INSIDER MELBOURNE 7574 INSIDER MELBOURNE

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Mention Australia and most people think of

the hustle and bustle of Sydney, but it’s the Victorian city

of Melbourne that’s known as the country’s

cultural capital. With a fantastic foodie scene,

a plethora of hidden cocktail lounges, and a

fervent dedication to both the arts and sports,

it’s little wonder many travellers make Melbourne part of their Australian

itinerary. Former Melbournian Gayatri

Bhaumik travels south to fall under the city’s

spell all over again.

Of Legends & Laneways

EATMelbourne is known for its incredible foodie culture, so it should come as no surprise that there is a plethora of award-winning restaurants in the city. AtticA (www.attica.com.au, +613 9530 0111), in the leafy Edwardian suburb of Ripponlea, took the city by storm when it was awarded the 21st spot on the 2013 World’s 50 Best Restaurants list by San Pellegrino, the only Melbourne restaurant on the list. Under the meticulous direction of New Zealand-born chef Ben Shewry, Attica produces imaginative dishes using the freshest local ingredients. Visit on Tuesday night, when new dishes are tested at the Chef ’s Table, or choose from five or eight course tasting menus, which boast dishes like King George whiting in paperbark, and the Cecil spud, a standout plate described as ‘a simple dish of potato cooked in the earth it was grown’ [sic].

Feasting on Italian food on Lygon Street is a quintessential Melbourne experience, and since opening in 1979, Donnini’s (www.donninis.com.au, +613 9347 3128) has established itself as a go-to for fresh Italian fare in the historic city-fringe suburb of Carlton. Featuring simple furniture and a welcoming family-style atmosphere, the restaurant specialises in hand-made pasta and uses only the best seasonal ingredients to produce sumptuous dishes like tagliatelle with pork sausage ragu, and veal cotolette with pancetta and peas. Make sure to check out the wine list, which boasts a great range of Italian and Australian labels.

The coveted tables at chin chin (www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au, +613 8663 2000) are nearly impossible to get, thanks to its raging popularity and no reservations policy. The trick: get here early, get on the waiting list, and enjoy a delicious cocktail in the dark, sexy Go Go Bar downstairs while you wait. Once seated, bask in the loud, energetic ambiance as you devour inspired takes on Thai street food, including massaman curry of coconut braised beef, and kingfisher sashimi. If you’re really hungry, say ‘feed me’ and you’ll be served up a selection of the restaurant’s favourite dishes. Don’t miss the Chin Chin Coconut Ice, a frozen coconut cocktail with fruit of the day, which can be spiced up with a shot of 42 Below vodka.

With sturdy wooden tables and exposed steel beams, the LittLe creAtures Dining hALL (www.littlecreatures.com.au, +613 9417 5500) resembles a converted warehouse and occupies prime position in eclectic Fitzroy, Melbourne’s first suburb. The food here functions as a delightful accompaniment to the range of Little Creatures beer that is served on tap, and much like the suburb, it’s quirky,

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Philip Bay through floor-to-ceiling windows. The hotel is well-known for providing refuge to visiting celebrities like Tom Cruise, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Kidman and tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, so settle in for a pre-dinner drink at The Waiting Room in the lobby and see who you can spot sneaking in.

A slick, modern structure, the oLsen (www.artserieshotesl.com.au/olsen, +613 9040 1222) is a 229-room boutique art hotel, one of three managed by the Art Series hotel group. The hotel takes its name from Australian landscape artist Dr John Olson, whose murals and sculptures take pride of place in the lobby, and whose prints adorn the walls of the hotel’s hallways and suites. Located at the northern end of Chapel Street in South Yarra, the hotel offers comfortable accommodation and friendly, efficient service in a great location. It’s no wonder celebrities like Justin Beiber and Venus and Serena Williams choose to call this their Melbourne home.

PLAYMelbourne has bars aplenty, but you know you’re onto a winner when you get lost looking for the newest watering hole everyone’s talking about, because Melbourne is all about hidden gems. The unmarked wood-panel doors of eAu De Vie (www.eaudevie.com.au/Melbourne, +61 412 825 441), secluded at the end of a dark CBD laneway that could star in a B-grade horror film, are difficult to find, but walk through and you’ll find a sexy, sophisticated space in the style of a prohibition era speakeasy, complete with jazz tunes and debonair waistcoated waiters. Find a seat – if you can – and let your waiter guide you through the cocktail list, but insist on trying the decadent Espresso Zabione and the refreshing Kengsington #3 group cocktail.

Hidden behind a small wooden door on an unlikely corner in the CBD, Whisky + ALement (www.whiskyandale.com.au, +613 9654 1284) is one of those Melbourne

hoteL (www.tolarnohotel.com.au, +613 9547 0200) is a small art hotel with a colourful history. Run by local artist Mirka Mora and her husband in the 1960s, the hotel still has a close association with the Melbourne art scene; it sponsors art prizes at three local art schools, and often buys the winning paintings which are then displayed throughout the hotel. The building dates back to the 1880s and houses 37 rooms, and while it has thoroughly modern facilities, it retains much of its original structure and charm.

Boasting 40 well-appointed suites featuring a contemporary oriental aesthetic, the LyALL hoteL & spA (www.thelyall.com, +613 9868 8222) is a chic, cosmopolitan hideaway in South Yarra. Hidden in a small cross-street, you’ll be forgiven for forgetting you’re just a short stroll from the lively shopping boulevards of Toorak Road and Chapel Street and an easy 10 minutes from the city. Choose the Platinum Suite, which features two fireplaces and a huge outdoor terrace, perfect for enjoying the fresh air with your morning coffee.

An oasis of refined luxury, croWn toWers (www.crownhotels.com.au, +613 9292 6868), set in the heart of the Southbank entertainment district, offers guests easy access to the best of Melbourne. One of three hotels at the Crown complex, Crown Towers boasts 481 elegant and spacious rooms, each of which offers spectacular views of Southbank or Port

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gems frequented only by those who know it exists. Whisky is the specialty of the house with some 480 labels from all four corners of the globe, but the small, dark space isn’t just ideal for whiling a few hours away nursing a snifter. The bar also offers a range of whisky-themed classes and events, and has attained enough of a status in the whisky world to have partnered with the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which makes its tipples available here.

A marvellous drinking parlour best described as Alice in Wonderland meets a garden party, mADAme BrusseLs (www.madamebrussels.com, +613 9662 2775) is not a place you just stumble across. You either know it exists on the 3rd floor of a non-descript building in the CBD, or are sadly uninitiated. Borrowing its name from a notorious madame who ran a string of brothels in Melbourne towards the end of the 1800s, the bar takes a firmly tongue-in-cheek approach to everything, from the whimsical décor to the gorgeous staff costumed in tennis whites. Grab a seat on the garden terrace, order a jug of the Pimm’s cocktail and some of the creamy cupcakes – a house specialty – and slip blissfully down the rabbit hole.

Hiking up seven floors on a night out might be a big ask, but those who make it to the rooftop BAr (www.facebook.com/rooftopbarmelbourne, +613 9654 5394) on top of the city’s Curtin House building are in for a treat. The casual, open air watering hole attracts all sorts and offers gorgeous views of the city, best enjoyed with a chilled draft – or the house mulled wine in winter. During the summer, between December and March, the

bar turns into an open-air cinema after 8pm, where patrons can enjoy drinks and nibbles while watching eclectic films from the comfort of beachy deckchairs.

Bringing feisty Latin flair to the heart of Melbourne, Los BArBuDos (www.losbarbudos.com.au, +613 9416 0079) takes its name from Fidel Castro’s bearded guerilla army turned baseball team. The vintage-style rum bar, located on hipster Smith Street in Fitzroy, is a dimly-lit hideaway featuring wooden furniture, black and white prints, and CRT televisions playing vintage baseball games. Sip on Cuban classics like mojitos, cuba libres or Hemingway daiquiris, try obscure rums such as Con Cubay and Ron Varadero, and if you must have beer, order Cristal or Bucanero Fuerte, two popular Cuban brews. When you’re hungry, grab some empanandas and other Cuban snacks from El Paladar, the street food truck out the back.

EXPERIENCEThe best way to understand Melbourne is to try some of the many unique experiences the city has to offer. Melbourne has a notorious history of crime and underworld goings-on, and meLBourne crime tours (www.melbournecrimetours.com.au, 1300 736 551) is the best introduction to the city’s seedy past. See where Melbourne’s first strip club was located; check out Acland Street, where cake shops hid illegal gambling joints in the 1920s; go through Fitzroy, the suburb inexorably linked with 1920s mobster ‘Squizzy’ Taylor, and visit filming locations for the popular crime show Underbelly before finishing your tour at the old Melbourne Gaol. Along the way, you’ll

also visit Melbourne landmarks like Flinders Street Station and Luna Park.

Markets are a weekend tradition for many Melbournians, and while the Queen Victoria Market might be better known, many locals prefer the bustling south meLBourne mArket (www.southmelbournemarket.com.au, +613 9209 6295). The city’s oldest market – in operation since 1867 – boasts over 133 stalls selling a huge range of products and services. Spend a morning browsing secondhand books and antiques, choosing handmade jewellery, and checking out the organic fresh fruit and meat stalls – don’t forget to pick up some souvenirs to take home. When you need to refuel, stop in at Simply Spanish for an authentic paella and sangria.

Melbourne is Australia’s sporting capital, and the meLBourne cricket grounD (www.mcg.org.au, +613 9657 8888) – affectionately known as ‘the G’ – is the ultimate destination for any sports fan. For a true Melbourne experience, try and catch a game of cricket or ‘footy’ – Australian Rules Football – and marvel at the feverish passion of the city’s sports fanatics. While you’re there, check out the National Sports Museum, which pays tribute to Australia’s sporting greats in the worlds of AFL, cricket, horse racing, and the Olympics. Don’t miss the collection of ‘Baggy Green’ caps worn by the country’s test cricketers, or the coveted Ashes trophy.

Coffee is practically a religion in Melbourne, and DegraVes street, a small, frenetic laneway hidden in the south end of the city, is one of the best places in which to worship. Wander along the lane soaking in the cacophony of sights and sounds, then park yourself in the outdoor section of a likely café and order a flat white – only appropriate, since the Antipodeans invented this coffee style – and spend a few hours watching the world go by. While you’re here, pop into nearby Hosier Lane, famous for its gorgeous array of graffiti art.

Trams have been an iconic feature of Melbourne since 1884, and there is no better way to try one of the city’s most popular public transport systems than with an evening aboard the coLoniAL tramcAr restAurant (www.tramrestaurant.com.au, +613 9695 4000). You’ll enjoy multi-course meals featuring mouth-watering dishes like chicken liver and cognac pâté, grilled barramundi, and sticky date pudding in a refined setting while being whisked through the city and surrounding Albert Park, St Kilda and South Melbourne. Choose from lunch, early dinner or late dinner services, or for a really memorable experience, book a private charter.

1109), tucked into the gritty suburb of North Melbourne, is a surprisingly gentrified iteration of the Melbourne saloon. The slick white banquettes and modern furnishings speak to a mid-scale restaurant, but the kitchen serves pub classics like chicken parmigiana, and fish and chips. Do justice to the utterly satisfying food with a draft from the bar – try Fat Yak or James Squire.

SLEEPA rich sense of history and past grandeur pervades much of Melbourne, and this can even be seen in its houses of slumber. Dubbed the ‘Duchess of Spring Street’, the hoteL WinDsor (www.thehotelwindsor.com.au, +613 9633 6000) is an exquisite reminder of the grace and elegance of the Victorian era. Australia’s only surviving 19th century city hotel, the Windsor retains Victorian charm in every detail, from the nostalgic furnishings of its rooms to the sumptuous afternoon tea, which has been a Melbourne institution since 1883. With its distinguished pedigree and attention to detail, the hotel has captivated the many luminaries that have stayed here, including Katherine Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Sir Laurence Olivier, Richard Branson, Muhammad Ali and former Prime Ministers John Howard and Gough Whitlam.

An icon of popular Fitzroy Street in the seaside suburb of St Kilda, the toLArno

interesting, and in no way traditional. Sharing is the way to go here: start with the sinful cheese and bacon croquettes; split a chorizo, sweet corn and feta pizza or charred lamb ribs, then tuck into the daily homemade pie. Wash it all down with a pint of the namesake pale ale.

No Melbourne foodie experience is complete without a visit to a “local” – a neighbourhood watering hole serving up hearty pub grub and local brews – and the LeVeson (www.theleveson.com, +613 9328

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Tolarno HoTel

aTTICa

CroWn ToWerS