STAY > Capella Sydney, Sydney (19/20)

A century-old sandstone landmark in the Sandstone Precinct, steps from Circular Quay, Capella Sydney has turned the former Department of Education into the city's most composed luxury hotel: heritage bones, a light-filled heart and service that seems to know what you want a moment before you do. an edwardian baroque civic monument, reawakened as the…

2 days ago

ByLexi Plexity

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > NSW EAT > SYDNEY WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Clam Bar, Sydney (18/20)

Sydney's CBD has never been short of a steakhouse. Rockpool Bar & Grill, The Gidley, Bistecca, Kingsleys, Chophouse and now Grill Americano all compete for the same expense accounts, so a New York-style grill needs more than a good rib eye to stand out. Clam Bar has it. Dan Pepperell, Mikey Clift and Andy Tyson,…

October 12, 2026

ByLexi Plexity

ALMANAK VISIT > Torbreck Vitners, Barossa

VISIT > AUSTRALIA Visit > Barossa Valley VISIT > SA

VISIT > Torbreck Vintners, Barossa Valley

Torbreck is the Barossa at full volume: old, dry-grown vines, Rhône varieties handled with unapologetic ambition, and a portfolio that runs from a genuinely useful weekday Shiraz to some of the most expensive bottles in the country. This is a visit for anyone who wants to understand why the Barossa’s ancient vineyards are treated as…

October 11, 2026

ByLexi Plexity

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > NSW EAT > SYDNEY WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Grill Americano, Sydney (18/20)

Sydney is not short of a serious steak. There seems to be a grill on almost every corner of the CBD, so it takes a certain confidence to bring another one up the Hume. Grill Americano has been the Melbourne banker's favourite since it opened on Flinders Lane in 2022, and Chris Lucas has…

October 10, 2026

ByLexi Plexity

DRINK > AUSTRALIA DRINK > BARS DRINK > SYDNEY

DRINK > Bar Tilda, Sydney (15/20)

Sydney has finally rediscovered the hotel bar, and Bar Tilda makes a persuasive case for why it matters. Just off Phillip Street, on the ground floor of the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, it is a burgundy-walled, marble-topped, whisky-lined room that trades on 1960s jet-set nostalgia, a tableside Martini and one of the most serious Australian whisky…

October 10, 2026

ByCrispin

DRINK > BARS DRINK > SYDNEY

DRINK > McRae Bar, Capella Sydney (16/20)

Sydney has no shortage of hotel bars, but few of them are named after the man who drew the building they sit in. McRae Bar, tucked into the north corner of the lobby at Capella Sydney, takes its name from George McRae, the Edinburgh-born architect behind the Queen Victoria Building and the grand sandstone Department…

October 10, 2026

ByCrispin

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > MELBOURNE EAT > VICTORIA WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Roma, Melbourne (16/20)

Melbourne lives and breathes Italian food, (Florentino, Grossi, Il Solito Posto, Il Bacaro, Distasio Cita, Trattoria Emilia, Tippo 00, Grill Americano and the list goes on) so it takes a certain nerve to open yet another Italian restaurant in the CBD and insist it is something different. Roma does exactly that. Tucked into the courtyard…

October 8, 2026

ByCrispin

ALMANAK Magazine Review > IDLE Lakes Entrance (18/20)

STAY > AUSTRALIA STAY > GIPPSLAND STAY > VIC WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > Idle Lake House, Lakes Entrance Victoria (18/20)

A beautifully reimagined floating retreat on the Gippsland Lakes, Idle Lake House turns a night away into a proper change of pace: salt air, lake light, vintage design and nowhere at all to be in a hurry. a retro-californian floating stay where the lake becomes the landscape, soundtrack and reason to linger AMBIENCE >…

September 26, 2026

ByCrispin

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > MELBOURNE EAT > VICTORIA WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > YIAGA, Melbourne (20/20)

Tucked inside the historic Fitzroy Gardens, in a pavilion that has served refreshments to Melburnians since 1908, Yiaga is the long-awaited solo debut of Hugh Allen — the chef who ran Vue de Monde's kitchen and became the first Australian to lead two three-hatted restaurants at once before turning 30. This is fine dining stripped…

September 20, 2026

ByCrispin

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Pinot Noir

WINE > Burguet, Gevrey-Chambertin “Symphonie”, 2019 (18/20)

There are Gevrey-Chambertin producers who chase power for its own sake, and there are those who chase precision instead. Jean-Luc & Eric Burguet belong unmistakably to the second camp. The "Symphonie" is the domaine's village-level flagship, a blend drawn from several small parcels — including En Billard and La Justice — planted on clay-limestone soils…

September 15, 2026

ByCrispin