Lord Coconut: A Gentleman of Taste

Step into the wondrous world of Lord Coconut, the home of handmade, contemporary and limited edition men’s jewellery and accessories; the elegant solution for men of discerning taste.

With a salon in Flinders Lane as well as an online store, Lord Coconut showcases handcrafted jewellery, hand-made leathergoods, design pieces and artwork by local artisans and designers.

Featuring accessories from up to 30 designers, with most hailing from Victoria, Lord Coconut is an avid supporter of local designers, and in many cases, is the only retail outlet for these artisans who excel in their craft.

The most recognised designers carried by Lord Coconut include Fiona Griffiths’ bespoke subway token rings, Justine Austin’s fine silver skull and cross bones, the humorous silver pieces from a.l.i.alexander, and anatomically-influenced accessories from Beth Croce.           

Lord Coconut is the realisation of the long-held dream of avid jeweller collector Mark Boldiston, who took the leap of faith in 2011 from a career in education and administration to creating a salon for men of taste. Mark’s vision for Lord Coconut is to offer individual accessories that are the antidote to the everyday, in an intimate setting for personal shopping.

Lord Coconut derived its titled from the mysterious English Aristocrat Lord Coconut, who arrived in Australia in approximately 1887. He opened his first private retail gallery, “Lord Coconut’s Emporium of Wonder” in 1891, holding treasures from Africa, India and Pacific Islands.

Strolling around the Flinders Lane store gives the air of a private men’s club akin to Melbourne’s oldest legal fraternity, The Safari Club, with vintage cabinets reminiscent of the Natural History Museum in New York, African masks, and antique taxidermy. Just like the original Lord Coconut, the jewellery and accessories Mark has curated are almost like the quarry from his travels through the world of design and art.

Lord Coconut also holds five to six exhibitions per year for specific designers, and has held artist talks during past State of Design Festivals.

Distinctive in design, comfortable and private, the tucked away store makes men of taste feel like they have stepped into a world designed specifically for them.

Lord Coconut

Level 4, Carlow House, 289 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 0450 015 263
Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm
Sat 12pm-4pm
www.lordcoconut.com

Calling all artists – www.saysomething.org.au art competition

A Watershed Moment for the Australian Coffee Industry

If you had been following Twitter over the past weekend you could not have missed the extraordinary excitement surrounding the Melbourne International Coffee Expo at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.

“It was a watershed moment for the AASCA (The Australasian Specialty Coffee Association) and really galvanized a sense of spirit in the Australian coffee industry,” says Ross Quail, general manager of The St Ali Group.

Quail was the MC for a great part of the event as well as a judge. “MICE was designed as a pre cursor for the World Barista Championships and Australia’s bid to host WBC in the future.” Ross is now in training to be a judge at the WBC to be held in June this year in Vienna.

After the competition and industry day on Friday, the doors opened to the public for the weekend and 7313 registered punters flocked to the venue over three days to be involved and explore the world of coffee.  The St Ali Group heavily backed the event (Sensory Lab, St Ali, Plantation, Hario World) as the sponsors of the largest ever, 15 metre brew bar.

MICE also saw the first ever Australian Brewer’s Cup Competition, where participants practice hand brewed and filter coffee techniques. They have five minutes to set up workstations and produce three cups of brewed coffee for a panel of judges.

Matt Perger from St Ali in South Melbourne, who is also the 2011 Detpak Australian Barista Champion, won the new competition. “I’m really excited to be the first Australian Brewers Cup Champion and to represent Australia at the world level,” he says. “I was up against some very good competitors.”

Everyone agrees MICE was a phenomenal success for all those in attendance.  Ross Quail adds, “The exposure all the cafes and brewers received to the general public was excellent, with substantial sales as well as education. It was the best representation of our industry to date and a step away from the aspects that have impeded Australian coffee in the past. Everyone is very excited and looking forward to next year.”

Naomi Troski: FOSSE. 1 June-26 June 2012

Catanach’s Talks On the Classics of Jewellery

Returning to its origins: the Albert St Food & Wine Store

Now I realise this post is so last month, but after a massively successful launch, it’s well worth talking about the original concept for Albert St Food & Wine that began with a store.

Well before the elegant new venue that now graces Sydney Road in Brunswick came into being, their dream was a food store and provedore akin to New York’s Dean and Deluca, showcasing local produce and sustainable food practices in one of Melbourne’s specialty food precincts. Ruth and Stuart have now realised this dream with a fully comprehensive atmosphere for the universal enjoyment of food – first with the fine dining establishment, and now turning to the founding concept of the store.

Albert St Food & Wine Store is making boutique local produce more accessible to Melburnians who appreciate fine food and beverages. Sourcing products, the store’s ethos is to first find what they can in Brunswick, and look further from there. It features specialty in-­‐house comestibles and preserves made by Executive Chef Philippa Sibley, excellent local honey from Rooftop Bees Honey, artisan cheeses, breads, craft wine and beer, as well as an olive oil refill service.

Albert St store

Customers can complete their Albert St culinary experience with take-­‐home Albert St recipe cards recreating Philippa’s recipes, as well as suggestions for beverage matching, from Albert St’s resident sommelier, Stuart Brookshaw.

Albert St Food & Wine Store will also be the home for interactive culinary experiences with monthly tasting programs and workshops on offer. A must-­‐do event for any cider lover is the upcoming Yarra Valley Cider and pork dinner. Sweet tooths can learn from the best with the Rooftop Bees Honey tasting and honey dessert master class, conducted by Philippa Sibley. True to the heart of Albert St’s ethos, the store will host ‘local’ tours exploring regional produce.

Store devotees will have the chance to be the first in the know, with the launch of the Local Loyalty program, giving members first access to tasting programs and store specials.

Albert St Food & Wine’s knowledgeable staff will offer their expertise to customers, recommending products and matching with wine and beer. The bottle shop is open until late, so customers can select a bottle of boutique wine or beer for their next outing.

And for Easter, Albert St Food & Wine Store will also offer hand-­‐made chocolates made by the dessert queen herself, Philippa Sibley.

Albert St Food & Wine
Corner Albert St & (382) Sydney Rd, Brunswick Open 7 days a week, 8am-­‐1am
03-­‐8354-­‐6600 www.albertst.com.au

STREAT’s new cafes help more homeless youth

Word on the street is true…STREAT is poised to launch two new Melbourne cafes in April, enabling the social enterprise business to help even more of Australia’s homeless youth in 2012.

In a unique new social enterprise arrangement, STREAT has taken over the Social Roasting Company’s sites in Melbourne – the cafe and roastery at 307 Racecourse Road, Flemington and the cafe at 5 McKillop Street, Melbourne.

The Social Roasting Company sold its Melbourne operation to STREAT to better grow the social impact of their operation and continue the legacy and philanthropic mission that underpinned their business. The new locations  will allow STREAT to further expand training opportunities.

STREAT provide social support and training to homeless and disengaged youth aged between 16-25 years of age across a six-month period, during which time the youth receive a Certificate II in Hospitality from William Angliss Institute.

Established in 2008 by social entrepreneurs Rebecca Scott and Kate Barrelle, STREAT is a not for profit social enterprise which provides youth at risk with a job, hospitality skills and as an outcome, the hope of lasting employment and a better life.

STREAT was born out of Scott and Barrelle’s experiences working for KOTO, a vocational training program and restaurant providing Vietnamese street youth with practical life and job skills.  It was during this time that the duo identified an opportunity to support vulnerable and disadvantaged youth in their own country.

“Large intractable social problems like youth homelessness and disadvantage are hard to swallow but for members of the public it can be hard to know how to help,” says Scott. “STREAT offers customers a simple way to support those less fortunate simply by buying great food and coffee.”

What began as a sole food cart in Federation Square has grown enormously and STREAT now run coffee or food carts at Melbourne Central and at The University of Melbourne.

Since it was founded, STREAT has sold 130,000 meals and coffees, trained forty-six people on the program and graduated four classes of youth, many who have gone onto become full time apprentices in some of Melbourne’s best restaurants and cafes including Charcoal Lane, Fitzroy. This revolutionary model guarantees a constant revenue stream of which 100% goes straight back into providing training and employment opportunities for homeless youth and/or youth at risk.

The operation of the two new cafes will open the door to many more disadvantaged youth and in doing so, STREAT hope to be training up to 100 students each year across their sites by 2015.

Senoritas: Experienca Mexicana

For Ricardo Amare, Mexican food has long been misrepresented in Australia, so ever since coming to Melbourne in 2005 Amare’s dream has been to open a restaurant that will not only provide authentic food but will immerse diners in a complete “experiencia Mexicana”.

Señoritas will defend the authentic flavours and culinary traditions of Mexico so everyone in Melbourne can experience the flavours and the vibrancy of this beautiful and magical country.

Try Mexican street food from different regions such as Oaxaca or Yucatan. Learn some Spanish words from the hostess’, Mariella and Ayami. Discover Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s favourite dishes. Enjoy a traditional Michelada or Margarita.

Head Chef, Hugo Reyes, has composed a unique menu for Señoritas of authentic Mexican cuisine from selected regions, coupled with contemporary food trends. Reyes is a former Head Chef of the Mexican Embassy in Switzerland and the exclusive “El Dorado Royal Hotel” in the Mexican Riviera Maya, and has cooked for Mexican president, Vincente Fox.

Featured dishes include the Frida Kahlo entrees that are small dishes from Oaxaca and the Yucatan Peninsula that she loved to share with Diego, including Sopes de Pato Al Tamarindo (masa patties topped with duck and tamarind sauce) and Ceviche de  Mango.  The traditional soup called Pozole (made of corn) will feature as well as other classic dishes such as Pezcado Zarandeado and Enchiladas de Mole Poblano.

Inside Señoritas is an intriguing combination of feminine whimsy and dark, mysterious spirit. Paying homage to the importance of women in Mexican culture through the renowned image of La Catrina, and the Mexican tradition of “Dia de Muertos” (Day of the Dead).

While the distinctive design defining Señoritas, La Catrina, was created by Mexican design firm, La Metropolitana, the interior design was created by new Melbourne Interior Design consultancy, Lombard & Jack. Throughout the intimate venue contemporay and classic Mexican design will sit side by side – from the life sized La Catrina from Pinedacovalin (Mexico’s Hermes), to the handpainted tiles by Melbourne artist, Aaron McKenzie and the mirrored interpretation of a Diego Rivera mural by Dennis Ropar. Finally, photographer Yenny Huber’s representation of La Catrina through the lens of her old school camera.

Handcrafts from around Mexico will illustrate the richness of traditions from pre-Hispanic cultures across Mexico including traditional molcajetes, used to create guacamole and salsas, Talavera pottery from Puebla, wooden spoons for traditional salsas and glasses specially designed for sipping Tequila.

Music will not be forgotten, and renowned DJ Andres Almeida has created a track list and CD compliation for Senoritas highlights the current music trends of Mexico.

Amare and his business partner, Danish born, Melbourne based, Linda Temani, and the team at Señoritas will charm guests with stories of Mexican culture, life, and traditions. Señoritas will stock a complete range of tequila and mezcal from Mexico’s finest houses, including a tequila exclusive to Señoritas, Clase Azul. Demonstrations on the ‘real’ Mexican way of drinking Tequila can be expected as well as stories on the origin of each dish.

Señoritas
Open for dinner from 5pm-12am, 6 nights a week.

16 Meyers Place, Melbourne, 3000

Ph: 03 96397437

www.senoritas.com.au

www.facebook.com/senoritas.authentic.mexican

Bring on the year!

Jazmin and Monsieur P interview

A new year and so many stories to tell, so let me just get started!

Senoritas, Melbourne’s newest addition to the Mexican food wave, will open late February (builders willing).

The Field Guide to Victorian Produce is a unique and wonderful new book just on shelves now, designed and created to bring Victorian producers closer to their end users, not just you and me, but chefs and restauranteurs.

Albert St Food & Wine is going gang busters and will be featured soon in Gourmet Traveller and more.

Fitzrovia is gaining and gaining more attention. Paul and Marco will soon be featured in Melbourne Magazine’s “I Cook” pages with Dani Valent.

Middle Fish and the lovely Pla and David are reaping the rewards of all their hard work, with spots on My Kitchen Rules and recent review in Epicure.

St ALi, Comedy Festival hub, centre of so many people’s universe, will shine this season with a visit from TheSuperCool for LMFF and take part in the inaugural South Melbourne Street Fair.

And that’s just the food side of Zilla & Brook. There’s plenty more laughs and tap dancing strip tease to come!

Jazmin and Monsieur P interview

Dwelling Structure

Almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans trench-coated out of an alley with some sort of ‘psst’ that you usually can’t even hear because you’re in such a rush to or from something important you’ve tried to engineer -  David Foster Wallace
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Chamber Made Opera is delighted to announce the World Premiere season of DWELLING STRUCTURE: An Opera in 8 Time Use Episodes, created by Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey and Cynthia Troup, with visual assemblage by Neil Thomas, and neighbourly interruptions by The Suitcase Royale.

http://www.chambermadeopera.com/program/Dwelling_Structure