All posts filed under: Reviews

A Day at the Hot Chocolate Festival

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Over the weekend the We Know Melbourne team took a day trip out to the Yarra Valley, but this time it wasn’t for our usual wine, gin and cheese adventure. Instead our destination was the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie for the Hot Chocolate Festival. The Hot Chocolate Festival is an annual event that is now in it’s third year and throughout the month long festival, tasters (or should we say indulgers) can try over 31 different hot chocolates over 31 days! We booked ourselves in for the tasting session at 11am (as it was the only time available – book well in advance if you’re planning on going!) and the biggest mistake was sampling the chocolates around the chocolaterie beforehand – With over 250 products to try, we couldn’t resist! Drinking  8 different hot chocolates over the course of 45 minutes, it was easy to say that thanks to walking in on a full stomach and wanting to drink every last drop of hot chocolate (they were just so delicious not to), we put ourselves into …

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, …

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 …

A Day Trip to Merrick’s Creek Winery

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When it comes to wines regions in Victoria, we are certainly spoilt for choice. Drive an hour east and you’ll be in the heart of Healesville, drive an hour north and you’ll be in the Macedon Ranges or drive an hour south and reach the famous Mornington Peninsula. Last Sunday, we took a drive along the coast to Mornington. Our destination? The recently opened, Merrick’s Creek. Recognised for their award winning Mornington Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Merrick’s Creek opened earlier this year, and is a family run affair with Peter Parker, a Clinical Psychologist who’s in charge of bottling the delicious grapes and his friendly son, Sam bringing his knowledgeable, attentive service to the table. The cellar door is beautifully set right next to the vineyard and the space feels intimate and cosy, almost like you’re walking into an old friend’s home, complete with an open air patio and fireplace. Perfect for a cooler winter’s day. There was no air of pretension at this winery,  just a humble and inviting cellar door with incredible views. Upon …

Dash and D’Bree Review

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Like O.M.G. These two ladies have come a long way from their Clap Rap, Glory Box days on Australia’s Got Talent. A classy-bogan duo of self-confessed ridicheads, Dash and D’Bree have brought their brand new rap cabaret – Fierce to the 2016 Melbourne Cabaret Festival (their first time at the Melbourne event) at popular arts hub ‘The Space’ in Prahran.  What is is about? Why being fierce of course. A word they hear a lot about from Tyra Banks and drag queens and stuff. Right? “Owning it. Working it. Strutting it. Loving it.”  Yeah? Dash and D’Bree break their version of Fierce into two key elements. The ‘inner fierce’ (for when you know, you are feeling great, confident), and the ‘outer fierce’…. when you just look good. The latter being the most important… of course. The show was super funny, had some catchy tunes and a smattering of cringe-worthy moments which made it a really fun night out. Hayley and Kat have a fantastic chemistry, and a fabulous ear for mash-ups with lyrics that initially …

Melbourne Cabaret Festival Review: Rouge Romantic, Serenades from a Delinquent Diva

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Having previously been along to see Torte e Mort: Songs of Cake and Death, at the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, we were pretty excited to get to see the world premiere of Anya Anastasia’s Rouge Romantic, Serenades from a Delinquent Diva at The Space in Prahran. A fantastic singer, talented musician and witty, quirky performer, Anya didn’t disappoint this time around. Although the show was different, a little shorter and with less set and costume changes, it was punchy, intimate and well, just gorgeous.  Switching between the two ‘alter-egos’ of, well, herself, Anya serenades her audience with songs born out of societal trends in love and romance the ups, downs and extremes of a woman’s passion when it comes to romance. The songs are funny, catchy, have the witty edge of a creative intellectual, paired with the voice of Kate Bush. We would have loved a tiny little bit more narrative, but this certainly didn’t dampen the experience at all. The Space is very intimate, and the audience interaction level in this show is high. …

A Breakfast with a Difference – Long St Coffee

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We first discovered Long St Coffee through their Instagram feed, a beautifully curated feed of breakfast dishes mixed with smiley happy faces. Upon clicking on to the website we discovered that the cafe not only dished up delicious food and coffee but also did so to make a difference. “Long St Coffee is a social enterprise that provides 3-month hospitality traineeships to young people seeking asylum and refugees in order to improve their employment prospects.” The cafe first opened over a year ago now and was founded by husband and wife baristas Francois and Jane Marx. Housed in a converted garage space on a quiet residential street, Long Street Coffee is  just a short walk  from the North Richmond Station. The Saturday morning that we were there, we had no problems finding  a seat, but got busier as the morning progressed. The space feels like you have walked into a good friend’s living room  (with a great hip-hop soundtrack) where you are happy to catch up over coffee and breakfast without the need to rush …

Sippin’ on Gin and Juice – Four Pillars

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As a Melbournite you’ll often find yourself in the situation of hosting interstate friends or family and, as you live here, and don’t see this fantastic city through outsiders eyes, putting pressure on yourself, wondering what you could possibly do to keep them entertained.  Problem solved. Just under an hour outside of Melbourne, in the Yarra Valley township of Healesville, you can spend a delicious afternoon (and a small fortune on gin goodness) at Four Pillars Gin Distillery. Not necessarily new to the Yarra Valley scene, Four Pillars popularity has been on the up and up thanks to Melbourne’s love of boutique gin, fun little events like Juniperlooza 2015, Negroni Week and World Gin Day which have helped move gin drinking from its former hipster, bohemian scene to a more of a mainstream appreciation.  The team here live, breathe and love everything about gin. It’s really hard not to get caught up in their excitement and subsequently purchase everything put in front of you. On arrival we 100% recommend paying $10 to enjoy a tasting …

Review: Flesh Eating Tiger

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Whilst pitched as a comedy slash drama, Amy Tofte’s Flesh Eating Tiger is a play not for the faint-hearted. A cautious word to the wise, it is not a ‘fun’ performance, it has heavy content, it’s real, rough, raw…. black, beautiful. It’s a love story, but not in a traditional sense. You will laugh, you will probably cry and without a doubt you will at times feel uncomfortable. Going in with a pre-description of ‘man addicted to alcohol, woman addicted to man, it’s not possible to not feel anything at the end of this 70-minute piece in the super-intimate Owl & Cat Theatre. Flesh Eating Tiger is a unique concept, blurring the lines between reality and storytelling, it’s actually a performance within a monologue within a play. The beautiful cast of two unnamed characters portrayed by Amy Gubana and Marcus Molyneux take us through the rocky ups and downs of what starts as a forbidden crush and move very quickly through the fiery, tumultuous relationship of a married woman and an ex-alcoholic struggling with sobriety.  …

A lazy brunch at Street Talk Café

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Last weekend, we crossed the river to the south side to Street Talk Café for a late, lazy brunch. Positioned on the High Street, diners have the option of sitting on the tables on the street, inside the cafe or out the back in the undercover courtyard. As lovers of sunshine, we chose the front. Opening late last year, Street Talk Café is the brainchild of Dean Fouritz and is a simple celebration of coffee and delicious, locally sourced produce, culminating in hearty, wholesome fare. Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern spices are fused in what can simply be described as flavours with extraordinary substance. We must admit that everything on the menu sounded delicious and we had such a hard time deciding, but after we heard the recommendations from Dean, we knew we had to order the Iron Mike. The dish is described  as cauliflower florets, fresh green peas, yellow lentil puree, toasted chickpeas, burnt lemon, poached eggs, almond flakes and oregano salt. A well-balanced dish in terms of texture and taste with a burnt lemon …