Harbour Room: Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, Pier Road, St Kilda (03) 9534 1300 orwww.foodanddesire.com Food & Desire has been busy since Leigh Worcester and his partner took over the business in the new millennium. A change of direction led the catering company from corporate lunches to far more ambitious functions, and since then they’ve refashioned
Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café: East Circular Quay, Sydney NSW (02) 8274 7900 91 George St, The Rocks NSW (02) 8274 7500 Guylian has been selling hazelnut praline-filled chocolate seashells by the shores of Belgium since 1960. And Australians apparently can’t get enough of them. So hungry are we for the chokkie treats that not one,
Gingerboy Upstairs: 27–29 Crossley St, Melbourne VIC (03) 9662 4200 or www.gingerboy.com.au Teage Ezard’s Gingerboy Upstairs has been refurbished to tie in with the downstairs dining area. Still keeping with Ezard’s penchant for hawker street-style eating with more structured dining options, Gingerboy Upstairs adds another dimension. “We have designed the upstairs space as a grouping
Damask Bar: 347 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC (03) 9417 4578 or www.damaskbar.com.au Melbourne’s Brunswick Street is well-known for its Bohemian hideaways… and now there’s the first-floor Damask Bar — a hideaway, sure, but definitely a cut above in the style department. The air is good at Damask, so good, in fact, management has opened a
Riverland Bar: Vaults 1 – 9, Federation Wharf, Melbourne (03) 9662 1771 or www.riverlandbar.com The Riverland Bar’s progress has been anything but meteoric. Life began out as a single coffee bar with a handful of staff to coincide with the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in 2006. Now? The venue stretches almost 100 metres along the
Portello Rosso: 15 Warburton Lane, Melbourne, VIC (03) 9602 2273 or contact@portellorosso.com.au Photo: Corey Sleap Nestled in a laneway in the old merchant district of Melbourne’s CBD, Murmur has been quietly bubbling away for four years with positive word-of-mouth recommendations ensuring the first-floor Cuba-inspired cocktail bar happily ticks over. While Murmur built up a following,
Italian Village: 7 Circular Quay West, The Rocks, Sydney NSW (02) 9247 6111 or www.italianvillage.com.au Located on the sandstone shores of the Rocks is the Italian Village, a three-level, three-room restaurant and function centre catering to up to 100 seated and 250 cocktail. The position affords 180-degree views of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and
Devilles Pad: 3 Aberdeen St, Perth WA (08) 9225 6669 or www.devillespad.com Photo: Johnny Trask Devilles Pad was originally conceived for The Parmelia Hilton in Perth. But when that project got shelved, Josh Collins and his team decided to press on alone. It took them eight months to convert a rundown shell into a bizarre
Mumu Grill: 70 Alexander St, Crows Nest NSW (02) 9460 6877 or www.mumugrill.com.au At Mumu Grill the old steakhouse norms have been put out to pasture. The new Mumu concept combines the highest quality sustainable and organic produce with the age-old, flavour-enhancing cooking process of the wood-fired oven. The very best of seasonal Australian meat,
Cocktails & Dreams Nightclub: Orchid Avenue, Surfers Paradise (07) 5592 1955 or www.cocktailsnightclub.com.au Cocktails & Dreams on the Gold Coast has opened its VIP bar: CD’s. Aiming to attract an upmarket crowd, the club lays out a red carpet to the entrance with lavish black drapes framing the walkway and a smart dress code is