Melbourne Patron

In a hospitality scene as ever-changing as Melbourne's, it's impressive when any venue manages to continue trading for longer than a few years. To be given the label 'institution' or 'iconic' is high praise indeed, since it is so hard to come by. Some might say Pellegrini's is a Melbourne institution ( I don't love it myself ), or perhaps The European , or a classic music venue like the Palais Theatre or the Espy . Rarer yet is an Asian restaurant afforded the title of a Melbourne 'institution'. And yet this is a badge that  Flower Drum (17 Market Lane, Melbourne) has retained since its debut 40 years ago. Flower Drum (also a traditional Chinese dance) was opened in 1975 by Gilbert Lau at a site on Little Bourke Street, aiming to bring quality Cantonese food to the Australian masses. Ten years later it moved to its current home, and head chef Anthony Lui was appointed. Lui remains head chef today, and in 2003 also became part-owner along ...

Adelaide (or "Radelaide" as I more often hear it referred to) holds special meaning for me, because it's where my parents grew up before they relocated to Sydney in the late 1970s. As a result, I've been there a lot - particularly as a kid with the family, mainly to see the grandfolks, when they were still around. We'd stay at their place in North Plympton, on an avenue of one-storey, sand-brick houses, each and every one with a tidy lawn, neatly-pruned rose bushes, and a low fence, over which you'd chat to the neighbours. We'd hang out in the back room (because that's where the air con was), with its tiled flooring, vertical blinds, green knobbly couches, photo frames galore, and my grandfather's bar (yep, near-alcoholism goes way back in my family). Nanna would put out little bowls of Dixie Drumsticks, beer nuts and YoYo biscuits, and Grandpa would pour me a lemonade  from one of those mini blue Schweppes cans. While the grown-ups talked and Whee...

The rumour was that the crew from Section 8 were opening another bar, basically looking down over Section 8 from the building next door. Known for its 'Melbourneness' and quirkiness, Section 8 serves drinks out of the side of a caravan to patrons who lounge on shipping containers plonked in a disused city laneway lot. So I had imagined Ferdydurke (Levels 1 & 2, 239 Lonsdale Street) to have a similarly grungy style. Tattersalls Lane from Ferdydurke Not so. Entering from Tattersalls Lane via a couple of staircases chock-a-block with strong, bright wall art, you emerge (a little puffed) into a clean and surprisingly light, brick and wood-based bar, reminiscent of Scandinavian design and art studio galleries. Manned by cool and moody-looking staff, the bar appears well-stocked and runs the length of most of the main room. A few tables grace the Lonsdale Street side, and a raised mixing desk area overlooks the main room and entryway, and also backs onto a hidden nook on...