EAT > Circl Wine House, Melbourne (18/20)

A vinous wonderland in Melbourne's CBD, Circl has quickly established itself as one of the city's most ambitious wine destinations. Under the guidance of award-winning Head Sommelier Xavier Vigier, this Punch Lane establishment houses a staggering collection of 1,500 wines, with an unprecedented 150 available by the glass. AMBIANCE > The two-story venue on Punch…

ByCrispyNovember 2, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Carlton Wine Room, Melbourne (16/20)

There is something so completely Melbourne about the Carlton Wine Room. I cannot imagine a bar or restaurant quite like it anywhere else in the world. The combination of wood, light, food, service and wine. A wonderful mix that comes from our cosmopolitan population and the wonderful venues that have…

ByEd ItorMay 20, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Bar Olo, Melbourne (17/20)

Have you ever walked into an unfamiliar bar or restaurant and had that immediate feeling of familiarity? That sense that yep, this is my place. From the moment you pass through the curtains into the small space that is Bar Olo on Nicholson Street, Fitzroy you have a feeling that this is something a…

ByCrispyMay 6, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Bistro Gitan, South Yarra

It had been more than a year since our last visit to Bistro Gitan, a restaurant that was our local for so long, was suddenly not so local given our move across the city and living more of our lives in the country. Bistro Gitan is one of a group of restaurants run by the…

ByCrispyMarch 25, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > Ten Minutes by Tractor, Red Hill

Ten Minutes by Tractor is 90 kilometres from Melbourne CBD, a ninety minute drive that highlights everything that is brilliant about the Mornington Peninsula. The local council zoning rules have meant that land can not be subdivided (unless it is larger than 90 acres in size), which has meant most of the peninsula is…

ByCrispyMarch 22, 20240Comments

EAT > MELBOURNE

EAT > IDES, Melbourne

It is not that long ago when Smith Street in Collingwood was considered more a place to see a grunge band than a place for fine dining and slick cocktail bars but Collingwood has gentrified a lot in the last 10 years and now there are lots of outstanding places to eat and drink. …

ByCrispyMarch 3, 20240Comments

CAFE > MELBOURNE

CAFE > Bench Coffee Co, Melbourne

Bench coffee has been roasting coffee and building a brand of smart coffee houses around Melbourne including Slater Street, 580, and Saint Dreux. Now on Little Collins Street they have launched a beautiful flagship store, that you would be forgiven for thinking was in Tokyo. Bench talk about the elegant and familiar flavours…

ByEd ItorFebruary 9, 20240Comments

CAFE > MELBOURNE

CAFE > Wall Two 80, Balaclava

Known to most as simply ‘The Wall’ the cafe opened in 1998 as a simple hole in the wall. A place where people largely consumed a latte or flat white sitting on the pavement and eating turkish toast with the always delicious ‘jam lady jams’ and fought over the newspapers. Fast forward twenty…

ByJames CampbellFebruary 6, 20240Comments

STAY STAY > MELBOURNE TRAVEL TRAVEL > AUSTRALIA

STAY > The Prince, Melbourne

Fitzroy Street, St Kilda is a street that oscillates between grunge, derelict, hip, smart and fashionable and then back again. Once famed for its seedier side of life today the bayside suburb of St Kilda is a lot more gentrified though its darker edges still remain. The Prince was once old Prince of Wales,…

ByMagnum OpusFebruary 1, 20240Comments

CAFE CAFE > MELBOURNE

CAFE > Hardware Société

Hardware Société redefined the concept of breakfast in Melbourne in 2009, ditching the eggs and smashed avocado on toast that was de rigour for most cafe's and instead constructing layers of flavour more akin to gourmet fine dining than usually expected at breakfast. Where once there was just a 35 seat restaurant in Hardware Street,…