Food & Drink

If the way to dad’s heart is through premium alcohol, you’ve got your job all set out for you this year as Father’s Day fast approaches. Three of the most widely recognised and super premium brands have either released new expressions, or are doing something different for Dad Day, in 2019. And they are well…

Every Father’s Day it seems there’s at least one spot doing a dad twist on traditional high tea, with a love of dude food replacing the typical scones and tea for pork belly and beer/whisky. This year that spot happens to be every QT Hotel property across Australia and New Zealand, and given the hotel’s…

I’ve always been a fan of Anthony Bourdain, and every once in a while I find his authoritative, yet curious tone narrating experiences in my life that feel distinctly, well, Bourdainian. These once in a blue moon culinary delights that you know somehow comes to represent a community of people, while giving you one of…

Sydney-born Three Blue Ducks are about to make their debut in Melbourne with the imminent arrival of their fifth restaurant at the new URBNSURF – Australia’s first surf park, and the first of its kind in the world. The park, which will be built around a crystal-clear, two hectare surfing lagoon with high-quality waves, will…

Now pushing forth as one of the largest and more comprehensive lifestyle precincts in Sydney, Darling Square has revealed a few more layers to it’s ongoing development. And this new wave features some incredible new dining and retail concepts, filling the spaces between Darling Harbour and Haymarket with some of the city’s best new openings….

Anyone who has stayed at a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel before would be intimately familiar with the smell of freshly baked cookies. It’s a brand-wide signature, extending to DoubleTree’s extensive worldwide network and ensuring that each and every property (there may be exceptions, but I doubt it) has a daily-baked batch of chocolate chip cookies…

Surry Hills profit-for-purpose eatery Folonomo has made the big decision to close up their restaurant and transform the venue into an events space for parties and pop ups from some of Sydney’s top chefs. In doing so, it’s become the latest in a handful of Sydney venues able to host some exclusive takeovers, with legends…

The legendary Three Blue Ducks, which most recently jumped into the luxury hotel game as the resident restaurant for W Brisbane, is about to go tropical. Springing off their W connections, chefs Darren Robertson and Mark LaBrooy plan to take their concept overseas for a round of pop-up dinners across W properties in Bali and…

Sydney bar The Morrison and its much anticipated Oyster Festival has returned this month for its 7th year running, stretching out to the end of the month with a huge program of oyster-focused events, including a number of bespoke oyster dishes created by chef Sean Connolly. Chicken fried oyster sliders, grilled Pacifics ‘in shell’ with…

The Tasmanian Whisky and Spirits Association (TWSA) are bringing back their annual Tasmanian Whisky Week, opening up all the many highly regarded distilleries for a huge seven day celebration. With more than 20 events taking place across the island state between Monday 12th and Sunday 18th August, the hotly anticipated event will kick off at…

Over 3,200 of Australia’s best BYO restaurants are now being tracked by GPS thanks to a new smartphone App from wine retailer Cellarmasters. BYO Finder, which launches this week, is a free app created to assist wine and food lovers easily scope out which restaurants in their area allow for BYO, amongst other details including…

As Sydney’s great expansion of top restaurants out west continues, a new 550-seat food precinct has started rolling out in Rooty Hill. Titled Eat Street – part of the ongoing West HQ development – the stacked eat street has bought with it an exciting line-up to join already established outlets Chur Burger and Eat St….

Those discerning folk at Merivale have taken the celebrated wine retail experience at CBD hotspot Palings Lane and reimainged it as an online service simply dubbed The Bottle Shop. Pulling on the experience and curatorial knowhow of the group’s Master Sommeliers, this online shop will feature an exclusive range of wine, beer and spirits (with…

Looking for a way to beat back those winter blues and bring some warmth back to your soul, in the way only a piping-hot, brothy bowl of goodness can? From now until July 20th, Wednesday through Saturday, the discerning team at Japanese izakaya Osaka Trading Co. are performing a little takeover of Sydney’s historic Tramsheds,…

As part of the “Secret Menu” function on the KFC Smartphone app, the fast food giant has introduced what is being described as the biggest (non-customised) burger it has ever had. As always, Australia gets to be guinea pigs for this monstrous creation, which has now rolled out nationally. Dubbed The Triple Stacker, its a…

It looks like Splendour in the Grass are going ahead with their successful pop-up dining experience series, with the forthcoming 2019 iteration of the famous three-day festival set to welcome restaurateur Maurice Terzini and his iconic Icebergs Dining Room & Bar. The historic Sydney restaurant will follow in the footsteps of The Unicorn by offering…

James Squire have gone and pulled something very, very old from a shipwreck that dates back to 1797, the year in which merchant ship “Sydney Cove” went down just off Preservation Island north of Tasmania. The brewing team behind Squire have extracted a 220 year old bottle of beer recovered from the shipwreck and used…

After a successful venture into fried chicken sandwich territory in collaboration with Belle’s Hot Chicken, the team behind Malaysian chain PappaRich have announced a different kind of indulgent carb-loading treat to be introduced to their 29 Australian stores in July. It’s the triumphant return of their incredibly popular Nasi Lemak Burger, which first debuted in…

Across the entire 31-day stretch of August, New Zealand’s trendy capital of Wellington will once again host Visa Wellington on a Plate (VWOAP). The long-running food and wine festival, which touches everywhere from Wellington City to the Kāpiti Coast, picturesque Hutt Valley, and Wairarapa, is set to reach unprecedented levels in 2019, thanks to an…

The team behind the seductively playful QT Sydney have recently overhauled the hotel’s street-level diner and transformed it into the city’s newest Italian eatery, Parlour Cucina. Inspired by the café scene in Milan during the 1960’s, the space moves away from the beloved Parlour Lane Roasters and onto something entirely dedicated to traditional, uncomplicated Italian…

There’s a reason Tasmania’s capital was known as “Slowbart” long before Dark Mofo (6-23 June) livened up those long winter nights. It gets seriously cold, and without a mental map of places to stay warm, navigating the city in the depths of winter can be a challenge. Fortunately Hobart’s many bars know how to put…

From wild citrus gin and caramel vodka to natural wine and sparkling blends, here’s a wrap up of what we’ve got on our shelf this season. In this instalment of ‘On the Shelf’ we’ve started it off by putting the spotlight on three Aussie gins to try in celebration of World Gin Day this Saturday 8th…

A clarion call to whiskey lovers far and wide, Glenfiddich just last week has celebrated the launch of the venerable Glenfiddich Whisky Wanderer. “What on Earth is the Whiskey Wanderer?!” you ask? It’s an original 1972 vintage Leyland double-decker bus cum mobile whiskey lounge. More than ten meters long and four meters wide, this magnificent…

In response to a recent survey that found 88% of Australians preferred having their coffee with milk, Nespresso have readied a new range of five blends for their Original and Vertuo machines, each designed especially for that creamy shot of dairy (or soy, of course). The range comes from six years of Nespresso experts exploring…

No matter which way you look it – a free pair of Volleys when purchasing a 10 pack of 375ml Southern Comfort and Cola or a free 10 pack of Southern Comfort when purchasing a pair of Volleys; Southern Comfort and Volleys have a pretty cool collaboration going until June 30th 2019. When entering a…

Often cited as one of the best Italian restaurants in Sydney, Machiavelli Ristorante Italiano has edged forward with something the institution has never before done. After three decades of serving high flying corporates, visiting celebrities, and most famously Australia’s political elite, the Italian restaurant is now extending trading hours to include Saturday nights. Historically, the…

You’d be mistaken if you thought Sydney was all about the summer months. As soon as winter hits, the city seems to spring to life with some of its greatest yearly events, as well as a whole host of other fun things to do. And the next few weeks will certainly showcase that, with the…

One look at the Sydney Opera House and the surrounding Circular Quay during Vivid Sydney is all it needs to fall in love with the festival all over again. Despite the train delays and constant crowds, something about this buzzing and energetic festival of lights, music and ideas captures the imaginations of both visitors and…

Starting today, McDonald’s outlets across Australia will be the first across the globe to introduce some subtle improvements to the burgers that have made Maccas the dominant chain it is today. The classics, which include the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and Cheeseburger, are said to have undergone a number of careful improvements to the way…

From cronuts to freakshakes, most of Sydney’s zany dessert trends involve doughnuts in some capacity. The latest: the Zippoli. The traditional Italian version of the classic doughnut has been officially put forth as Sydney’s next deep-fried food obsession thanks to restauranteur Anthony Furfaro, who has opened a new dessert bar in the South-West suburb of…