Okay, let’s do a little pretend maths – the only type I’m good at by the way. San Diego + bar × Mexican food = X Southern California ÷ Neutral Bay in Sydney = Y Applejack Hospitality, of Bondi Hardware and The Botanist fame × (X + Y) = SoCal, Sydney’s newest Southern California restaurant … Read more
In my books, Sydney’s all about the sun, the sea and a good swig from a glass. That’s what I was expecting anyway, a bit under 14 years ago when I first reached these eastern shores. So far, I’ve been pretty happy – and now, I’m even happier! Thanks to an unintentional tip-off from a … Read more
It was a well-earned late lunch we were looking forward to as we stepped into the recently renovated Union Bank wine bar on Byng Street in Orange’s town centre. We’d had a hard day’s wine tasting and were ready for sustenance. The Union Bank building was – funnily enough – a bank from 1857 and still … Read more
Neapoli Cafe Wine Bar is one of those hidden Melbourne treasures that, unless you know it’s there, you’ll never find it. Melbourne’s made its name with this kind of paradox. The whole city’s full of little bars, cafés and shops that are hidden to the outsider. And as an outsider, it still puzzles me how … Read more
San Diego – in the whole of the US – has the best tobacco laws. In California, it’s still legal to smoke inside, but only places like tobacco stores. You can’t eat or drink in there. San D takes it one step further. Providing the main product you sell is tobacco, you can get a special licence … Read more
True to its name, the Bucket List on Bondi Beach is one of those places you have to drink at before you die! I mean you’re front and centre on one of the most famous beaches, and you’ve got a coldie and a delicious plate of something in front of you. Can it get much … Read more
The Gate Pub in Chorleywood, England has done extremely well to revamp itself. Going from tired old pub – or the Jenny Wren as it used to be – to the comfy welcoming country inn with a bistro menu and good ales on tap. We popped in for a late light lunch and a beer … Read more
Lake Como. Our minds were full of elegant meals by the edge of misty waters, of cocktails at sunset with the sun setting over the mountains, of little boats playing in the shining surface of one of the world’s most glamorous lakes. And George Clooney. Como failed in only one respect. George wasn’t home. The … Read more
Pubs are like cultural fingerprints in England. Every one of them is different but at the same time, they all tell a story of what the country’s about. Some of them are great, some of them are terrible. Some are new, some are incredibly old. The Churchill Arms in Kensington is one of the good, … Read more
I’ve always said the Rose and Crown pub in Wivenhoe, England should be the best pub in the county. It’s on the waterfront of the Colne River. Across this once-busy-now-quiet waterway, you’re greeted by views of green fields, woodland and the twinkle of distant riverside towns, miles upstream. On the pub’s doorstep, the quay juts … Read more