WINE > Decades, Pinot Noir, 2024, Coal River Tasmania (18/20)

There are new labels that feel engineered for the market, and then there are those that arrive with the conviction of a long-held idea finally finding its vineyard. Decades is firmly the latter. The 2024 Pinot Noir is a remarkably assured second release from Steve Flamsteed and Brad Rogers: fragrant, sinewy and distinctly Tasmanian, with…

ByCrispin2 hours ago0Comments

EAT > AEGLI, South Melbourne (16/20)

Behind a modest terrace facade on Coventry Street, in the space that once housed the experimental fine-diner Lume, Aegli has quietly become one of the most convincing Greek tables in Melbourne, a chef’s love letter to the villages and islands of home, plated with genuine restraint. Modern Hellenic cooking, done with real conviction. AMBIENCE >…

ByCrispin2 days ago0Comments

ALMANAK Restaurant Review - Bommie Restaurant, Hamilton Island QLD

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > QLD EAT > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > BOMMIE, Hamilton Island QLD (17/20)

Perched inside the Hamilton Island Yacht Club with Dent Passage unfurling beneath its floor-to-ceiling glass, Bommie is the Whitsundays' most credentialed fine-diner. A place to see and be seen. Fine dining above Hamilton Island Marina There's a particular kind of restaurant that only works on an island: it has to serve the yacht crowd walking…

ByCrispinAugust 23, 20260Comments

EAT > AUSTRALIA EAT > QLD EAT > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO EAT >

EAT > Pebble Beach, Qualia Hamilton Island QLD (18/20)

Set right on the sand at the northern tip of Hamilton Island, Pebble Beach is qualia’s beachfront dining room, and it remains the most relaxed serious meal in the Whitsundays. In our opinion, Pebble Beach is the best lunch (and probably the best meal) on Hamilton Island, full stop. There’s a specific pleasure in…

ByCrispinJuly 25, 20260Comments

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

EAT > Vue de Monde, Melbourne (19/20)

Twenty-five years On and 55 floors above the CBD, Vue de Monde remains the benchmark by which Melbourne fine dining measures itself: theatrical, meticulous, unapologetically expensive, and still capable of genuine surprise. In our opinion Vue de Monde is the most complete fine-dining experience in Melbourne, and arguably in the country. There is…

ByCrispinJuly 19, 20260Comments

STAY > AUSTRALIA STAY > QLD STAY > WHITSUNDAYS WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > QUALIA, Hamilton Island, Queensland (19/20)

Qualia on Hamilton Island remains the benchmark for barefoot Australian luxury, adults-only, 60-pavilion resort on the Great Barrier Reef where privacy, understated design and genuine sense of place outweigh any single showpiece amenity. AMBIENCE > Qualia occupies the secluded northern tip of Hamilton Island, set within roughly 30 acres of tropical gardens above the Coral…

ByCrispinJuly 12, 20260Comments

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

EAT > Marmelo, Melbourne (18/20)

Marmelo is a suave, wood‑fired love letter to Portugal that feels purpose‑built for Melbourne: ambitious but relaxed, visually dramatic yet quietly comforting, and already one of the CBD’s most compelling hotel dining rooms. In our opinion Marmelo is the best Portuguese restaurant (in Australia) There is something about Portugal that I find incredibly appealing,…

ByCrispinJune 14, 20260Comments

VISIT > AUSTRALIA Visit > Barossa Valley VISIT > SA

VISIT > Charles Melton Winery, Barossa Valley

Charles Melton is one of the Barossa’s most essential cellar doors: intimate, quietly confident and focused on serious, long-lived reds that reward attention as much as they reward time in the cellar. This is a visit for people who care about old vines, thoughtful blends and wines that have shaped the region’s modern identity. VISIT…

ByCrispinMay 30, 20260Comments

STAY > JAPAN STAY > TOKYO WHERE TO STAY >

STAY > Fairmont Hotel, Tokyo (18/20)

Fairmont Tokyo is a polished new arrival on Tokyo Bay: a vertical, glass‑wrapped refuge that delivers classic Fairmont theatre with a distinctly Japanese sense of restraint and ritual. It is also the brand’s long‑anticipated debut in Japan, perched high above Shibaura with big‑screen views of Tokyo Tower, Rainbow Bridge and the working harbour below. Tokyo…

ByCrispinMay 25, 20260Comments

DRINK > WINE DRINK > WINE > Pinot Noir

WINE > Wilimee Pinot Noir, 2024 (17/20)

There are Pinot Noirs that announce themselves loudly, and then there are wines that arrive with the quiet authority of deep soil and older vines. The Wilimee Pinot Noir 2024 is unequivocally the latter — a wine that carries the ancient weight of rare Cambrian and granite geology, shaped by cool altitude and a pair…

ByCrispinApril 26, 20260Comments