Restaurant - 15 March 2009

Gingerboy Upstairs

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

Bar - 15 March 2009

BEHIND DAMASK

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

Backchat - 5 March 2009

Safety Underpin

It’s not often that new technologies promote old fashioned values, but I think the world of hi-tech security is doing just that. We’re used to hearing about security being presented in a ‘what’ll they think of next?’ big brother sense — cameras watching our every move, satellites tracking our mobile phone movements etc — and

Backchat - 5 March 2009

I Spent Good Money on my PA & it Still Sounds Crap

Sound is possibly the hardest part of <venue>’s remit to cover. When it comes to lights and interiors, a picture tells a thousand words — the work of an inspired architect or designer is evident in a photo; the results of a professionally-commissioned lighting design will be easy to see on the page; but the

Video Watch - 17 January 2009

Womanizer – Britney Spears

Apparently Britney Spears is nuts. Personally, I don’t spend enough time in supermarket queues to remain fully abreast of the day-to-day Britney soap opera. But tap ‘Britney is nuts’ into Google and in 0.09 seconds you’ll find over 2.5 million compelling reasons why she’s completely cuckoo.

Backchat - 5 January 2009

Just Another Editorial About How Crap the Economy is… at the Moment

I’m aware that in these troubled times people look to their magazine editors for reassurance. Opinion leaders such as myself have a responsibility; a responsibility to shed light, not heat, on a vexed situation that doesn’t need any more scare-mongering and scuttlebutt. In an environment fueled by rumour and innuendo, it behoves me to provide

Video Watch - 20 November 2008

Kid Rock – All Summer Long

If you find yourself in stitches as you watch the current crop of Jim Beam, ‘The Bourbon’, ads on telly and know who the Crusty Demons are, then read on… cos do I have a music video for you. So drag yourself away from your 351 pickup, trim your mullet, polish your moccies, and come

Café - 15 November 2008

Riverland Bar

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

Restaurant - 15 November 2008

Portello Rosso

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,

Local - 15 November 2008

VILLAGE ROCKS

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