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Pokémon Go – A short guide to the Melbourne CBD

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Pokémon fever has taken Melbourne by storm resulting in determined trainers trawling the streets for exotic and rare additions to their Pokémon collections. To help you on your journey to become the very best (like no one ever was), We Know Melbourne have investigated and listed the best spots in the Melbourne CBD to track down your favourite Pokémon

Docklands – Head to Melbourne’s famous harbor to seek the water types such as the squid Tentacool, the rare Vaporeon (one of the evolved forms of Eevee) and Slowbro, the bizarre Pokémon with a clam stuck to its tail. While you’re there: take in a spectacular view via the Melbourne Star, experience the Friday-night Winter Fireworks, enjoy a refreshing ale at the Woolshed Pub.

Flagstaff Gardens – A reliable hotspot for major Pokémon activity that will have your phone a constant buzz, just watch out for fellow trainers. Recent sightings include fighting type Machop, the powerful Nidoqueen (the final form of a female Nidoran) and the spiky Sandslash. While you’re there: relax in the peaceful surroundings of Melbourne’s oldest park, absorb a dose of local history at the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, sample some fresh delicates across the road at the Queen Victoria Markets.

Birranrung Marr – A beautiful riverside park and a favourite route for a lot of MCG goers, encounters with Pokémon are found to be very frequent with a fossil type Kabuto found regularly, clusters of Seels have been seen relaxing on the riverbank and plenty of Squirtles/Bulbasaurs for constant candy production. While you’re there: let the kids burn some energy at ArtPlay playground, admire the inspiring artworks celebrating Victoria’s indigenous culture, create some spicy tunes composing the Federation Bells using your smart phone.

South Bank – Amongst the casual crowds dining at the various restaurants and bars, many Pokémon can can be caught including Ponyta the fire horse, Psyduck and the extremely rare Lapras. If you have a bit of spare time on your hands, there is a very high abundance of Magikarp waiting to be reeled in for major candy production (400 candy for evolution to the mighty Gyarados). While you’re there: check out the best view in Melbourne at the Eureka Skydeck, see the city sights in elegance via a Yarra River cruise, surround yourself with culture throughout the Arts Precinct.

Southern Cross Station – Melbourne’s largest train station, not exactly seen as a Pokémon safari however one of the more desired names (apart from a Mew or Mewtoo of course) is the legendary, Dragonite who has been a regular visitor. Just watch out for incoming trains while your searching the station. While you’re there: update your wardrobe within the Spencer Outlet Centre, stop into Kinfolk Café for a freshly roasted coffee.

Want to find out more about what’s happening in Melbourne? Sign up to the We Know Melbourne mailing list here to stay in the loop.

 

 

 

 

Collins234 Striking Film Festival

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In an exciting night of opportunity, emerging and student filmmakers will be exhibiting their short films at the Collins234 Striking Film Festival. The first of its kind to be held at the stylish CBD retail destination on Thursday 4 August, the film festival will see $10 from every ticket sold donated to the Melbourne City Mission Evolution Arts Program.

“The Evolution Arts Program is for young people aged from 16 to 24 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, not currently studying or employed and have an interest in creating art. The Program keeps these young people connected and engaged whilst learning new skills,” said Sherri Bruinhout, Director of Homelessness and Justice Services from Melbourne City Mission.

The Striking Film Festival has over $2,500 in prize money to be awarded on the night. Awards include: Most Outstanding Film, Best Student Film, Best Film Over $5,000, Best Film Under $5,000 and the People’s Choice Award. The prizes will be awarded by a panel of celebrities and film industry experts.

The event is currently running on the one night with the provision to extend the event to the Friday evening.

 When: Thursday, August 4

Where: Collins 234

Visit the website here. 

Emerson Rooftop

Winter in Asia – Emerson Rooftop

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This winter, escape to an Asian winter wonderland at  The Emerson Rooftop’s ‘Winter in Asia’ series. Strung with festive paper lanterns, blossoms, floral arrangements, fans and silk drapes, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in an Asian paradise, except without the jetlag.

Collaborating with the beautiful Susie Wong, the Winter in Asia series will offer diners an array of delicious south-east Asian and Japanese bites in place of  the regular Emerson menu. Susie Wong owner and chef Peter Capurso have designed a menu of delectable dumplings, rice paper rolls, banh mi and teppanyaki skewers to warm heat-seekers up from the inside out. Standout dishes include soft shell crab banh mi with yuzu mayo or chicken, prawn and crispy five spice pork belly with caramel, apple and radish salad. If you’ve got more of sweet tooth, you won’t want to miss Susie’s bitter chocolate cardamon fondant with vanilla bean ice cream and mandarin dust.

Up for a foodie challenge?  Take part in  ‘Dump DV Challenge’ every Thursday and see how many dumplings you can smash in 2 minutes. To participate in the challenge it will set you back $25 with all proceeds going towards Jimmy Bartel’s anti-domestic violence campaign. The winner of each Thursday’s nights challenge will  receive two tickets to The Footy Show, and the overall champion will win a grand champion prize plus all the glory of being the Dumpling Champion!

APL PHOTOGRAPHY – http://www.aplphotography.com.au
APL PHOTOGRAPHY – http://www.aplphotography.com.au

The We Know Melbourne team got a preview last Thursday at the launch and while it was freezing cold outside, we can reassure you the rooftop was warm and cosy (with heaters everywhere), plus the cocktails on offer add that extra layer of warmth. See you there this Thursday!

When: Until August 28, 2016

Where: Emerson Rooftop, 143/145 Commercial Rd, South Yarra VIC 3141

Visit The Emerson website here. 

Directions from The Swanston Hotel: Take the 72 tram from Swanston St and get off at stop 29, Porter St/Commercial Road.

 

Supernormal Welcomes Chef Perry to the Kitchen

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This month, Supernormal welcomed a new Head Chef to the kitchen,  Perry Schagen, bringing with him years of culinary experience. Formerly Executive Chef at the Graham in Port Melbourne, Schagen has a long-standing friendship with Andrew McConnell, having worked together at Circa the Prince. Perry has introduced some delicious new additions to the winter menu, which we can’t wait to try! We took a few minutes to chat with Perry about his background, inspiration and favourite winter foods.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and your journey to becoming the new head chef at Supernormal?

Originally from Perth, I moved to Melbourne in 2000 and since have worked at Circa, Taxi Dining Room and a stint at The Graham before taking a few months off to wait for the right job to come along. 

Throughout the years has your inspiration and influences changed with your approach to food?

Yes, 15 years ago fine dining consisted of overworked food and luxury ingredients. Now I prefer to work with simple, super fresh, seasonal, local produce as much as possible letting the product shine.

 What has been the inspiration behind this new winter menu? 

Generally whatever vegetables are in season is what gives us our inspiration, and anything slow cooked and warm.

What can we expect when dining  from the new winter menu at Supernormal?

Currently we are using mustard greens, lots of radish and eggplant. We’re slow cooking beef cheek with pepper glaze and sesame eggplant puree at the moment and it is delicious. We have a new favourite on the dessert menu with our pear & ginger pudding – made using crystalized ginger and wintery spices. 

 Are there any dishes from the winter menu that are complete standouts and you think will be a favourite? 

The Cauliflower baked with miso and Furikake is pretty popular at the moment, as well as the Pear and Ginger Pudding. 

Last but not least, what’s your favourite winter guilty pleasure (food wise)?

I really enjoy ice-cream in winter. I’ve been getting into the Gelativo Coffee gelato at the moment

Supernormal accepts bookings for lunch Monday to Sunday from 11am for groups of any size and bookings for dinner Monday to Sunday from 6pm for groups of 6 or more. This month Supernormal are also running a pop-up matcha tea bar for two weeks only. Read more about it here.

Where: Supernormal, 180 Flinders Lane

Visit the Supernomal website here. 

Hot Chocolate Festival

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Indulge your sweet tooth at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie’s annual Hot Chocolate Festival. Taking place in the heart of winter, this year’s festival will take your chocolate obsession to new heights with 31 different flavours over 31 days in August.

The flavours will be anything but ordinary with the return of some of last year’s favourites including  Strawberry High Tea, The Slam Dunk (think mini-doughnuts!), and last year’s best-selling Chocolate Brownie flavours; alongside this year’s showstopping new flavours, the Wagon Wheel with its dunk-ready marshmallow and jam chocolate-coated biscuit skewered with a straw for extra delicious slurping; or Hot Gaytime’s cheeky temptation of hot caramel toffee poured into a milk chocolate, topped with crushed honeycomb and served with a vanilla ice-cream. Yep, it will feel like you’ve died and gone to chocolate heaven.

The hot chocolate concoctions will be whipped up by The Chocolaterie’s very own Belgian and French chocolatiers inspired by premium couverture chocolate, seasonal ingredients and items from their kitchen garden with 8 new flavours will be introduced each week.

Grab a front seat and watch the Chocolatiers at work – Pass us the marshmallows!

When: August 1 – August 31

Where: Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery, 35 Old Healesville Rd (corner Melba Highway).

Melbourne Spring Fashion Week Launch

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Today marks the official launch of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. The launch was held at RMIT Design Hub and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle introduced the program and the official MSFW Ambassador for 2016, actress and model, Isabel Lucas.

“Isabel is an internationally renowned talent and her fashion credentials make her perfect for the role of MSFW Ambassador,” the Lord Mayor said.

Asked why the fashion festival is so important to Melbourne, Doyle replied that it’s an opportunity to showcase local talent, and the fashion on the runway can be worn by everyone, unlike some of the other international runways.

Fashion Week runs from Friday 26 August to Friday 2 September, with a packed program full of fashion shows, festivities, markets and talks. The first official event will be the Emporium Melbourne’s Opening Runway on August 26th, a free event which will see Little Bourke Street transform into a runway like no other.

Last year more than  60,000 people attended the festival so make sure to book your runways early!

When: August 26  – 2 September.

Where: Various venues across Melbourne

Visit the MSFW website.

 

Review: Show & Tell for Grown Ups

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As a child, being picked for the weekly show and tell was always daunting. The idea of getting up in front of everyone when you’re a wee one and recounting your story about some object that you thought was the bees knees, but wasn’t sure whether would impress your your fellow classmates or make them snicker and pass notes behind your back was just terrifying.  On the flip side if you were one of the children watching, it was always fun – you got to see pets, toys or the latest holiday souvenir – and must of the time got to play with their object after.

Fast forward to life as an adult. Have you ever thought what you would be willing to show off in front of everyone ? Did you have your childhood pet taxidermied? Do you treasure the cigarette butt some famous singer flicked into the crowd after the gig of a lifetime? What holds sentimental value for you?

Last night, we questioned what we would proudly share with others at Show and Tell for Grown Ups, presented by The Wheeler Centre. Taking over The Toff’s bandroom, the evening was hosted by author Tony Wilson and audience members were encouraged to participate in between each speaker. Tony brought his own show and tell for the evening too, including one very impressive arm wrestling trophy and also a framed picture of a monkey riding a greyhound  – one would say a very hot topic at the moment.

show1.jpg

The story tellers of the night included comedian and Moth Mc, Cal Wilson who told us a story about her discerning but loving grandmother and her cookie jar; comedian and Bulldogs banner writer, Danny McGinlay who told the story about he became the writer for the banners with a piece of banner crepe as his object; and last but not least the moving and emotional story from Damian Callinan and the sentimental value behind a loquat jar wrapped in his mother’s scarves and undies bag. We won’t ruin the ending of Damian’s story but there were definitely a few tears rolling down a few of the audience’s faces, before quickly turning to laughter as we all imitated what birds look like when they taste loquats. Try and hear his story somewhere if you can!

While it was a shame there was no one brave enough from the audience to share their show and tell this time, we were told that at the last show there was at least 10 daring souls. At the next one we’re definitely coming prepared and will muster up the courage to get up on stage. Now where’s our treasure chest?!

When: Next date to be confirmed.

Visit the Wheeler Centre website.

Docklands Winter Fireworks

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Watch the sky light up over the Docklands every Friday and night this winter. Arrive early or stay late to enjoy sparkling entertainment set to delight kids big and small, from live music to roving performers.

Free to view, the entertainment starts at 6:30pm with fireworks lighting up the sky from 7:30pm.

When: Friday nights, July and August.

Where: Docklands, Melbourne

Visit the website here.

In Cabaret

Review: Performance Management – in Cabaret

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A Saturday night at the Wonderland Spiegeltent in Docklands is always a good idea. The smell of the popcorn, great company, a couple of wines and a good show. Can’t go wrong.

Last Saturday we went to see the ‘one night only’ Performance Management – In Cabaret.

Presented by Shhhhh Produtions, Performance Management, described as “Horrible Bosses meets The Office” stars Scott Hollingsworth as a fabulous Ringmaster slash Manager, and pokes fun at the everyday challenges of a normal employer / employee relationship, comparing every office to, well, a circus.

This show is not just funny, it’s fun. Performance Management capitalizes on on every possible ‘bad employee’ stereotype from the casual racist (I’m not racist but..), to the smoke-break bludger, the sick day champion and the person who told more than a few white lies on their resume. They’re all in there.

The best part about this show as with most cabarets was the songs. Particularly if you can sing along. Not just to the songs adapted from Les Miserables, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid and Adele, but literally, in act one with a crowd Dolly Parton sing-a-long – word sheet provided in true workplace style.

Whilst all eyes on were on Scott in the centre of the ring… just like a circus, he was also joined by a lovely looking lion in Joshua Fielding, aerial acrobat slash Elsa from Frozen in Jessica Robbins and a side-show strong man in Murat Yilmaz to illustrate and enrich many of the short tales throughout.

The crowd loved it, at the end, everyone got us and danced to a little bit of Britney.

If this all sounds a little crazy. It was. It is after all, a circus.

Fun, super-interactive and with more than a few little home truths, Performance Management is best enjoyed with a bunch of friends that you don’t work with.  Just between us, we would have loved to see more of the strong man, but hey…. we’re only human right?!

For more information about Shhhh Productions and their upcoming shows. Check out their website here: http://www.shhhhhproductions.com/

 

Dominique Portet’s 40th Australian Vintage

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Last night the We Know Melbourne team were invited along to a wine tasting soiree to celebrate the 40th harvest of Dominique Portet wines. The celebrations were held in the intimate industrial space of QT Strategies where we got to mingle with other food bloggers, wine lovers and of course the father and son team of Dominique Portet.

The Portet family have been making wine for ten generations, originally beginning in Bordeaux in the 18th century. Today the Portet name is closely associated with Dominique Portet and Ben Portet, the ninth and tenth generation winemakers. Dominique originally from France, has worked with vintages all over France before moving to Napa for 3 vintages, and in 2000, started the Yarra Valley winery and cellar door. While his whole family is involved (including wife and 2 other sons), it is Ben the 10th generation winemaker who works at the winery alongside his father.

A humble and gracious duo, we were delighted to have the opportunity to meet such a family so committed to winemaking. The evening was completed with tastings of their wine, including their acclaimed Dominique Portet Fontaine Rosé – which  in our opinion is Melbourne’s best Rosé. Maker and Monger brought their famous raclette to the party and was the perfect side to the delicious wines. We’re still having dreams of that cheese today!

This winter the Portet family are marking 40 years of winemaking in Australia and will host ‘Raclette & Red’. Each weekend the menu will feature a different raclette variation boasting cheeses from different French regions – matched with a glass of the Portet’s own favourite cabernet sauvignon. Get to know Dominique Portet at their Yarra Valley winery and learn about his 40 vintages in Australia. Enjoy raclette and a glass of Portet Cabernet Sauvignon for $25. 

Still wanting more? Join the Portets for a ruby red celebration with special masterclass hosted by wine writer Nick Stock, featuring Dominique’s favourite variety, Cabernet Sauvignon; followed by a retrospective luncheon created by Yarra Valley chef Gary Cooper (ex Chateau Yering and Bella Vedere).The menu will pair classic French dishes from the 70’s, 80s, 90s and 00s with matching wines from various vintages. Find out more here.

Where: Dominique Portet Winery, 870 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream

Visit the Dominique Portet website.