Grand Hotel Rockdale: 482 – 484 Princes Highway, Rockdale NSW (02) 9567 2493 or www.grandhotelrockdale.com.au The Grand Hotel has been trying to follow the changing styles of Sydney and its local patrons for the last 25 years. Southern Hotel Group has taken the hotel through many refurbishments, including a sports bar, and at one time
Goldfish: 111 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross NSW (02) 8354 6630 Situated at Kings Cross’ ground zero is the newly refurbished Goldfish, a bar that offers a mix of music, cocktails and food in a comfortable environment with a twist. Its previous incarnation, The Goldfish Bowl, had a solid reputation in the area, and by paying
New Zealand may be the perfect setting for the fantasy genre, but when the Bacardi team needed a mobile way to spruik rum around the disconnected population, a pirate galleon wasn’t going to happen, and a space ship would have been a bit too high-flying for the average punter. In the end, the Bacardi team
I’ve just got back from Hong Kong where I spent a couple of nights at the new W Hotel on Kowloon. What a hotel! Loved it. I’ll tell you all about it next issue but I thought I’d relate one lasting impression: detail. I know attention to detail in design costs good money but, wow,
It seems that Philippe Starck will never run out of venues on which to impose his vision. Declaring the pigeonholed, darkened recording studio to be unfit for working in 12 hours a day, he’s put his hand to Eastwest studios in Hollywood to save it from a similar fate. Founded in 1961, as part of
George Calombaris has got Greece up to his elbows. Portrait: Corey Sleap George Calombaris is Greek. That much is certain. But wander past his first (and flagship) restaurant, Press Club, and you’d hardly know it. Press Club is unapologetically modern. Designed by Buro Architects, it’s a showpiece fine dining landmark in Melbourne, much favoured by
Poker is the glamour sport of the noughties and to celebrate Lady Gaga is “bluffin’ with her muffin”. Lady Gaga (not her real name) is the real deal, apparently. She’s paid her dooos in the New York club scene, combining a love for high camp exhibitionism and hot pants. That’s right, Lady Gaga isn’t an
Rambutan: 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW (02) 9360 7772 or www.rambutan.com.au Rambutan — inspired by a Thai fruit of the same name — has joined the new ‘Darlo’ Oxford Street strip, which is enjoying a renaissance. Husband and wife team Joe Natale and Milena Molina-Natale has between them an extensive design background in fashion and
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,