public artworks are commissioned and displayed along the iconic coastal walk between Bondi and Bronte beaches, making for very memorable sight anchored by the activity in central…
As far as the world’s most recognisable hotel brands go, Sheraton is up there as one of the best balanced in almost all facets of luxury accommodation. It’s high end but accessible, elegant but modern, sophisticated but grounded in a way that’s adaptable for all types of guests; for a hotel with roots dating back…
Now that it’s been named “Best Distillery Event in the World” from Drinks International Magazine, Queensland’s huge The Spirit of Bundaberg Festival is in a good position to further expand on the success of previous years. Taking place Saturday 15th October at the Bundaberg Rum Distillery, the wild celebration of good local food, great entertainment,…
With the 38th annual Newtown Festival coming up the inner-west suburb will once again be witnessing the return of Newtown Locals, a collaborative program from some of the area’s best chefs, restaurateurs and brewers aimed at sharing their love and passion for the famously bohemian neighbourhood. This will be the third year for Newtown Locals,…
Newtown Locals is a collection of the inner west neighbourhood’s greatest food and drink purveyors, and each year the group comes together at the annual Newtown Festival to offer up special collaborative dishes designed to showcase the communal spirit of the area. Once again, the community cook-offs will aim at providing some much needed funds…
Heard about that Ron Burgundy themed pop-up bar taking over Melbourne next week? It was a kind of a big deal, that is until Paramount Pictures threw a trident right through those plans and split them in two. Turns out the film studio, which was behind both the original 2004 film and its sequel, required…
Tasmania is one of those rites of passage for Australia’s food lovers that’s hard to forget. The produce found throughout the country powers some of the best parts of this country’s great food scene, so it’s always an exciting prospect when a showcase from the apple isle travels up to other states. In this case,…
There’s nothing like crisp country air slapping you awake to take you out of that hustle, bustle Sydney state of mind. For Sydneysiders a brief getaway isn’t just about grabbing a quick, refreshing weekend in the Blue Mountains or Hunter Valley (still both incredible places for brief escapism) anymore, with many realising that you need…
London and New York have once again dominated the World’s 50 Best Bars, an annual list which each year seeks to provide a thorough overview of the top performing drinking destinations across the globe, from swanky hotel bars to dim speakeasies. Manhattan’s popular Dead Rabbit took out top honours, being named the “Botran Rum Best…
Simply titled The Rooftop one of QT Melbourne’s biggest draw cards is a stunning 11th floor bar mirroring the unique character the designer hotel has brought to Russell Street. The city’s skyline will play in the background of the split indoor-outdoor bar, which QT hope will become one of Melbourne’s biggest destinations as we edge…
The Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy is about to see a major champion with new Sydney pop-up restaurant Classico Moderno, a concept from young local chef Bryan Gerlini who is determined to showcase the best of his home and its classic cuisine. Aside from being the founding Head Chef of Leichhardt’s excellent Capriccio Osteria, Gerlini…
After successful pop ups last year in Sydney and Melbourne, KitKat have unveiled plans for their first ever permanent store in Australia. The KitKat Chocolatory will be a DIY dessert store in Melbourne Central, designed so customers can create their own personalised KitKat among other treats like exclusive flavours and handcrafted chocolates. Melbourne street artist…
As of today, Uber’s food delivery service UberEATS has officially spread throughout Australia. After launching in Melbourne earlier this year, and Sydney a few months later, UberEATS emerged as a fierce competitor on the local food delivery circuit, providing a service powered by and connected to Uber’s official smartphone app that allows users to order…
Food festivals and collaborations are all the rage right now, so it was about time for a Dumpling Festival. Some of Melbourne’s best dumpling restaurants will be coming together for a five-hour dumpling face-off later this month, a free event that will bring the best out of participating restaurants Tim Ho Wan, China Red, China…
This one is kind of a big deal. Over two weeks starting from October 13th the Porcelain Tea Parlour in Carlton will be making the classy transition into a pop-up bar themed after one of the most glorious characters comedy cinema has ever given us: Ron Burgundy. The bar’s character will be drawn from San…
Pure Blonde has to this point been synonymous with beer; most recently realising a surge in sales with the introduction of their low-card alternatives after seeing a double digit decline in regular beer sales. In an effort to stick to these lighter alternatives the Carlton & United Breweries brand have now expanded into the cider…
Sydney got its first ever food festival dedicated to some of the city’s best fried chicken and wine with Birds of Redfern back in July, a curated line up that brought in the likes of Hartsyard and Mitch Orr to deliver crispy greatness while Cake Wines took care of the locally made drops. It was…
Converse have unveiled two retro comic designs in collaboration with DC Comics for the 30th anniversary of Frank Miller’s iconic The Dark Knight Returns. A collage of panels from the mid-60’s featuring Batman, Robin, and Catwoman define the new look Chuck Taylor All Star ’70 sneakers, apparently pulled straight from DC’s archives to illustrate a…
Food festivals are all the rage now, and Western Sydney is finally getting an onslaught of them. The latest is Off the Eaten Truck Festival, a mammoth sized event presented by Rooty Hill RSL and The Bearded Bakers. Over two days over 40 of the city’s best food trucks will be rolling along to the…
Get your grills out because Meatstock Melbourne is back for another year, and they’ve pulled some big smoking guns to come headline a stacked program in April of next year. Both Tuffy Stone, four-times world BBQ champion, and Jess Pryles, renowned Hardcore Carnivore, will sit at the top of a lineup that once again aims…
After a successful expansion to The Galeries last year Lotus have now opened up their third Sydney venue, as Barangaroo’s obligatory dumpling and modern Chinese restaurant, a massive 160-seater designed by the ever-reliable DS17. Bringing over their excellent menu and adding a few new additions (expect more seafood) to help settle into the new waterfront…
After successful runs in Adelaide and Perth in August, i>Pinot Palooza will be dropping by Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane this month for the country’s largest annual Pinot Noir and music festival. Bottle Shop Concepts have had Pinot Palooza as a star event on their portfolio for five years now, sitting with events like Game of…
It took a few years for gamers outside of Japan to finally see the modern remake of Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, a reverent update of one of the longest, most in-depth, and sadly underrated JRPGs of the 21st century. It was originally released for PlayStation in the year 2000, a huge…
Long before the lockout laws, something else was killing the vibe among Sydney’s party scene: competition. One or two day festivals across the country were dropping like flies and it seemed like Fuzzy’s long-running Parklife was about to meet the axe, until the business made the wise decision to go boutique. Downsizing and effectively avoiding…
Few chefs in Australia command the type of ohhs and ahhs that regularly surround Guillaume Brahimi and everything he does. The man has not only become synonymous with the type of culinary mastery one would find at his eponymous fine-dining restaurant in Paddington, but proven his versatility over recent years with his more accessible Bistro…
After years of standing tall as a Surry Hills favourite, Sugarcane has uprooted and opened as a beachside retreat in Coogee. Chef Milan Strbac realised the sea change earlier this year, bringing the sunny suburb his energetic, Asian menu but kicking things up a bit, complementing Milan’s Thai-heavy style with other South East Asian cuisines,…
Browsing the stacked program for Sydney’s Good Food Month will bring you across some pretty lavish, ambitious events, but pay just as much attention to the simple ones – they’re usually the highlights after the month-long festival of exploring the city’s best through eating and drinking is said and done. An example of such a…
Award-winning Japanese chef Chase Kojima, he who has turned Sokyo into one of the best in Sydney and has opened the equally fantastic Kiyomi on the Gold Coast, has announced that he’ll be moving into something a bit more casual for his third venture, Gojima. Opening up opposite Momofuku Seiobo at The Star, Gojima will…
PlayStation’s VR is almost ready to be unleashed on a public that largely has very little idea of what awaits them. That idea became a little clearer after EB Expo though, one of the general public’s first real chances to go hands-on with this beautiful piece of immersive tech, with a handful of demos designed…
Across three days in November Sydney’s inner-west hub of Marrickville will play host to communal festival Street Food Circus, a forward thinking collective who have tapped into some of the city’s very best to create a pop-up mix of artisan food traders, craft beer, wine, vinyl DJs, and live music. They have looked far and…