Melbourne Patron

In my opinion, some places are simply better experienced than described. This post features many photos which hardly do The Lui Bar (Level 55, Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne) justice, because no matter how many pictures I show you or words I write about it, there is just nothing like viewing Melbourne from 55 floors up, handcrafted cocktail in hand, listening to jazz. Albert Park Lake and beyond, from The Lui Bar The Lui Bar stems off Shannon Bennett 's revered restaurant  Vue De Monde , the degustation meal of which is absolutely on my bucket list. The restaurant was moved to the Rialto site in 2011, and its adjoining bar has also been making waves ever since. Iconic in location, the venue not only occupies the top level of what was, in 1986, the tallest building in Melbourne and the Southern Hemisphere at 251 metres, but offers spectacular city views of up to 60 kilometres on a clear day. Even the Eureka Tower , currently Melbourne's tallest buil...

A few weeks ago, Melbourne was abuzz with talk of MONA Hobart 's major winter event, DARK MOFO . Sadly it is over now, but I hazard a guess that a good 50% of attendees were Victorian, being such avid lovers of culture and all. (CLEARLY arts and culture don't exist anywhere else in Australia. We're so CULTURIST.) Part of MOFO's publicity drive was a rather exciting competition  with QANTAS , offering $100,000 worth of free return flights to Hobart for the exhibition. All you had to do was enter your details and divulge what you were like after dark. Since "I am your worst nightmare" (ahem), it made total sense that I was a lucky recipient of flights. Housemate was happily rung in for Hobart-ing, and interstate trip was born. Can I just say, I totally understand the appeal of red-eye flights when you are buying your own, or want to have more time in your destination, or are doing a fly-in-fly-out day trip, or are an early riser (weirdo), but I never, EVER c...

Birthday celebration no. 2 came in the form of a "surprise" evening organised by one of my dear friends. She picked me up from home and we trammed it into le city, alighting at the promising Paris end of Collins Street, and landing at the foot of the infamous 101 Collins building. (I'm not sure if this building is infamous due to some titillating history, its art, architecture and design, or merely because the nearest tram stop is named after its address. In trying to find this out, it turns out the building has its very own website and Wikipedia entry , neither of which sheds much light on the matter.) Walk through the spacious, immaculate foyer, past a gazillion banks of elevators, and you will find, neatly tucked in one corner, The Italian . No, this is (sadly) not a tall, dark, handsome man with an alluring accent, wandering eyes and curly hair, but its restaurant equivalent - though maybe without the wandering eyes. The Italian is generally regarded as a prestig...

It's always hard trying to figure out where to meet a friend from out of town. You want to suggest somewhere near them, easy for them to find, easy for you to get to, a place where you can hear each other talk to catch up, but somewhere with atmosphere so it doesn't feel dull. Plus, somewhere with a touch of Melbourne's personality is always a bonus. It's a true art form! Unfortunately, Richmond doesn't have these places in abundance. At least, Bridge Road doesn't. (There seem to be plenty more on Swan or Victoria Streets.) My old school friend was here from Sydney with her brand-new husband and the three of us caught up for a 5 o'clock drink last Friday. I suggested Plan B Lounge (274 Bridge Road, Richmond), as it was near where they were staying, and I remembered it being fun and vibey. When I arrived, no one was there bar a bored-looking bar girl checking her phone among the tacky lighting and loud, outdated music. Inside, the music was so loud conver...